Tucker Carlson: SO WHO’S REALLY IN CHARGE? THAT’S A REALLY INTERESTING QUESTION. TO ANSWER THAT QUESTION, WE ARE HONORED TO BE JOINED BY SOMEONE WHO HAS BEEN THINKING ABOUT THIS FOR AN AWFUL LONG TIME. THAT WOULD BE GLENN GREENWALD, WHO WRITES FOR SUBSTACK. HE HAS BEEN COVERING THE NATIONAL SECURITY STATE FOR DECADES SAYING THINGS IN RETROSPECT THAT PROVED TO BE TOTALLY TRUE. WE ARE HAPPY TO HAVE HIM JOIN US NOW. THANKS SO MUCH FOR COMING ON.
AS JUST NOTED, YOU HAVE BEEN ON THE TRAIL OF THE NATIONAL SECURITY STATE LONGER THAN MOST PEOPLE THOUGHT IT WAS ANYTHING MORE THAN A CONSPIRACY THEORY, AS WE NOW SAY. WHO DO YOU THINK IS ACTUALLY IN CHARGE OF THE GOVERNMENT AT THIS POINT?
Glenn Greenwald: IT’S BIZARRE, TUCKER, BECAUSE THE TRUMP PRESIDENCY BROUGHT SO MUCH EVIDENCE SHOWING US WHO WAS. ONE OF THE VIDEO CLIPS THAT I ALWAYS POINT TO WAS WHEN CHUCK SCHUMER WENT ON THE RACHEL MADDOW SHOW DAYS BEFORE TRUMP WAS INAUGURATED WHEN HE HAD POSTED SOMETHING CRITICIZING THE CIA FOR GETTING IRAQ WRONG, AND CHUCK SCHUMER SAID ETHICS ASIDE, HOW CAN DONALD TRUMP BE SO STUPID AS TO DO THAT TO THE CIA — IF YOU CHALLENGE THE CIA, THEY HAVE SIX DIFFERENT WAYS TO SUNDAY TO GET BACK AT YOU.
I MEAN, THE ENTIRE TRUMP PRESIDENCY WAS DRIVEN BY ALL SORTS OF NARRATIVES FROM THE MEDIA ABOUT HOW THESE HEROIC, INDEPENDENT GENERALS, LIKE MATTIS AND JOHN KELLY AND H.R. McMASTER WERE GOING TO SAVE US FROM THE ELECTED PRESIDENT. AND THERE WERE ALL KINDS OF REPORTS ABOUT HOW THE SECURITY STATE OFFICIALS WOULD CONCEAL CLASSIFIED INFORMATION THAT THEY DIDN’T WANT PRESIDENT TRUMP TO HAVE IN ORDER TO MANIPULATE HIS DECISION-MAKING OR EVEN SUBVERT OR IGNORE HIS DECISION-MAKING, LIKED WHEN HE WOULD TELL THEM TO WITHDRAW TROOPS FROM SYRIA, AND THEY WOULD LIE TO HIM AND PRETEND THEY DID WHEN THEY JUST MOVE THEM INSTEAD.
AND THIS WAS CELEBRATED WHILE AT THE SAME TIME THEY WOULD SAY, IF YOU SAY THAT THERE IS A DEEP STATE IN THE UNITED STATES, WHICH IS NOTHING MORE THAN WHAT DWIGHT EISENHOWER WARNED ABOUT, A PERMANENT POWER FACTION IN WASHINGTON THAT RULES THE COUNTRY REGARDLESS OF THE OUTCOME OF ELECTIONS, THEY WOULD TELL YOU THAT YOU ARE CRAZY, OR THAT YOU ARE CONSPIRACY THEORY, EVEN AS THEY WERE CHEERING FOR THE CLASSIC DEFINITION OF THE DEEP STATE IN THE FIRST PLACE.
SO YOU HAVE TO BE A CONSPIRACY THEORIST OR INCREDIBLY GULLIBLE NOT TO BELIEVE THAT THAT EXISTS.
Tucker Carlson: SO HERE IS THE EVIDENCE THAT WON ME OVER. FAMOUSLY PEOPLE SAY IF YOU WANT TO KNOW WHO IS REALLY IN CHARGE, WHO YOU’RE NOT ALLOWED TO CRITICIZE. WHAT IS THE ONE GROUP REPUBLICANS AND DEMOCRATS NEVER CRITICIZE? THE NATIONAL SECURITY STATE.
REPUBLICANS ARE HAPPY TO GO AFTER THE IRS OR THE EDUCATION DEPARTMENT. I CAN’T REMEMBER THE LAST TIME A REPUBLICAN LEADER MEANINGFULLY CRITICIZED DOJ OR THE PENTAGON. OF COURSE, DEMOCRATS ARE EXACTLY THE SAME. THAT KIND OF TELLS YOU EVERYTHING, DOESN’T IT?
Glenn Greenwald: EXACTLY. AND THE AMAZING THING IS, I MEAN FOR WHATEVER FLAWS YOU WANT TO POINT TO IN DONALD TRUMP’S COMPORTMENT AND GOVERNANCE, WHICH I THINK THERE ARE SEVERAL VALID ONES, ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT THINGS THAT HE DID WAS HE DEVIATED FROM THAT CAGE THAT PRESIDENTS ARE KEPT IN, HE TOLD THE AMERICAN PEOPLE THERE ARE THE SECURITY STATE AGENTS WHO THINK THAT THEY RUN THE GOVERNMENT AND HE STOOD UP TO THEM AND CHALLENGED THEIR ORTHODOXIES AND PIETIES AND SHOWED AMERICANS, ESPECIALLY PEOPLE IN THE REPUBLICAN PARTY ON THE RIGHT, THAT THESE INSTITUTIONS ARE NOT NOBLE OR BENEVOLENT BUT ARE HIGHLY PERNICIOUS. THEY WANT TO INTERFERE IN OUR DOMESTIC POLITICS AND THEY OUGHT TO BE DEEPLY DISTRUSTED.
I THINK THAT WAS ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT THINGS HE DID AND IT WAS FOR THAT REASON, HIS WILLINGNESS TO CRITICIZE THEM, THAT THEY HATED HIM AND SPENT FOUR YEARS TRYING TO UNDERMINE HIS PRESIDENCY. AND, TUCKER, THE AMAZING THING IS THEY ALWAYS TALK ABOUT THE SANCTITY OF DEMOCRACY. HOW IS DEMOCRACY MORE THREATENED THAN HAVING UNELECTED PEOPLE WHO OPERATE IN THE DARK FREE TO UNDERMINE AND SABOTAGE THE PERSON THAT AMERICANS CHOSE AS THEIR PRESIDENT?
Tucker Carlson: THANK YOU, EXACTLY. IF YOU WANT TO WRECK DEMOCRACY, THAT’S HOW YOU DO IT’S. THERE’S A LOT OF EVIDENCE THE LAST PRESIDENT WAS REALLY CONCERNED ABOUT THEIR POWER ON A PERSONAL LEVEL, HE UNDERSTOOD HOW POWERFUL THEY ARE. REALLY QUICK, DO YOU THINK AT THIS STAGE IT WOULD BE POSSIBLE FOR A PRESIDENT TO PUSH BACK AND TO STRIP THE UNELECTED POWER CENTERS OF SOME OF THEIR POWER IN OUR GOVERNMENT?
Glenn Greenwald: YOU WOULD NEED A BIG ARMY BEHIND YOU. THAT’S WHY PEOPLE IN WASHINGTON WERE PETRIFIED OF J. EDGAR HOOVER. HE KEPT DOSSIERS THROUGH THE FBI ON EVERY POLITICIAN IN WASHINGTON. THEY DO HAVE A LOT OF AMASSED POWER. YOU NEED THE POPULATION TO RISE UP AGAINST THEM FOR THAT TO WORK.
Tucker Carlson: I HOPE THAT HAPPENS — I THINK DEMOCRACY IS WORTH HAVING. I KNOW YOU FEEL THAT WAY, TOO. GLENN GREENWALD, AN ANTI-AUTHORITARIAN, WE ARE PROUD TO HAVE. THANKS.
GLENN GREENWALD: THANKS, TUCKER.
William Brighenti, CPA
Accountants CPA Hartford, Connecticut, LLC
http://www.cpa-connecticut.com
