Before going through some of the insufferable debates and positions amid the current political dynamic, something needs to be said, and we need to say it with the intent of stopping this insufferable pretending, breaking the cycle of battered conservatism and speaking bold truth.

The current chattering class of the professionally Republican have joined with the chattering class of the professional leftists and begun decrying the efforts of the 20 House Republicans as being ‘nihilistic’ in their efforts to reform the House rules and present pragmatic political defenses to the surge of destruction around us.

“Nihilism” is essentially a political belief advocating for destruction of current political systems without discernible constructive goals.

This is the opposition argument toward what they perceive as the goal and objective of the 20 House Republicans who fought for a new rules package and against the appointment of Kevin McCarthy until such changes were implemented.

As the argument is made against the House 20 group, they were/are nihilistic against modern political norms with the end result being their desired destruction of our constitutional republic.  That’s the position of the professionally Republican.  Now let me add some context to this ridiculous and insufferable gaslighting, because that’s exactly what this narrative is.

The same people claiming the House Republicans are nihilistic in their goals, are the same UniParty members in politics and media who have put us $32 trillion into debt.  They’re the same UniParty that has created a crisis at the border, millions of illegal aliens, massive omnibus spending leading to rampant inflation, ridiculous energy policy wrapped around the false premise of climate change and yet provide $100 billion to a foreign country, Ukraine.  In essence, a great UniParty effort that is destroying the very fabric of our nation.

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I like Neil Oliver a lot. I like his perspective, his deliberate nature, his refusal to accept the bullshit, and this monologue is one of the reasons why.  I have said it before that in the era of great pretending, the influential people will be those who do not play the game of pretense.  Neil Oliver is one of those people who refuses to play.

In this monologue Oliver uses two of my favorite metaphors to describe modern western civilization.  First, the Potemkin Villages constructed by political elite in their effort to make it seem like the world is something it is not. Second, the great pretending that is needed in order to sell it.

Though the monologue is specific to the current status of our cousin across the pond, the eloquence of the issues could just as easily apply here; indeed, they are almost identical.  WATCH:

[Transcript] – While reading around the subject of Russia and Ukraine this week, I came across the story of the Potemkin villages.

A legend, dismissed as mostly fiction by modern historians, has 18th century Russian statesman Grigory Potemkin building phoney villages along the banks of the Dnipro River just for effect, to create a useful illusion.

His lover, Catherine the Great and her foreign guests, were due to sail down the river on a tour and Potemkin, the story goes, wanted to give them an impressive show of a populous and thriving nation.

As I say, the idea is largely dismissed now – but the term Potemkin village has stuck and is still used today to describe the lengths to which the leaders of a failing, broken country might go in order to create the illusion of success and prosperity when the truth is altogether different.

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While everyone was focused on the House Speaker battle this week, a few interesting stories were overwhelmed and deserve to be revisited.

Matt Taibbi released Twitter File drop #12 (IC Infiltration) and Twitter File Drop #13 (FBI Specifics) using information from his access to the internal documents of the social media platform.   Additionally, columnist Lee Smith wrote an excellent and extensive outline showing the arc of the FBI involvement in social media, as specifically centered around former FBI Legal Counsel James Baker.

[Lee Smith Article Here]

In the Taibbi release (Twitter File #12) he outlines how Senate Select Committee Vice-Chair Mark Warner was instrumental in framing a media narrative that boxed in Twitter, forcing them to allow the intelligence apparatus through the front door.

Within the Russiagate and intelligence state storyline, the one person who has not been given enough scrutiny is Senate Mark Warner.  In fact, Warner was elevated to his position inside the SSCI in January of 2017 specifically as an outcome of the 2016 election.  Senator Warner replaced Senator Dianne Feinstein with the specific mission to coverup the committee involvement in 2016 election operations.

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Part of the successful negotiations amid the 21 congressional holdouts to the McCarthy speakership, was a pledge to create a subcommittee styled after the Frank Church committee.  The purpose of the subcommittee would be to investigate the intelligence apparatus of the U.S. government and the conflicting intersections created by the unconstitutional surveillance state.

It appears from a review of the 6-page framework [See Proposal HERE], the subcommittee will fall under the jurisdiction of the House Judiciary Committee which will likely be chaired by Jim Jordan (R-OH).  The framework of the committee as it is surfacing would be structured to have investigative authorities into U.S. intelligence operations, Homeland Security, FBI and DOJ-NSD activity.  Thomas Massie will likely be a member of the committee and appeared with Tucker Carlson to discuss. {Direct Rumble Link} – WATCH:

Readers here are very familiar with how the intelligence and national security interests have risen to control almost every institution of government.  CTH has deeply outlined how these intelligence departments and homeland security systems have enmeshed to control the executive, legislative and judicial branch of government.

What this committee appears to be motivated toward, and what Massie is outlining in that interview, is the process of going into each of the purposefully created information silos (CIA, DHS, ODNI, FBI, DOJ-NSD etc), reviewing their operational missions, extracting the evidence of their activity and then cross-referencing with unconstitutional outcomes.

The subcommittee has a noble goal; however, the success or lack thereof will ultimately come down to the personnel choices on and in the committee itself.  Additionally, and this is a major hurdle, the subcommittee is going to run head-first into the Senate Intelligence Committee obstruction and disinformation system.

The operational mission of the current Senate Select Committee on Intelligence (SSCI), is entirely to stop any government action that might impede, investigate or attempt to remove the Fourth Branch of Government the Senate has created.   The SSCI, the U.S. Intelligence Community and the Dept of Homeland Security will target this House Subcommittee, the members, the staffers and their families, with extreme prejudice.

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Republican Representative Mike Rogers (House Armed Services Committee Chair) was furious when Kevin McCarthy came up one vote short in his effort to become Speaker of the House on ballot #14.

While McCarthy tried to convince Florida Representative Matt Gaetz to change his vote, Mike Rogers came into the picture to fight and had to be physically restrained.  The event was captured on C-SPAN camera.   Video at 01:20 Prompted:

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The House is scheduled to begin the effort for the installation of California Representative Kevin McCarthy at 10:00pm ET.   It is unknown whether the 14th ballot effort will succeed or exactly how many representatives are still in DC for the activity.   The livestream is below:

UPDATE:

• Round 14 fails for McCarthy by one vote.  232 votes cast. McCarthy got 216 – one vote short of majority.
• Representative Mike Rogers (AL) tried to fight Matt Gaetz and had to be restrained. (LINK)
• GOP tried to adjourn.  Voice vote failed and failed counting of yeas and nays.  House cannot adjourn.
• Republicans now go for round #15

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How many months ago did CTH start saying ‘watch Mexico’? Having said that, what is unfolding right now in the battle between the Sinaloa cartel and the Mexican military is fraught with unknown variables and hidden U.S. interests.

Use the example of the U.S. manipulating Ukraine as the reference point for what is happening in Mexico right now with Joe Biden and Justin Trudeau scheduled to visit Mexico City in four days for the North American Summit.

It’s all sketchy. Do not formulate opinions because we have no idea how many peas and shells are being maneuvered by U.S. intelligence and national security state interests.

We are told the Mexican military arrested Ovidio Guzman-Lopez, the son of El Chapo, who it is claimed to be running the drug cartel Culiacan, Sinaloa state. Some form of Mexican or U.S. military unit, contractor or federal office with guns and big juice then transferred Ovidio Guzman-Lopez to Mexico City where the summit is supposed to take place.

The Sinaloa cartel has now begun a rampage of revenge across the Sinaloa state attacking, police, government buildings, transportation, airports and planes, setting vehicles ablaze and setting up roadblocks. At least seven Mexican security force personnel are reported to have been killed in clashes where the government was trying to retake control.  Eight civilians are also reported dead.

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Our dear friend Sharon always reminds us, “Those whose motives are based on deception, will always find an audience willing to be deceived.”  That, my friends, is the current status of the Republican party watchers and one of the primary reasons this little corner of the internet, The Last Refuge, was formed.

We accept things as they are, not as we would wish them to be and never as we would pretend them to be.   Pretending is an endless quest akin to convincing. Those who operate in the world of political pretense expend an exhaustive amount of energy in constant vigilance against those who speak plain truths.

The House of Representatives has adjourned until 10pm tonight, when another vote will be taken, as outlined by the design of the Kevin McCarthy supporters.

Why adjourn?  Why return at 10:00pm on a Friday evening?  Simply, because the McCarthy team is counting on several House members (mostly Democrats) not being in attendance for the quorum, facilitating a lower threshold of the vote to achieve a majority.

435/434 members present = 218 votes needed
433/432 members present = 217 votes needed
431/430 members present = 216 votes needed
429/428 members present = 215 votes needed
etc.

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During his opening monologue tonight, Fox News host Tucker Carlson outlines the attacks against those opposing Kevin McCarthy for House Speaker.

Tucker Carlson asks why the visibility of democracy in action ends up with DC insiders claiming the American political structure is going to collapse just because Kevin McCarthy is not being anointed as House Speaker.   Those in opposition to McCarthy are deemed as Russian operatives, domestic terrorists and corrupt sketchy voices belonging to various shady patriotic movements that have threatened the domestic tranquility of the nation.   WATCH:

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Representative Matt Rosendale (R-MT) railed against Congress’s “broken system” as he nominated Byron Donalds for the 9th round of voting in the race for Speaker of the House on Thursday.

During his remarks, Rosendale outlined the power dynamic and rules system, what he calls “the nasty little secret, put into place by prior leadership that has corrupted the institution and made the voices of individual members irrelevant to the activity within the lower chamber.  Rosendale outlines how changing these rules and the power dynamic of the few is what the protest against Kevin McCarthy is all about.  WATCH:

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