Shadows of the Evening
Warning: The following quote is from a whack-job, and in no sense is intended to endorse his thinking. Rather, I am using this quote for two reasons which are addressed below.
“But quite frankly there is an outside source which we refer to as the 'deep state' or the 'shadow government'. There is a lot of influence by people which are actually more powerful than our government itself, our president.” – Ron Paul; November, 2016
During the 2016 general election campaign, Donald Trump frequently expressed his opinion that the contest would be stolen from him. He did so for two reasons: first, as an excuse for his expected defeat, and second, as part of the Russian-inspired attempt to discredit our system of elections.
It was only during the transition phase and early presidency that he began to rant about the “deep state.” I cannot say for sure that this thought was implanted in Trump's reptilian brain by Ron Paul, for he was surrounded by many whack-jobs and assorted dick-drippings. It wasn't just Ivanka and Jared …..Jared seems so similar to Don, Jr. in every way, that I question if he is Trump's son …...but included the likes of Steve Bannon.
We all remember when, in early 2017, when Trump was aware that the FBI was investigating Flynn, he tweeted that President Obama had Trump's “wires tapped” at Trump Tower. In time, this paranoid thinking resulted in President Obama's tasking the job to British intelligence. It was a conspiracy that required the shallow intellect of Devin Nunes to fully expose.
The second part is that, not surprisingly, Ron Paul was incorrect in saying that the “deep state” equals the “shadow government.” While both of these entities tend to conjure up images of paranoid alt-right fantasies, the terms actual refer to real things. There is some degree of overlap in terms of individuals and corporations, and both are fluid. But they are not mysterious.
The “deep state” simple refers to non-elected officials working in the bureaucracy of the federal government, and those who are retired from these positions. That bureaucracy is enormous, and includes the military, the various departments in the executive branch, both houses of Congress, and the like. Some are Democrats, some republicans, and independents.
There is a smaller “deep state” in all fifty states, and a smaller one in every county and city in the land. And every person who has worked somewhere that a new boss has come in and said, “Things are going to be different now,” knows how any sized “deep state” can keep going pretty much how it had been. This can have negative consequences, of course, as in the example of J. Edgar Hoover. Think of how many presidents he served under, and kept his sick system intact.
It also has a positive potential. Let's say that people in positions of power learn that a candidate for president is running a campaign that welcomes Russian influence. We would hope – and rightfully so – that the individuals in the government would attempt to use every legal means to investigate the situation. If the early evidence indicated there was a need for a counter-intelligence investigation, we'd want that.
Remember, the original investigation was of Russia and the campaign, not just of Trump. And there was a heck of a lot that demanded investigating. That some of the individuals in the FBI said some harsh things about Trump is hardly surprising. Yet there is no evidence their dislike of Trump influenced their investigation.
It wasn't until after first telling Mr. Comey to let up on Flynn, and then firing Comey, that Trump's actions became a central focus of the investigation. Usually, those who attempt to obstruct an investigation have something to hide. And Trump has many things to hide.
Along with the official investigation, the media began to examine the campaign closely. Some journalists benefited from having sources working in the government – including in the White House. And numerous retired government workers have contracted with media such as CNN and MSNBC. They tend to believe that the Trump campaign colluded with Russian military intelligence during the campaign, and that Trump poses a threat to our national security.
Trump accuses them of treason, and attempts to abuse the powers of the government to punish them. They view him as a dangerous combination of a drunken Joe McCarthy and a disorganized J. Edgar Hoover.
The idea of a “shadow government” is actually closely tied to what is known as the national “continuity of government” plan. There were some basic plans going back to the beginning of the nation, but they became much more comprehensive, first under Truman, and even more so under Eisenhower. Obviously, these were closely related to the fears of the atomic bomb.
The plans remained pretty much the same until Reagan took office. Under him, VP Bush the Elder and Oliver North made some changes that included suspending the Constitution, excluding the legislative and judicial branches, and more formally including the heads of some large industries to be directly involved in running the country. More, the National Security Council would exercise greater powers than the State Department. What could possibly wrong?
One could speculate without risk of error that the Iran-Contra business was the shadow government at play. But it would not officially be declared active until VP Dick Cheney did so on 9/11. This too often overlooked part of our history is documented, among other places, in Senator Robert C. Byrd's book, “Losing America: Confronting a Reckless and Arrogant Presidency” (W.W. Norton & Co; 2004; pages 78-79).
An important feature of those within the shadow government is that some bounce in between serving in government and private business. One need not be a conspiracy theorist, for example, to suspect the possibility – however slight – that Dick Cheney's experience as chairman of the board and chief executive of Halliburton influenced his thinking and actions as vice president, when he led and lied the country into the war in Iraq.
George Bush the Elder was connected to the oil industry, before his political career took off. He was also the head of the CIA. The connections between the energy industries, intelligence, and the military are central to the make up of the shadow government.
Not all of these people are 100% horrible, though Cheney is. James Baker III was only about 85% bad. And some, like David Gergen, are actually decent people, who seem to improve with age.
Now, why is any of this important? Is this boring essay merely proof that I am bored? Or is there another reason I'm writing this? Could it be both?
I often use the model of a mobile hanging over an infant's crib to illustrate the nature of a system. In this essay, I prefer to view “systems” as organisms, made up of many people. Years ago, John Lennon spoke of watching the crowd while the Beatles played one of their last concerts. The LSD that John took before the show influenced the way he viewed the audience. For example, when he moved the neck of the guitar in any direction, there was a moving wave within the audience-organism.
Watching a Trump rally – and I do not endorse taking LSD before viewing one – it is clear that the audience is an organism. And, I dare say, a dangerous one at that.
The “deep state” and the “shadow government” are also organisms. But there are differences that we need to be fully aware of as we approach the numerous election contests in 2020. The “deep state,” as we have seen, can influence the public's perception by way of leaks to the media, and by being part of the media. This is neither “good” nor “bad” in and of itself, but instead has the potential for either.
The “shadow government” plays, among other things, a different role, in that businesses make significant financial contributions that come into play in elections. This isn't just direct contributions to an individual politician's campaign, of course. But it is generally in ways that create at the very least the perception of a debt.
That is distinct from a current or retired government employee making an individual contribution to a politician they support. And, within the Democratic Party, at various levels, a growing number of people prefer candidates that finance their campaigns from individual, grass roots' contributions. The only “debt” that creates is to represent the best interests of common people.
In closing, I'll say this: a significant number of government employees have come out against the clear threat that Donald Trump poses to our nation. But those powerful corporations haven't. That is because the Trump tax cuts, and the gross reduction in environmental protections, are making their profit margins larger. Thus, we can be sure that republican candidates in 2020 will not be running campaigns financed by small, grass roots donations.
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Gotta read it later. 
