Definition of Terms
Plata o plomo is a Colombian Spanish slang phrase that translates to “silver or lead.” A person saying the phrase is telling the listener to either accept a bribe (plata, meaning “silver,” a common slang term for money in Colombia) or lose their life (plomo, a metonym for “lead bullet”).
un billetico If you’ve ever spent some time in a Spanish speaking country, there’s a good chance you’ll know the word billete, or ticket. In Colombia, and more specifically in the world of the narcos, un billete is a large amount of money, and un billetico is a really large amount of money.
In context:
— “Se ganó un billetico con esa vuelta.”
Corruption, and the Deep State in the Age of Trump
The reality is that there are levels of corruption in every large business and in every level of government to some degree. There are things that even the most honest organs of the state live with because they seem to be necessary. And leaders don’t want people working for them who are ‘cleaner’ than they are because that’s dangerous. So they buffer themselves with like-minded people and keep the ‘cleaner’ people at lower levels, beyond a certain level of decision making. I’ve been there, friends. I know the ups and downs. And there comes a point in time when the filth won’t come out from under your fingernails. You can tell a lot of Washington insiders by that dirt.
And while you may have read that I’m not overly proud of the FBI and that’s true. There was a guy who I worked with every day for five years, FBI guy, and we did some sensitive stuff. We also had fun. I remember once at the Hard Rock Cafe in Vegas when a snowflake came in with a SEAL Team Two patch on his shabby jacket and I had a few under my belt, so I took out my clasp knife, tossed him on the floor and cut the patch off before my buddy could pull me off of the terrified Hard Rock customer. No flesh came away with the patch. I showed remarkable restraint. Vegas Metro showed up, we buzzed them, they left, nothing to see here. Anyway, he rose to be Deputy Director over the Narcotics and Enterprise Crime (Organized Crime) Division. Then he tossed it away, transferred out and ended up as Special Agent-in-Charge of the Sacramento RA until he had enough time in and enough money in the thrift fund to retire. Sometimes, you need to walk away from the swamp. Nietzsche said that when you look into the abyss too long, the abyss also looks back into you. The same could be said of the swamp.
But I digress. The war stories could go on for weeks.
CIA was born in 1947 as a child of the Cold War to fight the Soviet enemy. That’s really all there was that mattered. The Russians moved slowly and the Americans moved slowly as the respective bureaucracies churned. For the US, the academics from old school tie/ivy league ran a gentleman’s business primarily under State Department/diplomatic cover. Sure, there are knuckle draggers in the Special Activities Division and paramilitary ops but you’re not going to rise in the corporation from those beginnings.
The Deep State that we see today truly had its genesis and its bloom under Allen Welsh Dulles, an American diplomat and lawyer who became the first civilian Director of the Central Intelligence Agency. His older brother, John Foster Dulles, was the Secretary of State during the Eisenhower Administration and is the namesake of Dulles Airport.
The FBI was a child of J. Edgar Hoover, a corrupt, closet homosexual whose stock in trade was political extortion inside the Washington DC Beltway.
It doesn’t matter how your consciences lets you slice it, those facts are not in dispute. And the children of those fathers now pull the strings of power. We’ve all seen it play out first hand when Hillary Clinton, infinitely corrupt and wicked, didn’t win. And President Trump only wanted to Make America Great Again. They couldn’t corrupt Trump with money or women or power and he wasn’t willing to read what had been written for him by his handlers from a teleprompter.
When ‘plato o plomo’ was offered to President Trump, he laughed. Speaker Paul Ryan (running mate to Mitt [Pierre Delicto] Romney) tried to explain how things worked several times and the president ignored him. So the machine ground against President Trump, who had been surrounded by the machine the moment he took office. The corrupt, lying, filthy, sly mainstream media, the core Democrats and the core Republicans all lined up to remove him from office. The selected vehicle was “Russia” – the boogeyman of the Cold War. And it still is. Just turn on the news. Except that there is no more Soviet Union, and the Russian Federation, a fraction if its former size and strength is a regional power with nuclear weapons and a GDP that is smaller than that of Texas. However, none of that matters to the Deep State because China pays to play, so that just leaves Russia.
And America had been brainwashed to fear Russia. The Military Industrial Complex saw to it that we were, because it justified massive budgets and enormous profits… and constant proxy wars. Because as General S. D. Butler, USMC reminds us, “War is a racket“.
If you offered corrupt old Slow Joe Biden plato o plomo, he’d take the silver – from China, from Ukraine, from anywhere, just the way that Hillary Clinton and the Clinton Global Initiative did. Just the way that the Bush Dynasty did and the way that Barack Obama went from being broke when he entered the White House to a billionaire in eight years. Because that’s what America has become under the rule of this filthy machine. un billetico
Your post reminded me of this from Baldwin IV in Kingdom of Heaven:
"A King may move a man, a father may claim a son, but remember that even when those who move you be Kings, or men of power, your soul is in your keeping alone. When you stand before God, you cannot say, 'But I was told by others to do thus.' Or that, 'Virtue was not convenient at the time.' This will not suffice. Remember that."
Later on Balian says "What man is a man who does not make the world a better place." (I would add "even if only in our own small circle of influence.")
Love to see how Schiff squares with that…not that he cares, or is delusional enough to believe he actually is doing God's work.
A pox on all of 'em. Somebody big and powerful needs to be taken down, after being unconditionally linked to the Deep State. Treason would be a good start, and that is punishable by death.
We need to execute somebody corrupt. For the good of the country.
I remember a cartoon around 20-30 years ago, of two execs with the NY skyline in the background, looking at a potential hire – fresh innocent face, from a farm. One exec is saying "I don't trust his background."
Unchecked corruption is a good way for the rich to gather power, the powerful to gather riches, and to drive the country into ruin and keep it there.
Frank
If you're going to watch "Kingdom of Heaven", do yourself a BIG favor and buy the Director's Cut. It's about twice as long and twice as good. It's in my top five favorite films of all time. You miss out on a lot of the plot if you don't watch the director's cut.
Schiff would be one of the morons who led the Crusaders to the Horns of Hatton to be slaughtered.
When the execution is called for, you need to step up, axe in hand and remind them who you are. Wear the uniform black hood and leather jerkin to let them know that you're no amateur.
Exactly.
Radically altered from the financially unsuccessful version that unspooled in theaters in the summer of 2005, Kingdom of Heaven: Director's Cut restores 45 minutes of footage and transforms a compelling-yet-frustrating movie into a breathtaking epic.
We have both versions, preferring the Director's Cut version as well…fills in the blanks. The Baldwin IV quote is even more profound with the added "being played" aspect, which is getting harder to discern nowadays, the snakes and liars are getting better at their game.
With you "moron" reference, would really like to see Schiff kissing the King's leprous hand…might just wake him the hell up. Probably not.
I recall watching the theatrical version of that film years ago and thinking "Meh!" I'll have to seek out the director's cut.
Wouldn't that be sweet? I'm up for it, boss. We haven't had a good execution for treason/espionage since the Rosenbergs: Ethyl and Julius, commies and traitors to the bone, and yet the Left still claims there were pure and clean as the wind driven snow – innocent as babes.
Yes, I hope to have my black hood back from the cleaners before the Stryzok/Page convictions are handed down…
Thanks for the post.
Paul L. Quandt
Well, it is Ridley Scott, epic battles scenes are standard fare. For me the movie epitomizes integrity and honor with humility…doing what is right while getting your hands dirty.
(That last line above was "your" [moron] reference…)
Once again you nail it. Just this morning saw something else that hits the target.
daybydaycartoon.com/comic/swamp-creatures/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+DayByDayCartoon+%28Day+by+Day+Cartoon+by+Chris+Muir%29
You'll likely splatter that leather jerkin with blood, but I expect that it could wipe off – but why would you want to. You can also bring a really dull axe and miss – almost – requiring more swings.
Yes, DBD hit it on the head.
However, I frequently feel like a dinosaur, WSF.
My advice? Carefully pick which dinosaur species you identify with.
While I don't often comment on his blog, Rev. Paul "Way Up North" puts up bible verses that seem pertaintent to current events.
I like Fredd's first comment. Someone does need to fall. Unfortunately it probably won't be anyone who needs to do so.
Have you seen:
youtube.com/watch?v=si-vMj-FB88
your State Department/Swamp at work.
Sadly all true. And the smart ones walk away… Just sayin…
I like the velociraptors.
Usually the low hanging fruit goes first and the true shot callers remain insulated. If somebody talks too much or poses a threat, it's a suicide while in custody, guards sleeping, CCTV turned off, recorders not recording. And a bought coroner calls it whatever he's paid to call it.
You have to, Old NFO.
P.S. Just because you're standing outside of the whorehouse, doesn't mean that you don't know what's going on inside.
I hadn't watched that particular Beck video, but I've seen others that he's done and he's on point.
Excellent post. But I had to wonder, why would anyone pretend to be a SEAL? Obviously insane… to put it mildly.
For the same reason someone would pretend to be an SR-71 "co-pilot", LSP. They think they can get away with the deception and get some false admiration.
To be fair to the guy. (I still remember the startled face looking up at me. One moment he was rocking out and the next, his world had turned.) He got the patch from somewhere and maybe his mommy sewed it onto his jacket. Male, white, mid-20's – likely lived at home. And there was a bit of an overreaction on my part. But I'd just come back from being called up to Desert Storm for a year – came back and was back at my old job with a wartime attitude.
From an outside viewers perspective it looks like Clinton, the Democrats and MSM all are examples of the greatest success of a Russian intelligence operation in the US. The all act completely counter productive and manage to harm the US more than anyone else on the planet. How the Russians made it I do not know but I can only congratulate them them. From what I know it seems like the do not have to spend a dime on it either. The Democrats do it for free.
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