Club Membership Uber Alles!

     If you have any memory of the Brett Kavanaugh hearings before the Senate Judiciary Committee a few years back, you might remember this:

     To me, the most important snippet of Senator Graham’s tirade is when he points to the Democrats on the committee and says “These have been my friends.” It’s a massively revealing statement, and massively relevant to many events that have occurred since that time.

***

     It hardly needs to be said that the corrupt, power-obsessed Democrats recognize no priority above that of getting their way. From that perspective, it can legitimately be said that they have no friends, as we would use the term. Friends don’t sacrifice one another in a quest for power over others. As the Kavanaugh hearings made plain, the much-ballyhooed “collegiality” of the Senate means nothing of substance to them.

     Now, it can be argued that there are similarly corrupt and power-obsessed Republicans, and I’m sure that’s true. But when we seek the reasons for overall Republican spinelessness, sometimes amounting to passive collaboration, in the face of Democrat aggression, there’s another motivation to be addressed that might weigh more heavily still. It brings us back to that “collegiality” business, and not in a pleasant way.

     Commenting on the themes and motifs in his novel Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy, British espionage writer “John le Carre” (his real name is David Cornwall) spoke of the “member of my club” effect. That is, a high-ranking member of Britain’s intelligence service would automatically reject an accusation of treason lodged against another high-ranking member, because both are part of an elite: “It can’t be! Not a member of my club!” The elevated social circle that encloses both persons protects either against suspicion by the other.

     The “member of my club” effect reaches much further than that, especially among persons in government service. It weakens Republicans’ opposition to Democrat initiatives by gentling their objections to such things. After all, one wouldn’t want to give offense to “a member of my club.”

     Democrats feel no such reluctance, but that hardly need be said.

***

     Today, Brock Townsend points at a disturbing set of relationships:

     The Ghislaine Maxwell trial is underway, and there is breaking news that is sure to play a role in how the trial plays out.

     The latest shocking piece of information is the identity of one of the prosecutors.

     Maurene Comey, the daughter of former FBI director James Comey, has been named one of the lead prosecutors in the case against Maxwell.

     Many are already crying foul over this news, especially after hearing that the judge in the trial, US District Judge Alison J. Nathan, was recently nominated by Joe Biden to a higher office in the US 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals.

     (More extensive coverage of these matters can be found here.)

     Some commentators have already cited this as an example of the Deep State at work, and that is so. But within the Deep State there are higher and lower circles of privilege. The circle that unites the players named above is high indeed. Whether or not Maurene Comey and Alison Nathan have already pledged to protect Miss Maxwell (along with the reputations of any of her associates who might be named during the trial), we cannot know. Nevertheless, their common “club membership” is alarming enough without considering the possibility of corruption. Is objective justice something we can reasonably expect under such circumstances?

     It’s been said that we should not assume malice as an explanation when stupidity would suffice. These days, I have my doubts about that guideline. But a similar sort of preference-in-ordering might apply to controversies where common “club membership” can be plainly seen.

4 comments

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    • Robert on November 30, 2021 at 8:40 AM

    I do not trust anything this corrupt administration is involved with. There is no more rule of law, no more justice. We are ruled by a bunch of elite despots who should all be behind bars.

    • Hoagie on November 30, 2021 at 8:45 AM

    The corruption of the Brandon junta is overwhelming.  When will we have enough?

    1. I seriously doubt that any effective action will be taken against them. At this time they hold all the cards. They certainly would never elect to prosecute themselves.

    • Georgiaboy61 on November 30, 2021 at 2:43 PM

    The deep-state does not like to be caught with its proverbial hand in the cookie jar, but when it happens and the people get angry and demand action, they have plenty of fall-back options. The on-going “Pedo-Gate” affair illustrates this phenomenon well. Based on what is known thus far, the client list of Ghislaine Maxwell includes some of the most-powerful, wealthy and connected people on earth – up to and including the British royal family, to name one player. Prince Andrew is the fall guy there. It is pretty safe to assume that Washington D.C. is full of people, Democrat and Republican alike, who have been ensnared in the net.

    Faced with a big scandal which is about the blow-up, the black bag boys often use an intel technique called the “hang-out” or “limited hang-out.” These are jargon or slang for the technique of revealing part of a scandal deliberately in the hopes that pulling back the curtain partway will sate the public’s curiosity, and buy the men in the shadows enough time for the news cycle to move on. The art of the hang-out is to do it in such a way as to divert the attention of the public from worse misdeeds which still lie hidden behind the curtain, or to protect even more-prominent people than the ones in the spotlight.

    The other practice, well-known by now, is for the black bag boys to sacrifice some smaller fish to protect the biggest fish from harm. In this, the D.C. establishment functions not unlike the mafia or the old Daley regime in Chicago: The top guys never take the fall; that’s what the ‘foot soldiers’ are for.. expendable guys further down the food chain.

    A final tactic the deep-state uses when it is to be investigated is to seize control of the investigation, if possible, and install one of their own as its head. That way, the proceedings can be ‘steered’ such that they do not implicate the people or organizations the deep-state wants to protect. The Warren Commission – whose brief it was to investigate the assassination of JFK – was headed by deep-state mainstay Allen Dulles – a man whom many suspect of having some involvement in the president’s death. Textbook deep-state move. Closely-aligned with this method is the use of one or more dupes. Lee Harvey Oswald was one such dupe or fall-guy, maybe the classic example. In the case of JFK, pin the murder of the president on Oswald, and then have him assassinated in turn before he can spill the beans. In a conspiracy, all loose ends are trimmed…

    The presence of the last name “Comey” amongst the personae at the Maxwell proceedings indicates without doubt that the deep-state is up to its old tricks once again. The fix is in again…. way in. Oh, and BTW,  Ghislaine Maxwell didn’t commit suicide!

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