Ep. 22: Robbie Martin (Pt. 1) on Russia, Trump, QAnon, & the Neocons

On this edition of Parallax Views you'll hear the first part of a two part conversation with Media Roots' Robbie Martin.  In part one Robbie and I discuss his sister Abby Martin's prior work with RT (Russia Today) and accusations that the Martins are "Russianbots", the Trump Presidency, the dangerous "scorched earth" politics and possible agendas behind right-wing conspiracy theories like QAnon and Pizzagate, and Robbie's documentary series A Very Heavy Agenda about the history of the super-hawkish neonconservative movement.

I invited Robbie on the show initially to discuss his sister Abby Martin's previous work at RT. Because of this Abby and Robbie have been accused of being stooges for Vladimir Putin that helped to sabotage the Democrats in the 2016 Presidential election with their coverage of Hillary Clinton. I myself am critical of Putin, but I also feel that jumping the gun and accusing journalists critical of U.S. policy, the Democrats, etc. of being "Russianbots" is an oversimplification.

Robbie's take in this regard may surprise you. For one, Robbie admits that he and Abby were never under any illusions that RT has its own agenda. Moreover he expresses regret that Media Roots focused so heavily on Hillary Clinton at the expense of covering Donald Trump in the 2016 Presidential Elections. During this portion of the conversation Robbie also details Media Roots strong stance against and critical reporting on the Trump Presidency, how we've moved from the War on Terror to the Cybersecurity Wars, and more.

From there we transition into a discussion of the QAnon conspiracy and its connections to the subculture surrounding Pizzagate conspiracy theories. Robbie lays out what the QAnon conspiracy theory is and how he believes it relates to a dangerous form of "scorched earth politics" by America's right-wing to dehumanize leftists. In addition we discuss the strange issue of military intelligence figures coming out in support of these conspriacy theories and the various agendas behind the proliferation of these conspiracy theories.

 

We wrap up by discussing Robbie's documentary series A Very Heavy Agenda detailing the history of the neoconservative movement inside the beltway from the Project to the New American Century (PNAC) to the War on Terror. Part 1 of the conversation ends with Robbie discussing the Kagans, one of the most influential neocon families in D.C., and his brief personal encounter with Robert Kagan.