Cicero on McCain and other Ruling Elite

Abstract:   A lot is going on and the Olympics seem to be a convenient distraction.  For over a year, we have been inundated by a Russian collusion narrative.  To date, there has been no evidence to support this allegation.  To the contrary, facts are emerging that are not consistent with this narrative.  The challenge for us consumers of the news is to be able to sort fact from fiction.  The following article introduces emerging facts that challenge the prevailing fiction.

            Old Gadfly:  Senator McCain was quick to rebuke the Nunes memo.  Why?

            AM:  Central to the memo is the role the Russian dossier played in justifying FISA-approved surveillance on those associated with the Trump campaign.  As we discussed previously, it was McCain’s staffer that was sent overseas to get the dossier and then for McCain to hand it over to the FBI.  McCain has a fingerprint on this manufactured document that clearly shaped and controls the public narrative.  Amazingly reported in The New York Times, here is how McCain’s role was portrayed:

 

James B. Comey, the former F.B.I. director whose firing by Mr. Trump prompted the appointment of a special counsel to oversee the Justice Department’s Russia investigation, received a copy of the memos after Election Day from Senator John McCain, Republican of Arizona. Mr. McCain had dispatched David J. Kramer, a former top State Department official, to obtain the dossier directly from Mr. Steele.  And before Election Day, the F.B.I. reached an agreement to pay Mr. Steele to continue his research, though that plan was scrapped after the dossier was published.

            IM:  McCain offered no rebuke when his colleague Senator Feinstein publicly and unilaterally released the closed door testimony of Glenn Simpson from Fusion GPS, against the objections of the committee chair.  Some argue this release was designed to defuse the role Fusion GPS played in manufacturing the dossier.

            AM:   McCain is one of the longer standing ruling elite.  I just finished reading Red Notice by Bill Browder, grandson of Earl Browder who was the former President of the Communist Party USA.  Browder’s book is a true story about corruption in Russia.  To make a long story short, one of his Russian accountants was tortured and murdered by the Russian government.  Bill Browder wanted justice and advocated the Magnitsky Act in the US Congress.  A multi-billionaire, Browder was unsuccessful in getting an audience with McCain until he convinced a powerful lobbyist to facilitate a meeting.

            IM:  Is McCain really that naïve about the Nunes memo?  At some point in time, facts do catch up with fiction.  He must be naïve in this case, otherwise he must have some equity in perpetuating the fiction.  At any rate, he knows his days are numbered so perhaps he anticipates mortality will win the race with the facts.

            Old Gadfly:  Joe DiGenova, a former federal prosecutor, provides a compelling narrative (take notes and watch more than once) to the Daily Caller News Foundation.  The two heroes in this narrative are Vice Admiral Mike Rogers and Representative Devin Nunes.  We need heroes today to offset those Cicero warned us about:

A nation can survive its fools, and even the ambitious. But it cannot survive treason from within. An enemy at the gates is less formidable, for he is known and carries his banner openly. But the traitor moves amongst those within the gate freely, his sly whispers rustling through all the alleys, heard in the very halls of government itself. For the traitor appears not a traitor; he speaks in accents familiar to his victims, and he wears their face and their arguments, he appeals to the baseness that lies deep in the hearts of all men. He rots the soul of a nation, he works secretly and unknown in the night to undermine the pillars of the city, he infects the body politic so that it can no longer resist. A murderer is less to fear.  

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.          

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[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.

The Missing Adult

AM:  During the Republican presidential primary season, do you recall Ohio Governor John Kasich claiming to be “the only adult” running?

Old Gadfly:  Yes, I do.

IM:  So, where was he when the Republican National Convention (RNC) commenced?  After all, the RNC is being held in the State of Ohio.

AM:  An adult teaches children all about being a good sport, to shake the hand of your opponent even when you lose the contest.  For the Ohio Governor not to officially welcome delegates to the RNC shows that not only is he a poor sport, he’s a quitter and a loser. 

IM:  For people like John Kasich, John McCain, Mitt Romney, and the Bush clan not to support the Republican candidate for President says a lot more about them than it does the Republican candidate who won the primary playing by the rules.  They truly demonstrate why the word conservative can project a negative, status quo preference for political privilege.  Just like the Democrat ruling class, some within the Republican Party forget that they too can be seduced by a ruling class mentality contrary to the wishes of the constituency they should be humbled and honored to serve.

Old Gadfly:  Unfortunately far too many Americans still feel comfortable being fed narratives shaped by a very biased media.  As you will recall, I categorized many of these individuals as Copernican drones because they lack the capacity to think and analyze original sources on their own.  For example, I have heard many express their fear of Trump because he would be imperialistic or authoritarian.  Perhaps they have been desensitized regarding this notion by a truly authoritarian who has followed through with his promise to circumvent the Congress with his phone and pen.  Trump says that on his first day in office he would rescind unconstitutional executive orders related to the second amendment and immigration.

IM:  I noticed that Trump’s campaign website provides positions on some key issues.  I read through all of these positions, and what struck me was Trump’s apparent intent to work with Congress and our existing institutions to advance solutions.  This does not sound like an imperialistic President.

AM:  Ironically, when looking at Hillary’s campaign website, her positions represent a third Obama term and address everything under the sun—consistent with imperialistic thinking and a belief in a very big and powerful central government.  Let’s see, Hillary’s commitment to the status quo sounds like a conservative.  Trump is the one advancing new ideas to benefit all Americans, not just protected classes at the expense of others.  Nor does he want to enslave the nonruling class.

Old Gadfly:  This past week, I had the opportunity to hear Dinesh D’Souza discuss his upcoming documentary based on his book, Hillary’s America:  The Secret History of the Democratic Party.  The movie opens in three days (July 22, 2016) at theaters nationwide.  Progressives are already trying to debunk the analysis by suggesting political realignment.  Sadly, we see no advertisement by the media.  Does this come as a surprise.  I remember all the media hype about Michael Moore’s Fahrenheit 9/11 and Al Gore’s An Inconvenient Truth before they were released.  So, we need to spread the word through other means.

IM:  Wasn’t D’Souza convicted recently?

Old Gadfly:  Yes.  This is what he explained in his book:

In this book I will show how Democrats went from slavery for blacks to enslavement for the whole population.  Even those who benefit from the progressive state become dependent upon it and remain captive to their progressive benefactors.  Meanwhile, the rest of us are forced, intimidated, and terrorized into forking over our earnings and possessions so that progressives can dispose of them as they see fit.  In sum, progressive Democrats have gone from exploiting blacks to exploiting everyone.  This is their actual Big Switch. 

. . . Progressives need a pitch, and the best pitch is the idea of social justice.

. . . I learned about the pitch in a federal confinement center where I spent eight months in overnight captivity for my sins against the Obama administration.  My crime was exceeding the campaign finance laws by giving $20,000 over the campaign finance limit to a college pal of mine who was running for the U.S. Senate.  I didn’t do it to get anything in return; I did it simply to help an old friend.  For this, I found myself at the receiving end of the full force of the U.S. government.

But since no one in American history has been prosecuted—let alone incarcerated—for doing what I did, I should be allowed to suspect that my real crime was in exposing President Obama in my film 2016:  Obama’s America and my books The Roots of Obama’s Rage and Obama’s America.  Obama hated my film, vituperatively attacking it on his website barackobama.com, and a few months later, the FBI was knocking on my door (pp. 22-23).        

AM:  What does D’Souza mean by “the Big Switch?”

Old Gadfly:  Democrats and their complicit progressives in academia, the media, and Hollywood claim Republicans, and now Trump, in particular are bigots, racists, misogynists, and so forth, when it was Democrats in our history that were the racists and misogynists.  D’Souza provides evidence that the Ku Klux Klan emerged from the Democrat Party, Jim Crow laws were advanced by Democrats, and Democrats opposed women suffrage.  This is just the tip of the iceberg.  Read his book.  Better yet, watch the documentary.

IM:  Sadly, there is an abundance of evidence to impugn Democrat social justice policy.  For example, here is an interesting video by Dr. Walter Williams from George Mason University.

AM:  Democrats seem to have a powerful megaphone, claiming Republicans are the party of “no” or “obstructionists.”

Old Gadfly:  When a particular ideological faction controls the narrative, it is easy to manufacture false notions.  This is one of the recruiting advantages ISIS and other Islamic or jihadists groups have, and they start early as in this news video of a kindergarten graduation in the Gaza Strip.  Progressives are an ideological faction, and they want Americans to think they are the ones with ideas to advance progress while Republicans want to put blacks back in chains.  Well, Republicans do have ideas.  Check out Trump’s website and take a look at Ryan’s (Republican Speaker of the House) A Better Way.  Of course, most Americans will only know about Ryan’s policy agenda through the media.  Here’s such an example.  The biggest criticism is about the lack of specific detail, highlighting alternatives to Obamacare, as an example.  As a professor, I always advise students to evaluate primary sources.  This is part of an education many Americans seem to have missed.

IM:  Coloradans are about to discover what they did not read in the legislation before it was passed strictly by Democrat votes.   Because a Colorado democrat-controlled legislature and governor passed an Obamacare exchange, they are now scrambling to see how Colorado will fill the gap in lost federal subsidies this coming year.  The proposed legislation calls for an increase in individual income taxes (from 4.63% to 7.96%) and 10% increase for sole proprietors (from 4.63% to 14.63%) and corporations.  Meanwhile thousands of Coloradans have been added to the State Medicaid program.  The citizens of Ohio will soon discover the same dilemma after Governor John Kasich enthusiastically promoted Obamacare exchanges in his State.  A nice little mess created by progressive Democrats, but they will find a way to blame it on Republicans as in D’Souza’s Big Switch theory.

          Old Gadfly:  Some of this explains why Democrats fear a President Trump.  Trump firmly believes in law and order over political retribution.  As an adult, and given available resources, his Attorney General and other federal-level prosecutors would focus on crimes that are far more egregious than a $20,000 campaign contribution.  Perhaps by then, other “ruling class” Republicans will seek redemption for failing to be an adult, and putting our nation at risk with a President Hillary Clinton.