Through the looking glass, or, holy cow, I'm an FBI fan now.

I wanted to vote for Jill Stein. And I understand why many voted for her or Bernie Sanders. But, as I repeatedly said on Facebook, it wasn't a normal race. As the election neared, I commented quite a bit on this; I've included some below and have added a few links where it appears I was correct in my concern and worry:

Votes matter. Individuals vote. I believe Trump could turn out to be Hitler: Moslems and Hispanics rounded up and put in internment camps, deported, that a Trump presidency would give free reign to the KKK, to white supremacy, that things would be off-the-chart bad for animals, the planet... if you live in a state where the outcome isn't absolutely certain and you don't vote for slime-ball dishonest Hillary, you own the the Trump presidency.

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I think its OK to vote for Stein if the polls show a high likelihood that Trump won't win your state. I will as well if the polls show a strong likelihood that he isn't going to win Wisconsin. Anything near the MOE and the risk is just too great.

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I vote Green and progressive when given the opportunity, but things are a little different this time. It does not seem true to me that Stein could win if only those who don't want either Hillary or Trump would vote for her. First, I don't believe that very many people support Trump because they don't want Hillary. Trump's supporters seem to be sold on racism and authoritarianism. His 40% looks solid to me. Second, only some of Hillary's supporters, people like me, do so because we fear Trump is Hitler. A significant percentage of her supporters are the real deal; they genuinely want her to be President, and would vote for her no matter who she runs against. If Trump's 40% is solid, and if only half of Hilary's is, then there simply aren't enough votes out there to elect Stein, even if everyone like me put fear behind us. If we were to do so, it looks like a plain fact to me that Trump would win.

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Yep. internment camps for Mexicans and Moslems, musing about using nuclear weapons, the strong support by police and military, that stuff scares the hell out of me. Enough to vote for a lying piece of shit who will change nothing.

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If you live in a state that is clearly going one way or the other, definitely vote for Stein. It you are in a toss-up state one must be pragmatic and help stop Hitler.

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Lying sack of shit or Hitler... I'm forced to go with the shit.

And seemingly, at least some people in the FBI also thought, correctly, that Trump would be a danger to the better things about America. And that brings me to wondering what an FBI insider should do, or should have done, if they see a neo-Hitler rising to power.

I never imagined that I would be rooting for the FBI, the agency's history is so very dark; it has actively opposed many of the things I believe are the leading edge of progress. But here I am.


I've truly stepped through the looking glass. We've got picture of Robert Mueller on our refrigerator along with a prayer for his well-being. He was the Director of the FBI from 2001 to 2013, when agents were running amok, and targeting animal rights activists. Crazy.

Trump's base is in convulsions. Peter Strzok and Lisa Page's texts in the DOJ Inspector General's report make it clear that they too were alarmed at the prospect of Trump winning the election. Strzok seemingly had input and some control of the direction of the Clinton email probe and the Russia collusion investigation. The sometimes-rational Chair of the House Oversight Committee, Trey Gowdy, was beside himself that Strzok had been involved.

That begs the question, are FBI investigations always staffed by neutral agents? Obviously not. And do FBI agents and other law enforcement personnel prejudge the subjects of their investigations? Of course they do. It would be absurd to think otherwise, and yet, that seems to be what Congressman Gowdy was claiming in his harangue.

And that brings me to the point of this essay: law enforcement officers of all sorts, military officers, FBI and CIA agents, exactly the people I worry are sometimes attracted to their chosen professions because of a lust for power, who might be attracted to the notion of totalitarianism, are also those who will have to act independently and with principle should a Hitler-like person seem to be coming to power in the U.S. And to the degree that they might believe this to be the case, they will have to be counted on to take some affirmative steps to stop him or her. To the degree that Strzok was motivated by a genuine fear that Trump could be a neo-Hitler, I think he is to be thanked.