Bright Brief - Hot Potato

Optics or Betrayal?

(I highly, highly recommend folks new to Burning Bright or veterans read or re-read both my Narrative Whiplash and recent Bicameral Brilliance pieces as background to this exploration of Narrative Hot Potato.)

For a background on my ongoing and evolving thoughts to spin out of the MAL Raid, please visit or revisit the following pieces, all of which remain relevant to the discussion:

Bright Brief – Combat Tactics

Bright Brief – This One’s Different

Bright Brief – DECLAS Damocles

All These Slings and Arrows --- (Trump Arrest Theory)

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On a recent appearance on FOX News, former Attorney General Bill Barr made comments publicly condemning and belittling the Trump team’s request for a Special Master to be attached to the ongoing case to spin out of the August 8 Mar-a-Lago Raid.

While some of the brightest minds in this community, from Just Human to Patel Patriot have argued that the MAL Raid is another in a long line of Sting Operations Trump and his allies have set up to trap Deep State operators in—whether they be attached to the intel agencies or the Biden-run Department of Justice itself—there are still many who seem to take the bombastic and kayfabian statements of former Trump appointees in the mainstream media at face value.

On a recent appearance on Patel Patriot’s Power Hour, I discussed the concept of Narrative Separation. If you’ve been following my writing for any length of time, you’ll know that I focus predominantly on the Narrative War, or the War of Stories we’re engaged in, from the highest levels of the U.S. Government to the civilian intelligence arm of Trump’s revolutionary (but non-violent) online support base.

The point of the War of Stories is to engage, convince and ultimately convert the Collective Mind of American society to a particular mode of thinking. This mode of thinking may be specific at times, but it is usually directional. Rather than convincing Americans that Trump committed a specific crime, the Deep State reading of the MAL Raid is merely to convince Americans that the intel agencies have reason to believe Trump committed SOME crime relating to highly classified material. They’ve even sprinkled the word ‘nuclear’ throughout the Narrative in order to add a bit of spice to the proceedings.

That said, as I have often argued of late, I believe our side has better writers, better storytellers in the current Narrative War, and I believe Bill Bar is one of these storytellers.

From Mike Pence to Barr to Jeff Sessions, Trump has sparred publicly with some of his closest—in terms of position—appointments. Barr is back in the news for said comments, but before we get into a more direct reading and analysis of them, I thought it worthwhile to touch on a somewhat divisive topic in an otherwise harmonious community—that being the tension between hopium and doom.

This piece is not meant to ridicule other writers and thinkers who consider Barr’s comments to be damaging to our overall movement to retake and reform our country, nor is it an attempt to paint them as ignorant or foolish through claims of obvious kayfabe or appeals to ‘the plan.’ It is merely an attempt to draw a line between unchecked dooming and healthy skepticism, and to do the same between hopium and reasoned projection.

As for the former, charges of ‘dooming’ carry with them a certain intent. While I believe healthy skepticism should be applied to ALL Narrative Deployments in the war, dooming does not employ the liberal use of Bicameral Thinking, which I recently explored, but rather siloed, predeterminate thinking, which seeks to prearrange ongoing Narratives into preset and rigid foundational beliefs.

The same charge can be levied at those who engage in ‘hopium’—those who embrace ‘the plan’ without ever considering the prospect that the enemy gets a vote, gets a say and ultimately is a noncooperative party in a Fifth-Generation War in which they are fighting for their collective lives.  

Healthy skepticism is how many of us began digging into this stuff in the first place. Applying a critical eye to comments made by public figures, no matter their former affiliation, is of the utmost importance, as is running theories and projections made by fellow Anons and truthers through a cognitive crucible. That said, I believe that in some situations, we employ skepticism for its own sake, and miss the forest for the trees.

This is why I like to zoom out and take in the big picture. Parsing Barr’s comments on a Micro level, here’s my read on the game of legal hot potato that’s currently playing out:

As discussed on the aforementioned Power Hour episode, Patel Patriot, Patrick Gunnels and I discussed the very likely possibility that Bill Barr knows exactly what’s contained in the documents seized from Mar-a-Lago. After all, as Acting Attorney General at the time, he would have directly overseen the process by which these documents were first classified and later declassified. On this point at least, I should find no disagreement between the doom and hopium camps.

Where the camps may differ is in the intent behind Barr’s words. From where I’m sitting, I believe Barr is baiting the Garland DOJ into moving forward with directed investigations into these seized documents, and I do not believe for an instant that any of said documents contain incriminating evidence on Donald Trump.

That said, they could and likely do contain incriminating evidence for many of his—and by extension—our enemies.

Now, there are even some in this community who believe Merrick Garland is playing a role as well, and while I hold that as a distinct possibility, it’s not even necessary for this reading of DECLAS. As discussed in DECLAS Damocles, the key Narrative to spin out of the MAL Raid has been the range of precedents it has and will continue to set moving forward.

In separating himself from ‘former’ President Trump, Barr has now given Narrative Shielding to the DOJ and FBI, while simultaneously prodding along their investigations. As has been the case with recent ‘raids’ on Project Veritas, Rudy Giuliani and others in Trump’s close orbit, I believe strongly in Just Human’s ongoing position that the publicly-spotlighted targets of these raids are not the actual targets of investigations.

After all, how do you introduce evidence legally? And, perhaps more importantly, how do you shield patriots from the appearance of a partisan witch hunt? In my view, this would best be done through Narrative Separation and precedent-setting.

Either the Garland DOJ is in on the sting, OR the Garland DOJ has taken the bait laid out by Trump and company, and Barr is prodding them to move forward with their investigations, knowing they are caught in the public narrative one way or the other. If they do not move forward with investigations, it’s the latest in a long line of partisan abuses on the part of the Biden Administration and the weaponization of U.S. intel agencies, and on the doorstep of the 2022 Midterm Elections. If they DO move forward with investigations, I believe the public will get a few surprises in terms of exactly what the FBI recovered from Mar-a-Lago.  

As I have argued previously in the case of Mike Pence’s role in certifying U.S. electors—or not—thus setting precedent that no future VP can hold undue and disproportionate sway over a disputed Presidential election, to consider these men traitors is to consider Trump an imbecile, OR to consider that he put enemies in these positions for a reason, which still brings you to the same endpoint.

TO wit, Barr COULD be a traitor, and could still be acting out the designs of Trump and company because he has been placed in a position where he must, which loops back around to the game of hot potato. By pushing the DOJ and FBI to move forward with their case against DJT, I feel that Barr is—consciously or accidentally—assisting our ultimate ends, that being DECLAS.

That is not hopium, and I believe ‘wait and see’ approaches avail us little. If we are never to project strategy onto the moves and countermoves we see playing out, what are we doing here?

Alternatively and admittedly, there are some who apply reductionist and ultimately unhelpful ‘colored hat’ cyphers to every situation without applying any requisite logic, reason or healthy skepticism to the equation. These are the hopium addicts who, while well-meaning, ultimately serve no larger purpose on the cognitive battlefield. They are cheerleaders at best, and confusing distractions at worst.

Ultimately, most of us agree we’re in something approaching or defined as Fifth-Gen Warfare, which entails moves and countermoves with a special focus on irregular warfare and psychological operations. Hell, this is just about as confirmed as confirmed can get, and Trump’s DOJ and DOD appointments—from Chris Miller to Ezra Cohen-Watnick—lend even more evidence to suggest that, in the current global conflict, the psychological theater is likely the most important front in the Shadow War. If we’re talking about how good various players must be at ‘acting’ in order to convince Anons they are ‘good’ or to convince the enemy they are ‘bad,’ should we not apply the same rule to Miller’s now-infamous “off script” comments praising the leadership of Pence and making reference to some of the most “complex military operations of all time?”

Odd comments to make in the waning days of a departing Administration, are they not?

Alas, from election fraud to lockdowns, globalism to sovereignty, republics to democracies, we are in a war for the Collective Mind of western—if not global—humanity.

This whole discussion recalls the importance I place on Bicameral Thinking; it is ALWAYS worthwhile to explore multiple, seemingly-contradictory parallels and keep them in your mind at the same time, fighting through the inherent psychological tension this can create. That said, dismissing reasoned claims of kayfabe as hopium is tired, reductionist in itself and ultimately, in my view, shortsighted.

We are in a Narrative War. Not everything is going to be spelled out for us and comments from public figures should never—in my view—be taken at face value. While the comments may be true or false, good or bad, what is more important is the larger effect said comments drive in the overarching narrative. Do they push goals that are a net negative or a net positive?

Reasonable folks can disagree on the ultimate assessment, but to take these comments at face value WITHOUT considering the possibility of an alternative is to fail at one of the key tenets in mass psychological warfare—that being deception.

Don’t have faith in Trump and his team, current and former. Have confidence in their competence, their intellect, and … yes, their planning, and see if you can discern why these decisions have and will continue to be made.

Whether Bill Bar ends his place in this story behind bars or accepting an award on a victory stage, his part will have been played, willing or not, and we will have our justice, no matter who’s running the department named after it.

Until next time, stay Positive, stay Based and most importantly … stay Bright.

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