Deep State: Inside Donald Trump's Paranoid Conspiracy Theory
As the Trump White House wheezes and lurches its way into actually governing, it's become clear that we are in a somewhat different era in American politics. Unlike the Obama administration, which kept things obscured from the public, the Trump team seems more likely to pop open that top button and let the world see what it’s working with – which has proven to not always be the most effective method thus far.
What constitutes a normal day in Trumpland usually includes a meeting, typically behind closed doors, which sometimes takes hours or even minutes to find its way into the Washington Post, Politico, or the New York Times. To wit: Sean Spicer called a meeting to crack down on leaks. The details of that meeting leaked within days, with a moment-by-moment recap appearing in Politico. Michael Flynn said that he didn't talk to Russia before the inauguration. News broke early February that he had, in fact done so, which led to his resignation just days later. We could go on, but you get the idea. After each story, the White House hammered the message: The leakers are the story.
This wave crested when Donald Trump accused former President Obama of wiretapping Trump Tower in order to spy on him. Obama denies these charges, though it's possible communications were intercepted as part of a criminal investigation. Trump's tweets were a continuation of his campaign rhetoric that all the forces of the American establishment were aligned against him. He has somehow managed to carry that grievance into the White House, despite occupying the single highest office in the country. But the forces!
The culprit, each time, is something Trump backers are calling the "deep state." Their essential argument is that there are entrenched forces deep within the American government that are working to sabotage the nascent administration, preventing them from enacting policy agenda.
http://www.rollingstone.com/culture/deep-state-inside-donald-trumps-paranoid-conspiracy-theory-w471375?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_content=daily&utm_campaign=031017_11
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