Puzzled by Steve Bannon’s abrupt departure from Trump’s White House? Rachel shed some light on it last night. Watching her MSNBC show, I gathered that Bannon’s secret boss is a billionaire named Robert Mercer and Bannon’s reassignment marks a new tactic in Mercer’s campaign to push Trump – and the country – farther to the right.
Apparently, Mercer figures Bannon will be more useful rabble rousing on the web than as a White House insider.
Mercer was the largest single contributor to Trump’s election campaign, Rachel noted.
It was Mercer who put Bannon and Kellyanne Conway in charge of the campaign. It’s Mercer who funds Bannon’s alt-right web site. And it’s Mercer who gives Bannon his marching orders.
Intrigued, I Googled Robert Mercer this morning. And what I found is chilling.
This man and his daughter Rebekah belong in a James Bond film. As the villains, of course. (see illustration).
A computer wizard who uses electronics to generate huge gains on the stock market, Mercer subscribes to the most preposterous conspiracy theories. And he is hell bent on changing America to his liking.
In his world, the Clintons are murderers, man-made climate change is a hoax, it’s the African-Americans who’re racist, government “elements” are behind terrorist attacks, “mainstream” journalists are all liars – and so on.
In addition to funding Trump’s campaign, Bannon’s alt-right web site and a long list of “conservative” think tanks, Mercer has financed spurious books and films “exposing” the Clintons and advancing weird notions.
O
ne film seems to present the Duck Dynasty patriarch (at right) as a latter-day prophet.
Mercer also has a “psychological operations” (propaganda) company called Cambridge Analytica, which played a major role in Trump’s campaign.
Mercer’s ambitions extend beyond America. He also supported the campaign that pushed Britain out of the European Union.
Interestingly, it’s Mercer’s daughter Rebekah who manages his propaganda campaign. She has been called “the Most Powerful Woman in GOP Politics.”
Terrifyingly, Rebekah Mercer shares her father’s commitment to the radical right. She runs the family foundation, which doles out millions to “conservative” non-profit groups. And she is on the boards of influential think tanks, including the Heritage Foundation.
Obviously, it’s not the people we vote for who call the shots in America today. It’s the billionaires who secretly fund them. I’m sure you know that Mercer is not alone in this category. The Koch brothers and Sheldon Adelson come to mind for example.
And it seems there’s nothing anyone can do to change this frightening phenomenon.
