Why Bret Weinstein should stick to studying tent-making bats rather than discussing political developments in Panama

The following is an excerpt from my much longer paper titled “On President Putin's Interview with Tucker Carlson...” which can be read in full here.

It is during this next part of the interview between President Putin and Carlson that it gets particularly interesting considering Tucker Carlson had released just days before his visit to Moscow, his incredibly irresponsible interview with Mr. Square-Head aka Mr. Conjecture, Bret Weinstein who appeared to live more in his imagination than anything partaking in reality or an understanding of basic geopolitics and history during his entire interview with Carlson.

I am going to go on a mini-rant about this since, well, it was Tucker Carlson who agreed to this and aired it, again, only days before his talk with President Putin so I think it is relevant to discuss this here in relationship to the interview with President Putin which was conducted it seems at least partially with a wishful hoping that President Putin would want to be courted. As President Putin responded himself to Carlson’s retort that he sounds “bitter” about Anglo-America’s refusal to invite Russia into NATO. President Putin responded with: “You said I was bitter about the answer. No, it's not bitterness, it's just a statement of fact. We're not the bride and groom, bitterness, resentment, it's not about those kinds of matters in such circumstances.”

Carlson again repeats that he think President Putin is bitter in his aftermath of the interview back at his hotel room. It is as if Carlson really wants to believe, and wants whoever is watching to believe President Putin is “bitter” about the West’s treatment of him since this gives the impression that President Putin would still like to be invited into the club. This is truly a case of being deaf-blind-and dumb if anyone is to believe this fairy-tale at this point. That Russia would be so foolish as to forsake its alliance with China in favor of being the West’s favourite pet. Good grief!

Is Carlson not aware that President Putin in a recent speech had referred to those Russian oligarchs who betrayed Russia, those that were connected to Moscow on the Thames within the City of London - President Putin referred to these traitors as “Those who would sell their grandmothers to be given the opportunity to sit in the halls of their masters.” Paraphrasing here, but that was essentially what he said. Does that sound like a guy that wants to be courted by the West?

Days before Carlson’s interview with President Putin, Bret reports on the Tucker Carlson show of a “hostile” Chinese presence, backed by the Chinese government, stationed in Panama that is according to Bret and his “tour-guide” Green Beret Michael Yon somehow responsible for funneling an unknown number of migrants into the United States, and hinting at a possible Chinese military take-over of the country. Bret and Michael have yet to show any actual evidence for the incredible level of fear-mongering they are stirring up (as with much that has gone down the memory hole, we are supposed to regard Green Berets as something patriotic and not actually part of some of the most sinister activities within the Vietnam War and Operation Gladio more broadly).

Bret apparently became convinced of this general outlook (let’s be honest here, if he was not, he would not have come onto Carlson’s show in the first place to share his thoughts with millions of viewers) after he saw about 100, yes you heard right - sound the Paul Revere alarm!!! A gigantic horde made up of 100 Asian people in an unidentified camp who refused to talk to him, not realising maybe it had something to do with the fact that his tour-guide was a Green Beret who was refused entry into China during the CIA directed Hong Kong color revolution in 2019. This was of course after their productive coup in the Maidan in 2014, to which President Putin directly brings up in his interview with Carlson - that it was the CIA who orchestrated the Maidan coup. President Putin also brings up the fact that Tucker Carlson had made an application to the CIA, but we are told, was rejected…

Bret uses this observation of 100 people, who he was denied access to and who refused to talk to him, which he in turn concludes as “hostile" based on these two facts alone, as the basis for a one hour trip into the imaginary meanderings of someone who has absolutely no knowledge of what he is speaking about and making conjecture after conjecture as if he were on the Nature channel trying to read the body behaviours of tent-making bats, attempting to decipher their numerous body gesticulations as signs of hostility towards American freedom!

Yet Bret found no contradiction in his romantic description of his experience studying tent-making bats for the Smithsonian Institute stationed in, if not nearby, the American military base in Panama at the time, which was an unforgettable experience which he described quite warmly reminiscing about his stay at the American military base on the Carlson show. Apparently only Americans can station military bases throughout the world and this is a great thing. But a grouping of 100 Asians in Panama who refused to talk to you is justification to sound the Paul Revere alarm to millions of Carlson viewers…

This is rather disturbing considering John Perkins in his very well-known book “Confessions of an Economic Hitman” describes how the President of Panama, Omar Torrijos, was assassinated by U.S. agents for opposing the interests of the Anglo-American owners of Panama’s foreign debt, something that I think Perkins makes a pretty solid case for and was directly implicated in as an economic hit-man to Panama.

Thus, Panama was essentially an occupied country by the United States during Bret’s first stay in Panama, which he seems completely oblivious to, or maybe he was aware and prefers Panama this way…

John Perkins begins his preface in his “Confessions of an Economic Hitman” with:

“ ‘Economic hit men (EHMs) are highly paid professionals who cheat countries around the globe out of trillions of dollars. They funnel money from the World Bank, the U.S. Agency for International Development ( USAID), and other foreign ‘aid’ organizations into the coffers of huge corporations and the pockets of a few wealthy families who control the planet's natural resources. Their tools include fraudulent financial reports, rigged elections, payoffs, extortion, sex, and murder. They play a game as old as empire, but one that has taken on new and terrifying dimensions during this time of globalization. I should know; I was an EHM.’

I wrote that in 1982, as the beginning of a book with the working title, Conscience of an Economic Hit Man. The book was dedicated to the presidents of two countries, men who had been my clients, whom I respected and thought of as kindred spirits — Jaime Roldos, president of Ecuador, and Omar Torrijos, president of Panama. Both had just died in fiery crashes. Their deaths were not accidental. They were assassinated because they opposed that fraternity of corporate, government, and banking heads whose goal is global empire. We EHMs failed to bring Roldos and Torrijos around, and the other type of hit men, the CIA-sanctioned jackals who were always right behind us, stepped in.

I was persuaded to stop writing that book. I started it four more times during the next twenty years. On each occasion, my decision to begin again was influenced by current world events: the U.S. invasion of Panama in 1989, the first Gulf War, Somalia, the rise of Osama bin Laden. However, threats or bribes always convinced me to stop.”

But Perkins would eventually write the book, and his love and respect for the man Omar Torrijos, a man Perkins personally knew and referred to as “the hero of modern Panama” was strongly felt.

As with most people who disagree with the United States, Torrijos was labeled a dictator, however, Perkins describes the man as a true leader of the Panama people who courageously fought for their welfare and a more prosperous future. How is Bret not even seemingly aware, or at least in complete disregard to Perkin’s well-known accounts of such economic assassinations let alone the fact that Panama was an occupied country during his visit? And yet he encouraged the idea that he held some sort of special relationship and insight into Panama dynamics, including its politics and the thoughts of the people??? I think not.

Bret goes on to disgustingly dismiss the idea that a bridge he visited that crosses from Panama to the Darien Gap that connects with Colombia could possibly be for connecting the two regions together for, here is a crazy thought, an economic benefit in trade.

Bret refers to this bridge as the “bridge to nowhere” and writes in his Twitter feed that in his recent trip with Michael Yon to Panama, he was taken to Yaviza where a bridge is being built extending the Pan American highway into the Darien gap. Yes, apparently highways are also not acceptable in Bret’s view of what Panamanians are allowed to build.

Bridges bad, check. Highways bad, check. Chinese build bridges and highways, check. Thus, Chinese must be planning an invasion of the United States, check.

Who could argue with such airtight facts?

What is yet another level of disgusting in this whole narrative, is that Panama was once a part of Colombia until American colonization. Perkins writes in his “Confessions of an Economic Hit-Man”:

“Panama was part of Colombia when the French engineer Ferdinand de Lesseps, who directed construction of the Suez Canal, decided to build a canal through the Central American isthmus, to connect the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. Beginning in 1881, the French undertook a mammoth effort that met with one catastrophe after another. Finally, in 1889, the project ended in financial disaster —but it had inspired a dream in Theodore Roosevelt. During the first years of the twentieth century, the United States demanded that Colombia sign a treaty turning the isthmus over to a North American consortium. Colombia refused.

In 1903, President Roosevelt sent in the U.S. warship Nashville. U.S. soldiers landed, seized and killed a popular local militia commander, and declared Panama an independent nation. A puppet government was installed and the first Canal Treaty was signed; it established an American zone on both sides of the future waterway, legalized U.S. military intervention, and gave Washington virtual control over this newly formed "independent" nation.

Interestingly, the treaty was signed by U.S. Secretary of State Hay and a French engineer, Philippe Bunau-Varilla, who had been part of the original team, but it was not signed by a single Panamanian. In essence, Panama was forced to leave Colombia in order to serve the United States, in a deal struck by an American and a Frenchman — in retrospect, a prophetic beginning.”

Apparently Bret, who is supposed to know some basic facts about Panama also left this big detail out, is he even aware? Within this context, how can one think they hold the moral ground and say Panama and Colombia should not be interconnected with each other? Two regions that were the same people sharing the same culture and heritage until the Americans created a forceful divide at the turn of the 20th century and turned Panama into essentially an American colony?

In fact, China has also built thus far three bridges and is working on a fourth that cross-over the Panama Canal. These are projects that have clearly been approved by the Panama government. Yet, Bret dismisses this explanation of economic development as almost irrelevant and can only see a sinister motive here. Bret even admits that he thinks Panama should ask the permission of the United States to build these bridges and highways!!!

Bret admits that it is HIS OWN GOVERNMENT ultimately who is allowing these migrants in, but does not bother to ponder this reality further and goes on to conclude that it must be due to Chinese infiltration with absolutely no evidence, not even evidence to showcase that the migrants who travel through Panama from South America are in fact entering the United States but there is at least a great deal of encouragement to do so inside Panama according to Bret from…the United States government!!! Hmmm. And this is why Panama cannot economically develop and work with China?!?!?!?!

We can almost hear Bret wish outloud for the good old days when the Americans had an actual military base stationed in Panama and where nothing crossed the Panamal Canal without their approval. The good ol’ days when its CIA jackals roamed the plains freely and Bret studied the mating rituals of tent-making bats.

My apologies if my hard criticism offends some people since Bret has done some good work on the C*VID front, however, this is just another example of those who fought hard for freedom in their country but ultimately were about putting one’s own liberty at the forefront of others, that is American liberty. Bret has clearly shown that he is not concerned with the liberty of non-Americans in this interview.

Now back to the interview with President Putin…

After just a few days of this circus monkey interview with Bret, Carlson travels to Moscow to speak with President Putin. One almost wonders if this was done on purpose, as a way of pretending like Russia and China are not each other’s greatest allies and economic partners.

Carlson says: “Well, of course, it did come true [NATO’s expansion], and you’ve mentioned it many times. I think, it’s a fair point. And many in America thought that relations between Russia and United States would be fine after the collapse of the Soviet Union, at the core. But the opposite happened. But have never explained why you think that happened, except to say that the West fears a strong Russia. But we have a strong China that the West doesn’t seem to be very afraid of. What about Russia, what do you think convinced the policymakers to take it down?”

Yes, Carlson had the audacity to say to President Putin that Americans are not afraid of a strong China. Wow… What is Carlson thinking he is accomplishing by this amnesiac comment? This just days after Bret’s fear mongering interview that set millions of Americans into a crazed anti-China frenzy?!?! It is at this point that President Putin makes it crystal clear where Russia stands concerning China, and how he views China’s intentions.

President Putin states: “The West is afraid of a strong China more than it fears a strong Russia because Russia has 150 million people, and China has a 1.5 billion population, and its economy is growing by leaps and bounds — over five percent a year, it used to be even more. But that's enough for China. As Bismark once put it, potentials are most important. China's potential is enormous — it is the biggest economy in the world today in terms of purchasing power parity and the size of the economy. It has already overtaken the United States, quite a long time ago, and it is growing at a rapid clip.

Let's not talk about who is afraid of whom, let's not reason in such terms.

President Putin, before returning to the subject of China, explains how the United States attempted to destroy the Russian economy and thought Russia would not be able to survive economic warfare with the United States.

However, it is in fact Russia who has clearly come out on top in the economic war with the U.S. which Carlson himself does not deny.

President Putin states: “Look at what is going on in the world. Even the United States' allies are now downsizing their dollar reserves. Seeing this, everyone starts looking for ways to protect themselves. But the fact that the United States applies restrictive measures to certain countries, such as placing restrictions on transactions, freezing assets, etc., causes grave concern and sends a signal to the whole world.

What did we have here? Until 2022, about 80 per cent of Russia's foreign trade transactions were made in US dollars and euros. US dollars accounted for approximately 50 per cent of our transactions with third countries, while currently it is down to 13 per cent. It was not us who banned the use of the US dollar, we had no such intention. It was the decision of the United States to restrict our transactions in US dollars. I think it is a complete foolishness from the point of view of the interests of the United States itself and its tax payers, as it damages the US economy, undermines the power of the United States across the world.

By the way, our transactions in Yuan accounted for about 3 per cent. Today, 34 per cent of our transactions are made in Rubles, and about as much, a little over 34 per cent, in Yuan.

Why did the United States do this? My only guess is self-conceit. They probably thought it would lead to a full collapse, but nothing collapsed. Moreover, other countries, including oil producers, are thinking of and already accepting payments for oil in yuan. Do you even realize what is going on or not? Does anyone in the United States realize this? What are you doing? You are cutting yourself off… all experts say this. Ask any intelligent and thinking person in the United States what the dollar means for the US? You are killing it with your own hands.

Carlson responds: “I think that is a fair assessment. The question is what comes next? And maybe you trade one colonial power for another, much less sentimental and forgiving colonial power? Is the BRICS, for example, in danger of being completely dominated by the Chinese economy? In a way that is not good for their sovereignty. Do you worry about that?”

Here Carlson actually has the audacity to refer to China as not only a colonial power, but a “much less sentimental and forgiving colonial power” than the United States, while admitting that his own country is an actual colonial power.

President Putin responds to this accusation of China with: “We have heard those boogeyman stories before. It is a boogeyman story. We are neighbours with China. You cannot choose neighbours, just as you cannot choose close relatives. We share a border of 1000 kilometers with them. This is number one.

Second, we have a centuries-long history of coexistence, we are used to it.

Third, China's foreign policy philosophy is not aggressive, its idea is to always look for compromise, and we can see that.

The next point is as follows. We are always told the same boogeyman story, and here it goes again, though in a euphemistic form, but it is still the same bogeyman story: [yet] the cooperation with China keeps increasing. The pace at which China's cooperation with Europe is growing is higher and greater than that of the growth of Chinese-Russian cooperation. Ask Europeans: aren’t they afraid? They might be, I do not know, but they are still trying to access China's market at all costs, especially now that they are facing economic problems. Chinese businesses are also exploring the European market.

Do Chinese businesses have small presence in the United States? Yes, the political decisions are such that they are trying to limit their cooperation with China.

[leans in and looks straight at Carlson]

It is to your own detriment, Mr Tucker, that you are limiting cooperation with China, you are hurting yourself. It is a delicate matter, and there are no silver bullet solutions, just as it is with the dollar.

So, before introducing any illegitimate sanctions — illegitimate in terms of the Charter of the United Nations — one should think very carefully. For decision-makers, this appears to be a problem.”

I think the message is pretty clear here from President Putin. “China’s foreign policy philosophy is not aggressive, its idea is to always look for compromise, and we can see that.” That does not sound like the actions of a colonial power does it?

American viewers, who are being encouraged by such media outlets like the Tucker Carlson show, to view the Chinese as non-human, soulless boogey-men should take note here. President Putin has made it crystal clear that he, who should know China much better than the Americans since Russia is not only neighbours with China and has a long historical relationship but also because President Putin is quite experienced in intelligence gathering.

In other words, he would know if such boogey-men stories were true or not. He is explicitly stating they are not true. If Americans want to regard President Putin as someone wise and genuine, they cannot discount these words.

Carlson than goes on to ask another question, and it is here that President Putin makes the point that he was not done answering the previous question concerning China and goes on to further emphasize his positive relationship with China.

President Putin states: “I will tell you. But let me finish the previous thought. We, together with my colleague and friend President Xi Jinping, set a goal to reach 200 billion dollars of mutual trade with China this year. We have exceeded this level. According to our figures, our bilateral trade with China totals already 230 billion, and the Chinese statistics says it is 240 billion dollars.

One more important thing: our trade is well-balanced, mutually complementary in high-tech, energy, scientific research and development. It is very balanced.

As for BRICS, where Russia took over the presidency this year, the BRICS countries are, by and large, developing very rapidly.

Look, if memory serves me right, back in 1992, the share of the G7 countries in the world economy amounted to 47 per cent, whereas in 2022 it was down to, I think, a little over 30 per cent. The BRICS countries accounted for only 16 per cent in 1992, but now their share is greater than that of the G7. It has nothing to do with the events in Ukraine. This is due to the trends of global development and world economy that I mentioned just now, and this is inevitable. This will keep happening, it is like the rise of the sun — you cannot prevent the sun from rising, you have to adapt to it. How do the United States adapt? With the help of force: sanctions, pressure, bombings, and use of armed forces.

This is about self-conceit. Your political establishment does not understand that the world is changing (under objective circumstances), and in order to preserve your level — even if someone aspires, pardon me, to the level of dominance — you have to make the right decisions in a competent and timely manner.

Such brutal actions, including with regard to Russia and, say, other countries, are counterproductive. This is an obvious fact; it has already become evident.

…It is not about the personality of the leader [referring to American leader], it is about the elites’ mindset. If the idea of domination at any cost, based also on forceful actions, dominates the American society, nothing will change, it will only get worse. But if, in the end, one comes to the awareness that the world has been changing due to objective circumstances, and that one should be able to adapt to them in time, using the advantages that the U.S. still has today, then, perhaps, something may change.

Look, China's economy has become the first economy in the world in purchasing power parity; in terms of volume it overtook the US a long time ago. The USA comes second, then India (one and a half billion people), and then Japan, with Russia in the fifth place. Russia was the first economy in Europe last year, despite all the sanctions and restrictions. Is this normal, from your point of view: sanctions, restrictions, impossibility of payments in dollars, being cut off from SWIFT services, sanctions against our ships carrying oil, sanctions against airplanes, sanctions in everything, everywhere? The largest number of sanctions in the world which are applied – are applied against Russia. And we have become Europe's first economy during this time.

The tools that the US uses don't work. Well, one has to think about what to do. If this realization comes to the ruling elites, then yes, then the first person of the state will act in anticipation of what the voters and the people who make decisions at various levels expect from this person. Then maybe something will change.”

I think that suffices as the overall message President Putin wished to make to an American audience, whether the Americans have the capability to understand this remains to be determined. Either way President Putin has made it clear, whether the United States wishes to adapt or not to the changing world, a multipolar world, the world will continue on with or without the participation of the United States whose use of brute force in war and economics has finally rendered itself “useless.”

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Cynthia Chung is the President of the Rising Tide Foundation and author of the books “The Shaping of a World Religion” & “The Empire on Which the Black Sun Never Set,” consider supporting her work by making a donation and subscribing to her substack page Through A Glass Darkly.

Also watch for free our RTF Docu-Series “Escaping Calypso’s Island: A Journey Out of Our Green Delusion” and our CP Docu-Series “The Hidden Hand Behind UFOs”.

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To read my full write-up on Carlson’s interview with President Putin refer here: