Feb 21, 2017: Deep State Paranoia | Milo Civil War | Uh Oh Canada
1. An Unholy Alliance: Left and Right Both Worry About the Power of the “Deep State”
The Right media has been divided on the “deep state,” a term that has been trending since leaks led to Michael Flynn’s resignation as National Security Advisor. The concept is that powerful interests like the C.I.A, N.S.A. and the Defense Intelligence Agency can undermine the White House and Congress.
Breitbart accused intelligence agencies of attempting to wage a “deep state coup” against President Trump. As we previously reported, Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky, a tea partier, told CNN that the deep state enables “those who want a provocation with Russian or other countries to sort of push the president” in that direction.”
But Bill Kristol, Republican founder of The Weekly Standard and a vocal critic of Trump, tweeted last week:
Obviously strongly prefer normal democratic and constitutional politics. But if it comes to it, prefer the deep state to the Trump state.
— Bill Kristol (@BillKristol) February 14, 2017
He was quickly derided by Pat Buchanan and others in his own party.
And then the left-leaning and anti-Trump Glenn Greenwald, co-founder of The Intercept, started to sound an awful lot like Massie when he also came down on Kristol and the Democratic party in a Democracy Now interview last week:
“To urge that the CIA and the intelligence community empower itself to undermine the elected branches of government is insanity. That is a prescription for destroying democracy overnight in the name of saving it. And yet that’s what so many, not just neocons, but the neocons’ allies in the Democratic Party, are now urging and cheering. And it’s incredibly warped and dangerous to watch them do that.”
Also showing no love for the deep state was Dennis Kucinich, former U.S. Representative from Ohio candidate for Democratic presidential nominee in 2004 and 2008, in his Saturday Newsweek OpEd:
“The military-industrial-intelligence complex has pushed confrontation and encirclement of Russia for years, promoting ‘color’ revolutions on Russia’s border, and hailing NATO’s saber rattling and emplacement of ‘defensive’ missiles in Romania and Poland. General Michael Flynn was a casualty of this behind-the- scenes struggle for control of foreign policy.”
What Next:
Expect more murmurs and disagreements over the deep state as the investigations into Russia unfold. (And for some more measured takes on the deep state, here’s an L.A. Times Op-ed, an Atlantic article, and an NPR interview.)
2. Strange Bedfellows (Part II)
More agreement across the ideological aisle: The appointment of Lt. Gen. H. R. McMaster as Trump’s National Security Advisor seemed to make everyone breathe a sigh of relief.
The New Yorker retweeted a positive profile of McMaster by George Packer in 2006.
A 2006 story about Donald Trump's new national security adviser, H. R. McMaster: https://t.co/6n5115GUDTpic.twitter.com/MBwwJ00Rmd
— The New Yorker (@NewYorker) February 20, 2017
Meanwhile, the National Review’s David French wrote: “Donald Trump has made his choice to replace Michael Flynn, and it’s hard to think of a better man. Lieutenant General H.R. McMaster will be the new national security adviser.”
F.Y.I:
On his Monday show, Rush Limbaugh said he really hoped Former U.N. Ambassador John Bolton would get the job. So maybe Trump doesn’t listen to everything Rush says.
3. Red Media Civil War: Milo Splits the Pack.
Earlier this month, after U.C.-Berkeley canceled his visit due to violent protests, Milo Yiannopoulos, a Breitbart senior editor, was the darling of the Red Media, which is no doubt why the American Conservative Union announced Saturday that he would be speaking at its Conservative Political Action Conference.
Traditional Red Media like The Weekly Standard were aghast. “Despicable,” commented editor and founder Kristol.
Then videos emerged of Yiannopoulos discussing older men having sex with younger boys in an approving way. CPAC relented yesterday and withdrew the invitation.
Still, not all Red State traditionalists were mollified. Rich Lowry, editor of the National Review, told CNN it was "a colossal misjudgment to invite” Yiannopoulos in the first place. "He's not a conservative, and in fact wants to overthrow Reagan conservatism, besides his other obvious failings," Lowry said. "Now having disinvited him, CPAC looks like the censor — the worst of both worlds."
Breitbart competitors circled like sharks smelling blood-in-the water. The Blazereported, “The controversy over Milo Yiannopoulos has hit the Breitbart News website offices as employees are reportedly threatening to quit unless he’s fired.”
The inimitable Ann Coulter somehow found a way to blame liberals and get 10k likes with this tweet:
Well, Milo learned HIS lesson. Pederasty acceptable only for refugees and illegals. Then libs will support you.
— Ann Coulter (@AnnCoulter) February 21, 2017
Bannon Watch:
A few on Twitter worried that the takedown of Milo was just a ploy by the #NeverTrumpers to get at Steve Bannon. Jim Hoft of @gatewaypundit complained:
Here we go - "Principled" conservatives real goal is to take down Bannon, Trump #NeverTrump Pro-Hillary #Traitorshttps://t.co/qPF6QU1K1F
— Jim Hoft (@gatewaypundit) February 20, 2017
4. Uh Oh, Canada?
In the last few weeks, The Right in both the U.S. and Canada have attacked the “elite” Prime Minister Trudeau. The Blaze reported yesterday on an uptick in refugees crossing the border to Canada from the U.S.. The Mayor of Emerson, Greg Janzen, who is concerned about Trudeau’s invitation to refugees to come to Canada told the CBC: “It’s about to blow. I think there’s going to be confrontations. There’s going to be an incident.” Last week, Anthony Furey of the populist right-leaning Toronto Sun reported on a study by a PR firm Edelman, that pointed to a populist trend on the rise in Canada. Furey wrote: “The question clearly isn’t why the elites in Canada are now targets. The question, given everything that’s going on, is why this hasn’t happened sooner. Regardless, the pieces are now in place for it.”
The Daily Caller also reported on a backlash to Canada’s M-103 Anti-Islamophobia parliamentary motion. At a rally to protest the motion, the Conservative leadership candidate Kellie Leitch called on people to “fight back against politically correct nonsense.” She continued: “Justin Trudeau says people who are opposed to M-103 are fringe. Justin Trudeau, you are fringe.”
Why We’re Watching:
In addition to the Edelman study and the backlash against M-103, a September piece from the leading socialist magazine Jacobin headlined “Justin Trudeau is Not Your Friend” has been making the rounds among the far-Left. The messaging from the Right (and far Left) suggests that populism is on the rise in Canada.
5. Weekend in Red Review: Traitors, Sweden is Hell, and Immigrants and LGBT Protest Flops
- As Senator McCain becomes increasingly vocal about his concerns about the Trump administration -- including his defense of the free press on NBC Sunday -- he was pummeled by the Alt-Right media. There were 51.1K interactions on Facebook and Twitter as of Monday 7PM with this Liberty Writers News article. Here is a sampling from the article: “TRAITOR! John McCain Just Stood On Stage In Europe And TRASHED Our President.” (F.Y.I. McCain couldn’t have been more effusive in his praise for Trump’s selection of McMaster last night. Perhaps both sides are looking to kiss and make-up?)
- As the president doubled down on his assertion that immigrants were making Sweden a deadly place, the Red Internet came alive with largely inaccurate links to red violence. @Pamela_More13 posted a video with this headline:
Turns out it was a video of a fireworks celebration. But it got 5k retweets and 4.3k likes. Now Sweden does have a relatively high rate of rape compared with the United States or New Zealand, as many right wing bloggers like Jack Murphy @RealJack pointed out. “Why doesn't the media report on any rape and crime taking place in Sweden?” he asked on Twitter. The answer, in part, is that the statistic he used comes from a 2012 U.N. report that was completed before the current refugee crisis. But he still received 3.6k retweets and 4k likes.Swedes baffled by Trump’s 'last night in Sweden' comment
— Pamela Moore (@Pamela_Moore13) February 19, 2017
Cars burned, mass fights.. A regular day in #Sweden#swedenincident pic.twitter.com/xMRr8g1uqH
- Finally, Rush Limbaugh, like much of the Red Media, could not contain his delight at the failure of anti-Trump protests this weekend to draw big draws. Here is Rush in his own words : “You know, I said there was a small but expanding Stack in my show prep today of stories that indicate some of the pizzazz is beginning to wane, as it were, from the collective anti-Trump energy out there.”