Obama, Sanders and the Shadow Government

I just watched an interesting interview of NSA whistleblower Russ Tice. His name is not well known, but he was one of the very first whistleblowers to reveal that the NSA was illegally spying on everyone, including politicians, media outlets and private citizens. He brought this to the public’s attention back in 2005, but was literally ignored by everyone because he had no verification of his allegations. It was only after Snowden’s documented revelations about the NSA that Tice’s claims were substantiated.

Now one of the most interesting parts of the interview was when Tice said that the NSA had been tracking and watching Barack Obama since as far back as 2004, before he took office as a senator from Illinois. He had given a powerful speech at the Democratic National Convention, and this was apparently the incident that caught the eye of the NSA.

To me, this information is a very important piece of the puzzle that is Barack Obama. Why has so little been done to rein in the illegal and unconstitutional activities of the American Surveillance State? Why have the President and Congress failed to take any meaningful measures to assure our privacy, but have instead defended the NSA and CIA at every opportunity? Why did Obama campaign so passionately about change, but then leave in place almost every security measure Bush and Cheney created?

To me, the answer becomes more and more apparent. Our spy agencies know everything there is to know about Obama, his administration and members of Congress. You pick a fight with the spy masters at your peril, because if you do, you might find your past indiscretions suddenly becoming media headlines if you’re lucky, and if you’re not, you may end up having an unfortunate car or plane accident.

There is a shadow government in America, and it is run by unelected officials at the highest levels of the security, military and industrial complex. They set policies and priorities and they tell Congress and the President what to do. I have been hard on Obama over the years, but I also understand that there have probably been many things that he wanted to do, but was prevented from doing them by his secret overlords. 

The criminal Bush family and Dick Cheney helped create this nightmare scenario, and now it controls everyone who comes into contact with it. My greatest fear right now is for Bernie Sanders. He is the one candidate that is actually a threat to the shadow government, and I worry because I am certain they will never let him enter the White House. It will all go away if he loses the primary to Hillary, but should he win the Democratic nomination, the Eye of Sauron will quickly be focused on him and every effort will be made to stop him from becoming President.

How far will they let Sanders go?

I enthusiastically support Bernie Sanders in his bid for the White House and I’m thrilled that his campaign is picking up traction across the country. I’m also fearful.

We live in very troubling times where internal threats to the American hegemony from whistleblowers, investigative reporters and overly vocal citizens are met with the utmost legal force the government can muster, and in some cases, illegal force as well. As ridiculous as it is to say, Bernie Sanders, unlike Hillary Clinton, represents a threat to the Dark Government that really runs things. This is not something entirely new (think JFK, RFK, Martin Luther King), but the reach and power of the surveillance state has grown considerably in the past forty years, and exposing the truth is more dangerous than ever.

As Sanders’ star ascends while Hillary’s campaign is mired in controversy and attacks from the Right, it begs the question: How far will the Shadow Government allow the Vermont socialist to go? He stands for everything they despise: Higher taxes on the elites, drastically reducing income inequality, stronger social programs to help the poor and low income workers, strengthening social security and Medicare, a reduction in military spending, more support for unions, and finally, dismantling the surveillance state currently in charge of this country.

With views so utterly at odds with the ruling elites, would they ever allow him to become President of the United State? This is a question that was once reserved for third world countries where assassinations and coups have historically been common occurrences, but the United States of America? Sadly, I don’t think it’s an unreasonable concern anymore.

The deep state and the death of democracy

Most progressive emags, blogs and news sources shy away from conspiracy theories such as 9/11, the JFK assassination and the like, and from their perspective, it makes sense. They’re already marginalized, and their credibility is important to their very survival, so delving into highly speculative and controversial “theories” could easily backfire and do more harm to their reputation than good.

There is one area that some might consider a conspiracy theory, however, that the progressive media has investigated and written about extensively, and that is the deep state (great in-depth article here). The deep state or shadow government consists of people we as citizens know very little about, yet who are the ones whose hands are actually on the controls of the surveillance state. This is a relatively small group of civilians and military personnel who work at the highest levels of the NSA, CIA, Department of Defense and other far less visible government organizations. They are the keepers of the secrets.

Sir Francis Bacon is attributed with coining the phase, “Knowledge is power.” This aphorism has never been so true as it is today. A small cabal of officials in Washington has the power to find out virtually anything about anyone, and that includes you, Mr. President, and you, Dianne Feinstein, and you, potential whistleblower. The deep state has the access to, and the control over, information that can ruin political careers, embarrass allies into cooperation and even bring down governments. Bearing all of this in mind, it should come as no surprise that those who could theoretically reign in the spymasters, like the president and congress, haven’t done so, and will not do so in the future.

The idea of the deep state might sound like tin foil hat stuff to some, but it really makes a lot of sense when you consider how little control we the people have over anything done in Washington these days, no matter who we elect to office. Some call it a silent coup, and that seems pretty accurate to me.