The 2016 Election, Donald Trump and the Deep State by Peter Dale Scott

[Paul Rigby]

The 2016 Election and the Deep State

Peter Dale Scott

30 October 2016

https://www.facebook.com/peter.d.scott.9...0705033794

For weeks now I have tolerated floods of electoral propaganda postings on my Facebook page, mostly from Trump supporters, depressing though these postings have been. This has been a postmodernist campaign, with memes launched into the blogosphere by both sides which have little to do with either political reality or truth. But I have learned a lot from these postings above all that some of them come from people I know whose sincerity I respect.

It is clear that there is a passionate desire on all sides for a different politics, and for an outsider to start a new era in Washington. And I have a message for those who feel that Donald might be that outsider: from my perspective he is not.

In some ways both candidates are outsiders, Hillary above all as a woman, Donald as a businessman and TV idol. But by this late stage in the campaign, both are now also insiders backed by Wall Street millionaires, Hillary by a consensus of them, Trump by Robert Mercer, the co-CEO of hedge fund Renaissance Technologies,1

On the issues that concern me most, the differences between them are disappearing. Both candidates want more action against ISIS in Syria, just is in 2008 both candidates wanted more action in Afghanistan.
On the key issues of defense spending a Syria, Trump is now clearly an insider, whatever he may have been early in the campaign.

Two news reports,

1) defense budget:

"Donald Trump called for 50,000 more Army troops, more than 70 new Navy warships, 13 new Marine battalions and nearly 100 Air Force planes, proposing a massive surge in defense spending he said is needed to stop the rise of the Islamic State and to be better prepared for other global threats.

"The GOP presidential nominee, who's portrayed himself as a reluctant warrior on the campaign trail, didn't say how he'd deploy the extra firepower, but said the military had been hollowed out under President Obama and said it's time to rebuild at a cost of tens of billions of dollars a year."2

2) Syria:

"Donald Trump would deploy up to 30,000 American soldiers in the Middle East to defeat the Islamic State, he said at Thursday night's debate.

"Trump was answering a question about comments from General Lloyd Austin III, the head of U.S. Central Command who said more troops on the ground would be needed to defeat ISIS in Syria and Iraq.
"'We really have no choice, we have to knock out ISIS,' Trump said. I would listen to the generals, but I'm hearing numbers of 20,000-30,000.'"3

In short, Trump can be compared to candidate Reagan in 1976, someone who appeared on the surface to be taking on the Wall Street establishment of Rockefeller Republicanism, but who in fact was already a vehicle for more defense spending ad military adventures abroad.

NOTES

1. "How One Family's Deep Pockets Helped Reshape Donald Trump's Campaign
By Nicholas Confessore Aug. 18, 2016
http://www.nytimes.com/…/robert-mercer...donor.h…
2. Seth McLaughlin, "Trump calls for massive military buildup," Washington Times, September 7, 2016,
http://www.washingtontimes.com/…/donal...bigger…/.
3. Matthew Nussbaum, "Trump calls for ground troops in Iraq, Syria," Politico, March 10, 2016,
http://www.politico.com/…/2…/2016/03...ria-220608.

How One Family's Deep Pockets Helped Reshape Donald Trump's Campaign

By NICHOLAS CONFESSORE

AUG. 18, 2016

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/08/19/us/pol....html?_r=0

Extract:

Over more than half a decade, Ms. Mercer's father, the New York investor Robert Mercer, has carved an idiosyncratic path through conservative politics, spending tens of millions of dollars to outflank his own party's consultant class and unnerve its established powers. His fortune has financed think tanks and insurgent candidates, super PACs and media watchdogs, lobbying groups and grass-roots organizations.

Many of them are now connected, one way or another, to Mr. Trump's presidential bid. Mr. Trump's new campaign manager, Kellyanne Conway, is a veteran Republican pollster who previously oversaw a super PAC financed by the Mercers. Mr. Bannon oversaw Breitbart, an outlet that has often amplified Mr. Trump's message and attacked his perceived enemies. Mr. Mercer reportedly invested $10 million in Breitbart several years ago, and most likely still has a stake: A company sharing an address with Renaissance Technologies, the hedge fund Mr. Mercer helps lead, remains an investor in Breitbart, according to corporate documents filed in Delaware.

Mr. Trump is also relying on Cambridge Analytica, a voter data firm backed by Mr. Mercer, whose staff members are working with Mr. Trump's vendors to identify potential Trump supporters in the electorate, particularly among infrequent voters. A Mercer-backed super PAC supporting Mr. Trump is now being shepherded by David Bossie, a conservative activist whose own projects have been funded in part by the Mercers' family foundation, according to tax documents.