Guest Post by Paul Craig Roberts
As I predicted on April 11, the police state got the Republicans to reconsider and to pass their warrantless spying and home entry. The Republican Speaker of the House Mike Johnson cast the deciding vote that nixed the warrant requirement.
This tells us all we need to know about Republicans. They are part of the problem.
Continue reading “Republican Speaker of the House Flushes US Constitution Down the Toilet”
Guest Post by Paul Craig Roberts
The House Democrats, not the Republicans, Respond to Trump’s Plea to Kill the Unconstitutional FISA Act, while the Republicans Vote for the Police State Measure
Paul Craig Roberts
The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) was passed as a result of the public hysteria that was orchestrated in response to a non-existent “Muslim terrorist threat” that was spun off of 9/11, the only claimed Muslim terrorist act in the US, an event now understood as a neoconservative operation to create “the New Pearl Harbor” necessary for their wars in the Middle East against Israel’s enemies.
The FISA Act was totally unconstitutional as it vitiated the US Constitution’s prohibitions against arrest and spying without warrants. The FISA Act is a police state measure and nothing else. That Americans, Congress, and the federal courts accepted it proves the absence of any commitment to freedom.
Continue reading “Democrats Respond to Trump’s Plea to Kill Police State FISA Act”
Guest Post by Ron Paul
Just before leaving town for Christmas break, the US House gave Americans a last-minute holiday gift: a nearly trillion dollar military spending bill filled with lots of goodies for the special interests and the military-industrial complex. Unfortunately, the rest of America got nothing but coal in its stockings.
With Constitutionalists like Rep. Thomas Massie on the House Rules Committee, Speaker Johnson made the unusual move of bringing the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) under suspension of the rules, which bypasses the Rules Committee but requires two-thirds of the House to pass the bill.
Continue reading “Congress’ ‘Gift’ to America This Christmas”
What catches us by surprise hurts us double.
– Seneca
Of all tyrannies, a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It would be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron’s cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end for they do so with the approval of their own conscience. They may be more likely to go to Heaven yet at the same time likelier to make a Hell of earth. This very kindness stings with intolerable insult. To be “cured” against one’s will and cured of states which we may not regard as disease is to be put on a level of those who have not yet reached the age of reason or those who never will; to be classed with infants, imbeciles, and domestic animals.
– C.S. Lewis, God in the Dock: Essays on Theology (Making of Modern Theology)
I remember once in college we had a class discussion on how ancient Rome expanded primarily out of fear of being conquered. In other words, the Romans believed their best defense was a strong offense: they engaged in the hostile takeovers of their enemies to avoid being conquered themselves.
This calls to mind the interaction between the emotion of fear and how it relates to the survival instinct. Undeniably, these will often supersede the loftier considerations of ethics and law; and they apply equally to individuals, gangs, groups, corporations, cults, and governments.
The desire for control is rooted in fear and perhaps greed. In many cases, these may even be rooted in pride.
Continue reading “On Viral Attacks by Benevolent Benefactors”
“Our impulses are being redirected. We are living in an artificially induced state of consciousness that resembles sleep… The poor and the underclass are growing. Racial justice and human rights are nonexistent. They have created a repressive society and we are their unwitting accomplices. Their intention to rule rests with the annihilation of consciousness. We have been lulled into a trance. They have made us indifferent to ourselves…, to others…, we are focused only on our own gain. Please understand they are safe as long as they are not discovered. That is their primary method of survival: To keep us asleep, keep us selfish, keep us sedated.”
– “They Live” (1988), John Carpenter, Universal Pictures, Release date: November 4, 1988
John Carpenter’s cult classic film “They Live” foreshadowed our current time in so many ways. The story told of disguised freaks appearing human while consolidating control over the upper echelons of society. To do this, they lulled the masses to sleep via advertising and materialism. The electronic media acted as a hypnotist’s watch on lethargic plebeians as they were cajoled into a dreamlike state, treated like puppets, and surveilled – by flying drones no less.
Continue reading “The Revenge of the Illusionists at the Whim of the Deluded”
In his 1991 book, “Behold a Pale Horse”, former United States Naval Intelligence Briefing Team member William Cooper warned of a secret initiative by the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency. In this sinister plan, described by Cooper near three decades ago, a project called “Orion” was revealed whereby drugs and hypnosis were to be used on mental patients coerced into shooting children in schools. The plan was to inflame the anti-gun lobby and cause middle class Americans to beg their government “protectors” into obliterating the 2nd Amendment.
The government encouraged the manufacture and importation of military firearms for the criminals to use. This is intended to foster a feeling of insecurity, which would lead the American people to voluntarily disarm themselves by passing laws against firearms. Using drugs and hypnosis on mental patients in a process called Orion, the CIA inculcated the desire in these people to open fire on schoolyards and thus inflame the antigun lobby. This plan is well under way, and so far is working perfectly. The middle class is begging the government to do away with the 2nd amendment.
– Cooper, Milton William. (1991). “Behold a Pale Horse”, Light Technology Publications, page 225
On June 28, 2001 William Cooper told of Osama Bin Laden’s connections to U.S. intelligence and even predicted 911. Eight weeks after the Twin Towers fell in New York City Cooper was shot and killed at his home in Eagar, Arizona while resisting arrest.
Having watched some of the questions to former Special Counsel Robert Mueller by congress on Wednesday July 24, 2019, as well as Mueller’s dithering deflections – it was obvious the entire affair was another distraction; more of the same ongoing circus show.
Of course, no minds were changed. Those on the Left still consider Trump to be a comprised capitalist pig guarding his tax returns with all the fervor of any good Manchurian Candidate and those on the Right still viewing Mueller as a tyrannical tool of the Deep State.
After Mueller’s live testimony, this blogger listened to roughly thirty Americans calling into CNBC with their comments. Of those callers, only three were in support of Trump and with the rest of them effusively expressing gratitude to Mueller for his service in revealing Trump’s threat to American Democracy.
In the wake of Robert Mueller’s very bizarre nine-minute press conference on May 29, 2019, there can be no doubt his special counsel investigation was a political sham orchestrated, from the start, to undermine the Trump Presidency and increasingly divide the country. But the question remains whether or not we are witnessing legitimate legal warfare in the highest offices of American government or a Reality TV Live Action Role Play (LARP) designed to bleed the nation’s brakes before the big stop.
Indeed, for those seeking America’s demise, the Russian Collusion lie is the gift that won’t stop giving because it is, in fact, a wound that won’t ever heal. The damage is done and the psychology is so perfect it had to have happened either by destiny or design.
The seeds of destruction in the Russian collusion narrative remain rooted in the patriotism of both sides. No matter who wins in the end, it will be a pyrrhic victory because the other team will never surrender, accept any terms, or yield any ideological ground. Any chance of compromise is long past, so it’s all or nothing going forward. In fact, each side’s patriotism precludes any chance of concession. The irony therein, of course, is that the entire slate of premises of one side are predicated upon, and perpetuated by, lies and deception.
Continue reading “The Lingering Lies of the Liars are Languishing”
On Wednesday April 10, 2019 the recently appointed Attorney General of the United States, William Barr, publically acknowledged the largest political scandal in American history. This declaration occurred during a senate hearing and, specifically, during an exchange with Democratic New Hampshire Senator Jeanne Shaheen, a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee.
When Barr told her he thought “spying on a political campaign is a big deal”, Shaheen, in turn, asked: “You’re not suggesting, though, that spying occurred?”
To which Barr replied:
I think spying did occur. Yes, I think spying did occur. But the question is whether it was adequately predicated and I am not suggesting that it wasn’t adequately predicated. But I need to explore that.
Unsurprisingly, afterwards, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said she didn’t trust Attorney General Barr. She, furthermore, implied the contention of Trump’s campaign being spied on “undermines Barr’s independence as the nation’s top law enforcement officer”. As if trying to convince herself, Pelosi added that Barr’s comments undermined “the Constitution and his role in the Justice Department”.
Continue reading “The Superfluous Spontaneity of Seismic Happenstances”
…Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow
Creeps in this petty pace from day to day
To the last syllable of recorded time.
And all our yesterdays have lighted fools
The way to dusty death. Out, out, brief candle.
Life’s but a walking shadow, a poor player
That struts and frets his hour upon the stage,
And then is heard no more. It is a tale
Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,
Signifying nothing.
– Shakespeare, William (1606). “Macbeth”, Act 5, scene 5
In that passage of Shakespeare’s “Macbeth”, the protagonist turned antagonist swallows hopelessness and nihilism like an opiate. He does so for this reason: If life is meaningless, then so, too, are regret and guilt. It’s also been said that quote represented Shakespeare’s own view of theater – as all the drama was meant to invoke emotional responses from the audience after a suspension of disbelief had occurred.
In so many ways does the inevitable unfurl like a divine comedy; or a Shakespearean tragedy. Even now as the tin-foil hat-wearing conspiracy theorists and fake news propagandists in the Mainstream Media, along with their comrades in The Resistance, tear at their clothing and gnash their teeth in the wake of Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s gigantic nothing-burger.
It’s been another strange week as the circus continues. On Sunday February 17, 2019 former acting FBI Director, Andrew McCabe, told interviewer Scott Pelly on “60 Minutes” that Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, in early 2017, broached the idea of using the 25th Amendment as a means to remove newly elected President Donald J. Trump. Furthermore, McCabe said in that interview Rosenstein was actually “counting votes” in Trump’s cabinet to pull off what Republican Senator Lindsay Graham of South Carolina has termed an “administrative coup”.
All very interesting; especially, given the fact Rosenstein has publically denied McCabe’s claims.
When Pelley asked McCabe why the counterintelligence investigation on Trump was “specifically” launched, McCabe responded as follows:
It’s many of those same concerns that cause us to be concerned about a national security threat. And the idea is, if the president committed obstruction of justice, fired the director of the of the FBI to negatively impact or to shut down our investigation of Russia’s malign activity and possibly in support of his campaign, as a counterintelligence investigator you have to ask yourself, “Why would a president of the United States do that?” So all those same sorts of facts cause us to wonder is there an inappropriate relationship, a connection between this president and our most fearsome enemy, the government of Russia?
Continue reading “On Channel Surfing, Circus Acts, and Time Passages”
Mr. Speaker, Mr. Vice President, Members of Congress, the First Lady of the United States, and my fellow Americans:
It’s been another year since your president has stood before you to, once again, deliver yet another State of the Union address.
Tonight, however, will not be the standard fare. Instead of half-truths and false optimism, I am going to set aside all that in order to say what I believe is true.
Dear citizens, we now stand a crossroads and we must choose. We must choose if we are to move forward and deal with the real problems facing our nation, or to progress as a country of corruption; whether to return to our roots as an honorable republic – a nation of laws, or to continue our decline into lawlessness and the abyss.
Continue reading “A Satirical Dream: Trump’s 2019 State of the Union Address”
By Doug “Uncola” Lynn via TheBurningPlatform.com
You can’t stop what’s comin’. It ain’t all waitin’ on you. That’s vanity.
– “No Country for Old Men”, 2007, Miramax Films
It’s a new year and time for new beginnings. But what does it mean exactly? Of course, it’s about time. I mean, that’s the answer. It is, truly, about time. Think about it. Time has a beginning, middle, and an end. You were born, a bunch of stuff happened, a lot of stuff is going on now, and, soon, more things will occur. Right up to the end. The very end, that is.
Continue reading “New Year’s Notions Loosely Liberated and to Some Extent in Sequence”
By Doug “Uncola” Lynn via TheBurningPlatform.com
In so many ways, elections in America have become just another manifestation of bread and circuses; like watching a reality TV show when your house is on fire. It’s why this article was almost named:
“The Inevitableness of Reality Requires Honesty and Acceptance”
Of course, the 2018 Midterm Elections will be analyzed ad nauseam, with other writers and pundits parsing it better than this blogger. However, suffice it to say: There was no Blue Wave and Trump has now solidified leadership of his Republican Party; at least more so than during the last two years of his administration.
In a raucous press conference the day after, Trump claimed victory and said his party “defied history to expand our Senate majority”. The president also said his focus in the days prior to the election remained on the senate and pointed out that most of the candidates for whom he campaigned had won their respective races.
Now, with Never-Trump Republican senators like Bob Corker (R-TN) and Jeff Flake (R-AZ), along with Democrats Heidi Heitkamp (D-ND), Joe Donnelly (D-IN), and Claire McCaskill (D-MO) all gone – Trump has solidified the senate so as to be in a much better position to navigate any cabinet and court appointments. Obviously, the bloodletting has already begun, starting with Mr. Magoo himself, Attorney General Jeff Sessions.
Continue reading “Three (3) Reasons Why Elections Don’t Matter”
By Doug “Uncola” Lynn via TheBurningPlatform.com
Beginning in May of this year (for April), this blogger had the idea to track linked internet headlines from various link-aggregating websites as documented transitions and arrange them into catalogued anthologies. The goal was to map a veritable road, if you will, on the way toward future revelations.
Beyond that, the series of encyclopedic atomization was meant for posterity, a means to compare tracking from previous months, and assembled in outright defiance against increasing internet censorship and memory-holed search engine results.
Predictably, like dots formulated into patterns on a grid, or in a matrix, so too have trends come into better focus as we continue our monthly trek toward the 2018 Midterm Elections.
As stated by this blogger before, President Donald Trump is the manifestation of one of the following three possibilities:
Continue reading “A Fork-in-the-Road Approaches: The Short List – 95 Revelations from July, 2018”
By Doug “Uncola” Lynn via TheBurningPlatform.com
In sales and advertising it’s always a numbers game. That is to say the more people are impressed upon with a certain pitch, or spiel as it were, the larger the response will be during any given campaign or promotional event.
In advertising, “points” measure percentages of given populations and can be targeted to select demographics (called Target Rating Points) or even subjective measurements (called Index Rating Points) like the propensity to purchase in any given market.
Furthermore “Gross Impressions” quantify the approximate number and cost per thousands of duplicate people reached within a certain demographic; whereas “Reach” and “Frequency” represent math equations based upon algorithms involving unduplicated people impressed upon within a certain demographic and how many times they were imprinted with any given ad or message.
Continue reading “Truth & Bullshit in the Digital Advertising Age”
