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.

Veterans Burn Their Uniforms at Vigil for US Airman Aaron Bushnell

Source

A group of veterans from the US armed forces burnt their uniforms in a show of solidarity with the airman Aaron Bushnell, who died after setting himself on fire outside the Israeli embassy in Washington in a protest over the war in Gaza.

Veterans Burn Their Uniforms at Vigil for US Airman Aaron Bushnell

Related:

The Air Force identified the Airman who died after setting himself on fire in front of the Israeli Embassy on Feb. 25 as Senior Airman Aaron James Bushnell, a cyber defense operations specialist assigned to the 70th Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance Wing.

Originally from Whitman, Mass., the 25-year-old Bushnell first joined the Air Force on May 5, 2020. His duty station was the 531st Intelligence Support Squadron at Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland, Texas. His duty title was innovation services technician, and his decorations included the Meritorious Unit Award, National Defense Service Medal, Air Force Good Conduct Medal, Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, and Air Force Training Ribbon.

Source

Man Who Died After Self-Immolation At Israeli Embassy Put Palestinian Fund In Will: Reports

Aaron Bushnell’s Protest Reflects A Much Deeper Crisis In the US Military

Aaron Bushnell’s Extreme Act of Protest & Why the World Would be Better if He was Still With Us

Palestinian resistance pays tribute to martyr, Aaron Bushnell

‘I Will No Longer be Complicit in Genocide’: U.S. Soldier Dies of Self-Immolation in Protest of War on Gaza

Voices: J. D. Vance wouldn’t know what to say to a real Appalachian like me. Ohio deserves better

I sometimes joke that J.D. Vance is my evil twin. Born a year and a half before me, Vance and I are both the grandchildren of Appalachian out-migrants. He is the first in his family to obtain a university degree, and so am I. He grew up about 30 miles from where I grew up in the decaying Rust Belt cities between Dayton and Cincinnati. Jackson, from where his grandmother hailed and from whence J.D. claims his Appalachian identity, is 45 miles from my grandmother’s home town — and where I spent much of my childhood and graduated high school — in Hyden.

Voices: J. D. Vance wouldn’t know what to say to a real Appalachian like me. Ohio deserves better

Related:

J.D. Vance’s First Attempt to Renew Ohio Crumbled Quickly

Video via More Perfect Union