Corruption

Very hot and humid day in Wilmington, North Carolina. Leads me to wonder about the Hell we are creating right here in the USA. And since I am in Twitter jail for the next few days, I turn to this little blog to express my outrage. (BTW: Twitter is gradually returning to its old ways.)

As you seven readers know, I spent nearly 34 years working for the State Department, most of it overseas as a Foreign Service Officer (FSO). Many if not most of those years were spent fighting the State bureaucracy. It was during those years that I finally understood how the Deep State works, or as I prefer to call it, the Big Hive. There is no single order that comes down to the drones; it is an understanding that quickly spreads as to what is to be done and said and where and when. Dissent is not tolerated and dealt with in a variety of ways; no KGB executions, just a slow-down in promotions, deadly dull and meaningless assignments, and, eventually, "selection out." State is not unique in this, and the means to deal with dissent are similar in most of the rest of the civilian bureaucracy. Original thought is discouraged, and few opportunities exist to offer up some idea to turn the ship around. 

Anyhow, that's an old story. What got me thinking about this was the mounting evidence, a Mt. Everest of evidence, coming out thanks to a handful of brave whistle-blowers in the FBI and the IRS (of all places), of the staggering Biden family corruption. I thought the Clinton's had mastered the art, but I might have to take my hat off to the Biden Clan. I won't repeat it all that's been revealed, but suffice it to say that those whistle-blowers have incredible courage; we don't know yet if their sacrifices will pay off. It takes guts to go openly against the Hive.

Biden, the "Big Guy," has removed classified information from secure areas since about 1974--as he admitted in a press interview. He had no legal right to do that; he was not President. It seems clear that he gave his crackhead son, Hunter, access to that information for use with clients. Even more shocking is the growing proof of the complicated Biden extortion and money laundering effort which, apparently, has raked in tens-of-millions of dollars and made the family quite wealthy. While FBI, IRS, and DOJ have sought to cover for the clan, thanks to the whistle-blowers, the infamous laptop, new WhatsAp messages from Hunter, and, frankly, some diligent work (credit where credit is due) by a handful of Republican Congressmen and their staff who have dug up dozens of bank "Suspicious Activities Reports (SARs), we now see that the Biden crime family used a variety of means to pull in the crooked bucks. What we still haven't seen, although we can speculate, is what exactly the Biden Crime Clan (BCC) gave its foreign and domestic clients in return. 

Well, let me back up on that: we can see what it got Ukraine.

Let me put it this way: the evidence seems so compelling that EVEN legacy media outlets such as CBS and (Smelling salts!) CNN, have begun reporting on it, albeit cautiously, and trying to give Biden the benefit of the doubt, but it's out there. 

Might we be seeing the beginning of the big move to push senile Biden out of the 2024 picture? 

Thoughts?

Julius Caesar, Redux? C'Mon, Man, It's Russia!

OK. Please forgive what might comprise gibberish from an amateur with access to a keyboard, a working internet, and time to kill on a sunny, hot Raleigh morning after walking the dogs. 

Do the events of the past few days in Russia make sense to you? If they do, tell me. They don't make sense to me, but that'll not going to stop me from expounding. I don't charge a cent for this, right?

Hanging out on Twitter, I saw the usual "Slava Ukraini!" crowd most of whom have shown themselves  wrong about everything from Trump-Putin collusion, the Hunter laptop as Russian disinformation, the effectiveness of the Wuhan jab, climate change, etc., etc. and etc, now cheering the Prighozin Wagner thugs as some sort of liberators. Prighozin as Julius Caesar crossing the Rubicon in 49 BC . . . yeah, yeah, yeah. Then, almost as suddenly as it all began, Prighozin announced he had negotiated a "deal" via Belarus President Lukashenko in which Wagner, now supposedly only 200 Kms from Moscow, would return to its "bases," and Prighozin would fly off to "safety" and exile in Belarus.

The press and the "experts" have loads of speculation about what all this means. Nobody knows, and neither do I, but . . . for what it's worth . . . let me lay out a few possibilities, with more questions than answers. 

How about an ill-conceived plot by Western intelligence agencies and money (the mysterious $6.2 billion of accounting error fame?) trying for Iraq-type regime change on the cheap? Could be. It certainly looked muddled enough. Let's put that aside, for now, because if it were, our leaky intel services will soon let us all know, anyhow. Seymour Hersh, call your office.  

Or, Prighozin had a genuine antipathy for Russian senior commanders and the Mindef? He felt disrespected, unsupported, and even betrayed when it was Wagner that had achieved Russia's wins in Ukraine. Possible. He might well have thought that his populist anti-corruption message combined with a "let's win or get out" theme would draw widespread support, and that mid- to lower-ranks of the military, at least, would refuse to block him, and perhaps even a few senior commanders might join. He might have envisioned a triumphal march on the capital taken from another figure in Italian history, Benito Mussolini. In the end, however, it would seem, he did not get the support he wanted, especially from the air force which could have wiped out his column; he decided to give in. Maybe.

That brings us to another issue. 

What sort of offer did Lukashenko, acting for Putin, make Prighozin that got him apparently to yield his prized and profitable Wagnerians? A plomo o plata deal (lead or silver) a la Mafia and cartels? If Prighozin is really an enemy of Putin and his claque, will Belarus under Lukashenko, a Putin puppet, prove a safe place for Prighozin? Stay away from tall buildings, buddy. What about the thousands of Wagner mercs who followed Prighozin? Will the Russian military honor their safety? I don't know, but they better keep looking over their shoulders.

There, of course, exist many other scenarios, including a combination of the two above, that you can conjure up. Including, that this was all some bizarre theater, undertaken for mysterious Kremlin reasons.

Who won? Well, on the surface it appears as a messy Putin win. Lots of chapters yet to follow, but we can speculate that Putin might have had to make deals with and concessions to the power elite around him that will cost him in the medium to long run. For now, however, he stays. Perhaps embarrassed and weaker, but he stays, well, as I said, for now. 

The PRC leaders, too, might rethink their support for Russia under Putin: a whole other issue worthy of much speculation. What does this do, for example, to their grand BRICS scheme? Anything?

More immediately, what does this do to the Russian "Special Operation" in Ukraine? Will that continue? Will Putin declare victory, and call it a day? Can the Ukrainians take advantage, and get their floundering offensive in gear? Will Zelensky ask for tons more of money? Well, that one's a given. The rest, we'll see. 

Russia is endlessly fascinating. No debate on that.

Russian for the Exit? Careful What You Read

The news coming out of Russia and Ukraine gets more and more garbled. I have no idea, as stated many times before, what is or is not true. The information, in general, seems to come from partisans of both sides and has an agenda.

The latest from the conflict seems to indicate that Yevgeny Prigozhin and his brutal Wagner Group mercenary army of convicts and former Soviet/Russian military have turned on their Moscow masters. 

Following days and days of statements from Prigozhin blasting the Minister of Defense and other senior officials, including lately his former pal President Putin, for incompetence in their handling of the "Special Operation" in Ukraine, the Wagnerians have left, apparently, some key positions in Ukraine and marched into Russia. Prigozhin, as you know, is known to exaggerate and, well, lie like a rug. So take whatever he says with a fistful of salt.

There are garbled accounts of fighting between Wagner and Russian military units. Not clear how much fighting and where exactly Prigozhin's troops are heading. To add to the mess, a tired looking Putin gave a rambling speech apparently accusing Yevgeny Prigozhin of trying to pull a coup and committing treason. Some sort of military checkpoints reportedly have been set up on the outskirts of Moscow, although, as far I can tell, the Wagnerians have not brought their opera to Moscow, as of yet.

Is this the beginning of the end of Russia's misadventure in Ukraine, or something else? Who has the nukes, for example?

Moscow has used the Wagner Group to conduct operations without the official stamp of the Russian government, providing a flimsy and rather easily seen-through "plausible" deniability. They have been reported in places such as Africa and, of course, in Syria. They are famous for their brutality. 

As you will remember, in Syria, in February 2018, the Wagner Group clashed with US forces; SecDef Mattis gave his famous order, "Annihilate them." Our forces apparently did that, with perhaps 200 (or more) Wagner mercenaries slaughtered by US artillery, drones, and aircraft. Supposedly, Prigozhin felt betrayed by Moscow's non-response to the beating his troops took. 

I would think, but I know little, that Moscow could beat Wagner. Russia's military, however, has a demonstrated capability for incompetence that is quite staggering.

Supposedly. 

Keep that word in mind when reading anything about Russia, Ukraine, and Wagner.

And, remember, there are no good guys in this horrid movie.

Anybody with a clearer view of what's happening, please jump in.

Juneteenth

Well, we just officially celebrated our third "Juneteenth Day." 

This holiday allegedly honors the day, June 19, 1865, when U.S. General Gordon Granger, upon arrival in Galveston, Texas, read "General Order, no. 3," informing the people of Texas, "that in accordance with a proclamation from the Executive of the United States, all slaves are free."(https://www.battlefields.org/learn/primary-sources/general-order-no-3). 

In other words, he and his troops brought word to Texas that the late Abraham Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation of some two-plus years earlier, freeing the slaves in the Confederate States, applied to Texas and would be enforced by Union troops. This freed approximately 225, 000 slaves still held in that state, the last of the Confederate States with slaves. Slavery, of course, was not totally banned in the US until the adoption of the 13th Amendment some six months later.

When we adopted this new Federal holiday, I had hopes--faint ones--that it would serve to educate people on the Civil War, the most dramatic and traumatic event in American history. That it would also lead people to the realization that the party that freed the slaves was the Republican Party; Lincoln was Republican, many forget, and the party that fought to keep slavery, and split the union, was, well, the other guys: the world's oldest political party, the Democratic Party. That same party, the Democratic, later fought to institute Jim Crow, founded the KKK, resisted civil rights laws, and went on to base much of its appeal, even to this day, on issues of race. They cannot let go of the racial issue, the world's most boring AND dangerous obsession. But, no, Juneteenth provides just another opportunity for Democrats to rewrite history.

Let me know how your Juneteenth went; hopefully better than it did in Chicago.

Ukraine: You Crane for the Truth

Does anybody in the public square know and will reveal what is happening in Ukraine? 

I have never seen, heard, or read about any major war with as little verifiable information out for the public, a public which is expected to support Kyiv, condemn Russia, and put up with a devastated global economy that benefits China, and greatly weakens the West's military posture. We see and hear little debate about major events, such as the demolition of the Nord stream pipeline, the blowing up of the Kakhovka dam, and the much ballyhooed and well-advertised Ukrainian offensive undertaken with, supposedly, a bazillion dollars worth of Western military equipment.  

Reading between the lines of the scant reports coming out on that offensive, it, no surprise, does not seem going too well, appearing to consist of a massive waste of lives and treasure with little to show in the positive column. Even amateur military historians such as my son and this humble blogger wondered about an offensive of this type given Russian air and artillery superiority, and the amount of time the Russians have had to prepare their defenses--e.g., minefields. As I noted, what little information--a bit in the Wall Street Journal--does emerge reveals that the Ukrainians have run into precisely those Russian strengths.  

Meanwhile, the West piles on more and more sanctions on Russia with undetermined effect on Russia, but a negative effect on Western firms and economies. We continue to strip our military forces, all to the benefit of China.

You want a sanction on Russia? One that will actually bite? Easy. Resume US oil production, and make the US energy independent again. So many problems will vanish . . . 

The truth remains elusive, and our lying leadership and bureaucracy will not let us get more than a glimpse of it. They are too busy quashing political dissent, flying Pride flags, and pushing ahead with destructive DEI and ESG policies. 

The Indictment

I debated whether to chime in with my paltry two cents on the Trump indictment. Don't know if my comments provide any value, and doubt the chirps coming from this little blog will break through the roar we hear re that indictment. That said, and with all humility, this, after all, is why I blog. 

Here goes . . . 

While at State, I spent some 34 years handling classified info all the way to the top of the classification chain. Ninety percent of it rubbish of no real consequence when written and classified, and certainly not after two or three years have passed. 

The prosecutors in Biden's DOJ have leaked photos of bankers' boxes piled up in various rooms of Trump's residence, implying that those boxes brim with classified material. We have no idea if that's true. I suspect most of that stuff consists of newspaper clippings, inconsequential memos, and, oh, newspaper clippings, and letters to and from Trump, and--did I mention?--newspaper clippings. The sort of stuff former government officials keep to write barely readable memoirs.

Actually, friends, and this point bears repeating and repeating, the content of those boxes is irrelevant. 

We might not like it, and our allies might and should get nervous about it, but under our system the President has absolute authority to declassify material AND to take it home as personal records. Beaten into us at the State Department was the knowledge that our ability to classify material, and I shamefully admit that I classified a lot, comes FROM and ONLY from the President. He can override any classification. The President can grab a binder of the most "sensitive" material, and read it out at a press conference; perhaps politically not wise, but legal. The famous Bill Clinton "sock drawer" case emphasized that: an Obama-appointed judge ruled that Clinton had the authority to declassify AND take home as his personal records ANY material produced by the Executive branch. No exceptions. Full stop. The President, in our structure, DOES NOT COME UNDER the authority of some faceless bureaucrat in a government archives office.

I find tiring to hear that the Trump case differs from those of Pence and Biden because they "immediately" returned to the archives the classified material once that material was found in their possession. First, we don't know if that's true in the Pence case, and it's certainly not true in the Biden case; second, most important, neither man had the authority to take classified to his home or his office. The cases, in other words, are different because neither Biden nor Pence was President at the time they took the classified material! Biden had been taking material for decades. Neither had the authority to declassify and remove classified documents. In Biden's case, it seems about 100 percent certain that he shared still-classified material with his crack-addled son who used it to "write" papers about Ukraine and European politics for clients. 

Has Trump handled this in the best way possible? You decide. I think, maybe, he could have handled the request from the archives office to return documents in a better, less confrontational way, while still saying, "Sorry. No. Those are my papers." Maybe. Maybe.

Now, you will rightly note, that what I just wrote naively assumes the request as well-intentioned; it, of course, was not. It was a trap to persecute Biden's main political rival, and along with the bogus charges filed by local Democrat DAs, to tie up Trump in an endless legal siege, cripple him politically and financially, and--very important--distract from the growing evidence of the criminality of the Biden family. 

The attack on Trump also has sucked the air out of the Republican primary process. How can, say, DeSantis get a word in when all we talk about is Trump, Trump, Trump? How can we get anybody to focus on the blatant criminality of the Bidens, when we all focus on the irrelevant debate over what is or is not classified?  

We have become a banana republic with nuclear weapons. My apology to banana republics; they, at least, provide bananas.

NC GOP Convention, Part II: Odds & Ends

Just a minor add to my earlier post on the 2023 NC GOP Convention.

While at the convention, we attended an excellent interview of John Solomon, who along with Miranda Devine, Lara Logan, Mollie Hemingway and maybe a couple of others, comprises one of a handful of true journalists working in America. He runs a very good website Just the News (https://justthenews.com).

He was savage in his critique of the Biden regime's weaponization of the justice system. He, very troubling, said that we are maybe only two or three years away from a full-blown "political police state," where dissent will not be tolerated. He saw the 2024 elections as crucial but seemed pessimistic that the Biden regime could be forced out. He was critical of President Trump's failure to deal with the FBI and the DOJ deep state. His comments criticizing Trump, however, brought forth (undeserved in my view) boos, and shouts of "Come on!" from the staunchly pro-Trump audience. 

Not a good look.

Those of us who are pro-Trump have to acknowledge Trump's failure to realize that the Deep State was as deep as it was, and even more hostile than he imagined. The Deep State actively worked against him while he was President.

Just a cheery thought.

Back from the NC GOP Convention

As I mentioned before, the Diplowife and I got "elected"--fourteen candidates for fourteen openings--to help represent New Hanover county at the North Carolina GOP convention held in Greensboro, June 8-11. Very nice hotel in a very good convention center. The food, however, was crappy. 

At the convention we got to attend a dinner--rubber chicken, semi-frozen salad--for Florida Governor and presidential candidate Ron DeSantis. He addressed the 1000 or so people at the sold-out dinner event for nearly an hour. He was excellent. He's become quite a polished speaker, although he had a tendency to step on his applause lines (pause, Governor, pause, when people are clapping and cheering). He gave a very tight, well-written speech packed with information. He laid out his considerable accomplishments in Florida, especially in his battle for economic freedom against the Woke corporations and mandates from Washington DC. He came out strongly for the second amendment, parental rights, and low taxes. He was a bit light on foreign policy, other than noting that his state has banned the purchase by the CCP of property in Florida, and arguing for a closed southern border. Nothing on Ukraine or relations with Europe, et al. He never mentioned Trump except by referring to a weaponized double-tier of justice which goes after a former Republican President, but ignores the Bidens. He got a standing ovation from what clearly was an overwhelmingly pro-Trump crowd.

Did he move the needle? I don't know, but don't think so. From my totally unscientific polling of fellow delegates, the vast majority remains for Trump. A couple or more even acknowledged that they liked DeSantis, but would vote for Trump in the primary, even if he were going to lose the general election. Is that healthy? You tell me. I found a few who said they had been wavering on Trump until the federal indictment. Now, they would be for Trump, hell or high water.

We couldn't get into the Trump dinner the following day--sold-out almost instantly--and had to watch him on a screen. I don't know. Long-time readers of this inconsequential blog know that I am pro-Trump. He was the best president of my lifetime, and could have been even better if he hadn't been handicapped by a four-year long coup attempt carried out by the DNC, the permanent bureaucratic government, key GOP officials, and aided by big tech and the media. He spoke to the dinner crowd and got his usual applause and ovations. I, however, found his message and him a bit tired, and not very inspiring. He has been persecuted of that there is no doubt. The outrageous use of the DOJ and the FBI, again, aided by big tech, loopy local DAs, and the media, to try to cripple Trump politically and personally is one the greatest travesties in American political history. Will that story, however, resonate with the average voter? I don't know. 

Aside from that, of course, we must ask, what has the GOP done to prevent another stolen election? Except in a few states, such as Florida and a bit here in North Carolina, not much. Who, for example, doubts that huge numbers of the illegal aliens pouring across our borders will vote in 2024? In addition, the Democrats are undermining the electoral college by getting several states to pledge their electoral votes to the winner of the popular vote, thereby nullifying their own voters and letting the crooked electoral systems in California and New York decide for them.

On a more upbeat note, the current Lt. Governor of NC, Mark Robinson, spoke to the convention and absolutely rocked it. He is running for Governor, and I think (hope) he will win. He is the Democrats' nightmare: a black man from an impoverished background who is unabashedly a patriot, against wokeness, is pro-second amendment, and for school choice. He ticks all the policy boxes and has an appealing personality, with a compelling personal story, and is a terrific orator. Keep on eye on this guy. We are going to a dinner for him next month, and I have--full disclosure--donated a few hundred bucks to his campaign, and will donate more as the Diplowife allows.

OK. Heading off from Raleigh to Wilmington for a few days, to let the dogs run wild and for me to go to doctor appointments (sigh).