COINTELPRO 2.0: Project Esther, EO 14243, and Palantir

The pattern is familiar, and the escalation is predictable. I warned about this recently, and now it’s unfolding exactly as anticipated.

From my May 22 post:

Just as I anticipated, the blame is being directed at China. Marco Rubio, currently serving in the Trump administration, has previously targeted various leftist organizations for their funding connections to Neville Roy Singham, who has been accused of having ties to the Communist Party of China. These allegations originated from front groups linked to Stratfor, often referred to as the “Shadow CIA,” as well as the State Department and U.S. Intelligence. Additionally, the Network Contagion Research Institute (NCRI) receives backing from the Israel lobby. Recall my previous post about Project Esther, which linked antisemitism to Marxism. Expect a crackdown on leftists and other antiwar activists who are protesting the Gaza war.

On May 28, the Heritage Foundation—architect of Project Esther—officially embraced the narrative linking pro-Palestinian activism to Chinese influence.

The Heritage Foundation’s Project Esther is more than a framework—it’s a blueprint for ideological suppression masquerading as national security policy. By tying anti-Zionism to antisemitism, then layering in foreign influence accusations, the initiative sets the stage for a sweeping crackdown on dissent. Under the guise of national security, any challenge to U.S. policy—whether in opposition to the Gaza war or broader leftist movements—can be framed as a foreign threat. This justification makes mass surveillance not just palatable but necessary.

Enter Palantir—the data engine that makes ideological suppression scalable. While Heritage Foundation shapes the narrative and justification for crackdowns, Palantir provides the technical apparatus to execute them. As I warned in my earlier post, EO 14243 and Trump’s Data Consolidation: The Hidden Agenda Behind Big Tech Surveillance, Palantir is embedding digital IDs across DHS, IRS, and Social Security, consolidating surveillance under the guise of fraud prevention. These tools, once presented as safeguards against fraud, now serve a far clearer purpose: streamlining the targeting and suppression of leftist dissent. Heritage Foundation supplies the blueprint—Palantir builds the machinery.

This isn’t new. The playbook remains the same—COINTELPRO weaponized bureaucratic surveillance to neutralize Black liberation and leftist movements under the guise of national security. Now, Project Esther will leverage EO 14243’s infrastructure to fuse ideological suppression with the mechanics of automated surveillance. Just as COINTELPRO framed activists as subversives to justify government crackdowns, Project Esther weaponizes accusations of extremism and foreign influence to achieve similar ends. The targets have shifted, but the machinery of repression remains intact.

Don’t say I didn’t warn you.

Selective Free Speech: Censorship, Hypocrisy, and the Politics of Control

Full video. Timestamp: 4:50.

Marx’s insight—”The ruling ideas of each age have ever been the ideas of its ruling class”—perfectly captures the hypocrisy of free speech under the Trump administration. While they denounced censorship when the Biden administration silenced voices questioning pandemic policies, they now weaponize state power against those protesting the war in Gaza. This contradiction reveals that their defense of free speech is not based on principle but on political utility—protecting narratives that serve their interests while suppressing dissent that threatens their agenda. By framing pandemic skepticism as truth-seeking while branding anti-war activism as dangerous, they manipulate public discourse to maintain control rather than uphold genuine democratic values. This selective enforcement isn’t new; it’s a recurring pattern in power structures, where the ruling class dictates which ideas are legitimate and which must be silenced.

The Mouth is an Open Grave

IT’S TOO COMPLICATED, THEY SAY

II. The Mouth is an Open Grave

You—who called me militant over a glass of wine,
You—who said I was too loud, too political,
who said that academic associations should remain impartial,
as if to study anthropology is not to see its ghosts assembling.

You—who snarled at me after a boycott motion,

who spat my name like a bullet,

said you were sick of my pro-Palestine ‘shit’,
as if grief should wear clean clothes,
as if rage should come whispering
apologies at your door,
as if I could soften my sorrow
to spare you discomfort—
you, who mistake silence for peace,
politeness for justice.

You—who told her to shut up,
shut up, shut up,
while the bodies were still warm,
while the smoke still gathered in their throats.

What does it mean to shut up
when the silence is already swallowing a nation?

Who is Elias Rodriguez? Suspected D.C. shooter from Chicago + More

Just as I anticipated, the blame is being directed at China. Marco Rubio, currently serving in the Trump administration, has previously targeted various leftist organizations for their funding connections to Neville Roy Singham, who has been accused of having ties to the Communist Party of China. These allegations originated from front groups linked to Stratfor, often referred to as the “Shadow CIA,” as well as the State Department and U.S. Intelligence. Additionally, the Network Contagion Research Institute (NCRI) receives backing from the Israel lobby. Recall my previous post about Project Esther, which linked antisemitism to Marxism. Expect a crackdown on leftists and other antiwar activists who are protesting the Gaza war.

Who is Elias Rodriguez? Suspected D.C. shooter from Chicago (archived)

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Tyranny & Tantrums: A Rant on America’s Collapse

America is to going to hell in a hand basket, and the cracks in its foundation are glaring. As Linkin Park’s Burn It Down echoes, “We’re building it up to break it back down,” the cycle of destruction and collapse feels all too familiar. Institutions meant to uphold democracy are being dismantled, only to be rebuilt on even shakier ground. Power is concentrated in the hands of a few, while the vulnerable are left to fend for themselves. Like the song’s imagery of betrayal and downfall, the current political landscape mirrors a system that prioritizes control and greed over people. The flames of collapse are fanned, and the question remains—what will rise from the ashes?

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“Dark Indonesia” and Astroturfed Subversion + More

21-04-2025: Since February, Indonesia has been beset by protests largely led by students, so-called civil society organisations, some labour unions and K-pop fans. Protests emerged in many cities throughout the Indonesian archipelago including Jakarta, Surabaya, Yogyakarta, Bandung, Solo, Semarang, Bali, Samarinda, Banjarmasin and South Sumatra. The protestors were reportedly delivering a “red report card” on the first 100 days of President Prabowo Subianto’s administration. They also condemned Prabowo’s “Ndasmu!” remark towards critics of the Free Nutritious Meal program.[1] “Ndasmu” is an impolite Javanese word meaning “your head”, which perhaps implies that the protestors’ actions were the result of something that existed in their heads only. The slogan “Dark Indonesia” under which the protests took place, is a stab at Prabowo’s election slogan of “Golden Indonesia” (Indonesia Emas), which aims to advance the Unitary State of the Republic of Indonesia (NKRI) to a sovereign, prosperous nation by 2045, the centennial of its independence won in 1945.[2]

“Dark Indonesia” and Astroturfed Subversion

Related:

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Zeteo’s Newest Contributors

Zeteo’s Newest Contributors – Thanks to You!

JASON STANLEY
New column: Fascism Watch

Jason is an award-winning author and currently a professor of philosophy at Yale. An expert in authoritarian governments, Jason recently decided to move to Canada, calling the Trump administration ​“a fascist regime​.” He will begin teaching at the University of Toronto​ in the fall. Jason is the author of several books, including the New York Times bestseller How Fascism Works: The Politics of Us and Them and Erasing History: How Fascists Rewrite the Past to Control the Future.

In his new Zeteo column, Fascism Watch, Jason will write about the growth of authoritarianism under Trump and the threats of fascism around the world. Stay tuned for his new column, coming soon! For now, check out Jason’s piece from last year, Political Violence Makes The Task Of Stopping Trump And Fascism Much Harder.

Previously:

Yale professor who studies fascism fleeing US to work in Canada +