Sunday, November 12, 2017

Caution: Draining the Swamp Can Be Perilous

            Old Gadfly:  Gentlemen, what is intended by President Trump’s desire to drain the swamp?[1]

            IM:  First, it recognizes political corruption in America.  Most of this corruption flows from crony capitalism and a politically emancipated media that has shifted more power to the central government in Washington DC and has disenfranchised the individual.  Second, it recognizes that the progressive left advances socialism, which is contrary to our self-governing constitutional republic and the rule of law.  This is why there is such an anti-Trump public narrative--controlled by the mainstream media in collaboration with the political establishment in Washington (elected and unelected bureaucracy), academia, and Hollywood.

            AM:   Too many voting Americans have been conditioned to believe what progressives want them to believe.  The Soviet Union’s Nikita Khruschev predicted this outcome in 1957 when speaking to the National Press Club:   “. . . I can prophesy that your grandchildren in America will live under socialism.  And please do not be afraid of that.  Your grandchildren will not understand how their grandparents did not understand the progressive nature of a socialist society”  (Nikita Khruschev before the National Press Club in 1957, cited in J. Edgar Hoover’s book, Masters of Deceit, 1958, p. 3).  America’s ruling elite were aware of this threat.  For example, Communist goals were published in the Congressional Record in the 1960s.  Of the 45 goals listed, 28 have arguably been met (see goals 15 through 42).  Goal number 40 states:  “Discredit the family as an institution. Encourage promiscuity and easy divorce.”  Trends reflect this achievement.  See the graph below (published in The Washington Post):


Moreover, in a recent survey, half of Millennials (the grandchildren predicted by Khrushchev) claimed they would rather live under socialism or communism than capitalism.  An alarming 20% believe Joseph Stalin was a hero.

            Old Gadfly Do these facts represent pure chance; that is, do the facts represent an undirected evolution in our culture?

            IM:  In my opinion, no.  There seems to be an organizing principle or set of principles that attract collaborating efforts.  While labels are dangerous because they tend to be pejorative and conducive to the art of smearing (see for example an essay by Ayn Rand, “’Extremism’ or the Art of Smearing”), we cannot define phenomena (organizing principles) without using properly defined terms.  For example, most Republicans are called conservative.  To a Democrat, this is either “extreme” or “far right.”  Some (maybe even most) Democrats claim that if you vote Republican, you are a racist (and a xenophobe, Islamaphobe, homophobe, misogynist, etc.).  For example, because President Trump did not take sides at Charlottesville and claimed both sides were guilty of bigotry and violence, he is considered a white supremacist.  He was further excoriated for suggesting there are good people on both sides.  What he meant by this is that people can have differences based on good intentions, while unequivocally stating that there is no justification for violence.  This position, to the left, is immoral because only the left is moral.  For clear evidence of this, read (check it out from the library instead of purchasing it) George Lakoff’s Moral Politics:  How Liberals and Conservatives Think.  In a nutshell, Lakoff argues that conservative views are not only wrong, they are immoral.

            AM:  The left has masterfully engineered public sentiment.  I am amused (and sobered) when the left-leaning press produces polls that show how unpopular President Trump is while constantly and shamelessly attacking him and his associates in their news presentations.  When over 90% of press coverage is negative and 100% of Democrats in Congress obstruct anything he does, one would think over 90% of the public would disapprove of Trump’s performance.
 
Let’s not forget, Hillary Clinton was the left’s champion going into this past election.  She idolized Saul Alinsky (as indicated by her Wellseley College Thesis).  In his Rules for Radicals, Alinsky provided rules for taking power away from the powerful.  Rule # 13 said:  “Pick the target, freeze it, and polarize it.”  Is it any surprise that more information seems to be leaking into the public domain about Hillary’s involvement in the infamous Russian dossier?  To the left, Hillary is not “the target”; so, they have no incentive to shine a light on this actual Russian collusion.
 
What I find especially disturbing is how Republicans either get duped into collaborating in efforts such as this or reveal their true colors.  Remember, it was Senator McCain who delivered the dossier to the Federal Bureau of Investigation.  Also, when allegations of sexual misconduct were reported by The Washington Post, Senator McCain took the allegations as fact and said Judge Roy Moore should immediately step aside.  McCain’s complicity and hypocrisy are nauseating.  Let me share some other facts about Senator McCain.
 
First, while celebrated as a hero who endured years of torture as an American prisoner of war, he signed a confession that said, “I am a black criminal and I have performed deeds of an air pirate, I almost died, and the Vietnamese people saved my life, thanks to the doctors . . ..”[2]  Although this is an abbreviated confession, solid investigative work produced a recording of a lengthier confession that was first broadcasted on June 2, 1969 as propaganda over the Vietnamese radio airwaves (listen to the recording here, in particular 16:05 minutes into the broadcast).  Does this make Senator McCain less honorable?  How many Americans, when subjected to true physical torture (beyond the mere psychological inconvenience of water boarding), offered similar propaganda confessions?  The answer is irrelevant; however, does such an action diminish any other heroic actions?  If Senator McCain went on to live an honorable life, is it worth drudging up these confessions decades later?  Yet, Senator McCain was quick to convict Judge Moore for mere allegations from decades ago.
 
Second, then Lieutenant Commander McCain also returned home to discover that his wife had been in a serious car accident leaving her significantly disfigured and disabled.[3]  He soon left her for a wealthy younger woman (by 17 years) and the glamour of politics (see here and here).  So much for loyalty.
 
Third, in addition to his part in delivering the Trump Russian dossier to the FBI, McCain has been silent in regard to the left’s attempt to scandalize Donald Trump, Jr.’s meeting with a Russian lawyer.  The purpose for the meeting was to “lobby” America, on behalf of Russia’s Putin, to repeal the Magnitsky Act.  Why is this significant?  William Browder, ironically the grandson of Earl Browder who ran unsuccessfully for President of the United States under the Communist Party in 1936 and 1940, is the individual who championed the Magnitsky Act through Congress.  In trying to consult with Senator McCain, the only way he was able to achieve access was by working through a lobbyist (i.e., through the crony capitalism venue).  Browder explains these details in his book, Red Notice:  A True Story of High Finance, Murder, and One Man’s Fight for Justice.  The Act was designed to name 60 individuals in Russia who were responsible for the arrest, torture, and murder of Sergei Magnitsky, one of Browder’s lawyers in Russia.  Browder had challenged the Russian oligarchy and Magnitsky’s torture and murder were the consequence.  There are other lurid details of political resistance in America (such as John Kerry’s opposition of the Magnitsky Act to avoid complications in becoming the Secretary of State), but I would encourage you to read the book for more detail.  The point being, McCain was directly involved in this case.  Combined with his involvement in the Russian dossier, McCain seems to have sided with political expediency over truth and justice.  Unfortunately, given his most recent medical circumstances, Senator McCain (and others who are complicit in shaping a dishonest public narrative) may not have the time to reflect and to seek redemption in the same manner as Jean-Baptiste Clamence in Albert Camus’ novel, The Fall.

Old Gadfly:   None of this is covered in the mainstream media.  Why should we believe that a corrupt establishment would address these matters in a noncorrupt manner?  Unfortunately, the only way to cover up corruption is through more corruption.  This is what President Trump (and Judge Moore and others) faces as he tries to drain the swamp.          




[1] For an excellent set of arguments and evidence, see Ken Buck, Drain the Swamp:  How Washington Corruption Is Worse than You Think, (Washington, D.C.:  Regnery Publishing, 2017).
[2] See Robert Timberg, The Nightingale’s Song, (New York, NY:  Simon & Schuster, 1995), p. 136.  Note, Timberg did not include the entire text of the confession.
[3] Ibid, pp. 96, 99, 230-31, 232, 235, 236, 238, 299, 373.

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