(0423)

ddddd

3. Cynical Publius

One of the hardest things for a human to do is to recognize that an institution they have devoted their life to is corrupt.

Loyalty to an institution often blinds us to the defects of that same institution. Because we define ourselves as being well-intentioned, moral and enthusiastic members of an institution, we have a hard time seeing defects in that same institution because to do so is to acknowledge that we are in some way personally enabling those defects.

This is human nature.

I am commenting on this because I have been troubled by some reactions to @DataRepublican’s recent and ongoing revelations regarding plans by ex-USAID employees to overthrow the Constitution. Many establishment types—people who have invested their lives in the U.S. military or other parts of our federal government—are mocking her findings as the insane ramblings of a conspiracy theorist, and they are similarly mocking those of us who are trying to make sure her findings reach a larger audience.

I kind of get that too—in my time in government there were, in fact, numerous outlandish conspiracy theories widely circulated in the civilian populace that I knew based on personal, insider knowledge were wildly baseless claims.

One example was Hurricane Katrina. I was in the National Military Command Center coordinating support for that disaster, and the conspiracies about the CIA blowing up the levees or George Bush withholding support because he “doesn’t care about black people” were wildly inaccurate and wholly contrived. If you are an insider and you hear enough genuinely whacko conspiracy theories, you tend to start dismissing EVERYTHING you hear that smears your institution as being false.

“The institution I have devoted my life to would NEVER do that.” That’s the thought process.

The fix is to be able to compartmentalize your personal contributions away from the defects of the institution that you had no part in. For example, I am proud of my service in Afghanistan and Iraq, without reservation, because I know the good things my service accomplished. At the same time, I acknowledge that the Department of Defense made many incredible, amoral mistakes in those wars. I am able to acknowledge those mistakes without condemning myself. It is a skill one must develop.

Which brings me back to @DataRepublican‘s findings. If you are one of those institution defenders dismissing what she is showing, you need to look again at the evidence she is presenting. She is backing up everything she reports with video and written evidence—it’s all there. Don’t dismiss her out of hand. Listen to and read the unfiltered evidence she presents from primary sources. Let go of your allegiance to the institutions of our federal government long enough to realize that for decades USAID has been a rogue agency inside our government, and now that President Trump and Secretary Rubio have pushed them out the door, they are conspiring to overthrow our system of government using the very tools they developed during their time with USAID.

It’s all there. Go look for yourself. And realize you can safely condemn the institution without condemning yourself.

2. Steve at 1520

1. “Unsenstional news” from France

Were I to start another blog (zero intention, enough on our hands as it is), I might call it “Unsensational news”, as that is what we, meaning all regulars contributing, are trying to get to … the “real” situation afa we can … the complication being that there’s wide divergence in angles.

Take Steve’s take on the Paris riots and contrast it with IYE’s:

Bollox! Was in the heart of the town centre y/ day and not a protest in sight. Nada! Two National police cars circled the town square and one gendarmerie car was in the car park. The two gendarmes got out, locked up and strolled across to a cafe and had their lunch. Protesters were there none. The National police disappeared into the afternoon sun. Alt meejah is no better than the lamestream for trying to create fear and unrest. Shame on whoever plays that game and those numpties repeating it ad nauseam when they should be using the brains the Good Lord gave them.

DAD wrote:

My village was quiet, the two local small towns also; BUT at Poitiers (according to my friend who lives there) was very “hot” in many senses of the word. At Limoge, the very beautiful listed town hall was burned.