Author Archives: Barry Kelly

About Barry Kelly

Author of "Justice Beyond Law," "Justice Without Mercy," "Shades of Justice," "Justice Without Mercy," and "Run to Freedom," as well as two ,"nonfiction books ,"INSIGHTS-The Transforming of America," and "INSIGHTS-Stepping Stones to Tyranny. He also is the author of the blog "8 Decades of Insights." Barry Kelly is no stranger to the world of espionage, counter-terrorism, weapons, deep cover, and the inner workings of the governmental security apparatus. His immersion in the Cold War began with enlistment in the U.S. Navy during the Korean War. Following his discharge, he earned a BA from the University of Pittsburgh and a master’s degree from Duke. His career in the CIA included deep cover operations and overseas experience, primarily in South and Southeast Asia. He has been awarded the Certificate of Merit with Distinction, the Intelligence Medal of Merit, the Cross of Gallantry with Silver Star, the Distinguished Intelligence Medal and the Intelligence Officer of the Year Award. After retiring from the CIA, Kelly served as a special assistant to President Reagan. He holds a first dan black belt in hap-ki-do. Visit www.factsandfictions.com or find the author on Facebook.

by Barry Kelly | July 12, 2017 · 12:06 pm

The Professor: What Happened to the Rule of Law?

A fictional discourse between a learned political science professor and his students.

“I can’t believe it is mid-July. The older I get, the faster time flies by. Something is wrong with the physics of time measurement. As I get wiser with age and think I’ve more to write, time reminds me, ‘No, you must be even more selective.’

“Okay. I got it. But the ‘rule of law’ is one of our most important principles and I must make a few comments for my students — past, present, and future. When I watch the “news” or follow events online, I’m struck by the ‘Alice in Wonderland’ nature of the political discourse. It seems everything must be investigated by everyone. We used to investigate crimes. Now we have the pinnacle of our law enforcement system, a special consul, investigating everything, searching for a crime that has not been identified. Without a broadly accepted and understood crime, how can the massive authorities and resources of a special consul be authorized?

“Or perhaps a more relevant question might be how can it not be authorized when clear rules and laws have been repeatedly broken and massive evidence has been collected and ignored? I think the only honorable course for Mr. Mueller, our special consul, to take is to immediately describe the crime and continue his work or state there is no crime to investigate and go back to history’s dustbin. Or he could pick up the investigation of the Clintons’ action in transferring a significant portion of American uranium to Russia through a Canadian company with payment reportedly being paid to the Clinton Foundation via grants and six-figure payments for speeches made by our former president while his wife was the secretary of state allegedly processing these actions through her private email server. This activity certainly is beyond a charge of collusion and closer to graft and corruption. What about the IRS scandal, Benghazi, the fast and furious arms deal involving the border patrol and secret meetings between the attorney general and a former president in a period when his wife’s actions were a ‘matter’ of interest to the FBI?

“We have moved from a place where nothing was investigated to where serious investigations are underway without a crime being defined. When the ‘rule of law’ is corrupted, we are on a very dangerous path to a place where the law does not apply to everyone but can be used to attack political figures and organizations. Both the progressives and the Republicans share the blame for this, one for being too aggressive and the other of being too timid.”

The Professor: Guns, Tweets and Socialism.

The following is a fictional account of the written and oral communications between a political science professor and the students of an honors seminar in an East Coast liberal arts college.

As summer drags on, I find myself surrounded by books, the process people of academic life and my own musings. I find my own thoughts seem to have more relevance in the world you are preparing for. To understand the way people have been ruled and governed over the course of history, you must work your way back to basics. As I see it, the most profound problem facing you is the conflict between freedom of choice and socialism. That choice is about as basic as political science can get.

When I was thinking about this age-old conflict last night, I concluded that the message of socialism where everyone is taken care of and some central group of elites deals with all problems, relieving the people of the difficult choices life presents. No message has presented a more attractive option to the people than socialism. For it provides security and prosperity for all through the establishment of a political party that is also the centralized government. The reality is that with a one-party ruled government, freedom of choice is gone and with it individual excellence. Remove the market place of competing choices and what is left is a government that must turn to coercion to ensure that its choice prevails. Socialists have no other option. Thinking independent men and women do not follow the dictates of a centralized government without resisting.

There has never been a socialist governed people who could own and use firearms, and to tweet their ideas and comments to anyone willing to read them. America has a unique history. It was founded by working people who used their guns and freedom of expression to break free from British rule. The government they established was built on pillars of individual freedom. Perhaps the First and Second Amendments are the strongest of these pillars. The Second Amendment, the right to bear arms, is necessary to protect the First Amendment of free speech and assembly.

European socialist governments, including the British, have not allowed the people to own firearms. The European ruling classes have always feared uprisings by the masses, a socialist term for the people. These two freedoms, free speech and ownership of firearms, are linked together. Without these two essential freedoms, there can be no freedom of choice. The Socialist/Progressives understand this and will never include the right to bear arms in any socialist government. Don’t be confused by the promises freely made by Socialists. Their message is insidious and carefully hides the true repressive nature of their doctrine. Remember, examine the basics of the historical examples. Cuba is a good example.

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by Barry Kelly | June 23, 2017 · 12:56 pm

The Professor: Where is the Attorney-General?

The following is a fictional account of the written and oral communications between a political science professor and the students of an honors seminar in an East Coast liberal arts college.

Here is another piece I just wrote that will be used in the Fall semester which I hope several of you will attend. Sometimes the crucial part of a problem is so close to the center that it is overlooked. I think today that the strange absence of Attorney-General Jeff Sessions is a perfect example.

It would be hard to find a better choice than Senator Jeff Sessions for this important post. The AG’s role in any administration is to oversee the functioning of the nation’s law enforcement forces and to provide advice, counsel and protection to the office of the President. It is that last responsibility that is clearly lacking. Mr. Sessions early in his confirmation process recused himself from any involvement in the investigation of President Elect Trump or candidate Trump and collusion with the Russians. This was a serious mistake.

Months later, no evidence has been discovered in any of several investigations that there was any Republican collusion with the Russians. During all that time Attorney-General Sessions has been nearly invisible. Now through a process worthy of a fiction novel, a special consul has been appointed by Mr. Session’s deputy, Mr. Rosenstein. A special counsel that should have been rejected due to his long-standing and close personal and professional relationship with fired FBI Director, James Comey. Mr. Mueller, a former Director of the FBI, has been hiring a steady stream of legal professionals with strong ties, financial and political, to Hillary Clinton or the Clinton Foundation. Does anyone think a fair and impartial investigation will be conducted by this group?

The special consul’s or independent consul’s investigation could go on for more than a few years. Remember no crime has been identified. There is nothing except Progressive Party theories and charges. This totally political investigation is impacting the President’s ability to implement his policies and fulfilling his campaign promises. The promises that the people voted for.

This cannot continue. The Attorney General must step up and take charge or resign and enable President Trump to appoint another AG that will end this dangerous nonsense by firing Mueller and Rosenstein. No crime, no investigation. Let the President focus on America’s recovery.

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Filed under Barry Kelly, Clinton, Comey, Conservative views, FBI, Intelligence & Politics, Progressives, Russia, Special Consul, trump

by Barry Kelly | June 19, 2017 · 2:17 pm

The Professor: Special Counsel is a Danger

The following is a fictional account of the written and oral communications between a political science professor and the students of an honors seminar in an East Coast liberal arts college.

Before you know it, we’ll be back in class for the Fall Semester. My summer course in Presidential Politics is going well. At least that is what my keepers say. It keeps me active and thinking how to engage your generation which I have trouble defining. When I’m feeling uncharitable, I want to define you as the ‘over educated cupcake generation.’ Perhaps very unfair but what challenge or hardship has defined you?

Maybe it will be the raging political war between the pragmatic conservatives and the socialists who are still seeking to transform America via the redistribution of wealth and a centralized government, run by a progressive elite. Class warfare by another name. The battle is real. The Democratic party, now run by very left-wing progressives, is seeking to destroy the Trump Administration and establish a system of one-party rule.

Having lost an election, the Progressives are now seeking to use tactics of full-scale resistance. Perhaps the most dangerous tactic is the use of a special counsel to investigate the imagined crime of collusion between the Trump Administration and the Russians.

First to set the battlefield. After seven months of investigations, Congressional and FBI investigations have not found any evidence of collusion between the Trump campaign or Administration and the Russians. So, we have now appointed a Special Counsel to investigate a crime no one can find. The progressives know that doesn’t matter. With enough resources and time, the Special Counsel will find some obscure matter unrelated to collusion with the Russians and try to use it to destroy the Trump Administration. Strong statement. Yes. Let’s drill down a little further.

Former FBI Director, James Comey, is not a role model for the storied FBI. He couldn’t stand up to pressure from Loretta Lynch regarding the so-called FBI investigation of Hillary Clinton and the Clinton Foundation. Looking for real crimes. That’s is where to look. Back to the story. Comey leaks documents covering his meetings with President Trump to a friend who then makes the government documents available to the New York Times. He does this illegal act so that a special counsel will be appointed and that is exactly what happened.

Now the plot thickens. Rosenstein, the Deputy Attorney General, appoints Robert Mueller, a former Director of the FBI and a long-time friend and colleague of James Comey as the Special Counsel. Their close relationship over several years should have disqualified Mr. Mueller from the Special Counsel position. The law is clear and explicit on this point.

Mr. Mueller immediately hires several lawyers with close ties to the Clintons and their foundation and according to press reports is widening his search for a crime. The history of the special or independent counsel shows you can find or manufacture some questionable actions on anybody if you look long enough with the broad powers granted to the special counsel.

The intent of this political tactic by the progressives is to destroy the Trump Presidency and to proceed with their transformation of America. How can you have a civil discourse with political opposition whose main mission is to destroy the Republican opposition by any means possible?

The only effective response is to attack by exposing Deputy Attorney General Rosenstein’s unlawful appointment of Mr. Mueller. Continue by firing both Mr. Rosenstein and Mr. Mueller and follow-up by appointing another Special Counsel to investigate the Clintons, Loretta Lynch and the IRS. Let’s see what happens then. Maybe the Republican Congressional leadership will show some backbone.

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Filed under Barry Kelly, class warfare, Clinton, Comey, Conservative views, democrats, FBI, Intelligence & Politics, Presidential Debate, Republicans

by Barry Kelly | June 4, 2017 · 3:41 pm

The Professor: A New Terrorism?

The Professor’s class for the Spring Term was over. He had one course to teach during the summer. For those students and those who would return for his honor’s seminar during the Fall Semester, he decided to send them periodic pieces on important political events. He began with, “You can’t get away. Social media and my emails can reach you anywhere. Of course, you can always opt out by filling in a 23 page questionnaire I will send you on request. Like it or not terrorism is something all political scientists majors should understand. In many ways you are the first line of defense. Several years ago, during my brief career as a novelist, I wrote extensively about the terrorism of the last decade. I don’t mind advertising them now as I’m putting all of them on Amazon’s publication program for very low prices for both paperbacks and ebooks. I have taken the section below from my first novel crafted some ten years ago, and titled, Justice Beyond Law.

The goal of terrorism is to create an increasing frequency of attacks against the population that will cause the security forces to appear unable to protect the nation’s streets. In the past terrorism has been limited to attacks against targets with high political impacts. These attacks can and have caused mass deaths and billions of dollars in property damage but they do not spread terror throughout the land. The terrorists want deadly acts that cause the citizens to change their way of life and to believe the nation’s security forces cannot protect them.

Carefully managed terrorism can successful destroy an enemy. An enemy that was previously thought to be invincible. It isn’t as most terrorists and their supporters thought that each terrorist act had to be sensational to be successful. Many isolated sensational terrorist operations like the attack on the World Trade Center ended up by making the nation’s resolve stronger and its internal security procedures more effective. Average citizens expect that important people and national landmarks are the targets of terrorists. What is far more effective is to have people from all classes lose confidence in the ability of the government to protect their lives and property.

It is too hard for terrorists to continually hit high-profile targets. The detailed planning and logistical effort required to hit high impact targets cannot be sustained. If, however, the terrorists concentrate on soft or unprotected targets they can continue a drum beat of assassinations and sabotage. Then, the government using their forces of law and order is unable to protect the people. We are in a war against terror by radical Muslim Jihadists. Wars are not won using the forces of law and order and the language of ‘political correctness.’

The media will spread the fear of the impact of terrorist’s acts and by attacking their own government blunt effective responses, causing citizens to lose confidence and no longer trust the authorities to protect them. This is the new terrorism.

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