"Empire of Lies"
by Brian Maher
"Why does government lie so repeatedly - and so atrociously? Why does it fear truth as the vampire fears garlic? The answer, we hazard, reduces to its desperate quest for prestige. Government equals authority. And an authority is an authority. Its word must be the final word. Its word must be the ultimate word. A supreme authority cannot withstand rivals - else its authority falls into question. It cannot endure mockery, ridicule or derision. And if its undeniable incompetence is exposed, its back goes up… and its dukes go up. Consider for example Monday’s congressional testimony of a certain Kimberly Cheatle…
The Greatest Sin Against Government: Ms. Cheatle directed the United States Secret Service when an aspiring assassin made a mockery of the lady’s organization. How can a murderous fellow scale a low rooftop with a rifle - some 140 yards from a former and potentially future United States president - and let eight projectiles loose - before being scotched? Here he was… placing his thumbs in his ears… wiggling his fingers… and putting out his tongue at Ms. Cheatle and the organization she bosses. And in the private opinion of Ms. Cheatle, that is the highest sin. It is not act itself. Is greater professional incompetence scarcely conceivable? We do not believe it is.
“It’s an Ongoing Investigation”: Yet the lady donned her armor, barricaded herself within fortress walls and deflected all questions concerning her agency’s abominations. She could not answer this question or that question because it is an “ongoing investigation.”
“Was July 13 a Saturday, madam?”
“It’s an ongoing investigation.”
“What time did the attempted assassination take place? What was the local temperature?”
“It’s an ongoing investigation.”
“What color blazer was the former president Trump sporting?”
“It’s an ongoing investigation.”
“In which hemisphere of Earth did the incident occur?”
“It’s an ongoing investigation.”
“What color is the sky?”
“It’s an ongoing investigation.”
Governing Means Never Saying You’re Sorry: Could the lady openly and candidly concede her organization’s botchwork? What government functionary ever does? Imagine her arguing, for example, that her sniper may have failed to shoot first because his scope was trained not on the rooftop - but on the fetching young lady in the third row with the cropped top and the shortest shorts.
Imagine her arguing that the 5’4” female agent lacked the height to cover adequately her 6’3” protectee. Furthermore, that the identical female agent was admitted to the United States Secret Service on a sliding scale - that she did not satisfy the physical standards required of men.
Imagine her conceding that her personnel were snoozing on the job. Have you imagined these potentialities? Then you have imagined impossibilities. Ms. Cheatle would never concede any of them even if true. That is because she fears for her (former) agency’s prestige.
The Bigger the Organization, the Bigger the Lies: “Why are you stating the obvious?” comes your retort. “Every organization, from the smallest business concern to the largest business concern, from any local government to the federal government, fears for its prestige. No organization wants to be publicly embarrassed.” You are of course correct. Yet the larger the organization, the larger its scope. Thus the greater number of lies - and scale of lies - it must tell to cling to its prestige.
Imagine you are the proprietor of a local business concern. You quake in fear of the competition. And you are hot to scotch it. Imagine the lengths to which you proceed… the fibs you tell… to defend and expand your localized little empire. What misdemeanor - indeed, what felony - wouldn’t you execute if it advantaged you? Yet your enterprise maintains a very constricted reach. It represents a nearly absolute insignificance to the world beyond. Who cares if you claim to be the most superior plumber in Springfield when you manifestly are not?
A Local Government Can Manage Its Lies: Next imagine that you are not a business concern. You are instead a local government concern. You are its mayor. You must tell your lies to glitter before your captives, your residents. The business may be difficult at times - yet it is manageable. You must lie about the efficiency of the Motor Vehicle Department or the Highway Department, for example. You must lie about the bribes you have accepted. You may therefore maintain your prestige. Yet the scope of your lies is contained with your narrow borders.
A nation - a normal nation - must likewise tell its lies to hold up its prestige. It may be difficult at times. Yet if the nation is reasonably sized and has little ambition, it is, again, possible. In highest contrast stands the government of the United States…
The Burden of Maintaining Global Prestige: This is an empire that exerts dominion over each individual, over each local municipality, over each state municipality within these shores - from oceans Atlantic and Pacific, from the border with Mexico to the border with Canada. Imagine the impossibility of managing such a vast space. The United States government manages the job very poorly. Yet by its nature it must maintain its prestige among the American people. It must therefore inform you that it performs the job very well. It will stare you in the eyes… and lie to you… even if it knows that you know it is lying to you.
Yet the United States is the world’s reigning kingpin, its dominant power. Its wingspan therefore covers the entirety of planet Earth. Does a single sparrow fall outside its awareness? Imagine - then - the lies it must tell to maintain its prestige among all the nations of Earth…
Lies of Commission and Omission: Who detonated the Nord Stream pipeline transmitting natural gas from the Russian Federation to the German republic? The answers reduce to the United States itself, one of its European allies or the nation of Ukraine. Do you believe the United States government is unaware of the answer? Yet imagine the catastrophic damage to its reputation if it revealed the answer.
It would concede that the United States itself executed the largest act of environmental sabotage in all of history - and heavily wrecked the economy of its central NATO ally - or that another NATO ally did the deed. Or that the nation it stands impassionedly behind, Ukraine, did the deed. It must therefore shrug its shoulders in befuddlement or inform you that Russia blew holes in its own pipeline. It is a lie of omission or a lie of commission.
We’re the Good Guys Here: Imagine if the United States government conceded that Russia’s unprovoked aggression was very much provoked? And that it was the saboteur of peace talks between Russia and Ukraine that would have ceased the bloodletting one month after it commenced. Public support for the Ukrainian cause - in the United States and abroad - would collapse in a heap. United States government prestige would absorb a fatal blow.
It must therefore babble lies. It must tell you that Mr. Putin’s aggression was not provoked. It must inform you that he will be at the English Channel within no time if he is not heaved out of Ukraine. It must inform you that it is battling on behalf of democracy. From the Middle East to East Asia, from South America to Africa, the identical dynamic obtains. If the Antarctic continent were sufficiently populated, it would extend there too.
Empire of Lies: Our co-founders Bill Bonner and Addison Wiggin once labeled the United States an empire of debt. It is an empire of debt, yes. It is certainly an empire in debt. Yet in the more fundamental sense it is an empire of lies. The emperor in charge of it is presently being exposed - he is well and truly nude before a gaping world. Yet this emperor will never concede his nudity…"
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