Of course it's a witch-hunt. The question is why? And why now? And why these targets?
The ever widening net of mostly rich and mostly powerful men caught with their pants down, metaphorically and literally, has shaken some of the complacency of the High and the Mighty that they can do anything they want to anyone they want and get away with it. Something in the air says no, no they can't. Not any more.
Or does it? There's a certain oddness about this particular witch hunt for predatory men of substance and power. For example, despite numerous ongoing accusations against him from dozens of women, going back years, Trump is somehow held harmless as a new-born babe in the current firestorm, whereas Bill Clinton's indiscretions, each of which was aired and paraded back in the day, are once again a Thing, the question being "Should he have been forced to resign?"
Well, maybe. But he isn't in office now, a different sexual predator is in office now, and literally nothing is said about him. Why is that?
What is really going on here?
I'm reminded of the Satanic Sex Cult panic that swept the nation during the Clinton years. Thousands of people were accused, hundreds went to prison, some of them still there, though so far as can be determined looking back on it, there was no Satanic Sex Cult and most if not all of the accused were innocent of the charges against them. It was a witch hunt, yes, but more than that, it was a gross manipulation of law and a misuse of child-witnesses to "prove" things that never happened. This was not just tolerated but sanctioned at the very highest levels of the US government for years, and even now, many prosecutors and judges involved absolutely deny they were caught up in and fostering as fraudulent a mania as has ever arisen in the country.
In this case, however, it's not quite the same because the men accused are for the most part rich and powerful; except for Weinstein, I don't think there is a criminal case being made against any of them, and the Weinstein case is perhaps an outlier due to factors we don't know -- yet; many of the accusations are decades old; and from an objective standpoint, little that is being revealed is all that unusual.
Yet many careers have been halted in their tracks, the long time careers of very prominent men in movies and show business, the arts, publishing, television news and print journalism, politics and on and on and on.
But in the course of this "housecleaning" as some people have called it, certain people (like Trump -- but no doubt there are many others) are allowed to get away with it, no matter what.
Something similar was taking place in the Church for many years. Certain priests and higher ranking clergy were clearly being targeted whereas others -- who may have been just as or more guilty of pederasty or rape or who knows what other kinds of sexual indiscretion or oddity -- were left quite alone throughout all the hew and cry.
Why?
So here we are now, with certain prominent men (and a few not so prominent) being burned at the figurative stake while others continue on in positions of power and influence as if nothing was happening, nothing had changed.
Hm.
Curious.
There must be an explanation, but I don't know what it is.
Showing posts with label Secrets and Lies. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Secrets and Lies. Show all posts
Saturday, November 25, 2017
Saturday, September 17, 2016
Reversals of Fortune
Though I've pretty much boycotted this year's Grand Guignol Political Spectacle, some of the reversals that have taken place and the incidents leading up to them have been kind of interesting.
For example, the Hillary Hysteria over her (apparent) pneumonia seems to have marked a turning point in the presidential campaign. She's back, yes, but seemingly subdued, perhaps even chastened (what? Hillary chastened? Nah!) at being caught out sick as a dog, unable to function at least for a time, and hauled around like a sack of potatoes by her "detail."
Jeeze, bad optics, right? [Note: there aren't actually 3 different angles. It's the same video, three different ways. There's only that one video -- so far -- of her apparent collapse.]
Terrible, really. But only in the sense that the Spectacle was momentarily interfered with. That was not supposed to be seen. At least not yet. Or was it?
Suddenly, there was this "body double" eruption, as if on cue, but no one ever questioned whether the "Hillary" who was unable to walk to her waiting armored car (is that really what she travels in? Whoo.) was the "double." Did it not occur to them, at all, that the incident was staged? Is it that their imaginations fail, or is there a narrative at work, one that requires a "double" for PR purposes only? Ie: when she emerged from Chelsea's $10.5 million pad all cheery and chipper with her hair combed and her face smoothed. That was the double, so goes the widespread rumor. "Proof" of which is all over the InterTubes.
Got to love the InterTubes, no?
I came to think that perhaps the "double" was the "Hillary" waiting for and then tossed into the van because we never saw her face, only the back of her head and her dragging feet. I know enough about movie making to know that they do this kind of thing all the time. It's routine to have a double in distant shots or back of the head shots so that the principal can take care of other scenes or take some time off.
The Internet bought it without a pause. Easily manipulated, aren't they? And then there's the whole lack of critical thinking thing...
The "double" accusation may well be due to something real -- it's been a fairly common practice at high levels of politics for many a long year -- but maybe the "double" doesn't appear where and when most people think.
So there was that.
The diagnosis of pneumonia can't be assessed by us groundlings, though it is certainly plausible. All those saying Nay seem to have no clue about the effects of pneumonia or they're being deliberately obfuscatory, either of which wouldn't surprise me a bit, for lies and cultivated ignorance are both a big part of the Spectacle. Cultivated ignorance and lies asserted with supreme arrogance and authority, let it be said.
Wait. That's the definition of the Trump campaign, no?
Well, think. Is it? Or rather, is it so in contradistinction to the Hillary campaign?
Ah. They both do it, in other words, perhaps Trump more assertively than Herself, but she's no slouch in the cultivation of ignorance and the propounding of lies department. They do it differently -- Trump all bluster and bullying, She-Demon (so Hillary has long been characterized by the Internet) does it through legalistic mumbo-jumbo and parsing.
Oh, the Parsing! Ah, the Clintons are back, aren't they?
Hillary talks like a lawyer and parses like a lawyer, lies like a lawyer and relies on the rubes' ignorance of the facts like a lawyer. It's pretty obvious to any of us who are familiar with the customs and culture of the Legal Profession. She's just carrying out her duties to her clients...
He, on the other hand, Trump "has no filter," and just says whatever pops into his coiffed and bleached blond head, much of it (most of it?) utterly false. Amusing, but false. No parsing and legalist mumbo-jumbo from Trump, heck no. Just in your face lies and falsehoods.
Wow.
When I see this, I think of him as a representative of his tribe, the ultra rich who actually work for a living rather than living off of inheritance and dividends. Trump isn't Leisure Class, but he is Upper Class, rough-edged nobility in a way. Trump's offspring would be Leisure Class if he'd let them, but it seems he forces them to work for him, just like all his other dependent employees.
These people are, as a rule (in my personal experience) mean, expolitative, deceptive, cruel, destructive, unrepentant, bullying, thieves, liars and con-(wo)men. It's a whole subculture at the top of the pyramid, one that is largely responsible for the economic and political mess we've been in for so long now. They are surprisingly successful agents of Chaos, and they are as American as apple pie.
You can trace the ilk back to the beginning of European -- ie: British -- settlement on this continent.
And you can trace it back in Britain for many a long year before their American Imperial Adventure. There are many similar examples throughout Europe's former aristocracy, and present in its current ever more vicious/Fascistic power-structure.
Hillary and her tribe work for and curries the favor of people like that.
Get the picture?
So we come to the sudden and almost unbelievable reversal of her fortunes subsequent to the 9/11 Incident. Suddenly and inexplicably, the polling reversed, and her trendline started falling, collapsing really, and Trump was declared to be "surging," as only he can.
A repeat of the primaries, no? Where he was thought to have no chance, and one by one, he slew the competition until he was the last man standing and would face off against the Hildabeast, only to slay her too, or so it would seem.
In fact, at the moment Trump is President-presumptive, no need of an "election," just declare him the Victor Over Hitlary and have done with it.
She seems to have retreated into her shell and all but conceded.
Of course there can be and probably will be a couple of more reversals before this thing plays out -- the media need them for the horserace narrative and all -- but if Trump is ultimately to be crowned King-Emperor, this has already been gamed out by the PTB, and his coronation is intended to advance a particular faction's agenda, which they have decided Hillary cannot do, or perhaps has refused to do.
The role of the President, after all, at least in modern times, is to keep the Rabble in line while the real power behind the throne advance their own pecuniary and power interests. Obama was installed obviously because of his ability to hold the Rabble in thrall, even when they fussed and fretted, while the looting and exploitation of same went into hyperdrive. Neither of his presidential opponents had even a tenth of his persuasive ability.
Same thing seems to be going on with this Trump-Hillary contest. He seems to be able to keep enough of the Rabble in thrall (if only by setting loose their worst instincts) while she faces nothing but brick-bats and contempt even if her abilities and policies are, in her masters' view, both better and more useful to their ultimate designs.
If she can't control the Rabble, she can't be president.
Not in this country, not during this era.
If Trump can keep only half the Rabble enthralled, that may be sufficient, since the other half has repeatedly demonstrated that they won't -- can't -- do anything to interfere with the interests of the PTB. Trump will rally his half to cheer on the exploitation and looting by the High and the Mighty. Hillary can't-won't do that. But she won't interfere with it, either.
She may have a couple more chances to pull this thing out of the fire, but I suspect They have made their decision, and She won't do for the next phase of the neoLibCon adventure in Global Domination. Whereas Trump maybe a loose cannon, at least he's one of the tribe. He can be controlled or eliminated as needed, but he's probably been told what his role will have to be, and he's agreed to it for it will not only make him richer than his wildest dreams, but will give him at least the illusion of infinite power as well. Who could object to that?
On the other hand...
Well, we just don't know, do we?
For example, the Hillary Hysteria over her (apparent) pneumonia seems to have marked a turning point in the presidential campaign. She's back, yes, but seemingly subdued, perhaps even chastened (what? Hillary chastened? Nah!) at being caught out sick as a dog, unable to function at least for a time, and hauled around like a sack of potatoes by her "detail."
Jeeze, bad optics, right? [Note: there aren't actually 3 different angles. It's the same video, three different ways. There's only that one video -- so far -- of her apparent collapse.]
Terrible, really. But only in the sense that the Spectacle was momentarily interfered with. That was not supposed to be seen. At least not yet. Or was it?
Suddenly, there was this "body double" eruption, as if on cue, but no one ever questioned whether the "Hillary" who was unable to walk to her waiting armored car (is that really what she travels in? Whoo.) was the "double." Did it not occur to them, at all, that the incident was staged? Is it that their imaginations fail, or is there a narrative at work, one that requires a "double" for PR purposes only? Ie: when she emerged from Chelsea's $10.5 million pad all cheery and chipper with her hair combed and her face smoothed. That was the double, so goes the widespread rumor. "Proof" of which is all over the InterTubes.
Got to love the InterTubes, no?
I came to think that perhaps the "double" was the "Hillary" waiting for and then tossed into the van because we never saw her face, only the back of her head and her dragging feet. I know enough about movie making to know that they do this kind of thing all the time. It's routine to have a double in distant shots or back of the head shots so that the principal can take care of other scenes or take some time off.
The Internet bought it without a pause. Easily manipulated, aren't they? And then there's the whole lack of critical thinking thing...
The "double" accusation may well be due to something real -- it's been a fairly common practice at high levels of politics for many a long year -- but maybe the "double" doesn't appear where and when most people think.
So there was that.
The diagnosis of pneumonia can't be assessed by us groundlings, though it is certainly plausible. All those saying Nay seem to have no clue about the effects of pneumonia or they're being deliberately obfuscatory, either of which wouldn't surprise me a bit, for lies and cultivated ignorance are both a big part of the Spectacle. Cultivated ignorance and lies asserted with supreme arrogance and authority, let it be said.
Wait. That's the definition of the Trump campaign, no?
Well, think. Is it? Or rather, is it so in contradistinction to the Hillary campaign?
Ah. They both do it, in other words, perhaps Trump more assertively than Herself, but she's no slouch in the cultivation of ignorance and the propounding of lies department. They do it differently -- Trump all bluster and bullying, She-Demon (so Hillary has long been characterized by the Internet) does it through legalistic mumbo-jumbo and parsing.
Oh, the Parsing! Ah, the Clintons are back, aren't they?
Hillary talks like a lawyer and parses like a lawyer, lies like a lawyer and relies on the rubes' ignorance of the facts like a lawyer. It's pretty obvious to any of us who are familiar with the customs and culture of the Legal Profession. She's just carrying out her duties to her clients...
He, on the other hand, Trump "has no filter," and just says whatever pops into his coiffed and bleached blond head, much of it (most of it?) utterly false. Amusing, but false. No parsing and legalist mumbo-jumbo from Trump, heck no. Just in your face lies and falsehoods.
Wow.
When I see this, I think of him as a representative of his tribe, the ultra rich who actually work for a living rather than living off of inheritance and dividends. Trump isn't Leisure Class, but he is Upper Class, rough-edged nobility in a way. Trump's offspring would be Leisure Class if he'd let them, but it seems he forces them to work for him, just like all his other dependent employees.
These people are, as a rule (in my personal experience) mean, expolitative, deceptive, cruel, destructive, unrepentant, bullying, thieves, liars and con-(wo)men. It's a whole subculture at the top of the pyramid, one that is largely responsible for the economic and political mess we've been in for so long now. They are surprisingly successful agents of Chaos, and they are as American as apple pie.
You can trace the ilk back to the beginning of European -- ie: British -- settlement on this continent.
And you can trace it back in Britain for many a long year before their American Imperial Adventure. There are many similar examples throughout Europe's former aristocracy, and present in its current ever more vicious/Fascistic power-structure.
Hillary and her tribe work for and curries the favor of people like that.
Get the picture?
So we come to the sudden and almost unbelievable reversal of her fortunes subsequent to the 9/11 Incident. Suddenly and inexplicably, the polling reversed, and her trendline started falling, collapsing really, and Trump was declared to be "surging," as only he can.
A repeat of the primaries, no? Where he was thought to have no chance, and one by one, he slew the competition until he was the last man standing and would face off against the Hildabeast, only to slay her too, or so it would seem.
In fact, at the moment Trump is President-presumptive, no need of an "election," just declare him the Victor Over Hitlary and have done with it.
She seems to have retreated into her shell and all but conceded.
Of course there can be and probably will be a couple of more reversals before this thing plays out -- the media need them for the horserace narrative and all -- but if Trump is ultimately to be crowned King-Emperor, this has already been gamed out by the PTB, and his coronation is intended to advance a particular faction's agenda, which they have decided Hillary cannot do, or perhaps has refused to do.
The role of the President, after all, at least in modern times, is to keep the Rabble in line while the real power behind the throne advance their own pecuniary and power interests. Obama was installed obviously because of his ability to hold the Rabble in thrall, even when they fussed and fretted, while the looting and exploitation of same went into hyperdrive. Neither of his presidential opponents had even a tenth of his persuasive ability.
Same thing seems to be going on with this Trump-Hillary contest. He seems to be able to keep enough of the Rabble in thrall (if only by setting loose their worst instincts) while she faces nothing but brick-bats and contempt even if her abilities and policies are, in her masters' view, both better and more useful to their ultimate designs.
If she can't control the Rabble, she can't be president.
Not in this country, not during this era.
If Trump can keep only half the Rabble enthralled, that may be sufficient, since the other half has repeatedly demonstrated that they won't -- can't -- do anything to interfere with the interests of the PTB. Trump will rally his half to cheer on the exploitation and looting by the High and the Mighty. Hillary can't-won't do that. But she won't interfere with it, either.
She may have a couple more chances to pull this thing out of the fire, but I suspect They have made their decision, and She won't do for the next phase of the neoLibCon adventure in Global Domination. Whereas Trump maybe a loose cannon, at least he's one of the tribe. He can be controlled or eliminated as needed, but he's probably been told what his role will have to be, and he's agreed to it for it will not only make him richer than his wildest dreams, but will give him at least the illusion of infinite power as well. Who could object to that?
On the other hand...
Well, we just don't know, do we?
Thursday, June 26, 2014
So Someone Is Not Telling the Truth...
There's been a lot of news lately about the numerous deadly encounters between the Albuquerque police and residents, and there's been some news about police infiltrating protests to end police violence in Albuquerque.
One of the recent killings by APD was that of Alfred Redwine. He was shot the very day of one of the mass protests to end police violence in Albuquerque, and his autopsy results were released the other day. They showed Redwine had been drinking, his blood alcohol was .27 or more, according to toxicology reports. But other than that, he wasn't on psychoactive substances. He'd been reported to police by a neighbor as having a gun and waving it around in a public housing project apartment. The apartment was that of Redwine's mother. There is some dispute over whether Redwine ever fired the gun -- some witnesses say he did, others say no.
According to Redwine's sister -- who was negotiating with her brother via cell phone -- Redwine was terrified to come out of the apartment once the police got there because he was afraid they were going to kill him. Which they did.
He would not be allowed to surrender, any more than James Boyd was allowed to surrender nine days before. The very act of attempting to surrender seems to be considered a terrorist threat by APD, and at least until recently, it has been taken as a reason for summary execution.
Witnesses claim that Redwine was not armed when he was shot and killed by an APD sniper, he was holding a cell phone and was attempting to talk to his sister who was urging him to come out of the apartment and surrender. The police claimed he was holding a gun and had fired at them when he was shot, but witnesses say that's a lie. There is no police video of the moment of the shooting from the point of view of the shooter, though there is video of the shots being fired, of Redwine on the ground after he was shot, and of the confrontation between Redwine's sister and police, but witness video is inconclusive regarding whether Redwine was armed or fired a weapon before he was shot. Redwine's sister says that the police found a gun in the apartment after they shot him, and that is the weapon they claim he fired at them just before they shot him. She and many other witnesses say he was holding nothing but a cell phone at the time he was shot.
Who is telling the truth?
The demonstration on Saturday was surveilled by undercover police officers, one of whom, according to KRQE reports, a crime intelligence unit sergeant, shot and wounded a suspect in 2012. In this interview with Rob Perry, Albuquerque CAO and "the man who oversees APD" Perry asserts many things, insults and disparages the interviewers, and claims that the only thing he knows the undercover officers filmed was an incident in which a protester was removed from the march -- or rally -- by march security, not the police.
Is he telling the truth?
Rob Perry is not known for his honesty, though he can be... forthright. Bullying. Disingenuous. Obstreperous. Rude. Condescending.
Dishonesty?
You decide.
One of the recent killings by APD was that of Alfred Redwine. He was shot the very day of one of the mass protests to end police violence in Albuquerque, and his autopsy results were released the other day. They showed Redwine had been drinking, his blood alcohol was .27 or more, according to toxicology reports. But other than that, he wasn't on psychoactive substances. He'd been reported to police by a neighbor as having a gun and waving it around in a public housing project apartment. The apartment was that of Redwine's mother. There is some dispute over whether Redwine ever fired the gun -- some witnesses say he did, others say no.
According to Redwine's sister -- who was negotiating with her brother via cell phone -- Redwine was terrified to come out of the apartment once the police got there because he was afraid they were going to kill him. Which they did.
He would not be allowed to surrender, any more than James Boyd was allowed to surrender nine days before. The very act of attempting to surrender seems to be considered a terrorist threat by APD, and at least until recently, it has been taken as a reason for summary execution.
Witnesses claim that Redwine was not armed when he was shot and killed by an APD sniper, he was holding a cell phone and was attempting to talk to his sister who was urging him to come out of the apartment and surrender. The police claimed he was holding a gun and had fired at them when he was shot, but witnesses say that's a lie. There is no police video of the moment of the shooting from the point of view of the shooter, though there is video of the shots being fired, of Redwine on the ground after he was shot, and of the confrontation between Redwine's sister and police, but witness video is inconclusive regarding whether Redwine was armed or fired a weapon before he was shot. Redwine's sister says that the police found a gun in the apartment after they shot him, and that is the weapon they claim he fired at them just before they shot him. She and many other witnesses say he was holding nothing but a cell phone at the time he was shot.
Who is telling the truth?
The demonstration on Saturday was surveilled by undercover police officers, one of whom, according to KRQE reports, a crime intelligence unit sergeant, shot and wounded a suspect in 2012. In this interview with Rob Perry, Albuquerque CAO and "the man who oversees APD" Perry asserts many things, insults and disparages the interviewers, and claims that the only thing he knows the undercover officers filmed was an incident in which a protester was removed from the march -- or rally -- by march security, not the police.
Is he telling the truth?
Rob Perry is not known for his honesty, though he can be... forthright. Bullying. Disingenuous. Obstreperous. Rude. Condescending.
Dishonesty?
You decide.
Sunday, June 22, 2014
Secret Agent Man
[Note: Johnny Rivers' "Secret Agent Man" was the opening music for the American broadcast of "Secret Agent", a popular British television program in the mid-1960s; this post is a parody of an episode of "Dragnet", a very popular American police drama which aired on both radio and television from the late 1940s into the mid '50s, and on television alone from about 1957 until 1959. It was revived for television several times after that, most recently in 2003. All photos used in this post, unless otherwise noted, are from David Correia's Twitter stream.]
It was hot in the City, Albuquerque, New Mexico, a place the travel brochures ought to say is "so close to Texas yet so far from God." A company of useless eaters was gathered in Roosevelt Park south of Central Avenue -- aka, the World Famous Route 66 -- to vent their spleens about an "end police brutality." I was working the day shift out of police intelligence. The name is Peck, Jason Peck. I carry a badge.
Useless eaters have meant trouble in the city of Albuquerque, New Mexico, for as long as my partners and I have been cops. We look at ourselves as Human Waste Disposers. When a man needs killing, we take care of it. And when the undeserving go against the established order, it is up to us to learn their plans and to thwart their schemes.
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