Introduction-- Hidden In Plain Sight-- The Actual Real Danger Of Biden's Document Problem

(photo ABC News, President Biden's home being searched by DOJ on Jan. 21, 2023)

Hidden In Plain Sight-- The Actual Real Danger Of Biden's Document Problem

(Written before the breaking news of the 13 hour long consensual search of President Biden's home on January 21 which yielded more classified material) 

Introduction--

Almost like a mantra, or the repeated chants and incantations of the local shaman at your neighborhood Yoga retreat, or going back in time to the refrains of a Greek Chorus, the Democratic base, its activists, liberal media, and cable commentators are belting out the exact same tune regarding the Biden classified document investigation, in unison and almost without deviation. 

"There are huge differences between what Trump did, and the situation with President Biden."

And the coverage has consisted of a thousand different takes on the identical concept, in what seems to be a bizarre contest for coming up with the "world's greatest metaphor" for making the comparison. "Apples and Oranges, Walnuts and Wingnuts, Ice Cream and Icebergs," ad nauseum, with every writer, every tweeter, convinced they have broken ground with a new and original take on the same programmed parrot-like repetition of some article, meme or interview, written by someone somewhere.  Almost without exception, the commentary has stuck with the same analysis, cited the same facts, and formed the same conclusions. 

And more than anything, this line going out is meant to reassure nervous Biden supporters that the President is likely safe from prosecution because he cooperated, and that the discovery of these documents will have no impact at all on whether Trump is indicted for his misdeeds, (including his obstruction and lies) and that he will assuredly be put on trial.

My friends, I am here to tell you all that thus far, the commentary has been all wrong. Completely, utterly, and galactically wrong, an error in thinking which borders on collective amnesia or hysterical blindness. And it is, in the opinion of this writer, a potentially fatal error in judgement, based on a knee-jerk fear reaction to a shocking reality, one we prefer to avoid, or which we hope against hope is not real at all. 

However, before I address it, I feel the need to state my qualifications and why I see this differently. After all, someone who is just happening along to read this is likely to ask "who does this dude on the internet think he is, coming on here and telling us that everyone else is wrong, and he is the only one who knows what reality is," blah blah blah. It's a fair question, so here goes. 

I have thirty-five years of experience as a political operator and full-time fundraiser for an organization which at one time took up causes associated with the Democratic Party, the Civil Rights Movement, and the Presidential traditions of  Lincoln, FDR, and JFK. That organization was hijacked and became a kind of quasi-religious right-wing group, which I have been working against since the time fourteen years ago that Martha and I left and retired from full-time politics. The details are for the moment not relevant to this subject, except to say that I personally have been deeply involved in Washington DC and international political issues for more than forty years, and I know my way around the block. I know how the media and the political establishment works in a way that I wish that I didn't, because it more closely resembles the ugly power games which are portrayed in the Netflix series, "House of Cards" than other notable depictions of how things in Washington really work. 

Also worth mentioning is my track record in making accurate political forecasts and analysis on breaking news stories which are all public and accessible on my blog, having been one of the few who warned that Trump and Putin in tandem were building a white supremacist private army to help him overturn the 2020 election. This I documented in nearly 30 separate articles and a 12 part 45 page intelligence background report over a period of roughly three years. I began warning in specific no later than January of 2020 of those events we now know of as the January 6th coup. 

I should also state that I personally have seen first-hand and was a target of an ambitious and politically motivated prosecutor who was investigating our fundraising, trying to build a case out of contrived evidence and coerced testimony, which ultimately went nowhere, thanks to unexpected political developments at the time. (For those who are curious as to the details, you'll have to wait for my book to come out) Suffice it to say that I am all too familiar with the origin of the old adage which has been going around DC for many years..."a decent prosecutor can get a grand jury to indict a Ham sandwich." Increasingly in American law and politics, innocence is no defense, and evidence of guilt no guarantee of justice.

So, in spite of everything, including my mostly awful and stress-filled years of political organizing, I am not cynical, and therefore believe social change is possible based on the power of ideas, and that people likewise are capable of durable change. If I didn't have strong reasons to believe that, I wouldn't bother doing what I am doing. And my life-partner and wife Martha would say the same. 

When the story first surfaced that Biden's lawyers reported that classified files were found in two locations, and after being informed of this that Attorney General Merrick Garland appointed a Special Prosecutor, I saw this as a catastrophe, irrespective of any comparison between what Trump did and the President's case. In fact, this exercise in comparison was the last thing which I considered of importance, for reasons I'll spell out. My reaction was one of unmitigated horror, because I know what this means, both in my gut and based on my experience, having been right smack in the middle of this type of crisis before.  

The Reason For The Mental Block--

First, it is important to be self-conscious of what we thought when we heard about the Biden documents. If we are honest, the first thought was not of Joe Biden, and whether he was in trouble. It was, "oh shit, the Trumpsters are going to use this to undermine the investigation of him, and he's going to get off the hook." "He's going to get away with it again!" Which is why we are vulnerable to the misleading coverage of the whole thing, based on comparisons between the two cases. 

The difficult truth is that the ostensible Democratic opposition to Trump, both in the media, the activist base, and social media has been obsessively fixated on the status of multiple legal cases and grand juries in various jurisdictions, hoping from a spectators viewpoint that the "good guys" would come out ahead in at least one of these things.  This supposedly will result in an indictment and conviction, thus rendering Trump ineligible to run, and by doing so cutting off the proverbial head of the MAGA beast, causing his cult supporters to just fade away, demoralized. Right. The lawyers will save us.

In effect, most of you who are watching these events are hoping for a Hollywood "made-for-TV" happy ending, just like we hope for when watching LA Law, CSI, or Judge Judy, or some other piece of fiction. We do this because aside from voting, and helping encourage others to vote, and taking stands on behalf of a small list of personally important single issues, most people feel powerless to affect the big picture. "Its too big, I'm just one person, a little guy, and I can't change people or politics because it's all run by big money." Anyone who says they haven't thought this is lying to themselves first, and to the rest of us second. This general outlook, more than anything, is the cause of our blindspot. We don't want to think ahead, because we are conditioned by popular culture not to. We are told to "live in the moment, because it is what it is."

This is why we tend to opt for the legalistic defensive commentary, the "rule of law" arguments, and making the same kinds of "whataboutism" comparisons as do the Trumpians. We find comfort in being able to cite "verifiable facts," evidence, and descriptive coverage which mostly focuses on the here and now, that which is presently visible to us, rather than asking "has this happened before, and where is this leading?" Few people want to look ahead at what are the potential worst case scenarios, and then work to prevent it, because that means doing something different, as opposed to watching it all unfold while making Popcorn as if its Episode 3 of our favorite series, and we are all sitting around cheerleading for our favorite characters. 

If we have learned anything in the last six years or so, it is that we should not only be prepared for the worst, but when it comes to the modern day "nazified" Republican Party, we should expect the worst. That is true now, and it will remain true even if Trump himself is tried, convicted, and put away. In the meantime, the most important question is what will become of our President Biden? You know, the question which came in a distant second to "is Trump going to get off the hook again?"

Joe's "Nothingburger" Is A Fish Sandwich--

Due to the incomprehensible screwup by President Biden's staff and White House Counsel Bob Bauer, the President is now "in the legal system." Forget for a few minutes what you have read in the media about the comparison between Trump's and Biden's cases. Forget what you have heard reported about the degree of cooperation and timely actions by the White House. None of that matters.

What matters is that the President is personally under a Federal Investigation by a Special Prosecutor. Not an underling. Not his son Hunter. Not his White House staff. Him, Joe Biden.  And whatever we think we know about what has happened, or what we hear from the so-called experts who are retailing the comforting arguments about why the President is "safe," we should see this for what it is. 

The concern is that the entire investigation becomes the occasion for a "fishing expedition," which can be used to either find or fabricate something out of which other investigations are spun, charges can be made, more vulnerabilities found, more pretexts for grand juries, in which corrupt investigators, politically driven Congressmen, ambitious prosecutors and fascist judges can contrive indictments and convictions, any one of which could be engineered to reach the President. Once you are in the Federal legal system, you are screwed, especially under circumstances where pro-Trump fascists control the House of Representatives, elements of the Federal bureaucracy, the Federal court system, and a big chunk of the media. Even if in the best circumstances the President is vindicated from wrongdoing, this case opens the door for a series of legal and political attacks which could paralyze the institution of the Presidency itself, tying Biden's hands at a time of great political and strategic crises. At worst, they might actually "trump up" a case, pardon the expression. 

"Oh, that can't happen, Merrick Garland won't let it happen, the Senate won't let it happen, "they" wouldn't let it happen." If this is your thought, think again. It has happened before, and was done by virtually the same people, using the same methods. 

(Next, Part 1--   The Story Of How A Small-time Real Estate Deal Gone Bad Was Turned Into An Impeachment-