US media in all-out effort to stop Trump-Putin summit

Recently, plans for a summit meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin were announced.

The report was first disclosed rather quietly late on a Friday evening three weeks ago in the Wall Street Journal, and subsequent reports indicated more and more details in terms of both the intent and the stage of planning conducted for these meetings. Hopes are rising that this meeting will lead to a normalization of relations between the US and Russia.

Over the past two weeks, the press has tried to destroy this narrative.

First, the “crisis” of immigrants on the border in connection with the application of the existing policy that separates children of illegal aliens from their parents if their parents were imprisoned for a crime.

Reuters launched a story in which this topic was highlighted

After about one week of criticism concerning the separation of illegal immigrant children from their parents, the White House pointed out a photo of a Honduran child who was seen sobbing on the US-Mexican border, to accuse the Democrats and the media that they used this photo to push their agenda for immigration.

The photo taken by Getty Images photographer John Moore at the place of detention at the border this month became a powerful image in media coverage of the division of families on the US-Mexican border.

Dozens of newspapers and magazines, including Time and The Washington Post, published the image.

The image, widely seen as showing the girl crying over being parted from her mother, helped swell outrage at home and abroad that pushed President Donald Trump to back down on Wednesday on his administration’s policy of separating children from their families while the adults were prosecuted for illegally crossing the border.

Getty’s caption on the June 12 picture taken at the Texas border town of McAllen said the photo showed a 2-year-old Honduran asylum seeker crying as her mother was searched and detained. The caption said the detention could lead to possible separation, not that this had occurred.

In an article about the picture, the Washington Post quoted Moore as saying that after he took the picture he feared the girl and her mother might be separated, but he did not know what happened to them.

White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders said on Friday the mother and child had not been separated, and accused Democrats and the media of exploiting the picture.

“It’s shameful that dems and the media exploited this photo of a little girl to push their agenda. She was not separated from her mom. The separation here is from the facts. Dems should join POTUS (the president) and fix our broken immigration system,” she tweeted.

And, later, a piece from Reuters confirmed this, noting that the girl’s own father said that she was not separated from her mother.

Representatives from Getty Images did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Friday.

For its cover this week, titled “Welcome to America,” Time magazine cropped the picture to show just the girl, juxtaposing it with a picture of Trump, as though he were looking down at her.

This was Attempt Number One.

Attempt Number Two might be said to have occurred last night.

In the Duran video report run by Alex Christoforou, we learn about the latest statements by former presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, where she went on record as saying that President Putin is a white supremacist.

Reuters ran this report, discussing Hillary’s statements:

Russian President Vladimir Putin has positioned himself as the leader of a xenophobic movement that wants to weaken the United States’ traditional alliances and undermine democracy, former U.S. presidential candidate Hillary Clinton said on Friday.

The former secretary of state described Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election she lost to Donald Trump as “a clear and present danger to western democracy”.

Special Counsel Robert Mueller is leading an investigation into Russia’s role in the 2016 election. Moscow denies U.S. intelligence agency allegations that it interfered in the election, and Trump has denied colluding with Russia.

“Vladimir Putin has positioned himself as the leader of an authoritarian, white-supremacist and xenophobic movement that wants to break up the EU, weaken America’s traditional alliances and undermine democracy,” Clinton said in a lecture at Trinity College Dublin, where she received an honorary doctorate.

“We can see this authoritarian movement rippling out from the Kremlin, reaching across Europe and beyond. It’s emboldening right-wing nationalists, separatists, racists and even neo-nazis. We are living through an era when fundamental rights, civic virtue, even facts and reason are under assault like never before.”

The Duran’s own Alexander Mercouris explained the dynamics of the upcoming summit at length in his report, here. In particular he focuses on the British leadership’s fears of such a meeting. Fears in certain sectors of the American political and media establishment are also significant.

It is widely believed that such a summit would result in some kind of sanctions roll-back. For those who have a geopolitical agenda that requires Russia be isolated and diminished in importance as a world power, this would be very bad news.

However, President Trump is not one of these people. He has stated on multiple occasions the need for Russia to be involved with the G7 (making it the G8 once again) and more directly he expressed the need for closer relations, saying “Russia needs our help.”

While this statement is probably intended to make the relations look more attractive, there is some truth to it, as a resumption of US investment and resources could help Russia build, or rebuild her infrastructure.

The other side of this need would be something closer to at least an agreement to cooperate, if not  formi an outright alliance.

Even mutual cooperation in rivalry holds unbelievable potential, such as fewer wars across the world.

Unity in economic affairs could greatly enhance world economic and political stability, most notably with China as the third partner in a distinctly sovereign, but cooperative triad of Great Powers.

While these possibilities seem very bright for the average citizenry of all the nations involved, there are those who stand to lose from such peace, and the media attacks of late are beginning to reflect the anger – and fear – of those who stand to lose from it.