The White House Swamp: an Alligator's view
Draining the Swamp
When you are up to your ass in alligators, it is difficult to remind yourself that your initial objective was to drain the swamp.
With a cohort of my relatives atop the White House roof closely observing the shenanigans occurring directly beneath them, you can rely upon what I say. (Just ask me, I'll tell you I am reliable--and I have multiple anonymous sources to back me up [those that didn't were tasty]).
So swampery is a subject close to my heart, you might say I was raised in a swamp, I shall present some ideas about the Deep State, hereinafter* to be known as DS. (*I just loved that word and have been dying to use it).
Many people accuse Donald Trump of being a thin-skinned, narcissistic hairball, which indeed he may well be. But there are at least two sides to POTUS, One side wants to fuck the citizenry over with his wonderful domestic policy. Anybody outside of the 1% would agree with that. But there is a partially redemptive quality POTUS is demonstrating. He wants to make nice with the Bear, which is a good idea in my opinion. He maybe beguiled by the prospect of war with Iran, but I am sure he would never have started bombing so many countries "for their own good" as did Obama and Medusa. Thus in a way he is the opposite of Lyndon Johnson, who had terrible foreign policy but great domestic programs.
Now we shall learn about the unmasking of the DS:
This swamp creature thing started when General Flynn unceremoniously got the boot as National Security Advisor. This poorly justified cave-in to DS actually may have done more harm to DS than good. It has revealed a complex apparatus, filled with the many moving parts called the DS.
The broadest definition of DS is: the unelected careerists in government who have long-term residence in the corridors of power, and who behind the scenes wield enormous political power.
Dr. Ron Paul, noted Libertarian, suspects that the Intelligence Community (IC) is at war with Trump. What's the evidence?
Evidence started with Flynn's forced resignation. Although many have criticized POTUS as caving in, others have correctly pointed out that accepting the resignation quickly, kept the story from ballooning further. In other words, no drip, drip, drip like Medusa's emails.
Furthermore it appears that Flynn might have given POTUS the idea for what I think is called the canary scenario. Whether I have the correct bird or not, the point is that Trump secretly passed on different versions of ideas/facts to various individuals. Thus when the leaks came, the source(s) would be readily identifiable. This plan to identify leakers has already borne fruit.
Trey Gowdy makes the very cogent point that Flynn's transcripts have already hit the media but Congress has been unable to procure subpoenaed Benghazi transcripts
The deeper issue is whether these leaks are part of an orchestrated, coordinated plot to undo the Trump Presidency before it really can gain traction. The IC or parts of it are probably players in this effort. Witness the roles of past CIA heads (such as Mike Morrell), who were very much pro-Hillary (and therefore very much pro-Russian confrontation) opposing Trump. This opposition did not stop with the election. As the "IC" link just above illustrates, their is fear that Trump will upset their beloved wish for Armageddon (and you thought was the only crazy!)
We have just briefly discussed the roles of WH insiders and the IC as participants in this destabilization act, but failure to call attention to the MSM's part in this would be incomplete.
Minor pecking at the periphery includes gleeful tales of Ivanka Trump's fashion line from major retailers. This is another gross distortion of what should be the main dialogue--the issues that affect all of us. If Ivanka never sold another dress, so what? Who cares? At least the Presstitutes have stopped picking on a 10 year old boy--but only after a great deal of blowback.
The DS not only consists of IC, WH/gov't careerists, but also bankers, industrialists, and of course the lackey press.
But Trump has now begun a powerful counter-offensive. SOS Rex Tillerson has started a top-down clearing of the State Department. Insiders like Patrick Kennedy are gone (actually Kennedy got out before Tillerson took over, knowing what his fate would be). Note: some people are already referring to Tillerson as T-Rex.
So, is this anti-DS move going to develop more momentum? Yes, I think so. Already there is talk about Federal prosecutions against leakers. The vlogger thinks that few if any precedents exist for such prosecutions, but there are codes that could be applicable and carry stiff sentences. Another vlog, the link to which I cannot find, mentions that the reportage of such leaked material may also violate federal law and could lead to arrest of "reporters" who distributed such information. This may seem like a crushing of the First Amendment, and it probably is, but let us remember Barry O., who in addition to subverting the 1st amendment, also did away with the 4th and possibly other quibbles about civil liberties of the Bill of Rights.
Finally, a message for those of you still determined to be "good DemonRATs" please note that the aims of the NSA, CIA, etc, is very simpatico with the DNC.
Comments
The "Left" wants war, so they want President Pence
Organizing for America, Obama's latest tool, has instructions in a Resistance Manual on how to disrupt town halls, etc. I doubt that many of the enthusiastic demonstrators understand where they're going. They supported the Mad Bomber and wore pink pussy hats, thinking they were supporting goodness and light.
Some commentators are betting on civil war within five years. Given the Establishment's and media's contempt for election results, it begins to seem possible. I sure hope not.
But if this goes on, there will be blood spilled.
But it has always been foolish to count Trump out, administratively or politically. It is hopeful that he is back in campaign mode, in contact with the public. The lack of that was one thing that drove me crazy about Obama, back when I believed he actually wanted to do what he had promised. He just vanished into the White House for his first six months and even shut off OfA, back when it was Obama for America, telling us not to make phone calls for even a public option.
The Civil War will come if Trump is impeached.
We on the Progressive side may not love him, but Herr Drumpf still has many ardent followers and his ratings (if you can believe polls) is actually inching up to the 50% range favorable.
If the issue is Russia,
it looks like the DS has won. Trump wants Russia to "return" Crimea. They won't do that, of course, no responsible Russian government is going to turn the peninsula over to NATO, but the DS has Trump saying what they want.
We wanted decent healthcare, a living wage and free college.
The Democrats gave us Biden and war instead.
It does look like that now. Hope it's just retrenching.
Cross all your fingers and toes. The DS is unimaginably bad.
So far Trump and his admin have shown no sign of
"making nice" with Russia, other than his lies. Their actions and words have been just as hostile as Obama's regarding Ukraine and Syria. As I've said before, I think this whole thing is a ruse to make us think Trump is for better relations with Russia. It's not going to happen.
If he talks about abolishing the Federal reserve and the CIA, then he'd have my attention. Relative to Russia, unless he says the Ukraine war started as a U.S. sponsored color revolution and that Russia did not invade Ukraine and annex Crimea, there won't be any rapprochement, and so far he is not doing that, just the opposite. I don't think he can reverse that now.
We still have yet to see how this plays out
Granted that the continuing admonition for Russia to "give back" the Crimea and Eastern Ukraine still exists, does not mean that will be a theme from now onwards. The hairball has had only 2 months in power and only now is discovering whom he can trust. When Pompeo and T-Rex continue their house cleaning and Jeff Sessions starts taking an active role in prosecuting the many Clintonites for their misdeeds, the atmosphere in the swamp will still be pretty rank. It takes time to drain a swamp. At this point Trump needs to secure his defenses before going all-out on offense.
Edit: this reply was Azazello, sorry.
McMaster looks good as National Security Advisor
He told his troops that every time they disrespected an Iraqi, they were creating more terrorists, and is known for standing up to his superiors when he disagrees. Actually, I've read that Trump is fine with his staff arguing with him - just not sniping at him behind his back.
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2017-02-20/trumps-picks-retired-general-mc...
From the biography linked to the comment,
it would seem that McMaster is an excellent choice. Although the biography didn't mention McMaster's political views (e.g., pre-emptive war, NATO, Islamic radicalism), the fact that he isn't afraid to stand up to superiors when he thinks they are wrong, is an excellent trait. Also, having McMaster selected, relieves us from the possible nomination to the post of David Betrayus.
Or John Bolton!
Trump is just a distraction
While the oligarchs rape America.
The "Democrats" included.
" In the beginning, the universe was created. This has made a lot of people very angry, and is generally considered to have been a bad move. -- Douglas Adams, The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy "
The intelligence agencies, especially the CIA and FBI, are not
homogeneous institutions. These agencies, particularly the CIA, are highly compartmentalized and many times have had internal factions that are at complete odds with one another. This was shown with the investigation of 9/11, Iraq War, the Iran-Contra affair, the October Surprise, Lucky Luciano, Hoover and many other events dating all the way back to the creation of these agencies.
The so-called Deep State is even less homogeneous. It behaves more like a hydra with its various heads comprised of corporate, banking, military and oil interests all vying for control and power to further their interests.
What we are now looking at is a power struggle between all these factions which will soon sort themselves out - then it will be back to business as usual - the common denominator of making money for the global elite. We never saw this upset with the Obama administration because he basically continued with the Bush administration's policies.
Here's an interesting article on the subject. Personally, I am not as optimistic as the author is about the future. There is a direct correlation between the functioning of the Deep State and the deeply held concepts of American exceptionalism and world hegemony. We can see this in our ready contempt for those nations who's leaders refuse to become subservient to our demands. I think we may go out like Rome. Unfortunately, there are many psychopaths within the system that may prefer to take the world with them when they go.
I agree the Deep State is not homogeneous
Sojourns posted a very perceptive comment to another essay.
So, if one accepts the premise of a schism in the DS, then Tillerson represents the oligarchs, and the CIA-NSA-DIA etc represent the Empire.
I would suggest the CIA-NSA-DIA are also not homogenous
There is a long history of internal strife within and amongst these groups. Entire chains of command have ripped asunder and need to be rebuilt. I figure it will shake out in a month or so.
Well, I must say you know your swamps, Ed Mass.
It takes a remarkable overview to condense it the way you have, a perspective that is usually held by a tiny few masters at the very top — and a tiny few intellectuals at the very bottom.
A couple of small modifications where you got into the details:
Our DS Neocon Overlords, of course, readily dispersed their IC surveillance work-product to the press, in the case of Flynn. They had everything to gain toward their ultimate "goal." In the case of Benghazi, Gowdy would never be provided with the evidence of the Clinton-Stevens-CIA gun running operation from Libya to Syria, which was an essential strategy in our DS Overlords "goal."
Congress, of course, is composed of throwaway people — "new money" millionaires who temporarily clutter up the hallways of the DS. The only elected temps of value to the DS are the useful idiots (you know who they are) and the stooges with mild dementia.
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Let us not forget that perversion of the First Amendment and "Free Speech" and "Freedom of the Press" is how the American people are completely controlled to do the work of, and die for, the Deep State. From the revocation of the Fairness Doctrine in 1987 to the steady stream of legislation that has followed to this very day, it is now perfectly legal for the DS government and their media cohort to lie to the American people at every turn. Without the First Amendment and the Americans who blindly worship it, the DS would not be possible.
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You mustn't leave out the Fourth Reich, the "One Ring that Rules the All" — from the cockroach nests that line K Street. These are the Think Tanks founded and populated by the Nazis at the end of WWII. This is where the DS breeds and reproduces. They exist to strike their final blow against all that is Russian and communist — the nuclear annihilation of Eurasia to be precise. The achievement of the DS's primary directive is paid for by the American people caught in the middle, bless their hearts, those denizens of diminished lives who live and die here, on the American plantation. They spend their lives paying most of what they earn to the "protection racket" operated by the DS, while denying their own children food and education.
Equally at home in Israel and the US, the Deep State plans to rule their Global Empire from these strategic perches.
::
Carry on Alligator of Truth.
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The political system is what it is because the People are who they are. — Plato
Thanks, Pluto for your observations
Absofuckinglutely correct! Exactly why Medusa hid lots more emails than even the FBI knows. It only takes the turning of a few pages in the C.G.I. "donation book" to learn the names of many DS participants.
The First Amendment is not dead, although moribund. If it were dead, then you, I and many others would be headed to the Gulags. Plus the mere existence of a vibrant "Alternate press", both video and print, makes it clear that our constitutional rights, eroded as they are, still have some relevancy.