Patriots vs. the Coup, where do we stand, eight weeks in?

Part VI in the coup series

TAT readers,

This sixth part in the Coup Series that I have been writing, is something a bit different. When executing any influence campaign, every now and then one must pause a moment and assess where they are and why. This also informs us as to what if anything, to do differently after assessing the current situation.

The good news is that some of the actions recommended in the past parts, are showing glimmers of success and must continue based on my most current evaluation of this crisis. Bravo to anyone that has contributed to these bright spots on a largely dark horizon. You are true patriots with moral spines of braided steel.

While that today’s discussion is less data and more experienced operational insights, all of this contributes to further and more expansive success against the Trump regime. The best news as a spoiler alert, is that I now, 8+ weeks into the coup, we “hear” or often read, a large growth in the number and variety of Americans, groups and organizations, willing to speak up and stand up for our constitutional republic. Resisting this coup, is absolutely not a partisan thing. All honest Americans see the truth. The only operative question, is, “what we are willing to do to stop the further disassembly of our republic.” What most would call, the true American spirit of freedom and democracy, has not faded from our collective consciences and identity.

The best quote that I can imagine that represents this spirit, is actually from one of our fiercest and most capable adversaries, Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto, the leader of the Japanese Navy throughout during WW II and architect of the attack on Pearl Harbor, December 7th, of 1941.

I would suggest that we all should keep this quote in mind, because Yamamoto, who had studied at Harvard in the US, made it his business to do as Sun Tzu claimed was the key to success in war, a couple of thousand years ago.

Both of these esteemed professionals are still studied prodigiously in US military studies. Wisdom has no expiration date. When discussing the ongoing coup with friends and colleagues, I often tell them that, “there is “a deeply embedded line in every true American Patriot that cannot be crossed, without powerful and costly consequences.” This has long been part of US resilience against all forms of tyranny. In my professional opinion, most in America, have already seen that line crossed and most others, will very soon recognize the same. Sadly, the MAGA crowd will have to suffer personal encounters with Trump’s policies, before they figure it out.

Trump, Putin, Musk and most of today’s elected GOP congressional representation, have less an understanding of being honest, patriotic Americans, than Adm. Yamamoto did at the beginning of WW II. Today’s GOP and their Russian and oligarchical allies are fully ignorant of true patriotism which is a large part of our patriotic identity. The only way that they can manipulate Republican voters to back treason and fascism, is via influence operations that in lay terms, would be called, “brainwashing” their voters to believe in fake-patriotism, Christian Nationalism, Oligarchy and the use of Political Violence to achieve their purely selfish and narcissistic goals. In other words, what I have deemed, The Four Horsemen of the MAGA Apocalypse, Autocracy, Oligarchy, White Christian Nationalism and Political Violence.

The four horsemen of the MAGA Apocalypse: Autocracy, Oligarchy, Christian Nationalism and Violence

Those of us that are the working, living and breathing embodiment of America, do understand on some level, that everything the Trump Coup is doing, is deeply un-American. For most, we already realize it painfully just by reading the morning news, looking for a job after Musk fires us or watching our non-white male friends being systemically disenfranchised from their constitutional rights. For the thousands of non-MAGA, GOP voters, only a small percentage are beginning to get it. Considering their years of conditioning by FOX News, that any GOP voters beginning to see reality, is an enormous break with the brainwashing done by Rupert Murdoch’s FOX and related media and Russian influence Operations etc.

Right after our 2024 election debacle, I wrote an “autopsy” and blamed four groups as who deserved the most critical blame. They were:

1. The DNC which has been a failure at campaigning for decades. They seem to not understand working class Americans and are evidently, incapable of talking with us in any meaningful way. This is not Kamala’s or Tim’s fault. It is the imbeciles who run the party’s campaigns. They don’t understand Narrative Warfare, which is the most powerful of all influence strategies, if understood. Dozens of daily texts begging for money by both parties is not only obnoxious, but not what our republic was designed for.

2. Media drives competitiveness for advertising revenue. They still call the GOP conservative when it is nothing of the sort. Principled Conservatism for those not afraid to read previous GOP platforms, is best described in President Eisenhower’s Platform of 1956, the year I was born. That platform by comparison, is not a great deal different from Joe Biden’s. That is how far that the GOP has deviated from reality with their Platform, inspired largely by Project 2025.

   

3. I hold a particular and well-informed grudge against the US national security community, for their past four decades of waste, fraud and abuse within the communities responsible for protecting Americans from foreign and domestic, malign influence. They have failed miserably and dangerously. Global democracy has slipped precipitously and our enemies like Russia, now openly and covertly, collaborate with GOP influence operations.

4. Voters, on both sides and of any other political persuasion are to blame as well. Both sides adhere to their own narratives and with false narratives on both sides. Still, those on the left, pale in comparison to the bizarre and endless false, un-American narratives coming from MAGA.

So, when I look to assess how things are going for the “good guys” or rather honest Americans, I look to first assess who I originally assessed as most guilty of failure. Now, I will help you to understand which of these four, have made progress and which are still utter failures. Only two of the four, have made a bit of progress.

I won’t waste any ink on the DNC which is now floundering like a fish out of water and now trying to swim in the frying pan. It is still as visionless as they have been for decades. They know nothing of campaigning, reaching American voters and are defiantly unwilling to learn something new or effective. Outside of having campaign infrastructure and a large checkbook, they have absolutely nothing to offer as far as supporting our resistance.

Also, my very own national security community, in and outside of the military that is responsible for all aspects of, “influence in support of national security,” are still utter failures, just as they have been for the past four decades. If DOGE was actually looking for waste, fraud and abuse, they could dump the entire, useless community. Fortunately for the community, DOGE is only looking to hurt federal entities that are legally committed to defending against Trump’s, Putin’s and Musk’s version of the future, including raping our treasury and dismantling our national security architecture.

Every success that I found in uniform and out, was due to working for Special Operations units that focused on results, not ineffective and gibberish doctrine and useless operational paradigms. We may have temporarily won the Cold War when the Berlin Wall fell, but the majority of my community did all they could, to erase that win, via willful failure via nepotistic contracting and a complete absence of campaigning. Even if they had tried, they no longer knew how and to this day, refuse to listen to true operators.

This leaves only the media and voters to focus on. First, let’s look at the media and finish up with voters.

Today’s American media landscape is primarily entertainment, not informative. This is especially true of what most call the MSM or mainstream media. I have long been a harsh but very well-informed critic of the entire profession of news reporting in the modern era. Now, this is not to say that there are not a few very responsible and credible sources and an even larger number of experienced, ethical and tenacious reporters, even though some may work for what I largely consider, “propaganda sites.”

Since November 5th of 2024, American news sites have been cowed into submission by the Trump administration and especially, those with a digital footprint. Musk, Bezos, Zuckerberg and half of the social media thugs in Silicon Valley, are now engaged in consolidating power over all media. To the Silicon Valley thugs, this is a game, where the most technologically savvy scheme to see how much power they can acquire and simply call it research. Their “lab rats” are the American people. The Musk, JD Vance unholy alliance is built on their Silicon Valley bromance and it’s an evil orgy of powermongers along with others like them.

In the influence game, control of data is considered the nuclear weapon of predictable influence. The endless and evil games, solicitations by groups and especially their attempts to “bait” users, is really the basis of their operations. What is occurring with “clickbait” established by tracking your personal interests for years now, is used to attempt the profiling of your identity. With enough data, they can trigger some predictable responses with their efforts. This is definitely part of what has conned the GOP into believing that they are God-fearing patriots, when they are actually supporting fascism. Trust me on this professional insight, playing Facebook games and responding to those “copy and share” posts, are efforts to control your thinking or to stop it altogether.

Another pitfall of this data is that it also tells the cyber bullies like Musk and Zuckerberg, whose visibility on their platform needed to be restricted. For over a decade on LinkedIn, my outspoken but honest, expert opinions regarding national security, especially about Russia, China and Iran, have seen my posts, nearly invisible to others. When I am visible and create enough resistance to these national adversaries, they employ digital tactics that “game the LinkedIn algorithm” to get me, and thousands of other truth-tellers banned, suspended or muted. The GOAT Greatest of All Time, of US national security and intelligence reporting, Jeff Stein, then of Newsweek, wrote an entire expose’ in 2017 about what I have just described. Jeff also owns and contributes to the

SpyTalk

publication here on Substack, a most highly recommended subscription.

The bottom line here for digital media, is that there are bad guys, collecting and analyzing your digital footprint in ways, that sell high calorie food to the obese, expensive products to those unable to afford them and in the case of China, Russia and their new ally, Trump, to completely alter and dismantle our national security. Why do you think that Trump just stopped all national security operations, cyber and other fields, against Russia? There is no mystery, only a devious, un-American, lack of honesty. We are now defenseless against the very cyber forces that played pivotal roles in our 2016, 2020 and 2024 election cycles.

In general, under intimidation from the GOP administration strangling our republic, most of the MSM, hedges their bets in reporting. They try to limit criticism of the coup leaders and their party. They limit news coverage of all potential resistance movements, actions and demonstrations. It is nearly impossible to acquire advance warnings of resistance in advance of the actual event. This is media tacitly supporting fascism but calling it editorial discretion. Cowardice by newsroom editors and their bosses, has become a tool of the fascists. Hard-hitting reporting in most newsrooms, is now the fastest path to a “pink slip.”

There are some resplendent examples of courage though. The Associated Press and ABC News for example, have been courageously defiant of Trumpish threats. Advertisers writing big checks also threaten such publications with stopping their ads. There is still NPR, The Atlantic and so many other high-quality entities that tell the truth, despite the risks. There are also some extremely fine reporters I have encountered over the years. People like Aram Roston of Reuters, Shane Harris, Tami Abdollah now a senior editor at Noema Magazine and previously a national correspondent at USA TODAY. There are far more, and I encourage all readers; to find the reporters they trust and follow them religiously, forgoing all cable news. I have not watched any cable news for a couple of decades. The only exception is when they have video feeds to major events that network news like ABC and CBS don’t. I make no other exceptions.

One very good resource for tracking the ebb and flow of Trump and Putin’s coup attempt is the “Live, Donald Trump news feed and updates” from the Associated Press. It is honest, credible and timely. They also do not kneel at the feet of the administration’s fascist news dictates.

The bottom line to the media portion is that yes, there are media sites standing up to the fascists. Please be cautious in sorting them for yourselves. If you have questions and wish to know more about each media site, there are plenty of media evaluation sites available online. One of my favorites is, Media Bias/ Fact Check. Yes, without paying, you are inundated with ads, but the information they provide, including source materials, has proved over the years, to be exceptionally reliable. Yes, this is my professional opinion. If you are unsure about what you see, hear or read, there is also another professional site for journalists, called the SPJ Journalists Toolbox.

This last paragraph provides a nice segue into the last and most important section, which just may be relatively brief, due to the simplicity of the points made.

Voters, once fully connected to their so-called, political persuasions, are learning that being an American that is safe, secure and free, depends on supporting our nation and its values, far more than a political party. There are countless reasons that our brilliant and morally grounded founders did not include “factions” in our constitution. Factions were the most common name for political parties at the time of our constitutional development.

Iconic founder and our first and only independent POTUS, George Washington, is one of my top tier American heroes, disdained them and so do I, and for the same reasons that he expressed so clearly in his Farewell Address, published by Philadelphia’s American Daily Advertiser on September 19th of 1796. He saw them as easily corruptible machines of power, not necessarily as entities dedicated to our national founding principles. He clearly foresaw the potential threat of these political machines and even spoke as if he knew Donald Trump personally in his critiques of factions.

Three of his quotes from this address are below and stunning in their accuracy. Please take a moment to read, digest and savor the wisdom of his words, based on a long life, dedicated to what the Romans called Virtus. The most common English translation would be virtue, but with a great deal more involved.

George Washington, from early in his life onward, patterned his persona on the Roman concept of Virtus. Honesty, integrity and public service for the greater good, are key components. He was not alone among our founders, in understanding and honoring Virtus.

 The Latin word for manliness is virtus, from vir, meaning man,6 and virtus designates the activity and quality associated with the noun from which it is derived; virtus characterizes the ideal behavior of a man.7

- Roman manliness - virtus and the Roman Republic
- Cambridge University Press
- by Myles McDonnell

With this information in your pocket, let’s also consider what else our principled founders, or the “woke” and progressives of their time expected of voters, which was to be well and accurately informed. In today’s day and age, media influencers working for and with media, employ a wide variety of tradecraft, to wield immoral influence in order to attract voters to their party. They do this because being a big political party, is a very lucrative business. If you live by MSNBC, CNN or FOX News alone, you are being subconsciously influenced. Don’t even get me started on the immorality of the NewsMax, OAN, Breitbart and far worse crowd.

While that I have plenty of legitimate criticism of both major parties, only today’s GOP is a threat to US styled democracy. And they are a “clear and present danger.” Nearly daily, the coup crew, are guilty of attempting some cruel, treasonous act, that is unconstitutional. Just today, the Chief Justice, John Roberts, brought the president up short for implying that impeachment for judges that disagreed with him could be impeached. Another federal judge wrote a 53-page paper explaining after blocking Trump and Musk’s intention of shutting down USAID, that it was likely “unconstitutional” act. The courts continue to provide a buffer, but these are only stop-gap measures, if we the people, don’t do our part and provide ample popular support for our constitution and the laws governed by it.

This brings me to a critical point and the last major point of this already too long essay, massive public resistance is required… right now! We must do this everywhere and consistently, especially outside the home and Capital offices of every single elected Republican. None of the elected GOP representatives nor senators, have had the guts to take a public stand against the ongoing coup. WTH? Each of them swears an oath to, “protect and defend the constitution, from all enemies both foreign and domestic.” To date, not one of them has acted on honoring that oath.

The GOP has a razor thin edge within the House of Representatives. Every elected GOP rep, especially the most vulnerable are feeling the heat. Now is the time to turn it up and I mean to a boiling point. Much of the media, has refused to offer coverage of much of the resistance. WTH is wrong with them? Don’t let them off the hook. Invite them to large public demonstrations against your local GOP reps and if they don’t show or don’t report, protest them next. Those media sites that are supportive, reward them with subscriptions and local praise. Here in San Antonio, we are blessed a fine local paper, the San Antonio Express. I have been very satisfied with the quality of their reporting in the twenty years I’ve lived here, at least between deployments.

When it comes to the GOP, there will always be those mindless and incessant “culture wars” offered only as distractions, while they either pick our pockets or demote our constitution. Don’t take the bait but rather, watch carefully, what politicians do, not say. My congressman, Tony Gonzalez of Texas 23, is one of those GOP Veterans, that has essentially been absent from his constituents locally, when it comes to being queried on the heinous and treasonous activities of his party. We simply know him as the congressman that likes to play a “nice guy on TV” but behind closed doors, cannot be trusted to defend any of us nor our nation.

Since much of the MSM is hesitant or scared to report our resistance protests and events, we’re going to have to do it ourselves. Share with like-minded friends, family, neighbors and colleagues. Invite each other to protest, split up the tasks required to fight back and unify over country, not party. Please stop making this about Republican vs. Democrat. From a professional perspective, this is a losing proposition. Those garish yellow occupy Democrats ads are the same as waving a red flag at an angry bull. If you make this partisan, you will never acquire the support of the old school principled conservatives who believe in our constitutional republic, just as much as you do. We need all hands-on-deck, not just those officially on the left with a party identity. Remember, the most principled conservative in my lifetime, President Dwight D. Eisenhower’s 1956 platform had a very similar foundation to President Joe Biden’s in 2020.

Well, my friends and fellow citizens, this has become longer than I believed that it would be at the start. I hope not so long that it will not be fully read and absorbed. Inside, you should now have a better understanding of where we are and who we can and cannot depend on at this point in time. It is not all bad news, not in the least. Let’s work together to put down this coup, not for party but for our constitutional republic. Without it, our children and grandchildren will have a very difficult future under the fascists. I have pledged to see this resistance through… for my grandchildren and yours. I hope that you feel the same.

My very best for your week and long live our republic,

Paul