Glenn Greenwald
Politics • Writing • Culture
Biden Demands Billions More to Ukraine—Still Without Meaningful Oversight, Google Faces Historic Anti-Trust Lawsuit (w/ Matt Stoller), & Jack Smith Gets Trump's DMs
Video Transcript
August 14, 2023
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Good evening. It’s Thursday, August 10. Welcome to a new episode of System Update, our live nightly show that airs every Monday through Friday at 7 p.m. Eastern, exclusively here, on Rumble, the free speech alternative to YouTube.

Tonight: new polling data last week revealed that a majority of Americans – 55% – now oppose further financial assistance from the United States to fuel the war in Ukraine, with a similar percentage believing that the U.S.  has now done enough, it will likely not surprise you to learn that the views of American citizens do not matter at all to the ruling class, either generally, or especially, when it comes to American wars. 

Just days after this polling data was released and the trend has long been clear that support for the U.S. role in Ukraine has been eroding steadily among Americans, President Biden today demanded that Congress approve an additional $25 billion to send to arms manufacturers and to Ukraine. The U.S. has already authorized more than $110 billion for the war, but the new amounts Biden is now seeking are so large that even Associated Press, when reporting on it, called it “another massive infusion of cash as the Russian invasion wears on.” (Aug. 10, 2023) 

This is the first time that Biden has sought the kind of additional expenditures for the war that will require congressional approval ever since the Republicans under House Speaker Kevin McCarthy regained control of the House. Prior to the midterm election, McCarthy, knowing that voters were turning against the war – and, more importantly to him, that many of the House Republicans he needed to become speaker opposed the war from the start and voted NO the first time around – pretended that he would be far more restrained than Nancy Pelosi was in allowing more spending for the war, saying “the days of a blank check are over.” However, as soon as Republicans safely won that election and the majority that went along with it and McCarthy was safely elected speaker, he and his allies, including the pro-war hawks he deliberately put in charge of the key military and foreign affairs committees, began making clear that the House speaker was, of course, a full scale and ardent supporter of Biden's war policies in Ukraine. 

There is some speculation in Washington now about whether McCarthy will have the political space to maneuver Biden's request for approval in the House. The New York Times today reported that Mr. McCarthy said in June that any supplemental appropriation request for Ukraine was “not going anywhere” and that additional aid will have to be worked out in the regular congressional spending process. But it is hard to remember the last time the U.S.  war machine did not get what it wanted, and it seems very difficult to envision that happening here. Will analyze all aspects of this new war spending request and the political components to it as well. 

Then, Google faces one of the greatest legal threats yet to its massive power in a case brought by the Trump Justice Department against the search giant. A federal judge in Washington ruled in the fall that Google must stand trial in order to contest charges brought by the DOJ's Antitrust Division and various states’ attorneys general that its search engine’s market dominance is so extreme that it constitutes a violation of antitrust laws and should therefore be broken up. The trial starts September 12. 

Our guest tonight to talk about all this is one of the nation's leading antitrust experts, Matt Stoller. Last week, he wrote about this case under the headline “The first big antitrust trial of the century is about to start.” About that trial, Stoller wrote: "Google has maintained this monopoly, the government alleges, not by making a better product, but by locking down everywhere that consumers might be able to find a different search engine option, and making sure they only see Google." Stoller with be with us to examine the potential consequences - which are massive - of this legal case starting soon. 

Finally, last night, we told you about newly disclosed documents revealing that prosecutors working for special counsel Jack Smith issued a subpoena to Twitter in 2022, demanding that the social media company turn over Trump's private communications on the platform. Twitter resisted the subpoena to the point that they were fined by the judge. But not only was Twitter ordered by a federal court to turn over Trump's communications, but they were also banned by court order at the request of Smith's prosecutorial team to even advise Trump of the subpoena, which would have allowed him the opportunity to argue that it was legally invalid or unconstitutional. We'll take more in-depth into this common yet repressive practice and how it found expression in this investigation to try to render Trump a criminal and to report on one particularly bizarre component of the anti-Trump aspects of this ruling, where a judge seemed to approve an argument that the government later on set was invalid and that they made by accident. 

As we do every Tuesday and Thursday, as we're done with our one-hour live show here on Rumble, we will meet at Locals for our interactive aftershow, to take your questions and comment on your feedback. That aftershow is available only for subscribers. So, if you want to have access to it as well as the original content we post there, you can join our Locals community by clicking the join button right below the video player on the Rumble page, and doing so you will also help support the independent journalism that we do here. 

We are encouraging our audience, our viewers – that's you! – to download the Rumble app, which is very high quality, and is available on smart TV or on telephones, and that will enable you to follow our program as well as other Rumble programs. And if you turn on notifications, which we hope you will, you will get notified the minute our show starts airing live, which means you don't need to wait around in order for the show to start. You don't need to have to remember at what time our program begins. You'll just be automatically notified in whatever manner you decide you want to be notified. And that will also enable you to encourage others to download that app and follow our program – and others as well. It really is important both for our program and the way in which we're continuing to build our audience as well as to the Rumble platform itself. 

As another reminder, System Update is also available in podcast form where you can follow us on Spotify, Apple and all other major podcasting platforms. Each program is posted 12 hours after its first broadcast live, here on Rumble. If you rate and review the program, you’ll help spread the visibility of the show.

 For now, welcome to a new episode of System Update starting right now. 

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Listen to this Article: Reflecting New U.S. Control of TikTok's Censorship, Our Report Criticizing Zelensky Was Deleted

For years, U.S. officials and their media allies accused Russia, China and Iran of tyranny for demanding censorship as a condition for Big Tech access. Now, the U.S. is doing the same to TikTok. Listen below.

Listen to this Article: Reflecting New U.S. Control of TikTok's Censorship, Our Report Criticizing Zelensky Was Deleted
30 minutes ago

What is going on here:
Iowa has the first-in-the-nation caucus, where Iowans will gather to pick who they want to see as their party's Presidential candidate. But things are a bit different this year. Learn more about what will happen on caucus night - Monday, January 15, 2024 (at 7 pm).

Only Republicans will pick and announce their Presidential choice that night. Iowa Democrats will still hold a caucus to conduct party business (like setting the party's issue priorities), but they will pick their preferred Presidential candidate using a mail-in preference card that can be requested now through February 19, 2024. Mail-in ballots will begin hitting your mailboxes on January 12, 2024.

I think Dave Rubin tried to associate himself with Eric Weinstein’s analysis, as a way of providing a response to being called out for his hypocrisy… his use of the word “we” and “people like us” is pretty funny and pathetic… as well as staged/pre planned

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WEEKLY WEIGH-IN: We Want to Hear From YOU!
Weekly Weigh-In

Thank you so much for your continued support through another week of SYSTEM UPDATE with Glenn Greenwald! Any thoughts you’d like to share?

This post will be pinned to our profile for the next week, so comment below anytime with your questions, insights, future topic ideas/guest recommendations, etc. Let’s get a conversation going!

Glenn may even address some particularly interesting exchanges on our next supporters-only After Show.

 

🏆Dog-of-the-Week:

Sleepy Sylvester works hard on some thoughtful responses with co-host Glenn on our Locals after show.

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SYSTEM UPDATE NEWSLETTER: NOV 27 - DEC 1
Weekly Newsletter

We are pleased to send you a summary of the key stories we covered last week. These are written versions of the reporting and analysis we did on last week's episodes of SYSTEM UPDATE.

—Glenn Greenwald

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SYSTEM UPDATE RECAP: NOV 27- DEC 1
Weekly Recap

Good Morning SYSTEM UPDATE Community,

Welcome to the SYSTEM UPDATE recap, your weekend digest featuring everything we’ve covered throughout the previous week. 

Enjoy!

 

Prefer to listen to your daily news analysis? Reminder that FULL episodes of SYSTEM UPDATE are available anywhere you listen to podcasts🎙️

 

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 27 - EPISODE 187

Elon Meets Netanyahu in Israel—Why? Vivek Ramaswamy on Free Speech Debates, Ukraine, & More. Plus: CNN & Senate Dems Demand More Censorship Over Israel

Full transcript available for paid supporters here.

 

WATCH THE EPISODE:

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Intro (6:48)

Censorship Demands Continue (13:37)

Elon Visits Israel (32:09)

Interview with Vivek Ramaswamy (1:11:06)

Ending (1:34:58)

 

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 28 - EPISODE 188

Americans Fired Since Oct. 7—What They Really Said. Is TikTok Censoring for China or the US? 

Full transcript available for paid supporters here.

 

WATCH THE EPISODE:

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Intro (9:38)

Canceling Israel’s Critics (14:58)

Who Does TikTok Really Serve? (55:29)

Ending (1:29:18)

 

Supporters-Only After Show for Tuesday, November 28

We moved to Locals for our supporters-only, interactive after show, where Glenn shared his thoughts on some burning audience questions:

 

@Tbone316

Almost none of the Arab countries will back up the Palestinian cause with any impactful political actions. And if a certain Arab country does decide to, they get destroyed literally or metaphorically. How can the Palestinians have any chance of statehood if these geopolitical conditions and order remains?  

 

@icon-dots

Irish viewer here. Do you have any thoughts on the ongoing Irish hate speech legislation? Have you ever considered having MEP Clare Daly on the show? 

 

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WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 29 - EPISODE 189

Leading Palestine Expert Rashid Khalidi on Israel-Gaza, College Campuses, & More. Plus: Elon Musk’s Defiant Message to Disney

Full transcript available for paid supporters here.

 

WATCH THE EPISODE:

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Intro (4:18)

Elon’s Defiant Message to Disney (9:35)

Interview with Rashid Khalidi (24:53)

Ending (1:15:21)

 

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 30 - EPISODE 190

The Murderous Life & Legacy of Henry Kissinger: Perfect Symbol of the Rotted US Security State

Full transcript will be available for paid supporters here.

 

WATCH THE EPISODE:

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Intro (10:40)

Henry Kissinger: A Murderous Legacy (16:30)

Ending (1:38:24)

 

Supporters-Only After Show for Thursday, November 30

We moved to Locals for our supporters-only, interactive after show, where Glenn shared his thoughts on some burning audience questions:  

 

@Thefarside

Your shows on free speech have been very informative. You distinguished between state action and private company decisions in the context of firings for example. I’ve been wondering how to think about free speech at universities and in particular whether the rules are different for private vs. public/state universities. And even for private universities whether it matters if they receive government funding. Thanks.

 

@GotrekGurnnison 

Glenn, can we get a deep look at some of these 3rd party corporations involved in "Trust and Safety" i.e. censorship? Seems like platforms are outsourcing more and more censorship to 3rd parties and it is a massively booming business model.

 

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FRIDAY, DECEMBER 1 - EPISODE 191

Taibbi/Shellenberger Clash with Censorship Regime in Congress (Again). DEBATE: Glenn & Israel Supporter, Max Abrahms Discuss War in Gaza

Full transcript will be available for paid supporters on Monday.

 

WATCH THE EPISODE:

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Intro (7:34)

Facing the Censorship Regime (12:04)

Interview with Max Abrahms (37:21)

Ending (1:48:26)

 

*Today’s show was brought to you by the Wellness Company. Go to twc.health/GLENN and grab your prescription kits now–code GLENN saves you 10% at checkout!  

 

Thank you so much for your continued support—have a great week!

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