lewrockwell--2020-02-19--The Step Down to the Rest of the 4th Turning

Upon U.S. entry into the war , in 1917 the Wilson administration proposed and a compliant Congress almost immediately passed the Espionage Act , a direct attack on American press freedom .
The law criminalized newspaper journalists who dared to oppose the war , question the official narrative , or encourage dissent .
Massive fines and stiff prison sentences were dealt out with regularity throughout the war .
The postmaster general , Albert Burleson , used the Act with particular vigor , banning socialist and anti-war publications from the mails , which then was the only serious method of media @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the government were manifold and nefarious .
Bilingual “ watchdogs ” ( mainly university professors ) were assigned to monitor the then-vibrant foreign-language publications for “ material which may fall under the Espionage Act.
” Burleson went past the foreign press and denied mail access to any publication that even vaguely criticized the war , or dared , as he declared , “ to impugn the motives of the government ” or even criticize “ improperly our Allies.
” Thus , even the esteemed liberal journal The Nation was banned in September 1918 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ leader Samuel Gompers .
This official trampling of press freedom encouraged local organizations to take mass surveillance and thought policing to ever-more extreme levels .
For example , the Iowa Council of Defense urged each member to spy on his fellow citizens and “ find out what his neighbor thinks.
” Ghost Riders of Baghda ... Daniel A. Sjursen Best Price : $ 16.67 Buy New $ 16.58 Attorney General Thomas Gregory even boasted of his having crafted an effective mass surveillance state .
Indeed , it was so effective that it can @ @ @ @ @ @ @ though less technologically advanced — of the digital surveillance state that NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden unmasked during the Obama years .
In April 1918 , Gregory claimed , “ Scores of thousands of men are under constant observation throughout the country.
” The connections to the present day are manifold , relevant , and discomfiting .
It was the nearly century-old Espionage Act , in fact , that Barack Obama used to wage his war on leakers , including Chelsea ( formerly Bradley ) Manning and Edward Snowden .
Indeed , the liberal @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Espionage Act than all of his predecessors combined .
Still , while Obama indicted leaker after leaker , i.e.
, journalistic sources , his justice department stopped short of indicting a publication itself , citing the potentially dangerous precedent it would set .
The Trump administration has followed in Obama ’ s footsteps by bringing charges against Julian Assange , who — like him or not — runs a viable publication , WikiLeaks .
While WikiLeaks itself has not been indicted , that is certainly still a possibility .
While the mainstream U.S. @ @ @ @ @ @ @ s side , it would behoove them to do so .
If Assange is jailed or WikiLeaks is shut down , there is nothing to stop Trump or future presidents from indicting officials in the Washington Post or New York Times or the publications themselves for printing classified information gleaned from leakers .
By then , using World War I vintage tools , the war on the press will be over , the federal government triumphant once and for all .
When the United States declared war , many millions of Americans remained @ @ @ @ @ @ @ skeptical of the official justifications .
After all , Democrats won the presidency in 1916 on the popularity of a specifically anti-war platform .
Such sentiments were hardly vanquished in April 1917 .
That presented Wilson with a serious problem , one that needed to be solved immediately .
The most prominent , and infamous , government answer was George Creel ’ s Committee on Public Information ( CPI ) .
While Wilson and Creel vehemently protested that CPI would not peddle propaganda , that ’ s exactly what the organization felt compelled @ @ @ @ @ @ @ even to manufacture ” favorable public support for the war , in the words of historian David M. Kennedy .
What followed bordered on the ridiculous .
Countless pamphlets were produced depicting German troops as rabid beasts , often shown as strangely threatening to white American women .
The teaching of German was banned in many local school districts , as were history textbooks seen as too pro-German .
CPI also collaborated with the hawkish National Board for Historical Service to craft and distribute various “ war study courses ” to the nation @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , is a regular victim of the warfare state .
Creel had few compunctions about his work and left behind an instructive legacy of unsubtle statements .
He unapologetically described his job as “ the fight for the minds of men , for the conquest of their convictions.
” His methods were varied and increasingly nefarious .
CPI unleashed 75,000 “ Four-Minute Men ” on local communities .
They were prominent citizens with reliably pro-war viewpoints who whipped up support through millions of brief speeches across the nation .
Creel ’ s agency @ @ @ @ @ @ @ explaining the official government case for war .
What ’ s more , the Committee even published pro-war advertisements in popular journals such as the Saturday Evening Post to shamelessly persuade the people .
Consumerism , it seemed , had finally dovetailed with government propaganda .
“ Any man who carries a hyphen about with him carries a dagger that he is ready to plunge into the vitals of the Republic.
” —Woodrow Wilson ( 1919 ) Nativism and xenophobia are as American as apple pie , and are pervasive themes in U.S. @ @ @ @ @ @ @ anti-immigrant sentiment reached a fever pitch in the World War I era .
By then , the recent wave of new immigrants — Italians , Poles , Slavs , and Jews — outnumbered the old-stock immigrants composed of Western and Northern Europeans .
This inspired fear among native Anglo Americans .
Just before the war , Henry Ford ’ s automotive workers on the assembly line attended a factory school for immigrants in which the first English sentence students learned was “ I am a good American.
” By 1916 , even the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ around the concept of Americanism , as defined by the Anglo elite .
So-called hyphenated Americans had no place in a United States , and new loaded terms such as “ 100 percent Americanism ” took hold .
Even before the war , Wilson gave voice to xenophobia , directed at once-admired German-Americans , as he stated , “ There are citizens of the United States , I blush to admit , born under other flags but welcomed under our generous naturalization laws … who have poured the poison of disloyalty into the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Such creatures … must be crushed out.
” Then , during his official war address , he claimed that there were “ millions of men and women of German birth and native sympathy who live amongst us… .
If there should be disloyalty , it will be dealt with , with a firm hand of repression….
” It was .
Scapegoating of German and new immigrants and the vigilantism against them straddled the lines of official and unofficial policy .
Quasi-vigilante groups such as the massive American Protective League ( APL ) even @ @ @ @ @ @ @ with Gregory ’ s Justice Department .
APL members , who stood 250,000 strong by war ’ s end , spied on neighbors and co-workers , sniffing out even the vaguest hints of dissent .
Owing to his vitual deputization of the APL members , Attorney General Gregory went so far as to boast , “ I have today several hundred thousand private citizens … engaged in … assisting the heavily overworked Federal authorities in keeping an eye on disloyal individuals and making reports of disloyal utterances.
” APL members rapidly slid into @ @ @ @ @ @ @ wiretapping , slander , citizens ’ arrests , opening private mail , and , eventually , even physical violence .
For perhaps the first time in U.S. history , whites — mostly Germans , pacifists , and socialists — were lynched wholesale .
Some were viciously tarred and feathered , others outright murdered .
The perpetrators almost never faced punishment .
In one representative case , a German-American who had actually attempted ( unsuccessfully ) to join the U.S. Navy was humiliated , paraded through the streets , and murdered before a cheering @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ringleaders wore red , white , and blue ribbons .
Their defense counsel described their act as “ patriotic murder.
” Within 25 minutes the jury found them all not guilty .
The “ respectable ” Washington Post then commented , “ In spite of excesses such as lynching , it is a healthful and wholesome awakening in the interior of the country.
” Which all links to the relevant present .
Donald Trump ’ s 2016 campaign calls to “ ban Muslims ” coming from certain countries , and to “ take @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and his characterizations of some Mexican and Central American refugees and migrants as “ rapists ” no doubt set the conditions for , and incited , a recent wave of domestic terror attacks .
True , violence against Muslims — which first manifested in the highly emotive post–9/11 Bush years — and Hispanics ( including the recent mass shooting in El Paso , Texas ) , and the recent rise in attacks on Jewish communities do not rise to the level of the First World War .
Nonetheless , such actions follow in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , and alarmism the Great War produced .
Déjà vu all over again The American people live , to a large extent , in the shadow of the world the Great War created .
All war , especially war on such a grand scale , inevitably suppresses dissent , curtails liberty , and centralizes power in the federal government .
Not only did that occur in World War I , but it did so to such a degree that the relationship of Americans to the federal government was completely transformed .
U.S. presidents @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and abroad — with near total impunity .
It seems that while World War I did end , the post–9/11 “ terror wars ” may never come to a close .
A major reason for that is the century-long centralization of foreign-policy and war-making power in the office of the president .
Though Congress actually sanctioned ( or rather rubber-stamped ) war in April 1917 , the Great War nevertheless transferred massive power to the executive branch .
Indeed , Wilson ’ s unilateral military expeditions against Russian communists when he ( and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ) intervened in the Russian Civil War ( 1918-20 ) were a harbinger of things to come , great-grandfather to today ’ s unsanctioned interventions ( and killing ) in Libya , West Africa , Syria , and beyond .
In retrospect , World War I and its more devilish step-child , the Second World War , proved to be the last two actual declared .
What ’ s more , the tacit — yet wildly vague and open-ended — congressional “ authorizations ” for force in Afghanistan ( 2001 ) and then @ @ @ @ @ @ @ resemblance to the legislative rubber-stamp in April 1917 .
Wilson had said as much in his war address .
It was , he declared , the “ [ executive branch ] upon which the responsibility of conducting war and safeguarding the nation will most directly fall.
” And indeed it would .
Today ’ s executive-as-emperor political culture is partly an outgrowth of Wilson ’ s precedent .
Political tribalism , no doubt prevalent today , was also common during the First World War .
In spite of the cynical announcement of Republican @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Wilson opponent — “ When this country is at war , party lines will disappear… .
Both Democrats and Republicans must forget party in the presence of the common danger ” — Lodge intended all along to criticize Wilson and the Democrats for their “ insufficient vigor ” in war prosecution .
Much the same has unfolded in the “ forever wars.
” Bush and the Republicans pressured early Democratic acquiescence , but Dems rebelled and criticized ( rightly ) Bush ’ s failing Iraq War from 2006 to 2008 .
Only later @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Barack Obama — was in office , did they suddenly support the war expansion , and it became the Republicans who portrayed the president as weak on terror .
The formula flipped again when Trump took office .
War , whether in 1917 or 2019 , is as politically partisan as any other issue .
When the president filled the power vacuum in World War I , and Congress enabled him , it became clear that the federal courts could not and would not save liberty .
Repeatedly , the Supreme Court upheld @ @ @ @ @ @ @ As Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes , once a darling of Progressives , wrote in Schenck v. United States , “ when a nation is at war many things that might be said in time of peace are such a hindrance to its effort that their utterance will not be endured.
” With those words Holmes essentially spiked the promise of freedom in future wars .
The same is true today , as the Supreme Court has failed to overturn the USA PATRIOT ACT or the much-abused Authorization for the Use of Military Force @ @ @ @ @ @ @ down Guantanamo Bay and the Obama-escalated drone assassination program .
Modern liberalism , and the Democratic Party — as the Great War demonstrated — won ’ t save liberty either : in 1917 , the vast majority of self-proclaimed Progressives sold out and followed “ their man ” Wilson into war , just as neo-Progressives sheepishly followed Obama down his path of war expansion .
Democrats , Progressives , and too many ( small “ l ” ) liberals inflicted perhaps permanent damage on their once-optimistic social philosophy of progress .
As such @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the idea of the ‘ people ’ as good and educable , gave way to the ‘ masses , ’ brutal and volatile.
” The pro-war Progressive Walter Lippmann sensed this by war ’ s end , and proposed radical , undemocratic measures .
The solution to man ’ s irrationality was to abandon real democracy and create an “ intelligence bureau ” to pursue “ the common interests that very largely elude public opinion … managed only by a specialized class.
” From that era , then , one may date the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ among modern liberals.
” It may be said , then , that the true casualty of the First World War was not just liberty , but the very “ progressive ” soul , the perhaps always-misplaced faith in government as a potential force for good .
It is this cynical postwar world that Americans inhabit .
Bibliographical note : This piece draws extensively on David M. Kennedy ’ s book Over Here : The First World War and American Society as well as the author ’ s own teaching notes as lecturer from @ @ @ @ @ @ @ readers should read Kennedy ’ s work in full for a broader and more in-depth treatment of this massively complex subject .
This article was originally published in the January 2020 edition of Future of Freedom .

In Part One of this article I exposed the numerous false narratives being peddled to the masses, as this Fourth Turning is entering the intense phase headed towards an unknown climax.
I’ve been expecting the next shoe to fall in this Fourth Turning for years, but the financial elite have pulled the debt levers to keep the Ponzi scheme alive far longer than a reasonable person would expect. We are only six weeks into 2020 and it seems like a year’s worth of major events have already occurred. The year started with the assassination of Qasem Soleimani in Iraq.
For the next week the world was awash in rhetoric about World War III and possible revolution in Iran. Accusations of Trump using the Wag the Dog method to deflect the negative press from the impeachment hearings were rampant among the half of the country that despises Trump. Soleimani was lauded as a hero by the left and a terrorist by the right. Now, the entire episode seems like ancient history, as more interesting squirrels have arisen for the propaganda media to chase.
The entire month of January was occupied by the ongoing coup/impeachment against Donald Trump. Schiff, Nadler and Pelosi doing their best impression of the three stooges, conducted a laughable prosecution in the House, revealing this was nothing more than a desperate attempt to avoid losing to Trump in a November landslide. The predictable trial in the Senate resulted in an acquittal and Trump’s popularity soaring to all-time highs, as independents realized the Democrats misused the power of impeachment for purely political purposes. Trump’s SOTU address infuriated Pelosi to such an extent it provoked her into acting like a petulant child, tearing up the speech. Future campaign ads wrote themselves.
The DNC again has looked corrupt and incompetent with the disastrous Iowa caucus. The party is again trying to cheat Sanders out of the nomination by pushing the CIA hand selected empty suit – Buttigieg, a white gay Obama clone, mayor of a Podunk town in Indiana, who talks incessantly without saying anything. The Democrats, who want to run your healthcare and have government take control over our lives, lost credibility in the eyes of millions by their inability to even count a few thousand votes in Iowa.
The left-wing pundits on MSNBC and CNN are exasperated with the populist admiration by millennials of Bernie Sanders, an unapologetic socialist. Alzheimer Joe Biden’s candidacy is imploding and Pocahontas Warren is sending desperate smoke signals for her tribe to come to the rescue. The Democratic party is a train wreck in progress.
The left-wing fake news outlets were shrill in the lead up to the 2nd Amendment rights rally in Richmond to protest Governor “Blackface” Northam’s blatant attempt to pass laws which would result in the attempted confiscation of legally owned firearms of citizens of Virginia. Talk of civil war swirled across social media. Northam called out the National Guard. Antifa terrorists threatened to storm the protest.
The displeasure among the left-wing pundits on MSNBC and CNN that thousands of legally armed citizens gathered peacefully to support their Constitutional rights without one incidence of violence was palpable. The left wingers were praying for another Charlottesville, where they could peddle more fake news about Nazis and white supremacists being Trump’s main supporters. Not only did the Richmond protestors act civilly, they actually cleaned up after themselves. Total fail for the liberal elite.
After years of fear mongering by the establishment about Brexit, the UK left the EU on January 31 with absolutely no negative consequences. A blizzard of lies falls from the sky, manufactured by those in power, in order to maintain their power, control and immense wealth. The economic catastrophe Brexit was supposed to create was used by the government apparatchiks to flog and terrify the citizens of the UK. This is par for the course.
The Deep State functions under a cloud of lies, misinformation and false narratives, capitalizing upon the gullibility, willful ignorance and folly of the masses. As this decade has gotten underway, it seems the lies are flowing in greater volume, and the fear mongering by governments, central bankers and the corporate media has reached unprecedented levels.
As if these myriad of events over the course of a few weeks weren’t enough to keep the world on edge, a potential Black Swan of immense proportions has arisen in China, threatening to initiate a worldwide pandemic. After ten years of expecting something to be the catalyst for the next leg down in this Fourth Turning, I’ve remained skeptical of every new doom and gloom event that comes along, as all previous threats have been neutralized through monetary or political means. But a pertinent quote near the end of Strauss and Howe’s prophecy, certainly seems to apply at this moment in history.
“History offers no guarantees. Obviously, things could go horribly wrong – the possibilities ranging from a nuclear exchange to incurable plagues, from terrorist anarchy to high-tech dictatorship. We should not assume that Providence will always exempt our nation from the irreversible tragedies that have overtaken so many others: not just temporary hardship, but debasement and total ruin. Losing in the next Fourth Turning could mean something incomparably worse. It could mean a lasting defeat from which our national innocence – perhaps even our nation – might never recover.” – Strauss & Howe – The Fourth Turning
I would say we are already experiencing terrorist anarchy in the Middle East and a virtual high-tech dictatorship through the partnership between the Deep State and the titans of Silicon Valley to surveil everything we say, email, tweet or think. Snowden and Assange have revealed the truth about our military industrial surveillance state, but the masses are too distracted by their iGadgets, Twitter likes, and Facebook fans to notice they live in a technological prison, with the Deep State prison guards ready to stomp on their faces with a boot, forever. The Fourth Turning: An... Howe, Neil Best Price: $7.92 Buy New $12.04 (as of 08:30 UTC - Details)
The nuclear exchange is more likely towards the end of this Fourth Turning, if it occurs at all. Mutually assured destruction has deterred countries from utilizing nuclear weapons for the past 70 years, but that doesn’t assure it won’t happen in the next ten years once this Fourth Turning plunges towards its bloody climax.
So that leaves us with incurable plagues. I have to admit this wasn’t on my radar. I’ve been focused on Trump (the Grey Champion), the ongoing Deep State coup against him, potential world conflict originating in the Middle East, and the unending issuance of unpayable debt by the Fed and other central banks to keep this pillaging Ponzi scheme going until the oligarchs have absconded with every dollar of wealth on the planet.
But, seemingly out of nowhere, the Chinese coronavirus has dominated the headlines for the last few weeks as it spreads around the globe, far surpassing the number of cases and deaths caused by SARS in 2003. The number of cases, reported by governmental authorities, is closing in on 70,000, while the number of deaths exceeds 1,600. And these numbers are expanding exponentially by the day.
Because of the virus’s contagiousness, high mortality rate, and resistance to treatment, it has prompted extensive Chinese government action including mandatory quarantines, military forcing people into hospitals/internment camps, and propaganda campaigns to misinform the Chinese public and the international community. Internationally, other countries have sought to limit travel to and from China and implemented extensive screening measures to detect those potentially carrying the virus.
Air travel, to and from China, has been reduced to nothing. The tens of thousands of factories producing the shit Americans don’t need, but must have, sit vacant, as fear and sickness keep workers/slaves trapped in their tiny hovels. The global impact of this shutdown can’t be ignored, as China accounts for 13% of global exports, 5 times as much as during the SARS crisis in 2003.
My default belief is everyone is lying to me. My government, foreign governments, the mainstream media, every politician, every central banker, every religious man, every corporate executive, all investment “experts”, and most of the people on the internet are lying. Trying to decipher who is telling the truth is harder than finding an honest politician, a central banker who dislikes debt, or a Wall Street analyst with a sell recommendation. What I do know for sure is the Chinese government and media are lying.
There is no benefit for them to overestimate the impact of the coronavirus, but downplaying its devastation, deaths, transmit-ability and transmutability are what an overbearing dictatorship does automatically. So, we already know it is worse than the mainstream media outlets are reporting. They incessantly flog the comparison to the annual flu and the tens of thousands of deaths caused by the basic flu each year. This is a pathetic attempt to keep the masses deluded and ignorant. These propaganda campaigns have worked in the past and continue to work on a willfully ignorant people.
On the other side of the fence, we have bloggers, Harvard know-it-alls, alt-media journalists, purveyors of doom who produce articles and posts every day predicting a global pandemic with billions impacted and hundreds of millions of deaths. The fact is doom sells. Most blogs generate advertising revenue based upon visitor counts. Youtubers generate income based upon views. Many of the articles on ZeroHedge about the coronavirus have been viewed between 200,000 and 500,000 times. That is ten to twenty-five times an average article.
Chris Martenson’s daily Youtubes on the coronavirus crisis are getting 250,000 to 300,000 views, versus 25,000 for his regular videos. Doom does sell. Regardless, I have the utmost respect for Chris’ intellect and honesty. He also has a PhD from Duke, with a specialization in neurotoxicology, so his opinion is more valuable than some CNBC stock jockey or a shill like Larry Kudlow.
I’m not a medical expert or an investing expert, but there are sites and bloggers I trust who I believe seek the truth to the best of their ability. When Chris Martenson, Mike Shedlock, Mike Kreiger, and the guys running Zero Hedge are all deeply concerned about the extent of this coronavirus outbreak, I take notice.
When honest financial analysts like Sven Henrich, Jesse, John Hussman, David Stockman, David Rosenberg and Harald Malmgren point out the absurdity, manipulation and extreme overvaluation of our markets, I take heed. Either the coronavirus or ridiculously overbought financial markets could be the sole catalyst for the coming collapse, but when merged into a toxic brew of pathology, ambiguity and fear, they could make 2020 a year to remember in the history of the planet.
Even if the current crisis gets no worse, the global economic impact will be severe, as the worldwide economy was already on the verge of contraction. The reaction of stock markets to the coronavirus epidemic proves they are rigged and being purposefully pumped by the Federal Reserve. When you see Tesla’s market value of $146 billion standing 40% higher than the combined market value of Ford, GM and Chrysler, you realize the Fed has blown the biggest bubble in history. Rational fact-based thinkers realize we are experiencing mass insanity where abnormal behavior is glorified as normal. These episodes of madness and delusion never end well.
“In individuals, insanity is rare; but in groups, parties, nations and epochs, it is the rule.” – Friedrich Nietzsche “Men, it has been well said, think in herds; it will be seen that they go mad in herds, while they only recover their senses slowly, one by one.” – Charles MacKay, Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds
Day after day, as the lying Chinese government spins that everything is under control, while brave individuals use social media to prove it isn’t under control, the Federal Reserve continues to say everything is under control, while pumping liquidity into the system as if an emergency crisis situation exists, because it does.
The day after day adrenaline induced new highs in the stock market are a sign of desperation by those in power, attempting to convince the public all is well, while beneath the surface a cancerous rot is eating away at the entrails of this dying patient. If markets weren’t being rigged, they would be discounting the immense economic damage being done to global economies and the massive negative impact on corporate profits. Instead they are propelled to new highs by the Federal Reserve on behalf of their Wall Street owners.
We still have ten and a half months left in this crossroads year of discontent. One way or another, a chain reaction of events will accelerate the permanent tearing of the civic fabric of this country along extreme areas of vulnerability, wantonly ignored or purposefully neglected for decades. Will this coronavirus be the spark that ignites the debt powder-keg sitting atop this world of excess, abnormality, denial and delusions?
Or will it be the re-election of Trump, with the non-acceptance by half the country? Or will Bloomberg buy the presidency after the DNC screws over Bernie again, instigating civil chaos. Will the Deep State pop this stock bubble in the months before the election in a final attempt to derail Trump? Can the oligarchs continue to retain control through further injections of liquidity and more propaganda, or is that well running dry? Even dullards are starting to lose faith in the authorities, so a descent into chaos seems imminent.
I truly don’t know what will transpire during the remainder of 2020 and going forward into 2021, but with our “just in time” global supply chain paralyzed by pathogens, paranoia, and panic, the global economy is going to be impacted severely. Americans are going to realize how dependent we are on China for our cheap shit. This impact will be felt around the globe, even if it doesn’t turn into a global pandemic. If it does, a global depression would be in the offing.
Even Powell and his electronic printing press couldn’t liquidify our way out of that scenario. With debt at already unsustainable levels, a wave of defaults and bankruptcies would engulf the earth, as financial trust would implode. With global stock markets at the most overvalued point in history, margin debt at all-time highs, no money on the sidelines, and risk-taking behavior at extreme greed levels, the plunge in markets will make 2000 and 2008 look like a walk in the park. A 50% to 60% plummet is a certainty. This mountain of debt will come tumbling down.
I don’t think daily tweets from Trump about an imminent vaccine will help the stock market like his imminent trade deal tweets worked during 2019. This virus doesn’t care about central bank liquidity or fake news propaganda. It’s a killer. Whether it developed organically, or in some bio-lab, it is loose and it is lethal. Its impact is already reaching far outside China and it has the potential to heavily impact the U.S. presidential election.
A market crash before the November election could lead to a narrow victory by a Sanders or Bloomberg, as an angry populace blames Trump, who has taken full credit for this market bubble. The election of either would just ratchet up the vitriol and dissent roiling across the land. Discontent among the masses would spread around the world, leading politicians to try to distract their people with foreign enemies threatening their freedom. This is when the global war scenario of this Fourth Turning has the highest likelihood of commencing.
We’ve been in the eye of this Fourth Turning hurricane longer than I expected. The deeply ingrained Deep State conspirators have proven more powerful, deceitful, and deranged than I believed. They will not give way without a fight to the death. The threat of them winning is all too real. Their blatant disregard for the Constitution, rule of law and simple decency towards fellow citizens, makes it imperative for courageous, rational, honest, truth seeking Americans to make a stand for the soul of the country.
We have gone through three Fourth Turnings during our nation’s short history. Every Crisis has produced moments of extreme danger, where the future of our nation hung in the balance. Without the benefit of historical context, we are presently living within another moment of severe peril where the consequences of our future actions will decide our fate as a nation.
“The nation has endured for three saecula; Rome lasted twelve, the Soviet Union only one. Fourth Turnings are critical thresholds for national survival. Each of the last three American Crises produced moments of extreme danger: In the Revolution, the very birth of the republic hung by a thread in more than one battle. In the Civil War, the union barely survived a four-year slaughter that in its own time was regarded as the most lethal war in history. In World War II, the nation destroyed an enemy of democracy that for a time was winning; had the enemy won, America might have itself been destroyed. In all likelihood, the next Crisis will present the nation with a threat and a consequence on a similar scale.” – Strauss & Howe – The Fourth Turning
We are only on this earth for one saeculum of eighty or so years, if we are lucky. None of us will get out of here alive. As a father of three young men, my sole purpose in life has been to try and leave them a better world than was left to me by my parents. The individual actions taken by millions of Americans and billions around the globe determines the future course of our countries and the lives future generations will be able to live. We each can do our part to live lives worthy of praise, leading by example, teaching our children the right way to treat others, and managing our small plot on this planet. Fourth Turnings separate the wheat from the chaff.
As we navigate through the storms ahead much will depend upon the bravery, heroism and inspiration provided by a few good men and women, and the fortitude of the many to withstand the brutal tests ahead. The configuration of generations is set. We will either destroy a nation built upon a once noble dream by succumbing to the poison of greed, war and debt peddled by those opposing truth and honor, or we will go down in history as mythlike figures who slew the Goliath of the Deep State. Difficult choices lie ahead. Time to prepare.
“History’s howling storms can bring out the worst and best in people. The next Fourth Turning can literally destroy us as a nation and people, leaving us cursed in histories of those who endure and remember. Alternatively, it can ennoble our lives, elevate us as a community, and inspire acts of consummate heroism–deeds that will grow into mythlike legends recited by our heirs far into the future.” – Strauss & Howe – The Fourth Turning
Reprinted with permission from The Burning Platform.
The Best of Jim Quinn


At Stake

A miasma of consternation lay heavy across the Potomac swamp late last week when former FBI Acting Director Andrew McCabe was let off the hook for lying to his own bureau while , elsewhere across DC , the distinguished Lt. General Flynn was still fighting for his life against exactly the same charge after three years of dilatory maneuvers by the DOJ to conceal their prosecutorial malfeasance in the case… and then the sketchy Roger Stone matter entered a twilight zone of jiggery-pokery that appeared to climax in a staged ruse by his four prosecutors to lure the Attorney General @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
You are forgiven for failing to follow all the twists and turns in this latest installment of what might now be called CoupGate , a summation of the seditious campaign to overthrow the president , which already has gone through so many gates — SpyGate , RussiaGate , MuellerGate , UkraineGate , WhistleblowerGate — that Mr. Trump looks like he ’ s spent three years training for the giant slalom in the next winter Olympics .
A localized Civil War is underway in the Department of Justice now .
Mr. Barr is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ both sides .
The AG has apparently partitioned the DOJ into two separate realms : the now-identified corps of coupsters working desperately to keep their asses covered in an unraveling conspiracy , and Mr. Barr ’ s group attempting to account fairly for all that has happened , while salvaging what ’ s left of the outfit ’ s institutional legitimacy .
Too much documented evidence of crime is out there in the public domain to dismiss these activities as a “ conspiracy theory.
” The trouble is , so many were involved @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that fully prosecuting every angle of it could bring down the permanent bureaucracy like the Jenga tower it has become .
Living in the Long Eme ... James Howard Kunstler Buy New $ 24.95 The decision to let Mr. McCabe skate on the lying rap infuriated those demanding accountability for government lawyers-gone-wild , since even the DOJ Inspector General , Mr. Horowitz , cited serial instances of his “ lacking candor ” in more than one report , and “ Andy ” seems to have been a pivot-man for the FBI in the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ with his DOJ counterpart , former Deputy Attorney General Rod ( “ I ’ ll wear a wire ” ) Rosenstein .
I have a theory about the McCabe case : The Attorney General has taken the rinky-dink “ lying to the FBI ” charge off the table .
It has become a liability , virtually the emblem for government misconduct , and Mr. Barr is getting rid of it in these matters .
It has already caused too much mischief , insulted Americans ’ sense of justice , and damaged the DOJ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ McCabe has been let off only on this charge , stemming from only one particular IG referral ; he may well yet be liable for more serious charges-to-come .
From here on , there will be no more rinky-dink lying charges against any of those implicated in the coup , only the most serious charges , and only those that add up to a solid case .
The coup has been so broad , deep , and thick that I predict cases will have to be brought under the RICO statutes in batches @ @ @ @ @ @ @ branches of government .
For instance , there is the Intel Mob , including former CIA Director John Brennan , former Director of National Intel ( DNI ) James Clapper , current Intel IG Michael Atkinson , so-called whistleblower ( he that can not be named , E*** C********** ) and International Man of Mystery Joseph Mifsud .
There is the gang from the State Department who helped engineer UkraineGate , including former Ambassador Marie Yovanovitch , former Sec ’ y of State John Kerry , and others .
There is that big @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and its stepchild , the FBI , the names widely disseminated by now , Comey , Strzok , Baker , Boente , Carlin , Clinesmith , et al .
There ’ s Robert Mueller and his henchpersons , Andrew Weissmann , Jeannie Rhee , et al .
There ’ s another band of seditionists in Congress that includes Mark Warner of the Senate Intel Committee , the now notorious idiot Adam Schiff over in the House , and staffers who worked for both .
There ’ s a bunch in the Pentagon ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ over a million dollars to Alternate International Man of Mystery ( actually , CIA asset ) Stefan Halper to run entrapment schemes against people working for Mr. Trump .
There ’ s a swarm from Barack Obama ’ s White House , including Valarie Jarrett , Susan Rice , Samantha Powers , Alexandra Chalupa , former Vice-President Joe Biden and the former President himself .
And finally , there is the 800-pound-gorilla over in the Democratic Party thicket , namely Hillary Clinton , and those connected to her and her charity fraud , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ real and actual predicate for the whole sordid affair — a list that includes Viktor Vekselberg of Russia ’ s Skolkovo project , $ 25-million donor Russian oligarch Victor Pinchuk , Russian aluminum magnate Oleg Deripaska , and Dmitri Alperovich of CrowdStrike , ( Russian collusion , anyone ? )
as well as rascally freelancers such as Christopher Steele , Glenn Simpson of Fusion GPS , the shadowy Nellie Ohr , lawyer/lobbyist Adam Waldman , and Hillary errand boys Sidney Blumenthal and Cody Shearer .
The stories behind those names are all over @ @ @ @ @ @ @ edify yourself .
Now , perhaps , you can see the scope of this big hot mess , and deduce the degree of difficulty that William Barr faces in attempting to set it all straight .
He has to carefully select those who will be charged and probably not bother with some of the bit players .
The charges are going to have to be serious , and the cases must be strong .
It is a gigantic job of work , and rather delicate business considering the explosive potential to a government @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Failure to attend to it may turn a mere bureaucratic civil war into a genuine citizen rebellion featuring some of the 300-million-odd firearms at large in the republic .
I believe Mr. Barr is aware of what ’ s at stake and will behave honorably .
The Best of James Howard Kunstler

A miasma of consternation lay heavy across the Potomac swamp late last week when former FBI Acting Director Andrew McCabe was let off the hook for lying to his own bureau while, elsewhere across DC, the distinguished Lt. General Flynn was still fighting for his life against exactly the same charge after three years of dilatory maneuvers by the DOJ to conceal their prosecutorial malfeasance in the case… and then the sketchy Roger Stone matter entered a twilight zone of jiggery-pokery that appeared to climax in a staged ruse by his four prosecutors to lure the Attorney General, Mr. Barr, into a trap.
You are forgiven for failing to follow all the twists and turns in this latest installment of what might now be called CoupGate, a summation of the seditious campaign to overthrow the president, which already has gone through so many gates — SpyGate, RussiaGate, MuellerGate, UkraineGate, WhistleblowerGate — that Mr. Trump looks like he’s spent three years training for the giant slalom in the next winter Olympics. A localized Civil War is underway in the Department of Justice now. Mr. Barr is in the middle, getting it from both sides.
The AG has apparently partitioned the DOJ into two separate realms: the now-identified corps of coupsters working desperately to keep their asses covered in an unraveling conspiracy, and Mr. Barr’s group attempting to account fairly for all that has happened, while salvaging what’s left of the outfit’s institutional legitimacy. Too much documented evidence of crime is out there in the public domain to dismiss these activities as a “conspiracy theory.” The trouble is, so many were involved from so many branches and agencies, that fully prosecuting every angle of it could bring down the permanent bureaucracy like the Jenga tower it has become. Living in the Long Eme... James Howard Kunstler Buy New $24.95 (as of 10:56 UTC - Details)
The decision to let Mr. McCabe skate on the lying rap infuriated those demanding accountability for government lawyers-gone-wild, since even the DOJ Inspector General, Mr. Horowitz, cited serial instances of his “lacking candor” in more than one report, and “Andy” seems to have been a pivot-man for the FBI in the early-and-middle phases of the coup — along with his DOJ counterpart, former Deputy Attorney General Rod (“I’ll wear a wire”) Rosenstein.
I have a theory about the McCabe case: The Attorney General has taken the rinky-dink “lying to the FBI” charge off the table. It has become a liability, virtually the emblem for government misconduct, and Mr. Barr is getting rid of it in these matters. It has already caused too much mischief, insulted Americans’ sense of justice, and damaged the DOJ’s standing. Note, Andrew McCabe has been let off only on this charge, stemming from only one particular IG referral; he may well yet be liable for more serious charges-to-come. From here on, there will be no more rinky-dink lying charges against any of those implicated in the coup, only the most serious charges, and only those that add up to a solid case.
The coup has been so broad, deep, and thick that I predict cases will have to be brought under the RICO statutes in batches for different groups in separate agencies and branches of government. For instance, there is the Intel Mob, including former CIA Director John Brennan, former Director of National Intel (DNI) James Clapper, current Intel IG Michael Atkinson, so-called whistleblower (he that cannot be named, E*** C**********) and International Man of Mystery Joseph Mifsud. There is the gang from the State Department who helped engineer UkraineGate, including former Ambassador Marie Yovanovitch, former Sec’y of State John Kerry, and others. There is that big herd of rogue lawyers in the DOJ and its stepchild, the FBI, the names widely disseminated by now, Comey, Strzok, Baker, Boente, Carlin, Clinesmith, et al. There’s Robert Mueller and his henchpersons, Andrew Weissmann, Jeannie Rhee, et al. There’s another band of seditionists in Congress that includes Mark Warner of the Senate Intel Committee, the now notorious idiot Adam Schiff over in the House, and staffers who worked for both. There’s a bunch in the Pentagon’s Office of Net Assessment that paid over a million dollars to Alternate International Man of Mystery (actually, CIA asset) Stefan Halper to run entrapment schemes against people working for Mr. Trump. There’s a swarm from Barack Obama’s White House, including Valarie Jarrett, Susan Rice, Samantha Powers, Alexandra Chalupa, former Vice-President Joe Biden and the former President himself. And finally, there is the 800-pound-gorilla over in the Democratic Party thicket, namely Hillary Clinton, and those connected to her and her charity fraud, the Clinton Foundation, which is the real and actual predicate for the whole sordid affair — a list that includes Viktor Vekselberg of Russia’s Skolkovo project, $25-million donor Russian oligarch Victor Pinchuk, Russian aluminum magnate Oleg Deripaska, and Dmitri Alperovich of CrowdStrike, (Russian collusion, anyone?) as well as rascally freelancers such as Christopher Steele, Glenn Simpson of Fusion GPS, the shadowy Nellie Ohr, lawyer/lobbyist Adam Waldman, and Hillary errand boys Sidney Blumenthal and Cody Shearer. The stories behind those names are all over the web, in case you want edify yourself.
Now, perhaps, you can see the scope of this big hot mess, and deduce the degree of difficulty that William Barr faces in attempting to set it all straight. He has to carefully select those who will be charged and probably not bother with some of the bit players. The charges are going to have to be serious, and the cases must be strong. It is a gigantic job of work, and rather delicate business considering the explosive potential to a government whose credibility is already pretty shredded. Failure to attend to it may turn a mere bureaucratic civil war into a genuine citizen rebellion featuring some of the 300-million-odd firearms at large in the republic. I believe Mr. Barr is aware of what’s at stake and will behave honorably.
Reprinted with permission from Kunstler.com.
The Best of James Howard Kunstler


Blago Is Free

On Tuesday , February 18 , President Trump with excellent judgment commuted the 14 year prison sentence of former Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich , aka “ Blago.
” “ We have commuted the sentence of Rod Blagojevich , ” Trump said .
“ He ’ ll be able to go back home with his family after serving eight years in jail .
That was a tremendously powerful , ridiculous sentence in my opinion .
And in the opinion of many others.
” The President thus brought to an end a disgraceful episode in American politics .
After Barack Obama was @ @ @ @ @ @ @ as Senator from Illinois became vacant .
Blago was charged with trying to sell the seat .
If in fact Blago tried to sell the seat , he was just practicing the dirty , rotten business of politics in the normal crooked fashion for Chicago and America .
But out of all the corrupt pols , why did a federal prosecutor target a sitting governor , wiretap him , not allow him to use the wiretaps to defend himself , and send him to jail for 14 years ?
His real “ crime @ @ @ @ @ @ @ monstrous Obama and his henchman Rahm Emmanuel , was that he refused to appoint the man Obama picked as his successor .
Against the Left : A Ro ... Llewellyn H Rockwell Jr Best Price : $ 13.57 Buy New $ 8.00 The indictment against Blago was unconstitutional .
As the distinguished historian and authority on the Constitution Kevin Gutzman pointed out in an article written for LRC on January 6 , 2009 , “ Interestingly , one might note that the statute Fitzgerald is enforcing against the governor bases Congress ’ s @ @ @ @ @ @ @ state office on the Constitution ’ s Commerce Clause .
One really wonders at the idea that conspiring to sell Jesse Jackson , Jr. a Senate seat is interstate commerce .
No one takes this idea seriously ; rather , it is based on a common lawyers ’ corruption — yes , corruption — of language .
On simple federal arrogation of state power .
This corruption has far more far-reaching consequences than anything Blagojevich is accused of having done.
” The indictment and trial were gross miscarriages of justice , as President @ @ @ @ @ @ @ an article written in 2011 gave the best analysis of the whole rotten business : “ The most controversial charge Blagojevich faced was that he planned to sell Barack Obama ’ s U.S. Senate seat .
But Fitzgerald decided to come out swinging , terminated the wiretaps on Blagojevich ’ s home and office , arrested the then-sitting governor , held a sensational press conference , and called it a wrap before this alleged sale would have even taken place .
Fitzgerald was obviously unwilling to wait out the unfolding situation to see @ @ @ @ @ @ @ “ selling ” the seat to the highest bidder .
Had Blagojevich actually followed through with the sale of a Senate seat , Fitzgerald ’ s heavy-handed prosecutorial approach might have been justified .
But in light of the fact that no seat was sold , and that these appointments are regularly used for political benefit , the reasonable doubt that a crime was actually committed would appear to be overwhelming .
For a US Attorney who is known for “ crossing his T ’ s and dotting his I ’ s , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ didn ’ t spring into action after the sale of the seat , once the dirty deal was done .
Blagojevich ’ s own writing may give us a clue .
Blagojevich claims in his memoir , “ The Governor , ” that the goal of the Senate appointment was to get a political opponent out of the way , not to sell the seat for cash .
If this scenario is to be believed , then Fitzgerald went forward with the case when he did because , had he waited until after @ @ @ @ @ @ @ not have been a case since the seat would have been awarded not for cash , but for quite traditional political advantage .
One of the most shocking , and seemingly damning , sound bites that came from the wiretaps was Blagojevich ’ s assertion that Obama ’ s Senate seat was “ a [ expletive ] valuable thing .
You don ’ t just give it away for nothing.
” A U.S. Attorney whose last few cases ended unfavorably might be interested in spinning this quote to seem as though a cash @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the Senate seat .
However , if Blagojevich were looking to use the seat for his political benefit , then his statement would be crass , but would also be evidence that he was operating within the parameters of the law .
The type of political maneuvering engaged in by the then-governor may seem to the average citizen ( or juror , for that matter ) , to be less than wholesome , perhaps even a bit sneaky , but if every unwholesome or sneaky maneuver were a crime , we would not @ @ @ @ @ @ @ enough to meet demand.
” Great Wars and Great L ... Ralph Raico Best Price : $ 7.50 Buy New $ 12.95 Why didn ’ t Fitzgerald wait ?
Joe Hall , writing on February 19 in Gateway Pundit has a good explanation .
He says that Blago was set up by Mueller , Comey , and the Deep State Gang and that President Trump ’ s release of Blago may be intended to send the Gang the message that he will fight them .
Hall cites investigative reporter Marty Waters , who @ @ @ @ @ @ @ State , led by Comey and Mueller , did the same thing with the fraudulent Mueller investigation sham as they did in the past .
They create distraction , diversion and disinformation .
In the early 2000 ’ s they created Plamegate to distract and divert from the billions lost in Iraq and the weapons of mass destruction narrative that got the US into the war .
In the mid-2000 ’ s , they created the Rezco/Blagogate scandals to cover up for Obama ’ s corrupt actions early in his administration and while @ @ @ @ @ @ @ investigation distracted from the many crimes involving Obama and the Clintons and was in the same mold as the prior sham investigations.
” Hall sums up and concludes : “ Of course Mueller was the Head of the FBI throughout most of the 2000 ’ s and before Comey took over the now corrupted institution Also , Comey claimed Fitzgerald was his attorney after it was suspected that Comey shared classified information with Fitzgerald during the Russian hoax scandal.
” After Trump commuted Blago ’ s sentence , Governor of Illinois J.B. Pritzker @ @ @ @ @ @ @ He said ; “ Illinoisans have endured far too much corruption , and we must send a message to politicians that corrupt practices will no longer be tolerated .
President Trump has abused his pardon power in inexplicable ways to reward his friends and condone corruption , and I deeply believe this pardon sends the wrong message at the wrong time.
” Pritzker ’ s self-righteous moralizing is ironic .
According to a story in the Chicago Tribune published May 31 , 2017 , “ Pritzker , a billionaire businessman with political ambitions @ @ @ @ @ @ @ he was “ really not that interested ” in the U.S. Senate seat the governor was dealing in late 2008 .
Instead , Pritzker offered his own idea : Would Blagojevich make him Illinois treasurer ?
” Blago is no angel , but I can ’ t help liking him .
I admire his spirit .
He refused to cave to Obama and the higher-ups .
Now that he is out , he is free to tell us where the bodies are buried .
You can be sure he knows a lot and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ t shut him up anymore .
Blago has Obama on the ropes , and fortunately for those of us who care about truth , he is a skilled boxing champ .
The Best of Llewellyn H. Rockwell , Jr .

On Tuesday, February 18, President Trump with excellent judgment commuted the 14 year prison sentence of former Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich, aka “Blago.”
“We have commuted the sentence of Rod Blagojevich,” Trump said. “He’ll be able to go back home with his family after serving eight years in jail. That was a tremendously powerful, ridiculous sentence in my opinion. And in the opinion of many others.”
The President thus brought to an end a disgraceful episode in American politics. After Barack Obama was elected President in 2008, his seat as Senator from Illinois became vacant. Blago was charged with trying to sell the seat.
If in fact Blago tried to sell the seat, he was just practicing the dirty, rotten business of politics in the normal crooked fashion for Chicago and America. But out of all the corrupt pols, why did a federal prosecutor target a sitting governor, wiretap him, not allow him to use the wiretaps to defend himself, and send him to jail for 14 years? His real “crime”, in the eyes of the monstrous Obama and his henchman Rahm Emmanuel, was that he refused to appoint the man Obama picked as his successor. Against the Left: A Ro... Rockwell Jr, Llewellyn H Best Price: $2.85 Buy New $8.00 (as of 07:59 UTC - Details)
The indictment against Blago was unconstitutional. As the distinguished historian and authority on the Constitution Kevin Gutzman pointed out in an article written for LRC on January 6, 2009, “Interestingly, one might note that the statute Fitzgerald is enforcing against the governor bases Congress’s claim of power to criminalize corruption in state office on the Constitution’s Commerce Clause. One really wonders at the idea that conspiring to sell Jesse Jackson, Jr. a Senate seat is interstate commerce. No one takes this idea seriously; rather, it is based on a common lawyers’ corruption — yes, corruption — of language. On simple federal arrogation of state power. This corruption has far more far-reaching consequences than anything Blagojevich is accused of having done.”
The indictment and trial were gross miscarriages of justice, as President Trump has said. Harvey Silverglate in an article written in 2011 gave the best analysis of the whole rotten business: “The most controversial charge Blagojevich faced was that he planned to sell Barack Obama’s U.S. Senate seat. But Fitzgerald decided to come out swinging, terminated the wiretaps on Blagojevich’s home and office, arrested the then-sitting governor, held a sensational press conference, and called it a wrap before this alleged sale would have even taken place. Fitzgerald was obviously unwilling to wait out the unfolding situation to see if the governor was really serious about “selling” the seat to the highest bidder.
Had Blagojevich actually followed through with the sale of a Senate seat, Fitzgerald’s heavy-handed prosecutorial approach might have been justified. But in light of the fact that no seat was sold, and that these appointments are regularly used for political benefit, the reasonable doubt that a crime was actually committed would appear to be overwhelming. For a US Attorney who is known for “crossing his T’s and dotting his I’s,” you have to wonder why Fitzgerald didn’t spring into action after the sale of the seat, once the dirty deal was done. Blagojevich’s own writing may give us a clue. Blagojevich claims in his memoir, “The Governor,” that the goal of the Senate appointment was to get a political opponent out of the way, not to sell the seat for cash. If this scenario is to be believed, then Fitzgerald went forward with the case when he did because, had he waited until after the seat was filled, there would not have been a case since the seat would have been awarded not for cash, but for quite traditional political advantage.
One of the most shocking, and seemingly damning, sound bites that came from the wiretaps was Blagojevich’s assertion that Obama’s Senate seat was “a [expletive] valuable thing. You don’t just give it away for nothing.” A U.S. Attorney whose last few cases ended unfavorably might be interested in spinning this quote to seem as though a cash transaction was being arranged in exchange for the Senate seat. However, if Blagojevich were looking to use the seat for his political benefit, then his statement would be crass, but would also be evidence that he was operating within the parameters of the law. The type of political maneuvering engaged in by the then-governor may seem to the average citizen (or juror, for that matter), to be less than wholesome, perhaps even a bit sneaky, but if every unwholesome or sneaky maneuver were a crime, we would not be able to build the prisons quickly enough to meet demand.” Great Wars and Great L... Ralph Raico Best Price: $7.50 Buy New $12.95 (as of 05:45 UTC - Details)
Why didn’t Fitzgerald wait? Joe Hall, writing on February 19 in Gateway Pundit has a good explanation. He says that Blago was set up by Mueller, Comey, and the Deep State Gang and that President Trump’s release of Blago may be intended to send the Gang the message that he will fight them. Hall cites investigative reporter Marty Waters, who said last August “that the Deep State, led by Comey and Mueller, did the same thing with the fraudulent Mueller investigation sham as they did in the past. They create distraction, diversion and disinformation. In the early 2000’s they created Plamegate to distract and divert from the billions lost in Iraq and the weapons of mass destruction narrative that got the US into the war. In the mid-2000’s, they created the Rezco/Blagogate scandals to cover up for Obama’s corrupt actions early in his administration and while in the US Senate. The Mueller investigation distracted from the many crimes involving Obama and the Clintons and was in the same mold as the prior sham investigations.”
Hall sums up and concludes: “Of course Mueller was the Head of the FBI throughout most of the 2000’s and before Comey took over the now corrupted institution Also, Comey claimed Fitzgerald was his attorney after it was suspected that Comey shared classified information with Fitzgerald during the Russian hoax scandal.”
After Trump commuted Blago’s sentence, Governor of Illinois J.B. Pritzker condemned the President’s decision. He said; “Illinoisans have endured far too much corruption, and we must send a message to politicians that corrupt practices will no longer be tolerated. President Trump has abused his pardon power in inexplicable ways to reward his friends and condone corruption, and I deeply believe this pardon sends the wrong message at the wrong time.”
Pritzker’s self-righteous moralizing is ironic. According to a story in the Chicago Tribune published May 31, 2017, “Pritzker, a billionaire businessman with political ambitions, told Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich he was “really not that interested” in the U.S. Senate seat the governor was dealing in late 2008. Instead, Pritzker offered his own idea: Would Blagojevich make him Illinois treasurer?”
Blago is no angel, but I can’t help liking him. I admire his spirit. He refused to cave to Obama and the higher-ups. Now that he is out, he is free to tell us where the bodies are buried. You can be sure he knows a lot and with the commutation, the Feds can’t shut him up anymore. Blago has Obama on the ropes, and fortunately for those of us who care about truth, he is a skilled boxing champ.
The Best of Llewellyn H. Rockwell, Jr.


lewrockwell--2020-02-20--The Curious Case of Roger Stone

The Curious Case of Roger Stone

Roger Stone is a gifted political consultant known for going the distance for his clients .
He has worked for such marquee names as Richard Nixon , Ronald Reagan , Tom Kean and Donald Trump .
His expertise is the lawful destruction of the opposition candidacy — what is known in the trade as opposition research .
In that process , he has made enemies , some of whom have sought to destroy him .
That process of destruction began a year ago , when he was ordered out of the bedroom that he shared with his wife , and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the morning by no less than 23 federal agents carrying assault weapons .
Behind his home on a Fort Lauderdale canal was a government boat filled with federal agents .
Above his home was a government helicopter also filled with feds .
All of this was captured in real time by CNN , which the feds had unlawfully tipped off about the coming raid .
Notwithstanding the armada the government sent to fetch Stone , a Florida federal judge , who noted that a phone call to Stone ’ s lawyers would have @ @ @ @ @ @ @ obligation of posting bail .
He was soon indicted for lying to Congress , intimidating a witness and obstruction of justice .
Last fall , he was convicted on all counts , and the trial judge unconstitutionally prevented him from speaking publicly .
The prosecutors recommended a 7- to 9-year sentence to the trial judge .
In Stone ’ s case , he faces a maximum of 50 years in a federal prison .
Lies the Government To ... Andrew P. Napolitano Check Amazon for Pricing .
From where did the prosecutors get @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , which produce mathematical calculations as guides for federal judges .
There was a time when these guidelines were mandatory , but a long-simmering uproar from the judicial and legal communities resulted in the guidelines becoming advisory .
The statute achieving that goal was signed into law by Trump .
When Trump learned that the feds were seeking 7 to 9 years from Stone , he tweeted harsh criticism of the system and personnel that produced that recommendation .
The prosecution ’ s numbers were the product of numerous subjective evaluations of the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in his personal background .
In my career as a state judge in New Jersey , I sentenced more than 1,000 persons using a system similar to the current federal one .
The guidelines give the judge a range , and the judge can deviate , upward or downward , based on the facts in the case .
Facts , not bias .
Some of the questions that justify deviations are : Is the defendant remorseful ?
Does he consider his criminal behavior the cost of doing business ?
Is the defendant a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to kill a witness ’ s cat real or fanciful ?
Did he even have the present apparent ability to kill the cat ?
If you love Stone , you will have one set of answers .
If you hate him , you will have another .
If you are truly neutral — as judges , but not prosecutors , must be — you will base your answers only on the evidence in the case .
When Attorney General William Barr learned of Trump ’ s displeasure with the recommendation from the prosecutors @ @ @ @ @ @ @ would offer to the trial judge a different recommendation .
Upon learning that , the four prosecutors in the case resigned .
Then , on the same day that the prosecutors resigned , the foreperson of the jury — herself a lawyer — outed herself as a stalwart opponent of all things Trump and a supporter of the now-resigned prosecution team .
Barr ’ s intervention in the case set off a firestorm in the Department of Justice , as long-standing DOJ procedures give federal prosecutors the discretion to suggest punishments for defendants @ @ @ @ @ @ @ input from their superiors .
When Barr bigfooted his prosecutors and they resigned , all hell broke loose among the thousands of prosecutors across the country employed by the DOJ .
Then Barr went on national television and , with his tongue firmly planted in his cheek , criticized Trump for his tweets , which he described as a “ running commentary… that make it impossible for me to do my job.
” At first , those of us who monitor these things could not believe our eyes or ears .
Was Barr @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that has brought the president unimaginable success ?
Of course not .
This was a political effort to quell the uprising among his troops , and a dog whistle to Trump that the DOJ gets his messages .
All this has created a monstrous headache for the trial judge , but the judiciary has the tools with which to address this .
The judge needs to call Stone ’ s lawyers and the resigned prosecutors into her courtroom , along with the jury foreperson .
She should interrogate the foreperson .
Why didn @ @ @ @ @ @ @ antipathy to Trump ?
Don ’ t you know as a lawyer that even an accurate answer can be misleading and thus frustrate a criminal trial ?
Are you , were you , a truly neutral juror ?
And to the resigned prosecutors : Why did you resign from the case ?
Did you know of the foreperson ’ s prejudices ?
Would you want a juror who felt about the prosecution the same way this juror felt about Trump and his supporters ?
Stone continues to maintain his innocence — now more @ @ @ @ @ @ @ And he is entitled to a new trial , no matter what his jury found .
Why ?
Because it is better that a thousand guilty persons go free than one unfairly be punished .
Because the history of human freedom is the history of paying careful attention to procedure .
Because in America we only punish those who were fairly convicted .
Because politics and bias have no moral or lawful place in American criminal prosecutions .
The Best of Andrew P. Napolitano

Roger Stone is a gifted political consultant known for going the distance for his clients. He has worked for such marquee names as Richard Nixon, Ronald Reagan, Tom Kean and Donald Trump. His expertise is the lawful destruction of the opposition candidacy — what is known in the trade as opposition research. In that process, he has made enemies, some of whom have sought to destroy him.
That process of destruction began a year ago, when he was ordered out of the bedroom that he shared with his wife, and out of their home at 5:30 in the morning by no less than 23 federal agents carrying assault weapons. Behind his home on a Fort Lauderdale canal was a government boat filled with federal agents. Above his home was a government helicopter also filled with feds. All of this was captured in real time by CNN, which the feds had unlawfully tipped off about the coming raid.
Notwithstanding the armada the government sent to fetch Stone, a Florida federal judge, who noted that a phone call to Stone’s lawyers would have produced him, released Stone without the obligation of posting bail. He was soon indicted for lying to Congress, intimidating a witness and obstruction of justice. Last fall, he was convicted on all counts, and the trial judge unconstitutionally prevented him from speaking publicly. The prosecutors recommended a 7- to 9-year sentence to the trial judge. In Stone’s case, he faces a maximum of 50 years in a federal prison.
From where did the prosecutors get their numbers? Congress has enacted guidelines, which produce mathematical calculations as guides for federal judges. There was a time when these guidelines were mandatory, but a long-simmering uproar from the judicial and legal communities resulted in the guidelines becoming advisory. The statute achieving that goal was signed into law by Trump.
When Trump learned that the feds were seeking 7 to 9 years from Stone, he tweeted harsh criticism of the system and personnel that produced that recommendation.
The prosecution’s numbers were the product of numerous subjective evaluations of the facts in Stone’s case and in his personal background. In my career as a state judge in New Jersey, I sentenced more than 1,000 persons using a system similar to the current federal one. The guidelines give the judge a range, and the judge can deviate, upward or downward, based on the facts in the case. Facts, not bias.
Some of the questions that justify deviations are: Is the defendant remorseful? Does he consider his criminal behavior the cost of doing business? Is the defendant a danger to society? Was his threat to kill a witness’s cat real or fanciful? Did he even have the present apparent ability to kill the cat?
If you love Stone, you will have one set of answers. If you hate him, you will have another. If you are truly neutral — as judges, but not prosecutors, must be — you will base your answers only on the evidence in the case.
When Attorney General William Barr learned of Trump’s displeasure with the recommendation from the prosecutors, he made it known that he would offer to the trial judge a different recommendation. Upon learning that, the four prosecutors in the case resigned.
Then, on the same day that the prosecutors resigned, the foreperson of the jury — herself a lawyer — outed herself as a stalwart opponent of all things Trump and a supporter of the now-resigned prosecution team.
Barr’s intervention in the case set off a firestorm in the Department of Justice, as long-standing DOJ procedures give federal prosecutors the discretion to suggest punishments for defendants whom they have prosecuted — with little input from their superiors. When Barr bigfooted his prosecutors and they resigned, all hell broke loose among the thousands of prosecutors across the country employed by the DOJ.
Then Barr went on national television and, with his tongue firmly planted in his cheek, criticized Trump for his tweets, which he described as a “running commentary… that make it impossible for me to do my job.” At first, those of us who monitor these things could not believe our eyes or ears. Was Barr publicly challenging Trump to cease a process that has brought the president unimaginable success? Of course not. This was a political effort to quell the uprising among his troops, and a dog whistle to Trump that the DOJ gets his messages. The Constitution in Ex... Napolitano, Andrew P. Buy New $7.99 (as of 11:50 UTC - Details)
All this has created a monstrous headache for the trial judge, but the judiciary has the tools with which to address this. The judge needs to call Stone’s lawyers and the resigned prosecutors into her courtroom, along with the jury foreperson. She should interrogate the foreperson. Why didn’t you tell us of your antipathy to Trump? Don’t you know as a lawyer that even an accurate answer can be misleading and thus frustrate a criminal trial? Are you, were you, a truly neutral juror?
And to the resigned prosecutors: Why did you resign from the case? Did you know of the foreperson’s prejudices? Would you want a juror who felt about the prosecution the same way this juror felt about Trump and his supporters?
Stone continues to maintain his innocence — now more so knowing he was tried unfairly. And he is entitled to a new trial, no matter what his jury found. Why? Because it is better that a thousand guilty persons go free than one unfairly be punished. Because the history of human freedom is the history of paying careful attention to procedure. Because in America we only punish those who were fairly convicted. Because politics and bias have no moral or lawful place in American criminal prosecutions.
Reprinted with the author’s permission.
The Best of Andrew P. Napolitano


lewrockwell--2020-02-20--The Vile Weinstein Deserves a Fair Trial

The vile Harvey Weinstein deserves a fair trial .
All the vile leftists that are being gobbled up by the twin Frankensteins of identity politics and cultural Marxism that they have helped become so dominant in the world deserve a fair trial .
They deserve a fair trial , even if they would be the first to deny me a fair trial .
Even if Hollywood , the media , the politicians , and their acolytes would all get together and happily skewer anyone who has values that both differ from their own and that are too publicly professed .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ deserve a fair trial , but Weinstein ESPECIALLY deserves a fair trial .
Just as Roger Stone especially deserves a fair trial , though the never-Trump Republicans and the leftists who used to be wined and dined by Weinstein want to make sure Stone is given anything but a fair trial .
Or Ross Ulbricht , of the infamous Silk Road , especially deserved a fair trial .
Against the Left : A Ro ... Llewellyn H Rockwell Jr Best Price : $ 13.57 Buy New $ 8.00 Any criminal defendant that is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , likely to be held as a warning to others , to be harshly dealt with for the purpose of parading his demise through the media and deterring others – someone like that is especially deserving of fairness in the legal system .
The protection of such a person is an act in defense of individuals everywhere from tyranny in the legal system .
A common component of tyranny , is an inability to see a person as an individual .
There is no one whose conviction and sentencing should be intended to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ be seen as a symbol .
There is no one who should be made an example of , or treated as a sacrificial lamb through the twisted notion of collective guilt , nor given an Orwellian two minutes hate to help everyone else feel better .
Guilt is individual .
Guilt is not collective .
Our adversarial legal system so often fails to provide a fair trial , with innocence and truth unfortunately playing so small a role in that process .
As defense attorney F. Lee Bailey commented in 1970 to the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the information brought out at a criminal trial is the truth , the whole truth , and nothing but the truth are fools .
Prosecuting or defending a case is nothing more than getting to those people who will talk for your side , who will say what you want said.
” In his 1971 book “ The Defense Never Rests , “ Bailey writes about a rare breed of defense attorney , a dying species that would do all he can to provide his client with as much advantage under the law @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that kind of attorney in Donna Rotunno .
Rotunno has defended her client vigorously , based on courtroom accounts , in which she repeatedly savaged witnesses in cross-examination .
In the press , Rotunno , self-described as “ the ultimate feminist , ” denounces a culture that infantilizes women and rewards victimhood .
Deep down , Rotunno is likely disgusted with her client , and in our adversarial system , her personal feelings must mean little in defending someone so deserving of legal defense .
But in the courtroom and outside of the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ client and relieving pressure from the jury in hopes that he can be seen as an individual and judged according to his crimes .
Journalist Michelle Mark comments “ Rotunno knows she has the weight of an entire cultural movement working against her client , and that the jury may feel pressure to convict him.
” Weinstein is disgusting to look at .
Weinstein ’ s politics are disgusting .
Now we also know that Weinstein ’ s personal behavior behind closed doors is disgusting .
There ’ s widespread agreement on that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ agreement on is whether or not he committed a crime .
That widespread agreement doesn ’ t matter .
What matters is what the 12 jurors determine .
Our adversarial system is set up for it to be easy to acquit and hard to convict .
A single juror who finds the prosecution ’ s case not to have been proven beyond a reasonable doubt , can withhold his vote and foil millions of dollars of carefully laid arrangements by government attorneys to place the accused in prison .
In fact , it @ @ @ @ @ @ @ do so .
Many who rubbed elbows with Weinstein in the past have abandoned him now that his proclivities have attracted public scrutiny , outside his circle .
It would be easiest for them if he went away for a good , long time , and they could all say “ Justice has been served.
” It is likely unimportant to such people that justice actually be served .
It is important to them that the footage of them saying “ Justice has been served , ” is aired in public , instead @ @ @ @ @ @ @ around with Weinstein , trading favors with him , accepting his gifts and attention , and introducing him to his prey .
There ’ s no justice in that .
The lawyers who stand in defense of Weinstein are defending our noble experiment in human potential as it careens toward destruction .
A foundationally flawed system can not predictably determine truth , it can only reveal truth by chance .
In some settings , the truth may be no more likely to be settled than it was in the Inquisition or the Salem @ @ @ @ @ @ @ for identifying truth is flawed .
Amazon.com Gift Card i ... Buy New $ 10.00 Weinstein ’ s attorneys defend the sentiment that the accused has an advantage .
They stand for the idea that one is innocent until proven guilty .
Not innocent until proven disgusting .
Nor innocent until proven unpopular .
The person who believes in the American experiment in human freedom , the person who sees the centuries of struggle that brought us to a system that elevates the individual , must support the idea of Weinstein ’ s @ @ @ @ @ @ @ is it his attorney defending these principles , but Weinstein himself , that disgusting fellow , is defending those principles by merely representing his own self-interest .
The more likely he is to be made an example of , the more impactful a fair trial is in preventing a further slipping away of society from individual guilt into the unjustifiable territory of collective guilt .
A fair trial for Weinstein should be cheered for by all .
May he be convicted by a jury for the crimes he ’ s committed , and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ assessed fairly .
May a fair day of reckoning come for him .
Nothing less .
Nothing more .
As unlikely as that is to happen , that should be the undisputed , agreed upon , aim of all who wish success for the attempted American experiment in upholding the rights of the individual .
The Best of Allan Stevo

The vile Harvey Weinstein deserves a fair trial. All the vile leftists that are being gobbled up by the twin Frankensteins of identity politics and cultural Marxism that they have helped become so dominant in the world deserve a fair trial.
They deserve a fair trial, even if they would be the first to deny me a fair trial. Even if Hollywood, the media, the politicians, and their acolytes would all get together and happily skewer anyone who has values that both differ from their own and that are too publicly professed.
In fact, not only does Weinstein deserve a fair trial, but Weinstein ESPECIALLY deserves a fair trial.
Just as Roger Stone especially deserves a fair trial, though the never-Trump Republicans and the leftists who used to be wined and dined by Weinstein want to make sure Stone is given anything but a fair trial.
Or Ross Ulbricht, of the infamous Silk Road, especially deserved a fair trial. Against the Left: A Ro... Rockwell Jr, Llewellyn H Best Price: $2.85 Buy New $8.00 (as of 07:59 UTC - Details)
Any criminal defendant that is likely to be held as an example, likely to be held as a warning to others, to be harshly dealt with for the purpose of parading his demise through the media and deterring others – someone like that is especially deserving of fairness in the legal system.
The protection of such a person is an act in defense of individuals everywhere from tyranny in the legal system. A common component of tyranny, is an inability to see a person as an individual.
There is no one whose conviction and sentencing should be intended to send a message, or who should be seen as a symbol. There is no one who should be made an example of, or treated as a sacrificial lamb through the twisted notion of collective guilt, nor given an Orwellian two minutes hate to help everyone else feel better. Guilt is individual. Guilt is not collective.
Our adversarial legal system so often fails to provide a fair trial, with innocence and truth unfortunately playing so small a role in that process. As defense attorney F. Lee Bailey commented in 1970 to the New York Times “Those who think the information brought out at a criminal trial is the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth are fools. Prosecuting or defending a case is nothing more than getting to those people who will talk for your side, who will say what you want said.”
In his 1971 book “The Defense Never Rests,“ Bailey writes about a rare breed of defense attorney, a dying species that would do all he can to provide his client with as much advantage under the law as possible. Weinstein appears to have that kind of attorney in Donna Rotunno.
Rotunno has defended her client vigorously, based on courtroom accounts, in which she repeatedly savaged witnesses in cross-examination. In the press, Rotunno, self-described as “the ultimate feminist,” denounces a culture that infantilizes women and rewards victimhood.
Deep down, Rotunno is likely disgusted with her client, and in our adversarial system, her personal feelings must mean little in defending someone so deserving of legal defense. But in the courtroom and outside of the courtroom, she is fighting for that client and relieving pressure from the jury in hopes that he can be seen as an individual and judged according to his crimes. Journalist Michelle Mark comments “Rotunno knows she has the weight of an entire cultural movement working against her client, and that the jury may feel pressure to convict him.”
Weinstein is disgusting to look at. Weinstein’s politics are disgusting. Now we also know that Weinstein’s personal behavior behind closed doors is disgusting. There’s widespread agreement on that. But what there is not widespread agreement on is whether or not he committed a crime. That widespread agreement doesn’t matter. What matters is what the 12 jurors determine.
Our adversarial system is set up for it to be easy to acquit and hard to convict. A single juror who finds the prosecution’s case not to have been proven beyond a reasonable doubt, can withhold his vote and foil millions of dollars of carefully laid arrangements by government attorneys to place the accused in prison. In fact, it is the duty of the juror to do so.
Many who rubbed elbows with Weinstein in the past have abandoned him now that his proclivities have attracted public scrutiny, outside his circle. It would be easiest for them if he went away for a good, long time, and they could all say “Justice has been served.”
It is likely unimportant to such people that justice actually be served. It is important to them that the footage of them saying “Justice has been served,” is aired in public, instead of the footage of them knowingly palling around with Weinstein, trading favors with him, accepting his gifts and attention, and introducing him to his prey.
There’s no justice in that.
The lawyers who stand in defense of Weinstein are defending our noble experiment in human potential as it careens toward destruction.
A foundationally flawed system cannot predictably determine truth, it can only reveal truth by chance. In some settings, the truth may be no more likely to be settled than it was in the Inquisition or the Salem Witch Trials, because the underlying mechanism for identifying truth is flawed. Amazon.com Gift Card i... Buy New $10.00 (as of 08:25 UTC - Details)
Weinstein’s attorneys defend the sentiment that the accused has an advantage. They stand for the idea that one is innocent until proven guilty. Not innocent until proven disgusting. Nor innocent until proven unpopular.
The person who believes in the American experiment in human freedom, the person who sees the centuries of struggle that brought us to a system that elevates the individual, must support the idea of Weinstein’s innocence until proven guilty.
Not only is it his attorney defending these principles, but Weinstein himself, that disgusting fellow, is defending those principles by merely representing his own self-interest. The more likely he is to be made an example of, the more impactful a fair trial is in preventing a further slipping away of society from individual guilt into the unjustifiable territory of collective guilt.
A fair trial for Weinstein should be cheered for by all.
May he be convicted by a jury for the crimes he’s committed, and for nothing else. May he be assessed fairly. May a fair day of reckoning come for him. Nothing less. Nothing more.
As unlikely as that is to happen, that should be the undisputed, agreed upon, aim of all who wish success for the attempted American experiment in upholding the rights of the individual.
The Best of Allan Stevo