The dust has still not settled on October 7 and there are many conflicting reports of what did and did not take place, but let us for the sake of argument take the reports of Hamas’s alleged acts at face value. Does it not stand to reason that Israel would find itself in the position of being beyond condemnation for the crimes it commits? It would not.

We all are losing something even more important as cartoonists head out the door and newspapers continue to disappear. One of de Adder’s most popular cartoons these days, judging by how often it pops up on X, trenchantly depicts a row of newspaper coin boxes toppling like dominoes headed toward the watchtower of democracy. It’s enough to make you think, and that’s the whole point.

Anyone who has studied the history of propaganda must have rolled their eyes as I did upon hearing reports of babies being beheaded by Hamas militants after their incursion into Israel a year ago. History has repeatedly shown that such reports are inevitably fabricated or at least wildly exaggerated in order to influence public opinion in favour of war.

Facebook has been both a source of disinformation and an antidote to it by carrying links to factual investigative articles. Since Meta blocked links to news on Facebook and Instagram last year to avoid paying tens of millions a year to publishers under the Online News Act, there is now little opportunity to counter disinformation on its popular platforms.

We live in a world in which wealthy imperialist countries dominate and exploit the nations that are poor and oppressed. It is not surprising that this great international injustice involves the devaluing of human life. The conduct of political leaders in the West attests to this but it is also in evidence if you examine the track record of the corporate media.

The regrettable reality is that there is almost no room for an honest debate about Canada’s role in perpetuating the Russia-Ukraine conflict, or on how the war can end, writes CD columnist Yves Engler. We are too busy banning films that dare to portray ordinary Russian soldiers as human beings.

Before our next federal election comes in the next year or so, and even before November’s pivotal US presidential vote, British Columbians will go to the polls next month, and if the ugliness already being seen out here on the so-called Left Coast is any indication, reporters could be in for a bumpy ride.

Russia isn’t creating these divisions in the West, they’re attempting to exploit them for geostrategic purposes. But what the Tenet indictment exposes is that the far-right is where the money is. They’re the ones calling the shots. Anyone who suggests both ends of the political spectrum are equally susceptible to foreign exploitation is obscuring this reality.

Coming so close to November’s US presidential election, not to mention Canada’s pending federal election, the Russian disinformation revelations could have an effect similar to that of the 2016 Wikileaks dump of Hilary Clinton’s hacked campaign emails. This time the revelations could instead taint Trump and help to cement perceptions that he is a Russian asset.

I hate politicians who try to tell me what I can and cannot say. I hate governments that threaten to lock me up for something I haven’t even said yet but might just be thinking of saying. There, is that enough hate for you? Could it be enough to run me afoul of Ottawa’s latest scheme to regulate the Internet and get me arrested under Bill C-63, the Online Harms Act?