Properly Subversive/Sherman R. Frederick
Americans in our divided state will no doubt argue endlessly about the number of angels that can vote on the head of a pin. But, one thing should unite both the Blue Team and the Red Team. The alleged role of the FBI in suppressing the Hunter Biden laptop story should have us asking whether this domestic intelligence agency has, once again, become a clear and present danger to democracy.
I mean, honest-to-gawd, what we are seeing now in real time at Twitter is nothing short of J. Edgar Hoover stuff. And, I don’t mean that in a good way.
According to documents released by Twitter’s new owner, Elon Musk, the FBI met with Twitter staff and warned them that a bombshell story was coming in the last few weeks of the 2020 presidential election. Be wary, the FBI said, because it was likely Russian disinformation.
New York Post journalist Miranda Devine wrote this:
“The FBI warned Twitter during ‘weekly’ meetings before the 2020 election to expect ‘hack-and-leak operations’ by ‘state actors’ involving Hunter Biden, and ‘likely’ in October, according to a sworn declaration by Twitter’s former head of site integrity, Yoel Roth. The warnings were so specific that Twitter immediately censored The Post’s scoop about Hunter Biden’s laptop on Oct. 14, 2020, citing its ‘hacked materials’ policy, a move described on Saturday (Nov. 3, 2022) as ‘election interference’ by Twitter’s new owner, Musk.”
All of this needs independent investigation because students of history will know that this isn’t the first time the FBI has gone off the rails.
If you get a chance, dig up Sam Pollard’s documentary “MLK/FBI.” It shows that from the March on Washington in 1963 up until his assassination in 1968, the FBI engaged in an intense campaign to discredit Martin Luther King Jr. and his work.
“The first fear that (FBI director J. Edgar Hoover) had was that King was going to align himself with the Communist Party, which … J. Edgar Hoover was obsessed with destroying,” Pollard says.
While in the pantheon of national figures Donald J. Trump is no Martin Luther King, the FBI’s behavior here ought to raise concern.
The FBI had Hunter’s laptop for a full year before the 2020 election. FBI agents knew it was real, it was damaging to Joe Biden, and it was absolutely, 100% not Russian disinformation. Yet, the FBI lied to Twitter executives.
Why?
What did the FBI have to gain?
Well, you can bet President Biden is in no position to press the issue, which makes this a scary time, my friends. Scary, indeed.
JUSTICE DELAYED
It took a while for the Marin IJ to report the discrimination lawsuit filed against District Attorney Lori Frugoli. But when the newspaper finally did so, it jumped in with both feet, writing a story on Sunday (Dec. 4) that paints an ugly picture of the DA’s office. There are not one but two suits pending right now against the DA’s office. One alleging racial bias and the other alleging bias against pregnant workers. Further, the IJ report indicates the DA’s office is an organizational dumpster fire, preventing justice from being done in a timely manner in Marin.
I’m not vouching for any of this. I’m also not laying blame. I’m only saying there appears to be a lot of smoke here worthy of an independent review.
ONE MORE THING
– We’re all now at the age where picking up a hottie at the club means getting a rotisserie chicken at Costco.
– I’m reading a book about a couple of insects who fall in love in an Italian city. It’s a Rome ants novel. (Sorry.)
– One night a viking named Rudolph the Red looked out the window and said “It’s going to rain.” His wife said, “How do you know?” and he replied: “Because Rudolph the Red knows rain, dear.” (Twice as sorry.)
The meme above goes for people too, so be good to one another. Until next week, dear readers, avoid soreheads, laugh a little, and always question authority.
(“Properly Subversive” is a commentary written by Sherman R. Frederick for Marinscope Community Newspapers, the “mother ship” of the Novato Advance, San Rafael News-Pointer, Mill Valley Herald, Ross Valley Reporter, Twin City Times and the Sausalito Marin Scope. Mr. Frederick is an award-winning journalist and co-founder of Battle Born Media, a news organization dedicated to the preservation of community newspapers. You can reach him by email at shermfrederick@gmail.com.)
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