President Donald Trump is standing up the Deep State, a controversial notion that the writer of this article believes is real, but also has been derided as the figment of a conspiracy theorist’s imagination. The Deep State, Chuck Stephens of the Desmond Tutu Centre for Leadership writes, is the sinister force controlling America, a military-industrial alliance of unspeakable evil that has the long-suffering director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, Dr Anthony Fauci, as its public face no less. The Deep State notion is part of a constellation of conspiracy theories spinning in the realm of fake news, a phenomenon on social media steroids threatening to tear apart a divided United States. Already embroiled in an ideological civil war, America could well be hurtling towards armed conflict as extremist forces are primed to rupture the deep fault lines in the world’s most affluent nation. – Derek Alberts
By Chuck Stephens*Â
The way I see it, there are not just two entities vying to win the 2020 elections in the USA, there are three. There is a “third force” in it with the Republicans and the Democrats, although it keeps a very low profile. It is called the Deep State, and it is a force to be reckoned with.
The thing is that this third entity swings from one side to the other, from one election to another. This is because it is composed of elements from both sides. Elements that are concentrated in the states around D.C.  They are embedded there, and they have vested interests to protect. So it’s not about capitalist /socialist politics as much as it is about keeping as much back-room control as they can.
Dwight Eisenhower became very aware of this “Deep State”. It is sometimes called the “military-industrial complex”. He warned his successor John Kennedy to look out for it.  Kennedy became very aware of it and wanted to return power to the people. That cost him dearly. I mean his life. If you haven’t watched a video called From JFK to 9/11 then check it out. It will blow your mind.  But I digress…
Kennedy was a Democrat who the Deep State had to get out of the way. It is very likely that his successor LBJ was part of the plot to remove JFK. And the way I read recent events, I think that Donald Trump is another one who seriously threatens this establishment. The fact that he is a Republican is incidental. That is why from the moment that he was elected, it has been trying to eject him.
Some voices say that the USA is already in the midst of an “ideological civil war”. There are extremes on both Far Left and Alt Right. The Leftists include the likes of Bernie Sanders, and in the academic circles, there is no shortage of Marxists and even anarchists. On the Alt Right you have guides like Steve Bannon – just like Boris Johnson had the Brexit party’s Nigel Farage scouting for him.
Each of these extremes has their vigilantes. On the Left are Antifa and BLM. On the right are the Proud Boys. But there is nothing conclusive on whether Democrat or Republican policies are best for blacks. Or for Hispanics. This can be argued both ways.
In between these two entities is a swing-zone. It pushes elections in whatever direction suits the Deep State best. It is not ideological, it is interests-based.
Take the pandemic pandemonium for example. The Far Left is in favour of saving lives while the Alt Right says we need to save livelihoods too. The Far Left says to stay at home in your “bubble” until a vaccine is available. The Alt Right says that to achieve a “V-shaped economic recovery” there is a limit to the length of time that lockdown can be imposed. The Far Left puts more emphasis on prevention (i.e. masks, social distancing) while the Alt Right says that American ingenuity and innovation will overcome (i.e. ventilators, HCQ, Remdesivir, Dexamethazone, Regeneron etc.)
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To me, Fauci is the face of the Deep State. He steps to the beat of WHO’s drum while the Alt Right ask questions about the origins of this pathogen in China. He accuses the recent nomination event for the new Supreme Court judge as a “super-spreader”. People weren’t wearing masks or social distancing enough, he says. But in the deep background, he personally owns a major stake in vaccine development. The wiring diagram of the vaccine-related committees and foundations is clearly incestuous. It is full of conflicts of interests.
As I see it, this is a clear indication that Donald Trump is not just running against Joe Biden and the Republicans. He is also running against this third force called the Deep State. They want him out of the way, because he has been threatening for a long time to “drain the swamp” and to give power back to the people. It is gaslighting by the Deep State to accuse Trump of being a fascist.  The heart of darkness in this third force is fascism.
However, I would not rule out Donald Trump doing a Julius Caesar and crossing the Rubicon. If he feels that democracy has been subverted by this coalition of Democratic Party and Deep State, he may conclude like Julius Caesar did, that democracy has been corrupted and as such is not sacred?  He could decide to challenge that – to “free Democracy”.
I also note that both extremes have their favourite conspiracy theories. These abound as never before. Democrats would love voters to think that these only stem from the Alt Right, but they come from both sides, just like shells fall from both Armenian and Azerbaijani guns. These are information bombs – fake news. Here are some examples…
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The Far Left would like you to believe that the WHO is impartial, that HCQ is useless, that the Two-State Solution is best for Israel and Palestine, and that “Science” points to the need to keep lockdown in place (and schools closed) until the whole pandemic is over. They believe that Trump colluded with Russia to win the 2016 elections, and that global warming is entirely the fault of our species homo sapiens. The border wall is their emblem of Trump’s isolationism.
Whereas the Alt Right would like you to believe that China deployed the virus to destabilise its enemies, that abortion must be stopped in its tracks, that HCQ is a useful therapeutic, that vaccines will benefit the Deep State more than the general population (e.g. Fauci, Gates, Soros, and pals), and that peace in the Middle East is not predicated on the Two-State Solution for Israel and Palestine. They say that it was Hilary Clinton who colluded with Russia, and that global warming is a natural phenomenon, not a disaster induced by humans. They think that the border wall is working.
Here is where it gets awkward. Centrist Republicans like the late war hero Senator John McCain and even GWB are cool towards Trump. (Although Jeb Bush has endorsed him.) Science was seen as anti-Trump until the Great Barrington Declaration emerged in recent days. European leaders are cool to Trump’s handling of Iran, Russia, China and North Korea. Not to mention his sheer delight with Brexit.
In 2020, the Deep State has lined up with the Democrats, leaving Trump trailing in the polls. However, when I checked 17 polls from the month before the UK elections in December 2019, I noticed that ONLY ONE got it right. The other 16 UNDER-estimated the winner’s take.  NOT ONE poll over-estimated the Tory victory, which was – in the end – resounding. My prediction is that Trump will win a second term.  It will be dĂ©jĂ vu all over again.
- Chuck Stephens works at the Desmond Tutu Centre for Leadership. He has written this article in his own capacity.
