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The time has come for my annual short Thanksgiving/Christmas fund drive for Behind The Black. I must do this every year in order to make sure I have earned enough money to pay my bills.

 

For this two-week campaign, I am offering a special deal to encourage donations. Donations of $200 will get a free autographed copy of the new paperback edition of Genesis: The Story of Apollo 8, while donations of $250 will get a free autographed copy of the new hardback edition. If you desire a copy, make sure you provide me your address with your donation.

 

As I noted in July, the support of my readers through the years has given me the freedom and ability to analyze objectively the ongoing renaissance in space, as well as the cultural changes -- for good or ill -- that are happening across America. Fourteen years ago I wrote that SLS and Orion were a bad ideas, a waste of money, would be years behind schedule, and better replaced by commercial private enterprise. Only now does it appear that Washington might finally recognize this reality.

 

In 2020 when the world panicked over COVID I wrote that the panic was unnecessary, that the virus was apparently simply a variation of the flu, that masks were not simply pointless but if worn incorrectly were a health threat, that the lockdowns were a disaster and did nothing to stop the spread of COVID. Only in the past year have some of our so-called experts in the health field have begun to recognize these facts.

 

Your help allows me to do this kind of intelligent analysis. I take no advertising or sponsors, so my reporting isn't influenced by donations by established space or drug companies. Instead, I rely entirely on donations and subscriptions from my readers, which gives me the freedom to write what I think, unencumbered by outside influences.

 

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The Justice and FBI players under suspicion for FISA illegalities

Today there were a bunch of stories claiming that newly revealed evidence, previously buried by the FBI, proves the innocence of former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn and was illegally withheld from his lawyers. In addition, another bunch of recent stories have also hinted that indictments might be coming in the FBI/Justice scandal involving the illegal misuse of FISA warrants to spy on Donald Trump as well as attempt to overthrow his presidency.

The problem with all these stories is that they are based on anonymous sources, and the evidence in question remains under seal so we can’t see it.

I normally do not pay much attention to stories based on anonymous sources or rumors. Nonetheless, if indictments are coming it is also worthwhile for responsible citizens to get a handle on the players involved, including understanding why some people get indicted, when it happens. Since the entire scandal here involves almost the entire top management at both the Justice Department and the FBI during the Obama administration as well as during the first three years of the Trump administration, there are a lot of players.

Thus, I strongly advice my readers to spend some time and read this article at The Conservative Treehouse on the subject of the Mike Flynn case.

It outlines in great and very clear detail who the players have been who worked to abuse the power at the FBI and the Department of Justice, explaining their actions and positions during the entire scandal. Familiar names like John Brennan, Andrew McCabe, Peter Strzok, Lisa Page, James Comey, and Christopher Wray all come up. It adds however some less well known players — Dana Boente, David Bowditch, Scott Schools, David Archey — and gives us their part in the scandal, showing that they were apparently as culpable. The focus is mostly on the part that Boente played, but as the article notes in its conclusion:

There are no “good guys” in this. There are no “white hats” here. Certainly not Mueller, Rosenstein, Wray, Bowditch or Boente. Instead, this is a matrix of broad interests positioned only to benefit and sustain the status quo of the administrative state; and protect the larger community from the Trump disruption.

Even if all these individuals are not indicted, there is absolutely no justification for Trump to allow them to remain at their jobs. They should be shown the door now. You don’t need indictments to fire someone who is corrupt, and misuses his or her position.

Genesis cover

On Christmas Eve 1968 three Americans became the first humans to visit another world. What they did to celebrate was unexpected and profound, and will be remembered throughout all human history. Genesis: the Story of Apollo 8, Robert Zimmerman's classic history of humanity's first journey to another world, tells that story, and it is now available as both an ebook and an audiobook, both with a foreword by Valerie Anders and a new introduction by Robert Zimmerman.

 

The print edition can be purchased at Amazon. from any other book seller, or direct from my ebook publisher, ebookit. The ebook is available everywhere for $5.99 (before discount) at amazon, or direct from my ebook publisher, ebookit. If you buy it from ebookit you don't support the big tech companies and the author gets a bigger cut much sooner.


The audiobook is also available at all these vendors, and is also free with a 30-day trial membership to Audible.
 

"Not simply about one mission, [Genesis] is also the history of America's quest for the moon... Zimmerman has done a masterful job of tying disparate events together into a solid account of one of America's greatest human triumphs."--San Antonio Express-News

7 comments

  • Col Beausabre

    Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?

    That the highest law enforcement officials and and their agencies can even be imagined to have behaved the way they are accused of is horrifying

    At a minimum their conduct has destroyed a large numbers of Americans belief in our institutions by ignoring the fact that “Caesar’s wife must be above suspicion”

  • Phill O

    I am reading Dick Cheney’ book “In My Time” and his defense of the FISA system. He argues that extensive data was obtained by FISA as well as enhanced interrogation techniques.

    Also, the terrorists have proven that they are not part of the Geneva Convention and argued that those rules do not apply. His argument is that the terrorists use innocents as shields and target which is absolutely against Geneva.

  • Phill O

    Should have added

    The fact that the dems abused the system should be dealt with in the most severe way!

  • Ray Van Dune

    The FISA process depends completely on the integrity of the people of the DOJ / FBI. The top levels of these organizations were thoroughly corrupted during the Obama years, and used for political spying and dirty tricks on behalf of Democrats, instead of defending America’s interests. Imagine Chicago on a grand scale.

    Of course the connivance of the media, long before corrupted, was essential in the Chicago-is ation of America, and it is difficult to see how the dead hand of Obama’s tyranny can be lifted with the media ever on guard. Trump faces an immense challenge from these forces, and many assume he will have to wait for a second term to start rolling heads.

    Besides the fact that there may be no second term, I think he needs to strike now, while the nation is experiencing a threat unlike any seen before, because now we have suspended our lazy disbelief that such existential threats can even exist. We are living with a biological catastrophe, but most of us are unaware of the political catastrophe the the media is hiding from us. I am sure the experts want Trump to wait until the time is perfect, but that perfect time may never come.

    He relied on experts to confront CV-19, and the results have been mixed. I believe he should trust his instincts in confronting the political pandemic that is lurking unseen among us, pick up the phone to AG Barr, and say “Release the Kraken”!

  • Gary

    Dan Bongino (Bongino.com) has been documenting the FBI’s malfeasance for months using contradictory mainstream media reports.

  • Max

    An oldie, but a goodie. Video no longer available but it’s fun to read the transcripts of Obama saying the FISA court is transparent.
    https://techcrunch.com/2013/06/17/in-first-nsa-interview-obama-cant-confirm-if-courts-ever-rejected-spying-requests/

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