CleverPeople.com: Gary Wright II's Blogs: October 2025}

We Need Whistleblowers

Gary Wright II — Fri, 31 Oct 2025 13:59:46 -0400

The Espionage Act is antiquated and broken, and it has been used to prosecute whistleblowers so they are unable to mount a legal defense. It's hard to present any evidence when everything in the case is classified.

We've had Chelsea Manning and Reality Winner who served jail time. Chelsea revealed our war crimes in Iraq to WikiLeaks, and so the CIA tried to assassinate Julian Assange. Reality leaked a NSA document that was evidence that Russia hacked our election systems. Edward Snowden tried to warn us about the mass surveillance problem, but only a small percentage of his leaked documents ever made it to the public. They tried to abduct Ed, so he was whisked off to Russia in quite an amazing operation. All of these persecutions and prosecutions of these heroes has served as a deterrent for future whistleblowers.

The good news is that hackers haven't stopped hacking, and leakers haven't stopped leaking. They're just being much more careful with their leaks. Instead of using WikiLeaks, there are sites like DDOSecrets which has had their .com URL censored on all of the social media platforms because of all of their information on police officers. Hacking collectives like Enlace Hacktivista have their own websites, and the dark web is chock full of stolen secrets (most are fake on the dark web, but some are real if you know where to look).

Chelsea is working on her memoirs, and I can't wait for them to be released. Here's an interview she just did, and it's really good to see her again and know she is readapting to a normal life: https://english.elpais.com/usa/2025-10-31/chelsea-manning-former-intelligence-analyst-if-someone-were-to-publish-a-massive-leak-today-people-would-say-oh-this-isnt-true.html

The Seven Steps of the "Authoritarian Playbook"

Gary Wright II — Thu, 30 Oct 2025 18:47:04 -0400

The seven steps of the "authoritarian playbook" were identified by the organization Protect Democracy to describe the tactics used by aspiring autocrats to gradually undermine democratic norms and consolidate power. This process is distinct from the military coups of the past, happening piece by piece to normalize and legitimize power grabs.

The seven steps are:

Politicizing independent institutions: Authoritarians attack independent functions of the government, such as the judiciary, intelligence agencies, law enforcement, and central banks. The goal is to capture or neutralize these checks on their power.
Spreading disinformation: While politicians may engage in "spin," authoritarians systematically propagate and amplify falsehoods to confuse the public and undermine the notion of objective truth. This disinformation often takes the form of coordinated efforts through aligned media outlets and other channels.
Aggrandizing executive power: Authoritarians weaken the other branches of government—such as legislatures and courts—and justify expanding their own power. This can involve rewriting rules or simply staffing competing institutions with loyalists.
Quashing dissent: Aspiring autocrats seek to silence opposition and criticism from a strong, independent press and political opponents. This can take many forms, from rhetoric to punitive actions.
Scapegoating vulnerable communities: Authoritarians attack marginalized or minority groups to sow division and turn parts of the population against one another. This strategy reinforces solidarity among their own supporters and demonizes those deemed "outsiders".
Corrupting elections: Rather than openly rigging elections, modern authoritarians maintain the facade of democracy while tilting the rules in their favor. This can include suppressing votes, biasing election administration, and even attempting to overturn results.
Stoking violence: Autocrats can use or deliberately turn a blind eye to political violence. This tactic can intimidate opponents, justify new restrictions on civil liberties, and discourage voters from participating.

Legal Immigration Is Being Dismantled

Gary Wright II — Thu, 30 Oct 2025 18:20:47 -0400

Trump has reduced the number of refugees accepted from 125,000 to only 7,500 which is the lowest in history. Of those 7,500, they are giving preference to white South Africans who claim they are being persecuted by having a majority Black nation. That claim doesn't hold water. Does anyone remember the apartheid in South Africa where whites controlled the country despite being a minority? The apartheid lasted for 46 years, and only ended when they held democratic elections in 1994 and Nelson Mandela became president.

Through their actions and their speeches, it's clear that Trump, Marco Rubio, and Stephen Miller only want rich white people to enter the country. Trump created his $1,000,000 "golden visa" so anyone with the money can bypass the system. They've increased the fees significantly for all of the immigration filing fees and there's a huge backlog of cases. It can take years for even a spouse to get a visa and over a decade for other family members. Trump created a $1,000 fee for refugees, but thankfully it looks like a federal judge is about to overturn that. They have been threatening the sponsors of immigrants with lawsuits and fines for any immigrant that uses public assistance. They've started charging $100,000 fees for H1-B worker visas which is used by a lot of rural hospitals to recruit physicians. Their entire immigration agenda is racist and despicable. Immigrants are the fabric of our communities and they are badly needed. We have to fight back against these changes!

Reporting from BBC on the changes for refugees: https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cy40jj71243o

CIA and Venezuela Regime Change

Gary Wright II — Wed, 29 Oct 2025 15:16:19 -0400

Our imminent war with Latin America is all about regime change and has nothing to do with drugs. Members of the military involved in the operation are being forced to sign Non-Disclosure Agreements (NDA) in order to hide their war crimes.

During Trump's first term, the CIA carried out various cyberattacks against Maduro in order to satisfy Trump's demand for them to do something. During one attack they disabled the network used by Maduro's intelligence agencies, but that was an easy attack. Cyber Command then interrupted the Wagner Group's satellite services (Putin supports Venezuela and has his "little green men" mercenaries in the country). In 2024 (during Biden's term) CIA agent Edwin Lopez offered Maduro's pilot General Bitner Villegas $50 million if he would divert his plane to another location where the USA could apprehend him. According to the Vice President of Venezuela, they captured CIA operatives who were planning a false flag operation in order to provide a pretext to war. The agents planned to attack a US ship and make it look like the attack was carried out by Venezuela.

During Trump's first term there were people in charge who resisted his ideas of a land invasion, but now in his second term he has enablers like Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. After the CIA failed to cause a regime change, Trump has now chosen the path of a kinetic ground war to eliminate Maduro.

Here's some reporting in the cyberattacks: https://edition.cnn.com/2025/10/29/politics/maduro-cyberattack-trump-cia

Reporting on the NDAs: U.S. Troops Reportedly Required To Sign NDA Before Taking Part In Campaign In The Caribbean

Reporting on the pilot plot: U.S. Officer Sought To Convince Maduro's Pilot To Divert His Flight So He'd Be Taken By American Forces, Report Claims

Reporting on the capture of CIA agents: Venezuela Claims Capture of Alleged CIA-Linked Mercenaries As U.S. Conducts Naval Drills Near Its Coast

What Gaza Ceasefire?

Gary Wright II — Tue, 28 Oct 2025 13:40:27 -0400

Israeli Crime Minister Netanyahu has just ordered a large military strike on Gaza. Neither side has been honoring the cease fire agreement, but the agreement was faulty from the start. There were no concrete plans on how to get Hamas to disarm, and Israel created a "yellow line" where they claim half of their land. Israeli settlers have been committing acts of violence against those trying to return home. Hamas is an evil terrorist organization, but Israel has been carrying out war crimes and attempting a genocide. There are plenty of hacked files on DDOSecrets that document what both sides have been doing. USA has been helping, and so we are just as guilty as Israel. Hopefully the International Criminal Court (ICC) will either have Netanyahu and Trump arrested, or go ahead and try them in absentia like they did George W. Bush. Philippines dictator Duterte is currently at the ICC being tried for his crimes against humanity during his brutal "war" on drugs. We know what all of them did, it's just a matter of bringing them to justice and exposing their crimes to the world. Keep hacking!

Reporting from BBC: https://www.bbc.com/news/live/c891ex72nj7t

Venezuela Claims Arrest of CIA Agents

Gary Wright II — Mon, 27 Oct 2025 15:46:51 -0400

Venezuelan Vice President Delcy Rodríguez didn't give details, but she said they have captured CIA mercenaries who were planning a false flag operation in order to justify an armed conflict and regime change. Congress is expecting to be briefed on Trump's planned land war, but a bill invoking the War Powers Resolution failed with a vote of 51-48. The GOP-led Congress has again given up its powers as an equal branch of government, and is allowing Trump to do whatever he wants. He's now approaching war crimes territory as he intends to start a war against Latin American countries. He is violating international law as well as the US Constitution. Who will stop him?

Media coverage from Latin Times: Venezuela Claims Capture of Alleged CIA-Linked Mercenaries As U.S. Conducts Naval Drills Near Its Coast

War With Venezuela

Gary Wright II — Thu, 23 Oct 2025 18:06:38 -0400

The strikes on alleged "narco-terrorist boats" in the Pacific Ocean and Caribbean Sea violate international law and the UN Charter. Without evidence or a trial in court, these attacks are extra-judicial murders of foreign citizens in international waters, which is considered an act of war. We have over 10,000 troops, special forces, and lots of military assets operating under CIA directions to force a regime change. Maduro needs to be taken out of power, but it isn't the role of the USA to do that - it should be done by Venezuelans. Today Trump says a ground war is next, as special forces and CIA have already been operating inside the country. Most of the refugees from Latin America are created because we previously interfered in their governments to put in the leader of our choice. Will we ever learn? The military industrial complex needs to be busted up and the defense budget cut to at least one-eighth of what it is in order to defund the defense contractors and "dark" programs that have billions of dollars with zero accountability. Do we really need another never-ending war? I think not, but idiot Trump wants regime change at any cost. He's crazy!

SPLC Designates October as Hate Crimes Awareness Month

Gary Wright II — Wed, 01 Oct 2025 18:37:30 -0400

Here's an interactive map where you can track the hate groups in your area. There are 1,371 hate and anti-government groups and 118 white nationalist groups terrorizing our nation, and the problem is getting worse. It's time to expose these folks for what they do! They are well-funded and well-organized, so we must also get organized and put some effort into stopping them. This month I'm going to expose the inner workings of one of the most insidious hate groups that uses religion as their shield - so stay tuned!
https://www.splcenter.org/hate-map/