Of Brilliant Writers and Strange Bedfellows, by Ray Zwarich

This is an open public letter to Mr. Patrick Lawrence, who has made a cozy bed for himself with exceedingly “strange bedfellows”.

” “Strange bedfellows” is a phrase coined by Shakespeare. Its full context is “Misery acquaints a man with strange bedfellows.” It has come to mean finding oneself in a difficult situation that forces one to associate with a condition or person (or persons) that they would not normally have anything to do with.”

Mr. Lawrence:

Me again… Caliban… I’ve come to sort things out…. Sorry to be such a bother, but I’m still ‘taking names’.

After a bout with covid has knocked me out of commission for the past several weeks, somehow I’m still here. (Somehow… Some way…). Nasty stuff. Poignant lessons therein concerning the connection between mind, body, and spirit. When one’s every last ounce of physical and mental energy is drained away, one’s thinking, and even one’s deep feelings, become distorted. The stark, delusional mass insanities of our times are quick to exploit the advantage. Like a jealous jilted lover wants to destroy true love, the utter terrors of despair are quick in their desire to eradicate all Hope, which is surely the rarest and by far the most valuable spiritual commodity these days.

It’s what The Empire wants. Eh? Embrace despair… “Abandon Hope, all ye who dwell in this forsaken land” (apologies to Dante). It’s hopeless to oppose or resist The Power.

Ah… but…

“Hope springs eternal in the human breast;
Man never Is, but always to be blest.”

— Alexander Pope, From ‘An Essay on Man’

As we love our children, and families, and each other, so our love will always be the fount of Hope itself.

Anyway… In the nasty grip of Covid, when just thinking becomes hard enough, writing has been beyond impossible. But I’ve kept up with my daily reading well enough. (I’m feeling better now, thank you)… I very much wanted to respond to your Columbus Day piece, Mr. Lawrence, so eloquently lamenting the US Elites’ ‘Addiction to Empire’. (What do you mean, “our shared addiction”? For whom do you speak, Kemosabe?).

You’ve certainly taken up some difficult concepts recently. In wanting to draw a distinction between ‘The Strong and the Merely Powerful’, your “reach exceeds your grasp” a bit perhaps, (–R Browning), but one has to admire such a bravely ambitious effort. The point was taken, even if imperfectly made. As The evil US Empire’s strength steadily drains away, its power has grown more desperate and more frighteningly deadly.

Is the ‘Samson Option’ now fully in play, as the 101st Airborne, elite US troops, are moved to the front in Romania, right on Ukraine’s border? As the water sloshes around their ankles, can the US Elites on the Titanic’s bridge accept inevitable defeat? Or in the general evil stew of their greed and unbridled lust to rule the world, will they elect to take all Humanity down with them? We know for SURE that they most CERTAINLY have that option.

Your reach so nobly, so boldly, so commendably exceeds your grasp, Mr Lawrence. I continue to applaud you for that. But it remains the low-degree of the company you keep, sir, and thus the overarching evil purpose that your noble work serves, that belies the brilliance of your every word. What you ‘say’ is one thing, sir. The effect that your work has ‘in the world’ is quite another, as the accolades you would otherwise deserve only give undeserved credence to the most insidious forms of DEADLY propaganda.

Robert Scheer unashamedly serves evil, and you, sir, serve him.

Is the pay so good that you now willingly sell your soul to empower this shameless Judas?

Taking names… Indeed… Is this just an amusement, a fun game to you?

Is it the money, sir? Or is it merely ego? Property taxes certainly must be ‘murder’ in your idyllic Connecticut Shire. Or is it only your continuing unchecked desire/need to see your name in print? After such a long, distinguished career, is your ego’s demanding need still so desperate? Surely a person of your brilliant stature could ‘make his way’ in some venue more deserving of being graced with your integrity?

In ‘Addiction to Empire’, (NOT shared by me), you extol the virtues of your old History professor at Wisconsin U, William Appleman Williams. You tell us that Professor Williams was “a very great man”. Hmm.. I had never even so much as heard his name before. A ‘great man’? What did this man actually ‘do’, Mr. Lawrence, from his Ivory Tower catbird’s perch, to earn a seat, in your estimation, in such a rarified pantheon?

Reading up on his distinguished career as an academic, as he strode the privileged leafy lanes of idyllic college campuses, writing and lecturing about ‘the world outside’, it’s apparent that he managed to break through the bubble of propagated delusion to perceive the obvious. Good for him. A ‘keen perception of the obvious’ is certainly a good thing to have. But to what ends did his perception, however brilliant, lead us?

Is ‘greatness’ such a little thing? What has more value? What is said? (Or written?… Or lectured?). Or what is done? Does greatness not lie in deeds rather than in mere words?

It’s one thing, Mr. Lawrence, to write or talk in opposition to The Empire, as you do so brilliantly, and as your hero, “App” Williams, did before you. It’s quite another to actually draw your sword and ‘Fight the Power’, (as they say).

If we use up the term ‘greatness’ to describe an obscure History professor, who, however brilliant he may have been, did no more than talk, who never lapsed into actual ACTION, what terms are then left to describe History’s truly ‘great’ characters, those people who had the courage to go beyond mere words, to express themselves by their deeds?

If “App” Williams was “a very great man”, what then was Caesar, or Christ, or Gandhi, or Dr. King?

What then is Putin?

Do you even have the courage, sir, to call him such right in the Dragon’s face? (John Brennan himself is reading this).

Yea… Sure enough… Eh? One thing to talk about opposing the evil of The Empire. Quite another to put one’s very life ‘on the line’ in ACTION against it. Eh?

Words are one thing, Mr. Lawrence. But deeds are quite another. What you ‘say’ does not define you, sir. It is what you ‘do’ that determines who and what you ‘are’, living there in pastoral comfort in your Connecticut Shire. Do you think the Nazgul, the Black Riders, like Creepy John Brennan, have not already found you there?

It’s no surprise, of course, to see that such a brilliantly talented wordsmith, such as yourself, seems to think that what he ‘says’ has so much value that it can hide what he actually ‘does’, (or does not ‘do’, as the case may be). How ARE things, anyway, in your Connecticut Shire? Life must be good, out there in the idyllically manicured Connecticut woods, right on the borders of the State Park, Haystack Mountain as backdrop, right across from the picturesque Wood Creek pond?

I know you remember my complaints about your shameless ‘extolling’ of the magnificent virtues of your current paymasters, the so-called “Alt Media”. Did I perhaps use the term ‘pimping’ rather than ‘extolling’? Well… Shameless is shameless. Property taxes are ‘murder’ in every Connecticut Shire. A poor ink stained wretch has to make a living.

Do you ever read the curmudgeonly work of Paul Craig Roberts? He can be a tiresome old grouch, (aren’t we all at times?), but I think he deserves credit for coining the term “presstitute”. He’s not shy, however. ‘Whores’ and ‘pimps’ are more direct terms he often uses. The Alt-Media are, by FAR, the worst, the most insidious, the most sinister threats, among Mass Media, to our families’ well-being. ‘Everybody Knows’ that ALL the Mass Media have been transformed into a giant, lying Propaganda Machine. But some, such as yourself, apparently, remain oblivious to the sinister nature of these ‘Alt-Media’, which use smaller, and usually distorted, truths to disguise their Big Lies, to loyally serve to protect The Empire’s weak left flank.

Is it the money, Mr. Lawrence?… “Let me ask you one question. Is your money that good? Will it buy you forgiveness? Did you think that it could?” (Dylan was clearly not that good at arithmetic. One question… Three questions… Oh well…). What does pimping for the likes of QuislingBob Scheer actually pay, anyway?

Our is it merely ego? Do you ‘need’ to see your name in print to know who you are?

Did you see Karen J. Greenberg’s latest piece on ‘ScheerPost’, (tucked in so cozily, right there beside yours), where it had bounced from TomDispatch? Oh… Look… On TomDispatch this actual CIA-generated propaganda from Ms. Greenberg appears right below the Execrable Tom Englehardt’s clownishly boasting tag line, “TomDispatch. A regular antidote to the mainstream media”. And then this pygmy of a self-adoring creep, Execrable Englehardt, barely able to contain his supra-maniacal ego, graces us with a “TOMGRAM” which itself relays direct CIA lies about a TRULY ‘Great Man’… Lies about a man who has gone beyond words to fight The Empire… A man who has put his own life itself ‘on the line’, to defend his nation, Mother Russia, from the naked US aggression that Execrable Englehardt wants us to pretend does not even exist.

Do you even know who Karen J. Greenberg is, Mr. Lawrence? Do you know what the Center on National Security at Fordham Law is? (Oh… Look… It ‘balances’ security against justice… It’s right there in its logo tag line). Where do you suppose CNS’ funding comes from? Who do you think signs Ms. Greenberg’s paychecks?

Do you know what the Council on Foreign Relations is? Is it not the primary brain trust of The Empire itself? Oh… Look… Ms. Greenberg is a ‘Permanent Member’ of the CFR.

Do you recall Hillary Clinton’s glowing praise of the CFR, addressing them in her official capacity as US Secretary of State, thanking them for opening a new satellite headquarters right down the street from the US State Department?

“I have often been to the Mother Ship in New York, but it’s good to have an outpost of the Council right here, down the street from the State Department. We get a lot of advice from the Council, so this will mean I won’t have as far to go to be told what we should be doing, and how we should think about the future”.

Karen J. Greenberg is a ‘Permanent Member’ of the CFR, the Ruling Elites’ very ‘Executive Committee’, which tells the US State Department what it should be doing and how it should be thinking. Gee… How nice for her… And there she is, trumpeted by the Alt-Media mavens of DEADLY propaganda, (the same paymasters that sign YOUR checks).

But wait… There’s more…

You surely know who John Brennan is, Mr. Lawrence? He was, of course, the Obama Regime’s principle ‘intelligence’ advisor. He demurred from serving as CIA Director during Obama’s first term because it was thought that his enthusiastic support for torture might cast a rather ‘awkward’ (shall we say) light on the the sanctified First Negro, Saint Barry, and his beatific family. You surely remember how Saint Barry, acting under Mr. Brennan’s intimate advisement, actually assassinated a US citizen without so much as a trace of due process?

Yea… Under John Brennan’s advisement, Saint Barry actually DID that. He executed US citizens without a TRACE of ‘due process’. Saint Barry executed US citizens who had never even been charged with any crime, let alone convicted. It’s a FACT. It’s not in the LEAST doubt. It’s established fact. That’s just how things go when the Center on National Security, under the direction of Karen J. Greenberg, (your fellow ScheerPost writer, Mr. Lawrence), representing the ‘national security state’, “balances security against justice”. Look for yourself. It’s right there in the CNS logo tagline. It’s their ethos. We must choose between security and justice to keep them ‘in balance’. Sometimes citizens just need to be executed without due process. Simple as that…

Did you know that Mr. Brennan is ScheerPost writer Ms. Greenberg’s close associate, in her capacity as Director of the Center on National Security? He’s a CNS Senior Fellow. In fact, this was where Mr. Brennan landed immediately after his tenure as CIA director in Obama’s second term. (Apparently the Obama Regime figured that once you’re outright assassinating US citizens, concerns over mere torture shrink to insignificance, so after demurring from heading the CIA in Obama’s first term, Brennan ran the CIA during Saint Barry’s second term.)

Gee, Mr. Lawrence. ScheerPost writer Ms. Greenberg is CNS Director. Mr. Brennan is merely a CNS Senior Fellow. But what’s your best guess, sir? In the CNS security-state hierarchy, who do you suppose actually reports to whom?

You can even see and hear these two ‘lovebirds’ share the stage to entertain their ‘disciples’. ‘Lovebirds’ is just a figure of speech, of course, since Brennan is so obviously gay, or at least bi-sexual, (he is married and does have three children). He openly stated that he wanted his promotion of LGBTQ rights in the CIA to serve as the primary legacy of his CIA directorship.

And there it is, all tucked-in so cozily right beside your own work, Mr. Lawrence… actual direct CIA propaganda… right from the horse’s own proverbial mouth, brought to you by the dedicated efforts of your own paymaster, QuislingBob Scheer, and his close buddy, the one, the only, the self-adoring egomaniac, Execrable Englehardt, self-declared purveyor of “the antidote to mainstream media”.

There they are, bigger than bull-poopy… CIA Big Lies… Right there in the so-called Alt-Media, for which you were so recently ‘pimping’ with such great enthusiasm. Actual CIA propaganda, perpetrated by the self-styled ‘heroes’ of the delusional, confused American Marionette Left, as promoted by Patrick Lawrence himself.

This is how sophisticated propaganda works, Mr. Lawrence. Truth is used to provide camouflage for
the lies. They use people like you to give credence to their Big Lies. At least I haven’t heard you pimping for these shameless whores lately, as you were so enthusiastically when you first got on QuislingBob’s payroll.

Is the money that good, Mr. Lawrence? Or is your ego that desperate? Are you too complacent and/or too lazy to create your own gig? You have to crawl in bed with the likes of QuislingBob, shameless purveyor of CIA Big Lies? After such a long and distinguished career, and in spite of all your brilliance, are you now satisfied to make a shameless whore of yourself?

Caliban
R Zwarich
Bent Birch Farm