À la recherche du temps perdu

Yesterday I received the following email from a fellow Bureau retiree. I believe it will be of interest to regular readers both for what it says about the attitudes of an earlier but now retired and politically active generation of FBI agents, as well as for what it says about conservative and Republican politics generally. I believe the expressed views regarding the Bureau are fairly typical for something like a majority of retired agents—nostalgia for what the Bureau once was, or seemed to be, and fear for the future. I also believe that the views of people at the level of states distant from DC, as described below, is not atypical in many parts of the country. Many people don’t vote unless there’s an issue involved that affects their daily lives where they live, and they regard DC as distant and of little relevance in that regard. I consider this to be a wrongheaded attitude—the Ruling Class as it is currently constituted will not leave these people or their children alone, and the ballot is one of the only effective weapons we have against the Big Money interests who control politics and government. All you need to do to realize this is read the numerous stories about what goes on in local government run schools and libraries—none of this happens by mistake, nor due to grass roots wishes. Still, resignation to withdrawing from politics is a common response for too many.

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone.

Mark:

     First, thank you for your ongoing insightful commentary.  Your thoughts have significant value and I appreciate your careful analysis.  

     Second, as I mentioned when I first emailed you, the Bureau continues to descend into greater depths of politicization.  I was talking with several other retired agents I worked with and the first question that comes up is whether the Bureau can recover from all of this?  What is more telling is the second or follow on question, which is should the Bureau recover?  I think the answer to the first question would necessitate an immediate and complete overhaul and essentially the dismissal of everyone above the GS14 level, with significant oversight including real, honest to God prosecutions and jail time where former agents actually turn big rocks into little rocks.  This of course says nothing about the remainder of the intelligence community.  I am not sure it can be accomplished.  I am still undecided about the answer to the second question.  That said, I believe that all of the other Republican "also rans" such as DeSantis are woefully unprepared to attack this problem.  I don't think they have a clue to the depths of corruption that they face, nor do they fully comprehend that this is a struggle for the very nature of our Republic. I believe that the Republican/GOP establishment has decided on DeSantis as a means of protecting the elite in DC.

     Third, as I previously mentioned, I volunteer in local conservative politics in [Red State].  I can tell you that from my neck of the woods, there is a civil war going on in the GOP and it will likely manifest itself in the Trump nomination process.  The folks who are conservative who have faithfully voted R because they have been cajoled by the Republican elite, are pretty much fed up with the GOP both at the national level and state level.  I suspect that this will manifest itself in large numbers of traditional Republican voters not voting in 2024 if Trump isn't on the ticket and either the destruction of the GOP as we know (See Senator Josh Hawley's comments about the death of the old GOP) and rebirth of a new party out of the ashes of the old.  If the GOP elite are successful at remaining in control of the party, you will see a significant defection among the grassroots faithful.  Folks are actively questioning just exactly what the GOP does for them in various issues [at the state level] and they are finding that the juice isn't worth the squeeze.

     Thanks for your attention to all of this.  I wish you and your family a fabulous Thanksgiving.  I am now going back to prepping our meal for tomorrow.  Take care,

                    [Signed]