The nugget., March 22, 2017, Page 24, Image 24

24
Wednesday, March 22, 2017 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon
The Bunkhouse
Chronicle
Craig Rullman
Columnist
The Deep State of
the Figure 8
Much of last week was
dedicated to moving manure.
I should be more precise: it
was dedicated to breaking up
fields of ice-manure, 8 or 10
inches deep, by hand with a
pick, then coming along behind
with the tractor to pick up the
mess and move it away from
the barn. It was a lot of hands-
on work, as you might imag-
ine and, eventually covered
from head to toe in it, I could
hear my granddad reminding
me from beyond the grave:
“Nothing to worry about,
kid, it’s just grass and water.”
True enough.
What’s also true is that
kind of labor instantly forces
me to sing chain-gang songs
—“Lightning Long John” is a
favorite — or old spirituals like
“Swing Low, Sweet Chariot,”
which I don’t have memo-
rized in its entirety. So I was
forced to short-shrift it with
repeated offerings of the same
verse in my best imitation of
a James Earl Jones baritone.
The horses, dare I say,
thought I was fantastic, and
gathered at the rails to stare at
me dolefully.
It also gave me ample time
to digest some of the more
frightening themes from Mike
Lofgren’s book “The Deep
State.” It’s a term we are hear-
ing more of, lately, particu-
larly as both sides of the aisle
attempt to co-opt the indict-
ment and wield it like a cud-
gel against the other. Much in
the same manner that politi-
cians use “Washington” as a
term of derision, or “Inside the
Beltway” as a condemnation
meme meant to convince us
that somehow they — podium
chasers all — are the real
bringers of light and truth. The
reality is, as Lofgren illustrates
quite clearly, it’s none of them.
The Deep State, in
Lofgren’s definition — and
which is a term he borrowed
from the World War I era
of Young Turks — roughly
means this: “a hybrid associa-
tion of key elements of gov-
ernment and parts of top-level
finance and industry that is
effectively able to govern the
United States with only lim-
ited reference to the consent
of the governed as normally
expressed through elections.”
Lofgren, after three decades
of high-level staff work on
Capitol Hill, was uniquely
placed throughout his career
to terrify the rest of us with
his conclusions. Nominally
a Republican, Lofgren rails
intelligently, convincingly,
and mercilessly against both
parties and their leaders as
essentially puppets, dangling
by strings, and essentially con-
trolled by an intricate web of
tycoons, contractors, and fun-
draising puppet-masters.
Lofgren opines that “most
of the art and science of poli-
tics these days consist of cam-
ouflaging a politician’s real
stance on an issue.”
Lofgren notes the recycling
of previously disgraced policy
advisors, cabinet members, et
al, in a laundry list of pluto-
crats who jump from govern-
ment to the private sector, and
back again, endlessly, making
higher salaries each time they
do, even as many of them have
been disgraced in previous
public-service incarnations.
Lofgren cites a study con-
ducted by Martin Gilens of
Princeton, and Benjamin Page
of Northwestern, who exam-
ined two thousand public opin-
ion surveys on policy matters
between 1981 and 2002. They
drew some interesting con-
clusions about status as they
relate to policy outcomes. The
authors concluded that the
preferences of economic elites
have far more impact on policy
than those of average citizens.
And they doubled down on
that conclusion: “ordinary citi-
zens have virtually no influ-
ence over what their govern-
ment does in the United States
… economic elites and interest
groups, especially those repre-
senting business, have a sub-
stantial degree of influence.”
And that’s the real danger
of The Deep State, as Lofgren
describes it. There has been,
he concludes, a “revolu-
tion within the form,” so that
outwardly those most hand-
somely rewarded by the cha-
rade of a functioning republic
are able to maintain the out-
ward appearances of a govern-
ment whose representatives
are accountable through the
ballot. They manage to rail
against “Washington” and
the “elites,” even as they are
almost universally financed
by, and thence controlled by, a
host of wholly unaccountable
and extremely powerful inter-
ests from Beltway contractors
to the Silicon Valley.
Which leaves most of the
rest of us out of the equation,
regardless of how many enve-
lopes we might stuff with plac-
ards telling the new president,
or whomever, that we are mad
and they are fired.
I don’t know if Lofgren’s
conclusions are the final say
in all this, but the bell he rings
has the peal of distinct clarity,
and there can be little disagree-
ment between honest people
that the candidates offered up
in the last election were both
dyed-in-the-wool Deep State
ventriloquist dolls — of the
devious, narcissistic, incred-
ibly dishonest sort, whose
mood and policy positions
depend upon which arm is lev-
eraged up their fundament.
Which is to say, charlatans,
and shills, and precisely why
I refused to cast a ballot for
either of them.
Maybe it doesn’t even mat-
ter. It’s possible the fate of
such a large and unruly repub-
lic is foreordained. History
certainly suggests a natural
path in the decline of empires
such as this one.
I hope I’m wrong about
that, too.
And anyway, back home,
some 2,700 miles away from
the center of all things increas-
ingly oligarchy, I’m singing
chain-gang songs, and swing-
ing a pick, knee deep in piles
of horse manure. That’s the
Deep State of the Figure 8, and
I have to admit, it looks pretty
good. The snow-crocus are up,
and the only lobbyists I con-
tend with are chickens, dogs,
horses, and a couple of cagey
barn cats. Granted, they lobby
hard for their interests, but
I get to hear them without a
single Dick Cheney or George
Soros hiding in the curtains.
You could save
up to $1350 on
a Carrier Unit
with Cool Cash!
The Cool Cash program through
Carrier comes along every year
April through June. Call for details.
As an Energy Trust of Oregon trade ally, we can
help you access cash incentives to make it easier
to improve your home’s energy effi ciency.
The sun is setting on the tax credit incentives — time is of the essence! Please call for information.
Bend Heating
Proudly serving Central Oregon since 1953
For more information call 541-382-1231
www.BendHeating.com
& Sheet Metal, Inc.
Bend Heating & Sheet Metal, Inc. is the old-
est heating and cooling company in Central Oregon,
in operation since 1953. As Carrier’s oldest Factory
Authorized Dealer on this side of the Cascades, their
technicians undergo extensive ongoing training — and
Carrier offers a 100%, money-back customer satisfac-
tion guarantee.
In addition to that, you can currently avail yourself
of the Carrier Cool Cash Rebate of up to $1,300 for
qualifying systems.
Ductless heat pumps are especially popular in
Sisters Country, and Bend Heating is the 1st Certified
Master Installer of ductless systems in Central Oregon
— a prestigious designation they maintain to this day.
A full-service company, they handle all your com-
mercial and residential needs and offer 24/7 service.
They recently earned the COBA Green Subcontractor
of the Year Award.
Act now to take advantage of soon-to-end generous
state tax credits that can create significant incentives
for your home or business.
“BE WARM, BE COOL, BE HAPPY”
WELL PUMP
SERVICE
PRESSURE TANKS
CONSTANT PRESSURE SYSTEMS
FREQUENCY DRIVES
MOTOR CONTROLS
PUMPS
Pump & Electrical Contractor
24-HOUR EMERGENCY SERVICE
Call Zach 541-420-8170
A Division of
Sisters Owned
CCB#178543