Can we Not? (A current event post)
"Are you even going to give out your calendars? Seems kind of depressing. Maybe it should just be the first meeting of our secret society."--FBI Lawyer Lisa Page.
This text revealed earlier this week sent a lot of people into a titter because it apparently confirms the existence of a secret society within the FBI that is apparently in opposition to the president. Senate Republican Ron Johnson of Wisconsin claimed that he had corroborating information and that the revelation didn't surprise him. This single text along with the revelation that the FBI "lost" about 50,000 texts between Page and FBI agent Peter Strozk (though they are beginning to be recovered) "confirmed" the story that supporters of the president and the president himself has been pushing for what seems to be forever--though it's only been a year.
First off let's address the secret society comment in the text. I read the text has sarcastic and missing an eye roll emoji, but others will just claim that I do because I dislike this president. Since in this current political climate, if you don't pretend crazy has a legitimate position you are accused of being a shill let's pretend that there is no sarcasm or irony and that it is one hundred percent serious. Doing so what we should glean from the text is not that there exists a secret society but that there might be one in the future as they are setting up the FIRST MEETING. Secondly this secret society seems to only warrant the sharing of calendars as their first priority, which is about as nefarious as me asking my students to check in on the website once in awhile.
Secondly, what idiot talks about being a member of a "secret society" through a text message? Especially FBI employees who know how easily that information can be subpoenaed in a normal investigation not to mention the scrutiny they would be under by a White House paranoid about--well whatever it is they are paranoid about. This is as stupid as the Pizzagate conspiracy where people who regularly flew on a private plane together decided to email each other about their nefarious child abduction/rape/murder club; or how the Free Masons secretly set up the United States but then left extremely prominent symbols over extremely prominent monuments and buildings but then still didn't want anyone to know; or how the Illuminati regularly recruits the most famous people in the world how publicly display secret gestures to advertise their membership. If these are indicative of the members of a secret society, then its a literal miracle that it has maintained its secrecy.
The general problem with this claim of a secret society is that it doesn't exist. So the next question is why did Page reference one? Well, that's an easier question than it seems: as the president has regularly referenced the "deep state" and some kind of sinister cabal that is operating against him throughout not only his campaign but also the first year of his presidency. It didn't come out of nowhere, and it's not a deep mystery. The president entered office with a minority of the vote, has deeply unpopular positions amongst those that oppose him (unlike say, Bush, for whom a great many people disagreed with him but understood his method of thinking) and has opposition amongst those of his own party. He blames it on a conspiracy ignorant of the fact that sometimes people just don't like you. His supporters, not understanding that anyone who could read his policies/tweets/public statements and still disagree are of the same mind. When Page makes this comment, in a seeming joke, it merely feeds into their delusion.
Which brings us to Johnson who claims that he has evidence of this secret society and that FBI officials have been meeting "off-site." Like the famous list of Joe McCarthy, he's not letting anyone have access to it. To me this means that, like Joe McCarthy's list, it doesn't actually exist in a form other than rumor. I don't know what "off-site" means. I confess my ignorance in this regard. If I meet a student at the college coffee shop am I meeting them off-site because it's not in the classroom/library/office? If that's the case the meeting is completely devoid of any kind of meaning. Two agents discussing their case at lunch (as co-workers do) would then be an off-site meeting not indicative of any kind of conspiracy. Also, what is so special about "on-site" that not being there means a secret society? It makes a difference if these officials that Johnson is referencing are going to an underground temple or just doing the aforementioned lunch meeting.
The final problem with the claim is it is completely unnecessary to make. The Mueller investigation is, in a way, its own secret society with two caveats: whatever conclusion they arrive at is going to be public. If their investigation was merely a closed deal with no forthcoming public access it would have no effect and would largely be a waste of time (if they find nothing that's not a waste of time as it puts to rest an important question). Secondly, its also publicly accountable, malfeasance or any other kind of legal violations would render the entire thing void. Also I suppose that knowing who's in charge and who they work for are two more caveats...on second thought this isn't a secret society at all but more of a society. Being predisposed to conspiracy thinking forces the brain to look for conspiracies everywhere on an intense confirmation bias hunt. Engaging in just a little critical thinking would give an individual a little more pause before they publicly begin accusing people of being members of a nefarious organization that doesn't exist.
This text revealed earlier this week sent a lot of people into a titter because it apparently confirms the existence of a secret society within the FBI that is apparently in opposition to the president. Senate Republican Ron Johnson of Wisconsin claimed that he had corroborating information and that the revelation didn't surprise him. This single text along with the revelation that the FBI "lost" about 50,000 texts between Page and FBI agent Peter Strozk (though they are beginning to be recovered) "confirmed" the story that supporters of the president and the president himself has been pushing for what seems to be forever--though it's only been a year.
First off let's address the secret society comment in the text. I read the text has sarcastic and missing an eye roll emoji, but others will just claim that I do because I dislike this president. Since in this current political climate, if you don't pretend crazy has a legitimate position you are accused of being a shill let's pretend that there is no sarcasm or irony and that it is one hundred percent serious. Doing so what we should glean from the text is not that there exists a secret society but that there might be one in the future as they are setting up the FIRST MEETING. Secondly this secret society seems to only warrant the sharing of calendars as their first priority, which is about as nefarious as me asking my students to check in on the website once in awhile.
Secondly, what idiot talks about being a member of a "secret society" through a text message? Especially FBI employees who know how easily that information can be subpoenaed in a normal investigation not to mention the scrutiny they would be under by a White House paranoid about--well whatever it is they are paranoid about. This is as stupid as the Pizzagate conspiracy where people who regularly flew on a private plane together decided to email each other about their nefarious child abduction/rape/murder club; or how the Free Masons secretly set up the United States but then left extremely prominent symbols over extremely prominent monuments and buildings but then still didn't want anyone to know; or how the Illuminati regularly recruits the most famous people in the world how publicly display secret gestures to advertise their membership. If these are indicative of the members of a secret society, then its a literal miracle that it has maintained its secrecy.
The general problem with this claim of a secret society is that it doesn't exist. So the next question is why did Page reference one? Well, that's an easier question than it seems: as the president has regularly referenced the "deep state" and some kind of sinister cabal that is operating against him throughout not only his campaign but also the first year of his presidency. It didn't come out of nowhere, and it's not a deep mystery. The president entered office with a minority of the vote, has deeply unpopular positions amongst those that oppose him (unlike say, Bush, for whom a great many people disagreed with him but understood his method of thinking) and has opposition amongst those of his own party. He blames it on a conspiracy ignorant of the fact that sometimes people just don't like you. His supporters, not understanding that anyone who could read his policies/tweets/public statements and still disagree are of the same mind. When Page makes this comment, in a seeming joke, it merely feeds into their delusion.
Which brings us to Johnson who claims that he has evidence of this secret society and that FBI officials have been meeting "off-site." Like the famous list of Joe McCarthy, he's not letting anyone have access to it. To me this means that, like Joe McCarthy's list, it doesn't actually exist in a form other than rumor. I don't know what "off-site" means. I confess my ignorance in this regard. If I meet a student at the college coffee shop am I meeting them off-site because it's not in the classroom/library/office? If that's the case the meeting is completely devoid of any kind of meaning. Two agents discussing their case at lunch (as co-workers do) would then be an off-site meeting not indicative of any kind of conspiracy. Also, what is so special about "on-site" that not being there means a secret society? It makes a difference if these officials that Johnson is referencing are going to an underground temple or just doing the aforementioned lunch meeting.
The final problem with the claim is it is completely unnecessary to make. The Mueller investigation is, in a way, its own secret society with two caveats: whatever conclusion they arrive at is going to be public. If their investigation was merely a closed deal with no forthcoming public access it would have no effect and would largely be a waste of time (if they find nothing that's not a waste of time as it puts to rest an important question). Secondly, its also publicly accountable, malfeasance or any other kind of legal violations would render the entire thing void. Also I suppose that knowing who's in charge and who they work for are two more caveats...on second thought this isn't a secret society at all but more of a society. Being predisposed to conspiracy thinking forces the brain to look for conspiracies everywhere on an intense confirmation bias hunt. Engaging in just a little critical thinking would give an individual a little more pause before they publicly begin accusing people of being members of a nefarious organization that doesn't exist.
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