Russia to Retaliate Against RT Stripped of Congressional Accreditation
by Stephen Lendman (stephenlendman.org - Home - Stephen Lendman)
Russia vowed tit-for-tat responses to hostile to actions, including seizure of its diplomatic properties, expelling its diplomats, and compromising the ability of RT and Sputnik News to broadcast in America - the latter action a flagrant First Amendment violation.
Speech, media and academic freedom in America are threatened, Washington and supportive online companies increasingly hostile to news, information and analysis diverging from the official narrative - the daily propaganda stream from government and dominant Western media, the hallmark of tyranny.
Will independent web sites and journalists be targeted next? Will opposition to US imperial wars, its unacceptable hostility toward sovereign independent states, its ruthless quest for unchallenged global dominance be criminalized?
Is full-blown tyranny in America one more major state-sponsored false flag away? Each US administration since the neoliberal 90s exceeded the worst of its predecessors, the neocon infested Trump administration and GOP-dominated Congress worst of all.
Will the new year usher in greater nightmarish times than now exist? Is nuclear war in one or more theaters likely? Will remaining freedoms in America vanish altogether - on the phony pretext of safeguarding national security?
The state of the nation today in America is deplorable. Is the worst yet to come?
Compromising media freedom is a major step toward banishing it altogether. The slow-motion shutdown of RT and Sputnik should terrify everyone - Russia forced to respond in kind, given no other choice.
On Thursday, Sergey Lavrov said unacceptable US actions against RT “gives us an opportunity to take tit-for-tat steps. That’s what we will do.”
On Friday, Russian State Duma Committee for Control and Regulations chairperson Olga Savastyanova said the lower house will ban all US news organizations getting full or partial government funding from receiving accreditation to enter Russia’s parliament.
Russian Federation Council Senator Igor Morozov said the upper house will act the same way, Putin certain to sign new legislation into law.
Commenting on upper and lower house legislation, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said “the discussion concerns American media outlets because such outrageous attacks on foreign media, in particular Russian ones, which are in violation of the world practice of freedom of speech, they, unfortunately, let’s say, flourish in the United States,” adding:
“Blatant attacks in violation of freedom of speech (by America) “shall not remain unanswered.”
Putin called US actions against RT an “attack on freedom of speech.” Sergey Lavrov hopes to avoid a “race of bans,” he said.
Hostile US actions against Russian media give the Kremlin no other choice but to respond tit-for-tat.
Escalating tensions risk direct confrontation. Each hostile US action against Russia advances things toward possible nuclear war - the ultimate doomsday scenario.
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