The Cosby Status Quo: A Facade of Wholesomeness Masks Feudal Exploitation

Charles Hugh Smith – In America’s feudal society/economy, there are two systems of “justice.” The conviction of Bill Cosby for sexual exploitation/assault serves as a useful metaphor for our entire status quo, which projects a wholesome PR facade (free market capitalism, win-win, democracy, meritocracy, anyone can grow up to win American Idol, etc.) which masks a predatory culture of exploitation.

The most important aspect of the Cosby case is that dozens of reports of his drugging and assaulting women were routinely ignored for decades. The facade of wholesomeness, generated to protect the profit-generating machinery of the Cosby brand, buried accusations with a blizzard of legal and PR maneuvers.

The only difference between the predations of Cosby and those of Harvey Weinstein is that Weinstein had no need for a facade of wholesomeness because his brand/core business did not generate profit from a pretense of wholesomeness like Cosby’s. Weinstein’s predations were an open secret because he reckoned his power and connections rendered him invulnerable. In other words, he was nobility in a feudal society/economy.

In America’s feudal society/economy, there are two systems of “justice”: one for the wealthy and powerful oligarchs generating profits for Hollywood and Corporate America, and an overcrowded gulag of serfs forced to plea-bargain in the other.

The predation and the hollowness of the wholesome image were well-known to those serving the nobility. Hundreds of insiders knew the truth, just as hundreds of insiders with top secret clearance knew about the contents of the Pentagon Papers, and thus knew the Vietnam War was little more than an accumulation of official lies designed to protect the self-serving elites at the top of the power pyramid.

Only one analyst of the hundreds with access to the truth had the courage to risk his career and liberty to release the truth to the American public: Daniel Ellsberg.

If you want to understand why the status quo is unraveling, start by examining the feudal structure of our society, politics and economy: the endemic corruption, predation and exploitation of the privileged nobility at the very top, the well-paid class of self-serving sycophants, toadies, lackeys, hacks, apologists, flunkies, careerists and legal-team mercenaries who toil ceaselessly to protect their oligarch overlords from exposure and the exploited, powerless serfs at the bottom.

As Orwell observed about a totalitarian oligarchy, some are more equal than others.That is the definition of an exploitive, predatory feudal society.

SF Source Of Two Minds Apr 2018

FBI’s James Comey declares the rule of law has just been abandoned in America

americaMike Adams – Earlier today, FBI director James Comey magically cleared democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton of any risk of criminal prosecution related to her classified email violations. In a live press conference that was obviously scripted, Comey confirmed that Hillary Clinton sent or received at least 110 emails that contained classified information, in blatant violation of U.S. law. This violation of federal law was described by Comey as “reckless” but not worthy of prosecution. “No charges are appropriate in this case,” he concluded.

Yet it’s clear this decision was based on special consideration that applies only to politically connected power brokers like Hillary Clinton. Many other individuals are currently in prison for carrying out similar acts. Unlike Clinton, they were prosecuted for violating national security laws. But Clinton, as part of America’s political elite, is evidently immune from all prosecution.

Effectively, James Comey rewrote federal law to excuse Clinton by claiming she didn’t “intend” to violate the law. In this outstanding article entitled FBI Rewrites Federal Law to Let Hillary Off the Hook, Andrew McCarthy brilliantly explains:

There is no way of getting around this: According to Director James Comey (disclosure: a former colleague and longtime friend of mine), Hillary Clinton checked every box required for a felony violation of Section 793(f) of the federal penal code (Title 18): With lawful access to highly classified information she acted with gross negligence in removing and causing it to be removed it from its proper place of custody, and she transmitted it and caused it to be transmitted to others not authorized to have it, in patent violation of her trust.

Director Comey even conceded that former Secretary Clinton was “extremely careless” and strongly suggested that her recklessness very likely led to communications (her own and those she corresponded with) being intercepted by foreign intelligence services. Yet, Director Comey recommended against prosecution of the law violations he clearly found on the ground that there was no intent to harm the United States. In essence, in order to give Mrs. Clinton a pass, the FBI rewrote the statute, inserting an intent element that Congress did not require. Continue reading

If Hillary Isn’t Indicted, the Rule of Law and the Republic Are Dead

republic Charles Hugh Smith – To paraphrase Ernest Hemingway: How did you lose your Republic? Two ways, gradually and then suddenly. The Romans experienced this when their Republic was extinguished by Empire.

The erosion of the Republic was gradual: slowly but surely, the lower classes’ representation in governance was curtailed; the Oligarchy of the wealthy and powerful cemented their privileges at the expense of the many; Oligarchs rose above the laws that were supposed to apply to all, and executive power was consolidated in top administrators and the wealthy at the expense of the Senate.

When Caesar crossed the Rubicon with his army to seize control of Rome, the Roman Republic ceased to exist. Gradually and then suddenly: this is how Republics become Empires.

We find ourselves in a parallel moment in history: the American Republic has been hollowed into a shell that is maintained for PR purposes. Beneath the propaganda, the Establishment runs the nation for its own benefit. The people are ignored, because they are powerless in this hollow shell of democracy: their only role is to provide bodies, talent and blood for the Imperial armed forces, pay taxes if they have any money, and spend their food stamps if they don’t.

Here’s the proof: Testing Theories of American Politics: Elites, Interest Groups, and Average Citizens

Continue reading