Insiders all the way down

I earlier posted Genealogy of the Mandarin Class, noting the marked tendency of families to symbiotically inhabit political, bureaucratic, academic and charitable institutions, making them inaccessible to ordinary citizens and creating an interlocking structure of interests inimical to the welfare of the commonweal. The earlier examples are at the bottom of this post.

The latest example is that of the Vindman twins. In the last gasps of the impeachment effort, there is a movement to hear from former security advisor Bolton. My suspicion, given his past testimonies, is that Bolton will turn out like the Mueller report - lots of heralded revelations ending up being a confirmation of Trumps argument.

Bolton has a book in the works and there is a campaign of leaks and teasers to keep the House Democrats salivating in anticipation of what could be revealed. My suspicion is their desperation blinds them to the distinction between could and will.

During the House impeachment hearings one of the witnesses was National Security Council aide Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman. His testimony was heralded but in the event turned out to be pretty much a dud. Worse than a dud in that it made him seem a petty institutional schemer with no real evidence to support his allegations and whose primary beef seemed to be that Trump's administration was ignoring his recommendations. All big institutions are rife with passed-over experts who complain about how ignorant leadership ignore the brilliance of their subordinates.

So who is responsible for reviewing Bolton's publicity campaign for Bolton's book to ensure that no national secrets get out? Alexander Vindman's identical twin brother, Yevgeny. From NSC aide handling book approvals is twin brother of Lt. Col. Vindman by Dave Boyer and S.A. Miller.

The twin brother of a key administration impeachment witness against President Trump is in charge of the National Security Council’s process for reviewing publications by current and former NSC officials, according to a new report on Monday.

Breitbart reported that Army Lt. Col. Yevgeny Vindman, a senior ethics lawyer for the NSC, is in charge of reviewing publications such as the book manuscript submitted to the NSC on Dec. 30 by former National Security Adviser John Bolton.

The report cited a source close to the administration. The NSC had no immediate comment.

Mr. Bolton allegedly has written that the president informed him that he was withholding military aid from Ukraine in return for an investigation of Democrat Joseph R. Biden, an accusation at the heart of the impeachment case.

Yevgeny Vindman is the identical twin brother of Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman, one of Democrats’ main witnesses in the impeachment inquiry. Alexander Vindman testified that he told his brother about Mr. Trump’s July 25 call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in which Mr. Trump is accused of pressuring his counterpart for a Biden investigation.

Alexander Vindman told impeachment investigators that his sibling witnessed the decision to move the call’s transcript to a top-secret server.

So an impeachment shrouded in secrecy, notorious for strategic leaking, mishandling of secret documents, and general collusion between media and antagonistic deep state insiders is now reliant on the responsible separation of duties and integrity between two deep state insiders who happen to be twin brothers? Yeah. And Epstein did not kill himself.

I think Hanlon's Law

Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity

operates here. Pure coincidence and nothing ill-intended.

I am convinced that 95 times out of hundred, Hanlon's Law applies. But Washington sure makes it difficult to maintain that faith with all the incestuous insider interests.

Perhaps, for the integrity of our republic, there should be a rule to the effect that no family can have more than one member of the family in politics or in an institution closely aligned with government (academia, media, military, etc.) Probably unconstitutional and impractical, but there has to be some way to prevent this cascade of bad actors appearing to conspire against the will of the people as manifested through the electoral process.

Earlier examples of the incestuous intersection between power, money, and insider families.

Vice President Al Gore, son of Albert Gore Sr., a U.S. Representative who later served for 18 years as a U.S. Senator from Tennessee.

NPR Cokie Roberts, daughter of ambassador and long-time Democratic Congresswoman from Louisiana Lindy Boggs and of Hale Boggs, also a Democratic Congressman from Louisiana. He was Majority Leader of the House of Representatives and a member of the Warren Commission. He was lost on a plane which disappeared over Alaska on October 16, 1972. Her late sister, Barbara Boggs Sigmund, was mayor of Princeton, New Jersey, and a candidate for U.S. Senate from New Jersey. Her late brother Tommy Boggs was a prominent Washington, D.C., attorney and lobbyist.

NPR Legal Affairs Nina Totenberg, widow of U.S. Senator Floyd K. Haskell (D-Colorado). In March 2010, Totenberg's sister Amy Totenberg was nominated by President Barack Obama to the U.S. District Court in Atlanta.

Democratic House Leader and Representative of San Francisco, CaliforniaNancy Pelosi - When Nancy was born, her father was a Democratic Congressman from Maryland and he became Mayor of Baltimore seven years later. Pelosi's mother was also active in politics, organizing Democratic women and teaching her daughter the value of social networking. Pelosi's brother, Thomas D'Alesandro III, also a Democrat, was Mayor of Baltimore from 1967 to 1971.

President George Walker Bush, son of President George Herbert Walker Bush. Brother of Jeb Bush, 43rd Governor of Florida from 1999 to 2007.

Julian Castro, brother of United States Representative Joaquin Castro. Julian Castro was a member of the Obama administration and most recently a primary candidate for President. In the news for doxxing political donors in an apparent to attempt to deprive others of their civil rights. Reported here.

James Bennett, former long term editor of The Atlantic before becoming Editorial editor of the New York Times. Also brother of Michael Bennett, US Senator from Colorado and primary candidate for President of the US. Nothing like having a member of the family to help shape media coverage. Despite all the retractions and rewrites that might lead to - Another Headline the New York Times Has to Rewrite by James Freeman.

And there is, of course, all the political off-spring who make millions sitting on boards and foundations and other institutions closely dependent on the government for support and/or funding. The Chelsea Clintons, Hunter Bidens, and Christopher Heinzs of the swamp world.