Quote (bogie160 @ May 13 2021 10:38am)
Use of "Deep state" has been geared towards the FBI and other intelligence services which Trump and others claimed were undermining his presidency. It became very popular during the Mueller investigation. That is in line with how the phrase has traditionally been used before Trump, i.e. to refer to an entrenched bureaucracy that subverts proper state authority in pursuit of its own agenda.
As I read Black's point, he's questioning why people so readily believe (often conspiratorial) allegations about the military industrial complex, but refuse to believe that those situations can develop in other, similar settings. Trump's allegations as to the extent of forces supposedly arrayed against him is almost certainly not true, just as allegations that the MIC actively precipitated the Iraq war is not true. But all that proves is that extreme, simplistic takes are normally incorrect. It does not mean that the military industrial complex lacks power, or that the intelligence services are not manipulating and shaping narratives behind the scene.
You're back-filling. There is a group of intelligence officials and bureaucrats pushing pollicy in specific directions. That is not what "deep state" means when conspiratorial types are using it. They are using it as a catch-all for everything from that to Democrats being pedophiles and even for totally normal election procedures that they perceive as being malicious and meant to hurt Trump.
If the "deep state" claims were limited to what you're talking about nobody would have batted an eye at the claim.
This post was edited by Thor123422 on May 13 2021 02:39pm