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Ex-CIA Officer Proposes Using ‘Counterterror’ Measures Against ‘Right-wing’ Americans

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Gage Skidmore Flickr

ANALYSIS – Can we say dangerous left-wing intelligence hack? 

With Joe Biden and the Democrats demonizing conservatives, partisan, out-of-work former intelligence officers, without much of a ‘war on terror’ to fight anymore, and looking for new work, are now targeting Americans as their new terrorist bogeyman. 

And following the bizarre ‘underwear hammer attack’ on Nancy Pelosi’s husband in San Francisco, the Democrats are on a tear blaming Republicans for violence.

This is despite the fact that the Pelosi attacker was a crazy, life-long pot-smoking hippie, left-wing nudist, and illegal alien from Canada who only started making ‘right-wing’ social media posts a few weeks ago.

But once you designate your domestic political opponents as ‘extremists’ and ‘enemies of democracy,’ you open the door to widespread abuse and repression by the state.

And targeting American citizens as if they were ISIS is the result.

As I noted earlier, we should expect to see a host of these former ‘counter-extremism’ hacks try to parlay their experiences against al-Qaeda to use against their fellow citizens.

This is the old Cold War ‘Red Scare’ in reverse.

And this is just the latest example. A partisan former CIA officer proposing we illegally use ‘counterterror’ measures against Americans.

As Fox News reports:

Former Senior Intelligence Service officer at the CIA, Marc Polymeropoulos published a Sunday piece declaring that technique once used to fight radical Islam should be turned against the right-wing in America.

Polymeropoulos’ piece for NBC News Think warned that propagandists, whether Islamic terrorists or Republicans, should be subject to counterterrorism and counter-radicalization techniques.

“I worked in counterterrorism operations for nearly my entire career at the CIA before retiring in 2019. The battle we engaged in with international terrorist groups like Al Qaeda wasn’t just with their legions of foot soldiers but with their highly effective propaganda arms as well,” he wrote. 

“The U.S. and our allies considered those propagandists fundamental cogs in a terror group’s machinery, and just as culpable as any other terrorist. So we held them accountable when innocent civilians were killed.”

Polymeropoulos suggested that the attack of Paul Pelosi was evidence that the American government needs to take a firmer approach to its own citizenry.

This type of thinking is outrageous on so many levels. Simply un-American. Unconstitutional. And extremely dangerous.

Polymeropoulos, who sounds more like a left-wing extremist than an intelligence officer, is also either willfully ignorant or outright deceptive when he claims that the American right has some sort of monopoly on violent rhetoric. 

He laughably states that there is “nothing equivalent being done on the other side of the aisle” as far as promoting violence against their political opposition. 

“Democratic politicians and leaders may not like Trump, but they don’t call for violence against him, let alone his execution,” he outrageously claimed.

Of course, this is outright false.

As Fox Notes: “He neglected to mention multiple incidents of left-wing calls to arms and violence against Republicans…”

Fox added examples:

In 2017, a far-left former Bernie Sanders campaign volunteer named James T. Hodgkinson fired upon on a group of Republican lawmakers as they practiced for the annual Congressional Baseball Game, critically injuring House Republican Whip Steve Scalise.

Democrats didn’t equate their own hyper-aggressive anti-GOP rhetoric with his violent actions.

And let’s be clear Democrat politicians do incite violence against their GOP opponents.

Fox continues:

Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Calif., endorsed harassing political opposition in public in 2018. “They’re not going to be able to go to a restaurant, they’re not going to be able to stop at a gas station, they’re not going to be able to shop at a department store,” Waters proclaimed at the time. “The people are going to turn on them, they’re going to protest, they’re going to absolutely harass them.”

Polymeropoulos also ignores left-wing activists protesting in front of the houses of Supreme Court justices, firebombing crisis pregnancy centers, and doxing (posting the addresses of public figures online). 

Not to mention the assassination attempt against Justice Brett Kavanaugh by a heavily armed man at his home.

Recall that in 2020, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., warned Justices Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh that they “will pay the price” for rulings against abortion and “You won’t know what hit you.”

Can we say “incitement to violence” against Justices?

This ex-CIA hack also overlooks a full year of left-wing politically motivated riots in cities, often encouraged and enabled by Democrat politicians and ‘community’ leaders.

But facts, consistency, and fairness aren’t needed when you are a political hack trying to get the all-powerful government to use your now unneeded skills to target your fellow Americans who disagree with you.

All you need is your own extremist leftist rhetoric.

Opinions expressed by contributors do not necessarily reflect the views of Great America News Desk.

Bipartisan ‘Stolen Valor’ – GOP and Dem Candidates Embellish Military Records

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President Donald J. Trump is presented with a 10th Combat Aviation Brigade challenge coin following an air assault and gun rain demonstration at Fort Drum, New York, on August 13. The demonstration was part of President Trump's visit to the 10th Mountain Division (LI) to sign the National Defense Authorization Act of 2019, which increases the Army's authorized active-duty end strength by 4,000 enabling us to field critical capabilities in support of the National Defense Strategy. (U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Thomas Scaggs) 180813-A-TZ475-010

ANALYSIS – Even with the decline in respect for the U.S. military due to extreme “wokeness” and other issues, Americans still hold military service in high regard. 

This is especially true when it comes to those running for office.

Having served is a powerful bona fide for both Republican and Democrat candidates.

It was certainly important to my campaigns for the U.S. Congress, and for Florida Statehouse.

When I ran as an anti-establishment GOP candidate, my motto was: ‘the Marine vs the Machine.’

It’s no surprise then that lying about your military service is also a powerful temptation, not just for average joes who never donned the uniform pretending to be “super ninja, special ops warriors,” but also for budding politicos aspiring for public office trying to burnish their creds.

Pretending to be in the military or lying about your service are all called Stolen Valor because you really are stealing the bravery, patriotism, and dedication of others who actually served in the roles they did.

It is also illegal to lie about military service or veteran status to claim government benefits.

But we still see it. Even in high-profile political campaigns where they should know they will be caught.

Let me point out two current examples of political candidates from both parties who are reportedly guilty of “stolen valor.”

The one who has been most in the news is J.R. Majewski, a robust, bearded veteran praised by former President Donald Trump at a rally before the GOP primary.

He is running for Congress in Ohio.

A damning Associated Press report in September found that he exaggerated his service, including claims he’d deployed to a combat zone in Afghanistan in the wake of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. 

He even said he endured hardships like not showering for 40 days.

In fact, military records show that the closest Majewski got to Afghanistan was Qatar, abutting Saudi Arabia, our ally where I once helped set up the Defense Attaché Office (DAO) at the U.S. embassy.

In Qatar, he loaded planes for six months.

While he did serve, he apparently exaggerated his combat service and misled the voters.

In the wake of these reports, House Republicans withdrew an Ohio ad buy of close to $1 million originally designed to support Majewski.

As the Daily Beast reports:

The move [removing the ad buy] suggests the GOP has given up hope on what might have otherwise been an easy pickup during the elections, all but ensuring that Rep. Marcy Kaptur, the Democratic incumbent, whose victory was previously threatened by redistricting, will win the seat in Ohio’s 9th Congressional District.

But now there are claims that a Democratic candidate for the statehouse in Washington is involved in an ongoing feud with his family about whether he too is lying about his military service.

Fox News reported:

The father of Clyde Shavers, Democratic candidate for Washington state’s 10th Legislative District, claims in a recently published letter that his son lied about the details of his service in the U.S. Navy, according to local outlet Herald Net.

Clyde Shavers has run on a platform emphasizing his service in the U.S. Navy, claiming to have been a nuclear submarine officer — a position that requires a great amount of training and three separate courses.

“Clyde was never a submarine officer, not even for a day,” Brett Shavers wrote.

Fox News continued, writing that the father, “a Marine veteran, went on to dismiss any notions that his son served proudly in the military, going so far as to say Clyde Shavers has a “disdain” for enlisted service members.”

Brett Shavers added, “Clyde has only disdain for the military. I have seen Clyde’s use of veteran status used heavily as a seal of endorsement of honor and integrity, even as he or his campaign continually use the phrase ‘son of a Marine’ for his credibility.” 

Clyde Shavers has denied his father’s claims, saying that the letter is “inaccurate” and “all about politics.”

While it isn’t clear from the letter or reporting if the father is accusing his son of not serving, or simply not serving in the capacity of nuke sub officer as he claims. 

But the father does say his son hates the military, and enlisted troops, and is only using his alleged service to buttress his campaign.

Perhaps the news media can look further into these allegations of ‘stolen valor’ about a Democrat just like they did with GOP candidate Majewski. 

It shouldn’t be too hard to confirm or deny. 

Opinions expressed by contributors do not necessarily reflect the views of Great America News Desk.