Saturday, May 16, 2020

Religion, Nations, and Geopolitical Review: SATURDAY, MAY 16

by A. Joseph Lynch

THE WEEKLY BRIEF
USING FLYNN TO OVERTHROW TRUMP

We at AoA were never terribly attached to General Michael Flynn. As Dr. Pence wrote on February 18, 2017:
General Michael Flynn is very much like Rudy Giuliani. He was a necessary and important part of the war that was the Trump campaign. But he is not suited for the kind of coalition building necessary to replace our bellicose foreign policy with a consort of great powers.  His press briefing "Putting Iran on notice" was a much worse offense than talking sanctions in December with the Russians. His not coming clean with Vice President Pence was inexcusable.  President Trump is a good judge of character and competence. He knows when someone doesn’t quite fit. Flynn was unjustly framed but  his own character faults led to his departure. The good patriot was properly let go after being improperly accused.   Flynn, Giuliani, Palin, Gingrich - good campaign warriors but no longer good for governance. The problem remains with the so called deep state (those elements of government that do not change with elections but often make policy through their own long term relationships). This was not a moral whistleblower but an act to subterfuge the ability of the elected executive to conduct foreign relations.  
Although we noted that the "problem remains with the so called deep state," we didn't know exactly how Flynn's take-down was an essential part of the deep state's plan. We now have much more information.

On December 22, 2016, Michael Flynn spoke with the Russian ambassador Kislyak while drinking on the beaches of Mar-a-Lago. Their call was recorded by the FBI. Due to laws protecting Americans from domestic spying Flynn's name was redacted from the transcript. It has been revealed this week that a host of political appointees within the Obama administration - like the ambassador to Italy -  requested the unmasking of Flynn. The phone call was later illegally leaked to the press and helped spin the Russian collusion narrative that launched the sham investigation of the president.

We also now know that an investigation was conducted into what was said in the phone call, which cleared Flynn of wrongdoing with a planned shut down of the investigation on January 4. The disgraced FBI agent Peter Strzok was the one who kept the case open by coming up with charging Flynn for violating the Logan Act, a defunct 1799 law that prohibited American's from illicitly representing the nation in foreign negotiations. Strzok brought this law to FBI director Comey who then presented it to President Obama, Vice President Biden, and other members of the administration's team the very next day, January 5. At this meeting a plan was made to interview Flynn.

Comey sat on the interview, however, until January 24 - less than 24 hours into Flynn's tenure as Trump's national security advisor. During this time a meeting was held between Comey and disgraced deputy director McCabe regarding the goal of the interview: get Flynn to lie or get him fired? Neither the former - entrapment - nor the latter - partisan politics - justified the interview. Furthermore, the fact that the FBI recorded the call also meant no interview was necessary. If there was something to charge Flynn for, charges could be brought. Yet we know that there was nothing improper in the phone call, which is why the case was set to close on January 4.

The Flynn interview, however, went forward. Comey bragged about how he took advantage of the new administration to skirt standard procedures and sent Strzok and another agent to the White House to interview Flynn. Flynn was never told he was being investigated, never asked to have a lawyer present, and never warned his words could be used for prosecution should he lie. The media later said Flynn was "grilled" - yet as far as Flynn knew he was helping the FBI out in an investigation of Kislyak in a very laid back interview.

It turns out that Flynn never lied to the FBI. When questioned about aspects of the conversation that could violate the Logan Act, Flynn spoke of his beach drinking during the call and that his memory was someone hazy. Flynn did later plead guilty to lying, but only after he was financially ruined and the FBI threatened to trump up charges on his son. Flynn was innocent. He knew it, Jim Comey knew it, Obama and Biden knew it, yet they all colluded to bring him down in hopes of derailing the Trump administration before it began. By eliminating Flynn, who knew how to purge the deep state in the national security "blob" (which played a huge role in the Trump impeachment), and forcing a recusal from Jeff Sessions' at Justice, Trump found himself without armor in the war that soon followed.

While AoA does not seek a return of Flynn to the White House, we do hope for justice - both for Flynn and for President Trump. The deep state took a stab at the president, we now hope its actors are soon revealed and prosecuted so that the president can win a second term and accomplish his full set of policy goals by 2024.


I. POPE FRANCIS AND THE CATHOLIC CHURCH

HAND OR TONGUE? Amidst the coronavirus outbreak Taylor Marshall hosted a good discussion of Communion in the hand versus on the tongue. Bishop Stika of Knoxville has already declared he opposes Church law - and USCCB coronavirus policy - and threatened banishment to those who attempt to receive on the tongue. Thankfully another bishop tempted to ban Communion on the tongue had a change of heart.

PEORIA CO-ADJUTOR: Bishop Jenky, who has tirelessly fought for Fulton Sheen's canonization, will soon be replaced by a Chicago priest whose ties make him seemingly less likely to fight for Sheen. More from Church Militant.

CHURCH IN COURT: Two federal judges ruled against the Democrat governor of Kentucky, ruling that his ban on church gatherings lacks a "compelling reason" to deny citizens an "essential" part of their religious faith, the protection of which is guaranteed by the first amendment. God love the Baptists who filed suit and brought about the ruling.

PELL'S TROUBLES CONTINUE: If Pell has any evidence against the corrupt in the Vatican, he made need to speak up quickly. His enemies are already plotting against him.


II. PRESIDENT TRUMP AND AMERICA

VOTE FOR SOMEONE ELSE
: Biden continues to tell questioning voters to vote for someone else. He has now told those who believe he assaulted Tara Reade "probably shouldn't vote for" him. As Biden bungles coronavirus numbers and fails to connect with voters from his basement, is it time to dump Biden? Perhaps the real Democrat strategy is to keep him around until the convention in August and then nominate someone else in hopes Trump wasted too much campaign dollars attacking Biden while cutting short the time on GOP opposition research on the new candidate. Time will tell.

TRUMP WINNING: A new CNN poll - which CNN conveniently buried - shows Trump beating Biden in fifteen battleground states, including the typically blue states of Minnesota, Colorado, Maine, Michigan, New Mexico, Virginia, and Pennsylvania. The president also tied his highest approval rating as president.

BLAMING CHINA: Trump has done a masterful job in laying out the narrative on who's to blame for the coronavirus. He has not attacked local Democrat mayors, governors, or legislators, though in many cases they were inept at the virus' outset. He also didn't blame the partisan impeachment proceedings, though he certainly had cause to say it was a huge distraction during the outbreak's onset. Instead he has kept his eye on his policy endeavors. China is to blame. China pressured the WHO to hold back information about human-to-human transmission and locked down Wuhan while allowing international flights from Wuhan to continue. Once again the president is entirely in sync with the American people, 73% of whom also blame China. The war Trump wants to fight is not a partisan blame game but a war to bring jobs back to America from China. Hammering home China's fault in the pandemic will do just that.

GOP WINS BIG: Republicans flipped their first California House seat since 1998, decisively winning the seat by 12 point while winning a 15-point blowout in Wisconsin. Meanwhile Nebraska Democrats have nominated a far Left candidate, Kara Eastman, to run for the state's 2nd congressional district making it much more likely that the GOP will be another seat towards retaking the House in November.


III. THE NATIONS

VE DAY AT 75: Commemorations of the seventy-fifth anniversary of VE Day were significantly muted by the coronavirus pandemic. As tensions with Russia and China continue to mount, we recommend our readers re-read Dr. Pence's article on the twentieth century. Here is an excerpt on the what took place following VE and VJ Days:
Soon after VE and VJ days, the alliance that won WWII was seared... Communists had paid their dues in the wars against the fascists. The Soviet has suffered the most and killed the most Nazis. The Chinese had suffered the most from the Japanese. It seemed to the Soviet and Chinese Communists  that the imperialist capitalists-America, France and Britain were rebuilding the fascist countries of Japan and Germany to make a new cross national integrated ruling class. Communism  presented itself as the scientific road to modernity for the colonized in their wars of national liberation. Americans presented themselves  alternately as a religious people standing for the soul of the individual against the totalitarian state and free market advocates for the good life of capitalist consumerism. The battle in the post colonial world would be over who would speak for the new emerging nations in Africa and Asia.
CHINESE NATIONALISM: Nationalism can be a force for peace and limitations of power projections beyond one's own territory. But what to do when a territory perceived as one's own has broken away? With the coronavirus keeping the US Navy - especially her carrier forces - on the mend, a nationalist fever in China is driving calls for an invasion of Taiwan.

SAUDI TAX HIKE: With oil prices in steep decline, the Saudis are looking for ways to generate revenue and cut costs. The state recently announced plans to triple taxes on basic goods and cut $26 billion in spending. This certainly gives the Saudis some pressure to end their brutal - and costly - war in Yemen. Thankfully a ceasefire deal has been reached and progress is being made for a truce as the coronavirus hits the region. In other hopeful news, disputes between the US and the Saudis over oil production have led the US to pull two anti-missile weapon systems from Saudi Arabia.

INDIA VICTORY IN KASHMIR: India has successfully killed its second leader of Islamic rebel forces in Kashmir. As the coronavirus locks many Indians in their home, the counter-terrorist victory is sure to raise the morale of Indian citizens across the country.

CASPIAN REPORT: The YouTube Channel, Caspian Report, offer a wealth of information on geopolitics, history, and geography. It recently posted videos on Portugal's planned territorial expansion at sea, the geopolitics of Jordan, and the geopolitics of the Black Sea.


IV. CULTURE OF LIFE, CULTURE OF PROTECTION

FATHER-SON ARREST: The killing of Ahmaud Arbery is making headlines this week after a father and son were arrested for his death. Despite calls to investigate the killing as a hate crime, recent updates call into question early reports surrounding Arbery's death. It is said Arbery was jogging, yet he was ten miles from his house. Arbery was killed after being caught trespassing a home under construction - a site he's been recorded rummaging through several times in the past at it appears thousands of dollars of equipment, along with a handgun, was stolen. It turns out that the local police gave the home owner the contact information of the now arrested father and retired police officer, Greg McMichael, for help should the trespassing continue. The end result was tragic, but obviously clear that the McMichaels should never have been arrested.

WHO IS THE FASCIST? As more protests unfold in against Gov. Whitmer of Michigan, Whitmer has essentially called the protesters neo-Nazis for using images of swastikas. She failed to mention the use of the symbol was aimed at her for her fascist crack down on the people of Michigan while the rest of the country begins to reopen.

POLYGAMY DECRIMINALIZED: Utah has made polygamy a crime no worse than a traffic violation. 160 years after the Republican Party was founded to destroy the twin evils of slavery and polygamy, the GOP's lackluster defense of marriage has led the nation to embrace gay marriage and Utah to essentially restore polygamy.

THE PRICE IS WRONG: The classic daytime game show, The Price is Right, hosted RuPaul for a special night with a hefty donation to charity due to the coronavirus. The recipient? Planned Parenthood. Once again, out of touch celebrities work to support the causes of the Sexual Left. Meanwhile it was announced that President Trump made sure no stimulus money made it to Planned Parenthood.

BRITISH VICTORY: Britain has banned sex change surgeries for minors. Back stateside there are reports that Google has rolled back its diversity and and inclusion programs. Is the culture war beginning to turn?

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