Hitler’s 1923 coup attempt, best known as the Beer Hall Putsch, was only a nominal failure. The immediate result was his arrest, trial, and conviction, though his sentence was barely carried out. The long-term effect was to inspire in him the belief that power is best achieved through engagement with the ruling regime and existing democratic apparatus. Ten years later, his goal was accomplished by way of his legitimate but coercive ascendancy to the Chancellorship and the implementation of the Enabling Act. World War II put an end to his ambitions but Hitler’s prowess in actualizing his aspirations within the machinations of the state remains a blueprint for tyranny to this day.
Things have changed since then of course, but often only aesthetically and in the arrangement of events; the deep state actors of America’s shadow government have perfected the Fuhrer’s sinister model without the pomp and circumstance and rituals of democratic processes. The faceless spooks of the intelligence community, the unelected career bureaucrats of various departments, and the media personalities in front of the cameras and behind, have embedded themselves legally first and seek to exercise a coup d’etat after the legitimate election of a legitimate government.
The political assassination of Michael Flynn and his subsequent ouster from the Trump administration is the most current example of the deep state flexing its muscle. It’s tempting for many to interpret this as a momentarily isolated though not unpredictable incident; our new president is ridiculed daily and depicted by the mainstream media as an incompetent stooge of big money masters and a bigoted minority voting bloc. Incompetence made manifest by poor character judgment is in line with the popular narrative propagated by the talking heads of the professional propaganda class. It is intimated that no one should be surprised when corruption and clumsiness emerge in a purportedly corrupt and clumsy administration.
It’s an easy story to believe, depending on who you are. If you’re already blinded by maniacal hatred of President Trump, if you’re already convinced of his perfidy, it won’t be difficult to accept the notion that he’s a dangerous laughingstock as portrayed by a fourth estate populated by useful idiots (think Stephen Colbert) and brazen liars like Dan Rather.
The mainstream media’s role within the deep state is almost as pervasive and pernicious as the influence wielded by the career bureaucrats and politicians of our nation’s capital. Mika Brzezinski has stated that the job of the mainstream media is to control the thinking of the American people and they do so in part by giving a platform to shadow government co-conspirators like Indivisible Guide which openly schemes to stall the Trump agenda by gaslighting and shouting down Republican members of congress at town-hall events. Yarns attributed to anonymous sources alleging fictional turmoil in the new administration are spun into whole editorials; they’re petty but the abundance of them paint a picture of a young presidency incapable of exerting self-control. Under this barrage of fake news, it’s understandable so many people with a predisposition to the Left believe the Trump administration is already a failure. But it’s a superficial and dishonest assessment of the facts.
For months President Trump has been dogged by unverified accusations of collusion with the Russian government and his open hostility toward elements in the intelligence community hasn’t diminished the Left’s skewed image of him as a puppet of Vladimir Putin. It’s a smokescreen. During the campaign and after the election there was and has been a distinct and deliberate absence of introspection on the part of the Left. The ineptitude of the Democratic National Committee (DNC) that lead to the leaks of sensitive emails, was projected outward to the Trump campaign which was derided as amateurish and inexperienced. The corruption at the core of the rigged Democratic primary season was written off by the party’s nominee and her sycophants as either non-existent or inconsequential, they focused instead on President Trump’s few bankruptcies and perpetuated lies about his unsubstantiated relationship with the Kremlin. Rather than attempt any mea culpa for their shameless and shameful behavior, the DNC instead aimed their attentions on the alleged corruption of their GOP challenger.
Transference of blame isn’t new in politics, we see it every day. What we have yet to see is any concrete evidence of Russian tampering with our election or its mythical partnership with President Trump’s campaign. The Democrats would have us believe Flynn’s resignation is ample proof of guilt but they ignore the reality that Flynn was forced to resign for having misled Vice President Pence, not for having violated the Logan Act. Once again, the Democrats are drawing attention away from their own misdeeds (which include communication between the 2008 Obama campaign and Iran as well as communication between the 2016 Clinton campaign and the Chinese government) in a transparent effort to delegitimize our rightful president.
And what of their misdeeds? That classified information was leaked to the press by anonymous sources within the government isn’t a matter open to dispute, and neither is the illegality of having done so. It’s ridiculous to assume any Trump loyalists would have committed these crimes. Conversely, it is not unreasonable to believe the source of the leaks is instead an Obama loyalist or perhaps even a cadre of Obama holdovers who are either acting of their own accord or under orders from President Trump’s predecessor. Any thinking person would, at the very least, accept it as a rational possibility.
But this goes deeper than a single loyalist, or group of Obama loyalists, being behind the leaks. It’s definitely part of what’s going on, but it’s not that simple, it never is. The frequently faceless sources of these leaks certainly have motives that extend beyond allegiance to a failed former president. Their fealty isn’t to any single administration or party, they are instead pledged to a bipartisan/nonpartisan culture of power lust run rampant through the swamp of Washington, D.C. The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), in particular, is a hive of suspect behaviors and intent. The history of our premier intelligence service is one riddled with blood spilling, deceit and propaganda, ruining lives, destroying governments, and laying waste to sovereign foreign states. A draining of the swamp may not threaten Wall Street cronies as much as it should, but it certainly threatens the agents of the CIA who have too much to lose under a Trump presidency.
And it’s more than their paychecks at stake. It’s the power and control and ego-mania that comes with the territory. It’s the control over their assets and whatever they’ve promised their handlers and partners. It’s not out of the question to assume some of these spooks feel they can’t leave for any number of sordid reasons. Perhaps blackmail is involved. Who knows. Who among us really wants to know the particulars of these dirty secrets?
The Democrats are of course applauding the leaks. Anything that takes down President Trump is praiseworthy for the sore losers of the Left, even if it makes a mockery of their party’s name. Presidents are to be held to account at the ballot booth, not by a faceless army of unchecked and unelected agitators working behind the scenes for their own interests.
The Democrats, the Left at large and their RINO counterparts who comprise the deep state, need to be prepared for more disappointment. (Most visible among the GOP side of the bipartisan/nonpartisan shadow government are two career politicians, and proud warhawks, John McCain and Lindsey Graham. Also among these deep state “conservative” icons is the once-great George Will who prognosticates a Republican revolution against President Trump. And don’t forget about neo-con media personalities like Bill Kristol who openly encourages the dangerous exercise of unchecked power by the unelected shadow government.)
McCain and Graham withheld their feeble endorsements from President Trump in a futile attempt to curb his momentum. We all know how that turned out. The crushing defeat of the 2016 election still wasn’t enough to break the spirits of the anti-Trump clique, so they attempted recounts in several states. When that didn’t work they set out to obstruct the formation of President Trump’s cabinet. With the exception of Andrew Puzder, this effort too has largely been in vain.
Now that all legal means have been exhausted the anti-Trump resistance is giddy at the thought of our deep state actors staging a coup, starting with littler fish like Flynn but eventually working their way to the top with the POTUS himself. Perhaps Bannon will be next. Or Conway. Or Kushner. Targets abound. The Bill Kristols of the world would have us believe this coup is some righteous fight to preserve truth, justice, and the American way, but that’s just another smoke screen. It’s actually a sign of desperation on the part of a panicked deep state. They are fighting for their survival as the walls close in.
Newly annointed Secretary of State, Rex Tillerson, is handing out pink slips in the deep state bastion of Foggy Bottom’s Seventh Floor. Chairman of the House Oversight Committee, Jason Chaffetz, has requested the Justice Department investigate the leaks rather than the ambiguous accusations of partnership between the President and his counterpart in Moscow. And there are now reports that the CEO of Cerberus Capital Management, Stephen Feinberg, may be brought in as an outside party to audit the intelligence community at large to root out any agents working to destabilize the Trump government.
The deep state, or shadow government, whatever you want to call it, is running scared. This is a positive development but one fraught with peril. The last president we had who stood up to the intelligence community was John F. Kennedy and we all know what happened to him (and don’t give me any defunct bunk about Lee Harvey Oswald and magic bullets). Thankfully, President Trump still works with his own personal security.
(Personally, I don’t think the goons of the shadow government have the stones to take a shot at him, but don’t put it past them to try something. Unelected deep state actors infest corners of the halls of power beyond the CIA and NSA; career bureaucrats have metastasized through the Federal Reserve so don’t be surprised if the robber barons of the central banking cabal crash the economy in September or October of 2020 to sink the president’s chances at re-election. Cornered animals have a way of lashing out if they feel they have nothing left to lose.)
Make no mistake, “they” are losing. It’s only a matter of time before the last vestiges of the Obama administration have been purged from our government. It’s only a matter of time before the empty suits and spooks who cut their teeth during George H. W. Bush’s time in the CIA are put under the spotlight and shown the door. Sooner or later the progeny of Dulles will scurry like cockroaches from the light. President Trump must take a fine tooth comb to government and weed out of it the unchecked powers who are accountable not to we the people, but to their own twisted interests. With any luck, we and our president will make it out on the other side unscathed.
Stay vigilant. The ouster of Flynn is only the beginning. We haven’t heard the last from the deep state.
Original artwork by Jesse Comeau
