Thoughts on Tucker Carlson’s Firing


Posted originally on the CTH on April 24, 2023 | Sundance 

This is a context you won’t find elsewhere {smiles}. The phone has been blowing up….  Context and some details matter.

First, Carlson was being paid about $20 million a year by Murdoch.  He had about 3 years left on his contract and will be paid the full contract amount.  Carlson found out about 10 minutes before Fox Corp made the announcement.  They did not “part ways,” Tucker Carlson was fired.

(Via WSJ) – Mr. Carlson, whose contract was renewed in 2021, will be paid out for the rest of his contract, people familiar with the matter said. Mr. Carlson is paid about $20 million a year, one of the people said. Mr. Carlson found out he was being let go about 10 minutes before the network announced his departure, the people said. (link)

For financial context, remember Rupert Murdoch paid Megyn Kelly $15 million (Via Harper Collins) for the 2015/2016 operation against Donald Trump.  Paying $60 to $100 million to get rid of Carlson’s antagonistic voice is small money to Murdoch Inc. in the grand scheme of things. [Murdoch has also paid for Ron DeSantis to oppose Trump]

Carlson will not be asked to sign an NDA, is not bound by a “non-compete” clause following the contract nullification by Fox Corp, and will be free to do anything he wants in any venture.  Additionally, he will be free to say whatever he wants about the issues at Fox and speak freely, or not, without any legal or contractual constraints.  Keep all of that in mind.

Prior to 2021, Tucker Carlson was what you might call a Fox News loyalist.  He was very loyal to the organization.  During the COVID-19 era, Tucker Carlson moved his physical location away from Washington DC to his home in Maine.  Fox built him a studio, and Carlson manifest his own destiny free from most production constraints.

Over the past 18+/- months, viewers have watched Tucker Carlson essentially red pill himself each evening.  As he enjoyed the proximity freedom far away from the Eye of Sauron (DC’s control mechanism), Carlson’s eyes opened further to the reality of the situation that blankets our national consciousness.

Disconnected from the machine, free-range in his abilities, and with the intellectual curiosity of the average person, Tucker Carlson started to see the U.S. system as it is, not as media pretend it to be.  This is the increasing red pill absorption you have noted daily.  Along with that came a more pragmatic and brutally honest production quality to the content he shared.

Carlson’s influence grew as the audience grew; the more truth he spoke, the larger the audience.  That free-range influence became a liability to the system operators that hold power, including Rupert Murdoch who is a part of that control system.  In essence, and in the big picture, that’s what led to this event today.

Timing and Fox Digital.  Fox had just settled a lawsuit with Dominion Systems that has been widely reported.  The decision to fire Carlson had only one aspect connected to the Dominion settlement, financial timing.

Fox Corp is going to take a big hit in second quarter (Q2) earnings as part of the Dominion settlement.  If you are going to take a big financial hit, it’s better to go ahead and clear the decks of all financial hits at the same time.

Paying out Carlson simply gets all the big hits in the same quarter.

Digital is where the action is.  Digital subscriber services is where the future of all content is focused.   Understanding this reality gives you a scale of the darkness in the opposition elements facing our nation.  Fox News digital is Fox Nation.  Tucker Carlson and the show Tucker Carlson Today was the anchor of Fox Nation digital.

Fox Nation was struggling prior to Tucker Carlson’s long show broadcasts.  The entire Fox Corp digital streaming service, Fox Nation, was anchored around the Tucker Carlson Today digital streaming service.   Fox News has just torpedoed their anchor, shot their lead dog, destroyed the digital brand.  That gives you some scale and scope to how the elements viewed the threat of influence that Tucker Carlson had become.

Fox Corp, and Murdoch’s stenographers at the Wall Street Journal (SEE HERE), will try to frame the Carlson firing as something of a palate cleansing.  Claims of adversarial viewpoints, controversial views and conflicts with other Fox loyalists on the inside, will be used to frame the narrative.   However, all of those false frameworks are just that, false.  The source of the issue that led to the firing was 100% ideological.

During Tucker’s red pill absorption phase, he changed views on a variety of subjects from the FBI to the Fourth Branch of Government, to vaccination and COVID-19, to his views on Donald Trump as a disruption to an increasingly admitted corrupt political machine.

Context in the Tucker worldview expanded and he began to frame the conflict in a big picture of Good -vs- Evil.  Unfortunately for Carlson, this view was from inside a multinational corporate system spreading the darkness.   He had to be removed.

This is the reality of the situation as it unfolded.   Accept it or not, it matters not.  This is the Carlson reality.

Carlson was connecting the dots of manipulation beyond media, beyond social battles and constructs, and into the realm of finance, economics and ultimately behind the Potemkin Village of UniParty politics.  Blackrock has an increased stake in Fox Corp.

Talking about what happens behind the false front of the DC village is always a threat.   It is in the research and acceptance of the darkest pretending constructs that you realize how the illusions of choice are presented.

Tucker Carlson was no longer selling the illusions.

There are trillions at stake.

He was removed.

Tucker is free.

Welcome to the rebellion my friend!

“They” Explained


Armstrong Economics Blog/Basic Concepts Re-Posted Apr 25, 2023 by Martin Armstrong

People often ask who I am referencing when I refer to “they.” THEY are the leaders of the pack; the neocons. They are the people who create endless wars and use the people as their toy soldiers for war games—we are the toys.

None of these wars affected our way of life and we had no need to be involved in Ukraine, Vietnam, Afghanistan, you name it. But they will create false flags to bring us into wars. It may be a conspiracy but it is not a theory. They conspire to create these wars and use fake news. There were the weapons of mass destruction in Iraq that never existed. The sinking of the Lusitania that propelled us into World War I was intentional. Former President Johnson admitted that Vietnam never attacked us, and leading neocon Robert McNamara admitted before his death that America was wrong for condemning Communist nations. But he died with the guilt of sacrificing 58,000 American lives on the neocon altar of war.

The neocons have a theory that a regime change will save the day. They demonize the head of state and convince themselves that people will cheer once that individual man is overthrown. Saddam, Gaddafi, the list goes on. They think they can overthrow these leaders and simply install a democracy. The problem is that we do not have a democracy; we have a republic. We cannot vote on whether we go to war or if we want to die for the neocons.

They are the aggressors and the ones who created the current conflict. They are on both sides of the political aisle and are installed in positions of power throughout the world. They create division internally to promote civil unrest so that they can elect the person of their choice who will claim to solve the problems they created. They want to create digital currencies to control everything we do while plundering what they allow us to have. They are pushing society as a whole to a breaking point, and unfortunately, their next war game will not end well.

Former CIA Director Admits Biden Created the Russian Disinformation Hoax


Armstrong Economics Blog/Corruption Re-Posted Apr 24, 2023 by Martin Armstrong

Biden’s camp completely interfered in the 2020 US Presidential Election by hiding Hunter’s illegal business dealing through bribes and coercion. The House Judiciary Committee released a letter addressed to Secretary of State Anthony Blinken that revealed Biden and Blinken deliberately created the story that Hunter’s “laptop from hell” was “Russian disinformation” in order to help him steal the election.

When will the people say that they have had enough? How could they arrest a former president for an affair when the current president and his crime family have actively engaged in countless international criminal activities. CIA director Mike Morell ADMITTED that 51 members of the intelligence community signed a letter declaring the laptop was “Russian disinformation” act the request of the Biden Administration. This propaganda spread to reporters of prominent newspapers, social media platforms, and government officials across the US. The FBI completely dropped their investigation after the laptop was handed over to them and wiped clean from the internet.

The Biden Administration reached out to The Post after they received information that Hunter introduced his dad to his Ukrainian business partners. Morrell said he did it to “help Vice President Biden … because I wanted him to win the election.”

Joe Biden referenced this signed letter during a debate against Trump on October 22, lying to the American public weeks before the election. Joe insisted he never spoke to Hunter about his business dealings when he was in on it the whole time.

Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) and Rep. Michael Turner (R-Ohio), chairman of the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence sent a letter to Blinken letting him know that the investigation is back on.

“We are examining the origins of the infamous public statement signed by 51 former intelligence officials that falsely discredited a New York Post story regarding Hunter Biden’s laptop as supposed Russian disinformation.

Subsequent reporting revealed that the New York Post story was not, as the public statement claimed and then-Vice President Biden parroted, part of a ‘Russian information operation.’

This revelation nearly two years after the fact, however, was little consolation.

The concerted efforts to dismiss the serious allegations in the Post’s reporting and to suppress any discussion of the story played a substantial role in the 2020 election.”

Joe Biden is a liar who will go down in history as the worst president in American history. He deceived the American people countless times and has done everything in his power to ruin our economy, values, and way of life. Arrest all 51 people who signed that letter and throw everyone related to the Biden crime family in jail – let us see how far the corruption goes.

Stoltenberg: Ukraine’s Rightful Place is in NATO


Armstrong Economics Blog/War We-Posted Apr 24, 2023 by Martin Armstrong

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg confirmed that there would be a global world war on Friday when he announced that Ukraine will be invited to join NATO. Stoltenberg, who recently took a trip to Ukraine to show his full support, said that Ukraine will be permitted to join after the war ends. Zelensky is begging for NATO to permit Ukraine to join NATO immediately.

At a joint news conference in Kyiv, Zelensky and Stoltenberg spoke on NATO’s unwavering support for Ukraine. “Over the years, NATO Allies have provided training for tens of thousands of Ukrainian soldiers. And since last February, NATO Allies have delivered more than 150 billion euros of support, including 65 billion euros of military aid,” Stoltenberg said. “Let me be clear: Ukraine’s rightful place is in the Euro-Atlantic family. Ukraine’s rightful place is in NATO. And over time, our support will help you make this possible.” He said their approach will take multiple years to “ensure full interoperability with the Alliance.”

Stoltenberg went on to explain why NATO was helping an unaffiliated nation. He hit on every trick in the book, from it being “morally right” to demonizing the head of state (Putin) as if removing him could solve this crisis:

“I expect the NATO Allies to do so both because it’s the morally right thing to do. A sovereign independent nation in Europe, Ukraine has been attacked, as a victim of a brutal war of aggression and therefore it's Ukraine's right to defend itself and it's our right to support Ukraine in upholding the right of self defense, a right which is enshrined in the UN Charter but it's also in our self-interest. Because if President Putin wins it will make the world more dangerous and us more vulnerable, because then the message is that when authoritarian powers, like Russia, like President Putin uses forces, they get what they want. So it's in our security interest, it's in the security interest of NATO Allies to support Ukraine.”

Zelensky said, per usual, that the efforts of the West have not been enough. “There is not a single objective barrier to the political decision to invite Ukraine into the alliance and now, when most people in NATO countries and the majority of Ukrainians support NATO accession, is the time for the corresponding decisions,” the comedian who is running a country said.

If Ukraine joins NATO, World War III will begin immediately. Stoltenberg is buying time, as they did with the fake Minsk Agreements. NATO is afraid that Hungary and Turkey will turn away from the alliance if Ukraine is openly admitted. The comment section on the video I posted above shows how the public does not understand what is happening. People are cheering and saying Zelensky should win the Nobel PEACE Prize when he has turned down every olive branch Moscow attempted to extend. All these people want is war and they think of nothing else. Ukraine is nothing more than cannon fodder to them and the latest plot for the neocons to conquer Russia.

The Great De-Dollarization


Armstrong Economics Blog/USD $ Re-Posted Apr 23, 2023 by Martin Armstrong

All we hear is the same claims that the dollar is dead and it will be totally worthless any day now. Over the last few weeks, all we hear from the majority now is that the dollar is finished. Virtually every page you turn or site you visit claims the death of the dollar. They are calling this the de-dollarization of the world economy and that the future of the US dollar as well as the American empire itself is now collapsing. The general claim is that the group of economically-aligned nations known collectively as BRICS is a major threat to the greenback. That was the same story we heard about the Euro back in 1997.

As their scenario goes, the BRICS [Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa] have moved to form an anti-dollar colation and Saudi Arabia is considering jumping on board. They insist that once that happens, the “petrodollar” will die and cease to be a reserve currency.

This is then followed by the forecast that the economy will suffer and that any bounce in exports will be short-lived simply because the dollar will be dead for the long term. Of course, this has been the favorite forecast that they keep putting out since Bretton Woods collapsed. They were wrong back then for the dollar rose between 1972 and 1976 against the British pound, with the collapse of Bretton Woods. To try to explain why the dollar did not collapse, that is when they claimed that the dollar was backed now by oil rather than gold. That was just an excuse as always to cover up their wrong forecast.

They sold that story to Newsweek and now the dollar rally was because of oil which replace gold. Suddenly the dollar became de facto backed by oil. They needed an explanation to explain why all the old theories were wrong. They sold this theory and it made the front cover of Newsweek. Everyone said YES! That must be the reason. OPEC priced oil in dollars! Naturally, everything was priced in dollars because, under the fixed exchange rate of Bretton Woods, everything from wheat and corn to copper and gold was all priced in dollars.

Now they are saying the American empire is threatened by the potential commercial real estate collapse and the BRICS anti-dollar venture. So they are forecasting a great depression-style crash is possible in the not-too-distant future. They spin this to forecast the end of the America Empire. The London FT, always anti-American/Pro WEF, reports that the dollar as a reserve currency has declined from  73% in 2001 to around 55% by 2021. Yet the FT did state an obvious fact:

“But if you are a reserve-rich central bank elsewhere that isn’t going to be a lot of comfort. Moreover, would you really feel more comfortable in, say, the renminbi? Even if it was fully convertible and liquid, would you honestly feel more sure that Beijing will behave lawfully than DC? The dollar still looks like the proverbial least dirty shirt in the closet.”

COVID actually has played a major role in shifting the world economy. In 2020, the US economy was 24.75% of the world’s GDP. By the start of 2022, it had fallen marginally to 24.15%. What these dollar-forecasting jockeys do not understand, is that if they were correct and the dollar collapsed, then the very BRICS would collapse even further. Economically speaking, when the United States gets a head cold, the rest of the world catches ammonia. You can’t have it both ways. The strength of the dollar is not gold or oil, it is the American consumer.

The risk to the entire world is runaway inflation thanks to Biden pouring untold amounts of money into the black hole known as Ukraine. The Neocons, who control Biden, are planning to launch a war against Russia and China before 2024. This will only continue to accelerate inflation. That reduces the spending power of the American consumer and in the process, the US economic growth declines in real terms and with it, the rest of the world plunges into recession.

While Macron has figured it out that the Neocons are in charge of US foreign policy and he is telling Europe to stop being the puppet of the USA, that all sounds nice but Europe is marching into war with Russia. NATO is firmly in control of the American Neocons and they need war or face losing power. With Trump in the lead, they must stop him at all costs for he is anti-war, would haul the Neocons out by the necks, and defund NATO, as well as stop the climate change agenda.

The US dollar in the global economy has been supported by the size and strength of the US consumer-based economy. Its stability and openness to trade and capital flows without restrictions and it has never been canceled, are the major foundation of the dollar in addition to strong property rights and the rule of law. That is why Russians and Chinese buy US property for they are secure in their ownership of US property which cannot always be guaranteed outside the US.

Consequently, the depth and liquidity of US financial markets remain unmatched. For institutions parking billions, the United States represents a large supply of extremely safe dollar-denominated assets. Are they really going to switch to China or buy debt from Brazil?  Not a single institutional client will take that bait.

China has been divesting of dollar reserves because it KNOWS that the American Neocons want war. You do not fund your adversary who intends to wage war against you. China cannot shift reserve assets to Europe or Japan. They have been buying gold because it is geopolitically neutral territory. They are NOT buying gold as an investor thinking it will rally. That is irrelevant. If gold drops 25%, that does not translate into them becoming a seller.

The dollar in international reserves stood at 60+% at the start of 2022 against the US share of GDP at 24.25%. This comparison belittles the argument that the dollar is finished. Eventually, the US will lose the wars it is starting and the dollar will be replaced perhaps as soon as 2028. The IMF is already licking its lips and rubbing its hands together eager to get control of the reserve currency. But they too will collapse. We have a Directional Change next year and a Panic Cycle in 2025. So buckle up.!

Remember one thing, even with the debasement and collapse of the Roman Denarius between 260AD and 268AD, it still took 224 years for Rome to completely collapse. When war breaks out, capital flight will still be to the dollar. It will not be to public assets, but private. The United States is still supporting the entire world economy. The BRICS need the US consumer to keep their economies functioning. All this talk of the dollar being finished is really nonsense. That day will come, but when the US consumer no longer buys.

Remember 1997? The Euro was going to dethrone the dollar. They claimed the new EU will be a bigger economy than the US. The problem was, they lacked a consumer economy, and low taxes, and they routinely canceled their currency to force people to pay taxes. It is always the same story over and over again.

China v Taiwan – The Draft Begins


Armstrong Economics Blog/War Re-Posted Apr 18, 2023 by Martin Armstrong

Chinese President Xi Jinping announced that he is preparing for war. The military budget will grow by about 7.2% this year after it has already doubled over the past decade. This is not a sudden decision. China has been quietly positioning itself for quite some time and has taken notes over Russia’s missteps with Ukraine. The People’s Liberation Army (PLA) is now drafting soldiers, and veterans and college-educated students will be at the top of the list.

Wars are now fought through intelligence and strategies rather than pure brute strength. The PLA is seeking out both women and men and is particularly interested in those with a STEM background. China’s announcement comes after Texas Republican Rep. Michael McCaul visited Taiwan to “provide deterrence to China.” Worse, McCaul told the international press that America would fight alongside Taiwan if Congress approved.

In typical political fashion, McCaul proposed a world war! “Taiwan is in a very different position from Ukraine,” McCaul said. “Number one, they’re not battle tested or ready. They are not prepared for war.” His solution? “When you look at Ukraine, they had NATO supporting them. You don’t have NATO in the Pacific,” he continued. “That’s why when looking at Japan, South Korea, Philippines, Australia, we need to start having these discussions as a deterrent for peace.”

Peace was never an option with Ukraine, and Zelensky made it known that he would not meet Moscow on any agreement. In fact, NATO and others directly helped Kiev break its promises to Moscow, such as France and Germany helping to broker the Minsk Agreement hoax to buy time for Ukraine to build up its military. China has a strategy and a mission.

Losing Taiwan would be seen as an unfathomable loss, and they are prepared to go to war against any nation that intervenes. The West has already stretched itself thin by hyper-fixating on Ukraine as their own economies crumble. Interestingly, US intelligence services believe China will invade Taiwan in 2027. The computer also indicates that a world war could peak as early as 2027, with 2024-2027 being a period of concern.