10 and 10

There are many in the center and on the right who believe that there is clear and compelling evidence that a soft coup was attempted by senior FBI, Justice Department and Intelligence agency officials over the past 2+ years. They also believe that a thorough investigation will result in prosecutions and jail time for the perpetrators—that their nefarious actions will be fully disclosed and the perpetrators will be punished. Although I sympathize with the sentiment, don't hold your breath.

Angelo Codevilla argues convincingly that two of the main perpetrators of the soft coup, John Brennan and James Clapper, violated Section 798, 18 U.S. Code—"widely known in the Intelligence Community as 'the Comint Statute,' or 'the 10 and 10.'” He outlines the case against them and argues that they should be indicted and that their convictions should be a slam dunk. But then he writes:

The reasons no prosecutions have followed should be plain enough. The offenders are big people, in the permanent government and in the Democratic Party. They have a great many friends in the U.S Justice Department. From the top down, the Trump Administration has been filled by much smaller people. Loud words aside, the president has kowtowed to the intelligence agencies in every way imaginable. No prominent Republican has chosen to challenge the de facto privileged relationship between Democrats in the intelligence agencies and the media.

And so, Brennan and Clapper continue as living proof that the United States has a dual system of justice. The example of their impunity speaks louder than any speech, and reassures their leftist successors in the intelligence agencies that their channel to the Times and Post is as safe as ever.

Politics is not responsible for the non-application of Section 798 to Brendan and Clapper. It is difficult to imagine that the public would not approve massively the straightforward application to prominent men of a law that is so unambiguous, which is the foundation of arguably the main part of U.S intelligence, and which has been applied countless times to ordinary people.

Rather, the absence of real politics—of real competition between opposing sides in American life—is the culprit. What we see is that those in the upper echelons of American life, whether they call themselves Republicans or Democrats, have greater loyalty to the ruling class to which they belong than to any law or institution. The refusal to apply Section 798 to Brennan and Clapper —the fact that they are free men —is simply the most obvious manifestation of the fact that we have a ruling class, that it is coherent, and that it has yet to be challenged in any serious way.

The deep state—and make absolutely no mistake, the deep state is real—protects its own. Donald Trump, or for that matter people like Bernie Sanders, aren't part of the club of politicians on both sides who support and empower the deep state. As a consequence, outsiders represent a threat. And threats must be eliminated. Brennan and Clapper (along with Democrat politicians and their useful idiots), tried mightily to do just that with Donald trump, but so far, at least, they have failed.

UPDATE:
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Today's Senate hearings drone on as Dems try desperately to make AG William Barr look bad. That's not easy, given that what they really, really don't like are the actual conclusion of a 450 page report that exonerates Donald Trump of Russian Collusion and notes that there is NO clear evidence of any obstruction of an investigation in which the central allegation was a hoax. But nevermind those details, the goal is to discredit Barr and impeach Trump.

Why?

Well, just maybe it's because the Dems are terrified that William Barr just might do what I thought he wouldn't, investigate the deep state, Hillary Clinton included. That investigation might reach all the way to a past president, and the Dems know it.

So politicians like Senator Mazie Hirono (D-HI) call Barr a "liar." Heh, this is beginning to sound a lot like the Kavanaugh hearings where Hirono's truly idiotic comments were one of many low points. The Dems might want to think a bit about how that turned out for them. Nah, TDS and the insane hatred it engenders rules.

The Dems keep acting crazier and crazier. A clear indication that they do not deserve to lead.