Category Archives: Intelligence & Politics

by Barry Kelly | August 31, 2015 · 7:11 am

INSIGHTS 227 — THE ADVISOR, THE PRESIDENT, AND THE PRIMARIES

The President had been chatting with the Advisor for a few minutes about nothing in particular. He appeared to be very relaxed and at ease. The final 18 months of a second term will do that to a president, the Advisor thought.

He seems to be interested in the activities and prospects of the candidates in the Republican and Democratic primaries. Why not focus on what he is interested in rather than trying my prepared questions?

The President was topping off his coffee cup so the Advisor asked, “Mr. President, why do you think Hillary is losing ground to Senator Sanders?”

“Remember when I told you that I don’t follow the law, I use it? Well, to do that takes real political skill and a very thick political skin. I use the law, or my interpretation of the law, to move America to a more equitable political system, one to the left of the European models. I enjoy the good life but the people don’t see me trying to amass great wealth. In my opinion, the Clintons don’t have an image of a better America in their vision. Rather, they have a vision of more money and power for the themselves. Her problems with emails and the activities of their foundation have nothing to do with moving America to a better social and political system. Those problems were created by the need to hide irregularities of mixing a government position with the needs of a money-making foundation. They are far richer than I am and ever will be. It is hard to convince the people you are the champion of their well-being when your own capitalistic greed is there to see. Hillary kept secrets from me when she used her own email server instead of the required and mandated government system server. It’s probable that several of our national security secrets were exposed by being on an unprotected private server.”

“You believe her fading poll numbers are due solely to the way she failed to separate the nation’s needs from her own?”

“No, not solely. Senator Sanders is capitalizing on a little discussed but prominent feature of the democratic process. America started out as a republic. A system of government that used the political power of the states and the electoral college system of the election process to insulate the nation’s political process from the ‘one person, one vote’ premise that is necessarily a part of democratic ideology. Today we have moved away from the ways the American republic protected itself from exclusive control of the popular vote. As soon as the people realized they could vote themselves benefits, the door was open for politicians to begin promising them anything to win votes. Remember ‘hope and change?’ When America becomes a true democracy, where ‘one person, one vote’ is a reality, only the states with the most voters will control the nation. On the far left of American political ideology, where I am now, there is strong support for moving away from the electoral college system and adopting a nationwide popular vote, for all national elections. States will only have control of election to state offices. Senator Sanders maybe the first national office holder who is appealing solely to the wants of the people, not what the nation needs.”

“What about your vice president moving into the race?”

“He can’t win without my support. Unless the FBI investigation leads to Hillary withdrawing, I can’t see anyone else who could win the presidency other than her.”

“Will the FBI investigation lead to her withdrawing?”

“My position is that is up to her and the FBI. I won’t help her. Once it seemed clear she had broken the law and probably exposed classified national security information to our enemies, the FBI had to investigate.” The President finished his last sip of coffee and set the cup down. “Why don’t we talk about the Republican candidates the next time I can get down here?”

“Fine, Mr. President, I would like that.”

This is an account written by a fictional advisor who doesn’t exist but should.

Check out the latest Jack Brandon mystery suspense novels at your local bookstore. Follow the author on Twitter @factsfictions80.

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Filed under Barry Kelly, Capitalism, Clinton, Conservative views, democrats, Eight Decades of Insights, Intelligence & Politics, political solutions, Politics, Progressives

Tagged as bernie sanders, election, Electoral College, emails, FBI, Hillary Clinton, presidency

by Barry Kelly | August 22, 2015 · 7:29 am

INSIGHTS 226 — ARE WE THERE YET?

The president hadn’t been back down to see the Advisor for several days. The Advisor spent his time going back over the last several meetings. The president’s motivation was becoming clearer. The Advisor felt he was now able to understand the president’s actions. Once you broke the code his actions were understandable, but many would always believe he was a failed president who was just inept with a strange view of the world. The Advisor decided to record his thoughts in his journal.

The president has only one goal and that is to transform America into a socialist nation to the left of the European model of socialism. He doesn’t care about solving problems that do not contribute to his transformation process. For example, he has long known the Affordable Care Act could not provide medical care to the nation’s population. But it does bring nearly 8 percent of the economy under government management. Under his health care program, the medical treatment of citizens, especially the aged, would be become so costly with growing chaos that the people would clamor for the single payer system of true socialized medicine. A giant step toward complete socialization.

Under the Dodd/Frank financial legislation, the nation’s financial system is steadily coming more under the control of the federal government. Small businesses are the backbone of the American economy. Dodd/Frank regulations and the Keynesian economic policies of the Federal Reserve are forcing the closure of small local banks that provided credit to small businesses and new startups. Without access to local credit, many small businesses are downsizing or going out of business. Bringing all commerce under control of the federal government is a necessary step toward national socialism.

Large corporations are not immune from the impact of endless regulations flowing from the federal government. The coal industry is vanishing under this onslaught. Costs and regulations are preventing the building of new power plants and refineries. Exploration for new drilling sites is now limited to privately held or state-owned land. Even those areas are the target of increasing regulations. The tax structure with the highest corporate tax rate in the developed world is weakening the competitiveness of American businesses. You don’t need a revolution to convert a capitalist, free market economy into a socialist economy. The impact of high taxes, regulations that set standards for industry that cannot be met or are so costly they will destroy capitalism are enough. A few more years of progressive rule and the federal government will control whatever industries they chose.

Socialism cannot be forced upon a nation with a military force that is not totally controlled by a progressive/socialist elite and where the population is armed. Therefore, the government must use whatever methods necessary to take weapons away from the citizens. The military can be lured into socialism by cutting funds, discouraging the development of new weapons, reducing the size of the armed forces, and throwing thousands of young men and women out into an economy with no jobs. What will these disillusioned and angry young people do? Probably blame the wrong causes.

The last piece the president needs to transform America is to weaken the opposition. He has surely done that. Even though the people have spoken and rejected progressive control of the Congress and given the Republicans control of both Houses, the same hapless ineffective leaders are still in power. They don’t even know what is going on and are acting as if the president’s transformation of America is something they can handle over time by routine congressional procedures. By the time they wake up, it will be too late.

Example: The Iran deal. This is a treaty by any definition, yet the Senate let the president take this action under his executive powers. If this were a treaty, it would need 60 votes in the Senate to approve it.

Who can put a halt to transformation? The Supreme Court and the civil service are already won over to the progressive side. Only a new conservative strong leader can begin to turn this errant ship around. Time is running out.

This is a account written by a fictional advisor who doesn’t exist but should.

Check out the latest Jack Brandon mystery suspense novels at your local bookstore. Follow the author on Twitter @factsfictions80.

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Filed under Barry Kelly, Capitalism, Conservative views, Eight Decades of Insights, Intelligence & Politics, Iran, political solutions, Politics, Progressives

Tagged as affordable health care, dodd frank, Iran, Progressives, socialism

by Barry Kelly | August 20, 2015 · 7:32 am

INSIGHTS 225 — WHO TAKES OVER THE TRANSFORMATION PROCESS?

The President leaned back in his chair with his cigarette and The Advisor in front of him and relaxed. He wasn’t a simple man but he enjoyed simple things. Visiting with the old man in the subterranean passageways under the White House gave him a chance to drop all the role-playing he had to do on a never-ending booking of stages. Most of the causes he spoke about didn’t interest him and the audiences certainly didn’t. Down here he felt safe. Not from any physical danger. He was safe from danger everywhere but from pretension of the sycophants and those just wanting face time, he was only safe in this underground chamber. He doubted if the old man even thought about pushing his own agenda, if he even had one. This was the only place where he really felt he was part of a long line of historical figures who at one time sat at the big desk in the Oval Office. No matter what he said here, there was no danger of any leaks. This might be the only place in the whole damn government where that statement was true.

The Advisor could see the President was deep in some thought and waited before asking him a question that he would not have even hinted at earlier in their relationship. But now he felt their relationship had changed and the President wouldn’t take offense. He topped off the President’s coffee cup and said, “You said last time it was critical that someone would follow you who could carry on your mission of transforming America and the world. Everyone thinks your former rival will be that person. Do you?”

“Not anymore. Knowing what I know now, I should have never put her at the State Department as long as her family foundation was tangled in foreign money-making projects. The temptation of the big amounts of cash must have been too strong. Without the foundation business, she wouldn’t have needed a private email server in her house. I think she is the only member of my Cabinet who broke clear federal laws by using private email channels for government business. It’s reached the point where I might have to let the FBI and Justice Department investigate the matter. The media really won’t really pick up the investigation. They are all far too partisan. Remember how they investigated the Watergate Affair? Here, I have to point out that it wasn’t the FBI or the Attorney General who forced Nixon’s retirement. Not even Congress seems to recognize that presidents don’t investigate themselves or their employees.

“To answer your question: No, I don’t think she will get the nomination. Just too much baggage. I need someone who can get elected and then, at least, hold back the conservative drive to terminate all the programs I put in place until another progressive revolutionary wins the White House and the task of transforming America into a socialist nation is completed. I’ve taken the transformation process about as far as I can.”

“Mr. President, I think the transformation benchmarks achieved during your administration will be the legacy historians write about. Thank you.”

“Talking to you does help me. I’ll be back in a week or so. Goodnight.”

The above is a fictional account of a meeting that never took place, but it could have.

The author’s latest Jack Brandon novel, ISIS Quiet Justice, is available at your local book store and in ebook format from Amazon.com and Barnes & Noble. Follow the author on Twitter at @factsfictions80.

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Filed under Alinsky, Barry Kelly, Capitalism, Conservative views, Eight Decades of Insights, Intelligence & Politics, political solutions, Politics, Progressives

by Barry Kelly | August 17, 2015 · 7:52 am

INSIGHTS 224 — THE ADVISOR ASKS THE PRESIDENT WHY DOESN’T HE GOVERN?

It was late at night when the President stopped in to talk with the Advisor. The Advisor thought as he sat down, He has put up with my pointed questions on our last several meetings. If he is still willing to talk about what I think must be touchy areas for him, I might as well push a little harder.

The Advisor said, “Mr. President, I have two basic areas I would like to hear you talk about. Are you okay to continue with my questions? It is not often anyone gets to really talk to a president about controversial subjects. You are a very different kind of president.”

The President nodded as he lit up a cigarette. The Advisor asked, “Mr. President, I often hear your critics asking things like, ‘Why doesn’t he govern? He doesn’t seem able to solve any problems. He just talks and never fixes anything. In fact, he often makes any problem worse by his rhetoric.’ How would you answer these complaints?”

The President laughed and said, “They just don’t understand. I’m not trying to solve problems to make their lives better or to maintain or increase American economic or military power. I’m doing just the reverse and my critics, especially those professional politicians in Congress, do not have a clue. They are still playing a game that no longer exists. But it’s the only one they know, so they keep playing the same cards over and over again and expect different results. What is that type of thinking called? It is called insane. They are so predictable it takes what little challenge they might have to my authority meaningless.

“I focus on the issues, whatever they are, and will take any position that increases my ability to use the issue to weaken the opposing side. They don’t seem to have a clue to what is happening. I’m well on the way to bringing this bastion of capitalism and individual freedom to a socialist economic and political system of government, one to the left of the European model, and the professional politicians believe I’m just a poor leader. An unfair description because I’m not even trying to be a leader. Here is progress in my plan,” the President said, putting his cigarette in the ashtray and counting off on his fingers. “Increase the debt to intolerable levels, raise taxes to destroy capitalism, if you can’t keep or use what you earn as a greedy business person, why struggle, increase numbers of people dependent on government, take over industry by regulation, control education, banking, the medical system, and make international law into the American justice system.

“Name anyone of my executive departments and I’ll show you an inept, by past standards, group of officials that can’t seem to get anything done right. There are no traditional accomplishments to point to. My slogan is that ‘worse is better.’ The IRS, EPA, DHS, HHS, VA and all the other departments of my executive look like bumbling fools. And some of them are. Some know or suspect my plan, others are just incompetent and that is good. Their job, whether they know it or not, is to make things so bad that socialist policies will look good and be embraced by the population.

“If I had four more years, I could complete the job. This two-term limit is very difficult to get around. The person who follows me must be a true believer, like Hillary, or just a natural bumbler like the rest. Hillary is a true believer, even more than I, in the Alinsky doctrine. Unfortunately, her Clinton money genes are rapidly making her unelectable. May have to do something about that. I should have told you my time for this visit was short. I have to go now. I’m not finished yet. I’ll be back.”

When the President left, the Advisor said, out loud, “This man is really dangerous and I can’t even tell anyone. He knows that. Otherwise he wouldn’t be so candid. I doubt the people in the future whlo read my journals will believe I’ve accurately reported this meeting.”

The above is a fictional account of a meeting that never took place, but it could have.

The author’s latest Jack Brandon novel, “ISIS: Quiet Justice,” is available at your local book store and in ebook format from Amazon.com and Barnes & Noble. Follow the author on Twitter at @factsfictions80.

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Filed under Barry Kelly, Capitalism, Clinton, Conservative views, Eight Decades of Insights, Intelligence & Politics, Obama, political solutions, Politics, Progressives

Tagged as Obama, policy, politics, socialism

by Barry Kelly | August 13, 2015 · 7:57 am

INSIGHTS 222 — THE ADVISOR WANTS TO KNOW: WHY IRAN NOW?

“Mr. President, good to see you again so soon. Your visits help me deal with this isolated living.”

“Are you saying you never leave this place for any reason?”

“For a serious, life-threatening health problem that can’t be handled remotely, I’ll be taken to a private hospital facility. Normally people in this place die here. My predecessor died here just after your second-term victory.”

“I’m impressed by the dedication, if not the choice of occupations and working conditions. Do you have another question for me?”

“Yes. I was encouraged by your candor in answering my last question about closing Guantanamo Bay. My question today is why are you so intent on making a deal with Iran?”

“For the record, I didn’t believe that sanctions would stop Iran from building nuclear weapons. Something else had to be done or the Israelis would launch a surprise air attack on Iran’s nuclear industry that could set off a much wider war. In a sense, my deal with Iran pre-empts the Israelis and, therefore, the initiation of a big war that could spread out of the Middle East. My closest advisor in the White House has strong ties to Iran and has convinced me there was and is no other option.”

“Yes, but what about Iran’s poor record of living up to agreements and their sponsorship of terrorist groups in Lebanon, Yemen, Iraq, and Syria?”

“When sovereign nations live up to agreements it is because they have no other choice. Do you want me to recite the times America has failed to abide by agreements that were no longer economically or geo-politically advantageous, such as our treaties with the Indian nations and some third world countries?”

“No. That will not be necessary. There is some truth to your position. Strong nations often ignore treaties or agreements that are no longer of real use. But why do you think Israel will not attack nuclear facilities in Iran? Iran has promised to wipe Israel off the world’s map!”

“Israel knows both China and Russia will back Iran against them. A major portion of the funds being released to Iran and the income they will receive from sales of their oil will go to China and Russia to purchase defensive and offensive weapons. If Israel is going to strike, it must be soon. The window is closing with the import of air and ground defense systems from Russia and China. I have a much better intuitive understanding of the Middle East and the Muslim world than my critics. You see, I do not have the nationalist baggage most Americans carry. I don’t see the great things they believe their power and influence has accomplished on an international basis. From the Crusades to the centuries of Western Imperialism, America has been the enemy of the Muslim world. Iran has been, for much of recorded history, a formidable empire. Why does Iran not have a right to recover their past greatness by having modern weapons and extending their influence over the more primitive Sunni Arab states? At heart, I am a citizen of the world. Part Christian, part Muslim but the strongest part is Islam of the third world, like my father.”

“What do you hope will be accomplished by your agreement with Iran?”

“It will bring about another power center in the world to complete with Western colonialism and capitalism. The same process will also transform the traditional power structure in the Middle East where the Sunnis of the past have been allied too close to the West because of the need to sell their oil to the developed world. If Iran can, by whatever means, take control of the flow of oil from the Middle East and direct it more equitably to other parts of the world. I want to not only transform America, but the Middle East as well. Now I have to go. I hope these talks are helping you to understand my policies.”

“Thank you, Mr. President. Yes, I can see more clearly what you are trying to achieve. May I ask more questions on your next visit?”

“Yes, but now I must go. I find talking to you helps me to better understand what I must do in my remaining time. Goodnight.”

“Goodnight, Mr. President.”

The above is a fictional account of a meeting that never took place, but it could have.