Understand the Reality


Armstrong Economics Blog/Humor Re-Posted Jan 8, 2023 by Martin Armstrong

Sunday Talks, Matt Gaetz -vs- The Talking Gnat


Posted originally on the CTH on January 8, 2023 | Sundance

Matt Gaetz appeared on Fox News to discuss the Speaker nomination process and the valiant efforts of the 20 House Republicans that battled the 410 UniParty members.

Gaetz did a great job articulating the purpose of the effort, the success in the negotiations and the outcome that will benefit all Americans.  That said, the insufferable Fox News Gnat assigned to the task of diminishing the outcome eventually asked Gaetz, “Do you consider yourself a serious legislator?”  WATCH:

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Representative Matt Gaetz is emerging as a very articulate enemy against the professional political class.  His arguments are well centered, his thoughts are well articulated, and he has improved his debate and communication skills considerably through constant training in the field of ideological combat.  Quite remarkable growth.

It is highly likely that Kevin McCarthy will seek to isolate and marginalize Mr. Gaetz. However, it appears the young wolverine is up to the challenge.

Russ Vought Explains the Benefits Gained by 20 House Republicans Who Battled Over 400 UniParty Members


Posted originally on the CTH on January 8, 2023 | Sundance

Former OMB Director Russ Vought appeared (via phone) with Steve Bannon to outline the substance of the House rule changes won by the 20 Republicans who stood together against the 410 House UniParty members. {Direct Rumble Link} – WATCH:

Russ Vought: McCarthy’s Concessions Are The Biggest Wins Against The D.C. Cartel In 60 Years

Sunday Talks, Shannon Bream -vs- Jim Jordan


Posted originally on the CTH on January 8, 2023 

Fox News Host Shannon Bream, one of the true Machiavellian conscripts, is given the responsibility to maintain the great pretending on behalf of the Republican chattering class.   One of the key tactics of the professional pretenders is to ¹frame constant opposition narratives as questions.

To reply, Representative Jim Jordan is responsible for dispatching the pretending narrative delivered by Bream and hitting back with the reality hammer.

¹This is why I do not watch Fox News puppets much.   Their production group is a functional set of background puppeteers.  This is also why Fox News host Tucker Carlson produces and directs his own show from outside the system, just like Lou Dobbs used to.  Tucker Carlson Tonight is essentially a podcast distributed by broadcast media.

The Great “Nihilistic” Gaslighting of the Professionally Republican Chattering Class


Posted originally on the CTH on January 8, 2023 | Sundance

Before going through some of the insufferable debates and positions amid the current political dynamic, something needs to be said, and we need to say it with the intent of stopping this insufferable pretending, breaking the cycle of battered conservatism and speaking bold truth.

The current chattering class of the professionally Republican have joined with the chattering class of the professional leftists and begun decrying the efforts of the 20 House Republicans as being ‘nihilistic’ in their efforts to reform the House rules and present pragmatic political defenses to the surge of destruction around us.

Nihilism” is essentially a political belief advocating for destruction of current political systems without discernible constructive goals.

This is the opposition argument toward what they perceive as the goal and objective of the 20 House Republicans who fought for a new rules package and against the appointment of Kevin McCarthy until such changes were implemented.

As the argument is made against the House 20 group, they were/are nihilistic against modern political norms with the end result being their desired destruction of our constitutional republic.  That’s the position of the professionally Republican.  Now let me add some context to this ridiculous and insufferable gaslighting, because that’s exactly what this narrative is.

The same people claiming the House Republicans are nihilistic in their goals, are the same UniParty members in politics and media who have put us $32 trillion into debt.  They’re the same UniParty that has created a crisis at the border, millions of illegal aliens, massive omnibus spending leading to rampant inflation, ridiculous energy policy wrapped around the false premise of climate change and yet provide $100 billion to a foreign country, Ukraine.  In essence, a great UniParty effort that is destroying the very fabric of our nation.

Who is the nihilist in this scenario?

The Uniparty group who has spent us into a downward spiral of chaos and debt, created massive inflation and created a cultural collapse, OR the group trying to slam their foot on the brakes to keep us from going over the cliff into the abyss?

There has not been a budget passed under ordinary budgetary rules since September 2007, when the budget for fiscal year 2008 was signed into law.   The House of Representatives, responsible for the origination of all budgets and spending, has completely abandoned the main mission and purpose of the body.  All spending since 2009 has been a continuation of Omnibus spending packages and continuing resolutions using baseline budgeting… whereby all prior expenditures are baked into the spending and spent again…. over, and over, and over, and over.

Professional Republicans are killing us, albeit perhaps at a slightly slower rate than the professionally Democrat. And into this foray comes a pragmatic group of 20 House Republicans who are trying to stop this insane DC political quest that leads to our destruction.  Yet, the group of abusers, intent on a one-way mission that leads to ultimate chaos, are now lashing out furiously against those trying to stop the madness.  This my friends, is “gaslighting” in action.

Those whose intent and purpose is based on a need to operate in the land of pretending and deception will always find an audience willing to be deceived.  However, WE ARE NOT THAT AUDIENCE!

More to follow…

An Independent Journalist on the Ground in Ukraine


Armstrong Economics Blog/Ukraine Re-Posted Jan 8, 2023 by Martin ArmstrongSpread the love

911 & Putin


Armstrong Economics Blog/Terrorism Re-Posted Jan 8, 2023 by Martin Armstrong

When 911 took place, Putin visited the site in New York. He laid a wreath. Later he offered to join with the United States to fight terrorism. The US rejected that cooperation.

Kevin McCarthy Wins – But at the Cost of the Nation


Armstrong Economics Blog/Politics Re-Posted Jan 7, 2023 by Martin Armstrong

Kevin McCarthy finally won the position of the speaker to the detriment of the entire nation for we will see business as usual on Capitol Hill, which is probably needed by our model to ensure the decline and fall of the United States by 2044. Congressman Mike Rogers lunged to attack Matt Gaetz on the house floor after he refused to vote for McCarthy merely saying “Present.” Gaetz is actually fighting for something he believes in, Draining the Swamp. Rogers wants the status quo – politics as usual. Kevin McCarthy offers no change whatsoever and being from California, well I think they should just separate and declare their own republic. California is no longer the land of the free and home of the brave from the days of Ronald Reagan. They refuse even to define what is a woman. They started a national crime wave of shoplifting and their streets are overpopulated with illegal aliens. Friends I had in California are leaving all the time. Pelosi, who destroyed San Francisco, is looking to retire to Florida in Naples with John Boehner.

From virtually the beginning of the nation, there have been brawls in Congress. The first one to be widely noted was that of February 15, 1798, when Roger Griswold, a US House Representative from Connecticut, attacked Matthew Lyon and began to beat him with a stick. Griswold, a Federalist, walked up to Lyon’s desk hitting him on the head and shoulders with his hickory walking stick. Lyon, who was a Republican from Vermont, responded by grabbing a pair of fireplace tongs and defending himself beating Griswold in return.

They then began to just punch each other in a fistfight until they were pulled apart. That is how heated the arguments would get between the Federalists who demanded a central government with power over states and the Republicans who argued for State’s Rights. We are still plagued with this issue and it will ultimately lead to the collapse of the United States just as centralized control led to the collapse of Communism.

After State’s Rights came Slavery as the next major dividing issue. In a speech in May 1856, Massachusetts Senator Charles Sumner spent five hours on the floor denouncing the Kansas-Nebraska Act. He said the compromise bill leaving slavery in those territories to be decided by local popular vote was outrageous. He called out Illinois Senator Stephen Douglas, who was the chief architect of the act, a “noise-some, squat, and nameless animal.” He went on to describe Andrew Butler of South Carolina, who pushed the compromise, as “the harlot, Slavery,” that he “discharged the loose expectoration of his speech” at the very thought of embracing her. That was a personal dig for Butler was known to lisp and drool.

Two days later, on May 22nd, 1856, Sumner was sitting at his desk preparing copies of the speech he intended to distribute around the nation. A cousin of Butler’s who was also a member from South Carolina, Preston Brooks,  entered the Senate floor. Brooks approached Senator Sumner and told him that he had read his words with “as much impartiality as was possible,” and then began to beat him over the head with his walking stick. Sumner collapsed in a pool of blood and, in the days that followed, nearly died. The news of the confrontation can be found in countless newspapers around the nation.

Then on February 6th, 1858, perhaps the most infamous floor brawl in the history of the U.S. House of Representatives erupted again over the Kansas Territory’s pro-slavery. The debate continued late into the night of February 5-6. Then just before 2 a.m., Pennsylvania Republican Galusha Grow and South Carolina Democrat Laurence Keitt exchanged insults, which were then followed by physical blows.

“In an instant the House was in the greatest possible confusion,” was being reported by the press. Suddenly, over 30 Members jumped into the brawl turning it into a Western Style bar fight or melee.

Northern Republicans and Free Soilers banded together to attack the Southern Democrats. Then the Speaker James Orr was a leading national politician. Few of his fellow South Carolinians were still on speaking terms with northern Democrats, and Orr’s ability to strike deals nationally made him an ideal compromise candidate for Speaker. By the autumn, however, Orr followed South Carolina’s race toward disunion and did not stand for re-election to Congress, which led to the American Civil War.

Orr had gaveled furiously for order during the braw and then instructed Sergeant-at-Arms Adam J. Glossbrenner to arrest non-compliant Members. Wading into the “combatants,” Glossbrenner held the House Mace high to restore order. Wisconsin Republicans John “Bowie Knife” Potter and Cadwallader Washburn ripped the hairpiece from the head of William Barksdale, who was a Democrat from Mississippi.

The melee dissolved into a chorus of laughs and jeers after the toupee was ripped off of Barksdale, but the core of the issue symbolized the nation’s deep divisions. When the House reconvened two days later, a coalition of Northern Republicans and Free Soilers narrowly blocked the referral of the Lecompton Constitution to the House Territories Committee. Kansas entered the Union in 1861 as a free state.

We have reached such a moment in history and the election of Kevin McCarthy spells the doom that we face ahead for the nation is more than just the deep divide between left and right, we are looking at the absolute vile corruption of Republican forms of government. This is why Caesar crossed the Rubicon. Six Waves of 31.4 years from 1856 brings us squarely to our model’s forecast for the total collapse of republican governments – 2044.

Suggested Roadmap For 118th Congress Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government


Posted originally on the CTH on January 7, 2023 | Sundance 

As previously noted, the 118th Congress is expected to authorize a “Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government.”   The subcommittee will fall under the jurisdiction of the House Judiciary Committee led by Chairman Jim Jordan.   Additionally, Thomas Massie (R-KY) is being reported as a representative under consideration for the chairmanship the House subcommittee.

In order to avoid another complete waste of time; and considering the background of the current political dynamic which will surround this subcommittee; and considering my accurate predictions for all other special committees and House investigations; and considering that I have ZERO optimism that this committee will generate anything any different than the prior investigative sub and select-committees that preceded it (Fast and Furious, IRS Targeting, Benghazi, etc.); and with full understanding of the complexity of the daunting challenge such an undertaking would require; I have been asked to outline an actual roadmap for success in this noble endeavor.

So, I will….  Even if I believe it is futile.

Let me also say up front that many readers will not like this approach, and most professionally Republican along with media in/around Washington DC will absolutely hate the ideas as they are presented.

Assuming Jim Jordan and Thomas Massive have some grasp of the scale and scope of the opposition they are about to face; and assuming they have a fully prepared staff to support them – willing to take on the most consequential investigation in our lifetimes; then we begin by first defining who will oppose any effort to investigate the “weaponization of government“.   Which is to say everyone!

The entire apparatus of the DC political system will do everything in their power, individually and with collective assistance, to ensure this committee fails.  The stakes are basically for all the marbles.  DC politics is a system of compartmentalized silos. A collection of weaponized institutions that view their common enemy as the American people not within them.

Specifically, the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence (SSCI), and every Republican member therein, including SSCI Vice-Chairman Marco Rubio, will make it their priority mission to block any investigation that touches on how the intelligence apparatus of the United States government is weaponized against the people.   The SSCI facilitated the creation of the National Security State, and any effort to investigate the outcome will make the House investigators mortal enemies to the Senate.

Additionally, every executive branch intelligence institution including the DOJ-NSD, FBI, DHS, ODNI, CIA, DIA, NSC and every sub-agency within their authorities will do anything and everything to block a subcommittee looking into their domestic activity.  Every national security justification that exists, and some that have yet to be created by the DOJ National Security Division solely for the expressed interest of blocking this subcommittee, will be deployed.

Every member of the subcommittee and their staff will be under constant surveillance.  Phones will be tapped and tracked, electronic devices monitored, cars and offices bugged, physical surveillance deployed, and top tier officials at every subsidiary agency of the U.S. government will assign investigative groups and contract agents to monitor the activity of the subcommittee and provide weekly updates on their findings.  The White House together with the National Security Council will also backchannel to and from these agencies doing the surveillance.

The intelligence apparatus media will be deployed, and daily leaks from the various agencies to their contact lists in the New York Times, Politico, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN and MSNBC will be in constant two-way communication for narrative assembly and counterpropaganda efforts.

This is the context of opposition to begin thinking about before anything moves forward.

Additionally, the national security state will demand the House investigation take place on their terms.  They will demand secrecy, national security classification and require House subcommittee members to adhere to the Intelligence Community terms for review and discussion of anything.

Each agency will not voluntarily assist or participate in the investigation of any of their conduct.  Every official within every agency will do the same; and they will require legal representation that will be provided to them by Lawfare political operatives skilled in the use of “National Security” and “classified information” as a justification for non-compliance and non-assistance.  A protracted legal battle should be predicted.

Lastly, anticipate Special Counsel Jack Smith using his position to block the house subcommittee from receiving evidence.  The House should anticipate that congressional representatives are already under investigation as a result of the authorities granted to Jack Smith by Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco {Go Deep}.  The White House and all of the executive branch agencies will use the existing Special Counsel to block House investigation. Heck, that looks to be the primary purpose of the appointment.

As a result, expect the house subcommittee members to be under constant threat from the DOJ, via the Special Counsel, specifically from DAG Lisa Monaco, with statements that House subcommittee investigative efforts are “obstructing” a special counsel investigation.  The aforementioned agencies and the senate intel committee will work with the DOJ to use the Jack Smith special counsel as a shield to block participation with the House subcommittee.

With all of that in mind, what is the successful path forward?

♦ First, the subcommittee needs a communication strategy in place before the rules, terms and member outlines are even contemplated.  A communication strategy so that information can come from the committee to the public without the filtration of a corrupt system that will bend and skew the findings as a weapon against the committee itself.

Hire a communication staff and set up a website for the sharing of information directly from the committee to the public.  The daily activity of the committee should be shared publicly in granular detail.  The witness names as scheduled, documents requested, everything that involves the committee activity should be known to the general public. This system should be updated at least DAILY, or as information is compiled.

This communication network should also contain a separate staff assigned to solicit, accept and distribute information provided by the public to the subcommittee.  Yes, you read that correctly, the subcommittee website should be able to accept information provided by the public as it relates to the ongoing committee work.  Crowdsource We The People as research leverage against the much more effective Lawfare operations you will face in opposition.

♦ Next, GO PUBLIC with everything.  Do not use the terms and conditions of the secretive administrative state.  Tell the public what you are finding as you are finding it.  You can share information without violating “sources and methods.”   Schedule a media appearance at the 8pm hour twice weekly with a high visibility broadcast media network to provide updates and answer questions.

These scheduled appearances should be in addition to random media press releases and press comments as pertinent information to the subcommittee arrives.   What this means is that you do not wait to produce a 2,000-page final report before releasing the information.  The final report should be an update and summary of all previous findings that have been released to the public along the way.

♦ At the outset, put no rules on media contacts with any subcommittee staff or member.  Counter the darkness that fuels the intelligence community agenda with maximum sunlight and transparency.  Use truth as a weapon against disinformation.  That means no nondisclosure agreements at any part of the process.

Yes, this is radical change in approach, but this is also a radical enemy you are facing.  Playing the secrecy game works in their favor, not yours.  Transparency is your tool, not theirs – use it.

Every member of the committee can say anything they want about any of the material or witness testimony they hear during the course of the investigation.  Public hearing or closed-door sessions, it matters not.  The same rule applies.  Committee members are completely free to discuss any findings as the information is reviewed.

The goal should NOT BE accountability on those who may have perpetrated or supported weaponized activity against American Citizens.  The goal SHOULD BE for maximum public information, transparency and sunlight about the weaponization as it is discovered.  This approach makes We The People the accountability portion of the process.  As a result, the next section is again rather groundbreaking….

♦ Every witness to the committee should be granted full legal immunity provided by the House and House Speaker for anything said during the testimony or admitted as being done as part of the evidence fact-finding.  Again, the goal is transparency and openness, not prosecution and accountability.  Use sunlight as a weapon to draw out the truth, then let the American people be the judges of what that truth means when contrast against the constitution of our nation.

Let me repeat this… There should be ZERO legal liability for any conduct that happened as a part of any witness effort to weaponize the United States government against the American people.

Why this approach?  Because (a) it circumvents any issues that might impede testimony, removes hurdles; (b) immunity compels confession, honest sunlight and the urgency of the situation; (c) immunity makes the truth more likely; and finally, (d) you are not going to get legal convictions anyway.   The truth has no agenda.

Let’s rip the Band-Aid off and start the process to fix this crap, restore the first and fourth amendments and heal the injury.

Remember, from the Church Commission we got the secret FISA court and more tools for violations of our Fourth Amendment rights.  From the 911 Commission we got The Patriot Act, DHS, TSA, DNI and many more violations of our rights and Fourth Amendment protections.   We do not need any legislation as an outcome of the House “Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government.”

We do not need your legislative help.  All prior legislative help only ended up making things worse.  What we need is a full, uncensored, brutally honest expose’ of how bad things have become and how that system can be dismantled and destroyed.   The existing constitution is the protection, just remove the stuff that is violating it.

I know the approach is rather different from the norm.  However, if this roadmap seems reasonable, I am certain you will find a great deal of support from within the system that is currently operating and from people outside the system who will volunteer time and effort to assist.

Summarized: (1) Know the scale of opposition.  (2) Formulate a communication strategy around it & build a website. (3)  Communicate findings by telling the story to the American people as it is discovered. (4) Grant immunity to all witnesses. (5) Don’t wait until the end to generate another useless report that few will read. (6) Make sunlight the motive of the committee. (7) Consider success when the American people can see the problem.  (8) Dissolve any weaponized systems.  (9) Don’t create new ones.

If you tell us the truth, We The People will fix it ourselves..