Matt Taibbi - successfully marginalized for a whole year

[Joe Akulis]

Aside from ZeroHedge, I've always felt Matt Taibbi was the best journalist out there, when it came to helping the average person see the limitless amount of corruption we have in our financial/corporate and political systems.

He could take something very difficult to even read, like LIBOR rate rigging, and convert the information to us using terrific alliterations so that the rest of us could get a better handle on just how insidious a certain level of our society has become.

Here's an example:
"Though the jumble of financial acronyms sounds like gibberish to the layperson, the fact that there may now be price-fixing scandals involving both Libor and ISDAfix suggests a single, giant mushrooming conspiracy of collusion and price-fixing hovering under the ostensibly competitive veneer of Wall Street culture.

Why? Because Libor already affects the prices of interest-rate swaps, making this a manipulation-on-manipulation situation. If the allegations prove to be right, that will mean that swap customers have been paying for two different layers of price-fixing corruption. If you can imagine paying 20 bucks for a crappy PB&J because some evil cabal of agribusiness companies colluded to fix the prices of both peanuts and peanut butter, you come close to grasping the lunacy of financial markets where both interest rates and interest-rate swaps are being manipulated at the same time, often by the same banks."


Last January, Taibbi announced that he was leaving Rolling Stone magazine for a new venture called First Look, which was created by the former owner of eBay. Since then, not much new has been put forth by Matt, and the people who have been learning so much through him have been forced to look elsewhere for his kind of hard nose reporting.

Now 10 months or so later, they announce that Matt and First Look are parting ways. The reason? It appears to me that they told Matt one thing: that he could start his own side-magazine off the First Look site dedicated to reporting on corruption in finance and in politics. (Pretty much the same animal these days.) Then later on, they told Matt the side-magazine would be a different thing instead: A satirical magazine about corruption.

Stepping back a little to look at how the whole thing has played out, I see a highly successful corporate muckraker--often a guest on various financial news programs on cable tv--was baited away from a place where he was reaching a large audience, and then switched.

I don't go out of my way to turn a molehill into a conspiracy, but this one stinks to me. At the very least, you could say that we the sleeping Americans were the collateral damage created by the supposed "disagreements over the direction" of the news website. We went for almost a year with no new nicknames to bat around, like "Vampire Squid". Or, since speech is free, you could also go so far as to say the whole fiasco was one big dry-gulch put on in order to silence one of the loudest voices of truth we had.

Here's hoping Matt recovers from the setbacks, gets a nice big outlet and gets back in the saddle soon!!!

[maurice]

Greetings all . This is my first post and yes I agree , Matt was a fantastic breakthrough who showed the power of truth spoken from the heart with a genius for crafting words with a poets incisive bite . There is no way the 'vampire squid ' tag can ever be erased by Goldman Sachs . Never was a description more apt .

Actually lets get all Churchillian on Goldmans rear end :

'Never in the field of human exploitation has one sinister squid sucked so much blood from so many with so little consequence'
Let us therefore brace ourselves with the truth and dash said molusc against the solid rock of truth that men may one day say
This was their best barbequed sea food ever .

I too hope to see him rise again . I am well aware from my own experience how illuminista's buy off and misdirect dangerous talent like that .
The pen is mightier than the sword ,it really is . No cord binds the public imagination more than a bright ray of truth burning through the fog of BS that is the MSM .
Keep on rockin' in the free world Matt ,wherever you are .

[cursichella1]

I'm with you both in that he's a very entertaining writer and he has opened a wide window for us to see what's going on inside Wall Street and Government, too.

However, what is perplexing about him is not only his refusal to look into the 911 evidence, but he's written numerous articles about 911 Truth "idiocy". Because of this, IMO he's suspect, of I don't know what, but something is awry.

Much like Noam Chomsky, enlightening on one hand, then TOTALLY towing the "Company line" when it comes to 911. There's more to these two than meets the eye.

[Joe Akulis]

Maurice, very well said, and Welcome to Avalon!

I really like the work Matt did exposing some of the foreclosure activity being carried out by the big banks. He made it quite easy for us to see how certain judges were more interested in shuffling paperwork for banks and turning a blind eye to all of the obvious fraud. He even spent time sitting in on some of the sessions with the judges.

Journalists just don't do stuff like this anymore.

From his article, Invasion of the Home Snatchers:
"It's early on a sunny Tuesday morning when I arrive at the chambers of Judge Soud, one of four rotating judges who preside over the local rocket docket. These special foreclosure courts were established in July of this year, after the state of Florida budgeted $9.6 million to create a new court with a specific mandate to clear 62 percent of the foreclosure cases that were clogging up the system. Rather than forcing active judges to hear thousands of individual cases, this strategy relies on retired judges who take turns churning through dozens of cases every morning, with little time to pay much attention to the particulars.
...
When I arrive, Judge Soud and the lawyers are already arguing a foreclosure case; at a break in the action, I slip into the chamber with a legal-aid attorney who's accompanying me and sit down. The judge eyes me anxiously, then proceeds. He clears his throat, and then it's ready, set, fraud!
Judge Soud seems to have no clue that the files he is processing at a breakneck pace are stuffed with fraudulent claims and outright lies. "We have not encountered any fraud yet," he recently told a local newspaper. "If we encountered fraud, it would go to [the state attorney], I can tell you that." But the very first case I see in his court is riddled with fraud
...
Now, one might think that after a bank makes multiple attempts to push phony documents through a courtroom, a judge might be pissed off enough to simply rule against that plaintiff for good. As I witness in court all morning, the defense never gets more than one chance to screw up. But the banks get to keep filing their foreclosures over and over again, no matter how atrocious and deceitful their paperwork is.
...
I follow her out of the court, hoping to ask her about her case. But the sight of a journalist getting up to talk to a defendant in his kangaroo court clearly puts a charge into His Honor, and he immediately calls Cooper back into the conference room. Then, to the amazement of everyone present, he issues the following speech:
"This young man," he says, pointing at me, "is a reporter for Rolling Stone. It is your privilege to talk to him if you want." He pauses. "It is also your privilege to not talk to him if you want."

I stare at the judge, open-mouthed. Here's a woman who still has to come back to this guy's court to find out if she can keep her home, and the judge's admonition suggests that she may run the risk of pissing him off if she talks to a reporter. Worse, about an hour later, April Charney, the lawyer who accompanied me to court, receives an e-mail from the judge actually threatening her with contempt for bringing a stranger to his court. Noting that "we ask that anyone other than a lawyer remain in the lobby," Judge Soud admonishes Charney that "your unprofessional conduct and apparent authorization that the reporter could pursue a property owner immediately out of Chambers into the hallway for an interview, may very well be sited [sic] for possible contempt in the future."

Let's leave aside for a moment that Charney never said a word to me about speaking to Cooper. And let's overlook entirely the fact that the judge can't spell the word cited. The key here isn't this individual judge — it's the notion that these hearings are not and should not be entirely public. Quite clearly, foreclosure is meant to be neither seen nor heard."
"
http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/matt-taibbi-courts-helping-banks-screw-over-homeowners-20101110

[Carmody]

here's the thing:

one out of every six police officers in the western world are Freemasons.

Find me a judge who is NOT a Freemason. Good luck on that. In all seriousness.

It is suspected, due to how this is run in the west that somewhat close to 100% of all judges in the west.... are Freemasons.

One cannot control a system, unless they control the clinch points, and the judiciary is one of such 'essential to control' systems.

Hand picked retired judges. hhmmm. what are the odds that they are Freemason insiders? Probably at 100%.


"To learn who rules over you, simply find out who you are not allowed to criticize." -Voltaire.

As for Freemasons, they cannot claim any form of integrity, if they refuse to clean out their ranks.

[lucidity]

here's the thing:

one out of every six police officers in the western world are Freemasons.

Find me a judge who is NOT a Freemason. Good luck on that. In all seriousness.

It is suspected, due to how this is run in the west that somewhat close to 100% of all judges in the west.... are Freemasons.

One cannot control a system, unless they control the clinch points, and the judiciary is one of such 'essential to control' systems.

Hand picked retired judges. hhmmm. what are the odds that they are Freemason insiders? Probably at 100%.


"To learn who rules over you, simply find out who you are not allowed to criticize." -Voltaire.

As for Freemasons, they cannot claim any form of integrity, if they refuse to clean out their ranks.

Hi Carmody,

Where are you getting your statistics from ?

lucidity ;-)

PS.. is there a booklet i can order from HMSO ?

[maurice]

Okay ,so Matt probably played safe and avoided getting in to 911 so that he could keep his focus on bank corruption clean from being tainted by the label conspiracy nut . I dont think we should judge him on what he refuses to tackle but what he does do well . I Know that's frustrating for us but look how marginalised our full throttle no holds barred embrace of the truth has affected our relationships with friends and family ? Its tough being hardcore but within the Mainstream those guys have to pick their battles carefully . Noam Chomsky may not be a hard core truther but he has academic credibility which allows him to at least get part of the message across .

The judiciary is very corrupt ,no doubt about that . But most masons are blackmailed poodles towing the line so they can indulge their peculiar sexual needs . Or as they say in Russia , scum rises to the top .

[jake gittes]

I'm with you both in that he's a very entertaining writer and he has opened a wide window for us to see what's going on inside Wall Street and Government, too.

However, what is perplexing about him is not only his refusal to look into the 911 evidence, but he's written numerous articles about 911 Truth "idiocy". Because of this, IMO he's suspect, of I don't know what, but something is awry.

Much like Noam Chomsky, enlightening on one hand, then TOTALLY towing the "Company line" when it comes to 911. There's more to these two than meets the eye.

Very well stated, cursichella1. Couldn't have said it better myself. I read somewhere recently that Taibbi was controlled opposition, that the financial institutions fed him material in troves, possibly even writing some themselves. Doing it that way their reputations get muffed up a little bit but it releases the pressure building up about their crimes and they still get off virtually scot-free: child spanks self. It's like when a college football program "disciplines itself" in order to avoid stiffer penalties from the NCAA.

[maurice]

Controlled opposition ? yes very possibly . But who among you does not fear a tax audit or one of your kids dissapearing/dying of cancer ? Many good people get leaned on and retire /regroup . We dont really know do we for sure . Trouble is most humans are legally defined as 'stock,inventory, expendable feeders' . Funny thing is they sign on for the 'benefits' then cry like babies when its time to pay the man .

The only people who can really get away with a full frontal assault without repercussions are resident aliens and im not talking about the ones with green cards .
The only reason im still alive in fact . However ,I do get harrassed threatened and messed around all the time in the hope that I will crack .

Most forums are infected with trolls who while doing little themselves to inform or enlighten are quick to judge the efforts of others brave enough to go public .

When I was young and ill informed and before I got my wake up call I was guilty many times of grabbing the wrong end of the stick . Its a tough one to call though . I have seen people go white at the thought of being threatened by those thugs . I used to ridicule people who talked about walk ins and mind control . Not anymore . So yes I do get misdirection ,limited hang out and such but it still takes balls to speak truth to power even if you do find out your an unwitting pawn in a game you suddenly realise is a lot nastier than your worst nightmare .

The illuminati are very good at cultivating using then discrediting good guys to maintain a smoke screen . And you know as far as they are concerned we are all their 'cattle 'to use as they see fit . It only takes one incriminating picture to frame dissarm and destroy a basicaly decent person trying to do their bit .

Knowing what I know now from a strictly scientific perspective and personal experience , mind control is very real, very doable and scarily easy with the right tools. If you can hack a mans mind you can take over his body . You can hijack him heart and mind and he will no longer be the person everyone knew because HE IS NO LONGER THE SAME PERSON EVERYONE KNEW . Maybe that's what happened to Taibbi . You don't have to use a knife to lobotomise a good man . Who knows . Lets see if the man returns or if he is lost to the machine .



So not really dissagreing with anyone at all . I think all have made really good points . Trouble is we are not in a position to say from inside investigation for sure what the motivation is for these guys . I have been accused of being an agent many times !

[Dennis Leahy]

Excellent analysis, seeker1972. Keep up the good (analytical) work!

Taibbi is brilliant, and it makes sense that they would want to silence him.

Dennis

p.s. I have conversed with one big, well-known reporter - about 911 - as I was surprised this reporter didn't push hard enough (in my opinion) about 911, although they were known to push hard on everything. Off the record, I was told and gained an understanding that if a reporter goes after 9/11, they lost much of their audience, as there is such massive disinformation and so many people are terribly confused. It was as if they could either do what they do - cover a wide swath and make a lot of people aware of the hidden/obscured truth in many issues, or they could choose to make 9/11 their sole venture.

[cursichella1]

Okay ,so Matt probably played safe and avoided getting in to 911 so that he could keep his focus on bank corruption clean from being tainted by the label conspiracy nut . I dont think we should judge him on what he refuses to tackle but what he does do well .

It's not a matter of him refusing "to tackle" it. He's hardly avoided the 911 topic. He's written extensively - has gone out of his way to label 911 Truth (seekers) as idiots, retards, clinically insane, etc., going so far as to label David Ray Griffin as a "third rate con artist(s)". He even defends WTC disaster profiteer Larry Silverstein, calling Silverstein's critics "anti-Semitic". No joke.

Dennis mentions the unfortunate but legit reason why most reporters avoid 911 stories. Probably true for most, but this doesn't appear to be the case with Taibbi at all.

Jake's take on it being "controlled opposition" is more likely. We get some satisfaction, relief (and maybe some distraction, too) learning about the corruption of Wall St., Congress and some religious leaders. He says everything that we think about these crooks, but he says it better, smarter than we do, and he makes us feel vindicated when he does it.

Do we see anyone in an uproar and doing something over any of what has been exposed? Hardly. "He sure told them off!", we say, not even realizing that the only thing we 're left holding is acceptance of 'that's just the way it is'.

Taibbi discounts any/all evidence pointing to the fact that the Official 911 story is flawed and requires a legitimate investigation. He doesn't offer any countering evidence, he provides mockery instead.

Here are just the first three Google search results of examples of Taibbi "avoiding" 911 Truth:

911 Truth News (http://911truthnews.com/matt-taibbi-of-course-weve-been-lied-to-about-911/)

Part of a Facebook conversation between Jon Gold and Matt Taibbi:



Matt Taibbi: Jon, And I’m seriously answering you: good luck with your movement. I have no interest in arguing with you. You are entitled to your beliefs. Please offer me the same respect. Sincerely, Matt T

Jon Gold: Wasn’t trying to argue with you. Was at least trying to get you to acknowledge there is more to the story than what David Ray Griffin has to say.

Matt Taibbi: Jon, No, there isn’t. It’s all equally retarded. But, you’re entitled to enjoy such diversions. Sincerely, Matt T

Jon Gold: I see. Ok. Well, at least you don’t let your bias cloud your judgement.

Matt Taibbi: The entire concept of 9/11 Truth is ridiculous and people like you are being hoodwinked by third-rate con-artists like Griffin, who do this for a living. I wonder that none of you seem to notice that all of the country’s best reporters and best investigators equally think that 9/11 Truth is a joke — people like Seymour Hersh and Wayne Barrett and Lawrence Wright — while the leading writers in your movement all have histories writing, commercially, about other conspiracy theories. If it wasn’t 9/11, it’d be Oklahoma City or the moon landing or JFK. You’re being had, don’t you get it?



The Most Obnoxious Thing on the Internet This Month (http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/the-most-obnoxious-thing-on-the-internet-this-month-20100821)

from Taibbi Rolling Stone article


The author is a Truther and former Fullbright scholar from Wisconsin named Kevin Barrett who at one point was a professor at UW but left amid controversy over his lunatic-ass views.

The Hopeless Stupidity of 9/11 Conspiracists (http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/story/11818067/the_low_post_the_hopeless_stupidity_of_911_conspiracies/1)

from another Taibbi article for Rolling Stone


I don't have the space here to address every single reason why 9/11 conspiracy theory is so shamefully stupid, so I'll have to be content with just one point: 9/11 Truth is the lowest form of conspiracy theory, because it doesn't offer an affirmative theory of the crime.

[maurice]

Yep curischella , I hear that and look as far as i'm concerned personally 911 was the ultimate zionist jewish stock take . The official story has more holes in it than a chain link fence at a fema camp . And yes , Taibbi's comments are reprehensible from our personal standpoint . But here's the thing . I have family who signed Off sec so their hands are tied right ? So often their way of admiting the truth of the situation without breaking the official secrets act is to come up with a denial that is so over the top that it is even more implausible ! Ie . What they are really saying without getting caught saying it is 'Of course I know the official story is horse s!@# but I cant be caught saying it' . Its crazy I know but trust me when I tell you , if you've got kids and you stand to loose everything by telling the whole truth you will make a show of denial . Its sad yes but I have plenty of experience with it .

Here's an example . I get shown by an alliance pilot a picture of a burnt out f22 on the runway outside Baghdad long before the f22 became officially operational . That fighter was taken out by my people because it was destined to violate innocent civilians in ways that could not be tolerated . It was an alien intervention in other words .So I show this picture to a retired fighter pilot . He knows exactly what happened , the f22 was taken out with a surgical pulse round . But his plausibly deniable 'observation' was "looks like the pilot lost his nose wheel and just burnt out on the peri track ' . Yeah right .

This is how the game is played unfortunately . Am I personally dissapointed in Taibbi ? Of course I am . But you know the sad truth is those Illuminists have most people so tightly by the nads .

So resident aliens knowing this game make a joke of it and whenever I catch up with my on duty friends we compete to come up with the most ridiculous plausible denial BS story ! Its actually a blast outbsing those illuminists because the cover stories those idiots come up with are so laughable . They really should come to us next time they smoke humans . We will be happy to give them the ULTIMATE LAME EXCUSE .

Its sad ,really sad to see so much talent prostituted to those in bred spoilt brats . Why do you think so many vets hit the bottle and drugs when they get retired ? You think they like living a lie ? All im saying is dont be to quick to judge . A lot of these people are hard enough on themselves as it is .Nothing destroys a soul quicker than living a lie .

[maurice]

And just a quick follow up with a summation. Nothing is more implausible than implausible deniability . Ie , the truth is hidden in the lie . Or as we say ,'even when im lying im telling the truth' . This is standard operating procedure amongst alien interventionists stationed here . Its how we interact with humans who are starting to wake up because its a good way to seed critical thinking and objective analysis . BUT if the wake up procedure starts to crumble because the subject is overwhelmed with fear , they and we have a good back out excuse . That being 'it was all a big Lie ' . A true lie .

To be truly free you have to be able to think for yourself . Most humans are slaves exactly because they are incapable of this . Moreoever its vital to understand that in order to wake up succesfully without being overwhelmed you need to get your head around the science of illusion . Holograms, memory inserts , timesliding and OBE's . Its all real but real is relative. Only with a properly functioning free mind can you navigate the labyrinth .

[Joe Akulis]

I used to be interested in 9/11. But those waters have been muddied so badly that we have zero chance to see anything clearly about it anymore.

As far as disinformation is concerned, 9/11 has been an enormous success, and I don't blame anyone who avoids wasting their time on it. I see lots and lots of places where the subject seems to have been reduced now to just a mechanism for sidelining other more useful discussion and inquiry. ;-)

[Dennis Leahy]

Okay ,so Matt probably played safe and avoided getting in to 911 so that he could keep his focus on bank corruption clean from being tainted by the label conspiracy nut . I dont think we should judge him on what he refuses to tackle but what he does do well .

It's not a matter of him refusing "to tackle" it. He's hardly avoided the 911 topic. He's written extensively - has gone out of his way to label 911 Truth (seekers) as idiots, retards, clinically insane, etc., going so far as to label David Ray Griffin as a "third rate con artist(s)". He even defends WTC disaster profiteer Larry Silverstein, calling Silverstein's critics "anti-Semitic". No joke.

Dennis mentions the unfortunate but legit reason why most reporters avoid 911 stories. Probably true for most, but this doesn't appear to be the case with Taibbi at all.

Jake's take on it being "controlled opposition" is more likely. We get some satisfaction, relief (and maybe some distraction, too) learning about the corruption of Wall St., Congress and some religious leaders. He says everything that we think about these crooks, but he says it better, smarter than we do, and he makes us feel vindicated when he does it.

Do we see anyone in an uproar and doing something over any of what has been exposed? Hardly. "He sure told them off!", we say, not even realizing that the only thing we 're left holding is acceptance of 'that's just the way it is'.

Taibbi discounts any/all evidence pointing to the fact that the Official 911 story is flawed and requires a legitimate investigation. He doesn't offer any countering evidence, he provides mockery instead.

Here are just the first three Google search results of examples of Taibbi "avoiding" 911 Truth:

911 Truth News (http://911truthnews.com/matt-taibbi-of-course-weve-been-lied-to-about-911/)

Part of a Facebook conversation between Jon Gold and Matt Taibbi:



Matt Taibbi: Jon, And I’m seriously answering you: good luck with your movement. I have no interest in arguing with you. You are entitled to your beliefs. Please offer me the same respect. Sincerely, Matt T

Jon Gold: Wasn’t trying to argue with you. Was at least trying to get you to acknowledge there is more to the story than what David Ray Griffin has to say.

Matt Taibbi: Jon, No, there isn’t. It’s all equally retarded. But, you’re entitled to enjoy such diversions. Sincerely, Matt T

Jon Gold: I see. Ok. Well, at least you don’t let your bias cloud your judgement.

Matt Taibbi: The entire concept of 9/11 Truth is ridiculous and people like you are being hoodwinked by third-rate con-artists like Griffin, who do this for a living. I wonder that none of you seem to notice that all of the country’s best reporters and best investigators equally think that 9/11 Truth is a joke — people like Seymour Hersh and Wayne Barrett and Lawrence Wright — while the leading writers in your movement all have histories writing, commercially, about other conspiracy theories. If it wasn’t 9/11, it’d be Oklahoma City or the moon landing or JFK. You’re being had, don’t you get it?
The Most Obnoxious Thing on the Internet This Month (http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/the-most-obnoxious-thing-on-the-internet-this-month-20100821)

from Taibbi Rolling Stone article


The author is a Truther and former Fullbright scholar from Wisconsin named Kevin Barrett who at one point was a professor at UW but left amid controversy over his lunatic-ass views. The Hopeless Stupidity of 9/11 Conspiracists (http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/story/11818067/the_low_post_the_hopeless_stupidity_of_911_conspiracies/1)

from another Taibbi article for Rolling Stone


I don't have the space here to address every single reason why 9/11 conspiracy theory is so shamefully stupid, so I'll have to be content with just one point: 9/11 Truth is the lowest form of conspiracy theory, because it doesn't offer an affirmative theory of the crime.

I think there's enough here (in your post of his posts) for me to have to say that yes, he does appear to be more controlled opposition than investigative researcher - at least on 9/11. I do have one friend that understands that Building 7 was detonated to the ground, and then sits and argues ad nauseum about how fire brought down the towers. So, there's even a gray zone between the brainwashed idiots and the aware.

Now, I will look at what Taibbi says in full context and with full scrutiny to try to assess if he is one of the cognitive dissonance addicts, or if he really is a gatekeeper.

Thanks.

I'd also point out to all that THAT is the way to present a case, systematically, logically, and without rabid froth - when you want to present evidence. Kudos, cursichella1 (http://projectavalon.net/forum4/showthread.php?p=895845#post895845).

Dennis

[Joe Akulis]

He's back!

http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/the-9-billion-witness-20141106

Nice. That didn't take long. I'm happy now.