Events not covered by the Liberal Media

The Burning Platform

Today, we see the Press imposting Self-Censorghip.
We provide this link to Gary Potter's commentary as well as what we have published below.

theburningplatform.com

We grieve over the demise of the Press in the last 10 or 20 years, but, most particularly in the last eight years during which we witnessed egregious events which, in previous Administrations, would have been pounced on by the Press to provide detailed information to which 
The Public Had A Right to Know!
We hear a lot about the Deep State, and at first it was hard to grasp that we have a Shadow Government, but, with the Media now controlled by about ten companies, what we see and hear is what those companies want us to hear.  Our salvation has been the Internet and Social Media, and we have survived Obama's attempt to hand over control to the UN -- at least for the moment.

We count ourselves as part of the Fourth Estate, even though we simply blog now.  But, here's a brief outline of our credentials in journalism of all sorts.



We have been a functional part of the Fourth Estate in one form or another since 1962 

when we began writing publicly in college for both the Yearbookas well 

as the award winning Daily Tar Heel at the University of North Carolina.  

Later,  reported on events in Asia, mostly from first hand participation, 

to our primary consumers in Washington, DC.  

We also provided analysis at the Pentagon 

creating articles daily for the Black Book, 

which we went on to edit, and later we provided 

the Secretary of Stateregular analyses and briefs 

on international finance 

[and initiated the basis for the Money Laundering Act]  

Our last act in the Military was to create the authorization for, implement, 

and direct the operations for the Defense Clandestine Service, 

which collected intelligence information globally.  

Last, but not least, 

we were selected for membership in the National Press Club 

where we chaired one committee on Travel Journalism, 

and co-chaired the Committee which selected 

the best journalists in the US; we subsequently received 

the NPC's Vivian Award for our efforts.

And, of course, we now blog

because,

I know stuff!

Our thanks to 
Ann E W Stone 

for this informative list of facts
which the Media ignored.

The Media said nothing, or virtually nothing:

1. . . . when Obama used drone strikes to execute people abroad.




2. . . . about Russia for 50 years until Trump was inaugurated.

3. . . . about Hillary's campaign manager's brother being paid $175,000 

            to lift U.S. sanctions on Russia.

4. . . . when Obama engaged in military interventionism in Libya 

             without Congressional approval.

5. . . . when Obama greatly expanded presidential power through 

             the use of Executive Orders.

6. . . . when Obama filled his White House with lobbyists 

             after he said he wouldn't.

7. . . . when Obama gave 47 of his fundraisers Administration jobs.

8. . . . about the murders and rapes at the hands of illegal immigrants.

9. . . . when Hillary's net worth rose over $100 million as Secretary of State, 

            in part, because her husband took money from foreign governments.

10. . . . after Obama's net worth rose over $12 million as President, with a "book deal" 
            worth as much as $40 million.

11. . . . when Obama's Justice Dept. wiretapped/surveilled reporters 

              such as James Rosen and the AP.

12. . . . when Obama restricted immigration 6 times with Executive Orders.

13. . . . when Obama set a record for deportations.

14. . . . when Bill Clinton met Loretta Lynch on the airport tarmac 

              during the Clinton investigation.

15. . . . when Hillary was fed debate questions.

16. . . . when Obama and Hillary lied about a video and 
Benghazi

17. . . . when Obama's IRS abused the rights of taxpayers.

18. . . . when Obama's White House held meetings with lobbyists

              in coffee shops near White House to avoid disclosure requirements.

19. . . . when Eric Holder sold
             the guns you hate to criminals 
             and some were used to kill
             Americans.

20. . . . when the Clinton's stole White House property.

21. . . . when Hillary laughed off defending a child-rapist..

22. . . . when Hillary lied about her private use of a 

              private email server as Secretary of State to 

               email classified information to uncleared and unauthorized recipients.

The Army wanted to Court Martial Clark

23. . . . when Janet Reno, under Bill Clinton, used MG Wesley Clark's tanks from Fort Hood

  [ a clear violation of the Posse Comitatus Act] 

 and ordered the FBI to kill the Branch Davidians.

24. . . . when, on May 13, 1985, a bomb was dropped on a row house 

              in Philadelphia to uproot the black liberation group known as 

              Move, resulting in a fire that eventually burned down 

              61 houses, killed 11 people (including five children) 

              and injured dozens.

25. . . . when Elian Gonzales was forcibly deported 

               back to Cuba by a SWAT team using military weapons.

26. . . . when George Soros paid protesters to burn parts of Ferguson, MO.

27. . . . about states' rights until Trump's Executive orders 

                restored enforcement of immigration laws.

28. . . . about Obama's lack of disclosure about his birth certificate, 

              health records, college transcripts, law review status 

              using another man's social security number, and smoking marijuana.

29. . . . about the record numbers of people on government assistance.

30. . . . about the number of part-time and low-paying jobs 

               under the Obama recovery program.

31. . . . when Obama had SWAT teams raided the 

              Gibson guitar factory and seized property 

              on the purported basis that Gibson had broken 

             India's environmental laws, but no charges were 

              ever filed against Gibson.  [Gibson had earlier refused 

              to unionize his factory]

32. . .when Obama declared the Fort Hood shooting was 

             

"workplace violence" rather than terrorism 
                -- denying benefits to families of the dead 
                and  woundedand refuses to admit to 
                this day that the shooter is a terrorist.

33. . . . when Obama ended some terror asylum restrictions

               by allowing asylum for people who provided only 

               "insignificant" or "limited" material support of terrorists.

34. . . . when the national debt doubled under Obama.

35. . . . when nine times the Supreme Court unanimously overturned 

               Obama's expansive use of Executive Power.

36. . . . when Obama dismissed charges filed by the 

             

Nah, our Pot Smoking Pres?

Bush Administration against New Black Panther Party members who were videotaped intimidating voters at a Philadelphia polling station during the 2008 election.

-- and Obama was caught on camera!


37. . . . when Obama released Guantanamo detainees who then 

              went back to kill Americans.

38. . . . when Obama unilaterally changed Congressional

              enacted law by Executive Order.

39. . . . when Obama fired an inspector general after 

               investigating an $850,000 AmeriCorps grant 

               received by a nonprofit run by former NBA star 

                and Obama supporter Kevin Johnson.

40. . . . about the 36 Obama's executive office staffers 

               that owed $833,970 in back taxes

41. . . . when Obama killed four Americans overseas 

              in counter-terrorism operations without a judicial process.

42. . . .  when Obama sent 400 million,

             in cash in ransom to Iran, which captured 

             US Sailors who were aboard an unauthorized
             vessel, on an unauthorized mission in enemy
             territory, and who put up no resistance on 
             being captured.

43. . . .  when Obama released five dangerous Al Qaeda leaders 

               from Gitmo in exchange for American deserter Bode Bergdahl.

44. . . . when Obama pardoned Bradley Manning,  the Army private 

               who was convicted of treason and gave up more classified 

                information than almost any other spy in history.

45......  when Obama was requested to meet in secret with Military officers
            at the Navy Yard who were authorized to negotiate his resignation 
            from the Presidency in exchange for not removing him 
            forcibly and placing him in prison for Treason.  

             

Old Navy Yard

Oddly, a contractor was able to smuggle a number of weapons through security, and to then go on an unimpeded shooting spree wearing first a blue uniform, and later a tan uniform, and the Military officers were killed, 
              
but, reporters missed this part of the event
-- and, Obama remained in office.

[We added #45]

Illegal "Wire Taps"

Confirming that Obama ordered the NSA to spy on Trump

Editorial Update: 12-31-2020

This post was originally created with reference to the accusations made against the newly inaugurated President Trump.  At that time, having worked with the NSA for many years using their capabilities against foreign targets, we questioned these accusations, as did our colleagues from the NSA from years earlier since our recollections of NSA were of rigid adherence to legal restrictions; and deviance from those restrictions was incomprehensible.  

We did not, however, question the accusations against CIA or FBI, since we had worked alongside/inside both agencies and knew full well what criminal activity of which they were/are fully capable.

In retrospect, we witnessed, piecemeal, the crumbling of any semblance of morality in the Intelligence Community, until every accusation made against IC leadership and operatives was clearly displayed - and is now being used as evidence sufficient to completely gut the IC - to the applause of American Citizenry.

We could never imagine that our colleagues in the IC, the LEC, or DOD would join in an anti-Constitutional Coup against the President of the United States, in essence, against the Constitution and everything the US stands for.  

Now, we can not only imagine it, we have massive amounts of evidence proving these actions.

The only resolution is to put on trial all those involved, and to execute the ring-leaders for Treason.  Lower echelons must be sentenced to long prison terms, and all their assets must be seized.  The penalties for such coup activity must be so severe that the blood will run cold through the veins of those who might plan such an endeavor in the future.

In the meantime, we must rebuild our country, eliminating at least 75% of our existing bureaucracy and government unions. We must also consider eliminating both Houses of Congress, and holding new elections.  Last, sad to say, we must dismantle the Supreme Court, restaff the Justices, and perhaps place Justice Roberts on trial for, among other issues, Child Trafficking.

At the end of this post is a Trailer from the "fictional" movie: Enemy of the State.

In reality, it was extraordinarily accurate - including the demise of Clapper.

---------------------------------------Original Post-------------------------------------

We are publishing Mark Levin's summary of the illegal wiretaps as the basis for our additional commentary of the rationale for the actions of all parties.  

In short, it was clear at the time of these incidents that Mr Obama was doing all in his power to eliminate Mr Trump as a candidate, and, as the election grew closer, Mr Obama pulled out all the stops to prevent Mr Trump from winning the election.  

In so doing, Mr Obama and his Intelligence Community henchmen committed a series of illegal actions which eventually will be the basis for their arrest and prosecution.

Notably, in hindsight following the election, we have seen Mr Obama forming a self-declared Shadow Government, sponsoring violent "protests" which appear to be financed by George Soros.  Additionally, Wall Street [led b CitiBank] has so far paid Obama over $400,000 for a "speech", and it is rumored there will be another $400,000 payment coming soon for still another "speech".

As for the motivations of Mr Trump, he followed the path of all of his predecessors of both Parties in strategizing his campaign and communicating legally with all those foreign and US elements who would be impacted by both the election as well as the new Administration.

Mr Trump and was eventually made aware of the technical capabilities of illegal surveillance by NSA, and established safeguards accordingly.

[Our Editorial Comments are added in red]

Mark Levin provides this astute summary of the "illegal wiretaps"

1. June 2016: 
FISA request denied. 
The Obama administration files a request with the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISA) to monitor communications involving Donald Trump and several advisers. 
The request, uncharacteristically, is denied.

Reason:  Trump's communications had no, repeat NO bearing on National Security, and the surveillance was clearly political, and thus illegal.


2. July 2016: 
The Russia joke. 
Wikileaks releases emails from the Democratic National Committee that show an effort to prevent Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) from winning the DNC presidential nomination. 
In a press conference, 

Donald Trump refers to Hillary Clinton’s own missing emails, joking: 
“Russia, if you’re listening, I hope you’re able to find the 30,000 e-mails that are missing.” 
That remark becomes the basis for accusations by Clinton and the media that Trump invited further hacking by Russia.

Fact: The accusations were nonsense, and it was clear Trump joked about this event just as most informed Americans joke about NSA eavesdropping since it has been widely publicized by Edward Snowden, to include Methods and Sources [which were never intended to be used against US citizens.  

The NSA programs were patently illegal, and both the NSA Director and the Director of National Intelligence can still be arrested, tried, and convicted of National Security Laws, in spite of the effort by Congress and the White House to retroactively make such actions legal.


3. October 2016: 
Podesta emails. 
Wikileaks releases the emails of Clinton campaign chair John Podesta, rolling out batches every day until the election, creating new mini-scandals. 

The Clinton campaign accuses Trump and the Russians of collaboration.

FACT:  There was, in no sense of the word, collusion between Trump and the Russians -- as there clearly was between Hillary and the Russians, to include her illegal sale of 20% the US uranium reserves while she was Secretary of State.
     a)  General Flynn's discussions with the Russian Ambassador were solely to 
           establish a dialog and to assure the Russians that Obama was clearly trying
           to create a crisis with his saber-rattling; however, Flynn reassured the Russian
           Ambassador that Trump regarded Obama as an idiot, and there would be no
           risk of war with Trump as President.  
      b) Flynn ws well within his rights as Trump's selected National Security Advisor 
           to conduct such discussions, as had occurred in every campaign of either 
           Party since the Cold War.

      c)  [Spookdblog, in his capacity as a senior Intelligence official met routinely with

           USSR counterparts to alleviate their concerns of potential "NATO aggression."  He served

           in the senior Intelligence capacity in NATO Able Archer Exercises in 1976 and 1983, 

           passing along warnings to USAF General Peroots that the Soviets were interpreting

          Able Archer 83 actions as the precursor to a NATO nuclear attack on the USSR - noting 

          the activation of the Soviet "Command Train", the activation of which was only conducted 

          as a final preparation for an immediate War.  

                         --  Peroots then encouraged an immediate termination of the exercise.  ]

4. October 2016: 
New FISA request. 
The Obama administration submits a new, narrow request to the FISA court, now focused on a computer server in Trump Tower suspected of links to Russian banks. 
Still, NO evidence is found 

— but Andrew McCarthy at the National Review notes that the wiretaps continue, ostensibly for national security reasons. 

FACT:  The Obama administration was now monitoring an opposing presidential campaign using the high-tech surveillance powers of the federal intelligence services.  

This was not the traditional tapping of phone systems by the FBI; instead, it was the employment of sophisticated collection of all information on Trump targeting all forms of communication, AND via electronic and imagery surveillance.  That was patently illegal under all aspects of the National Security Act.


5. January 2017: 

BuzzFedBen lost all credibility by being Obama's stooge

Buzzfeed released CNN reports, a supposed intelligence “dossier” compiled by "a foreign former British spy."

It purports to show continuous contact between Russia and the Trump campaign, and says that the Russians have compromising information about Trump. 
None of the allegations could be verified and some are proven false. 
Several media outlets claim that they had been aware of the dossier for months and that it had been circulating in Washington.

FACT: The dossier was proven to have been created at CIA under the direction of then-CIA Director Brennan


6. January 2017: 
Obama expands NSA sharing. 
Michael Walsh later notes, and as the New York Times reports, 
the outgoing Obama Administration 
“...expanded the power of the National Security Agency to share globally intercepted personal communications with the government’s 16 other intelligence agencies before applying privacy protections.” 

These new powers, and reduced protections, could make it easier for intelligence on private citizens to be circulated and/or improperly or leaked.

FACT: This action technically legitimized the actions of NSA's illegal surveillance of US citizens, making prosecution of Obama and his Intelligence henchmen difficult, but, not altogether impossible under the National Security Act of 1947. 


7. January 2017: 
The New York Times reports monitoring of Trump:
On the eve of Inauguration Day, that several agencies — the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), the National Security Agency (NSA) and the Treasury Department are monitoring several associates of the Trump campaign suspected of Russian ties. 

Other news outlets also report the existence of 
“a multiagency working group to coordinate investigations across the government,” 
though it is unclear how the news agencies found out, since the investigations would have been secret and involved classified information.  

FACT: This reveals a leak not only of unauthorized wire-tapping/electronic surveillance, but also a violation of National Security Laws, indicating, at a minimum, complicity by former President Obama in likely directing this monitoring, but what constitutes Conspiracy, which is the basis for arrest and prosecution of all involved.


8. February 2017: 
Mike Flynn scandal.

Mike Flynn

Reports emerge that the FBI intercepted a conversation in 2016 between future National Security Adviser Michael Flynn — then a private citizen — and Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak. 
The intercept supposedly was part of routine spying on the ambassador, not monitoring of the Trump campaign. 

The FBI transcripts reportedly show the two discussing Obama’s newly-imposed sanctions on Russia, though Flynn earlier denied discussing them. 

Sally Yates, whom Trump would later fire as acting Attorney General for insubordination, was involved in the investigation; it is believed she was responsible for releasing the classified records to the Media -- a National Security felony.. 

In the end, Flynn resigns over the charge of having misled Vice President Mike Pence  about the content of the conversation.

FACT:  Flynn was under no obligation to inform the Vice President since his chain of command would have had him report directly, and only to Trump.  The VP, an important member of the Cabinet, has never been in that chain of command, in spite of his rank and position.  

Harry Truman, Roosevelt's VP, was never privy to FDR's State Secrets and commented that his VP position was "... not worth a bucket of warm spit!".  Flynn was likely a trap established by Trump to draw out and identify his detractors, and to demonstrate that Obama and the NSA had violated the law.

[While working for Reagan via Ambassador at Large (Vernon Walters) we frequently met with foreign dignitaries at the direction of Reagan for National Security reasons.  At the direction of Mr Reagan, Vice President Bush was intentionally left out of the loop.]


9. February 2017: 
New York Times claims extensive Russian contacts. 

NYT unable to refute its own headlines

The New York Times cited “four current and former American officials” in reporting that the Trump campaign had 
“... repeated contacts with senior Russian intelligence officials. The Trump campaign denies the claims — and the Times admits that there is “no evidence” of coordination between the campaign and the Russians".

The White House and some congressional Republicans begin to raise questions about 
illegal intelligence leaks.

FACT:  It is clear that Obama's Intelligence chiefs were actively, and illegally  communicating with the New York Times, and had created the bogus story to impugn Trump and his staff.  

The NYT was outed as fabricating this story when two editions were compared, with a two-month gap; there is no statute of limitations in this episode, and both the authors as well as the editors will be held responsible.



10. March 2017: 
The Washington Post targets Jeff Sessions. 
The Washington Post reported that Attorney General Jeff Sessions had contact twice with the Russian ambassador during the campaign 
— once at a Heritage Foundation event and once at a meeting in Sessions’ Senate office. 

Senator Schumer [D] and Putin 
[illegal meeting?]

The WaPo suggests that the two meetings contradict Sessions’ testimony at his confirmation hearings that 
he [Sessions] had no contacts with the Russians, though in context (not presented by the Post) 
it was clear Sessions meant he had no contact with the Russians in his capacity as a campaign surrogate, 
and that he was responding to claims in the “dossier” of ongoing contacts. 

In reality, during that meeting, Sessions was performing his duty as a US senator, meeting routinely with a foreign official, as all of his predecessors had done, and as Senator [D] Shumer had frequently done in his Committee capacity.

The New York Times, in covering the story, adds that the Obama White House 
“rushed to preserve” intelligence related to alleged Russian links with the Trump campaign. 

By “preserve” it really means “disseminate”: 
as officials spread evidence throughout other government agencies 
“to leave a clear trail of intelligence for government investigators” and perhaps the media as well.

In summary: 

Ex-President Obama, while in office, violated a broad number of National Security Regulations to spy on Candidate Donald Trump; he [or his Intelligence operatives] then worked with the New York Times, the Washington Post, and CNN to disclose classified information -- or to create the illusion of Intelligence documentation of purported illicit contact between Trump and/or his staff with Russians.

The Obama administration sought, and eventually obtained, authorization via the FISA Court to eavesdrop, not through wiretap, but using NSA sophisticated espionage capabilities on the Trump campaign; 

Obama's team continued monitoring, illegally, the Trump team even when no evidence of wrongdoing was found -- a violation of the National Security Act of 1947.

Obama subsequently relaxed the NSA rules to allow evidence to be shared widely within the government, virtually ensuring that the information, including the conversations of private citizens, would be leaked to the media.

All in a bid to stop or overthrow a Trump administration.

In the post-election era, we note that former CIA Director Brennan seems to have remained in contact with his minions at the CIA, illegally discussing classified information and having access to CIA and NSA Methods and Sources to further disrupt President Trump's Administration.

We refer here to a bit of history, in which the Espionage Act of 1917 was extended by the Sedition Act of 1918, which made it a crime to "... willfully utter, print, write, or publish and disloyal, profance curious, or abusive language about the form of the Government of the United States, or ... speech and expression of opinion that cast the government in a negative light, " 
or, and this is important
to "willfully urge, incite, or advocate any curtailment of production."

The Sedition Act was replaced by the Smith Act of 1940 [Alien Registration Act] which set criminal penalties for advocating the overthrow of the US government.

The Patriot Act of 2001, was extended by President Obama in 2011 for an additional four years, never presuming the Act could be used to monitor, surveil, and prosecute himself: 

Within the Patriot Act is a provision which will likely be used against Mr Obama and Mr Soros; it's called the National Security Letter [NSL], which authorizes the FBI to search telephone, e-mail, and financial record without a court order.  

Although the NSL has been successfully challenged in various courts, and remains in legal limbo, it would be rather fitting to have this mechanism used to investigate Mr Obama, Mr Soros, Ms Jarrett, and Hillary Clinton, who likely used this mechanism against their political enemies.


Interestingly, as of 29 April 2017,  NSA officially revised its collection practices so that it is no longer actively collecting information on US citizens, but merely through collateral collection against foreign targets.  

It all sounds good, but, thanks to NSA's politicization under Obama, can we ever trust our Intelligence services again?  

Or, did we EVER trust NSA.  

Here's a trailer from 1998 [those were Clinton years] from the movie Enemy of the State. 

     Supposedly it is fiction; knowing what you know now, is it fiction or real?

[ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AoNT6u3mQew ]