Lee Smith is one of a very select DC journalists and authors who appropriately understands the full context of each aspect he discusses.  During an interview with Steve Bannon {Direct Rumble Link Here}, Lee Smith puts the focus of the Durham silo directly on the shoulders of Bill Barr.  Smith is 100% correct. WATCH:

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Those of you who are keen financially minded individuals will note exactly what is happening in these recent reports, HOME DEPT HERE – TARGET HERE.  Those of you who are retail investors in the stock market might also see the bigger picture.

Home Depot and Target essentially share the same customer base or market audience. They service a larger segment of the American middle class.  Both companies are reporting negative financial outcomes as a result of low comparable sales, or same store sales comparisons, to last year.   This should not be a surprise, yet Wall Street is seemingly caught off guard.

Right now, we are on the tail end of the massive inflation cycle that took place in 2021 through 2022.  Current inflation, as measured by the rate of price increase over the same period last year, is lower.

Now we are starting to see companies reporting sales comparable without the benefit of massive inflation to assist.

Example – when inflation is running at 10%, a company can report 8% sales growth, and everyone smiles.  However, the sales growth was created by the inflation.  The actual unit sales of goods have declined; the store is reporting higher sales because the prices are higher.  When the sales cycle through to lower inflationary comparisons, the drop in unit sales shows up as drops in topline sales.   This is the cause of both Target and Home Depot now reporting lower than expected comparable sales versus last year.

In real terms, this is why using sales data as a measure of economic growth is less valuable during periods of high inflation.  Significant inflation hides the diminished sales of units, which should be the true measure of sales growth.  I have been tracking unit sales as a measure of economic activity, and the truth is that unit sales have been declining since the fourth quarter of 2021.

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The bottom line is that everything the Obama justice department, IC and FBI did, to include support from Republicans in congress during the 2016 election and aftermath, was a coup d’état against U.S. President Donald Trump and his administration.  This is the truth of the thing.

The U.S. media participation and subsequent denial of their culpability looks increasingly pathetic in the aftermath of the report outlined by Special Counsel John Durham. However, it doesn’t take a media admission of the coup effort for the demonstrable actions and evidence of the coup to be factual.

Read THE REPORT, all the evidence is there. The truth stands alone, regardless of the discomfort it creates. {Direct Rumble Link} WATCH:

Under impeachment standards created by our constitutional republic, it takes a vote in the house to begin an impeachment investigation. The impeachment investigation then produces a finding which is delivered to congress and a vote is held.

John Durham spent four years conducting the investigation. The report outlining the coup is complete and delivered to congress.  The only thing needed is a vote.

This might make House Speaker Kevin McCarthy very uncomfortable.  However, do or do not, there is no ‘TRY’.

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People ask why I find it difficult to write about the Durham report empirically confirming everything we previously outlined in the past five years.  Here’s my answer.

Eventually, after the shock & awe of the Durham confirmations wear off, I am hopeful that people will stand back and realize the bigger question that covers all of the Trump-Russia collusion conspiracy nonsense.   This was a United States government operation to conduct full-throated surveillance on a U.S. presidential candidate, and then remove that candidate from the office of the presidency after his victory in the 2016 election.

With John Durham outlining in granular details how the FBI, DOJ and larger intelligence apparatus acted politically to weaponize government on behalf of an allied presidential candidate in Hillary Clinton, a bigger question remains.  There never was any merit to the Trump-Russia nonsense, so what exactly were Robert Mueller and Andrew Weissmann doing for two years?

Using the silo defense as a method of obfuscation, John Durham noted in his report [page #2] as below, never delved into that obvious question.  Durham specifically, and with great intent, says he did not look at what Mueller and Weissmann were doing; even though, Durham destroyed any predication that might have given merit to the intention of their special counsel existence.

Durham writes a 316-page report, meticulously detailing the false construct of the Trump-Russia narrative.  Yet for some reason, the Mueller/Weissmann investigation, an entire special counsel investigation that was predicated and justified by that false Trump-Russia narrative, never found the same evidence?

Durham never looked at it.  Why? Because he knew Robert Mueller and Andrew Weissmann were installed to cover up the original fabrications by the CIA, FBI, DOJ and U.S. intelligence apparatus.  Mueller’s probe existed in material fact to hide the Obama weaponization to target Donald Trump.   Durham knew this; that’s why he never touched it.

Stop pretending.  Once you stop pretending, you realize just how rotten this system is.

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We have talked about the stunning price increases in pet foods during our discussions about food price overall.  However, a remarkable study by Veterinarians Org gives some context to just how much the Joe Biden inflation has driven up the cost of pet foods. [ARTICLE HERE]

Mostly driven by Biden’s created inflation hitting raw farm materials, energy prices, manufacturing and transportation costs, the prices for the most popular wet and dry dog foods have skyrocketed.

One in four pet owners have even contemplated giving their animal up for adoption because they can no longer afford them.   This is terribly sad.

(Veterinarian Org) – […] The largest percentage increase compared to 2020 prices is for a wet dog food product by PEDIGREE, which has increased by 207% compared to its 2020 price.

The largest dollar amount increase compared to 2020 prices is for a dry dog food product by Royal Canin, which is currently $43.99 more expensive per bag than it was in 2020.

In a recent Veterinarians.org survey of 1,000 U.S. pet owners, 50% of respondents indicated having to shop for cheaper alternatives to pet food as a result of rising costs. Pet owners also found themselves shopping for cheaper alternatives to pet treats (41%), pet toys (34%), and pet health supplements (28%).

55% of surveyed pet owners indicated having to cancel pet food subscriptions on Chewy.com, Amazon.com, or through a raw food/pre-cooked meal service as a result of rising costs.

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Appearing on Newsmax, former Republican Chairman of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence (HPSCI), Devin Nunes, gives his first assessment of the Durham report as it was released mid-day Monday. {Direct Rumble Link}

Devin Nunes was one of the first people in congress to realize the FBI, DOJ and Obama-era intelligence community were conducting full surveillance of candidate Donald Trump in 2016.  Nunes statements in March 2017 preceded the counter offensive narrative launched by Senator Mark Warner in collaboration with then FBI Director James Comey. WATCH:

House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan has reportedly invited John Durham to testify before the committee May 25th.

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There is a great deal of frustration, righteous frustration about the seriously destabilizing constructs happening around us, combined with almost no corrective action from people in power or influence that can do anything, something, about it.

This leads to the #1 question people ask, “What can I do about it?”  The answer is not complex, and consists of two obvious elements:

First, stop pretending.

Second, confront those who rely on our pretending.

OK, great, but what does that look like?  I’ll give you some examples. 

♦EXAMPLE – Millions of illegal aliens are pouring through the southern border. They don’t impeach Joe Biden over his failure to do his job and “preserve, protect and defend the United States.”  Why not?   It’s too difficult they say.  Well, ok, but here’s an easy approach.

The debt ceiling needs to be raised.  Tell the White House the debt ceiling isn’t going to be raised until the border is closed, secured, done!   Shut up, and/or just keep repeating that line.  When the border is secure, we will raise the debt limit.  DONE!

OMG!  Horrible Republicans the media cry. Who cares? Don’t move. Response: when the border is secure, we will raise the debt limit!

Then make Biden own the debt default in order to keep the border open.

Well over 70% of the country wants the border secured.  Everyone sees the massive influx of illegal aliens.  Not even Democrat constituencies want more illegal aliens flooding into their neighborhoods (see Chicago).  So, make the debt ceiling conditional on the border closing.  PERIOD.  Just stop pretending.

Keep it simple.  When Customs and Border Patrol tells you the border is secure, then raise the debt ceiling.   How frigging hard is this?

It’s not hard.  So, stop pretending it is.

See how this works?

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Mrs. Maria Bartiromo is good at pretending, very good. However, CTH has never pretended or played the game of pretending and we can spot a pretender a mile away.

The game of pretending is needed in order to retain the illusion of the Potemkin Village of DC.  A construct manufactured by the power structure that exists behind the puppet show, with the full intention to distract us.  Pretending is what gives rise to a Florida governor on a ‘book tour’ run for 2024. Pretending is what kicks the can of accountability away until it can be buried.

Pretending is needed in order to say Republicans will make a difference, or the black eye doesn’t hurt, and look he bought me flowers.  Perhaps some reminders and clarifications of the real game inside DC politics are needed.  After all, I am this close > < to going back into that mess to destroy some silos.

The House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, hereafter called the House Oversight Committee or HOC, has a very specific function in DC circles that too few understand.  Once again, let us be clear while trying to explain decades of false information founded upon arcane legislative outlooks.

Understanding the DC game of Chaff and Countermeasures…. A “Countermeasure” is a measure or action taken to counter or offset a preceding one.

Politically speaking, the deployment of countermeasures is a well-used tactic by professional politicians in Washington DC to counter incoming public inquiry and protect themselves from anger expressed by the electorate.  The Republican leadership are very skilled in the management of “chaff” (outrage), and “countermeasures” (the distraction).

Within Washington DC, the HOC has a very specific and unique function.  What Fox News is to corporate conservative punditry, so too is the HOC to the same DC system of pretending.  The House Oversight Committee is the “Chaff and Countermeasures” committee.  The HOC operates for both parties with the same mission.

The House Oversight Committee was/is created by the House legislative leadership to make money for the party in control of the Chair.  When the House Speaker is notified of a DC corruption issue, inside his/her office they will often be heard saying, “give it to oversight.”  The intent of that instruction is to give the issue to the HOC, so they can hold hearings, create soundbites and fundraise from the issue.

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House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer reappears with Maria Bartiromo today to update on the status of the Biden crime family investigation. {Direct Rumble Link Here}

During the interview Chairman Comer informs Ms Bartiromo that nine out of ten people that would be considered material witnesses for the intent of the committee investigation are either in jail, in court, or missing.  Additionally, Comer states those who do have information are intimidated and fear for their lives. WATCH:

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Recently I went to the supermarket to pick up some general provisions.  Given the nature of previously predicted food price increases, and proactive measures to mitigate the predictable prices, I haven’t needed to purchase basic foodstuffs in a while.   Yikes!  The prices… Wow.

Since we originally warned in ’21 about the waves of food price inflation that were coming, the prices have more than tripled on many food commodities.  That part is not as surprising in current review; however, the prices of processed foodstuffs is, well, quite frankly astounding.

I am left to wonder how working-class people are able to afford the jaw dropping price increases in highly processed food products like condiments (mayo, ketchup, mustard, etc), and even coffee and milk.  I knew the processing costs would drive those prices, but the scale is just astounding.

Beyond the foodstuff, what was truly stunning was the current price of non-food items at the store.  Items like chemical cleaners, soaps, aluminum foil, trash bags, Styrofoam products, ziploc bags, paper goods, etc.   I mean seriously, $8 for a box of trash bags, good grief.

After a review of the non-food item prices, I went back to the recent BLS report [DATA HERE] to look at the producer price index to see if the data reflected the scale of the processing cost that I was reviewing across a broad spectrum of goods.

Are consumers getting gouged by manufacturers who are taking advantage of the price shock inside the ongoing inflation?

Or are the processing costs, mostly driven by energy price increases, really that big a factor in the end product as it is generated?

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