Tag: thomas massie

Beating Swords into Plowshares, Montana Style

Roger MitchellLeave a comment

A few days ago, I posted a short article about a bill, HR 6508, introduced into the House of Representatives by Thomas Massie (R-KY), which if passed into law would require the White House to begin proceedings to remove the US from the organization known as NATO. A companion bill, S 2103 has been introduced into the Senate by Mike Lee, R-UT. In addition, the White House has released its National Security Strategy which basically calls for a moderated withdrawal from a hegemonic attempt to control the world into a more manageable position of ruling the Western Hemisphere with an iron fist. Conversely, it could be an admission that the US cannot rule the world due to the rise of significant resistance and must pull in its horns somewhat. It’s all relative, depending on your viewpoint.

These events, even if they take twenty or thirty years to accomplish, can be seen as positive steps toward a better future for the world, like the first faint glimmer of light breaking through the darkness after a long, dark night. We should be aware, though, that nothing is guaranteed and that international tensions could continue to escalate as modern-day society breaks down into uncontrolled chaos, with the ever-present specter of full-blown nuclear war still only a heartbeat away.

[Note: I wrote this at the request of an editor at Western Montana News who asked how it could relate to the local area in the case that events of this sort did unfold.]

I am extremely skeptical about anything which comes out of Washington, regardless of its source (Thomas Massie, excepted) and understand that evil, like the multi-headed hydra of Greek literature, will not be easily dispatched. These things take time to mature and we should not expect to see an immediate end to hostilities even as we hope and believe that world-wide peace will be the eventual result.

Putting aside our disbeliefs and assuming the best, let’s take a look at what might be long-term effects for Montana and the surrounding regions if, and I stress if, NATO is disbanded and the US does pull back from its long-standing policy of never-ending wars to fill the coffers of the military-industrial complex which Eisenhower warned about long ago. Keep in mind that this is only an exercise of hopeful possibility, not a prediction. Your guess is as good as mine.

  1. NATO is abandoned and disappears. The US and Russia come to an understanding of peaceful co-existence. The European Union, a supra-national organization, disintegrates and reverts once more into a continent of national states, each of which is beset with its own peculiar problems, none of which is capable of exercising massive power outside its borders. In such a scenario, it is possible that the number of nuclear warheads which the US and Russian states control and use as threats against each other might be negotiated down from an insane level to one where the Mutually Assured Destruction (MAD) policy does not cause nightmares in fearful people. If that were to happen, would the missile silos at Malmstrom Air Force Base eventually be decommissioned and filled with concrete? It is, according to the premise of this article, at least theoretically possible. If that was the only development which came out of this, it would be a good thing.
  2. Trillion dollar “defense” budgets would become a thing of the past. Without an existential threat constantly looming over our heads, there would be no need to break the bank any longer for the ostensible purpose of keeping the “barbarians” at bay, fighting them over there so we don’t have to fight them over here. Instead of pouring that money into weapons systems to kill and destroy, some of it could be used to rebuild Montana’s deteriorating infrastructure–roads and bridges, schools, hospitals, e.g., among others.
  3. Peace is deflationary. Inflation is necessary to drive the financial engine which waging war requires. Without the “need” to destroy the dollar to protect “national interests”, the printing presses which lubricate the political machine in Washington could be wound down to a more moderate level at the very least. The wages which local Montanans earn would go further and purchase more, enabling a general rise in the standard of living.
  4. Massive numbers of young men and women would no longer be needed to fill the ranks of “cannon fodder” in wars which America has no business involving itself or occupying military bases in foreign countries where they are not needed. Instead, they could become highly productive citizens here, raising future generations in an era where soldiers dying in combat might be an anomaly instead of a fixture.

I could go on but you get my point. Western Montana (and the world) has much to gain from the cessation of wars, especially those in which the threat of nuclear annihilation always looms just ahead.

In conclusion, I point to Isaiah 2:4, which says,

“He [Word of God] shall judge between the nations and rebuke many people; they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore.“

If this prophecy is true, then it is inevitable that war will cease to exist. All of us should be working toward that goal whether it comes to pass in our lifetimes or not until far into the future.

The bronze sculpture “Let Us Beat Our Swords into Ploughshares,” was created by Soviet artist Evgeny Vuchetich, and presented to the United Nations on 4 December 1959 by the Government of the USSR. The sculpture, depicting the figure of a man holding a hammer aloft in one hand and a sword in the other, which he is making into a ploughshare, is meant to symbolize man’s desire to put an end to war, and to convert the means of destruction into creative tools for the benefit of mankind. It is located in the North Garden of the United Nations Headquarters. 1/Oct/2001. UN Photo/Andrea Brizzi. http://www.unmultimedia.org/photo/

The Narrative is Shifting: Foreign Policy Course Corrections Ahead

Roger Mitchell3 Comments

https://www.zerohedge.com/political/regenerative-farming-just-went-mainstream-heres-why-it-matters

Whether you are a “farmer” growing food or not is not important. The underlying message in this article is that significant changes which become known do not usually happen overnight but occur as a result of hard work over a long period of time by dedicated individuals. The author explains the process quite well.

This can be favorably related to Thomas Massie’s (R-KY) recent bill introduced into the House to require the US to withdraw from NATO. A companion bill, S2152, by Mike Lee (R-UT) can also be seen in this light. Slow, gradual progress is the order of the day, eventually producing enough weight and momentum to push the idea forward to success.

A society, large or small, rarely changes direction dramatically and sharply as a discontinuous event. Instead, like a supertanker or aircraft carrier, the change of course begins with the unseen turning of a rudder, overlooked by nearly everyone until the new direction becomes obvious.

The very fact that these two bills, along with the recent release of the National Security Strategy (NSS) by the White House detailing foreign policy changes show that there is some significant movement underway which most people will not see nor recognize until it bursts onto the scene, perhaps in a cataclysmic manner, akin to a dam bursting and the subsequent release of a large amount of water resulting in the destruction of everything downstream caught in its path.

The system we have lived with and under for decades is giving way and a new one is about to be implemented. It is important to keep in mind that neither of these above-referenced bills are guaranteed passage, however, both add to the weight and pressure building on the existing structure which is trying to maintain the status quo.

Do not discount the significance of Massie’s bill.

The Ghost of Jeffrey Epstein Lives!

Roger Mitchell2 Comments

When I got up from my late-afternoon nap a little while ago, I pulled up ZeroHedge to see what was going on in the world and was shocked, shocked, absolutely stunned, I tell you to see this article pronouncing that both the House (expected) and the Senate (completely out of character) had approved the release of the Epstein Files, and sent it on to The Donald for his long, drawn-out signature. What really blew my mind, however, were the margins in the votes, 427-1 (House) and unanimous (Senate).

Naturally, being the sort of person I am, I immediately started ruminating on the meaning of these lop-sided decisions and, being the suspicious, skeptical sort of person I am, latched onto the idea that one of two things had just happened:

  1. The Federal Government, as exemplified in its two august bodies, had just had a “coming to Jesus” moment and, henceforth, would be working for truth, righteousness, and the American Way.
  2. The American people were just snowed…again.

I have to hand it to Thomas Massie, a republican representative from Kentucky, who along with Ro Khanna, a Democrat from California, has been pushing and pushing for months to get this “list” published. Massie, for his efforts, has been subjected to serious “trouble” from the White House, but has emerged victorious. I think. Maybe. We’ll see. No telling what this will lead to. Nevertheless, take your victory lap, Mr. Massie. You have earned it.

On July 10, 2025, I posted an article, https://poorrogersalmanac.com/2025/07/10/officially-confirmed-epstein-didnt-kill-himself/, which included the paragraphs below.

“There is one other similarity between JFK and Epstein. The case is closed. Closed. Officially closed. There will be no more investigation, no more fact-finding ventures, no more questioning, no more publicity, no more “conspiracy theorizing”. The administration of Donald Trump and Co. has issued its last report and there will be no release of any files pertaining to the matter. In due time, it will all be forgotten….Except that it won’t be. There is simply too much about this that doesn’t pass the smell test. Anyone with a sense of reason, common sense, and a nose for the truth can discern that we have been lied to…again, this time with vehemence, bigly, as Trump would say.”

Which, once more, brings up the question: Are we being snowed again? Suspicious minds want to know.

  • While on the campaign trail, Trump vigorously promoted the promise that the files would be released as soon as he became president.
  • In February, 2025, barely a month after Trump took office, his AG Pam Bondi, declared that the “list” was on her desk, impatiently waiting for her review and release.
  • In July, 2025, barely four months later, the White House held their famous (infamous?) press conference during which it was averred, avowed, and aggressively asserted that “there was no there, there”. The List had somehow vanished, the evidence had been mysteriously flushed down the toilet, there were no witnesses to the alleged crimes, the whole thing was a hoax (a Democrat hoax to get Trump, mind you), and on, and on, and on…
  • In July, Massie and Khanna introduced their resolution named the Epstein Files Transparency Act, seeking to gain 218 co-signers which would force the House to take up the measure. Around that time, Trump declared war on Massie, vowing to “primary” him in 2026 with someone more “suitable” and unleashing a virtual river of vicious invective against him.
  • In early August, Ghislaine Maxwell, Epstein’s girl Friday, was transferred from a high-security prison in Tallahassee, FL, to a low-security Federal Prison Camp Bryan in Texas, where she has received preferential treatment. Around the same time, it was revealed that Donald Trump had never, ever, done anything wrong with Epstein. Not even once.
  • Initially, Mike Johnson, the Republican Speaker of the House, resisted the EFTA resolution and refused to bring it up for a vote until it became apparent that it was going to happen, at which time he allowed it. It is noteworthy that Johnson also kept the House in a state of recess for months so as to avoid seating Adelita Grijalva (D-Ariz.), who was elected in a special election in August and who had sworn to sign on as the last needed co-sponsor.
  • Claiming “we have nothing to hide”, Trump caved in on Nov. 17 and gave his “blessing” to the vote, which was apparently the last straw on the camel’s back.

Something here is not right. It stinks to high heaven. Either there was nothing there to begin with OR there is something which TPTB are desperately trying to cover up. Considering that Trump and Team have been bouncing back and forth between two opinions, depending on who they are trying to please, it is not hard to believe that some VERY SERIOUS SHENANIGANS did actually happen, that Epstein had something to do with them, and that it will cause some extreme embarrassment on the part of some VERY IMPORTANT PEOPLE should the truth about the whole sordid affair come out. Larry Summers is only the first one to fall.

Final Answer: Let the truth be told and the chips fall where they will.

Face it, MAGA! The Man lied to You.

Roger MitchellLeave a comment

And you still act like a groupie?

I am really confused. Why did Donald Trump spend so much time and energy on the campaign trail talking about releasing the Epstein files and then refusing to actually do it when he had the power to make it happen? Kash Patel and Dan Bongino are both small potatoes and it’s obvious that someone or something scared them s*itless. But Trump? He’s as big as they come and should have seen the way the wind was blowing, yet continued on with his endless, mindlessly bloviating promises to his supporters who ate them up like red meat thrown to a mad, ravenous pack of wild dogs. Something doesn’t add up, in my opinion. I don’t know what. Two things come to mind, though:

  1. Trump was completely clueless when he was on the trail and no one bothered to set him straight even though it was plainly evident he was going to triumph “bigly” over Kamala Harris and sweep into Washington with a huge, cohesive mandate to clean house, only to find out later, after the fact, that he couldn’t say anything at all, could not expose any of the putrid rotting stench emanating from the scandal, or,
  2. He understood all along what was going on and simply misled his followers (true believers, all), telling them what they wanted to hear, a.k.a., itching ears syndrome, knowing full-well that he would abandon them as soon as he could and do it in such a fashion that there would be no question about walking it back.

I find it difficult to believe the first option. If he didn’t know, he should have. Trump has been in bed, so to speak, with the muckety-muck, high-powered, extremely wealthy, movers and shakers all his life. He had the overt backing of Miriam Adelson, an ardent Zionist, to the tune of $100 million tossed into his campaign budget. He was closeted with numerous other Zionist proponents and made his intentions toward Israel plain, earning himself the derogatory nickname, “Zion Don”. To say that none of these well-connected persons, among many others, had an inkling about Epstein’s (alleged) connections to Mossad and did not caution him to tone down the rhetoric is unlikely. Either they knew and kept quiet or they were also clueless.

Given my opinion of government and political leaders, it is easier for me to assume, without proof, mind you, that he blatantly flat-out lied to gain votes and backing. Part of the game, you know. Anything goes. The end justifies the means. After all, the man does not have a reputation for honesty or honest dealing and has shown his utter contempt for anyone who dared to show even a smidgeon of resistance over his actions. Thomas Massie, for instance, the embodiment of America First, whom Trump has declared persona non grata over their differences on a budget bill. Or the millions of MAGA men and women he casually jettisoned when the notice on Epstein was given because they became upset at the news. Or the hundreds of J6’ers and their families that he let twist in the wind because it was convenient when he could have laid down the law and turned them loose forthwith.

No, I have no problem at all saying that Trump deliberately lied to “his” people, the very ones whom he rode into the White House for the second time, or maybe the third, depending on who you ask. The only thing that adds a jarring, discordant note to my theory is that he appeared to be visibly agitated and angry (watch Marco Rubio’s eyes speak volumes while he says nothing at all) at the hearing which broke the news that Epstein had no client list, that there was no evidence of pedophilia, no blackmail, and that there would be no more investigations on the subject. “It is finished”, thundered the verdict, sealing the box closed forever, much as the Romans hoped to do when they rolled a massive stone over the tomb where Jesus’ body was laid after his crucifixion. (Note: see here for more similarities between Jesus Christ and Jeffrey Epstein)

Why was Trump so angry? Why did he lash out at the reporter who dared to ask him a simple question about the files? If he was complicit with the scheme all along AND if he was an accomplished liar as I have asserted, it would seem logical that he would have simply blown this all off with a practiced air of aplomb and sangfroid. He most definitely was not as “cool as a cucumber” under the pressure. I cannot decide if his moral conscience was bubbling up to the surface and struggling to be let out or if he was truly livid at the fact that his word was being questioned and that the issue refused to die. Probably the second. If his name was Greta Thunberg, his response would have been “How dare you?”

If he didn’t know, he was incompetent. If he did know, he was complicit. Either way, he deserves to be turned out of office and relegated to the “dustbin of history”. Officially, this would happen after the 2026 elections IF the Democrats manage to scrape together a majority of Congress, but this is not certain because it appears they are actively trying to collectively commit suicide and destroy the party. Constitutionally, it could happen IF J.D. Vance were to depose him with the strong support of Trump’s cabinet via the 25th Amendment, Section IV, which we were introduced to during the waning days of the Biden Administration. It does look, at least to my untrained eye, like he has visibly changed and grown old in the last few months and his speech and actions increasingly seem to be schizophrenic and erratic.

Regardless, public trust in the federal government has been broken, probably irrevocably, and Epstein’s List may loom large in the history books as the straw that broke the camel’s back. I tend to agree with Charles Hugh Smith who seems to think so.

“Perhaps when we look back on the Epstein Affair, we’ll understand that it broke the back of Americans’ faith in their political and law enforcement institutions. A great many Americans are not party loyalists; they voted for Donald Trump as the independent “outsider” who vowed to clean house, an independent who used one of the parties as a convenient platform.”

“If even an “outsider” is incapable of cleaning house, then it’s hopeless, and if the two parties have failed us, then where do we turn? That is both an open question, and a taboo, for the corporate media is already churning out narrative control about the 2028 election being a “contest” (heh) between flimsy cardboard cutouts of failed ideological covers for systemic corruption.”

“America’s elites aren’t above the law; there is no law. But don’t say it out loud; it’s an unbreakable taboo.”

No, don’t say anything out loud. Just sweep it under the rug and hope that no one notices.

Face it, MAGA. You’ve been lied to. And you took it.

Epstein Revisited: Random Thoughts on the Debacle

Roger Mitchell1 Comment

“Some men’s sins are clearly evident, preceding them to judgment, but those of some men follow later.” –1 Timothy 5:24

Jeffrey Epstein is gone, so it is said, and he has been preceded by widespread judgment about his evident sins. There are those whose sins have not yet been made evident, but their time is coming. Those sins may be covered up and secreted away for a time, but sooner or later, the evidence will be brought into the light. They cannot be hidden forever.

How do these people sleep at night? With everything that is going on in the current Epstein saga, it would seem that they must be frantic, wondering how and when their own “sins” are going to be exposed for the whole world to see. This explains why there is so much time, effort, and expense being implemented to keep the whole affair under very tight wraps.

Donald Trump and his administration have lit a fire which will not be easily extinguished. My opinion is that it will not be, but will burn and burn until the whole landscape is scorched and blackened. Blatantly and deliberately lying about everything to do with this does nothing except add more fuel to the fire. Refusing to allow “transparency” to do its work does nothing except make people more curious and generates what might be called a feeding frenzy. Call it the Streisand Effect.

“The Streisand Effect, also known as the Barbra Streisand Syndrome, refers to the phenomenon where attempts to suppress, hide, or censor information result in increased public attention and dissemination of that information. The term originated from an incident in 2003 when Barbra Streisand sued photographer Kenneth Adelman and Pictopia.com for publishing an aerial photograph of her Malibu home, which inadvertently drew far more attention to the image than it would have otherwise received.”

“The effect is often attributed to psychological reactance, where people become more motivated to seek out information that is deliberately hidden or restricted. This phenomenon has been observed in various contexts, including legal battles, online censorship, and corporate attempts to manage public perception. For example, when companies or individuals try to remove content from the internet, it often leads to the content becoming more widely shared and discussed.”

“Other notable examples include the case of Sci-Hub, where the founder’s efforts to make academic papers freely available led to increased attention and support for the platform despite legal challenges. Similarly, attempts by organizations like the Church of Scientology to censor information about Tom Cruise resulted in greater public interest and dissemination of the content.”

“The Streisand Effect highlights the challenges of controlling information in the digital age, where the act of suppression can often amplify the very information it seeks to conceal.” — from a Brave AI search

No amount of frantic shoveling is going to bury this monster. Trump and his team would be better off if they just simply told the truth and let the chips fall where they would. The chances of this happening, of course, are slim to none, as these people, their associates, acquaintances, and handlers have no knowledge about the timeless wisdom which encourages people to,

“Confess your sins to one another…so that you may be healed.” — James 5:16

Who is the big winner in all this? Not Trump, Bondi, Bongino, nor Patel. They are tarnished forever. However, there is one person who appears (at least to me) likely to benefit greatly from this debacle and the visible rending of the MAGA movement: Thomas Massie. Remember how Trump vowed to “primary” Massie because of his resistance to the “Big, Beautiful Bill”? If Massie plays this right, he can parlay the anger, antipathy, and feeling of betrayal against Trump into another landslide victory. All he has to do is keep the incident openly in front of his constituents and encourage the “backsliders” to join with him. Between now and the 2026 primary, this will (should) play a “yuuuge” part in Massie’s campaign.

It was only a year ago that Kamala Harris was attacked from all sides because she did not call out Joe Biden’s obvious (evident) mental deterioration and take action to remove him from the office. How long will it be before J.D. Vance is roasted for the same “sin”, because it is clearly evident that Trump is rapidly losing it. He cannot maintain a coherent narrative or program, constantly changes his story or policy for no good reason, and appears to be increasingly schizophrenic. Trump is becoming completely unhinged and Vance, for the good of the country and the world, will have to step in, sooner or later, and guide him off the stage–calmly and quietly if possible, but forcefully if necessary.

If the Democrats regain control of Congress in 2026, impeachment proceedings against Trump will almost certainly follow and the likelihood that he will be run out of office increases dramatically. Vance, by acting pre-emptively could eliminate this possibility and set himself up in good shape for a 2028 presidential run. I have no doubt, politics being politics1, that he has considered this.

In spite of all this, many people will continue on with their worship and adulation of Trump, believing fervently that he is The Answer to all the problems which face themselves and America. What will it take to bring them to a point where they are able to see the light, to wash the mud out of their eyes, to confess their sins of idolatry? I do not know, but I suspect it will not be pleasant nor wealth-generating.

These are interesting times. May you prosper and succeed even as you live in them.

  1. I describe politics as the practice of getting what you want by manipulating other people and is always at their expense, to their detriment, which is an adaptation of this quote by Frederic Bastiat–“Government is the great fiction, through which everybody endeavours to live at the expense of everybody else.” — https://poorrogersalmanac.com/2024/10/19/the-practice-of-politics-continued/ See also here. ↩︎