Michael Krieger

My name is Michael Krieger, and I am the creator and editor of Liberty Blitzkrieg. I'm originally from New York City.

As far as my academic and professional background, I attended college at Duke University where I earned a double major in Economics and Spanish. After completing my studies in 2000, I took a job at Lehman Brothers where I worked with the Oil analyst in the Equity Research Department.  In 2005, I joined Sanford C. Bernstein where I served as the Commodities Analyst on the trading floor. About halfway through my time there, I started to branch out and write opinions on bigger picture "macro" topics that no one else at the firm was covering. These opinion pieces were extremely popular throughout the global investment community, and I traveled around providing advice to some of the largest mutual funds, pension funds and hedge funds in the world.

I loved my job, but as time passed I started to educate myself about how the monetary and financial system functions and what I discovered disgusted me. I no longer felt satisfied working within the industry, and I resigned in January 2010.  At that point, I started a family investment office and continued to write macro pieces on economic, social and geopolitical topics. That summer, I drove cross country for six weeks and ultimately decided to leave the crowded streets of Manhattan for the open spaces of Boulder, Colorado, where I currently reside.

In the years that followed, I gradually recognized that my true passion centers upon writing on issues of significant societal importance given the extremely challenging times we live in. This realization culminated with me losing interest in financial markets and eventually launching this website in early 2012.

If you are interested in a more detailed description, replete with colorful anecdotes, of how I ended up making this bizarre professional transition, take the time to watch the video below.

https//www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/DcqMN-FXCIE?rel=0

In Liberty,
Michael Krieger

What Can Americans Learn from Chinese Government Propaganda?

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Under the relentless thrust of accelerating over-population and increasing over-organization, and by means of ever more effective methods of mind-manipulation, the democracies will change their nature; the quaint old forms—elections, parliaments, Supreme Courts and all the rest—will remain. The underlying substance will be a new kind of non-violent totalitarianism. All the traditional names, all the hallowed slogans will remain exactly what they were in the good old days. Democracy and freedom will be the theme of every broadcast and editorial—but Democracy and freedom in a strictly Pickwickian sense. Meanwhile the ruling oligarchy and its highly trained elite of soldiers, policemen, thought-manufacturers and mind-manipulators will quietly run the show as they see fit.

– From Aldous Huxley’s, Brave New World Revisited, published 1958

We live in a world like no other in human history. We’re mercilessly bombarded by intense and sophisticated propaganda virtually 24/7, whether it be from government officials, media outlets or multi-national corporations with endless budgets. The barrage is relentless, and unless you feel like ditching it all and moving into a cave, pretty much inescapable. For those of us dedicated to living on the outside, the only offense is a good defense, and a good defense requires understanding.

Most of us assume that for propaganda to be most effective it must remain undetected by its intended victims. While this is true on some level, it’s also an unsophisticated understanding of how this stuff really works here in the U.S. on a far more clever and pernicious level.

To get a deeper understanding, I want to highlight a few passages from an excellent article published at CounterPunch titled, Why Ridiculous Official Propaganda Still Works:

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Video of the Day – Ben Swan Investigates Pizzagate

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No matter where you stand on the Pizzagate theory, the following report from Ben Swan on the topic is certainly worth a watch.

Enjoy.

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Ex-Spook and Top Trump Antagonist Michael Morell is a Very Sleazy Character

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Michael Morell first came to my attention in a meaningful way last summer when he wrote an editorial in The New York Times calling Donald Trump “an unwitting agent of the Russian Federation.”  The article was widely seen as an audition for CIA director under the seemingly inevitable Clinton administration. I covered the episode in the post, New York Times Fails to Disclose Op-Ed Writer’s Ties to Hillary Clinton’s ‘Principal Gatekeeper’:

While that opportunistic hit-job certainly caught my attention, I had no idea of the horrifying professional history of the man until today. Apparently he’s had an extremely successful career being promoted for screwing up over and over again.

As The National Interest explains in a must read piece, Who Is Michael Morell?

“No doubt Putin is playing Trump!” Yes, former CIA Deputy Director Mike Morell is indeed at it again. During the presidential campaign he repeatedly attacked Donald Trump as an “unwitting agent of the Russian Federation.” In the same vein, anonymous CIA officials have supposedly provided evidence of our new president’s nefarious dealings with the Kremlin and its agents.

Didn’t Trump’s own lawyer, Michael Cohen, meet in Prague with a Kremlin agent in August 2016? And isn’t this final proof of the ongoing secret liaisons between the tycoon and the tyrant? ‘​Fraid not. But it is déjà vu. Fifteen years ago, Morell vetted and took to the White House, a preliminary report that 9/11 hijacker, Mohamed Atta, met with an Iraqi intelligence officer, Ahmad Samir, Al-Ani at the Iraqi embassy in Prague on April 9, 2001. Both reports have turned out to be bogus.

Why does CIA fiction always seem to revolve around fake Prague meetings?

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German Journalist Who Spilled the Beans on CIA Media Influence Has Died at 56 of Heart Attack

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On January 13, 2017, German journalist Udo Ulfkotte died of a heart attack. Long-time readers of Liberty Blitzkrieg will remember his name since he went public with explosive claims about how the CIA manipulates and controls much of Western media.

Here are a few excerpts from the 2014 post,  “Non-Official Cover” – Respected German Journalist Blows Whistle on How the CIA Controls the Media.

“I was bribed by billionaires, I was bribed by the Americans to report…not exactly the truth.”

– Udo Ulfkotte, a former editor of one of Germany’s main daily publications, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung

This is where the concept of “non-official cover” comes into play. The term was recently described by German journalist Udo Ulfkotte, in a blistering RT interview. Mr. Ulfkotte was previously a respected journalist for one of Germany’s main dailies, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (FAZ), so he is no small fry.

“Non-official cover” occurs when a journalist is essentially working for the CIA, but it’s not in an official capacity. This allows both parties to reap the rewards of the partnership, while at the same time giving both sides plausible deniability. The CIA will find young journalists and mentor them. Suddenly doors will open up, rewards will be given, and before you know it, you owe your entire career to them. That’s essentially how it works. But don’t take it from me…

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In Defense of Populism

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DAVOS MAN: “A soulless man, technocratic, nationless and cultureless, severed from reality. The modern economics that undergirded Davos capitalism is equally soulless, a managerial capitalism that reduces economics to mathematics and separates it from human action and human creativity.” 

– From the post: “For the Sake of Capitalism, Pepper Spray Davos”

One thing I’ve been very careful about not doing over the years is self-identifying under any particular political ideology. I articulated my reasoning in the post, Thank You and Welcome New Readers – A Liberty Blitzkrieg Mission Statement:

I am not a Democrat or a Republican. I do not consider myself a libertarian, progressive, socialist, anarchist, conservative, neoconservative or neoliberal. I’m just a 38 year old guy trying to figure it all out. Naturally, this doesn’t imply that there aren’t things which I hold dear. I have a strong belief system based on key principles. It’s just that I don’t think it makes sense for me to self-label and become part of a tribe. The moment you self-label, is the moment you stop thinking for yourself. It’s also the moment you stop listening. When you think you have all the answers, anyone who doesn’t think exactly as you do on all topics is either stupid or “paid opposition.”  I don’t subscribe to this way of thinking.

Despite my refusal to self-identify, I am comfortable stating that I’m a firm supporter of populist movements and appreciate the instrumental role they’ve played historically in free societies. The reason I like this term is because it carries very little baggage. It doesn’t mean you adhere to a specific set of policies or solutions, but that you believe above all else that the concerns of average citizens matter and must be reflected in government policy.

Populism reaches its political potential once such concerns become so acute they translate into popular movements, which in turn influence the levers of power. Populism is not a bug, but is a key feature in any democratic society. It functions as a sort of pressure relief valve for free societies. Indeed, it allows for an adjustment and recalibration of the existing order at the exact point in the cycle when it is needed most. In our current corrupt, unethical and depraved oligarchy, populism is exactly what is needed to restore some balance to society. Irrespective of what you think of Donald Trump or Bernie Sanders, both political movements were undoubtably populist in nature. This doesn’t mean that Trump will govern as populist once he is sworn into power, but there’s little doubt that the energy which propelled him to the Presidency was part of a populist wave.

Trump understands this, and despite having surrounded himself with an endless stream of slimy ex-Goldman Sachs bankers and other assorted billionaires, his campaign took the following position with regard to Davos according to Bloomberg:

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Two Things to Read on Martin Luther King Day

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On this day when we honor the legacy of Dr. King, I’ve decided to republish last year’s piece, Two Things to Read on Martin Luther King Day, in full below. Enjoy.

When evil men plot, good men must plan. When evil men burn and bomb, good men must build and bind. When evil men shout ugly words of hatred, good men must commit themselves to the glories of love. Where evil men seek to perpetrate an unjust ‘status quo’, good men must seek to bring into being a real order of justice.

– Martin Luther King Jr

The more I read of Dr. King’s words, the more impressed I become with his timeless wisdom, intellect and courage. On this day when we remember the man, it’s very important to appreciate two things. First, while MLK was a peaceful man, he was unquestionably a fierce revolutionary against the prevailing status quo. While his cause and struggle look so obvious in 2016, in his day many segments of American society considered him the enemy, including the U.S. government. For example, we now know that the FBI actually wrote him a letter suggesting he commit suicide.

As such, beyond his eloquent words, his message of love and a relentless fight for justice, we must also remember that the power structure was very much against the man and everything he stood for. Indeed, the reason “the state” is almost always on the wrong side of history, is because “the state” is typically nothing more than a collection of self-serving entrenched interests battling to preserve their wealth and power at all costs. All too often, such costs are the well being of the population in general. This is the situation we once again face in 2016.

To start, I want to share a post I wrote in 2013, titled, Martin Luther King: “Everything Adolf Hitler did in Germany was Legal”. Here are a few excerpts:

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Liberty Links 01/14/17

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If you appreciate our work, and want to contribute to genuine, independent media, consider visiting our Support Page. Must Reads Democrats Can’t Win Until They Recognize How Bad Obama’s Financial Policies Were (Fantastic piece by Matt Stoller, The Washington Post) Policing the Digital Cartels (Crazy stuff, FT) Tucker Carlson Interview with NYU Russia Professor Stephen Cohen (Fox News) Russia, Trump … Read more

Some Election Interference is More Equal Than Others – How Ukraine Meddled on Behalf of Clinton

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A couple of days ago, Politico published a fascinating piece describing how factions associated with the current Ukrainian government apparently interfered in the U.S. election on behalf of Hillary Clinton. The findings seem pretty damning, and certainly warrant at least some conversation within the American media given the 24/7 obsession with Russia. Nevertheless, most of you have probably never heard of this saga, since when it comes to the corporate media news cycle, some election interference is more equal than others.

The article is lengthy, and can be confusing at times given all the moving parts, but I highly encourage you to read it. Ukrainian interference in the election can be traced to essentially two sources. First, there was the apparent collaboration between the Ukrainian embassy in Washington D.C. and a highly paid Ukrainian-American DNC consultant, Alexandra Chalupa. The second angle is far more disturbing, and involves the publicization of a so-called ledger demonstrating corruption between Paul Manafort and pro-Russian elements in Ukraine, by a parliamentarian named Serhiy Leshchenko. Bizarrely, the investigation was effectively dropped after Trump won the election, making you wonder if there was anything really there in the first place.

What follows are excerpts from the excellent piece, Ukrainian Efforts to Sabotage Trump Backfire:

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UK Labour Leader Jeremy Corbyn Accused of “Collaborating with Russia” for Wanting Peace

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Welcome to “everyone I disagree with works for Putin,” the UK version.

UK Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn sits on the polar opposite of the political spectrum in most respects from U.S. President elect Donald Trump, yet they are both being accused of the same blasphemy — wanting peace with Russia. Here’s what I’m talking about, from The Independent:

In an interview with BBC Wales today, Mr Corbyn said it was “unfortunate that troops have gone up to the border on both sides”.

He added: “I don’t want to see any more troops deployed on the borders between Nato and Russia, I want to see a de-escalation, ultimately a de-militarisation and better relationships between both sides of it... there cannot be a return to a Cold War mentality.”

This is precisely the sort of sober commentary I’d want to hear from an elected leader at such an unnecessarily charged and dangerous moment, yet Mr. Corbyn was attacked for it in a manner quite familiar to us Americans…

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The Empire Strikes Back

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The new year is less than two weeks old, and we can already say one thing with confidence. 2017 is not going to be boring.

By now, all of you have heard about the fake news “dossier” created by an ex-Britisth spy working on opposition research funded, first by Trump’s GOP primary rivals, and then Democrats after he clinched the nomination. As has been widely reported, the contents of this document have been floating around media outlets since at least last fall, yet not a single one of them was willing to report on it in any detail or publish it in full as Buzzfeed did last evening. This is pretty remarkable considering how heated the election was, and the extent to which so many in the media desperately wanted Hillary Clinton to win. The reason nobody touched it is because, as Buzzfeed editor-in-chief Ben Smith himself admitted, the claims are unverifiable and “there is serious reason to doubt the allegations” (his words not mine). So why did CNN and Buzzfeed decided to publish this now?

To understand what I think happened, we have to go back to last week’s post titled, Did Chuck Schumer Just Threaten Donald Trump? Here’s what we learned:

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