Protests Erupt Over ICE Murder; Big Oil’s DC Influence Operation w/ Nick Cleveland-Stout | MR Live
Quick Read
Summary
Takeaways
- ❖An ICE agent allegedly murdered Renee Good, a legal observer and mother of three, in Minneapolis, shooting her multiple times in her car.
- ❖ICE officers reportedly blocked a physician from aiding Renee Good as she bled out, and later moved her body without a stretcher due to blocked access.
- ❖The Trump administration, including President Trump and Governor Christine Gnome, immediately labeled Good a 'domestic terrorist' who attempted to ram agents, a claim eyewitnesses and video evidence refute.
- ❖This incident is presented as part of a pattern where ICE agents shoot individuals in vehicles and claim self-defense, often contradicted by evidence, as documented by the New York Times and a US District Judge.
- ❖The hosts frame the administration's response as fascistic, comparing its rhetoric to Israeli discourse on Palestinians and historical fascist regimes, driven by a base seeking vicarious empowerment and Christian nationalist ideology.
- ❖Nick Cleveland-Stout of the Quincy Institute reveals how DC think tanks, presenting as objective, receive millions from foreign governments and defense/oil contractors, influencing US foreign policy.
- ❖The Atlantic Council, a top recipient of such funds (e.g., $1M/year from Chevron), actively promotes maximalist regime change positions in Venezuela, directly benefiting its oil company donors.
- ❖Oil majors like Chevron, Exxon, and ConocoPhillips have significant financial interests in Venezuela, including seeking billions for nationalized assets and potential future investment in oil infrastructure (estimated $100B).
- ❖Paul Singer, a 'vulture capitalist' and major Trump/Rubio donor, stands to gain significantly from Venezuelan regime change, having bought distressed assets like Citgo for pennies on the dollar.
- ❖The Department of Homeland Security and ICE are relatively new institutions (post-9/11) and can be abolished, demonstrating that the current security state is a policy choice, not an intractable reality.
Insights
1ICE Agent Allegedly Murders Legal Observer, Renee Good
An ICE agent shot and killed Renee Good, a 37-year-old US citizen and mother of three, in Minneapolis. Good, described by her ex-husband as not an activist, was shot multiple times in the face in her car. Eyewitnesses reported ICE officers blocking a physician from providing aid. The incident occurred less than a mile from where George Floyd was murdered.
Host Emma Vigland's report based on initial news, ex-husband's statement to Politico, eyewitness Emily Heler's account, and video freeze frames.
2Trump Administration's 'Fascist' Response and Pattern of Lies
President Trump and Governor Christine Gnome immediately labeled Renee Good a 'domestic terrorist' who attempted to ram federal agents, claiming the ICE agent acted in self-defense. This narrative is directly contradicted by eyewitness accounts and video analysis showing Good's car turning away from the agent. This is part of a documented pattern where ICE agents shoot individuals in vehicles and claim self-defense, often disproven by evidence, as highlighted by a New York Times analysis and a US District Judge's opinion on DHS tactics.
Trump's statement (), Christine Gnome's press conference (), New York Times report (), US District Judge Sarah Ellis's opinion (), and freeze frames of the shooting ().
3Think Tanks as Influence Peddlers for Corporate and Foreign Interests
DC think tanks, while presenting as objective research organizations, act as intermediaries that significantly influence US foreign policy. They receive substantial funding from corporate sources, foreign governments, and Pentagon contractors. The Quincy Institute's 'Think Tank Funding Tracker' shows that foreign governments gave $110 million and Pentagon contractors $35 million to top think tanks over the last five years, often influencing their research agendas.
Guest Nick Cleveland-Stout's explanation of think tanks () and data from the Quincy Institute's Think Tank Funding Tracker ().
4Big Oil's Financial Stake in Venezuela Regime Change
Major oil companies like Chevron, Exxon, and ConocoPhillips have deep financial interests in Venezuela. Following nationalization in the mid-2000s, Exxon and ConocoPhillips demanded billions for expropriated assets. Think tanks like the Atlantic Council, which receives over $1 million annually from Chevron and up to $500,000 from Exxon, actively promote maximalist regime change in Venezuela. The Trump administration is reportedly committed to making a 'good deal' for these companies, including potential reimbursement for seized assets and subsidizing massive infrastructure investments (estimated $100 billion over 10 years).
Nick Cleveland-Stout's discussion of oil majors' history in Venezuela (), Atlantic Council funding (), and Trump administration's proposed support for oil companies ().
5Paul Singer: 'Vulture Capitalist' Benefiting from Venezuela
Paul Singer, a prominent Republican donor and 'vulture capitalist,' is positioned to benefit significantly from US actions in Venezuela. He has donated millions to Trump and Rubio and is a donor to think tanks like the Manhattan Institute, which supports regime change in Venezuela. Singer previously bought distressed assets, including Citgo (a PDVSA subsidiary with major US refineries), for a fraction of its value, standing to gain immensely from a favorable political climate in Venezuela.
Nick Cleveland-Stout's explanation of Paul Singer's background, donations, and investments ().
Bottom Line
The Trump administration's proposed $500 billion increase to the military budget (totaling $1.5 trillion) could directly subsidize oil companies' investments in Venezuela, effectively doubling their money and nationalizing the costs of corporate expansion.
This suggests a direct merger of state military power and private corporate interests, where taxpayer money is used to de-risk and fund highly profitable, politically motivated resource acquisition for private entities.
For defense contractors and oil companies, this represents an unprecedented opportunity for state-backed financial guarantees and massive, de-risked investments in resource-rich nations, potentially setting a new precedent for military-industrial-corporate partnerships.
The 'homeland' imagery used for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is framed as 'fascistic blood and soil type imagery,' erasing indigenous genocide in the US, similar to how 'homeland' for Israel erases the genocide of Palestinians.
This linguistic framing is not accidental; it serves to normalize and justify aggressive, exclusionary state actions by creating a sense of 'rightful' ownership and belonging for one group while denying it to others, paving the way for violence against perceived 'outsiders' or 'threats to the homeland.'
For critical discourse analysts and historians, this highlights the importance of deconstructing political language to expose underlying ideological agendas and their historical parallels, offering a tool to challenge state narratives.
Key Concepts
Fascist Discourse (Jean-Paul Sartre)
Fascists and anti-Semites (as described by Sartre) know their remarks are absurd but use them to amuse themselves and discredit serious interlocutors. They delight in acting in bad faith, seeking to intimidate rather than persuade with sound arguments, and will abruptly fall silent when pressed, indicating argument is over. This model is applied to the Trump administration's response to the ICE shooting.
Imperial Boomerang
Policies and tactics developed for foreign wars or surveillance abroad eventually 'boomerang' back to be used domestically. The 'War on Terror' justified a security state and mass surveillance, initially targeting Muslim communities, which then expanded to justify domestic crackdowns and the creation of institutions like ICE, leading to a sub-citizen labor force exploited by powerful interests.
Lessons
- Demand state and local officials (governors, mayors, state attorneys general) assert authority over federal agencies like ICE, prosecuting agents for alleged crimes and preventing federal 'Bigfooting' of investigations.
- Support and organize against the normalization of state violence and fascist rhetoric, recognizing that 'bad faith' arguments cannot be reasoned with and require organized opposition.
- Investigate and expose the financial ties of think tanks and political figures to corporate and foreign interests, using tools like the Quincy Institute's Think Tank Funding Tracker to reveal conflicts of interest that drive policy decisions.
Quotes
"The woman screaming was obviously a professional agitator and the woman driving the car was disorderly... who then violently, willfully, and viciously ran over the ICE officer who seems to have shot her in self-defense."
"It was an act of domestic terrorism. Uh what happened was our ICE officers were out in an enforcement action. Uh they got stuck in the snow because of the adverse weather that is in Minneapolis. They were attempting to push out their vehicle and a woman attacked them and those surrounding them and attempted to run them over and ram them with her vehicle. Uh, an officer of ours acted quickly and defensively shot uh to protect himself and the people around him and my understanding is is that she was hit and is deceased."
"I don't think I'm the most articulate person. I don't think that I I don't want to be here. Um, but I knew that this would be twisted and it would be self-defense. And that's absolutely not what happened."
"Never believe that anti-semites are completely unaware of the absurdity of their replies. They know that their remarks are frivolous, open to challenge, but they are amusing themselves for it is their adversary who is obliged to use words responsibly since he believes in words. The anti-semmites have the right to play. They even like to play with discourse for by giving ridiculous reasons. They discredit the seriousness of their interlocutors. Uh they delight in acting in bad faith since they seek not to persuade by sound argument but to intimidate and disconcert. If you press them too closely, they will abruptly fall silent, loftily indicating by some phrase that the time for argument is passed."
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