Monday, June 5, 2017

Peter Dale Scott, David Talbot, Robert Sheer on Trump vs. The Deep State


I found the Bay Area Book Festival very engaging this past Saturday, June 3, when Robert Scheer, David Talbot, and Peter Dale Scott spoke on Trump vs. the Deep State. I worry that Trump's conflict with the FBI and CIA will give them a good name. We need to remember what Bill Moyers alerted us to in the 1980's: There is a shadow government fueled by money and special interests, and democracy is at stake! I am now reading two books by Peter Dale Scott, who is very scholarly--always giving his sources--and convincing! He's 88-years-old, which helps obliterate age-based assumptions!

I want to write him a fan letter, but all I could find online was his Facebook page.  I wrote him a long message, but I know that messages are often not seen.


On Saturday I asked David Talbot why no one ever mentioned Bill Moyers, who had first alerted us to the secret/shadow government, and he said something about Bill Moyers' past as a defender and denier.  But that doesn't seem relevant to me.  







I sent this e-mail to David Talbot. 

Dear Mr. Talbot,

I found your panel discussion very engaging last Saturday.  I liked the way you greeted us, saying that you assumed we were all there either because we're Trump supporters or members of the Deep State.

I asked you about Bill Moyers omission in every book I've read on the deep state.  I'm attaching a photo of his book The Secret Government:  The Constitution in Crisis, and he was the one who first alerted me to the idea that we had a shadow government with the TV specials he did in the 1980's.  (In fact, Conservatives wanted to withdraw funding for PBS because of his specials!)

I am fascinated by your Devil's Chessboard, which I have in print (the copy you signed for the JoMama Book Club) and on Audible.   (I read your column on Strangers in Their Own Land aloud  to my son when he was here from New York.  He's the other member of the JoMama Book Club.)

I'm also a huge fan of Peter Dale Scott.  (His being so articulate and sharp at 88 should give us all hope for the future although I wish I were as sharp NOW as he is.)  I've also collected articles by Robert Scheer over the years.

But I'm startled that Bill Moyers is never mentioned in books on the Dark State.  Regardless of what he did when he was working for LBJ, he deserves credit for warning us about "cold warriors," the CIA, the Imperial presidency, and the "deep meaning/cause" of Watergate and the Iran-Contra Affair.

I saw the encouraging "David Talbot will return" in yesterday's SF Chronicle!


Tina Martin

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