The purge of federal departments and agencies we're seeing is Donald Trump v. the Deep State . . .

[OneBlueSky]

Trump has convinced himself that the Deep State described by Judicial Watch is real and must be dismantled.

From Wikipedia: “Judicial Watch (JW) is an American conservative activist group that files Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuits to investigate claimed misconduct by government officials. Founded in 1994, JW has primarily targeted Democrats, in particular the Presidency of Bill Clinton, the Presidency of Barack Obama, and Hillary Clinton. The organization has described climate science as "fraud science" and has filed lawsuits against government climate scientists. JW has made numerous false and unsubstantiated claims that have been picked up by right-wing news outlets and promoted by conservative figures. President Donald Trump has repeatedly cited false claims by Judicial Watch about voter fraud. Courts have dismissed the vast majority of its lawsuits.”

Since at least 2017, Judicial Watch has promoted the notion of a Deep State, which they describe as “legions of political appointees, career civil servants and powerful private contractors who run the government no matter who sits in the Oval Office. No matter which political party controls Congress. And, no matter what is the will of the American people. No matter who's in power, they exert control. Oftentimes, the liberal media effectively operates as the propaganda arm of the Deep State.” from Exposing the Deep State, Judicial Watch, September, 2017 (bold emphasis added)

I got this JW “special report” from a relative, recently deceased, who was a rock solid Trumper. It consists primarily of documents that JW obtained through many, many FOIA lawsuits, most of which are heavily redacted for “national security” reasons. The report claims to “prove” the existence of the Deep State, which “constitutes a direct challenge to our republican form of government. Working primarily through the intelligence and law-enforcement agencies, the Deep State is actively engaged in subersive measures designed to delegitimize Donald Trump, cause the American people to lose faith in their president, destroy the Trump presidency and eventually impeach him or put him in jail.” (bold emphasis added)

Now we can laugh at the idea of a Deep State all we want, but we need to understand that Trump has bought the idea hook, line and sinker. When he looks at the federal government, he sees all those “career civil servents” who, in his mind, are not loyal to the President or the nation. We know that he's already started to purge several departments and agencies, and you can bet your next Covid relief check that he will similarly purge as many others as he can before January 20, 2020. Remember too that Trump's approach to doing something of questionable legality and/or morality is “Who's gonna stop me?” Thus the White House hosting the Republican National Convention. Thus approval of drilling for oil in the National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska. Thus his changes to civil service regs. Thus his “soup nazi” threats of “no vaccine for you!” and/or “no federal funds for you!” to “Democrat” cities and states. All to stroke his own fragile ego while giving the finger to Congress and the American people.

And let us never forget that, until noon on January 2, Donald Trump is still the guy with his finger on the little red button. Say a prayer and/or have a good thought for a return to sanity in Washington DC.

[dchill]

1. Judicial Watch bears watching.

[tblue37]

2. Typo: Jan. 20, not Jan. 2.

[BlueMTexpat]

3. Yes, unfortunately. eom

[Lasher]

4. Media Bias/Fact Check: Judicial Watch

Overall, we rate Judicial Watch Questionable based on extreme right-wing bias, promotion of conspiracy theories, and a very poor fact check record.

https://mediabiasfactcheck.com/judicial-watch/

[keithbvadu2]

5. Trump and the repubs are setting up their own GOP deep state to sabotage America.

Trump and the repubs are setting up their own GOP deep state to sabotage America.

[Roisin Ni Fiachra]

6. After Joe is inaugurated, Trump will feel the "Deep State"

so far up his ass he won't dare sell state secrets to our enemies in order to prevent his impending total financial collapse.