Welcome to the twenty-second episode of Dan Fournier’s Down the Rabbit Hole podcast.
Special Guest: Dr. Paul Craig Roberts
Having worked in academia, government, and journalism for decades, Spec has never failed to provide very astute analyses on American political, economic and geopolitical affairs.
His credentials and accolades are too numerous to list here, but here a some notable highlights from his illustrious career:
Dr. Roberts was a senior fellow in political economy at the Center for Strategic and International Studies at Georgetown University, professor of business administration and professor of economics at George Mason University.
He was appointed as Assistant Secretary of the Treasury for Economic Policy by President Reagan.
Dr. Roberts was associate editor and columnist for The Wall Street Journal.
He has written numerous books including
He is chairman of The Institute for Political Economy
You can view a full list of his credentials and honors here.
Dr. Roberts is a prolific writer having written literally thousands of articles over the years. You can read his articles on his website and also watch his very insightful interviews.
In our talk, we discuss the upcoming U.S. Presidential Election, the ruling Elite or Deep State, the wars between Russia-Ukraine & Israel-Palestine (and larger Middle Eastern Conflict), the Media, and more.
Alternative Podcast Links, listen on:
Spreaker (download the .mp3 for later listening)
Show Time Stamps
[00:00 to 00:54] Podcast intro.
[00:54 to 02:41] Welcoming Dr. Paul Craig Roberts.
[02:48 to 08:41] Dr. Roberts expands on how he predicted the Trump Assassination Attempt merely a few weeks before the event and who was behind it. He further elaborates on the dangers for the elite ruling class should Trump take office.
[08:42 to 13:24] Here I ask Dr. Roberts who has really been running the country for the last four years. (For more on this, see the first short video clip below in this post.)
[13:25 to 17:24] In this segment, I ask Dr. Roberts who he sees “winning” the election and whether or not it will be clearly decided with a few days of November 5th. Will it be stolen like in 2020? Dr. Roberts rhetorically inquires in his response. Would Trump “cut a deal” [of non-prosecution] with Deep State elites if elected, the former government insider also ponders.
[17:25 to 26:09] In this segment, I bring up the Department of Defense Directive 5240.01 which essentially authorises the U.S. Military to assist local law enforcement and use lethal force on Americans during domestic disturbances if necessary. Dr. Roberts wrote an excellent piece about this dystopian directive. There has been a multi-nation coup, Dr. Roberts concludes for this section. (See the first Show Notes section below for more on this)
[26:12 to 31:41] As Dr. Roberts has a PhD in Economics and has already worked in government as the Assistant Secretary of the Treasury for Economic Policy under President Reagan and is thus knowledgeable on economic affairs, I ask him what he foresees happening with the U.S. Dollar by the end of this decade, particularly given the colossal external debt of $35 trillion and near $200t in unfunded liabilities.
[31:42 to 39:56] The following segment pertains to the Russia-Ukraine War. I asked Dr. Roberts a two-part question: Do you think NATO and the neocons supporting Zelenskyy are going to push forward with long range missile strikes within Russia? And, in a nutshell, how do you see this war unfolding in the next 6 to 12 months?
[39:57 to 48:21] On Israel, I bring up a recent article that Dr. Robert wrote titled Does Israel Wag America or Does America Wag Israel which is quite insightful and contends that the small Middle Eastern nation does, to some extent, control both foreign & domestic policies of the United States. I ask him whether he sees the U.S. acquiescing to Israel to use its military to finally take down their last domino in the Middle East, namely Iran. (See the Show Notes section below for more on this)
[48:22 to 56:21] Regarding the media, I ask the soft-spoken Dr. Roberts: As the former associate editor of the Wall Street Journal, how do you see the media landscape evolving in the coming years in the U.S.? Where will the majority of Americans get their news and truth from?
[56:22 to 57:49] To finish up, Dr. Roberts shares where people can find and support his work. Wrapping up the interview.
[57:50 to 1:00:29] Outro (song) - White Rabbit by Grace Slick of Jefferson Airplane.
Show Notes
Department of Defense (DOD) Directive 5240.01
On October 17, I made an X post on the subject, explaining how the DOD has now given itself the authority to kill U.S. citizens on U.S. soil under certain "national security' pretexts. That post also showed the following four images to this effect:
During the segment of my interview with Dr. Roberts, he stated that he found it quite telling that this Directive was issued merely a month before the election, thus suggesting that their intent is to actually use it.
Dr. Roberts article, The Biden Regime Has Just Issued a Very Suspicious Directive Permitting Military Intervention in US Domestic Affairs, sheds more light on this particular DOD Directive.
To cite a few passages from the excellent piece, he writes [with emphasis added]:
“Unless Trump cuts a deal with Democrats not to hold them accountable and also a deal with the Ruling Elite not to interfere with their control, I can see no way that either will permit Trump to be President. The Biden regime and the Trump Justice (sic) Department and FBI are criminal operations.
That one month prior to the presidential election the corrupt Biden regime issued a directive that permits the US military, purged of its patriotic officers, to use lethal force against American citizens is an indication that something is afoot.
Here is a possible scenario: If despite the whore media’s assault on Trump and the in-place legalized election theft procedures in the swing states, the Democrats and Ruling Elite conclude that the election can neither be won nor stolen, an orchestrated false flag insurrection is staged that activates Department of Defense directive 5240.
Unless Trump sells out, he is in a fight to the death. Elon Musk knows it. Musk wondered on Tucker Carlson how long his prison sentence would be if Trump loses the election.
Most Americans, however, are too insouciant to realize that if Trump loses the election, or it is stolen from him, or prevented from happening, there will never again be an election in the United States of America. A Stalin type election, perhaps, where 99.9% of the votes are taken by the ruling personage.”
Those are quite telling statements.
During our talk, Dr. Roberts also mentioned the nonsensicality and unlawfulness of DOD Directive 5240.01 since it contravenes the Posse Comitatus Act in 1878.
The same was recently observed in a Commentary piece by constitutional lawyer John Whitehead from The Rutherford Institute [with emphasis added]:
“Responding to concerns that the military would be used for domestic policing, Congress passed the Posse Comitatus Act in 1878, which makes it a crime for the government to use the military to carry out arrests, searches, seizure of evidence and other activities normally handled by a civilian police force.
The increasing militarization of the police, the use of sophisticated weaponry against Americans and the government’s increasing tendency to employ military personnel domestically have all but eviscerated historic prohibitions such as the Posse Comitatus Act.
Yet sometime over the course of the past 240-plus years that constitutional republic has been transformed into a military dictatorship disguised as a democracy.”
Nov. 5 Cybersecurity Exercise
Dr. Roberts also brought up yet another conspicuous circumstance surrounding the election, namely a nationwide large-scale cybersecurity exercise which is coincidentally schedule to commence on November 5th, U.S. Election day.
The day prior to my podcast interview with Dr. Roberts, I posted an article detailing this particular event, including its key participants (click image below to access it).
[Author Note on 2024-10-27]: The AFCEA Atlanta event has been postponed. See my related 2024-10-26 addendum to this effect. In addition, I have found another separate cyber (ransomware) attack simulation event that is scheduled for Nov. 5; see my other addendum for details on this one.
Israel
On October 10, 2024, Dr. Roberts published an article titled Does Israel Wag America or Does America Wag Israel.
“It is hard to see it any other way when American universities, such as Harvard, prevent students from protesting Israel’s genocide of Palestine, and when in the middle of the genocide, the US Congress shows its support for the genocide by inviting Israeli prime minister Netanyahu to address Congress and reward his war crimes with 53 standing ovations. How can Washington be any more subservient to Israel than that?
The visible evidence indicates that Israel controls America, not America controls Israel.”
What is commendable about a gifted (read real) journalist like Dr. Roberts, however, is the manner in which he objectively presents and supports two views on the complex matter at hand, namely that:
Israel wags the U.S., and (conversely)
the U.S. uses the Middle Eastern nation as its puppet for its own objectives, as presented by Michael Hudson.
While Dr. Roberts does agree with Hudson’s take, his analysis nevertheless concurrently aligns with my own personal take on the matter, i.e., that Israel does indeed largely dictate American foreign policy (and to some extend domestic policy).
I mentioned during the podcast that in one of my series, the Synagogue of Satan, there was another Canadian journalist who stated that this has been the case since the September 11 attacks. That journalist is Greg Felton who wrote the book The Host and the Parasite back in 2007 outlining his thesis which he further supported by a talk early the following year at the Vancouver Public Library.
In my series, I provided a three-part breakdown of Greg Felton’s talk with key excerpts from each.
Media
Narrative control is the current raison d'être (reason for existence) of the mainstream media, Dr. Roberts alludes to during the podcast, adding that the controlling elites use these outlets to help foster support for their agendas.
There’s no doubt that free speech is severely under attack.
Dr. Roberts also brought up how Telegram founder (Pavel Durov) is currently under indictment in France and how the messaging platform now directly censors certain messages.
Since its founder’s arrest, Telegram has now changed its Privacy Policy and may provide user data to law enforcement authorities along with selective censorship.
Thus, going forward it will be a real battle to preserve the right to free speech and freedom of the press, lest we completely fall under tyrannical forms of dictatorships.
Rabbit Shorts
Presidents don't run things!
Having worked in government as Assistant Secretary of the Treasury for Economic Policy under President Reagan, Dr. Roberts knows a thing or two about how things really work in the halls of government.
In this clip, he explains that in fact presidents don’t run things. Listen to find out who exactly runs the show for the most powerful nation on Earth.
The Media has to be Controlled!
In this clip, Dr. Roberts who previously served as associate editor for the Wall Street Journal explains how the mainstream media is strictly controlled to maintain narratives that support the ruling elites' agendas.
He also examines how the Alternative Media are being increasingly silenced and cautions how their voices and others on the internet are being increasingly suppressed.
Signing Off
Special thanks to my distinguished guest Dr. Paul Craig Roberts for his generous time and decades of admirable service in helping to bring truth and real reporting to the masses.
The best place to find his work is at www.paulcraigroberts.org which is ad-free and entirely supported by voluntary donations. So, be sure to offer him your financial support if you can.
You can also purchase any of his excellent books (Amazon link here), click images below for details:
What are your thoughts on the upcoming U.S. Presidential Election? Who will “win”? Or will it even take place? Is chaos expected no matter who gets in? If Trump gets in, do you think he will be able to reign in on the ruling elites, or let them off scot-free?
Learn more about Dan Fournier’s Down the Rabbit Hole podcast and the meaning behind its name:
See you next time.
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22. Who Rules America? w/Paul Craig Roberts