Deep State, Dark Suits

I was talking with the father of my daughter’s friend this week. He couldn’t contain his excitement over the midterm results.

The guy was starry-eyed and hopeful about the future. World peace is coming, basically. Well… let’s hope that works out, I managed to say while maintaining a straight face.

I didn’t want to burst his bubble. His optimism will be short-lived, so let him have it for now.

Every American deserves to experience brief flashes of political hope. It’s important for morale.

But reality will assert itself soon enough.

There is No Anti-War Party

Most of my left-leaning friends and family are anti-war. So are most on the right. Actually, not many people I know describe themselves as pro-war.

But it’s fascinating to watch Democrats this time around. Many believe this Congress will finally bring peace. They seem to believe they’ve finally neutralized the evil warmongers, and everything will be rainbows from here on out.

So just for fun, let’s explore what recent history says about Dems and war.

The Ukraine conflict, for example, is ultimately Obama and Biden’s baby. In 2014 Obama’s agencies executed a coup in the country, helping to install a new pro-NATO leader. A huge NATO training center was built in western Ukraine. A war was inevitable from this point, and experts like Harvard’s John J. Mearsheimer predicted it perfectly.

In 2022, the Ukraine war began in earnest. It happened on Biden’s watch, with his military’s funding, intel, and weapons. All while his son Hunter was collecting $50,000 a month from a Ukrainian oligarch’s natural gas firm.

Over a million men are now dead in Ukraine. The nation’s population is down to perhaps 28 million from 41 million pre-war.

And Israel’s most recent “war” on Gaza began on Biden’s watch, too. The Big Guy made sure the IDF was topped off with plenty of 2,000 lb bombs, artillery shells, and other munitions. Trump continued the supply after he took over.

Nobel laureate and Democratic icon President Obama also oversaw the destruction of Syria and Libya, with Hillary of the State Department playing a lead role (isn’t the State Dept supposed to do diplomacy?). Both countries are now living nightmares.

For the first time in hundreds of years, there are slave markets in Libya again. Syria is now run by an ex-Al-Qaeda leader. Oh, and about Al-Qaeda. Back in 2012, Jake Sullivan, one of Hillary’s cronies at the State Department, famously wrote that “AQ is on our side in Syria.”

So no, there is no real anti-war party in the U.S. There are only anti-war political campaigns. Slogans. Posters.

Democrats have absolutely no right to claim moral superiority. But neither do Republicans. Look at what the GOP accomplished with control of the Senate, House, and Executive Branch. A decent immigration act, but not nearly strict enough. In the end, the GOP didn’t do much besides start a new war and pass a massive spending bill.

When one president starts a war and it inevitably goes south, the other party simply campaigns next time on ending it. And it works. Rinse, repeat. We just keep falling for it.

Deep State, Dark Suits, Black Ties

In 2017, a French newspaper asked Russian President Vladimir Putin about Russiagate. You know, the theory that Russia somehow got Trump elected in 2016.

Putin’s reply was fascinating:

I have already spoken to three US Presidents. They come and go, but politics stay the same at all times. Do you know why? Because of the powerful bureaucracy.

When a person is elected, they may have some ideas. Then people with briefcases arrive, well dressed, wearing dark suits, just like mine, except for the red tie, since they wear black or dark blue ones. These people start explaining how things are done. And instantly, everything changes. This is what happens with every administration.

Putin is an odd guy. He sometimes talks in riddles and lectures on history for hours.

But what he’s saying here is simple: No, we don’t interfere in American elections. And if we did, it wouldn’t matter because the deep state maintains control.

Harry Truman said something similar as Eisenhower was beginning his first term in 1952:

He'll sit here, and he'll say, 'Do this! Do that!' And nothing will happen. Poor Ike – it won't be a bit like the Army.

Did Biden and Obama want to start a war in Ukraine? No, probably not. But the deep state did, so it happened. Did Trump truly want to start a war with Iran? I doubt it. It looks like he was bullied into it. Sold a faulty bag of goods.

So here we are. No matter who we elect, the deep state remains in power. Our unelected, extremely powerful block of lobbyists, special interests, appointees, and employees. And it’s going to be our greatest challenge to fix.

Eventually, the problem may take care of itself. At least partially. Sometime within the next ten years, massive cuts to government spending are inevitable. Like 30%, to start.

But before much really changes, we also have to get angrier. Our tax money is being taken in thousands of different ways, on a daily basis.

And the deep state’s goal is to protect the scams, while accomplishing their strategic goals. Unfortunately they are highly organized, vast, and competent. So it won’t be easy.

The deep state’s reign will likely continue until a major crisis occurs. Then Americans may finally get fed up enough to effect real change.