An Alignment of Common Corporate Interests is NOT a Conspiracy, It’s a Simple Political Reality

posted by Sundance at Conservative Treehouse 

An ideological alignment of individual people, institutions and organizations working in concert toward a common goal is not a conspiracy.

Organized coordination between individuals, groups and institutions is generally considered a conspiracy.  That dismissive labeling also allows the downstream beneficiaries of the outcome to dispatch, avoid, or more commonly pretend to ignore the collective goal.  However, organized coordination is not needed in order to pursue a common goal; the only thing needed is an understanding of the objective.

Once the objective of the common interest is identified, all benefactory components operate individually.  What becomes visible is the similarity of the actions.

This is where we see patterns and common actions taken toward a common goal. This reality is the context to understand how the political dynamic is constructed in opposition to Donald Trump, and more specifically how the America First policy platform of Presidential candidate Donald Trump is viewed as a common risk.

Individuals, institutions, government ‘stakeholders’, and generally all status-quo interests stand in opposition, as reflected in the historic Niccolò Machiavelli quote:

“It must be remembered that there is nothing more difficult to plan, more doubtful of success, nor more dangerous to manage than a new system. For the initiator has the enmity of all who would profit by the preservation of the old institution and merely lukewarm defenders in those who gain by the new ones.”

When the new system is constructed to the benefit of the many yet disrupts the status of those few -the proverbial elite- who benefit from retention of the old, those in the at-risk minority must pretend not to know things.  Additionally, through passive aggressive undermining that same elite group frame their opposition as to provide themselves plausible deniability.

It is in this political mix of eclectic interests where a person needs an intellectual filtration system, tuned to the granular nuances, in order to make sense of the landscape and see the big picture.

Do not disregard the difficulty of this process, for it takes a keen -almost exhaustive- state of awareness to maintain vigilance against the conniving schemes that flow as an outcome of the process.   However, once you see the patterns you are essentially tuning in to see the strings on the marionettes.  Once you see the strings on the marionettes, you can never return to that moment in the performance when you did not see them.

In the 1980’s and 90’s, there was a fad of optical illusion images known as autostereograms.  For many people when you stare at the autostereogram image, a hidden 3D scene emerges.  It often takes a few seconds or even minutes to see the 3D aspect to the image; however, once your eyes adapt to the image it becomes easier to spot.  This is also a metaphor for modern politics.  Often it is difficult to spot the 3D aspect to what we see, but over time the picture gains clarity.

Consider…. Much has been written about Mitch McConnell spending $10 million on the Alaska republican senate race when the race was between two republicans.  Yet Mitch McConnell refused to support Republican Senate Candidate Blake Masters in Arizona?  However, less has been written critically about the Republican Governors Association, likely because its more challenging to accept the corporate Machievellian approaches extend far beyond DC, into our own backyards.

The Republican Governor’s Association (RGA) gave $21 million to the Super PAC “Friends of Ron DeSantis” in 2022 {Source}; however, in every single poll DeSantis was leading by double digits and even the most die-hard leftists admitted months before the election that Florida was a lost cause; DeSantis was going to win.

So why did the RGA transmit $21 million to coffers of DeSantis, while Arizona Republican candidate for governor, Kari Lake, struggled with major donor funding?  Arizona’s current republican Governor Doug Ducey is head of the RGA.

Accepting these passive aggressive political realities only leads the intellectually honest observer in one researched direction.  The McConnell Senate Leadership Fund and the Republican Governors Association (RGA) all receive funds from the same Wall Street and multinational corporate mechanisms.

It is easy to see the agenda of McConnell because he’s been using the same ‘Citizens United’ playbook for over a decade, and the media draws attention to it.  McConnell is the enmity and preservation group that Machiavelli described.  However, it much more difficult to see the RGA as the ‘lukewarm defender’ group in our backyard.

The corporate alignment of the RGA is also more difficult to accept; but that is, as my grandpa would say, “the reality of the thing.”

I am going to begin outlining the 2023 and 2024 political club landscape soon.  Much of the continued exposing will be on a granular, cited and difficult to accept level. Yet it becomes necessary because we need to see the strings on these GOPe marionettes if we are going to avoid the “illusion of choice” that each component element, RNC, GOP, RGA, RCCC, is constructing for us.

Normally, I would avoid such a “tripwire” outline before the 2023 RNC Winter Meeting this upcoming Jan/Feb.  However, I have also vowed to deconstruct the pretending with brutal -and yes, difficult to accept- honesty; so, firstly the timing is not of my choosing.  Secondly, CTH will once again be assembling the humint resources to extract the political conversations that GOPe leadership inside those meetings do not wish to see exposed.

(SOURCE PIC) In the interim…

WASHINGTON/NEW YORK, Nov 16 (Reuters) – Blackstone Inc (BX.N) Chief Executive Stephen Schwarzman [pictured left], who has been one of Wall Street’s biggest donors to Donald Trump’s election campaigns, said on Wednesday he will not back the former president in 2024.

Trump announced he would run in the 2024 U.S. presidential election on Tuesday, launching an early bid to become the Republican nominee in an effort to pre-empt potential rivals.

Schwarzman said it was time for new party leadership and that he would back a different Republican in the presidential contest. “It is time for the Republican Party to turn to a new generation of leaders and I intend to support one of them in the presidential primaries,” he said in a statement, which was first reported by Axios.

Schwarzman, 75, is a prominent Republican donor. He spent $35.5 million to support Republicans ahead of last week’s midterm election. Republicans are still one seat short of capturing control of the U.S. House of Representatives and have failed to take over the U.S. Senate. (more)

NEW YORK – Rupert Murdoch has reportedly warned Donald Trump his media empire will not back any attempt to return to the White House, as former supporters turn to the youthful Florida governor Ron DeSantis.

After the Republican party’s disappointing performance in the US midterm elections, in particular the poor showing by candidates backed by Trump, Murdoch’s rightwing media empire appears to be seeking a clean break from the former president’s damaged reputation and perceived waning political power.

[…] “We have been clear with Donald. There have been conversations between them during which Rupert made it clear to Donald that we cannot back another run for the White House.”

[…] Lachlan Murdoch, the heir apparent and eldest son, who co-chairs News Corp and runs the parent company of Fox News, has reportedly told DeSantis that the group would back him if he ran in the next election. “Lachlan has been keen on Ron for some time,” said the i’s source. “He’s viewed within the organization as a sanitized version of Donald.” (read more)

Once you see the strings on the corporate marionettes, it’s impossible to return to that moment in the political performance when you did not see them.

Wall Street -vs- Main Street.

Giddy up…

And we Know, On the Fringe, and more- Nov 18

 

Hope you're all staying warm through this storm. Here' s tonight's news:

Trump’s Petard

Will Donald Trump’s story be a tragedy, 

a comedy, or a republican tale for the ages?

by Theodore Roosevelt Malloch for American Greatness

I have long been a stalwart supporter, surrogate, and ally of President Trump. I was to be his ambassador to the European Union before that globalist bureaucracy shot down my nomination and made me the only American ever to be designated persona non grata by that body. I take it as one of my greatest achievements, far above any earned degrees or honorary awards.

In 2015, early on, I supported Trump and called him a new T.R. in Forbes. Trump loved it, appreciated my allegiance, and sought out my advice. I believe he still takes it, as I have been called out by him repeatedly on Truth Social.

I still believe Donald Trump is perhaps best viewed as a 21st century Theodore Roosevelt.

The two leaders have much in common—from style and swagger to substance and outlook. The last century would not have bent along the American arc were it not for our unexpected president and this century would not go our way without the likes of a Trump. There would have been no Panama Canal, no national parks, and no trust busting without Roosevelt. There would be no changes in Washington, Beijing, or NATO without the likes of a populist Trump. He is anti-establishment and doesn’t mind a fight.

On a hot summer August day, at the beginning of the 20th century, Theodore Roosevelt gave his famous “New Nationalism” speech in Kansas. He sounded much like the enthusiastic and charismatic candidate Trump sounded in 2016.

The speech centered on the uplift of humanity and our country, “this great republic,” and its ultimate triumph. Such bold rhetoric was not thought audacious then, but rather inspiring. Trump’s claim, that he wanted “to make America great again,” was nothing less.

The Value of Capital and Labor

For Roosevelt, the history of America had become the central feature in world history. “Each of us stand erect,” he said, “and should be proud that we belong, not to a dozen little squabbling contemptible commonwealths, but to the mightiest nation upon which the sun shines.” He decried all factionalism and division. Trump is doing very much the same thing, calling all Americans—regardless of their station in life—to greatness. It is the combination of all our individual talents that makes this country great.

Echoing Abraham Lincoln, Roosevelt talked at length about the value of capital and of labor. His words included “wise kindness and charity”—but not “to weaken our arm or numb our hearts.” Trump has said similar things in the language of our own times. He is a democratic capitalist who wants every American to benefit from the nation’s riches. Like Roosevelt, he extols the strenuous life, a work ethic, and the virtues of freedom and spiritual capital. 

Restoring America’s main objectives in human betterment, measured in equality of opportunity, Roosevelt wanted America to strive again—to find its full glory. Trump realized what we had lost in Obamanation and called it the abomination that it always was. The country wants to find its rightful place again and this is why Trump resonated, not just with Republicans but also with Reagan Democrats and even the trade unions. He resonated with every aspiring soul who wants the freedom to be what America always was—a beacon of hope and a land of opportunity. 

A Strong Policy of American Nationalism 

Based on a fair chance “to make of himself all that in him lies,” Roosevelt’s urge was one drawing out the true capacity of both persons and the nation they called home. It was one that included a clause that every citizen should offer the commonwealth their highest service. Trump knows this from his own successful business career and all his commercial dealings and globetrotting. He also realized that we have to stand up to our adversaries and contain the new evils that abound and threaten our very way of life.

Such a “square deal” freed all persons from “sinister influence or control of special interests.” Calling for corporate responsibility, Roosevelt put forth a strong, effective policy of American nationalism. He said, “No man should receive a dollar unless that dollar has been fairly earned.” He wanted a sound financial system and an efficient army and navy, large enough to ensure our security and guarantee the peace. Trump was saying the same thing. He also acted on it.

Another Kind of Conservation

Roosevelt sought a form of “conservation” in the original meaning of the term—for both natural resources and the country’s moral foundations. Trump desired nothing less than to make America similarly strong again in word and deed. He too is a conservationist. He would confront our enemies and in the “art of the deal” reform trade and investment to favor America. He would no longer outsource our foreign policy to the Russian President Vladimir Putin. Nor would he outsource our manufacturing to China.

This spirit of “broad and far-reaching” nationalism meant for Roosevelt that we “work for our people as a whole.” Defending property as well as human welfare, Roosevelt sought material progress, technological advancement, and a nation of prosperity. All these lead to “the moral and national welfare of all good citizens.” He saw America’s place as leader of the 20th century. He witnessed no class divide. Neither did he parse citizens by gender, race or national origin. For him, there were no hyphenated Americans. The same rhetoric appeared in the words of Trump in his debates and on the campaign trail. He could unite America like no other candidate because, while an outsider politically, he was a truly national candidate who actually believed in America. His legal form of immigration would find support from Roosevelt. So too, would his defense of our borders—the very borders Roosevelt fought for in the first place. 

Good Government is Rooted in Good Citizenship 

When Roosevelt spoke, he stressed “good character”—character that makes a good person: a good spouse, a good worker, and a good neighbor. And he ended his speech with a clarion call (as was his entire two term presidency) for good government rooted in good citizenship. Trump would do precisely the same. He would clean house, get rid of overregulation, and fix both the tax code and the spirit of America. He would carry a big stick and he would make Congress work for the people, not special interests. He would end cronyism, as did Roosevelt first in the New York State assembly, and then in the civil service.

Trump was indeed a newer Roosevelt. For America to survive and flourish we needed his action and determination, his enthusiasm and will to succeed. His presidency before the Wuhan flu hit was running on all cylinders and Trump should have won easy reelection. There would have been no socialism in America. No Biden.

Then and Now

That was then and this is now. Trump, even with all his warts and imperfections, achieved much of what he set out to do. The results, by any measure, were truly outstanding and unprecedented. The nuisance of his tweets and name-calling, some humorous, others nasty and unnecessary, was overridden by the outcomes delivered. He was a doer.

Of course, in his first term of office Trump also made some serious errors.

One was being overly egotistical in his attempts to be heroic. He made everything about himself and gave little or no credit to those around him. The other misstep was bad personnel. The original sin of the Trump Administration was not just that it did not know how to govern, but that it often caved to the D.C. elites they were supposed to throttle back. They did not have the right people for all the positions they needed to fill and chose more than a few inept actors. Trump fell prey to his poor choices, the constant turnover, and the failure to rein in RINO incumbents—particularly the party leaders who were never really on his side.

Fact is, many in Trump’s administration and among his associates were secretly NeverTrumpers or agents of the Left. In the end, and after two impeachment attempts, the incredible Russia hoax, constant detraction, and media malpractice, some turned on him after the 2020 rigged voting debacle and ominous January 6 protest. His own vice president earned the nickname “Judas Pence.”

As the center of all attention and the dominant Republican figure, Trump was too focused on the rear view mirror and he held grudges. He picked some good and some weak candidate choices in the midterms but failed to adequately back them, and more critically, fully fund them. He mocked younger successful emerging upstarts, like Ron DeSantis and Glenn Youngkin and accepted no responsibility for Republican losses in an election they should have won in a huge red wave.

Now an angry Trump finds himself in a quandary. Run again and lose? Step away and be a kingmaker? Pass the baton on to the next runner in our long marathon of American history? We all know, Trump is not a good listener. He doesn’t take advice well. He always thinks he knows best, so this decision will be his alone. His declaration that he will run is quite problematic and he is likely in a Sisyphean battle.

As a solid backer and defender, a general in the MAGA army, as Steve Bannon referred to me, I pray for Trump and our country. We need a winning strategy and political leaders who can bring it, like Roosevelt, to fruition. Yet recall, even T.R. was pushed aside in his comeback as a Bull Moose. As I said when endorsing Trump originally, there are two vices that could impair Trump. They were and remain, humility and hubris. Vain Trump clearly does not favor humility and cannot stoop to find it. He excels at hubris on the other hand, and it is now the self-inflicted petard on which he may fall.

To be “hoist by one’s own petard” is to have your plot against someone backfire on yourself. The term derives from Shakespeare’s Hamlet, where Hamlet turns the tables on his assassination plotters, saying, “For ’tis sport to have the engineer / Hoist by his own petard . . .”

Tragically, Trump has no one to blame for his demise but himself.

He’s been in worse spots and 197 of his endorsed candidates got through, which is a serious reload of his political capital, whatever the Murdoch/Bezos papers are saying. 

The next election is of course years away and the primary remains extant. A week is an aeon in politics and although many of us are flapping in the wind, I see this as just another slump on the way to a conservative victory. The Democrats probably stole Nevada, Pennsylvania, and Arizona again, in all three cases with awful candidates. The silver lining is McConnell remains outside of real power, which, in relative terms, is a real gain for Trump. In my view, he has not done nearly enough to remove McConnell for good.

In any case, his election is the presidential, and no other candidate can claim to have won that one before. The sound and fury around Ron DeSantis forgets the other 35 Republican governors, some backed by populations and interest groups far more powerful than anyone to whom DeSantis has access. Think of the fundraising muscle behind the Texas oilmen backing Greg Abbott, or the establishment honchos behind Youngkin, the fracking barons behind Kristi Noem, or the still considerable MAGA posse behind Kari Lake. We are teeming with Republican governors, and there’s no good reason to think any of them will just clear the field for anyone else, even Trump. 

Trump will be Trump. The question is will he impale himself and go down as a winner or a loser? Is his story a tragedy, a comedy, or a republican tale for the ages?

I Cannot Vote for Kevin McCarthy as House Speaker ~ Rep Andy Biggs

It is time to make a change.

by Andy Biggs at American Greatness

During this midterm campaign, I attended hundreds of events in my district, around Arizona, and around the country. The issue I was asked about most often was whether I or the Republicans in the House, or the Republicans in the Senate, would keep the same leaders.

Not only did my constituents want the “red wave” that didn’t materialize, they also wanted new leadership.

They told me that they want a leader who will take on the Biden Administration. A leader who will not acquiesce in the abrogation of our rights. They want someone who will use every tool, every procedure, and all of the processes available to fight against the radical Left they know has taken over our government.

We’re living in a new world. The Left controls every institution. Woke schools. Woke military. Woke corporate board rooms. Woke religious institutions. Over-the-top woke post-secondary education institutions. Bureaucrats in every agency or department at the federal level have gone as far left as they can.

Rightly or wrongly, conservatives and Republicans have been blamed almost as much as the Democrats for this left turn.

Democrats seem not only to have tolerated the radicals in their midst, but they have also embraced them and put them on pedestals. They can be justly rebuked for that.

But, for conservatives, the Republicans are culpable for failing to put the brakes on the Left. Many of my constituents justifiably turned their ire on Republicans. They want us to fight. They want us to use every tool in the toolbox to prevent the further devolution of our constitutional rights.

That is what I have tried to do every day since I was first elected to Congress.

It is imperative to use every tool to further freedom’s cause, and every implement to prevent the progress of the malevolent policies of the radical leftists that control the Democrats.

I urged current Republican House leaders to use “must-pass” legislation as leverage to change bad policies. For instance, the National Defense Authorization Act is a bill that gives Republicans tremendous leverage because most Democrats don’t want to support our troops, so the bill needs Republicans’ support to pass.

We could have leveraged it to exclude many provisions that advanced wokeism, such as the establishment of a Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Office. How about cleaning up the bill by eliminating a provision that provided banking provisions for marijuana dispensaries, which has nothing to do with funding our military? And, most importantly, we could have demanded that military personnel dismissed from service solely for refusing the COVID vaccine be reinstated. We didn’t do any of that. That was a missed opportunity.

There will be more opportunities in the next term of Congress.

We need a leader who will open up the process to members of Congress by moving congressional authority away from the leadership and toward the members.

We need a leader who will be an open and honest broker, facilitating the kind of comity that inspires all members of Congress to come together. Why not eliminate massive, multi-subject bills? We should be handling more streamlined, single-subject bills. And, we should make sure every member has at least 72 hours to read every bill before it comes to the floor. Robust debate should be encouraged, as well as the opportunity for members to offer amendments on legislation.

The Republicans in Congress have decided it’s better to cling to the status quo than to make change. I was told in 2020 that we were in the minority and shouldn’t make changes to our leadership. This year, I was told we would have a “red wave” gaining 25 seats or more, so we wouldn’t want to change our leader, that our leaders earned the right to lead again.

Now I am told that we will barely have a three-seat majority, so we must not change leaders in order to protect unity.

I disagree. I believe it is time to make a change. Those thoughts are most immutable. Our current candidate for speaker doesn’t have the 218 votes necessary to become speaker on January 3, 2023. 

I do not believe he will ever get to 218 votes, and I refuse to assist him in his effort to get those votes.

In the end, I must concur with my constituents: it is time to make a change at the top of the House of Representatives. I cannot vote for the gentleman from California, Mr. McCarthy.

Here’s Everything Republicans Should Do Now That They Control The House

House Republicans must follow through on the promises they made to voters and punish Democrats for creating endless crises.

by Jordan Boyd for The Federalist

It’s official. Republicans have won back control of the House of Representatives and finally have a shot at curbing the unconstitutional actions of the Biden regime.

GOP Leader Kevin McCarthy already released an agenda he thinks Republicans should execute come 2023, but his legislative desires for a red House are too innocuous and unlikely to survive a Democrat Senate and presidency anyway.

Because of limitations to legislative ability, Republicans must use their power correctly and wisely. They must follow through on the promises they made to voters and also punish the Biden bureaucracy and its Democrat allies for creating endless crises.

Here’s everything the GOP should do now that it controls the House.

Impeach Merrick Garland

Republicans’ top priority going into the 2023 legislative year should be impeaching Attorney General Merrick Garland.

“Everything Garland has done as attorney general has been mendaciously political, from smearing parents who speak out at school board meetings as ‘domestic terrorists’ to targeting peaceful anti-abortion activists while doing nothing about actual pro-abortion vigilantes attacking churches and crisis pregnancy centers,” The Federalist’s John Daniel Davidson wrote in October. “He has to be stopped, and a determined GOP-led Congress is the only thing that can stop him.”

McCarthy recently told The Federalist that the GOP would not “start with” impeachment, but after Garland’s double standard of justice once again manifested itself in the prosecution of peaceful pro-life protesters — not to mention that Garland “personally approved” the FBI raid on the home of the former president whose election denied him a seat on the Supreme Court — McCarthy would be prudent to rethink his resolution.

Defund the FBI

Garland may be guilty of politicizing and weaponizing power against the Americans he swore to protect, but it was the FBI that zealously carried out his dirty work.

For years, the FBI has swerved any accountability for its laundry list of corruption. Seeing as how that corruption has, especially in the last six years, disproportionately affected opponents of a Democrat regime, it is in Republicans’ best interest to dismantle the agency.

Any of the FBI’s necessary duties, such as child sexual abuse cases, which were sidelined for partisan missions, should be redistributed to more responsible arms of government.

Disband the Sham J6 Committee

The Jan. 6 Committee is a political show trial created to demonize Donald Trump, his supporters, and Republicans who care about election integrity while also boosting Democrats ahead of the midterms.

Now that the GOP controls the House, it’s time to disband the committee, which always defied House standards, and devote the time spent on theatrical displays of partisanship to more important things.

That includes examining the Capitol security failures that allowed unauthorized people into the building in the first place.

Probe the Biden Family Business

For years now, Republicans Chuck Grassley and Ron Johnson have led investigations into Hunter Biden’s sketchy overseas business dealings. Because of their work, Grassley and Johnson were smeared by Democrats and the corporate media for uncovering the Biden family’s profiteering from overseas oligarchs, including those linked to the Chinese Communist Party and the wife of the Moscow mayor.

Now it’s time for their GOP allies in the House to use the evidence collected on Hunter to further probe the Biden family business and explain why then-Vice President Joe Biden shared official business with Hunter via non-government email, something the same FBI and DOJ that raided Trump’s home over “classified documents” seem to have no interest in exploring.

Subpoena Covid Tyrants over Their Lies

Officials like Anthony Fauci, Deborah Birx, former CDC Director Robert Redfield, and others lied about the origins, research, effects, and mitigation of Covid-19. It’s time for them not only to fess up to their scamming under oath, but to pay for wreaking havoc on Americans’ health, education, trust, and pocketbooks.

Impeach Mayorkas, Other Border Crisis Enablers

Some representatives such as House Minority Whip Steve Scalise have already promised to drill Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas over his border failures. That’s not enough.

Under Biden’s direction, Mayorkas has relaxed border security and opened the door for millions of illegal border crossers including criminals to easily enter the country. This has resulted in a humanitarian and national security crisis that is not easily remedied.

That, in addition to Mayorkas’s willingness to peddle lies about his own border agents, is enough to remove him from his position of power permanently.

Get to the Bottom of the Afghanistan Debacle

Republican legislators were shamed, ridiculed, and smeared as racist for questioning whether the U.S. government was properly vetting the influx of tens of thousands of Afghan refugees into the United States. But according to a report by the DHS inspector general, GOP suspicions that our government’s lax vetting process may have let in national security threats were correct.

Now that Republicans control the House, it’s time for them to expose what happened following the disastrous Afghanistan withdrawal and fire the bureaucrats who failed to protect our national security interests.

Drastically Limit Federal Spending

Americans drowning under record gas prices and astronomical grocery bills despise inflation and the bloated economy. Even corporate media’s twisted midterm exit polls show inflation ranked the highest on a list of voters’ concerns.

There’s no doubt that Democrats’ reckless spending over the last two years made U.S. inflation worse. It’s up to Republicans to drastically cut back unnecessary partisan spending (did someone say $66 billion for a proxy war in Ukraine?) and save taxpayers’ wallets from future harm.

That means saying no to pork and giving proper oversight to the Covid relief money that should be used for decades to come.

Block What They Can

Because Republicans will be limited in what they can and can’t pass, they should leverage their stopping power to ensure Democrats don’t get what they want. That means refusing to work with the other side of the aisle on anything until demands to secure the border, reduce inflation, punish crime, protect life in the womb, and keep women’s spaces for women are met.

Impeach Biden

There are myriad reasons to impeach the president, and the GOP should use those to their advantage.

Impeachment would likely be vehemently (and hypocritically) opposed by Democrats, but it would send a message that Republicans in this country won’t take government-led attacks on our Constitution or law-abiding Americans sitting down.