Is political rhetoric polarizing the nation? The problem that I see is that people don’t know what rhetoric is, let alone political rhetoric. Today, we hear a lot of rhetoric about the so-called “deep state”. The popular Definition of “Deep State” is  “ A hidden network of career government officials – often in intelligence, military, or bureaucratic agencies – allegedly working to manipulate policy or undermine elected leaders. Political scientists have long used the term to describe the “Deep State” as “entrenched power structures in countries like Turkey, Egypt, and Pakistan, where unelected officials (e.g., generals, spies) exert control over civilian governments.” In the U.S., the idea gained traction during Trump’s presidency with claims that federal agencies were actively resisting his agenda. Nearly half of Americans polled believe that a deep state exists, though many see it as a conspiracy theory. My opinion is that Trump loves to use the “Deep State” as an excuse for his many failures. He needs a boogeyman because nothing can be Trump's fault.

Is the “Deep State” real in America? Many will argue that there is no evidence of any coordinated secret underground society bent on destroying America. Many see it as a way to discredit institutions like the DOJ, FBI, or media when they challenge political leaders such as Trump. People on the left often point to the military-industrial complex or the surveillance apparatus as examples of institutional powers that operate with limited public oversight, sometimes overriding the democratic process. I don’t know if I would call that the “deep state.” We have seen with DOGE wanting all the information on everyone, including voting records and private information like medical information and our social security information. They have made no secret that information is power and that the Trump administration wants that power. The “deep state” narrative taps into broader concerns about transparency, accountability, and the balance between elected authority and permanent institutions, which I see as total B.S. Under Trump, there are fewer and fewer permanent institutions. Trump has weaponized the FBI. Trump has weaponized the Department of Justice. Trump has weaponized the Department of Homeland Security. Trump is also trying to weaponize our military.  Fear of the “deep state” has been used as a political weapon to rally support, deflect criticism, or justify reforms.

Republicans love to argue that our youth is being radicalized by the “deep state.” They talk like our youth are being radicalized by unelected bureaucrats, educators, and media elites whom they consider the “deep state”. They love to claim that these institutions are promoting radical ideologies to young Americans. What are some of these so-called radical ideologies? Critical Race Theory is framed as a Marxist and anti-American worldview allegedly pushed in schools and government training. I will not be bashful about the fact that this is a complete lie. CRT is not taught or even talked about in our schools. The “deep state” is accused of promoting “radical gender ideology and undermining traditional family values. This is from the party that is being led by a man who has been married three times, has children from three different women, and has had affairs multiple times. He won’t release the Epstein files that will expose multiple pedophiles, of whom he may be one. But they promote themselves as the party of family values. They portray Climate Change as an indoctrination into an anti-capitalistic or globalist agenda. There are tons of evidence that climate change is real, but the world could be burning up and they will still be blaming the “deep state”. They love to blame the left for using social media algorithms to suppress conservative content. Any of you who have used X, formerly called Twitter, knows that Musk has used the platform to do just the opposite.

The problem with truth is that it is most of the time not a neutral position. Facts about climate change, systemic racism, income inequity, or gender disparities tend to support what the right considers left propaganda when the facts say otherwise. When the data challenge the conservative propaganda, it is easier to dismiss the data and bias than to really examine the data and come up with real solutions. They would rather call it “woke” or the “Deep State”. They will weaponize bias as a defense mechanism to actually discredit the institutions and the scientific bodies that are stating facts. Climate scientists become the “green radicals”. A historical teaching about slavery becomes “Marxist ideology”. A journalist investigating corruption becomes part of the “liberal media”. In the end, all these things are tied together to make you believe that there is a “deep state” that is there to destroy our “American values”. A prime example of this is the conservative analyst of Tyler James Robinson, the shooter of Charlie Kirk. I saw a Fox Host ask the question, “Where did the shooter get radicalized”? The answer was in college. Robinson was a kid from a conservative Mormon home who went to college for one year and then decided to go to tech school to become an electrician, which was a three-year apprenticeship. Instead of reporting the facts, this Fox News host had to create a narrative that our colleges are radicalizing our young people. They needed to create a boogie man instead of looking for real truths and real answers.

What is the “Deep State”? To me, the “Deep State” is just a boogie man that the Conservatives and the Trump administration have created to scare the country into not looking for the facts and for the country not demanding real solutions. It is similar to the nightmare tale that became the Salem Witch Trials or the Inquisitions of the 13^th century, where the search for the truth was not even part of the equation. It has always come down to the suppression of the truth for the acquisition of power. What we have right is a larger fight for our constitution, our checks and balances, and the constitutional fight over the executive branch, and whether there will be accountability to the constitution and to the law that once was the vision of our founding fathers.