Government CRIMINALS Declare War on CRIMINALS
How do we distinguish street criminals from government criminals?
Ken Pealock
8/30/20253 min read
My post content
U.S. Politics: The Oldest Scam in the Book
Let’s be blunt: politics isn’t “broken.” It’s not some noble machine in need of a tune-up. It’s a con game. A centuries-old, Roman-tested, Machiavelli-approved, bipartisan-certified scam. Richard Henry Lee wasn’t waxing poetic when he said politics is “the science of fraud.” He was handing us the user’s manual to the political-industrial complex. Politicians aren’t “public servants.” They’re professional fraudsters, professors of deception, and they’ve been running the same tired grift since Augustus put Rome out of its misery.
And here’s the kicker: it works. It always works. Because people keep falling for it.
Step One: Fraud — Smile While You Stab
How do tyrants get power? Easy. They pretend. Pretend to defend liberty. Pretend to serve the people. Pretend to uphold law and justice while shoving the knife in under the table. They wrap their schemes in parchment and call it “legal.” Augustus was the master: killing the Republic in broad daylight while swearing he was protecting it. Machiavelli literally wrote the how-to guide: look merciful, look virtuous, look religious — then do whatever it takes to hold power. Hypocrisy isn’t a bug in politics; it’s the operating system.
Step Two: Fear — The Eternal Boogeyman
When fraud alone isn’t enough, cue the scare tactics. Madison warned us: the fastest way to kill liberty at home is to invent a foreign threat. Real, imaginary, whatever — doesn’t matter. Scare the people, keep them panicked, and they’ll hand you the keys to their own cage.
Trenchard nailed it centuries ago: rulers drag their countries into endless, idiotic wars to keep everyone distracted, broke, and too terrified to notice the corruption at home. Sound familiar? Pandemic panic, terrorism hysteria, Red Scares, cyber boogeymen — all interchangeable tools from the same toolbox. And the “temporary emergency measures”? Congratulations, they’re permanent now.
Step Three: Bribery — Bread, Circuses, and Stimmy Checks
Fear gets you obedience. Bribery keeps it. Augustus figured this out when he stuffed the bellies of Romans with cheap grain and spectacles. Why fight tyranny when Netflix is auto-playing and DoorDash is on sale? Tacitus saw it: when the people are entertained and fed, they don’t care if the Republic is rotting from within.
Fast forward 2,000 years and nothing’s changed. Today it’s “safety nets,” “stimulus packages,” and welfare-state crack to keep people docile. Call it compassion if you want, but it’s just bribery with better branding. Civic virtue is traded for comfort. Resistance is traded for convenience. Liberty dies not with a bang but with free Wi-Fi and Uber Eats.
Step Four: The Cycle of Plunder
Franklin cut to the chase: once bribery, fear, and fraud get entrenched, it becomes an endless cycle. Higher taxes to buy more partisans, more troops to suppress dissent, more money to plunder at will. Corruption is not a symptom — it’s the business model. Montesquieu warned that once the people themselves are bribed, the republic is toast. They’ll demand their own chains as long as the handouts keep flowing.
The Ugly Truth: The System Is Working
Here’s the red pill: all the dysfunction, the gridlock, the endless scandals — none of it’s an accident. None of it’s a mistake. It’s the system working exactly as designed: fraud, fear, and bribery, baked in since Rome. You don’t “fix” politics with new politicians any more than you fix a casino by swapping out dealers. The house still wins.
It's merciless but true: the “science of fraud” isn’t failing. It’s thriving. “Trust the science,” they say. Sure — if the science you’re trusting is the science of your own enslavement.
So what’s the cure? Not another “blue-ribbon committee,” not another half-baked reform bill, and definitely not another savior politician with better branding. The cure is remembering the original deal: liberty, limited power, and suspicion of anyone who tells you they can “fix things” if you just give them more authority.
Until then?
Welcome to the circus. Enjoy the bread.
