THESE are the times that try men’s souls. The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of their country; but he that stands it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman.
Tyranny, like hell, is not easily conquered; yet we have this consolation with us, that the harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph.
What we obtain too cheap, we esteem too lightly: it is dearness only that gives every thing its value. Heaven knows how to put a proper price upon its goods; and it would be strange indeed if so celestial an article as FREEDOM should not be highly rated.
Thomas Paine, The Crisis No. I (written 19 December 1776, published 23 December 1776)
Back in October of last year, nearly a month before the November election that resulted in a bullying orangutan with Tourette Syndrome ascending to the world's most powerful position, something extraordinary occurred.
On October 7, 2016, all 17 agencies of the United States of America's national security infrastructure did something that they very rarely do -- they issued a joint, consensus statement to the public which quite succinctly stated that the Russian government was actively involved in ratfucking cyber-activity aimed at affecting the outcome of America's upcoming presidential election. Not only that, they made it clear that in their collective view, these cyber attacks on American democracy were being directed straight from the top of the Russian government -- ergo Vladimir Putin.
This is the statement they released that October day:
"The U.S. Intelligence Community (USIC) is confident that the Russian Government directed the recent compromises of e-mails from US persons and institutions, including from US political organizations. The recent disclosures of alleged hacked e-mails on sites like DCLeaks.com and WikiLeaks and by the Guccifer 2.0 online persona are consistent with the methods and motivations of Russian-directed efforts. These thefts and disclosures are intended to interfere with the US election process. Such activity is not new to Moscow—the Russians have used similar tactics and techniques across Europe and Eurasia, for example, to influence public opinion there. We believe, based on the scope and sensitivity of these efforts, that only Russia's senior-most officials could have authorized these activities."
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/onpolitics/2016/10/21/17-intelligence-agencies-russia-behind-hacking/92514592/#
Then candidate Donald Trump and his people cast aspersions on the report and questioned the veracity and the motives of the American intelligence community. Trump himself issued a smug public response when he stated that the intelligence agencies had “no idea whether it is Russia, China or anybody else.” Trump basically insinuated that all of America's intelligence agencies were either incompetent boobs, or worse - politically biased liars on Hillary Clinton's payroll.
Yesterday, Friday June 23, 2017 the Washington Post published a story which not only reaffirms that joint intelligence report from last October, they now say that there is smoking gun evidence that Putin ordered the hacking for the express purpose of harming Hillary Clinton and helping Donald Trump take control of the American presidency:
Early last August, an envelope with extraordinary handling restrictions arrived at the White House. Sent by courier from the CIA, it carried “eyes only” instructions that its contents be shown to just four people: President Barack Obama and three senior aides.
Inside was an intelligence bombshell, a report drawn from sourcing deep inside the Russian government that detailed Russian President Vladimir Putin’s direct involvement in a cyber campaign to disrupt and discredit the U.S. presidential race.
But it went further. The intelligence captured Putin’s specific instructions on the operation’s audacious objectives — defeat or at least damage the Democratic nominee, Hillary Clinton, and help elect her opponent, Donald Trump.
https://tinyurl.com/ydxhov46
During the time period between October 7, 2016 and yesterday, Trump and his surrogates, with the rabid, vocal support of Drumpf followers, have gone to staggering lengths to muddy the waters on the glacially-paced investigation of the Russian ratfucking and denigrate the U.S. intelligence agencies themselves as well as the media for reporting on it.
It all culminated with Drumpf firing FBI Director James Comey on May 9th. The following day, Trump hosted Russian officials in the oval office, with only Russian media present, and openly bragged to the Russians that he had fired Comey thus relieving "great pressure" on him over the Russian collusion investigation. He also slandered Comey to the Russians telling them that Comey was a "nut job" and "crazy."
By this time, as we all know now by Comey's sworn testimony on capitol hill recently, Comey was so distrustful of Drumpf and his motives that upon his firing he deliberately leaked the meticulously detailed notes of his meetings with Drumpf to a close friend and requested that friend give the notes to the media.
Comey himself stated that the one singular act by Drumpf that triggered his decision to leak his notes was Drumpf's threatening tweet on May 12th three days after his firing, that Comey had better hope that there weren't recorded tapes of their one-on-one meetings together --- basically insinuating that Comey was potentially going to lie about the meetings but that he Drumpf had taped them to refute those lies.
Of course the media, Democrats and even several high-ranking Republicans immediately demanded that if Drumpf had such tapes, he needed to release them to investigators.
It has been nearly 6 weeks since Drumpf's smirking tweet about possible tapes of his and James Comey's meetings. No tapes were ever offered up to investigators.
Then yesterday, as the Washington Post story broke Drumpf tweeted this:
With all of the recently reported electronic surveillance, intercepts, unmasking and illegal leaking of information, I have no idea...
...whether there are "tapes" or recordings of my conversations with James Comey, but I did not make, and do not have, any such recordings.
https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/877932907137966080
So for six weeks Drumpf let the idea stew with the American public that he was holding on to taped evidence that exonerated him from James Comey's public statements about what had transpired in their private meetings with each other. And now, suddenly, we have the expected admission that he, himself has no such tapes. However, in classic Drumpf ratfuckery, assholery fashion, he pompously conjectures that his admission of not having tapes himself does not mean that perhaps someone, somewhere might not be in possession of such taped material. Who knows -- maybe his good friend Vladimir Putin has such tapes?
What this behavior by Drumpf screams to The Gadfly is that he's hiding something that quite obviously is going to have devastating consequences to his presidency. It also suggests very plainly that he is doing everything that he can to stall for time. Part of that stalling strategy is to rally his rabid, brain-dead base to his side by insinuating that there's some mysterious, unseen deep-state/media entity conspiring against him to deny him his rightful place in the White House. He's reconstituting his successful divide & conquer strategy that he used to such grotesque, albeit fruitful effect during his presidential campaign. He has no qualms about dragging this whole country down to his amoral, self-serving level of duplicity and treachery because in the end, it is all about the Donald winning -- as it always has been, and will be.
And this is why The Gadfly speaks up. This is why The Gadfly is not remorseful for stating plain and clearly his admittedly brutal views about Drumpf's bootlicking supporters. The Gadfly will make it crystal clear for any of you still wondering --- yes, The Gadfly believes that Donald Trump has committed the act of treason against the United States of America. The Gadfly believes that several of Drumpf's associates have committed the very same offense. Be that as it is then, The Gadfly also believes that many of Drumpf's supporters are teetering dangerously on the verge of being willing accomplices to that treason with their mindlessly blind, uncritical devotion to and support of Mr. Drumpf and his perfidious actions.
The Gadfly wishes this were not the case. But it is.
The time is drawing nearer when the clarion, undeniable truth behind this whole sordid mess will be plopped directly in the lap of the American public. And when that happens, people are going to be confronted with the choice of believing and having faith in their democracy or signing over their and their children's and grandchildren's futures and likely freedom to a former Russian KGB agent and his handpicked, oligarch puppet.
The Gadfly truly hopes that for the sake of everything good and honorable and righteous that America has ever stood for, that a clear majority of Americans makes the right choice at that imminent and fateful place in time.
----TFG
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