Required Reading

 

Powerline’s Scott Johnson has this brief, outstanding summary of the greatest political scandal in our nation’s history up today. This is absolutely required reading.

At the time, I thought Fast & Furious was the greatest political scandal in our history. Getting American law enforcement officers killed with weapons that our own government sold to criminal gangs in a foreign country in an effort to change popular opinion sufficiently to demand that we change the 2nd Amendment of our own Constitution. Holy Toledo.

But this scandal, in which officials of our own government attempt to overturn an election by using the power of their unelected offices, with active assistance from the media – my God. When appointed bureaucrats decide that they consent to democracy only when it goes their way, then how far are we from typical third world socialism?

At first, I thought the term “Deep State” was a bit overwrought. I was wrong. This is not hyperbole. This is an immediate threat to freedom and democracy around the world (imagine the world without American democracy). This ends either with one party rule, or it ends with torches and pitchforks. Unless our government successfully excises this “Deep State” cancer, which is now widely metastatic. Regardless, I think this is enormously important, and I don’t see how it can end well. Somebody, please tell me I’m over-reacting. Please?

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  1. Henry Racette Member
    Henry Racette
    @HenryRacette

    Western Chauvinist (View Comment):
    I think we’re the frog in the slowly heating pot. We won’t know when to jump, and it may be too late already.

    Just as an aside: I have read that frogs will indeed jump out of a slowly heating pot, when the water gets warm enough. Given their cold-blooded nature, that kind of makes sense.

    (That doesn’t mean, of course, that the utility of the analogy is diminished.)

    • #121
  2. Phil Turmel Inactive
    Phil Turmel
    @PhilTurmel

    Western Chauvinist (View Comment):
    When? What would it take? I asked this question in a post a long time ago on Ricochet. What would it take to get you in the streets? It’s a sincere question. 

    You don’t really think you’ll get an answer to this question (or similar) here on the internet, do you?  (From anyone with a clue, that is.)

    • #122
  3. CarolJoy, Above Top Secret Coolidge
    CarolJoy, Above Top Secret
    @CarolJoy

    Susan Quinn (View Comment):

    I can’t figure out McCabe. He publishes this in a book and goes on TV to tell the story of his rogue and lawless behavior? I understand that he wants to take a bunch of people down with him, but still?! Is he stupid or figures no one will come after him? Has our respect for the law declined to the degree that nobody in the government needs to worry about prosecution? What the heck is going on??

    McCabe is inside a bubble of the Senior Executive Service people.

    Although at time American intelligence media is not credible, in their reporting on Senior Executive Services, they are spot on. Some 8,000 entrenched bureaucrats participate in and run Washington DC’s Fed agencies.  Close to 6,5000 of them were appointed by Obama.

    This is how we arrive at vast sums of Fed money being sent out to states like New Jersey to offset the expenses of newly arrived immigrants. That way the libs in New Jersey can tell themselves: “See, it doesn’t cost us a thing – Washington DC sends us Fed money to  pay for  the expenses.”

    • #123
  4. CarolJoy, Above Top Secret Coolidge
    CarolJoy, Above Top Secret
    @CarolJoy

    RufusRJones (View Comment):

    I’m not an expert on this, but if you subtract Michael Savage and then add in the fact that about half of the things talk radio guys supposedly get in trouble for they make apologies, it’s nonsensical to think of it that way.

    I forget his name, but that’s stupid gun grabber kid from Florida– David Hogg?– doesn’t get into UCLA and then he whines about it on Twitter. Then Laura Ingrahm, ridicules him, because the fact is nobody gets into UCLA. It’s idiotic. It’s a hard school and they have tons of applicants. But then the kid starts a boycott. I am not making this up. This actually happened.

    So then they let them in the Harvard even though his SATs are garbage. The future ruling class. #vomit

    I confess I owe my very life to Michael Savage. His over the top, angry beyond par, discussions combined with  ear splitting  volume kept me awake many dark nights when driving home after working two shifts back to back and barely having had any sleep.

    • #124
  5. DrewInWisconsin Member
    DrewInWisconsin
    @DrewInWisconsin

     

    Susan Quinn (View Comment):

    Has our respect for the law declined to the degree that nobody in the government needs to worry about prosecution?

    Yes.

    Laws are for the proles.

    The fact that Hillary is still walking free should make that clear.

    • #125
  6. The Reticulator Member
    The Reticulator
    @TheReticulator

    DrewInWisconsin (View Comment):

     

    Susan Quinn (View Comment):

    Has our respect for the law declined to the degree that nobody in the government needs to worry about prosecution?

    Yes.

    Laws are for the proles.

    The fact that Hillary is still walking free should make that clear.

    What about Obama’s unprecedented war on whistleblowers?   A lot of the people prosecuted were journalists, i.e. part of the government.  

    • #126
  7. CarolJoy, Above Top Secret Coolidge
    CarolJoy, Above Top Secret
    @CarolJoy

    The Reticulator (View Comment):

    DrewInWisconsin (View Comment):

     

    Susan Quinn (View Comment):

    Has our respect for the law declined to the degree that nobody in the government needs to worry about prosecution?

    Yes.

    Laws are for the proles.

    The fact that Hillary is still walking free should make that clear.

    What about Obama’s unprecedented war on whistleblowers? A lot of the people prosecuted were journalists, i.e. part of the government.

    Obama even chided Glenn Greenwald for being concerned about the supra-Surveillance state that was created under Clapper and revealed by Ed Snowden. Obama stated, “You are the last person who would need to worry about any of this.” He basically was trying to stop Greenwald from bringing  attention to the tremendous  type of power such Surveillance has over journalists, but Obama wanted him to think that with such credentials as he had, making him legit, he wouldn’t ever suffer.

    Not too long after that, his life partner was detained while entering or leaving Great Britain, in a way that made it all too obvious it was the Deep State attempting to intimidate Greenwald. Both men now reside in Brazil.

    • #127
  8. RufusRJones Member
    RufusRJones
    @RufusRJones

    CarolJoy, Above Top Secret (View Comment):
    Not too long after that, his life partner was detained while entering or leaving Great Britain, in a way that made it all too obvious it was the Deep State attempting to intimidate Greenwald. Both men now reside in Brazil.

    I didn’t know that. Interesting. 

    • #128
  9. RufusRJones Member
    RufusRJones
    @RufusRJones

    Henry Racette (View Comment):
    Ruf and I agree on a lot of things, though he’s a little too — something, I forget what — for me, so I rarely reward anything he says with a “like.” I guard my “likes” pretty jealously, trying to avoid, well, that pearls-before-swine thing. Not that I’m saying Ruf is a swine. Nothing like that. But, still. You know.

    I try not to worry about “likes” and it’s mostly pretty easy, because my primary reasons for being on social media are self education and psychotherapeutic acting out. I’m trying to learn stuff and think better. I’m trying to figure out how the world actually works and what really creates a fair and prosperous world. Everything else is very secondary. 

    • #129
  10. Flicker Coolidge
    Flicker
    @Flicker

    Steve C. (View Comment):

    Dr. Bastiat (View Comment):

    HeavyWater (View Comment):

    kedavis (View Comment):

    There sure is a lot of “But of course, we don’t want any violence!” among conservatives.

    Problem is. the Left has no such qualms. Not in reality, at least. Perhaps in rhetoric, but that’s like Yasser Arafat saying “We want peace” in English and “We want death!” in Arabic.

    I’ll be watching on cable TV as these “true conservatives” get stashed away in prison for violent acts. I won’t be donating to their legal defense funds.

    Political violence is a feature of the left. They fight for power and control.

    Those who value personal liberty are unlikely to fight to the death in order to gain sufficient political power so that they can leave you the heck alone.

    True. But they will at some unpredictable time become, “Mad as hell, and not going to take it anymore.” Apres nous, les deluge.

    That’s what I mean when I say a see-saw is most precarious when you’re trying to balance in the middle and little added weight one side or the other can accelerate things quickly out of control.  I do think there’s an off chance of right-wing anger and violence, but a very, very small chance.  That’s why I’m hoping someone can step forward, ideally the president, and calm, direct, mitigate, inspire and unite people of various not-far-leftist thinking to call for a rule of law and a return to sanity.

    This seems to me to be the best if not the only way to go forward.  A Martin Luther King or a John Kennedy or a … never mind.

    • #130
  11. Flicker Coolidge
    Flicker
    @Flicker

    Henry Racette (View Comment):
    lose their jobs, be ostracized, get bad grades, etc

    I understand your point of view, but I’m not sure that to lose their jobs, be ostracized, get bad grades, etc isn’t just another wet blanket on a spark of reformation that will never allow anything to take place.  I doubt I’ll ever be able to endorse any kind of violence (though the process that brought us the US was violent for sure) but how many Nakoula Bassely Nakoulas and Dinesh D’Souzas do we need getting locked up or sent to prison on trumped up charges before some form of overt reformational effort is begun?  All of us?

    • #131
  12. ST Member
    ST
    @

    Lois Lerner (IRS attack dog) was the final straw for me.  Is she getting a gov. pension?  If so I bet it is ‘healthy.’

    • #132
  13. RufusRJones Member
    RufusRJones
    @RufusRJones

    ST (View Comment):

    Lois Lerner (IRS attack dog) was the final straw for me. Is she getting a gov. pension? If so I bet it is ‘healthy.’

    it’s outrageous. The IRS adds negative value. Wipe it out. 

    • #133
  14. Flicker Coolidge
    Flicker
    @Flicker

    DrewInWisconsin (View Comment):

     

    Susan Quinn (View Comment):

    Has our respect for the law declined to the degree that nobody in the government needs to worry about prosecution?

    Yes.

    Laws are for the proles.

    The fact that Hillary is still walking free should make that clear.

    And you’ll never see her name even mentioned in regard to this whole affair.

    • #134
  15. Songwriter Inactive
    Songwriter
    @user_19450

    Flicker (View Comment):

    DrewInWisconsin (View Comment):

     

    Susan Quinn (View Comment):

    Has our respect for the law declined to the degree that nobody in the government needs to worry about prosecution?

    Yes.

    Laws are for the proles.

    The fact that Hillary is still walking free should make that clear.

    And you’ll never see her name even mentioned in regard to this whole affair.

    Ironically, Hillary has little to fear (from the law) so long as the GOP holds control in DC. They can be counted on to do nothing. What she should fear is the Dems taking over with a Leftist cabal, who, like Stalin, will start to tie up inconvenient loose ends. That’s when the knock on the door from the Feds will happen for Ms. Clinton.

    • #135
  16. Flicker Coolidge
    Flicker
    @Flicker

    Songwriter (View Comment):

    Flicker (View Comment):

    DrewInWisconsin (View Comment):

    Susan Quinn (View Comment):

    Has our respect for the law declined to the degree that nobody in the government needs to worry about prosecution?

    Yes.

    Laws are for the proles.

    The fact that Hillary is still walking free should make that clear.

    And you’ll never see her name even mentioned in regard to this whole affair.

    Ironically, Hillary has little to fear (from the law) so long as the GOP holds control in DC. They can be counted on to do nothing. What she should fear is the Dems taking over with a Leftist cabal, who, like Stalin, will start to tie up inconvenient loose ends. That’s when the knock on the door from the Feds will happen for Ms. Clinton.

    Wouldn’t that be an odd form of justice.

    You make me wonder what would be justice.  Maybe being confined to her mansion in Chappaqua confined only with Bill shuffling around in his house robe, with no servants at her call with a snap of her fingers, “Gum, gum!” and a continuously playing recording of her introduction at the DNC primary convention “And Ladies and Gentlemen, the President of the United States!” followed by a laugh track, over and over again for eternity.

    • #136
  17. Instugator Thatcher
    Instugator
    @Instugator

    Flicker (View Comment):
    You make me wonder what would be justice. Maybe being confined to her mansion in Chappaqua confined only with Bill shuffling around in his house robe, with no servants at her call with a snap of her fingers, “Gum, gum!” and a continuously playing recording of her introduction at the DNC primary convention “And Ladies and Gentlemen, the President of the United States!” followed by a laugh track, over and over again for eternity.

    This is ok, but real justice would also include having the “Energizer Bunny” (IYKWIMAITTYD) exercising conjugal visits with Bill.

    • #137
  18. Flicker Coolidge
    Flicker
    @Flicker

    Instugator (View Comment):

    Flicker (View Comment):
    You make me wonder what would be justice. Maybe being confined to her mansion in Chappaqua confined only with Bill shuffling around in his house robe, with no servants at her call with a snap of her fingers, “Gum, gum!” and a continuously playing recording of her introduction at the DNC primary convention “And Ladies and Gentlemen, the President of the United States!” followed by a laugh track, over and over again for eternity.

    This is ok, but real justice would also include having the “Energizer Bunny” (IYKWIMAITTYD) exercising conjugal visits with Bill.

    It’s supposed to be hell for him, too.  Make it a shop vac.

     

    • #138
  19. CarolJoy, Above Top Secret Coolidge
    CarolJoy, Above Top Secret
    @CarolJoy

    Flicker (View Comment):

    Steve C. (View Comment):

    Dr. Bastiat (View Comment):

    HeavyWater (View Comment):

    kedavis (View Comment):

    There sure is a lot of “But of course, we don’t want any violence!” among conservatives.

    Problem is. the Left has no such qualms. Not in reality, at least. SNIP

    SNIP

    Political violence is a feature of the left. They fight for power and control.

    Those who value personal liberty are unlikely to fight to the death in order to gain sufficient political power so that they can leave you the heck alone.

    True. But they will at some unpredictable timeSNIP Apres nous, les deluge.

    SNIP That’s why I’m hoping someone can step forward, ideally the president, and calm, direct, mitigate, inspire and unite people of various not-far-leftist thinking to call for a rule of law and a return to sanity.

    This seems to me to be the best if not the only way to go forward. A Martin Luther King or a John Kennedy or a … never mind.

    I agree wholeheartedly with you Flicker.

    However, the nation has been under the direction of the CIA for quite some time. Until Trump assumed the nation’s highest office, every single candidate for the Oval Office and every single Pres. since 1988 has either directly been involved in the CIA, or else been willing to have as advisers people from the Council for Foreign Relations, the  World Bank, the IMF and on and on. H Clinton was actually a member of the CFR, or at least so closely connected that during one speech she mentioned her happiness in the CFR’s office being so close to hers.

    The PTB, both here and world wide, love to have  dissonance & actual violence taking place unchecked. For instance, in Israel, since early 1980’s to 1992, at least 18 moderate political parties attempted to come into existence. Some were groups under Palestinian citizens; some were groups under Israeli citizens. In all instances, the groups were destroyed through assassination. The assassinations were usually blamed on the PLO or other radical Palestinian groups, but it is believed that it is just as likely that the neo con leaders in Israel had a hand in some assassinations.

    Since Trump was elected in Nov 2016, the media has helped the New Left create such a  divisive society that people can no longer talk to one another, unless they hold identical political beliefs. The hope that any type of moderate behavior or belief can be encouraged in our society is as slim as what has occurred in Israel. The serious breach of the firewall between our secret police and the media is no longer even well hidden – a person can turn on any of the Sunday afternoon round table discussions and see Clapper or others of his ilk addressing how our nation needs to proceed as though Clapper were just an ordinary guy.

    • #139
  20. RufusRJones Member
    RufusRJones
    @RufusRJones

    CarolJoy, Above Top Secret (View Comment):
    the World Bank, the IMF

    This and everything related to it is a menace. 

     

    • #140
  21. Flicker Coolidge
    Flicker
    @Flicker

    CarolJoy, Above Top Secret (View Comment):

    I agree wholeheartedly with you Flicker.

    However, the nation has been under the direction of the CIA for quite some time. Until Trump assumed the nation’s highest office, every single candidate for the Oval Office and every single Pres. since 1988 has either directly been involved in the CIA, or else been willing to have as advisers people from the Council for Foreign Relations, the World Bank, the IMF and on and on. H Clinton was actually a member of the CFR, or at least so closely connected that during one speech she mentioned her happiness in the CFR’s office being so close to hers.

    The PTB, both here and world wide, love to have dissonance & actual violence taking place unchecked. For instance, in Israel, since early 1980’s to 1992, at least 18 moderate political parties attempted to come into existence. Some were groups under Palestinian citizens; some were groups under Israeli citizens. In all instances, the groups were destroyed through assassination. The assassinations were usually blamed on the PLO or other radical Palestinian groups, but it is believed that it is just as likely that the neo con leaders in Israel had a hand in some assassinations.

    Since Trump was elected in Nov 2016, the media has helped the New Left create such a divisive society that people can no longer talk to one another, unless they hold identical political beliefs. The hope that any type of moderate behavior or belief can be encouraged in our society is as slim as what has occurred in Israel. The serious breach of the firewall between our secret police and the media is no longer even well hidden – a person can turn on any of the Sunday afternoon round table discussions and see Clapper or others of his ilk addressing how our nation needs to proceed as though Clapper were just an ordinary guy.

    Yes, it’s pretty well gone.  But I just can’t give up any and all hope.  My hope is so tenuous I would be willing to start talking about the original Watchmen comic book.  In it a plan was hatched to save the world by uniting it against an existential threat from outer space.  A US leader of today (probably in Venezuela too, for example) could give a stunning, scary TEOTWAWKI speech, and scare people into doing the right thing, explaining that further divisions will kill us all and starve the survivors (so to speak) and we better get our act together culturally and spiritually.  Maybe it’ll work.  Not too Likely.  Even getting the message out would be technologically very hard.

    Other than that it’s chickens and well water on a couple acres in the country, at best.  I’m probably one of the few here who thinks this way.  But it’s at best going to be very primitive.

    Fortunately it’s not a conspiracy.  :)

    • #141
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