Okay, my sense is that a large number of commentators are misunderstanding the nature of what is going on. So, this time, rather than writing an analysis, I will spell it out, 'talking points' -- style and, hopefully, do a better job about making my point. So, here we go. THIS IS NOT ABOUT FLYNN. Let me repeat that once more. THIS IS NOT ABOUT FLYNN!!! Please don't come and tell me that Flynn This is about power.

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Okay, my sense is that a large number of commentators are misunderstanding the nature of what is going on. So, this time, rather than writing an analysis, I will spell it out, 'talking points' -- style and, hopefully, do a better job about making my point. So, here we go.

1. THIS IS NOT ABOUT FLYNN. Let me repeat that once more. THIS IS NOT ABOUT FLYNN!!! Please don't come and tell me that Flynn was wrong on Iran, on Islam or on China. I agree. But,
   ==>>THIS IS NOT ABOUT FLYNN!!!
2. THIS IS ABOUT POWER. As in, who is boss? Who is number one? Who is the alpha dog? The President or the 'deep state'? That is what this is all about -- showing everybody who is in charge.
3. FLYNN WAS A SYMBOL. He was the symbol of the entire notion of draining the Washington swamp, which is mostly the 3 letter agencies + Pentagon anyway. Flynn was the guy who dared defy the thought police and be friendly with the Russians. Flynn was the man who wanted to bring the CIA and JCS back under White House control. And Flynn was the guy with contacts with SOCOM and JSOC. Flynn had to be brought down.
4. FLYNN WAS ALSO A CORNERSTONE. For better or for worse, it is absolutely evident that Flynn was the brain behind Trump's entire foreign policy. On some stuff Flynn was great (Russia), on some stuff he was okay (Takfiri terrorism), on some stuff he was ridiculous (China) and on some stuff he was terrible (Iran). But that is not what matters here. Listen to Kucinich who clearly says that this is not about Trump or Flynn, but about a coup against the Presidency by the US 'deep state'. Now that Flynn has been brought down, there is no "Trump foreign policy" left.
5. FLYNN IS ALSO A DOMINO. Okay, this is crucial, pay attention now. Putin has often been criticized for protecting his friends even when these friends are guilty of wrongdoings. Now let me ask you a simple question: would you rather stick your neck out for Trump or for Putin? Exactly. If Trump was a loyal kind of person he could have called Pence and Flynn to the Oval Office, told Flynn to apologize and told Pence to shut up. But he did nothing of the kind. By accepting Flynn's "resignation" Trump showed that he does not protect those who fight for him. There will definitely be a domino-effect now as everybody who matters has now understood: Trump is weak, the Neocons got him by the balls, and Trump will leave you hanging when the sh*t hits the fan.
6. FLYNN'S DOWNFALL IS A MESSAGE. A message to all those who hate Trump and what Trump represents. And that message is simple: we are back in control and the party is on! Now that Trump has been humiliated and broken, now that he lost his only high-IQ and powerful ally in the White House, the Neocons are the deep state are smelling blood and they will double-down and resume their attack with increased intensity. The next highly symbolic sacrificial victim might be the much-hated Steve Bannon. The bottom line is simple: the hunt is on for anti-deep-state 'crimethinkers'.
7. AT THE END OF THE DAY, IT IS ABOUT TRUMP'S CHARACTER. That was the big unknown, right? Nobody really knew what kind of President Trump would make. Everybody, including yours truly, enjoyed speculating about his ego, his lack of political experience, the fact that he owed nothing to anybody, that he was a deal maker, a common sense pragmatist. Well, we still don't know what kind of President Trump will be, but I am afraid that we now know what kind of President he will NOT be: he will NOT drain the swamp, he will NOT change the subordination of US national interests to the AngloZionist Empire, he will NOT forge a historical partnership with Russia and he will NOT send the Neocons down to the basement from which they crawled out 24 years ago. Whether Trump lacks brains, spine, or balls is anyone's guess, but it is now painfully clear that he has much more in common with Yanukovich then with Putin.

As I said, it's over. Not because of Flynn's views on Iran or Islam. But because Trump has caved in, he has been broken and now all that's left is a painful 4 year long agony. That's assuming that the Neocons don't impeach him just to bask in their arrogance and sense of supremacy.

Frankly, my heart goes out to all those who sincerely hoped that Trump will be the man to free the US from the Neocons and restore the power of the "basket of deplorables" over the many minorities and special interests. Some will now indulge in a lot of "I told you so" but they will be wrong. To hope for the best was the right thing to do. Those who voted for Trump did the only thing in their power to prevent Hillary from occupying the White House. That was the right decision, they did the right thing, both morally and pragmatically.

But now we also need to gather our courage and accept the reality of what has taken place. Minimizing the implications of this deep state coup makes no sense whatsoever, neither morally nor pragmatically. And the reality is this:

It took the Neocons and the US deep state less than a month to overturn the results of the Presidential election.

Trump now declares that he "expects Russia to return Crimea".

It's over folks -- welcome (back) to the war between Russia and the Empire.

The Saker

PS: one more thing. Trump himself was always, of course, the candidate of one part of the 'US deep state'. Trump did not appear ex nihilo, and neither did Flynn. It is taking place is one faction of the deep state fighting against another faction of the deep state. The US elites have been split for a while now. But since Trump now has legal authority and those trying to color revolution him do not, I speak of the deep state vs the Presidency.

Authors Website: http://thesaker.is

Authors Bio:

The Saker publishes a news and opinion site, thesaker.is

He remains anonymous, but offers this information about himself:

"My life has been one of ups and downs.  Early on, after a pretty nasty childhood, it went up, rather rapidly.  Then came the "fall from (pseudo-) grace" and I lost my career.  It is still too early to go into all the details, but let's just say that I used to be associated with a "three letter outfit" whose existence was not well-known by the general public and which has since been disbanded.  In my field, I got to the proverbial 'top' pretty early on, but soon the war in Bosnia began to open my eyes to many things I had never suspected before.  Then I found out about two things which got me blacklisted in my own, putatively democratic, country: I found out that a group of people had uselessly been murdered as a result of the criminal incompetence of their superiors and I found out that one guy had taken a long jail sentence while all this superiors had managed to walk away from a crime they all had committed.  And even though I never went public, or even told my closest friends about it (to protect them), I was blacklisted and prevented from ever working again." Read the rest here.