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Big Ideas with Ben Weingarten features compelling long-form conversations with exceptional thinkers and doers on the most important ideas and issues of our time, and all time. Discussions focus on topics ranging from national security and foreign affairs, to economics and politics and philosophy and culture with a classical Liberal bent and a grounding in history. Big Ideas with Ben Weingarten challenges the prevailing progressive orthodoxy with a contrarian conservative counter-narrative based in individual liberty, limited government, free enterprise and a strong, national interest-oriented and prudently used defense. Host Ben Weingarten is a Senior Fellow at the London Center for Policy Research, Senior Contributor at The Federalist and Founder & CEO of ChangeUp Media, a conservative media consulting and production company.

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  2. Ex-NSC Official Allegedly Fired Over Memo Warning Trump of ‘Deep State’ Resistance: ‘There’s a Whiff of Tyranny in the Air’ from Politicization and Weaponization of the NatSec Apparatus

Ex-NSC Official Allegedly Fired Over Memo Warning Trump of ‘Deep State’ Resistance: ‘There’s a Whiff of Tyranny in the Air’ from Politicization and Weaponization of the NatSec Apparatus

Sep 27, 2018

Rich Higgins is an expert on the nexus between theological doctrines and information age unconventional warfare, and has spent 20 years combating terrorism in a variety of senior positions within the Department of Defenses.

Higgins, an early supporter of President Trump, served as director for strategic planning in President Trump's National Security Council (NSC).

That all changed when a memo that he had produced for President Trump on the political warfare that he was to face internally from the Deep State, and externally from the media and like-minded interest groups in collusion with the administrative state, leaked out to the public.

Higgins' memo was dismissed as conspiratorial, and he was fired from the NSC.

What he foretold has risen to the forefront again in the wake of the unsigned New York Times op-ed detailing measures taken by Trump administration officials to "Resist" the president, and seek to sabotage his agenda.

I had Higgins on the podcast to discuss the "Deep State's" efforts to subvert the president's agenda, whether there was an effort to purge like-minded individuals from Trump's national security and foreign policy team -- and why, what can be done to reform the administrative state, the ramifications of the politicization and weaponization of our national security and intelligence apparatus and much more.

What We Discussed

  • Higgins' reaction to the anonymous New York Times op-ed about the brazen Resistance within the Trump White House which seemed to confirm precisely what he warned of in his memo
  • How the litany of allegations being raised against Judge Brett Kavanaugh in his Supreme Court confirmation hearings plays into Higgins' thesis
  • Whether there was a concerted effort to purge national security and foreign policy officials in the Trump administration who sought to advance Trump's agenda, and what Higgins believes the establishment felt so threatened by that it would require such a purging
  • Why Higgins believes it isn't the Deep State or Obama holdovers that are to blame for the sabotage of President Trump's policies, but rather the Republican Party itself
  • Higgins' believe that Resistance to Trump was largely driven by vested financial interests -- specifically centered on China -- and the belief Trump would upend the major investments of the last 30 years in restructuring the global financial architecture and economy, hurting said vested interests
  • How to reform the "Deep State"
  • The "whiff of tyranny" in the air over the ability for the intelligence community to use its surveillance powers against American citizens, up to and including spying on and seeking to undermine and bring down the president
  • Higgins' view on protecting liberty in the face of powerful surveillance tools and the need to counter our adversaries
  • The imperative to bring back civics and reunite the country on the basis of shared values, principles and knowledge of and reverence for our Founding
  • What Higgins would add to his memo to the president if he had the chance today

Thanks for Listening!

Check out other episodes, show notes and transcripts at benweingarten.com/bigideas.

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Backed Vibes (clean) Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License
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