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MAGA Rep. warns that the Deep State is trying to kill cowboys [1]

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Date: 2023-01-10

Ryan Zinke (R-MT), a newly elected Representative from Montana, is in Washington celebrating his second stint in Congress. If you recognize the name, it might be because he was Trump’s Secretary of the Interior - until he was forced to resign after a series of questionable expenses , illegal politicking , vanity exercises , poor policy decisions , and real estate shenanigans . Behavior that was common in the cabinet during those years.

Zinke’s political resurrection is due mainly to the fact that the Republican voter has taken their cue from GOP leadership. And they have thus dispensed with ethical and moral considerations in selecting their representatives.

Zinke wasted no time in establishing his conservative cred. In his first congressional outing, he revealed that he is still a dedicated MAGA and committed to believing the conservative dogma that shadowy forces control the levers of power. And worse, they have personally targeted him for political extinction. In his House harangue today, he laid out his case.

"Despite the Deep State's attempts to repeatedly stop me, I stand before you as a duly elected member of the United States Congress and tell you that a Deep State exists and it is perhaps the strongest covert weapon the left has against the American people.” "There is no doubt the federal government Deep State coordinates with liberal activists and uses politicians and willing media to carry their water. The Deep State runs secret messaging campaigns with one goal in mind: To increase its power, to censor and persuade the American people."

Let us parse his thinking. He says the “Deep State” is “the strongest covert weapon the left has.” Why is he worried? If this is the best the left has, and he still won his election, does that prove the Deep State is hardly a results-driven enterprise? Also, if you have to claim something exists, and yet you offer no evidence for that proposition, the odds favor your claim being bullshit.

Next, he offers the bald statement, “there is no doubt”. It is a declaration that paradoxically admits that doubt, in all likelihood overwhelming doubt, does exist. This is appropriate, as the deep state is so deep no conservative politicians or law enforcement officer has ever identified a member of the organization — far less charged anyone with sedition or any other anti-American crime or even activity.

I also wonder how effective a “secret” messaging campaign is. How does it work if you keep it secret? I suspect Zinke must think that the deep state has coded language like the dog whistles used by conservatives. If it does, what are the deep state euphemisms which correspondent with the conservative use of “urban” (aka Black), “groomers” (gays), “child abuse” (anti-COVID protocols for kids) “fascism” (anti-COVID measures for adults), “socialism” (business regulation, universal healthcare, and so much more) “parental rights” (bigotry in schools) and “rigged elections” (we did not cheat enough)?

Zinke continued,

"Dark money groups funded by liberal billionaires and foreign investors funnel money to shell organizations and repeatedly attempt to destroy the American West. In many cases, they want to wipe out the American cowboy completely, remove public access to our lands and turn Montana into a national park."

The right is obsessed with clandestine groups, known collectively as “George Soros”. But both sides have their billionaires. And no election has ever been canceled because the Republican candidate was insufficiently bribed.

As for “dark money groups”, Democrats have for years lobbied to get greater transparency into the anonymous 501c organizations that are not required to report from whence their money comes. Zinke here is a classic example of the axiom best associated with so-called “projection” — “every accusation is a confession.” Zinke imputes to the other side the sins he would commit.

Zinkie continues with more conservative euphemisms. “Public access” in the right-wing idiom is “corporate access” in English. The “American cowboy” is a rapacious mine owner. And what the hell is wrong with a national park?

Zinke then calls politics ugly — and he should know. He is a politician. And he concludes with,

"But we need to investigate and uncover corruption no matter where it lies. It is time to bring light to the deep state and do our duty."

Fair enough. However, the reasonable reader knows that Zinke’s flashlight will never point at his fellow Republicans. And he, himself, will not suffer the scrutiny of a Republican Congress with no guiding philosophy and no governing policies beyond ad nauseam investigations of all the institutions that chain them to decency and the rule of law.

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[1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/1/10/2146344/-MAGA-Rep-warns-that-the-Deep-State-is-trying-to-kill-cowboys

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