Isn't it interesting?

that since the day Trump was inaugurated there have been continuous and unending propaganda and political warfare themes and memes launched against him in the interest of either outright overthrow or of dirtying him up so much that he cannot be re-elected.  As soon as one effort goes down, another immediately surfaces.

Think about that pilgrims.  Think about it.

As a former practitioner on behalf of the US government of similar dark arts in covert warfare I recognize this pattern of behavior.

What has been ongoing is a well funded IO operation that IMO draws on funds provided by the people and factions that you all can name.

IMO there is an operations center or "war room" somewhere that researches political vulnerabilities and serves them up seriatim to "the resistance."   pl

Comments

[scott s.]

I know there is a human tendency to find patterns where none exist, but it is interesting how things like the Kavanaugh accusations, the Ukraine call whistle blower, and now the Bolton book all seem to come out timed for max impact.

[turcopolier]

Scott S
I have been well known for a long time for NOT seeing patterns where they do not exist. At the same time, a gestalt view of evidence is necessary to know the truth.

[ambrit]

Sir;
This fits the definition of sedition, does it not?

[Keith Harbaugh]

sundance attributes much of the legal/propaganda effort to the organization Lawfare,
which would seem to be motivated by ideology.
Wikipedia defines the word "lawfare" as

Lawfare is a form of war consisting of the use of the legal system against an enemy, such as by damaging or delegitimizing them, tying up their time or winning a public relations victory.

which sounds very much like what you described.
Just who is funding the organized group Lawfare?

On the issue of finances, I asked earlier if anyone knows how much General "Jolting Jack" Keane is paid to be Chairman of the Board for the "Institute for the Study of War".
I got no answer. Anyone reading this know?

Please also note sundance's 2020-01-02 post
2020 Resistance – Dem Operatives Open New Leak Clearing House…,
in particular:

Understanding this ongoing process is the key to understanding a new “Leak Clearing House” created with this intent in mind.
The clearing house is JustSecurity.Org.

The “Just Security” group is similar to the “Lawfare” group.
Their purpose is to receive and then distribute leaked material.
They will be leaking material from Mueller, via the House teams, as well as material from current insider operations from the resistance.

The Just Security group will leak material which will then be picked up by specific Democrat politicians and used as evidence to attack and undermine President Trump.

[Eric Newhill]

Whoever is in that war room ain't too bright and, yes, they're very obvious. All they have done, for all of the effort, is increase the resolve of Trump's base and increase Trump's campaign finances - and make the Democrats look like the corrupt loser fools that they are. They want witnesses because of Bolton? Great, bring out the Bidens et al. and put them under oath. These anti-Trump strategists are indeed like Wile E Coyote.

If I was in Trump's war room, as a counter measure to the opposition, I'd deploy armies of noisy social media bots and trolls to tell the opposition that they're doing great and more of the same will be even better. It's not like they're going to get contrary info from, you know, real [stinky] Americans in diners, churches and Walmarts. Keep them in a self licking ice cream cone, delusional razzle berry flavored, until election day. That seems to me to be what has happened either by accident or design (or a little of both).

[Sbin]

Long history of such behaviour overseas.
Some chickens coming home to roost.
Seems like some people need to be held accountable before such nonse3 will stop.
Had hoped Barr would start that important work.

[Richard]

Very interesting. I recall that possibility being raised earlier on this blog. And I thought about it immediately upon seeing the Bolton book headlines. The Bolton stories were clearly timed to embarrass Trump and his lawyers after they made their opening defense.

So many of these 'bombshells' seem timed and staged for maximum impact. If there is indeed centralized planning behind the scenes, it wouldn't surprise me. After all, this is outright political warfare against an elected president, who, as far as I can tell, hasn't broken any law.

The alignment of most of the Dems and the Neocons is remarkable -- and terrifying.

[Diana Croissant]

I see what you see also. I don't find it interesting. I find it sad and juvenile.

I hold to the belief that our founders were adults, not jealous people who have not matured mentally or emotionally since their "glory days" as teenagers.

Or....I can re-read Marshall McLuhan and re-educate myself about the "re-tribalization" of our national culture.

[akaPatience]

I seem to recall it being said that the Obamas were establishing their post-presidency DC residence as a kind of war room headquarters. More recently it's been reported it was the Obama administration that exponentially increased the staffing of the NSC from a only a few to several hundred. As a sellout to the warmongers, it would seem Obama is more than trustworthy enough to aid resistance efforts.

Then there are the Clintons, Bill wearing his purple tie and Hillary sporting tacked-on purple lapels (establishing purple as symbol of the resistance efforts they were launching) when she finally made her concession speech in November, 2016. They've courted the MSM for decades, an MSM that couldn't conceal its devastation when she suffered her colossal defeat. Obviously journalistic ethics be damned in order to help the resistance.

Surely IC efforts to remove Trump require at least some political backing to have a chance at success, which the Obamas and Clintons and their MSM and bureaucratic loyalists are able to amply provide. It's really shocking for an average person like me to see such efforts carried out so blatantly, with impunity.

[Artemesia]

I've long suspected the nerve center is at the home of a Nobel prize winning game theorist http://www.ratio.huji.ac.il
Trump harassment and/or impeachment is not the main show, it is the leash, and the distraction for the masses.

[Aurelius]

I am as skeptical as they come when it comes to conspiracy theories but on this I think you are correct. I am no great fan of Trump but that may change if this continues.

[Haralambos]

Col,
Is it possible to see all comments updated on the site? If so, how may I do it? Thank you.

[walrus]

If you perhaps drew a Venn diagram, it would show as an overlap between think tanks, the IC and FBI, the Universities, the foundations and Washington legal firms.

There exists software (American and at least thirty years old) that can pinpoint the kingpins in the conspiracy, it’s communication channels and physical location very quickly. You feed it meta data - phone records, registration plates, addresses, email addresses, memberships, career details, alumni records, whatever you have, and it automatically finds the linkages, kingpins, channels and locations very quickly.

I’ve only seen graphics of it once on a TV report, it was “borrowed “ from the IC to resolve a huge Australian tax fraud scheme in the 1990’s called “the bottom of the harbor scheme” that involved the use of highly convoluted company networks to hide taxable revenue. The Australian ABC documentary included investigators boasting about the software and some images of the tracing diagrams.

The NSA knows the answer to your question.

A story about the use of metadata is at this link:

https://www.theverge.com/2014/1/17/5319534/paul-revere

https://www.theverge.com/2014/1/17/5319534/paul-revere

[steve]

Every president faces attacks. Nothing new here. People forget they impeached Clinton. Non-stop investigations of Obama and his admin. 8 alone on Benghazi. Lots of false claims about GWB. Constant personal attacks on GHWB.

[turcopolier]

steve

BS! There is a calculated and coordinated ferocity about this not seen for a very long time.

[John Merryman]

What really would be their end goal?
The Democrat's had the opportunity to take the high road against Trump, try legislating around him and act like the institution is bigger than any one man. Yet they chose to take the low road and spend the last three years slinging more mud than even Trump is able.
If there is a plan, it would seem to be all tactics and no strategy. Is it the best defense is a good offense? That they simply need to deflect attention from their own scams? Are they just spoilt five year olds and having a fit about not getting the toys to play with? Are they really just that focused on the need for boogeymen to validate all the money spent on the military and Trump isn't doing his job, ie, going against "consensus?"
I can certainly see there might appear to be some coordination, but it certainly doesn't show much intelligence, as to any purpose.
My theory? It's all being planned by Trump, so that he gets kicked out of the tent, as the imploding debt collapses it and he gets to say I told you so and start his own party.

[different clue]

If there is so much as a single Democratic Senator or even a single Democratic-Party-aligned Senator who recognizes this, and is not a part of it, and objects to it; that Senator can show his/her opposition to it by voting No on Convict and No on Remove.

Such a vote would be a high profile symbolic rejection of the Get Trump operation, and would also be a measure of practical obstruction and perhaps even a little disorienting confusion to the Get Trump operators.

[jerseycityjoan]

I would assume that if this is something the Democrats (officially or unofficially) are doing against the Republicans that we'll find the same thing happening against the next Democratic president.

There's a segment of the politically active in both parties that wants their own way too much.

This leads people to do things that they shouldn't. This leads to making "winning" the one and only consideration. This leads to a lot more propaganda. This is both a sad and worrying trend.

There was an article recently about a collection of Bernie Sanders Facebook posters that on their own put out propaganda against other Democratic candidates.

"The volume and viciousness of the memes — portraying Warren (D-Mass.) as a snake, a backstabber and a liar — reflect how Facebook identifies and rewards emotionally charged content to generate reactions from its billions of users. ... But it also, in the view of experts who study Facebook’s effect on political speech, distorts democratic debate by confirming biases, sharpening divisions and elevating the glib visual logic of memes over reasoned discussion.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2020/01/24/facebook-is-inflaming-divides-tearing-democratic-party/

[Timothy Hagios]

I recall how former Ukrainian president Yanukovich's party turned against him and wonder if Trump will get the same treatment. Trump's situation isn't the same (thankfully, there are no snipers shooting people), but the spectacle seems familiar.

Right now, Trump's position is being weakened via constant innuendo and accusations, such as the Bolton "bombshell." This has given a handful of "principled moderates" the chance to break ranks. What I suspect we'll see next is a last-minute mega-bombshell (like an out-of-context audio clip or a high-level defection) that will drive the media to an apoplexy and force the Republicans to vote to convict.

[Personanongrata]

Isn't it interesting?

The Mighty Wurlitzer grinds on.

Italicized/bold text was excerpted from cia.gov from a book review titled:

The Mighty Wurlitzer: How the CIA Played America

Once upon a time, the Central Intelligence Agency ran a world-wide covert action campaign to counter such nonsense in societies in which communism might take hold. Almost every CIA station had case officers dedicated to working with labor unions, intellectuals, youth and student organizations, journalists, veterans, women’s groups, and more. The Agency dealt directly with foreign representatives of these groups, but it also subsidized their activities indirectly by laundering funds through allied organizations based in the United States. In short, the Agency’s covert political action depended on the anti-communist zeal of private American citizens, only a few of whom knew that the overseas works of their ostensibly independent organizations were financed by the CIA until the campaign’s cover was disastrously blown in 1967.

Why is this important? Because scholars and graduate students will someday follow Wilford’s lead. His judicious approach should set the standard for their studies. Second, it matters because some quarters inside and outside government argue today that America needs to replicate the successes of the CIA’s covert political action campaign for the Global War on Terror. The Mighty Wurlitzer might not convince them that that’s a bad idea, but Wilford’s observations should give them pause to consider the risks and unintended consequences of projects that they are unlikely to be be able to control completely.

https://www.cia.gov/library/center-for-the-study-of-intelligence/csi-publications/csi-studies/studies/vol52no2/intelligence-in-recent-public-literature-1.html

Italicized/bold text was excerpted from freedomofthepress.net a report titled:

Journalism And The CIA: The Mighty Wurlitzer

OSS veteran Frank Wisner ran most of the early peacetime covert operations as head of the Office of Policy Coordination. Although funded by the CIA, OPC wasn't integrated into the CIA's Directorate of Plans until 1952, under OSS veteran Allen Dulles. Both Wisner and Dulles were enthusiastic about covert operations. By mid-1953 the department was operating with 7,200 personnel and 74 percent of the CIA's total budget.

Wisner created the first "information superhighway." But this was the age of vacuum tubes, not computers, so he called it his "Mighty Wurlitzer." The CIA's global network funded the Italian elections in 1948, sent paramilitary teams into Albania, trained Nationalist Chinese on Taiwan, and pumped money into the Congress for Cultural Freedom, the National Student Association, and the Center for International Studies at MIT. Key leaders and labor unions in western Europe received subsidies, and Radio Free Europe and Radio Liberty were launched. The Wurlitzer, an organ designed for film productions, could imitate sounds such as rain, thunder, or an auto horn. Wisner and Dulles were at the keyboard, directing history.

There have also been official announcements that the CIA is mission-creeping into economic intelligence and computer-age information warfare. This might reflect a bit of nostalgia for the job security and moral clarity of the Cold War, or it could be a premonition that the American Century is over and the masses are expected to get uppity. Perhaps the First Amendment has always been something of a con -- a matter of "freedom," but only for those who own the presses, or for those who lived in an earlier century, before psywar and public relations experts.
https://www./journalismandtheciathemightywurlitzer.htm

[different clue]

I read once an article about how various Social Media enable and guide people to feed eachothers' rage and hate in the various online and Social Media forums. The schools and shoals of raging haters attract more schools and shoals of raging haters who are drawn to the negative psychic energy.
Here is the essay.
https://slatestarcodex.com/2014/12/17/the-toxoplasma-of-rage/

I have read that Twitter and Facebook ( and You Tube within its constraints) deliberately on purpose feed and focus this process of chain-reaction hatred-amplification because it causes more clicks and views and allows Twitter and Facebook to sell more ads and sell more user data to ad-crafters.

So Twitter and Facebook would certainly encourage and drive that kind of behavior regarding " Bernie memes" as much as with every other subject which those two black hat bad actors encourage such behavior in order to monetize it for their own business.

That said, I can imagine another force leading to all those hateful " Sanders memes". And that would be paid Twitter and Facebook employees, as well as pre-programmed bots, seeding those Facebook pages with "Sanders memes" in order to get highly lucrative toxoplasmic hatestorms under way.

[Eric Newhill]

Trump excoriates Bolton in tweets this morning:
"For a guy who couldn’t get approved for the Ambassador to the U.N. years ago, couldn’t get approved for anything since, 'begged' me for a non Senate approved job, which I gave him despite many saying 'Don’t do it, sir,' takes the job, mistakenly says 'Libyan Model' on T.V., and ... many more mistakes of judgement [sic], gets fired because frankly, if I listened to him, we would be in World War Six by now, and goes out and IMMEDIATELY writes a nasty & untrue book. All Classified National Security. Who would do this?"

IMO, Trump is a fantastic POTUS for this day and age, but he wasn't on his A game when he brought Bolton onboard. He should have known better and, was, apparently, warned. Maybe Trump thought he could control him and use him as a threatening pit bull. Mistake. Bolton is greedy as well as vindictive.

[Re]

I agree with you. I saw elements of the color revolution that the previous administration used to destabilize governments being used in the U.S. at that time. It seems the man behind the curtain is using skilled rhetoric, linguistics, NLP, persuasion principles and hypnosis tactics. These tactics are are also pointedly being used, to get around the law and and any meaningful accountability. This appears to being done in a coordinated, organized and continuous method.

This gave meaning to the quote from Larry Johnson from “Intelligence: The Human Factor” by Col Lang. “Be quick to ask ask why and insist on hard empirical evidence to corroborate or refute a statement claimed as fact. Hopefully, you will discover that National Security is not based on on deploying the the most technologically sophisticated metal detector or hiring new thousands of new specialists—but on freedom and “ the rule of law”. The freedoms we enjoy belong to citizens who know their rights and understand how their government works.”

This Youtube breakdown of Adam Schiff’s closing statement, gives insight into some of the tactics I am speaking of, better than I could explain it.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=U0ipS5gjmDc

[Harry]

Totally agree and think I have observed the same thing. And yet I think they will fail.

I think the GE will be Bernie vs Trump. Trump will win. I would describe my views as democratic socialist.

[Keith Harbaugh]

There is a highly relevant article closely related to the subject of your post,
that unfortunately is from an author who is radioactive to many people.
If you, Colonel, deem it best not to post this comment for that reason,
or to at some point in time delete it,
I will certainly understand.
I do not want to make your site (too) radioactive.

However, the article is so relevant, significant, and I, for one, believe accurate,
here it is for people's information:
"The Trump Impeachment: A Clash Between America’s Competing Elites?" by Kevin MacDonald, 2020-01-26.

I think the points he makes are valid and should be discussed.
The effort to prevent their discussion often amounts to some form of "guilt by association".