Category Archives: Neoconservatism

On The Deep State (Damn Straight!), Comey’s Memo To Self & Ongoing Media Cadenza

BAB's A List, Conservatism, Donald Trump, Intelligence, Law, Media, Neoconservatism, Russia, The State

By Dr. Boyd D. Cathey. (Warning to the congenitally dour: humor and Southern idiom and imagery ahead.)

Some pundits and writers on the Left and within the Deep State political and cultural pentagon deny that there is such a thing as the “Deep State.” In recent days I’ve read a couple of Mainstream Media [MSM] columnists who simply dismiss such an idea. “No,” they say with mock seriousness, “what you see—those of us self-erected ‘big shots’ in the political class and the self-perpetuating bureaucracy in Washington, the financial globalists, the Hollywood elites, the educational establishment—we aren’t really a ‘state-within-a state’. You just need to be quiet, go back to your workaday professions, and leave governing, educating your children, and producing your entertainment, to us. It’s above your pay grade.”

Let me translate, “we are your masters and you are the sheep—shut up and don’t ask questions and don’t even think about any real influence in the destiny of this nation.” And even more simply stated: “We are the managerial elite, you are the deplorables.” Seems we have heard that word before….

But only a few minutes watching the hysterical MSM yesterday, in addition to occasioning a severe case of nausea, would have convinced even the most casual and uninterested viewer that the “chattering class” of this nation had literally gone berserk, in ideological and linguistic lock-step—almost as if some hidden “Wizard of Oz,” behind the curtain, had given the punditry a strict talking points memo. The non-existent “Deep State” had once again bared its teeth, and the unmistakable reality of its suffocating presence sank in.

Over on CNN, leftist wing nut Chris Cilizza jumped, like a tick on a freshly-bathed dog, on the purported “news” that back in February, during a private meeting between President Trump and former FBI head James Comey, the president urged Comey to “let the [Michael] Flynn investigation go.” Then, according to—as always—an “unnamed” source who telephoned The News York Times right after that, Comey drafted a “memo to self,” more or less, recounting this his version of what happened. “Obstruction of justice!” Cilizza screamed. “Impeachment moment!” echoed the other programmed automatons in the MSM. “The end of the Trump presidency!” shrieked ABC, MSNBC, CBS, ad nauseum.

“Obstruction of Justice?” First, the White House has pushed back hard on this convenient “after-thought” by Comey. If he thought it were an attempted “obstruction of justice” way back in February, why wasn’t it made public way back then? Why weren’t the appropriate congressional committees notified? Additionally, when the president and Comey met, Flynn had already been cleared by the FBI of any criminal action. Even if President Trump had suggested that Comey try to “move on,” how in any sense, legally or otherwise, can this be considered “obstruction”? That term, legally, implies action to prevent, to hinder, or to subvert an investigation or process. So, even if Comey’s “recollection” has any truth to it—and that is debatable—the only thing that has happened here is that the MSM has had another cardiac moment, another “impeachment moment” day dream.

The mind-numbing programmed MSM and their Democratic allies remind me of disjointed Bloodhounds who race frantically from deceptive scented clue to deceptive scented clue, but without ever catching their prey… because there is nothing there, there. The “Russians did it” template is fake and false, made up out of whole cloth by the Clintonistas after Hillary’s loss. And very likely, as we now know, the theft of over 44,000 Democratic National Committee emails was committed by Seth Rich, a disaffected DNC staffer who had access, who was enraged by the pro-Hillary sandbagging of Bernie Sanders. Of course, just a few days after Rich did that, he wound up murdered. And despite the fact that nothing was taken from him—not his wallet full of cash or his expensive necklace—the DC police department (with orders from up high) and FBI (and the Clinton folks) continue to say it was an attempted robbery and refuse to cooperate in any further investigation.

Just the same old Washington DC, the same old politics. And they want us to think that the “Deep State” doesn’t really exist? And too many Republicans and so-called “conservatives” either buy into that template, serving as fifth columnists, or, at a minimum, go along to prevent that kind of full-fledged assault on them that is now being inflicted on Donald Trump, his administration, and his agenda.

One of the most notorious fellow-traveler apologists for the Deep State is neoconservative head honcho and Weekly Standard founder and editor, Bill Kristol. Kristol is one of the fiercest and most intransigent NeverTrumpers, and much like columnist George Will, he continues his ferocious opposition. Most recently Kristol granted an interview to the left wing web site, “Mediaite.” Nothing unusual about that, since the candidacy of Donald Trump has brought dozens of supposedly “conservative” pundits and writers “out of the closet” and revealed what we have known all along: they are, in fact, raving leftists at heart in their basic precepts, and they will do practically anything, work with anybody, even if much further to the left, if they can “get back” at The Donald for his “sin” of challenging their leadership and control of the decadent and dying “Conservative Movement.”

To conclude, I have suggested that we are living now in a hollow, geographical entity officially titled “the United States of America,” but which is definitely NOT united, and where the very concept of “America” has no common acceptance. And the question, then, remains: how is it possible, how can there be a real future for a country where one half wants to literally suppress and obliterate the other half? And, then, those of us scheduled for such suppression—why do we permit so many of our elected representatives to take a dive and go along, and even enable this potentially fatal infection?

Why aren’t millions of us “deplorables” organizing nationally and in each state to challenge the GOP wimp-outs, like Dave Bratt did with Eric Cantor in Virginia? Why aren’t we making our presence known at meetings of leftist congressmen and on campuses? The Deep State—the establishment “swamp”—is in full attack mode. Either we respond, or we disappear as a people, with our traditions, our history, and our faith.

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~ Dr. Boyd D. Cathey is an Unz Review columnist, as well as a Barely a Blog contributor, whose work is easily located on this site under the “BAB’s A List” search category.

UPDATED (5/17): Witless And Wall-less In America. Lots of Wars On The Go, Though

Ann Coulter, Celebrity, Conservatism, Donald Trump, IMMIGRATION, Media, Neoconservatism, Pop-Culture, Private Property, War

UPDATED (5/17):


Stephen Colbert: Witless.

Another banal brain. So boring:

The Wall?

Those grants of government privilege, continued.

Nothing changes. Fox News never keeps them honest.

Borders abroad: We’ll pay to protect those.

MAGA? No. This doesn’t even making Afghanistan Great Again.

Fighting wars of choice is the neocon way.

Linguistic evolution needed.  Tribal leaders say they don’t have word for Wall in their languages. Then time to invent one. Languages evolve.

Is an epic betrayal in the offing?

Ann Coulter is mad as hell this week and was mad as hell last week. As she should be.

The Great Negotiator Promised To Get Americans Good Deals, Not Get Us Blown Up

Donald Trump, Foreign Policy, Neoconservatism

After months of “America First,” neoconservatism is enjoying a come-back, thanks to the president.

Sean Hannity’s radio show returned to these roots. Former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich and Mr. Hannity debated the North Korean crisis with glee over Mr. Trump’s bellicosity. Mr. Gingrich was once again helping run the world. Making sure Seoul, South Korea, was safe, was an imperative. The two also nattered about working with NATO, if I recall. (Other than courtesy to a friend, why would Mr. Hannity fill his shows with Gingrich?)

Threaten a desperate and patriotic people enough and they and their leader will take desperate measures. It’s not only Americans that get hot for war. Other people experience the same atavistic sentiments.

Not a word did our ex-America Firsters say about, let’s say, Seattle being in North Korea’s line of fire.

The great negotiator promised to get Americans good deals, not get us blown up. President Trump’s gunboat diplomacy will push the mad-hatter of Pyongyang over the edge.

“America First” means looking out for Seattle, not Seoul, POTUS.

TWEETS:

Regime change: Anyone who still thinks that way is a danger to the republic.

Cuban missile crisis redux:

Diplomacy, please.

RELATED: “17 Rules for Foreign Interventions.”

‘War, War And War Some More’ For Some Time

Donald Trump, Foreign Policy, Middle East, Military, Neoconservatism, War

Do we have a president “whose words and actions are untethered to principle,” as Andrew J. Bacevich contends?

Consider the range of issues where President Trump has backed away from actions that as a candidate he had vowed to take, more often than not on ‘day one’ of his presidency. The US remains fully committed to the Nato alliance that Trump previously denounced as ‘obsolete’. The ‘One China’ policy of previous administrations remains intact, as does the Iran nuclear deal negotiated by his predecessor. That Trump will abrogate the North American Free Trade Agreement appears about as likely as Mexico paying for any ‘wall’ along the American border. The US embassy in Israel has not moved to Jerusalem and is unlikely to do so any time soon. Trump’s ‘secret plan’ to defeat Isis differs little from Obama’s plan, apart from more bombs and a handful of additional US troops. And Trump’s longed-for friendship with Vladimir Putin has yet to bloom. The Trump administration neither acknowledges nor provides any rationale for these shifts. Over the course of a single news cycle, positions once said to represent the President’s considered view simply become inoperative. Without explanation, the gunboat sent to Agadir weighs anchor and goes home, leaving behind bewilderment and relief.
In other circumstances, we might chalk up the disparity between what a president says while a candidate and then does on the job to mere politics. Or see it as evidence of an individual sobered by responsibility and ‘growing’ in office. Yet such explanations do not apply here. …
Like Wilhelm II, Trump is given to bluster and to striking poses. His compulsion to look tough is apparent. So too is his need to command attention and his affinity for military pomp. He loves generals.

We know of Syria, because the offensive there was launched, today, to great fanfare. But, says a Spectator writer, there’s been “War, war and war some more” for some time. This reality has been concealed by the Russia parallel reality created by Fake News media.

It’s often said that the Trump administration is ‘isolationist’. This is not true. In fact, we are now witnessing a dramatic escalation in the militarisation of US foreign policy in the Middle East, Africa and Afghanistan. This has not been announced but it is happening, and much of it without consultation with Nato or other key allies, or any debate in Congress or the media.
A few weeks ago, US aircraft carried out over 30 air strikes against Islamic militants in Yemen — almost the same as the number carried out there all last year. In Iraq and Syria there have been many reports of civilian casualties in US raids. As many as 200 are thought to have been killed in air strikes on Mosul, although Iraqi authorities dispute that.
Meanwhile, some 400 US troops are going to Syria to set up an artillery base to retake Raqqa. Another 1,000 may soon be sent to Kuwait as a reserve force. Another 400 have gone to Iraq and some 8,000 will go to Afghanistan.
Quite an active policy, for someone with no interest in it. A closer look at Trump’s senior aides helps to explain — they’re often from the military. The State Department may be downgraded but the military has never had a stronger influence on a president. …