I recently cancelled my Comcast Xfinity TV service because I got fed up with the ridiculous amount of money I was spending for a few old “broadcast” channels (like MeTV and MeTV+). Those were the only channels I was getting, because I had earlier dumped the cable channels (like Fox News, CNN, etc) due to the outrageous cost of that basic package. I now have AT&T DIRECTV, so I can watch Fox News again (though all I really care for on that outlet these days are Tucker Carlson and Jesse Watters). And I now also have access to Newsmax and One America News (OAN). Unfortunately, DIRECTV has caved to the woke mob by announcing that it is dropping OAN.
But my new favorite news channel has become RT. Yes, Russia Today! RT also has an excellent news website at https://www.rt.com and YouTube channels at https://www.youtube.com/user/RussiaToday and https://www.youtube.com/user/RTAmerica.
RT is an international news network, with services in many languages and countries, that has been around since 2005. According to RT’s website, RT is “an autonomous, non-profit organization that is publicly financed from the budget of the Russian Federation [in other words, the Russian government].” The RT channel “creates news with an edge for viewers who want to Question More [that is its slogan]. RT covers stories overlooked by the mainstream media, provides alternative perspectives on current affairs, and acquaints international audiences with a Russian viewpoint on major global events.”
So, you might think that RT is nothing but Vladimir Putin’s propaganda machine for brainwashing the world. But consider this reality: Over the past few years, the United States has increasingly morphed into the old fascistic/communistic Soviet Union. The US is not exactly a “free county” anymore, is it? The killing of American freedoms and the spreading of American corruption has been dramatically demonstrated by numerous recent developments—from the stolen 2020 presidential election to the government/corporate suppression of free speech to the gross injustices of mask and vaccine mandates (which cost me my job last year).
Russia, by contrast, has long rejected its communist past, and today it is at least as free and open a society as any in Western Europe or North America. Maybe even more so. Unlike Biden and most US governors, Putin has rejected vaccine mandates and the worst of the COVID hysteria. Furthermore, Putin has spoken out against other American cultural fascistic BS—such as the radical aspects of the LGBT movement and the “cancel culture.” So, which leader seems to better defend “traditional American values” today—Biden or Putin? Ask yourself that, and give yourself an honest answer.
Here’s another question to ask yourself: Do you really trust the news being reported by any of the American corporate networks—whether they are CNN, MSNBC, Fox, Newsmax, or whatever? Other than Tucker’s show, all those channels today seem eager to start an illogical war with Russia over Ukraine. Always beware of the bipartisan American Establishment military-industrial-media complex! And all those channels have played key roles in manufacturing and prolonging the COVID hysteria—the greatest assault on freedom and liberty in American history.
Give RT a chance
I suggest that you give RT a chance, if you have access to it. It’s on channel 321 on my DIRECTV system. I have found RT to be refreshingly honest and blunt regarding the many serious problems that are currently prevalent in the United States. And I maintain that it is irrelevant whether or not this might be Russian propaganda—because it at least provides balance to the American government/corporate propaganda that we are constantly fed by every other available news source. In this Orwellian world we live in today, everything everywhere is some form of propaganda. So we have to weed our way through all the BS to find those outlets that come closest to honest presentations.
I argue that RT proves itself to be a more honest and reliable news source than the better-known American outlets by presenting current events from a variety of diverse perspectives—allowing the viewer to see all sides (in contrast to the generally conservative, neo-con, or corporatist perspective of Fox or the blatantly Leftist authoritarian perspective of CNN). Just look at the diverse assemblage of program hosts offered by RT—https://www.rt.com/onair-talent/—and you will see that RT has interesting hosts from the Right and interesting hosts from the Left. The channel seems to be open to all views and all issues. I don’t think any other news channel can honestly claim that. That is what makes RT so refreshing. For example:
My favorite RT news show is hosted by Scottie Nell Hughes, who was a spokesperson for Trump in 2016. You may recall that she was forced out of Fox several years ago when that network rejected her allegations of sexual assault against a popular host, who managed to keep his job. (Such sexual shenanigans and cover-ups have obviously long been ingrained into the culture of the American television news industry, whether it be Fox, CNN, or NBC.) Hughes now anchors a decidedly conservative news-and-opinion show on RT called News Views Hughes. Recent programs have included hard-hitting segments on the Ukraine war-mongering of both parties, the immense incompetency of Biden, the empty shelves of US grocery stores, the COVID profiteering of Big Pharma, and the world’s “pandemic burnout.” Those segments were far better than just about any comparable things I’ve seen anywhere else.
Independent-minded conservative comedian Dennis Miller—another former Fox personality, from The O’Reilly Factor’s “Miller Time” segments—hosts a celebrity interview show on RT called Dennis Miller + One. I’ve always enjoyed Miller’s casual free-wheeling sense of humor and arcane cultural references, which only old folks like me get. Since he’s now gone from the radio, it’s great to see him have a new television platform.
Jesse Ventura is another independent-minded guy who I’ve always liked (well, sometimes liked anyway). He, with his still rebellious biker persona, hosts an opinion show on RT called The World According to Jesse. The former Minnesota governor uses the program to showcase his populist, generally Left-wing views.
Leo Camp is a young irreverent satirical comedian who hosts (and reportedly writes) his own edgy news-opinion show on RT called Redacted Tonight. His views, judging from the few shows I’ve seen, seem to be mostly Far Left, though he attacks both major parties, media personalities on all sides, and many other crazy-stupid aspects of current American culture. I agree with some of what I’ve heard him say and I disagree with much of what I’ve heard him say. However, the guy is genuinely very funny—unlike most so-called comedians these days. Check out his monologue “Biden and Trump should be cancelled like Marilyn Manson.”
America’s Lawyer is an RT show hosted by trial attorney Mike Papantonio, who formerly had a talk show on the failed progressive radio network Air America. His RT program focuses on corruption in the US legal system at all levels, especially regarding corporate misbehavior and environmental harm. You may disagree with his Left-wing perspective, but you cannot logically disagree with the fact that the American legal/court system is profoundly and deeply corrupt.
Even good ol’ William Shatner has a show on RT—an educational interview show called I Don’t Understand. The Star Trek star and now-for-real space traveler talks to various expert guests to learn answers on a range of complex and fascinating issues, from consciousness to space debris to language to ghosts. In the space debris program that I saw, with aerospace engineer John Crassidis, I learned that while the United States and Russia are developing plans to address the problem of space junk, China is ignoring the problem. I thought that was interesting.
There are many other program hosts on RT, but those are some of the programs that I have watched so far.
You want flag-waving or the truth?
If you want dependable American rah-rah flag-waving, holy-roller bible thumping, and simplistic Republicans-good-Democrats-bad programming, you can watch Hannity, Ingraham, Levin, or various other Fox/Newsmax programs. (Notice that I am not directing any criticism at OAN, which, like RT, I have found to be outside-the-mainstream in its honesty. That’s probably why it is being cut from DIRECTV. I hope they don’t cut RT next!) But if you want to hear bold and brash perspectives from all sides and see serious American problems—ignored by other news channels—exposed for your consideration, I urge you to watch the RT television channel.
Also, visit the RT website, which, like the TV channel, features stories from different perspectives, including many that conservatives would like. For example, an essay posted on rt.com on January 31, by Ian Miles Cheong, provides an excellent review of the current Joe Rogan controversy, with the concluding paragraph:
“In a world of carefully curated soundbites and corporate narratives, ‘The Joe Rogan Experience’ is a place to which you can go if you want to hear someone sharing their views without someone else on the other side of the table shouting them down. And it’s that sincerity alone that makes the podcast worth listening to.”
Hey, the concept of free speech seems to be more sincerely honored by RT than by most US news organizations! I cannot judge the accuracy of RT coverage of conditions inside Russia. Maybe RT does not honor free speech so much in that case. I have no idea, and I don’t really care. I want to know the truth about what is going on in my country – the United States. And I believe that I hear more of that truth from RT than from any US-based news source.
That’s my opinion. Check out RT for yourself, compare it to Fox, Newsmax, or your other preferred news sources. Then form your own opinion.
Perhaps you will eventually conclude that what you discount now as mere Russian propaganda is actually the disturbing truth about what is going on inside the modern-day messed-up USA. And knowing and understanding that truth is better than living in your ignorant flag-waving fantasy world. But if your brain becomes too rattled by what you see on RT, you can always go back to the safety and comfort of your daily Hannity fix.
