I am actually a fan of what anti-government coffer-looters call The Deep State. Who wouldn’t be a fan of dedicated public servants, working for less pay than they could make in the private sector in order to keep our republic flourishing?
Well, yes, we’ve answered that: Republicans, who fear that regulatory expertise will make it harder for their cronies to game the system for shady profits at the expense of the rest of us. “Draining the swamp” is a euphemism for channeling public funds into corporate reservoirs.
That said, we recently saw evidence of just the kind of Deep State conspiracy Republicans preach against – though they have been silent on this front because of the profit factor.
A few weeks ago, the United States in cahoots with Great Britain dropped a depth charge on a multi-billion dollar French-Australian deal for French submarines by announcing a deal for eight nuclear-powered subs.
Australia and France reached their agreement in 2016. Yet, five years later the U.S. blows it out of the water with a plan to replace French submarines with our own.
Somebody within the dark recesses of our government was likely working on this project all along, looking for a way to divert Aussie money toward our Masters of War, that military-industrial complex that President Eisenhower warned us about so many years ago.
Hurt feelings, outrage and recriminations have been somewhat assuaged between us and our oldest allies. Friends since before they helped us win our independence, the French probably know all too well that our first loyalty is to the bottom line. Americans being Americans – with an assist from The Deep State.
(Duncan resident Gary Edmondson is chair of the Stephens County Democratic Party.)