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Post-Retirement Special: 20 Years On, 9/11 Coverup Is Holding Firm, Protected By Gatekeepers in Government, Media and Academia

Despite the evident failures of foreign and domestic policy triggered by the events of 9/11, disprovable myths of the official narrative are treated as gospel, as obvious contradictions are dismissed as “debunked conspiracy theories”.  Corporate media machinery rolled into high gear in observance of the 20-year mark of September 11, 2001.  Before it could be broadcast, Spike Lee’s 4-part HBO series was attacked in the NY Times and Vanity Fair for allowing critics of the official 9/11 story to be heard, and Lee dutifully excised a 30-minute segment that had drawn the ire of media gatekeepers.

This special podcast episode is dedicated to the late Ed Asner, who wasn’t afraid to demand the truth about 9/11.  And thanks to longtime listener Del Leonard for prodding me to produce it, after years of coverage here on this critical coverup.

In the opening, you will hear a re-statement of my view: that the 9/11 Commission run by Gov. Thomas Kean, Rep. Lee Hamilton and stage manager Philip Zelikow produced an elaborate coverup in their voluminous report.  While many reflexively dismiss this rational argument rather than face the implications of the whitewash, others like me are only spurred on to expose the real conspiracy.  Broad segments of the public know they were lied to about Iraq, WMD and many other matters, but accept the 9/11 story as beyond dispute.

For the interview, we are joined by Dr. David Hughes, a senior lecturer in International Relations (IR) at the University of Lincoln in the UK.  In 2020, he published an important, peer-reviewed paper that criticized his fellow academics, 9/11 Truth and the Silence of the IR Discipline. Read it here or here.

Due to personal attacks from academics and others–especially on Twitter–Hughes declined my invitation a year ago.  With that irrational shitstorm behind him, he explains his work in this interview, and outlines the themes of his critique.  As he explains, he only researched critical commentary on the 9/11 narrative in recent years, but he is well-steeped in the literature.  He cites many credible critics like Prof. David Ray Griffin, Canadian Prof. Graeme MacQueen and many others.  He also offers special praise for the work of Dr. Judy Wood, which has been unfairly dismissed by other truth advocates, and persuades your host that her observations are due further study.

There’s a great deal more in this hour-plus conversation, including references to my interviews with former Sen. Bob Graham and Prof. Stephen Jones, which you may wish to listen to.  Near the end, we discuss that attacks on Hughes and the thought-policing that continues to operate at impressive scale, inducing most Americans to look past the obvious cover-up and its role in duping the nation into 20 years of war, occupation, torture, domestic surveillance and other rollbacks of our constitutional rights.  The lack of critical thinking is remarkable, and toxic. On September 9, The Washington Post released this disingenuous gem of a video, perverting the concept of “cognitive dissonance” to apply it to those of us who seek the truth, not those who manufactured a false narrative.

One of the pat arguments used to dismiss truth advocates is “well, where are the witnesses who staged the demolitions at the World Trade Center?” Counterpunch recently published an apologia that could be the first confession of a 9/11 conspirator.  It’s credible and plausible, if a bit annoying in its tone; but it certainly requires more evidence to be persuasive in the face of the well-settled mythology.  Thanks to Jerry Fresia for tipping me to this article.

As this is likely my final say on the 9/11 coverup, I encourage you to take up the cause, and perhaps the truth will emerge in my lifetime.  pbc