I held off posting this article because the author’s bluntness generated my own questions. I’m only posting a portion of it. The full article is at the link here:
https://www.city-journal.org/html/real-fisa-scandal-15706.html
The Real FISA Scandal by Andrew Klavan.
Subtitle: a bill for eight years of willful media blindness is starting to come due. Published in City Journal 2/4/2018
Scandal is not an exact science. But on a scale of “nothingburger” (Bret Stephens of the New York Times) to “worse than Watergate” (GOP congressman Steve King), the information in the House Intelligence Committee FISA Memo comes in at about a solid seven. It now seems very likely the FBI and Department of Justice deceived a FISA court with an uncorroborated piece of Democrat-funded oppo research in order to obtain a warrant to spy on American citizen Carter Page. If, as seems reasonable to conjecture, the broader target turns out to have been the Donald Trump presidential campaign for which Page had recently worked, the needle on the scandal meter will begin to edge up into the red zone.
Let’s put it this way: if this sort of thing had gone on under President Trump or even George W. Bush, the Times would have announced the news in front-page headlines so large it would have taken two strong men just to carry the letters to the press room. An enormous collection of Times reportage on the subject—with a black cover and some title like “The Path to Tyranny”—would have been on the bookstore shelves within the month.
And yet mainstream journalism’s reaction to the memo has so diverged from its past practices—and indeed from the media’s usual narrative about its own heroic role in our republic—that it constitutes a sort of meta-scandal within the scandal that in some ways is more dispiriting than the FISA scandal itself.
America’s news centers—from 42nd Street in Manhattan all the way to 57th Street in Manhattan—did everything within their power to suppress, taint, and minimize the impact of the memo, even before they knew what was in it. “President Trump’s assault on the nation’s law enforcement apparatus is unlike anything America has seen in modern times,” wailed a Times “analysis” (the paper’s term of art for front-page editorializing). “The memo is the most explicit Republican effort yet to discredit the FBI’s investigation into Trump and Russia,” reports CNN, increasingly the most trusted name in hysteria.
-break-
The article is rather long but worth the time it takes to read the entire piece, at the link posted above. City Journal comes from the Manhattan Institute, a think tank that seems to be taking a rather jaundiced view of “trends” in society and their effects on people in general.
This is eight months later, Kavanaugh is the SCJ nominee (probably the best choice) and Donald McGahn is White House Counsel. Coincidence? I don’t think so.
McGahn is cooperating with the Special Counsel Investigation into whether or not there was collusion with the Russians (which ones, for Pete’s sake??!?!?) to tamper with the election in 2016.
So the question about McGahn’s “spill” to NYT and SCI is simple: is he feeding them stuff with Trump’s consent, or is he in cahoots with them? I’d say he’s feeding them stuff, enough to make them look as bad as they are. By “bad”, I mean scrambling to find a way to get rid of Trump before his term of office ends. It comes up occasionally in news articles.
And you have to wonder why, in view of the damaging things that were done by the previous administration – things that were an obvious intent to subvert a legitimate government – why were the media mavens so eager to fall in line behind someone whose sole intent was to destroy their freedom to be stupid fools? Why are they so blind to it?
Well, my response is simple: take a hard, hard look at the dumbfuckery that Ernest Hemingway got himself into by agreeing to write article for NKVD publications here in the USA and overseas. He certainly wasn’t stupid, by any measure. He was a war correspondent. He drove an ambulance during WWI and subsequently got a news gig during the early days of the war in Europe, which included Franco’s attacks on the Spanish government, to report the news to US media centers. He did file reports steadily, probably by telegraph or possibly by telephone or wireless radio. What he did not see or understand, until the very end of his life when he was kicked out of Cuba by Fidel Castro and lost his home La Finca in Havana to the Cuban government, was that he was never viewed as anything but a pawn in the game of spreading communism.
A few weeks ago, I reported on ‘Writer, Sailor, Soldier, Spy’, a biography of Hemingway by Robert Conquest. I got five chapters into that and had to put it down, because I really wanted to punch Hemingway as hard as I could. How anyone with his level of intelligence could be so easily duped was beyond me, but the NKVD people in New York, Europe, and elsewhere knew exactly how to feed his ridiculous ego enough to do that, and at the end, after writing ‘The Old Man and the Sea”, his last novel, he realized how much he had been had. He ended his life because of it.
He was nothing but a tool in the very skilled hands of Stalin’s spy/propaganda network. That applies to the entire pack of idiots scrambling now to find some way to get rid of Trump ASAP. With them, it seems to start in kindergarten and roll all the way into college, fed every bit of believable stupidity you can possibly imagine, and throw in some Tootsie Rolls while you’re at it.
I don’t know whether to be angry at these fools, or just point at them and laugh, because they are leading themselves into a swamp that drains into a black hole and will never leave it if they don’t see how they’ve trapped themselves. At this point, I don’t care what happens to them. The power hungry people in Washington who are now scrambling eagerly to try to find a way to dump Trump are digging their own black holes right now.
But that question still goes unanswered: why are they so willfully blind to the traps they are setting for themselves?
Why?
For all the words, it comes down to this: the media hate Trump so much that they will do whatever they can to help bring him down. They can’t do it by legal process so the game plan is spotlight the negative and cast the positive in darkness.
They could care less about doing anything legally, if you can’t do it legally “by golly do it illegally”! As for showing themselves fools, they can’t help it, they are INSANE and unable to think their way through anything logically or decently! imho
Why?
Because the lights came on when Trump won and the rats are tripping over each other for a way out of the room.
Because the music stopped playing when Trump won and there are damn few chairs in the room.
And a few other reasons as well.
Have you noticed that the impeachment drum banging has slowed after the incessant playing of Inagaddadavidi? Man, I heard they went berserk with glee after that POS Cohen was found guilty of eight counts. That same night, I was listening to Mark Levin on radio and he explained why what Trump did was not a crime in paying two women to keep their yaps shut, that Critters do it regularly–with tax dollars no less, and tore up Cohen’s Clinton Clown Counsel Lanny Davis. By today, either major media have thrown the Iron Butterfly record out or are grudgingly backtracking. Levin can be brilliant.
I love him. I listen most every evening when I’m still commuting after 7 East Coast time. Hannity too, voices of reason.
Me, too. Very articulate and learned.
I love how Lanny (what a stoopid name) had to admit that Cohen never went to Prague to meet with Ruskies and that he was not part of any conspiracy to “collude” with Ruskies, thus making the MSM gang liars of Fake News. Lannie (I gave him the fem version as he has a mangina) also admitted that Cohen has no knowledge about Trump knowing about the set-up Trump Tower meeting with the Ruskie lawer, which was apparently another Fusion GPS gothcha sting operation.
Excellent post Limabeans!
The pressitutes know what they have done. They can either own up to it, or destroy anyone who points out thier deceit and collaboration.
The reason for so very much vitriol against Trump, is that he cannot be manipulated by the usual methods. He does not need anyone’s money, either personally or for campaigning. He is totally immune to their demand that he be shamed by them, to their demand that he -care- what -they- think.
To them, he is -monstrous-. Not for what he might do, but because -others- might come to share his views of -them-.
And -that- is the end of their world. Irrelevance.
Mark my words. They are -not- going to go quietly. Thy -will- goad the crazies into doing something spectacularly drastic.
“spectacularly drastic” – I like that phrase, 11B.
I think you’re absolutely right, but it won’t be the political animals that do it. It will be the fringe people who are already causing trouble.
I have a wide range of notions of what that might be, but I’ll keep it to myself. Don’t want to give them ideas, y’know.
“Levin can be brilliant.” No doubt, but he can also be unbearable when he gets a head of steam up, and starts frothing at the mouth.
Breakbreak
I’ve found that “points and laughs” works best; the Enlightened Ones cannot stand to be mocked. The only response they have to it is more and louder of what earned them the “points and laughs” in the first place.
Yeah, he is thin skinned and doesn’t tolerate idiots. He’s passionate about a few things, namely, the Constitution, Veterans and AD, dogs, and police/firefighters. The guy is a amateur of untwisting bullshit served up by others and laying things out in plain language. He regularly suggests that most conservative talk-show hosts listen to his show in order to acquire their material, and I don’t doubt it. He’s got an ego, but when he has a parent of a fallen soldier or Marine on his show, he is genuinely moved and appropriately respectful. I don’t always like what he does, but when it comes to the Constitution, there’s no one better on TV, radio, or the internet.
Yeah, that’s about the only thing I don’t like about Mark.
When he loses his shit and starts screaming full volume at me through the radio, I have to turn the channel.
😀
I’ve found that “points and laughs” works best; the Enlightened Ones cannot stand to be mocked. The only response they have to it is more and louder of what earned them the “points and laughs” in the first place.
What do you think our president has been doing. Dropping the mic now
amateur = master. Don’t ask me. Ask my pc, Damn thing thinks it knows what I want to say!
We are the Leftreds. You have been assimilated.
You will become part of the collective. You will join our perfection.
Resistance is futile.
Where is 7 of 9 and CPT Jean Luc when we need them? They over came the collective. Bastards, I will resist, point, and giggle!
I hate it when that happens.
I’m still shocked at the whimpering fart from the MSM on this. It is worse than Watergate. No hyperbole, it is worse. Instead of a campaign committing burglary on behalf of a presidential campaign you have a presidential administration using the power of government to spy on your political opponents.
That nobody seems to think this is beyond reproach, that the Obama admin (and McCain) using the IRS to pursue political enemies, Operation Fast and Furious, and the Iran “deal” really just shows how willing people are willing to ignore the misdeeds and outright criminal acts of Saint Obama. I don’t get it. Any other administration would have been rode out on a rail for any single one of these things. Yet, he’s still referred to as a “scandal free” administration. WTF?
Oh, it isn’t anything new, Mason.
When Billie Jeff Clinton was impeached, partly because of his affair with Monica Lewinski, my mother could NOT believe anyone could accuse him of doing any of the things that woman said.
Ma was just SURE it wasn’t true, even when I showed her the transcripts published in the local newspaper. She turned a blind eye to it. She also didn’t believe it when the philanderings of Jack Kennedy became public knowledge instead of just gossip. It couldn’t possibly be true.
This is why I said ‘why are they so willfully blind to the traps they setting for themselves?’
It doesn’t make any sense. Perhaps it’s better to NOT try to understand the blindness and just get out of their way.
Except he wasn’t impeached for pronging a pudgy intern. He was impeached for perjury, witness tampering, and obstruction of justice resulting from proonging a pudgy intern. But the left convinced everyone it was for that. If it was only for sexing anyone at all other than Hillary, I would have given the guy a pass. I wouldn’t bang the Hildabeast with my worst enemy’s dick.
I always wondered what would have happened of ol’ Bill would’ve answered truthfully.
“Mr. President, did you have sex with Ms. Lewinski?”
“Holy shit, did I! I gotta tell ya, I now understand that thing about a golf ball and a garden hose! And she’s got a thing for cigars…”
Couldn’t understand Clinton or the deification of JFK either. The Dems seem to like to find a smooth talking, charismatic, handsome guy and put him up. It’s a winning strategy. The only Dems in the last 50 years to win a Presidential election and not fit this profile were Carter and LBJ. Johnson was riding JFK’s coat tails obviously while Carter was a rejection of anything connected to Nixon.
As a prediction, we’ll see if they follow this proven track record, but I see Eric Swalwell being a contender for 2020’s nomination. That’s if they can stop playing identity politics long enough to see what’s worked for them in the past.
Welcome to the USSA… if we don’t stop the reds in every election this will become the “Real World” for everyone
So Cohen pays off two bimbos and it’s called an illegal campaign contribution. So is that fund administered by Congress to pay off “victims” of sexual harassment by Congresscritters a similar thingee? Just asking.
Yeah. The hypocrisy is astronomical; it is so vast, it must be measured in light-years.
The elite of the LSM (Left Stream Media) must feel they will be somehow immune from the chaos which this Nation will find itself in a few years if this insanity continues. The pussy wallflowers will crave more and more “free stuff” which comes at the expense of both honest citizens and the constructive social fabric of this country. I’ve got news for them. Look at any nation that has a socialist government and you will find very, very few near the top of the food chain. Today’s LSM are expendable … it takes only a handful to report the fake news. The majority are only surplus stooges. So let them continue with their hate of all things Trump as well as their influence on the pussies who feel tearing down monuments somehow makes them enlightened. Take this as you will, but the worker bees of the country control the weapons and ammo. When the SHTF, the elitist pussies will try to find safety in their safe space, holding hands (when not rioting), thinking their actions will provide safety for themselves and enlightenment for the country. I’ve got news for them. They will be simply so much fodder for the few who actually will be in control and who will control the country. The butterflies and LSM will be slaughtered. I will be a member of the group opposing the butterflies. Having said that, I am not a threat to anyone who is not a threat to my family, my friends, myself and my country. Rant over for now.
immune…you are probably right, they think they will be immune.
That is because they don’t read or understand history at J school or in poli-sci. They get indoctrinated.
History teaches us that the first people to go into the solyent factory are the intellectual, academic, and journalism classes.
The fact that they are not aware that they will go first shows just how effective the indoctrination is.
The only thing that seems to really fit the facts is that what, on the surface, appears to be willful blindness, is actually spiritual in origin.
Jesus warned us that in the last days, the lawlessness would grow so great, that the love of many would grow cold.
My dos centavos.