Let’s get started this morning with what I take to be confirmation of the overall perspective that was presented here yesterday.Thanks for reading Meaning In History! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work. I know some readers take offense at quotes of anti-Trumpers like McCarthy, John Hinderaker, and others when I insert them in posts here. Nevertheless, these are people who know what they’re talking about in specific areas of expertise. I take insight from any source I can find it—as the saying goes, even a broken clock is right twice a day. I do this selectively and critically, but if some with whom I disagree—and there are many such—expresses an insight better than I’ve done, then I’m happy to use their work. Not to do so would be foolish.
pardon the long winded comment but i would like to offer some food for thought inspired by the lucid reasoning of this post regarding the MAL raid. And it is this: we can all agree that A ) the threat(existential?) That DJT poses to the uniparty DC establishment'/global cabal backing them is not merely in the circumstance of his becoming POTUS (again) but what his becoming POTUS (again) would allow him to do or at least give him the opportunity to do which might jeopardize them or their plans B) and if we can notice this surely Trump and of course his antagonists are operating /all along have been operating in full knowledge of this and of the particular and precise ways POTUS Trump could compromise things they are trying desperately to accomplish in secret as it were;C) and given every bit of threat he apparently is to them DJT has still been able to survive their considerable attempts to eliminate him and even continue to oppose them even as a former President; D) looking at MAL raid and preceding moves that are starting to emerge in this light how much if at all are we to grant the cabal the upper hand here? E) should we not be entertaining the very real (I would argue)possibility Trump and his team ANTICIPATED this public classification/national security secrets fight and that the real question is not whether or when they will indict DJT but what DJT is hoping to accomplish playing these "presidential records" games. His genius as far as I can tell seems to be finding ways to get the word out in spite of the speech control in place to try to stop him. The mean tweets and sensational statements can be seen I would argue as a way to trick his adversaries into promoting his message. It's an Infowar, is it not? What can we look forward to re the Russia hoax info?
Having read lots of commentaries and the experts on this search/raid I have come to the conclusion that they did it because they could. The law is what they say it is. All discussion is useless. Having crossed the Rubicon there is only one path forward. When Caesar did it, the result would be his triumph or, as turned out, Augustus and the eradication of any power other than that of the Emperor. That our Emperor has no clothes and that the public is getting the short end of the stick is of no importance to them. Anybody in their way has to be humiliated, marginalized, imprisoned or otherwise disposed of. We shall see in November if they can make this stick.
Taking advantage of the old Meaning in History blog rule (still in effect?) that we can offer something off-topic in comments to “briefly noted” posts, I’d like to recommend the following essay by Matthew B Crawford as an augment to Mark’s ongoing critique of Liberalism. Crawford helps answer a question I have long wondered about. How does one square the pessimism and outright authoritarianism inherent in Thomas Hobbes’s contribution to modern politics with the laissez faire optimism of John Locke’s contribution?
This is my takeaway: the deep state want to cripple Trump before 2024. The FBI used "The Ways and Means Act" i.e. any legislation they can find to get them through the door after which they can apply Sec 41 (Sec 19 PACE in UK) - to anything they find that is linked to criminal activity be it associated with the specifics of the warrant or not.
She notes that, unlike all the media overage, none of the statutes concern whether information is classified or unclassified. Basically makes it look like the statutes chosen were to prosecute Trump for illegal possession of presidential and/or military documents/photos he should not have; subsequently destroyed; and that the destruction of whatever constitutes obstruction of justice (J6?). I’m not commenting on the truth and veracity, just the possibility.
Also Redstate is reporting Russian Media Claims That They Have Read the Nuclear Secrets Stored at Mar-a-Lago
While I don’t give this much credence and see it as Russian trolling, it got me wondering if there might have been a compromise of sorts at MAL that perhaps the FBI picked up in their other duties.
Hopefully I’m just making a mountain out of a anthill.
Has anyone mentioned that the fact that the FBI recruited a confidential human source within the Trump organization, in and of itself, is an intrusion upon Trump's privacy that preceded any warrant?
I didn't need your amplification but it bolstered my belief that this MAL raid was egregious. Thanks for that. I, too, have to soften (confront?) my confirmation bias when reading Turley, McCarthy, Henderaker, et al (anti-Trumpers, at some level or another, with their own set of confirmation bias against 45).
I dont agree that John Hinderaker is anti-Trump. I think he's one of the best analysts out there along with everyone else at Power Line, except Paul who's gone now thankfully.
I put myself in the camp who has little patience (anymore) with the opinions of McCarthy or Hinderaker about Trump. I think mainly because it seems rather apparent that the big picture you sketch Mark, is pretty much accurate. All the punditry and handwringing about the subversion of norms and standards and the integrity of institutions and the integrity of the rule of law itself, coming from right or of course left, seems a whole lot of disingenuous equivocation. Power players are exerting their power. Period. Trump, bless his pugnacious Brooklyn soul, pantses the equivocators, every time. Trump forces you to decide, and if you insist on not deciding, insist on keeping your options open when it comes to your support of Trump, you end up appearing to lack principles or a backbone or both. Something like that.
Hate to be a quibbler here, but if it belonged to the President and is then removed from him, why is this not an unconstitutional taking? If Trump had a property interest, which he would have. I mean, he was the President who withstood more attacks and did more for the American people than any other, why couldn't he keep things of interest?
Not being solved quickly runs to Trump's advantage from my perspective. If Trump announces he is running, either before or after the mid-term election, he can use this blatant abuse of power by the DOJ like a club and figuratively beat Garland, Wray, and Biden over the head with it every day that goes by. None of these crooks are sympathetic figures. The campaign ads write themselves (Hunter, Hillary, Joe - The Big Guy, Comey, etc.) where known miscreants were coddled rather than prosecuted. I'm not sure a gag order would work for them with Trump running for office again - but you can bet they'll throw anything against the wall as they already have with the MAL raid.
pardon the long winded comment but i would like to offer some food for thought inspired by the lucid reasoning of this post regarding the MAL raid. And it is this: we can all agree that A ) the threat(existential?) That DJT poses to the uniparty DC establishment'/global cabal backing them is not merely in the circumstance of his becoming POTUS (again) but what his becoming POTUS (again) would allow him to do or at least give him the opportunity to do which might jeopardize them or their plans B) and if we can notice this surely Trump and of course his antagonists are operating /all along have been operating in full knowledge of this and of the particular and precise ways POTUS Trump could compromise things they are trying desperately to accomplish in secret as it were;C) and given every bit of threat he apparently is to them DJT has still been able to survive their considerable attempts to eliminate him and even continue to oppose them even as a former President; D) looking at MAL raid and preceding moves that are starting to emerge in this light how much if at all are we to grant the cabal the upper hand here? E) should we not be entertaining the very real (I would argue)possibility Trump and his team ANTICIPATED this public classification/national security secrets fight and that the real question is not whether or when they will indict DJT but what DJT is hoping to accomplish playing these "presidential records" games. His genius as far as I can tell seems to be finding ways to get the word out in spite of the speech control in place to try to stop him. The mean tweets and sensational statements can be seen I would argue as a way to trick his adversaries into promoting his message. It's an Infowar, is it not? What can we look forward to re the Russia hoax info?
Interesting timeline of Trump’s RICO lawsuit and DOJ reaction.
https://theoptimisticconservative.wordpress.com/2022/08/13/two-pings-on-the-fbi-raid-on-mar-a-lago-classification-kerfuffle-and-trumps-rico-suit/#more-6972
Having read lots of commentaries and the experts on this search/raid I have come to the conclusion that they did it because they could. The law is what they say it is. All discussion is useless. Having crossed the Rubicon there is only one path forward. When Caesar did it, the result would be his triumph or, as turned out, Augustus and the eradication of any power other than that of the Emperor. That our Emperor has no clothes and that the public is getting the short end of the stick is of no importance to them. Anybody in their way has to be humiliated, marginalized, imprisoned or otherwise disposed of. We shall see in November if they can make this stick.
Taking advantage of the old Meaning in History blog rule (still in effect?) that we can offer something off-topic in comments to “briefly noted” posts, I’d like to recommend the following essay by Matthew B Crawford as an augment to Mark’s ongoing critique of Liberalism. Crawford helps answer a question I have long wondered about. How does one square the pessimism and outright authoritarianism inherent in Thomas Hobbes’s contribution to modern politics with the laissez faire optimism of John Locke’s contribution?
https://unherd.com/2022/05/covid-was-liberalisms-endgame/
This is my takeaway: the deep state want to cripple Trump before 2024. The FBI used "The Ways and Means Act" i.e. any legislation they can find to get them through the door after which they can apply Sec 41 (Sec 19 PACE in UK) - to anything they find that is linked to criminal activity be it associated with the specifics of the warrant or not.
Margot Cleveland’s analysis of the statues upon which the warrant was based:
https://twitchy.com/brettt-3136/2022/08/13/margot-cleveland-examines-why-the-doj-selected-the-statues-it-did-for-raid-on-mar-a-lago/
She notes that, unlike all the media overage, none of the statutes concern whether information is classified or unclassified. Basically makes it look like the statutes chosen were to prosecute Trump for illegal possession of presidential and/or military documents/photos he should not have; subsequently destroyed; and that the destruction of whatever constitutes obstruction of justice (J6?). I’m not commenting on the truth and veracity, just the possibility.
Also Redstate is reporting Russian Media Claims That They Have Read the Nuclear Secrets Stored at Mar-a-Lago
https://redstate.com/streiff/2022/08/13/russian-media-claims-that-they-have-read-the-nuclear-secrets-stored-at-mar-a-lago-n611741
While I don’t give this much credence and see it as Russian trolling, it got me wondering if there might have been a compromise of sorts at MAL that perhaps the FBI picked up in their other duties.
Hopefully I’m just making a mountain out of a anthill.
Did FBI really have an informant?
https://twitter.com/RonFilipkowski/status/1558430693356609537
This is Democrats’ last ‘desperate attempt’ to take down Trump: McFarland
https://youtu.be/95faCd49IEY
Has anyone mentioned that the fact that the FBI recruited a confidential human source within the Trump organization, in and of itself, is an intrusion upon Trump's privacy that preceded any warrant?
Great information, thank you.
I didn't need your amplification but it bolstered my belief that this MAL raid was egregious. Thanks for that. I, too, have to soften (confront?) my confirmation bias when reading Turley, McCarthy, Henderaker, et al (anti-Trumpers, at some level or another, with their own set of confirmation bias against 45).
I dont agree that John Hinderaker is anti-Trump. I think he's one of the best analysts out there along with everyone else at Power Line, except Paul who's gone now thankfully.
I put myself in the camp who has little patience (anymore) with the opinions of McCarthy or Hinderaker about Trump. I think mainly because it seems rather apparent that the big picture you sketch Mark, is pretty much accurate. All the punditry and handwringing about the subversion of norms and standards and the integrity of institutions and the integrity of the rule of law itself, coming from right or of course left, seems a whole lot of disingenuous equivocation. Power players are exerting their power. Period. Trump, bless his pugnacious Brooklyn soul, pantses the equivocators, every time. Trump forces you to decide, and if you insist on not deciding, insist on keeping your options open when it comes to your support of Trump, you end up appearing to lack principles or a backbone or both. Something like that.
Hate to be a quibbler here, but if it belonged to the President and is then removed from him, why is this not an unconstitutional taking? If Trump had a property interest, which he would have. I mean, he was the President who withstood more attacks and did more for the American people than any other, why couldn't he keep things of interest?
Not being solved quickly runs to Trump's advantage from my perspective. If Trump announces he is running, either before or after the mid-term election, he can use this blatant abuse of power by the DOJ like a club and figuratively beat Garland, Wray, and Biden over the head with it every day that goes by. None of these crooks are sympathetic figures. The campaign ads write themselves (Hunter, Hillary, Joe - The Big Guy, Comey, etc.) where known miscreants were coddled rather than prosecuted. I'm not sure a gag order would work for them with Trump running for office again - but you can bet they'll throw anything against the wall as they already have with the MAL raid.