Is 2024 the Year of the Deep State?

By John Kass

Sunday, October 13, 2024

What do you see as Barack Obama, in panic mode, spends time in Pennsylvania race-shaming young black men into voting for Democrat Kamala Harris for president?

What do you see as the pro-Harris corporate media unleashes piteous cries of anxiety in these last few weeks of  the 2024 presidential campaign?

What do you see as CBS News, once the Gold Standard of television journalism, befouls itself and makes an idiotic cartoon of its once impressive reputation and embraces censorship?

What do you see as  CBS’ “60 Minutes” selectively edits Harris’ answers to make her look good in violation of CBS ethics, as her much-celebrated friendly media blitz backfired on her campaign?

But recall how previously “60 Minutes” humiliated itself, serving as a Deep State tool, publicly stating the Hunter Biden laptop could not be verified, even though it was being held by the FBI.

So look and see so that you may understand. Strip away the emotional noise and what you’re seeing is this:

Harris, the Deep State corporate media candidate, is imploding. Obama and his Democrats are quietly freaking out. The Borg Hive roils with fear.

And so the corporate media, Harris, and all the rest are shrieking about “misinformation” and “disinformation,” which is political talk for gutting politically objectionable speech.

Yet corporate media, in supporting Harris, is like other Deep State apparatchiks engaging in the very “misinformation” it decries in favor of government censorship to curtail political speech that challenges them.

It’s un-American or used to be not long ago. Americans once prided themselves on speaking truth, but obviously the corrupt corporate media, from CBS and others, are on the other side. They’re not on your side.

I asked America’s leading expert on the Deep State, my brother Nicholas, who served more than 30 years as a CIA officer and American diplomat with the U.S. State Department—including years at the White House with the National Security Council among other duties.

“What “60 Minutes” did here, and in 2020 when Leslie Stahl claimed the Hunter laptop could not be verified (despite reporting by @mirandadevine) is pure disinformation—a hallmark of Deep States the world over. Consider that next time Kamala or Walz calls for censorship,” he posted on “X.”

For years he was stationed in Türkiye, where the Deep State concept emerged under the authoritarian Kemalist regime after the fall of the Ottoman Empire. But the American administrative state has grown its own Deep State as well.  If you doubt it, stick your own head into the memory hole to recall New York Post columnist Miranda Devine and how her scoop over that Hunter Biden laptop was censored by the U.S. government, Big Tech, and the American news media including “60 Minutes,” just days before the 2020 elections.

Joe Biden hasn’t forgotten. He was the Deep State’s candidate in 2020.

And we know that screaming about disinformation now is crucial for Democrats, who seek reasons to shut down political speech that threatens their power.

“But panic over disinformation (whatever its source) has been too useful to be allowed to let drop,” wrote Andrew Stuttaford in National Review in his essay “The Disinformation Panic.”

“A helpful complement to conveniently flexible “hate,” it has been a handy rationale for greater control over internet speech. It has accelerated the rise of “fact-checkers,” who all too often are propagandists and censors masquerading as guardians of objectivity. Their biases are insufficiently examined (not that they are hard to guess).”

Political tastes and fashions change, but human nature doesn’t.

It is one thing for politicians to try to limit speech. We know their base nature and the Constitution is supposed to protect against that. But it is quite another thing for journalists, the supposed watchdogs, to openly support anti-free speech candidates like Harris and her running mate Walz. Both Democrat candidates are loudly on record vilifying critics of the administration’s policies.

They move to criminalize, at least outlaw, political speech they find objectionable. And these decrepit Deep State puppets, these praetorians of politically acceptable information now have the gall to cast themselves as being opposed to the alleged authoritarianism of Donald J. Trump?’

Pathetic.

People outside of Deep State precincts understand how pathetic that is. It is more pathetic than the ridiculous yet malevolent song by Biden’s now-former Disinformation commissar  Nina Jankowicz, sung to the applause of Washington elites. It’s the left’s vindictive ditty about violating American rights, which is something I can’t  forget.

I think it’s all falling apart for Kamala right now. The panic tells the story.

But please, don’t relax.

Instead, vote.

If she becomes president there is literally no way to determine how far they will go. They’ve already gone too far.

I do know the Deep State doesn’t like to be questioned. And if it consolidates its control, there will soon be no one to challenge their demand for compliance and silence.

But at least you won’t have to worry about the news, will you?

-30-

About the author: John Kass spent decades as a political writer and news columnist in Chicago working at a major metropolitan newspaper. He is co-host of The Chicago Way podcast. And he just loves his “No Chumbolone” hat, because johnkassnews.com is a “No Chumbolone” Zone where you can always get a cup of common sense.

Comments 42

  1. I voted last Tuesday, on opening day here in Indiana. I stood in line with eighty plus people. The line moved quickly. I voted straight ticket, just as I learned as a 15th Ward regular Democrat. I believe that everyone else voted straight ticket as well. Our votes are banked.

    With the help of God, good people will check the Deep State at the ballot box.

  2. Never before have I been more afraid for our country. For the party that claims elections are fair and safe to sue every state that enacts laws that do so is remarkably hypocritical! All we can do is pray.

  3. Great piece John. I fear the ability the dark side to hack in to the system that tallies our votes and change the numbers. Nothing is beneath the enemy here and sadly that’s what they’ve made themselves out to be. The enemy of freedom.

  4. “Political tastes and fashions change, but human nature doesn’t.”

    Exactly correct and exactly what the left fails to see. They believe in what the genius Thomas Sowell refers to as, “The Vision of the Anointed”. That is, that we should apostolically follow an enlightened leader who has a vision of humanity coming together in some utopian kumbaya moment. That if you have the right intention, you will get the desired result. Nope. Doesn’t work that way. And this is also why leftists go into a rage when presented with facts. They can’t accept that their intention not only failed to yield the desired result, but produced unintended negative results. Human nature is what human nature is. It doesn’t change. Deal with the reality of it, look at actual results, make your policies accordingly and don’t idolize your leaders. They are nothing more than instruments we use to run the country.

    1. Brilliant, Martha Strawbridge. Brilliant
      “Human nature is what human nature is. It doesn’t change. Deal with the reality of it, look at actual results, make your policies accordingly and don’t idolize your leaders. They are nothing more than instruments we use to run the country.”
      I would vote for you.

    1. Has everyone forgotten that Ben Rhodes’ (Obama’s chief advisor for 8 years) twin brother was head of CBS news division the whole time? I’m not sure he is still at CBS, but it doesnt get more “Deep State” than that

  6. It’s interesting, but 1984 could be considered the historical high point of the American republic and its constitutional success.

    Here’s hoping that 2024 doesn’t turn into Russia in 1917.

    How will the Deep State react if they lose big? It will give Trump license to clean house. it’s an awfully dirty house.

  7. John
    You predicted a red wave 2 years ago and was wrong. Your wrong again. The 5W women of this country will push abortion and gun control. Poof Dems win. Case closed.
    BTW Cory Franklin recently wrote a column for THE PAPER! TRAITOR SOB. BAN HIM FROM YOUR SITE FOR GOING TO THE OTHER SIDE. DOUBLE AGENT. CANT BE TRUSTED. Is he feeding THEM info on us? Will we get a knock on the door late at nite? Will the Kackling Kamala Kommies be coming for us? OH THE HORRIR OF OF IT ALL.

    1. We are not of the left. We are not the vicious Marxist newsrooms union that silenced dissent and killed a great paper.
      This is johnkassnews.com We don’t silence people. Cory is a friend and valued contributor here. So is Dan Proft. So is Paul Vallas and James Banakis and many others. Thomas Rudd might not be a correspondent, but he’s a valued subscriber, as are you all. Bottom line: We are not Marxists or Kamalists. And unlike today’s craven corporate media, we believe in the America where Americans can freely speak their minds. First Amendment is first for a reason.

    2. Thomas, as someone who was up close and personal with the virus for the first 15 months of the pandemic, I thought Dr. Franklin’s article in the Tribune regarding the missteps of our “respected” medical authorities during the pandemic, was spot on.

  8. John –
    It would be a great idea to write an article about how some people in this country are so obsessed with “firsts” rather than ability. To wit: Barack Hussein Obama (an empty suit community organizer who happened to speak well (with the use of the teleprompter)) – our first “Black” President. Kamala Harris (less an empty suit than Barry, but equally unprepared/undeserving to be POTUS), who would be the first woman President, the first woman of color President, the first woman of Indian descent President. PLEASE. This obsession with dangerous firsts has already done enough damage to our country. Keep up the call for people to vote – it’s our only weapon against the madness.

  9. The Democrats/Corporate media have a symbiotic-loop that feeds upon each other. The Democrats divide us, convince us we are different, tell us we are aggrieved, propose big government solutions/handouts, and then feed upon the anxiety and division they sow.

    The media is for-profit. It requires access and audience. It trades favorable coverage for access to Democrats, and garners an emotional, progressive audience that fits its long term demographic target, younger and next generation.

    Both the Dems and Corporate media prosper and hold power — as the nation and its people slip out of the picture. Eventually, especially with the advent of cable and the internet, the message control began to slip from the Media and they have called upon their Big Brother, the Democrats, to censor those who might seize their turf. Censorship, truth bureaus, investigations of Elon Musk, and the “Dirty 51” become the firefighting to put the flames of inquiry out.

    A feature of this, one of many, is the Federal Employee, selected, paid, and promoted by the benevolent hand of the Democrats. Cheered by the media. This turns Tammany Hall into a national enterprise. The skills of the Media convert and recede. Truth is what it needs to be. And this model is invasive at the state and local level. See teachers’ unions, sanitation workers, …, and so forth.

    And they all vote to preserve what they have and get more.

  10. Pray for a Trump landslide, because that is the only event which will come close to credibly repudiating the left. If the election is close, we’ll lose. The results will be tied up in various courts, and we’ve seen how the left has ruined the idea of American law being something approaching fair.

  12. Fact-checkers are nothing more than phony “influencers”.
    Obama’s speech promoting Harris the other day was pathetic!
    Shaming others for her – of all people.
    He’s putting sinkers on his legacy.

  13. Thanks John. Spot on. Let’s not forget Hillary Clinton. Remember with her private email server in her house in New York? A few weeks ago, Hillary called for criminal charges against citizens who spread misinformation. Obama spied on citizens and turned the IRS on conservative non profits. Scary. The good people of this country must put a stop to this and dismantle the deep state. Vote.

  15. Agree now is NOT the time to be complacent. I’m starting to see this on social media, as the poll numbers start to turn in Trump’s favor. Shades of the 2022 mid term elections, and we all know how the RED WAVE was reduced to a feeble trickle, if that. Vote like your life depends on it, because this time, it really does.

  17. Wholly agree with George Kages. A close election will be contested and there are enough DEM Judges and prosecutors who will gladly take up the cause. We need a decisive election win.
    On another note my wife (who was born and lived under a communist regime till she was in her late twenties and came here legally ) is afraid that if she makes a donation the FBI will come a knocking! She saw that process first hand.

  18. Thank you, John, for being a free speaker. I can’t imagine what secrets your brother knows.
    As for the anti-free speakers, VOTE against those liars.
    To me, the New Media is a laughing stock of total left-wing lies. In heaven, Edward R. Murrow is tortured with disgust, and in hell, Goebbels is smiling!
    Stay safe, John.

  19. Just saw this and thought it would be of interest. From a brilliant man:

    “In every country in which there has been a loss of freedom, where does it begin? It begins in news media, in public print, in books, and on the proscenium. That’s where they attack you first right there. That’s the bread basket.”
    —Rod Serling

    AS I KNEW HIM: My Dad Rod Serling

  21. “Political tastes and fashions change, but human nature doesn’t.” Brilliant! RIP Deep State. This cake is baked. God bless you, John. With the help of Elon, RFK, JR., JD and Tulsi, President Trump has illustrated very clearly to the average American just how evil the permanent bureaucracy is – something they instinctively sensed for quite some time!

  22. 1984 is a great book to read. At the time in 1980 my classmates and I thought it was all allegory. All the social engineering and even the reproductive engineering in the book was thought by my classmates was a reach. Boy were we wrong! Mixing some terminologies, we see “Family Planning Center”=Abortion clinics, SOMA=Fentanyl, mass surveillance=”public safety” and the ever-popular Mass Media (include the FBI)=thought police. 1984 is called dystopian; take a look around, it’s almost prophetic.
    People need to use the most powerful tool available: the vote. Make it count.

  23. Remember, as soon as he won the presidency, Obama called her the nation’s prettiest (CA) attorney general? and she acted offended? Now its his good chance to make his dream work and move President Kamala’s summer retreat to Martha’s Vineyard.
    “Folks”, its gonna happen and boxes and boxes of millions of Harris-Walz ballots are already shipped and waiting to be dumped on critical states when on election night vote counting shows Trump is leading by wide margin after 98% of votes are counted.
    At this point I really don’t know if God exists and if He could save this nation.
    -Namperumal, a 2020 Election Judge!

  24. Another note. We keep hearing here about DA DEEP STATE as if it’s a DEM thing. Eisenhower warned us of the CONGRESSIONAL MILITARY INDUSTRIAL COMPLEX, IE. STATE. THAT IS THE DEEP STATE: a secret network of NONELECTED govt. officials and PRIVATE ENTITIES, i.e., financial and defense industries operating EXTRALEGALLY to influence and enact govt policy.
    It doesn’t matter which whore party gets in. The deep state tells them what to do. If they don’t they get whacked or nearly whacked, ie JFK, RFK, WALLACE, ORANGE MANS EAR.
    And BTW your brother worked for CIA which is part of DA DEEP STATE.

  27. Years ago police officers in Chicago were assigned to every polling place when they opened and when they closed. Police were to respond to any disturbance or any complaints from poll watchers. When the polls closed the voting judges tallied the votes. The Democrats received a copy. The Republicans got their copy. One copy was hand carried by the police officer to the place where these were counted. Usually at 23rd and Michigan. There were very little complaints about these counts. This is about Daley Democrat Chicago after all. The overtime was fantastic for the police officers. This is pretty much been a thing of the past since the advent of electronic voting machines. Now there are very valid questions about these machines. Not only being hacked but the counting of ballots after hours, usually being found in boxes randomly laying around after the polling judges are sent home. Yes, its all legit. Nothing to be seen here. If you should question this you are obviously an anti -vaxxer, election denier, pro insurrection, obvious racist and an anti womans reproductive justice advocate. The Deep State does not exist. You demonstrate why our government needs to moderate the dissemination of information due to the seminattion of disinformation…

    1. Mr. Diaz.

      I was one of those coppers, hated working the polls, it was a fourteen hour day.
      It was well organized, the workers from both parties were cordial, they ran thru the ballots three times. The cops got a receipt of the counted ballot’s which were sealed and secured.

      Maybe the old way was the right way. Back then the only way if I’m correct to manipulate ballot’s was with elderly in the nursing homes, and shut ins, and the deceased who the precinct captains, “helped.”

  28. Check out this guy Commander Gregory Stentson. He has a straight bead on it. Harris will get 305 electoral votes. It will be decided before we go to bed. But then it will go to the State Legislatures as to whether to certify obvious fraud.

    He believes that’s our best chance. And also, the best if not only chance for “the better angels of our nature”

    Praying…

  29. John – I don’t sign up for anything but I’ve been reading you for a while and $5 a month I can handle for a while (retired, fixed income). The direction of the country had inspired me to take some law classes and I am currently taking a course on Constitutional Law. When the courts get involved (not often enough in my opinion) they follow the Constitution as they should. If Harris wins (I doubt that but who knows), her handlers will try all kinds of vile crap that is unconstitutional. Will the courts step in at that point? Hopefully it is moot if Trump survives the gauntlet and gets elected. Cheers, glad to be here and will read everything you write.

  30. Yianni,
    Irony of ironies. Obama lecturing black men? He never identified as black did he? He was Hawaiian and Kenyan when he ran for office, and later – to his distaste – said he was “black” to garner votes. But I digress…he’s got alot of nerve lecturing others, seeing as how he’s made millions off the backs of his “own people” hoodwinking them into voting for him, even though he was and is, an empty suit. Hell, the only real job he’s ever had was president! But then, he did embrace the Chicago Way, and exported it to D.C. and infected every level of government, so they’d bend to his – or the party’s – demands/wishes. What a glib orator. And all the while, he was to be our “savior!” HAH! He sold us all down the river, and convinced “donors” to build his edifice in the sky, on public land, which we all know will become an albatross around the necks of Chicago taxpayers not long after it opens. It might be just me, but who in their right mind, wants to travel to Jackson Park to visit his library? It’s become a shooting gallery, with a scarcity of cops to be found in an emergency. Now that shotspotter is history, good luck finding the perps. Sorry, but, Barry has no business lecturing others about why they owe their fortunes to the socialist party of America, once known as the dem party. He took the money and ran, and now thinks the rest of us are chumbolones. He didn’t dream we’d have a secret orator of our own, uncovering “disinformation” by the dems. It’s KASSO!!!

  31. I just finished a phone call with our daughter who is freaking out about the election. She is a conservative, Trump supporter but her friends have drunk the Kool-Aid and fallen for headlines vs. substance. Our daughter fears that it is her generation that will lead us toward communism because they tell her that they think communism is great. Forget that it has failed everywhere else. Forget that her female friends want to vote for Kamala because she is for women’s rights–even though communism has superseded women by telling them how many babies they can have or to abort females.

    No, they are all for a government that “gives” people houses, health care, and treats everyone equally. It doesn’t matter how many conversations our daughter has with them about the fallacy of Big Government because they truly believe Big Government can fix every social ill and that is its role.

    I would love to believe that our daughter learning how to make it on her own via budgeting will help her in the future. She understands money and the trap of government freebies. But I fear that because she is independent, she’ll be unable to move ahead if Harris wins.

    Parents overall have failed to do their jobs; and schools have been allowed to undermine patriotism, free market capitalism, and history.

    Lord, help us all.

    1. Exactly. Thats why articles like this – fear of the administrative/deep state – are irrelevant. Only wonks like you and I and the rest of the old folks on this site recognize the existential threat to our Republic. Young folks – in fact the DP party in general – think the ideas expressed by our Founders are an anachronism. They in fact favor the Wilsonian vision of our country: run by “impartial, experts” – insulated from the furies of politics – big government as built by FDR and later LBJ. If our Founders somehow came back to the present time they would not recognize the government we are now under. More importantly – as your daughter is finding out – if you talk about “separation of powers” and “checks and balances” most young folks think you are talking in a foreign tongue.

    2. Erin, you are exactly right. I too have conservative children who tell me the same things ans your daughter. Our public indoctrination centers have stolen the hearts and souls of American democracy. God help us!

      I am currently reading a book I would recommend to John Kass’s readers:
      “Mao’s America: A Survivors Warning” by Xi Van Fleet. Xi tells of her chilling upbringing in the 1960s in Mao Tse Tung’s China. A must read for all freedom loving Americans who want to save this country from the evils of Socialism and Communism.

  32. Trump singlehandedly has put the Deep State into panic mode. So panic stricken have they been since 2015 that they have accused him of being a Russian agent. Then they impeached him twice. They have indicted him 34 times. They have tried to bankrupt him, have tried to gag him, have tried to get him erased on ballots, have tried to put him in jail, have poisoned the air that he is another Hitler, that he plans to destroy our republic, then finally shooting twice to kill him, all else having failed. If he is elected they will aim at him again in step with Biden’s call to put him “in the bulls-eye.” And then he will become the object of our prayers for his life They could have been done with him this year had they not stolen the election. They will fester another four years come Nov 5, while he speaks from behind bulletproof glass.

Leave a Reply