Dear Members and Coworkers, July 18, 2018
Pearl Harbor! 9-11! Treason! You better agree that the Russians TRIED to interfere in the 2016 election, or, or, or, you must be a Russian agent. Your siding with Vladimir Putin against your own people! Mind you, their efforts had no effect, changed nary a vote, according to the same agencies demanding all agree Russia interfered. It’s been more than a drumbeat. Newspaper columnists and network anchors have cranked up the outrage beyond the point where the speakers rattle. Though they’ve been beside themselves with anger (“Never ever, in all our years have we seen anyone besmirch what the United States stands for, turning his back on our values …!!!”), you can bet neither understanding nor forgiveness is in their vocabulary.
Two weeks ago it was The CHILDREN! Before that, risking nuclear war with North Korea, then, boosting Kim Jong-un’s status. Canceling the Iran deal, pulling out of the Paris Climate Accords, White House resignations, Russian Collusion with the Trump campaign. You haven’t looked at the news in over a year and a half without hearing, “We’ve never, ever seen anything in history to rival the betrayal by this president!!” Retired Colonel Ralph Peters, on the eve of the Helsinki summit said Trump was not only a fool, but a “malevolent fool.”What’s his problem?
The mainstream media again blew its collective stack over the dual press conference President Trump held with Vladimir Putin after their meeting. Trump equivocated on Russian interference in the last presidential election, saying Putin strongly denied it. Never mind the big issues, nuclear weapons, NATO security, Syria, Iran, the gas pipeline to Germany. Forget all that. Trump blew the pundits’ minds when he cast doubt on the validity of the intelligence community’s insistence that “Russia interfered” in the 2016 election. “He sided with that murderous thug against his own people!” The print media and TV networks, without exception literally freaked out, calling it TREASON.
Actually, the first mention of treason came from John Brennan, former head of the CIA under the Obama administration, but most anchors and pundits were quick to chime in. If you’ve followed the “Russia collusion” story, you’re well aware that Brennan not only had his hand in creating the false narrative, he trafficked accusations made in the so-called “dossier” to Congress, to the FBI and has been publicly accusing Trump of winning the election fraudulently and committing crimes against the United States for a year and a half. His wing man was James Clapper, (who famously lied to us all before Congress saying the NSA did not collect data on everyday Americans, “not wittingly”). He’s taken every opportunity to say the “Russia collusion”scandal was “worse than Watergate.” He said it overseas, he took a job with CNN and has made comments to that effect regularly.
How can the “intelligence community” be so incensed that President Trump or anybody for that matter not be up in arms about everything the Russians did to skew the election, when they themselves say that it had no effect? John Podesta’s criticism of Hillary which was exposed in the release of his e-mails? That’s what determined the outcome of the presidential election? Hardly. You have to wonder what all the panic is about when the very agencies that demand that interference indeed took place (and you better believe it, and Trump better take action on account of it), also assert that it had no effect on the outcome.
Here’s a probability as to why the papers and networks are breathless, speechless, out of superlatives to describe the magnitude of their outrage. They don’t want to talk about anything else the President said, and certainly don’t want to have to get to the bottom of what Putin said, about the $400,000.00 donation to Hillary Clinton, with assistance from the U. S. intelligence agencies. No, it wouldn’t be prudent to “unpack”that little mystery, or discuss it period. So, Trump committed treason. That’s the excuse for leaving nearly everything said at that press conference undiscussed. The anchors, the pundits and columnists had no choice but to find an excuse to lose their minds. They simply didn’t dare bring up the other things Trump and Putin said at the presser.
Several of the principals promoting the“collusion” investigation (including John McCain) tried everything they could think of to publicly call off Trump’s meeting with Putin. The Mueller team dropped a dozen indictments on Russian intelligence officers, purportedly to prosecute them for “hacking the DNC” and electoral interference, Friday prior to the Monday meeting. Across the board, there was mainstream insistence that the meeting be called off. Those indictments PROVED Putin and his boys guilty, they claimed. But then there is that unique little quirk in our justice system that states a suspect is innocent until proven guilty. The “Russians,”accused of hacking or social network trolling will likely never see the inside of a courtroom. Putin actually invited the Mueller team to come to Russia to interview and investigate the suspects, but threw in the caveat that his prosecutors should have reciprocal access to Americans accused of crimes in Russia. So, forget that. It was just a talking point, an offer that can never be accepted.
Trump missed the perfect opportunity, according to all the talking heads. He should have accused, embarrassed and maybe shouted at the top of his lungs at Vladimir in front of the assembled media and cameras beaming the occasion to the entire world. Maybe that would have pleased his critics. But then again, no. They’ve staked their careers on the “collusion”narrative even though there’s nothing.
A day late, President Trump says he believes and respects the intelligence community, which is more than can be said for most of us. Maybe he can respect it now that the aforementioned actors, and many others have vacated their positions. But Clapper, Brennan, Comey, Strzok, Powers, Rhodes, Bruce Orr, Nellie Orr, Andy McCabe (among many others), were running “intelligence”and counter-intelligence investigations. How can anybody vouch for their truthfulness or good intentions after living through the last year and a half? But that’s the test of patriotism now. Faced with criticism, even from some thought to be staunch allies, Trump’s thrown them a bone. It seems he missed a contraction, and the sentence came out wrong. Big deal, who cares? Enough of the rhetorical contortions about how, “Russia meddled, but had no effect.”Of course it’s never stated so succinctly.
We should be looking at the big issues. Like the failure of Theresa May to honor the referendum to exit the European Union. Add to that the uncertain future of Europe, with Angela Merkel’s government hanging by a thread and an immigration problem that may never be solved. NATO, protecting Europe militarily from Russian expansion while Germany makes a multi-billion dollar deal with Russia for a natural gas pipeline under the Baltic Sea.
China, stealing American intellectual property with abandon,and ramping up military capabilities while building island bases way out in the South China Sea. Iran with troops and terrorists in Yemen, Iraq, Syria and Lebanon, burning American and Israeli flags in their parliament screaming “Death to Israel, Death to America,” and is intent on becoming a nuclear power. Several problems have been solved, to put it lightly. But there are still major challenges that should be the focus of concerns. Don’t wait for the mainstream media to give them any attention. Never mind that justice is fallen in the streets, or that deception is the name of the game. They’ve got to get President Trump out of office! We give thanks to a merciful God for blessings beyond comprehension, and pray for His continued direction in a world addicted to deceit.
Sincerely,
Mark Armstrong
PS. Our offer this month is an audio CD sermon by Garner Ted Armstrong entitled Anger & Forgiveness. When you’ve heard it, consider who else might benefit. Unless they’re still mad!
