Category Archives: Eight Decades of Insights

by Barry Kelly | May 12, 2015 · 7:00 am

INSIGHTS 205 — THE PRESIDENT LECTURES THE ADVISOR

As the President walked with Chris, the Secret Service chief of his detail, he was anxious for the chance to put the Advisor straight. For all his cultured ways and knowledge, the Advisor is living in a different world, the president thought. He is no revolutionary. He might be black but he doesn’t understand how American blacks are truly the victims of capitalism, colonialism, and white supremacy. Left to people like him, blacks would still be second-class citizens. My mission is to not only transform America but to fix it so that it will never be a world power again. Capitalism, the free market, individual rights and freedoms, and the two-party system will be replaced by a progressive elite that knows better than the masses what the people need. The last thing I do will be to weld this damned old iron door shut with the so-called Advisor inside.

Chris said, “Mr. President, we are here.”

“Yes. I won’t be long.”

The President pressed his right palm against the copper plate and the door slowly opened without a sound. The president wondered, how does this door move so quietly? The old man must have a daily schedule to lubricate the hinges. I’ll give him credit . Everything he does is impeccable. His manners are so correct they piss me off. Somewhere he learned the fine art of brewing outstanding coffee. Damn recipe probably extends back to the days of the founders. He may revere them but I surely don’t. Their system of government was designed to protect property and enable the rich a way to become richer and more powerful, thereby perpetuating the class system.

“Good evening, Mr. President. I’m anxious to hear your response to our last session. If you will take a seat, I’ll pour you a cup of my special blend. It is not much different. But it does have a deeper aroma and a pleasant after taste.”

The President put his nicotine gum in the waste basket and lit up a real cigarette. “It is almost worth coming here just to have your coffee with a cigarette and with no one looking at me at me for smoking. A president has to have a few personal perks. I tell you, I have precious few. Between my wife, my main above-ground advisor, and a bunch of whining bureaucrats, I don’t have much free time. Playing golf, coming here, and speaking at fundraisers are my only getaways.

“I take issue with your comments from last week. No matter what happens after my transformation process, America and the existing world order will never be the same. The world will be a much better place for all but the current rich and powerful. They, along, with the twin evils of capitalism and individual freedoms, will be gone. And so will all the complicated self-serving alliances, treaties, and subtle forms of modern colonialism. Both on the national and international stages the principle of ‘to each according to need and from each according to ability’ will govern. There is not a better guiding theme in any religion or governing scheme.

“I favor Islam for its no-nonsense legal system of Sharia law and its historical hatred of capitalism and all things Western. The religions of the West all support western political goals and objectives. Just look at the death and destruction the Crusades caused. From within Islam I’m a supporter of the great civilizations of the Persian Empires. They embrace the Shiite form of Islam rather than the radical and harsh Sunni version of Islam. Also, the Sunnis have sided with the West, especially America, and that is not good.

“I want the Iranians to have nuclear weapons. The world playing field needs to be leveled and the West has told us for decades that ‘Mutual Assured Destruction’ is a peaceful principle. For when everyone has the bomb, no one will use it. If they do use it, my transformation of the world order will still take place. A new and more just world will rise from the ashes of the past.”

The room grew silent. The Advisor sat quietly. Finally, the president said, “I’m through. Any comments?”

“Yes. One main one. Your goal is not new. Others have tried Marx’s principle. All have ended up in mass deaths, prison camps, and rule by an elite that quickly takes the riches and prerogatives of the wealthy class they replaced. What has ended up are inefficient governing models, a shrinking of economic growth, a harsh and stagnant rule by a group that is not elite but only serves the people in power with no checks on their rule. Individual freedoms, hopes, social mobility are gone. What remains is not a beautiful, better world but an ugly totalitarian rule by believers in a utopia that does not exist and never will.”

“I didn’t think you would understand.”

“On the contrary, I understand all too well.”

“At least you are honest. I’ll come back because I want to tell you about the next two years on the domestic front.”

The president signaled for Chris, drained his cup, and walked to the door. Over his shoulder the president said, “You might not know it but the weather outside is beautiful, gardens are blooming, beautiful women are walking the streets, the rain is soft and warm, it is a real delight to wander around my Rose Garden. You should try it sometime.”

“Thank you, Mr. President, but my place is here as long as I can physically do my duty. I look forward to our next visit.”

The above is a fictional account of a president meeting with a legendary but fictional advisor.

“ISIS: Quiet Justice,” a new Jack Brandon novel dealing with ISIS in America, is now available from Amazon and Barnes and Noble in print form and nook and Kindle formats. Follow the author on Twitter @factsfictions80.

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Filed under Barry Kelly, Capitalism, class warfare, Conservative views, Eight Decades of Insights, Intelligence & Politics, Iran, political solutions, Shiite, Sunni, totalitarianism, Utopian

Tagged as Islam, Middle East, transformation

by Barry Kelly | May 8, 2015 · 7:47 am

INSIGHTS 204 — The Advisor’s Core Facts of the Middle East

The Advisor had no trouble putting together the realities of the Middle East, but he spent extra time deciding how to present a picture that would not cause the president to walk out on him during his presentation. The president was intelligent but had a very thin skin for such an accomplished political campaigner. Perhaps, he thought, it is because the truth had no place on his campaign trails. On the campaign, the ends for him clearly justified whatever needed to be done or said to weaken the opposition. The president had taken on board the Saul Alinsky rules totally. The issue is never the issue is his guidance for all his policies and speeches. The man is remarkably consistent and, for his followers, he is brilliant. He can avoid and ignore issues that any previous president would have believed he had to take on.

As he mused over his dilemma, the Advisor worked to stay within his historic guidelines. He had to advise his president to the best of his ability. The fact that he thought this president was clearly focused on destroying the political and economic structure he inherited was a problem, for his responsibility was to advise the president in his role to protect and improve the life of its citizens. If he could be just a little dishonest, he could rationalize that the president wanted to improve America. But in the process of socialization, great harm would be done. Freedom and the ability to rise above the norm would be lost as long as socialism, communism, or progressivism prevailed. He just couldn’t, or more honestly, wouldn’t follow that path.

At that moment, the Advisor’s only phone rang, with the only person he ever spoke to, outside the president, on the other line. Chris Hammond, the chief of the President’s Secret Service detail, said the president would late, somewhere near midnight. Good, he thought, that will give me time for a nap, a shower, and a frozen Indian curry dinner.

It was almost midnight when the Advisor put on a fresh pot of Sumatra dark roast. He was just getting ready to pour himself a cup when the faint alarm sounded and the president entered.

“Welcome, Mr. President. You must be able to smell fresh coffee brewing.”

The president chuckled. “When the coffee is as good as yours, I could smell it for miles, even when it is coming from an underground cave. Your existence is even more constrained than mine. I suspect you have learned to take pleasure in small things.”

“Yes, I have. That is very perceptive of you. There doesn’t seem to be much instant gratification in your life.”

“No, there isn’t. And I think I won’t get much in the next hour or so. Shall we begin? Surprise me.” The president sat back in his seat at the conference table, a cigarette already between his fingers.

“First, some basics. You know most of these but they are important in any discussion of the Middle East, no matter the subject. The people of the Middle East have a past they are proud of and a present they are not. Tribal allegiance is still a very important factor. Mobility up the social chain is much harder than it is in America where education is the key to improved status. In the Middle East it is religion and revolution. For reasons beyond my understanding Asian and Middle Eastern people have a very long and usually patient view of the time/progress ratio. Americans are only comfortable with instant gratification plus a decade.

“Then, there is the history of religious wars and colonialism when troops from the West with superior weapons and technology subjugated people of the Middle East and attempted to impose Western culture and even religion in the conquered areas. As a result the people of this historic crossroad both admire and hate the West with its superior technology.

“After World War I, diplomats from the West drew national boundaries that failed to consider tribal loyalties, religious affiliations, and the hunger of people for their own homeland. The situation of present-day Kurds is an example. The destruction of Saddam Hussain’s Iraqi ’empire’ created a vacuum that the Iranians are filling after noting the West had abandoned the region.

“Iran is the dominant single nation in the Middle East today. For decades, they have been working to take control of Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, and Yemen by creating and funding Shiite terrorists groups in all these nations. The West has been ineffective in thwarting the Iranian drive to hegemony in the Middle East. Now the Iranians want to solidify their gains and they need to be a nuclear power to do so. Unless they are presented with strong military and economic resistance, they will not be deterred in achieving nuclear status with an ICBM capability. They cannot be trusted to honor any agreement or treaty that stands in the way. Nor will they stop the funding and equipping of proxy terrorist organization to further their dominance of the Middle East. Nothing in Iran will change for the better in Western terms without a regime change. I know you have other reasons for negotiating with the Ayatollahs but there will be a terrible price to pay in human terms.”

The president sat still for a moment, then took a final drag on his cigarette before grinding it down on the table. “There were some surprises but you gave the speech I expected. I have to go, but this is interesting. I’ll give my response at one of our next meetings.” He left without another word or without a look back, per usual.

The Advisor found himself already impatient to hear the president’s response.

The above is a fictional account of a president meeting with a legendary but fictional advisor.

“ISIS: Quiet Justice,” a new Jack Brandon novel dealing with ISIS in America, is now available from Amazon and Barnes and Noble in print form and nook and kindle formats. Follow the author on Twitter @factsfictions80.

INSIGHTS 202 — THE ADVISOR AND WHAT’S WITH THE IRAN THING?

The Advisor had worked all week in getting ready for tonight’s discussions with the president. There was a lot to cover.

The entire negotiation process with Iran was filled with false starts, new beginnings, and endless private discussions by various participants.This was going to be a hard session. The Advisor had serious reservations about negotiating with Iran, but he knew the president was dead set on doing some kind of a deal with Iran. But the president had told him he wanted to hear his candid appraisal of the Iran initiative.

A soft bell rang and the Advisor glanced at his hall monitor screen. Sure enough the President and Chris were on their way to the old iron door to his chambers and only 25 minutes late. The president gave his usual murmured greeting and sat down at the conference table in his usual seat. The Advisor poured him a cup of fresh cup of dark roast while the president was lighting a cigarette.

“I know I’m not going to like what you’re going to tell me, but you’re the smartest person I get advice from and you don’t have an agenda. Of all the things I’ve told you over the years, nothing has leaked. You and I have opposing political beliefs but no one hears them except me.”

The Advisor thought, No one hears them but my successors for as long as this nation endures will be able to read them. The president nodded and said, I’ve got 45 minutes, so let’s get started.”

“Mr. President, the Iranians or Persians are a great and proud people. They’ve slipped over the centuries from the pinnacle of being a dominant world power. They want to reclaim their heritage. They don’t have the population or the economic base to be even a regional power. They have correctly analyzed their position and have concluded that becoming a nuclear power is the quickest way to improve their status. Under their religious leadership they will not be redirected. No matter the price, they will pay it. Keeping economic sanctions on will only delay their journey to nuclear status.

“Nothing they say or promise will change their push for nuclear weapons. So you cannot trust them to keep their word. Short of changing the Iranian leadership or very heavy military strikes at their nuclear facilities and military centers nothing you or others can do will stop Iran from becoming a nuclear power.

“Now for the downside of negotiating with the Iranian leadership. You know better than your White House staff, the political ramifications of the Sunni/Shiite division. Our traditional Middle Eastern allies have been the Sunnis. Our dealings with the Iranians have driven a stake of mistrust between us and the Sunnis that may never be removed. In addition, the Israelis believe America has deceived them. Their trust in America has been seriously eroded.

“The other downside of a deal with the Iranians is that until now we have successfully kept the Russians out of the Middle East. You have already seen the Russians move to sell first line air defense hardware to Iran. More weapon sales will follow. Your European friends will not agree to reimpose economic sanctions. They want Iranian treasure for their goods more than they worry about Iran becoming a nuclear power. They have always been appeasers when faced with a choice between future dangers and the promise of prosperity now.

“One last point. when Iranians get the bomb, they will use it. My time is up.”

“Good. I’ll tell you now, while I agree to some of your analysis, I do not agree with your overall conclusions. My plan is to use Iran to change the world order in a way that will ensure a more peaceful world based on a partnership between nations in a playing field I have leveled. At our next meeting, it will be my turn to talk.”

The president ground out his last cigarette and left.

The above is a fictional account of a president meeting with a legendary but fictional advisor.

“ISIS Quiet Justice,” a new Jack Brandon novel dealing with ISIS in America, is now available from Amazon and Barnes and Noble in print form and nook and kindle formats. Follow the author on Twitter @factsfictions80.

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Filed under Eight Decades of Insights, Intelligence & Politics, Iran, Israel, political solutions, Russia, Shiite, Sunni

Tagged as advisor, America, Barack Obama, Iran, negotiations, President Obama

by Barry Kelly | April 20, 2015 · 7:04 am

INSIGHTS 200 — THE BIG LIE

In the late 1930s and early 1940s the Nazi propaganda chief, Goebbels, coined the phrase, “The Big Lie.” I’m sure the concept wasn’t original with him, but the Nazis used it consistently in their propaganda. The essence of the idea is that if you tell a big lie often enough, people will gradually come to believe it.

I can take the theory even further. If you tell the same lie often and with conviction, you will believe your own lie.

Conservatives and traditional Democrats have their image issues, but it is nothing like the progressive radical left that is now running the country. Progressives believe from deep in their DNA that the end justifies the means as long as the intent is to overthrow and replace the current political structure. Saul Alinsky, the brilliant guru of the progressives, explains this issue in his books. Reading his “Rules for Radical” is enlightening. Both President Obama and Hillary Clinton are Alinsky disciples. Hillary Clinton had a personal as well as an intellectual relationship with Alinsky. Conservatives tend to avoid the consistent use of lies as their core culture values the integrity of the spoken word.

A clear and recent example of the progressive use of the big lie by a leading progressive is Harry Reid’s statement as the Senate Majority Leader in which he charged presidential candidate Mitt Romney with not paying his taxes. When confronted with this big lie, Reid said, “He didn’t get elected, did he?”

An even more famous example is President Obama saying repeatedly that, “If you like your doctor, you can keep your doctor.” He said the same thing regarding your health care insurance, i.e. “If you like your insurance you can keep your insurance.” He knew all the while that neither statement was true, but the end justified the means in his mind. He delivered these lies with such conviction, I believe he actually believed he was telling the truth.

Below is a partial list of current big lies being supported by our progressive president and his followers:

AL-QAEDA IS ON THE RUN;
THE ATTACK ON BENGHAZI WAS THE RESULT OF ANTI-ISLAM VIDEO PRODUCED IN AMERICA;
WE WILL TRACK THE ATTACKERS DOWN AND BRING THEM TO JUSTICE;
ISIS, AL-QAEDA, AND ALL THEIR OFFSHOOT TERRORIST ORGANIZATIONS ARE NOT PART OF OR MOTIVATED BY ISLAM;
THE ECONOMY IS GOOD AND UNEMPLOYMENT IS DOWN;
COUNTER-TERRORIST POLICES IN YEMEN AND ETHIOPIA HAVE BEEN SUCCESSFUL;
PUTIN’S POLICIES WILL LEAD TO RUSSIA BEING ISOLATED BY THE CIVILIZED WORLD;
MY ADMINISTRATION WILL FOLLOW ALL POSSIBLE PATHS TO ENERGY SUFFICIENCY IN AMERICA;
BUILDING THE KEYSTONE PIPELINE WILL NOT CREATE MANY FULL-TIME JOBS;
CREATING NEW JOBS IS OUR NUMBER ONE PRIORITY;
OUR NEGOTIATED DEAL WITH IRAN IS THE BEST WAY TO PREVENT THEM FROM DEVELOPING NUCLEAR WEAPONS AND STOP THEIR SPONSORSHIP OF TERRORISM THROUGHOUT THE MIDDLE EAST;
CARE OF OUR VETERANS HAS IMPROVED;
POLICE PROFILING AND TARGETING OF BLACKS IS THE CAUSE OF URBAN RACIAL VIOLENCE;
INCREASED GOVERNMENT SPENDING ON INFRASTRUCTURE, RESEARCH, AND EDUCATION WILL CREATE ECONOMIC GROWTH;
THE COLD WAR POLICIES OF PEACE THROUGH STRENGTH NO LONGER WORK. WE NEED A NEW WORLD ORDER;
THE BIGGEST THREAT TO OUR CIVILIZATION IS GLOBAL WARMING;
THE ROOT CAUSE OF PROBLEMS IN THE WORLD IS THE RESULT OF AMERICAN MILITARY AND ECONOMIC POWER OF THE PAST.

This last big lie explains most of Obama’s policies and actions. He really is a man who is mentally and psychologically from a different era. He believes his legacy will be the progress he has made in the transformation of America and in changing the current world order. To accomplish this task he must first destroy the America he was elected to defend and protect and then, to destroy enough of the old world order to allow the ensuing chaos to give birth to the emergence of a fairer national and international society devoid of any super powers and replaced by a revitalized United Nations.

“ISIS Quiet Justice,” a new Jack Brandon novel dealing with ISIS in America, is now available from Amazon and Barnes and Noble in print form and nook and kindle formats.

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Filed under Alinsky, Barry Kelly, Clinton, Conservative views, Eight Decades of Insights, foreign policy, Intelligence & Politics, ISIS, Obama

Tagged as big lie, Obama, Progressives, Saul Alinsky

by Barry Kelly | April 4, 2015 · 7:24 am

INSIGHTS 197 — HILLARY-THE DISAPPEARING CANDIDATE

cbsnews.com

The darling of the progressive left of the Democratic Party is fast losing her appeal. A bit of pragmatism is settling into the progressives. To complete the socialization of America by destroying its economy and military power to make this nation an average member of the world order with a one-party system of government, they need to capture the White House in 2016. If they don’t, the progress toward socialism made by Obama will be wiped out by a party of mainstream Americans. I believe they are increasingly coming to the belief that Hillary cannot win.

She just has too much baggage and few to zero accomplishments. She is not even a good campaigner. Her speeches are mind-numbing. Let’s look at the balance sheet of advantages and disadvantages of Hillary Clinton. Beyond name recognition, I cannot point out any other asset besides, of course, her relationship with Wall Street. On the bad baggage side, she lost a primary to a first-term senator whose only accomplishment was that he could flawlessly deliver a speech as long as it was printed on a teleprompter. Barack Obama outsmarted the Clinton’s at every turn. He knew she was a poor campaigner.

As Secretary of State I cannot think of a single accomplishment of hers beyond accumulating more frequent flyer miles than any of her predecessors. Our relationships with Russia, Sunni Arabs, China, Israel, NATO nations are all less effective now than when she took office. During her service as Secretary of State she acted as if she was above the law and government rules and procedures.

Perhaps the worst was the tragedy of Benghazi. She knowingly lied to the surviving families of the dead Americans at Andrews Air Force Base as their loved ones were arriving in flag-draped coffins from Libya. She knew they died in an attack by terrorists and that she had denied the repeated requests of the State Department personnel in Benghazi to improve their security. Instead, she blamed the attack on an offensive video and promised to bring the responsible film producer to justice. He was punished but not in the name of justice. Of all the things I have seen in government, this is the most despicable of all.

There is no end to the damage Hillary can cause. She can’t even leave government employment without breaking more laws with her incredible disdain for the use of government communications channels for all official communications. It is not only the need to maintain government records but also the protection of classified information that is ignored by the use of a private server in your own home. If anything, Hillary’s government operations are even less transparent than the president’s.

But she won’t be thrown under the bus for these failings but for the growing awareness that she will be a loser. The progressives will draft someone else before the convention.

Written by the author of the Jack Brandon thriller/suspense novels and “Insights: Transforming America — Is This What We Fought For?” available now as an e-book, in paperback or hardcover on Amazon.com or BN.com. Another analytical book on the transforming process, “Insights: Stepping Stones to Tyranny,” is now published and available in paperback at $9.95 and on nook and kindle at $3.99. Follow the author on Twitter @factsfictions80. “ISIS Quiet Justice,” a new Jack Brandon novel dealing with ISIS in America, will be out in early April.