May 5, 2017 --

Here is a New York Times front page headline, for April 20: "Ex-Trump Aide's Russia Trip Sent F.B. I. Digging." The story, focusing on one Carter Page, suggests that a trip by Mr. Page to give "a Russia-friendly speech" in Moscow, "last July was a catalyst for the F.B.I. investigation into connections between Russia and President Trump's campaign...."

(Note, by the way, that on page A14 of the April 20 New York Times, we read: Mr. Page's role in the Trump campaign appears to have been minimal." Shouldn't that front page headline have read: " Person with Minimal Ties to Trump Sent F.B.I. Digging."?)

But was it Carter Page who spurred the F.B.I, probe of links between Trump and Putin?

The following is taken from an April 18 posting at the CNN website:

"Washington (CNN)The FBI last year used a dossier of allegations of Russian ties to Donald Trump's campaign as part of the justification to win approval to secretly monitor a Trump associate, according to US officials briefed on the investigation."

The dossier in question is the dossier, cited, a while back, by CNN and published by Buzzfeed, based on anti-Trump material gathered by Christopher Steele, said to be a former British intelligence operative. The material, much of it salacious, if not bizarre, has never been substantiated, let alone used as the basis of official charges of wrongdoing -- against anyone.

So -- what is Meddlegate all about?.

Wikipedia's definition of "yellow journalism" includes "eye-catching headlines to sell more newspapers" and "exaggerations of news events...." That New York Times headline concerning an F.B.I. probe sparked by someone having "minimal" contact with "the Trump campaign" -- and, arguably, no contact with candidate Trump, seems like a fine candidate for the Wikipedia definition of "yellow journalism."

And what of the constant reports of Trump-Russia links in The New York Times, specifically, and the monolithic medias generally -- reports devoid of any substance -- reports whose constant reiteration seems aimed at politicizing the truth?

In Orwell's "1984," O'Brien noted, as he tortured Winston Smith,: "Whatever the Party holds to be truthis truth. [Emphasis in original.] O'Brien went on to make clear to Smith that if he held up four fingers and the Party said he was holding up five, the truth is that five fingers are held up. (Smith, insisting the answer was still four, received a painful shock for his obstinacy.)

To this Orwellianism, we should next consider the principle "that when one lies, one should lie big, and stick to it." This principle, also discussed at Wikipedia. is attributed to the Nazi propaganda chief, Joseph Goebbels.

This, then, is to suggest that Meddlegate is about a mammoth lie that will continue and be maintained by the "yellow journalism," that now infects the Monolithic Media -- for the purpose of defaming, and framing, Donald. J. Trump so as to obtain his removal from the Oval Office. ( It is, intended, effectively, to get us to say "five" when four fingers are held before our eyes.")

There is a fictional source for this kind of thing. See, please, John le Carre's "The Spy Who Came in From the Cold," which relates how British intelligence framed an East German counter-intelligence official to protect its mole in the East German Abteilung.

For additional support for the notion that Meddlegate is variation on the le Carre novel, first, go to page 133 of the novel's hardcover Coward-McCann 1964 edition. There you will find British agent (and fall guy) Alec Leamas calling Fiedler (the loyal East German official) "Mundt's poodle." (Mundt was the East German who was turned by the Brits).

Next, see the October 12, 2016 New York Times editorial, "Donald Trump's Weird World," which suggests that Trump is "Mr. Putin's poodle." Was the writer of this editorial slyly giving readers the fictional inspiration for Meddlegate? Did the editorial writer carelessly give the game away -- or was he or she have fun, certain that no one would link Meddlegate to the le Carre novel?

The left will not cease the mammoth lie of Meddlegate. The antidote is a political party that rejects the politicization of truth, and that has the will to resist the actual forces of authoritarianism -- on the left --that threaten the Constitution, and the spirit of American liberty.

Thus far, the Republican leaders in Congress have not demonstrated that they have the will to honor their oath to defend the Constitutuion of the United States against the counter-Constitution cabal.

To steal a phrase of a now-former Fox News personality: What say you, House Speaker Paul Ryan; what say you Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell; what say you Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Richard Burr?