A NATION GONE MADE

Washington, as in D.C., has gone MAD! This country’s capitol city has been certifiable for a long time. As governments go, it needed to shrink decades ago. As an entity with an over-inflated ego, it needs a shrink!  All kidding aside, madness rules inside the belt-way on many levels.

          The word “mad” has many definitions. In its most common meaning, angry, furious, enraged and incensed are just a few of them that come to mind. The British historically used the term “mad” to describe someone who was mentally ill or insane. The word “mad” can refer to or convey intense or frantic behavior. If you look into the window on Washington, one can clearly see just how traditionally defined madness prevails on so many levels. Alice has fallen into the looking glass, and everything is backwoods and upside down. Right is wrong and wrong is right and no one can find the center of anything. There is no balance. However, it is one of the uses of MAD as an acronym that most accurately depicts both the environment and leadership in Washington D.C. today. MAD exemplifies the circus-like atmosphere permeating the bowels of the republic and reverberating in the news: Mutually Assured Destruction, or MAD.         

          The term or military strategy that was defined during the escalation of nuclear arms during the Cold War, presumed that if two or more sides of a conflict annihilated each other if one party initiated a first strike, the arsenal build up would actually serve to deter each side from taking any aggressive action against another party. Regardless of the rationality of the policy which both led to the race to develop the so called “Star Wars” system designed to defend against a first strike and therefore create a potential “winner” and the post-USSR fall that de-emphasized the escalation and use of nuclear arms, MAD is alive and well in Washington and controls the way business as usual operates and its effect has crippled this nation and has been doing so for quite some time.

          Human nature being what it is, the policy of MAD is not new and not limited to the Federal Government. It has long been a devilish tool used by people to gain or retain power.  Several decades ago, I saw first-hand how it works when I was elected as a councilwoman.  Shortly after I was sworn into office, I was taken aside by another member of the council and offered some paternalistic advice.  I was told there were two areas of city government that the council members should not interfere with: trash removal and public safety.  Unbeknown to my so-called advisor, I had been aware of the illegal drug trafficking and chop-shops that were “allowed” to exist on the southern border of the city and had my own thoughts on how to eliminate this blight.  Further, one of my clients was employed by the trash company that for the previous 6 months had been sabotaged by a former executive who was now working for its largest competitor. These facts were also well known by my former colleague as he was one of the insiders reaping the benefits of the corruption. On one occasion, I offered some constructive and creative solutions to eradicate the criminal activities that were encroaching within the boundaries of our City. The Director of Public Safety’s response was to advise me that he had a “folder” on the indiscretions of my then husband, suggesting one hand washed the other. Needless to say, this information did not deter me, but I did learn to choose my battles carefully with the understanding that you don’t take a pea shooter to an elephant hunt.  

          So needless to say, I was not surprised when President Trump received a visit from Former FBI Director James Comey, and a certain sensitive file containing information about Trump’s alleged escapades in Russia was mentioned during their meeting. The FBI after all has been collecting and creating files and dossiers on American citizens for decades. J. Edgar Hoover maintained significant power during his years as director because of his “secret” files.  After his death, several presidents were committed to insuring that no FBI director wielded that much power again. Maybe there was a time, given his intellect and prior reputation, even a much younger and idealistic James Comey, would have been repulsed by the present MAD form of government.  His ego would suggest that he of all people could rise above the temptations of power and help to restore the confidence in the system with an integrity so greatly missing in the beltway.

          That brings us to the attempted coup d’etat in the guise of an impeachment inquiry.  In the modern’s world, the arsenal of the establishment elite does not solely consist of folders containing ones past acts, that years ago would never have been considered the tabloid fodder they have become in today’s world. News is no longer about presenting facts and educating the public. It is the business of entertainment run by individuals or corporations with their own agendas related to obtaining or retaining wealth, power and control. Today’s political arm’s race also includes the real threat of the loss of one’s job, status, income, reputation and potentially as many if not most citizens believe, life itself. MAD-ness is crippling our country as the world’s resources and power are continually consolidated for the benefit of fewer and fewer until someone performs the ultimate pre-emptive strike and declares “winner took all.”  And hearsay is not the legal too of any number of potential unnamed whistleblower

          The most recent media frenzy surrounding the call to the newly elected Ukrainian president and the Biden investigation query, exemplifies what happens, when the President of the United States is an outsider who rejects the principles of MAD and actually has the nerve to oppose the intelligence community including previously firing the one person in Washington who allegedly controlled the most damaging secrets, whether or not, they are real or fake, since no one can discern the difference. The media establishment, and its television and radio talk show network dishes upon leaks and innuendo all designed to distract listeners from independent thinking and turn a player’s loss into financial gain. In its midst, we have witnessed a surreal attempt to rearm the depleted arsenal of the former FBI director, who still arguably, has access to valuable information and friends in deep places.

 So, what does this all really mean for you and me? Washington special interest groups, lobbyists and the real power players (not the political parties who are their puppets) continue to risk everything to remain in command. They are destroying the very institutions designed to protect the pillars of this country: our right to the pursuit of life, liberty and happiness while they seek to fulfill their power and control agenda. As history has taught them, it is easier to control people when they lose faith; thus the attack on religion, especially Judeo-Christian principles. The Ten Commandments preceded the Constitution and the Bill of Rights, so they removed them from public display. Free speech and fair debate is necessary in order to find fairness and balance. The opportunity to speak our truth, regardless of who opposes our point of view is an essential element of education, but unlike in the past, both traditional and social media no longer agree with an “equal” time approach. The MAD men and women have been at this long enough that they have allowed layer upon layer of misinformation to veil truth and create an illusion that there are real choices, other than to determine whose friend will reap the spoils of a given election cycle. Back in early 1993, not long after President Clinton was inaugurated, I had the opportunity to have dinner with four elected officials representing both parties, who “educated” me on the way it worked then before extreme partisanship set in. The players had already reached a détente and carved out their respective positions or territories. I just needed to align myself with my favorite power player to join the game. I left Washington D.C. shortly thereafter to return to the real world work, where I could actually try to make a positive difference.

          How can we disarm the arms race and dislodge the entrenched regimes from their self-created thrones?  First, we must recognize that we are engaged in a moral battle where integrity should trump loyalty, and we consciously choose to reward good over evil and right over wrong when ever and where ever we can, assuming we can identify it. MAD corruption occurs everywhere. We see it in operation at local and state levels, not just in Washington D.C. Greed and ego knows no geographical or political party bounds. After all, it has been argued at various times in this nation’s history, that a strong central government was necessary because city and state governments were rampant with nepotism and corruption. Federal government’s role was not only to secure our border, but protect us from ourselves. So, the answer is quite simple. In order to stop the MAD-ness, we need to first take back control of our own lives. We must have faith and believe that there is a higher power that decides our ultimate fate and make decisions based on doing the right thing. Start at the local level and only elect officials that exemplify integrity and remove those in office that demonstrate bias and self-dealing.  It’s time to decentralize the power of the Federal government. Monopolies of any kind cannot be tolerated but must be toppled before they destroy us all and the only way to end them is to take back our power. MAD-ness be dammed and damned!

Post script query.  How does COVID-19, Jeff Epstein and China fit into all this?  Follow the money.