Category Archives: Corruption

EXTORTION BY ANY OTHER NAME IS STILL EXTORTION

Published / by Lee Kessler / 3 Comments on EXTORTION BY ANY OTHER NAME IS STILL EXTORTION

BY LEE KESSLER

You can call it Diversity, Equity, Inclusion.   You can call it ESG.  You can call it Reparations.  No matter how you dress this verbal conflagration that is racing across the world, infecting the logic and common sense of otherwise good, stable nations and people, extortion is still extortion.

There are legal definitions for extortion of course.   But, even figuratively, Dictionary.com defines extortion as the act of “using violence, threats, intimidation, or pressure from one’s authority to force someone to hand over money (or something of value) or do something they don’t want to do.”.

The news is full daily of people who are victims of the definition above, especially of being made to do something they don’t want to do, or prevented from doing something they do want to do.   For example, having watched the Oversight Committee hearing with the FBI Whistleblowers who were extorted not to blow the whistle, it was obvious they went ahead on their own convictions, and suffered mightily as the FBI withdrew money, support, livelihood, and their good names.

Another news agency reported last week that the environment in the FBI is now toxic, and that FBI employees are terrified.   Of what, you ask?   Of losing their jobs, and other retaliations obviously. They fear loss of homes, income, respect, titles–symbols of success.  I would argue though that character matters more.  One might not have a legacy income to leave his children, but the legacy of honor and courage is a far more important example for them to have witnessed.  Money comes and goes. There are all kinds of ways of making money. But character is lasting.

Last week also a Toronto Blue Jays pitcher, Anthony Bass, was sheepishly apologizing for having posted something that some “god” somewhere deemed unacceptable and who extorted him by the new means of silencing people and getting them to violate–if not even abrogate–their own First Amendment rights.   It was clear he was in fear of being sent back to the Minors, after having worked his whole life to get to be a Major League pitcher.

Dozens of corporations across this country are spitting on their loyal customers of decades as they race to embrace DEI, and outdo each other in the Wokism flavor of the month.   Why?   Again, what “god” are they satisfying?  Who is threatening them so much that they risk, and are experiencing, massive drops in sales revenue, stock prices, customer loyalty and more?  Who is threatening them with being labeled racist, or a bigot, intimidating them to the degree that all rational thinking has left the boardrooms?

The examples are too many and too frequent to catalog, but it seems clear that the message to the lone individual or corporation that tries to stand on its original principles and morals is this:  “Do as we demand OR we will hurt you!”  And that, I submit, is extortion—and a diabolical one at that.  Demanding money at gunpoint in order to provide “protection” has long been deemed illegal.   Mob syndicates when caught experience criminal prosecution.

But those who would implant and enforce DEI and ESG know that they are skirting the law here, since they hide behind the guise of “merely representing the will of fair-minded people.”  I do not know whether or not the United States has in fact devolved to the point that bullying people into submission is the new modus operandi, embraced and agreed to by our fellow countrymen.  I pray we have not sunk to that barbarism in human interactions.

I myself was raised with the old adage of “two wrongs don’t make a right.”   Adherence to that one truth alone would stop almost all this nonsense.  No matter how wronged you or I feel we have been, that does not justify our embracing the techniques of our wrongdoer and deploying them ourselves.   That can only lead to an ever-expanding sphere of one wrong being met with another wrong which is met with yet another wrong.  The society spirals down, and brutality rises.  Two wrongs make two wrongs, period!

Further, any of us who have been bullied somehow understand to either stop the bully, or get away from him.  To become a bully ourselves is to assume the identity of the enemy.  I would like to suggest that if you have been bullied, the wrong thing to do is to become a bully.  Put simply, at that point, the bully wins.

When I was young I was bullied because my father was the strict school principal, and the way people felt they could hurt him—since they were too cowardly to face him straight up—was to bully his little girl.  Running to my mom in tears, she taught me to understand why I was being attacked, and to decide those people were not worthy of my attention, let alone my friendship.  Bolstered by that sense of reality—that people have to qualify for one’s friendship—I chose to walk away, or challenge directly, but without using any of their degrading tactics.

That in turn served me well in my adult years in Hollywood.  I want you to understand that the person writing this commentary has factually been discriminated against and “extorted” because of my gender, my race, my age, my religion, and my politics.  I have personally paid a price financially and career-wise for my refusal to yield to someone’s demands that I do something I felt was wrong, or harm someone else, or abandon my beliefs and values or they would see that “I never worked again.”  The words of my mother have never left me.  Those people who would do that to another are not worthy of me. And they are not worthy of you!

And very specifically I remember always something my father taught me.  He said one day when he was under attack by townspeople and being pressured to back off a project he knew would be vital to the education and safety of his students, and indeed the town, “Lee, you don’t live this life to be liked.  You live it to be effective.”

I never forgot.   My message to all who are torn now between doing the right thing even though there will be repercussions, or just cowing in the face of the extortion demands of those in authority over you—you may feel the only option you have in order to survive is to yield, to submit.  I doubt it.   And that is my parting gift to you: that doubt.

www.LeeKessler.net

www.whitekingrising.com

Has DA Alvin Bragg inadvertently created an alliance between African-Americans and Donald Trump?

Published / by Lee Kessler / Leave a Comment

Has DA Alvin Bragg inadvertently created an alliance between African-Americans and Donald Trump? What a question!

Though this would likely be the farthest thing from his mind, and completely contrary to his intentions in his unjust and unethical indictment of a former President and front-runner in an upcoming Presidential election, Alvin Bragg may have just forged an alliance that would have been considered unlikely, if not impossible, before last Tuesday.

Many do not realize that in the election of 2020, then-President Trump picked up significant percentages of voters amongst minorities that historically don’t vote for Republican candidates.   His popularity amongst African-Americans, Hispanics, and Asians was rising in all categories.  Talk about forgotten men and women.   Those are people that the Democrats view as a cinch for them.  It never occurred to them that those groups are comprised of individuals—not voting blocks who swim like a school of fish.  And, as the smart, common sense people they are, those voters were noticing something.

They noticed that Trump funded, for the long term, the Historically Black Colleges and Universities, eliminating those fine institutions from having to come begging every year for funding.  He lowered the unemployment rate amongst African-Americans, Hispanics, and Asian-Americans to the lowest point in history.  If my memory serves me, he further raised the wages and incomes in each of these categories significantly, using his economic policies in an attempt to raise everyone into the middle class, and to increase household incomes.

In a multi-pronged approach to the crisis in our inner cities, he brought school choice and school vouchers to the table, making it possible for young boys and girls who might be trapped in inadequate educational systems to have a chance at a good education and better life.   And he was putting that into the hands of the parents. Until the election of 2020.

Coupled at the same time were his initiatives to bring business, money, and job opportunities into those same communities, making it possible for the neighborhoods to prosper, and for future generations to have a true place in our country.

Even more importantly as I watched him listen to the issues brought before him about the Justice System, and its unfairness to blacks and minorities, he was creating prison sentencing reform—not by just willy-nilly releasing hardened and violent offenders as is happening in many cities today—but by working to get the prison sentences proportionate to the crime in the first place.

Many did not get the word on any of this, since Big Media didn’t want to cover the possibility that someone could actually be raised up, given that the controlling politicians make money and win elections by keeping a people oppressed.  Many did get the word, however, and I believe that contributed to his steady rise in voters from those groups.

But there was one area for sure that African-Americans in particular continually rail against.   That is what they refer to as “unequal justice under the law.”   Though there are likely many grievances, two stand out to me.  One is the perceived prejudice against a person because of his skin color and economic strata.  The second is the over-charging of individuals who really can’t defend themselves in the court system, where public defenders may not provide adequate defense.  That leads to higher conviction numbers of excessively charged crimes, resulting in excessive sentencing.  And, in my opinion, it has opened the door to fears of persecution by our Justice system, and to manipulation by people who benefit from citizen against citizen.

I am not here to debate that, but just to point out a perception that is widely embraced, and which is hindering the prosperity of our great nation.  It is also destroying our humanity.

Then along comes Alvin Bragg, who has just now, with bias and malice aforethought persecuted the exact opposite type of citizen:  an older white male who is wealthy, and who nonetheless has been hounded relentlessly, treated constantly with a double standard, “pulled over” and “searched” for just being there, and now excessively charged.  Misdemeanor elevated to felony with no statement of the related felony.   One charge multiplied 34 times it seems to exaggerate the alleged threat of the person charged.  And consecutive sentencing—if convicted—of over 100 years.

And in so doing I believe Alvin Bragg will be “hoisted by his own petard”—unintentionally bringing together two formerly unlikely bedfellows.  Those being the African-American community that has been long-suffering and the white guy who was enacting policies designed to help in those arenas.  No one on either side is perfect.  But common sense citizens I believe can still recognize when someone else is being mistreated, and that it is not all about color. 

I believe we have an innate sense of fair play as American citizens, and we do struggle and resist when we see unfair, unequal treatment under the law.  Donald J. Trump had an intellectual understanding for sure about the problems in the system. He no doubt had empathy. But, until his arrest, it was not visceral or personal.   Now he understands at a level that no other President or other-wise interested, albeit a bit sanctimonious, politicians understand.

This is no longer about only black people being mistreated, or the poor.  When it crossed into the current charges and legal battles, it transcended the arena the manipulators play in.   They wanted it to be about powerful politicians against other powerful wealthy people—with the victory occurring on some elevated plane.  And they wanted it to be about impoverished minorities on a lower plane.

But Bragg’s actions have breached the divider between the privileged and the unprivileged.  He has torn open a hole, revealing the problem is not really about color or education.   It is about corruption, ambition, and complete disregard for the nation as a whole.  For the first time white Americans who may have intellectually understood and debated the plight of their fellow citizens, without viscerally understanding it, are now witnessing unequal justice under the law happening to them.

Americans have always come together when there is a common enemy.  Remember how we were after 9/11? If there is no common enemy—in either person or ideology—we tend to drift and just wave at each other’s dilemmas without joining forces.  Well, Alvin Bragg may have just created a common enemy—unequal justice under the law—which transcends now and hereafter color, ethnicity, education, wealth, and much more.   And in so doing, two groups who want to be in harmony but have not attained the higher levels we are capable of, may now be looking not at each other as the source of their burdens, but rather at hate-filled corrupt men and women who would suppress and repress their fellow countrymen–no matter their color.

Now that, to me, is a cause worthy of uniting us.  And it may provide to this Presidential candidate the empathy and support of people who know exactly how he feels, and more importantly, who now know he knows exactly how they feel.  That alliance, if the individuals who are aware of what I just said unite, will change politics, the nation, and the history of our people forever.   Wouldn’t it be deliciously ironic if the malevolent Bragg brought about the uniting of the minority communities, who frankly have been taken for granted by the people they have voted for, and the would-be President who formerly tried to help.  Personally, I love irony!  And I despise injustice, anywhere, anytime.  How about you?

The Fifth Column and the Republican Party

Published / by Lee Kessler / 1 Comment on The Fifth Column and the Republican Party

In the early 2000’s I began the journey that led to the 4 part series of suspense novels, culminating in the final book, “White King and the Seat at the Table.”  Inspired by actual events that had peaked my curiosity, causing me to want to locate the source of the apparent collapse of America from within, I theorized there was an actual group—intent upon taking dominion globally.  I asked myself, “What if a group of people wanted to take control of the world and its inhabitants?  What would they do?   Who would they have to defeat or destroy in order to accomplish  their dominance? 

My conclusion was that the obstacle standing in their path—the great experiment that liberated men—was the United States.   And the American people were the underpinning of all that the United States represents.  In order to render the United States impotent, I theorized this enemy would have to undermine the people themselves.  And, more importantly, get the American people to do it to themselves.

The strategy is simple.   It is as old as any military strategy that exists.  Divide and Conquer.   Through the centuries generals and armies have used this strategy to defeat an otherwise formidable opponent.   Only this time, the Divide and Conquer strategy is being implemented through psychological warfare.   You may call it Information Warfare.  No matter the terms from the past, today propaganda and psychological warfare have evolved into Perception Management.  Information and disinformation are pitted against one another in order to manipulate your perceptions, and thereby your conclusions and actions. This simple marketing strategy in the hands of power-hungry, arrogant men and women has brought the United States to its knees.

I am sure none of us doubts that America is a nation that is divided—right straight down the middle.  The last two election cycles will have disabused even the most ardent deniers of the reality that Americans have two different universes they are living in now, and those universes are at war with each other.

The ongoing Twitter revelations have exposed this Perception Management in its most grotesque and dangerous light—harassment, censorship, collusion, and manipulation of data to manage the perceptions and actions of American citizens.

The very important question politically right now is: How was this division done? The answer: By inserting a Fifth Column not only into the United States, but most importantly into each of the foundational institutions we anchor on:  Family, Religion, Education, Justice, even Government.  There is a Fifth Column within each of those, and within subsets of each of those.  A Fifth Column is defined as: any group of people who undermine a larger group or nation from within, usually in favor of an enemy group or another nationl It is comprised of domestic actors who work to undermine the national interest, in cooperation with external rivals of the state.  And you, my friends, must come to understand this, or the Fifth Column will continue to erode government, morals, ethics, education, family values, individual identity, rule of law etc.  There is an external enemy.

You may ask, why am I laying this out now?  Can’t you just read my books to get an insight into how this might play out?  You could.  The novels are the allegorical story of this external rival and the internal Fifth Column over the last 20 years.  I encourage you to do that.  But, time is short, and there is one particular Fifth Column that I am sure exists.  And it is hamstringing our Legislative Branch.  That Fifth Column is not inside the Democrat Party.  They are almost like a Fifth Column of their own, hell-bent on sabotaging the Constitution, sowing division wherever they go. However, they are overt and predictable. A true Fifth Columnist will be covert, unpredictable, and most typically embraced as a friend.  That is why those involved are hard to ferret out.  And it will always be a surprise when you find out who they actually are.

The Fifth column I am referring to is one inside the Republican Party.  Of course, that is just my opinion.   But you should ask yourself why the Republican Party can not get unanimity on key issues.   Why do they have the unnerving capability of snatching defeat from the jaws of victory at almost every turn.  Witness the embarrassing inability to elect a Speaker of the House. Witness the disappointing performance overall in the 2022 elections.   Witness the acceptance of the monstrosity known as the Omnibus Bill.  Who could possibly be encouraging members of their group to vote for a 3000 page document that no one has likely read, to spend an additional $1.7T?  Who could possibly have failed to stall the vote until the new Congress would come in?  Why would they not delay?

Here’s my challenge to fellow conservatives:  Who is perhaps speaking self-righteously right now, as they encourage actions that would divide and weaken the party further?  In “Julius Ceasar” the soothsayer said, “Beware the Ides of March.”   Well, I’d like to say, “Beware the ‘Stand on Principle’ pitch.”   Standing on principle is important, but it is also a propaganda button used to manage your perceptions.  Who actually is being served if the Republican Party has been divided?  Who seduced and compromised enough members to embarrass and discredit the party itself? Moreover, who is the enemy group or nation that these trusted members are serving?

The answer, as repugnant as it may be to you, or shocking to you, lies in this overarching reality: human nature.  Why does a mayor run for governor?   Why does a governor run for President?  And what does a President, or top-echelon government official, run for?  What’s the next rung of the ladder they are climbing? It used to be that being President of the United States was the pinnacle of power, accomplishment, and leadership.  But, is that true today?  Or is there yet another echelon of power?

 We need to ask those who are being divisive, “ Who are you really serving—wittingly or unwittingly?”

Who and where are the external enemy groups, whose favor they curry?  Who intends to exert authority over all of us, and who views themselves as senior to, not just us, but also our elected officials, and our Constitution itself?  It is these people that some of our trusted leaders pay homage to.  It is their favor they curry.

Here’s a hint to locate not only those who have been conned into destructive acts, but, more importantly, to ferret out those trusted allies who actually conned them:  They leave a verbal breadcrumb trail.  Listen now.   Look for those whose verbiage includes such things as Global Peace, Global Security (Zelensky before our Congress) , Global Health, Global Justice, Global Climate Change Initiatives, Global Digital Currencies, Global Energy Policies.

The purveyors of globalism are the antagonists in my latest book.   Those characters are as real as it gets, however.  And unless we get very expert at ferreting out the Fifth Columnists in each of our institutions, our families, our churches, our schools, and our government will continue to erode until we no longer resemble our former selves—as a people and as a nation.  I recommend we stop asking ourselves the questions, “Why would our leaders fail to protect the country?”  Why would they do something so stupid?  Why are they doing or not doing…?”

The answer does not so much lie in why .   The answer lies in the question, “Who are they in fact serving?”

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THE GREAT DIVERSION

Published / by Lee Kessler / 1 Comment on THE GREAT DIVERSION

On Aug. 8, 2022, the Media, the Congress, and We the People took the bait. We fell for the diversion, and are still mesmerized by it. The FBI raid on former President Trump’s residence–unprecedented, and likely completely unwarranted though it was– was just a diversion.

Would the raid have happened anyway? Yes, most likely given the repugnant and inflammatory tone of American politics these days. In reality, this heinous act will be resolved legally and politically, and we all know that. But just as people gawk as they drive by accidents on the highway, and just they are drawn to impending train wrecks like moths to a flame, so too were we on the morning of Aug. 8. drawn in.

Perhaps it is because I write political suspense novels inspired by current events, but my eye turned immediately to what was missing on that day, not what was blatantly covered wall to wall by all Media. Another drama was setting up. This one will effect us all much more profoundly, and for a much longer period of time.

Here’s the real attack, in my opinion. I was aware there was a full court press in the Senate to pass the Inflation Reduction Act, and I learned they were working through the night Sunday. In the wee hours of Monday, Aug. 8, the Senate passed that bill–sneaking it through before the CBO report would come out Monday morning. They obviously knew the report was going to show that the act would not reduce inflation. And they wanted it passed before the Press or the American people started to dig into the CBO report, and begin calling their Congressmen and women. Ask yourself, who passes something without knowing what the impact of that something will be or will not be? Are they a fool, an incompetent? Or just plain malevolent.

The report did come out Monday morning, and just as I was listening to the beginning reporting on it, everything was interrupted by Breaking News about the FBI raid at Mar-a Lago–also done in the wee hours. Once news of that broke, all reporting shifted to the political aspects of what had happened. Coverage has predominantly stayed focused in that direction. As a writer of prophetic political fiction, I believe the raid on the Trump residence was timed to mitigate the fall-out of the CBO report. That bill had only passed the Senate. It needed to pass the House, and if constituents had time to hear about the report, digest some of the report, and contact their representatives, some Democrats might have broken ranks and defeated it.

However, under cover of the massive attention-grabbing diversion of the flashing blue lights and dozens of people entering the famed Mar-a-Lago, Speaker Pelosi could quietly go about her business of getting the vote on the Inflation Reduction Act. On Aug. 15, it passed and,having been signed by the President, is now law.

Attention periodically gets pointed to the innards of that bill which includes the massive funding of the IRS, and the adding of tens of thousands of new IRS agents. Once passed, however, nothing can stop that sneak attack. If you think the abuse of power exercised against Donald J. Trump was bad, just wait to you experience the abuse of power the IRS can and will levy against YOU.

Pretty slick, huh? Stage a provocative diversion, and then sneak the bill through, with the camouflaged IRS expansion visible, but never presented front and center to the American people. Our representatives did not give us any time to review the bill, weigh in on what we liked and didn’t like, and potentially stop something we felt was very dangerous in the short and long run. No, they just rammed it down your throats while you were arguing whether or not the DOJ was engaged in an abuse of power regarding President Trump.

Media and pundits are sounding the alarm now. They are right to do so. But, they are too late. We took the bait. We diverted our attention away from something that effects every American directly and immediately.

Now also do you begin to understand why the warrant, which was gained under the pretext that it was SO URGENT that a full-scale seizure had to occur, was not executed until Monday morning in the wee hours? It is not a conspiracy theory to recognize that the timing of that was to insure it was a diversion, and that no one would really read or appreciate a dry accounting report when they had the more salacious Media circus to watch. Common sense tells you that if it were that urgent they would have executed it Friday. Why Monday? And why just as or before the CBO report came out to warn the American people that all was not as it seemed in the numbers, and the deceptive name of the Bill?

We the People are now in the sad cross hairs of an agency that can invade your privacy without a warrant. They can attack at will. Once again, the American citizen can be viewed as “guilty by accusation.” They can snoop, seize assets, demand documents and proof, and take your “treasure.” Anyone who has ever had a sudden and unexpected audit knows exactly what I am referring to, and how intimidating the process can be for the normal, honest American.

What’s wrong with a government agency whose very return address on the envelope causes one to quake? You know what I am talking about!

We took the bait. And we were reeled in.

When Do I Get Paroled?

Published / by Lee Kessler / Leave a Comment

In a country of laws and Due Process, the criminal—after he is arrested, tried, convicted, and sentenced–knows how long his sentence is, and, most importantly, when he will be eligible for parole.  If he is good, and behaves himself, he can reenter the society at the time of parole.

So, here is my question. HOW LONG DO I HAVE TO BE HEALTHY AND NOT GET COVID BEFORE I AM PAROLED?  Is it 2 years (already passed)?   Is it 5?  Is it until I am 90?  If I am still Covid-free when I die, will you parole me posthumously?  Will you even consider the tiniest possibility that you were perhaps wrong, or misinformed yourself? 

You may ask, paroled from what?  From excoriation, discrimination, ridicule, censorship, and exclusion from the freedoms I once had.  And what am I guilty of?   Being healthy!   And, being scientifically curious!

Under Due Process also, the inmate gets to appeal his conviction.   He gets to challenge whether he was fairly and honestly convicted. New evidence may surface and be presented. My fellow countrymen, you know the drill here.  So, here is my question—on behalf of millions of us.  WHY CAN’T WE ASK QUESTIONS ABOUT THE VIRUS, AND ITS ORIGINS—IF FOR NO OTHER REASON THAN FOR PREVENTION IN THE FUTURE?  Why can’t we have questions about vaccines? Why can’t we favor therapeutics over vaccines like we do with most other diseases?

The bottom line is that intellectual curiosity is warranted.  It is the American thing.  Intellectual integrity demands it. That too is an American thing.  No one can trust self-proclaimed authorities who lack intellectual integrity.  No one.

So what do you say?  Parole your fellow Americans and start talking to one another.   Start asking honest questions.  And demand honest answers from those “authorities.”  That too is the American thing.