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The Swamp—Muddy Waters Run Deep

By Edward Pozzuoli

July 3, 2026

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Swamps are low-lying wetlands that are naturally beneficial environments, supporting balanced ecosystems and contributing to flood management, erosion control, and groundwater revitalization. Dense vegetation and diverse wildlife provide soil stability, promoting fresh water and oxygen, critical for all life, breeding a wide mixture of foliage and varied species. Muddying the waters stirs up sediment in those still, calm waters, creating a cloudy, murky, and unclear state. In this condition, it is difficult to identify the dangers or complexity of this “unknown.”

Metaphorically, to “muddy the waters” creates a situation that is more complicated and confusing than it needs to be. It obscures transparency and is often deliberately used to deceive and introduce false information. This makes an uncomplicated issue appear muddled, claiming it is deeper than it is, especially when there is a lack of substantive evidence. In essence, this tactic exploits and obfuscates any crisis so as to promote nefarious agendas or secure personal advantage. Is it any wonder that the title above reflects our current political environment?

However bipartisan the past may have been, including southern conservative Democrats and northern liberal Republicans, we have strayed from our revered two-party system, which historically has championed America. However, today we need to identify the several adversarial groups contending for total control of the sociopolitical future of our precious republic.

 

The Uniparty

First and foremost is the traditional “DC Beltway,” the remnants of Washington’s established professional politicians. Over the last two generations, with a common purpose, they have morphed into a cohesive, coordinated, distinct group: “The Uniparty.” The non-partisan objective of these bureaucratic institutions is to retain and increase power, aided by the complicit media and covert intelligence agencies.

This group is often referred to as the establishment, the deep state, the elite ruling class, the bureaucratic machine, or just “the swamp.”

For the last century-plus, they’ve strengthened and centralized federal control, served financial factions, constrained the private sector, dictated our education, and forcibly gambled with anti-nature social engineering—all “justified” by a postmodern nihilism lacking any moral clarity. Collectively, perpetuating their authority, this group is often referred to as the establishment, the deep state, the elite ruling class, the bureaucratic machine, or just “the swamp.”

Many enter politics with the good intention of correcting the corruption that has evolved. But the moment they dip their toe into the swamp, they realize it’s a luxury spa with a lifelong membership—if they fall in line. George Orwell, in his dystopian masterpiece, 1984, captures the essence of this political milieu: “We know that no one ever seizes power with the intention of relinquishing it. Power is not a means; it is an end.”

 

The Ideological Zealots

As with any unprincipled stagnant organization, cracks began to appear, allowing the ideological ethos of Marxism to ooze from this muddy swamp. These obscure, cryptic fractures have laid the foundation for the “legitimacy” of today’s radicals. The subversives of yesteryear have quietly embedded themselves throughout our culture as liberal progressives, the new left, and the Democratic Socialists. They began coalescing around Bernie Sanders, advocating egalitarian “equality” and racial tribalism, with the vague suggestion of violence in ambiguous terms such as “social murder.” The murkiness of the swamp’s shallow waters has obscured its underlying credo: the condemnation of all Western values, including our free-market capitalist system (which they regard as “unjust”) and all forms of law enforcement (which they regard as evil).

Whether they know it or not, they are students of community organizer Saul Alinsky.

Whether they know it or not, they are students of community organizer Saul Alinsky. In addition to his subversive tactics to empower the next generation of activists, in his 1971 playbook, Rules for Radicals, he states: “In the beginning the organizer’s first job is to create the issues or problems.” Rahm Emanuel understood this protocol and notoriously said, “Never allow a crisis to go to waste.” Think COVID, George Floyd, or the Southern Poverty Law Center. Alinsky’s goal was to cause social instability and dependency through seditious and divisive rhetoric. Adhering to the Cloward & Piven strategy, they use their political influence to economically overwhelm a society with immigration and social welfare programs, creating a class-warfare of hate, psychological fear, and social unrest. Most recently, Hillary and Obama were notable devotees, “fundamentally transforming the United States” and dramatically shifting the Democratic Party to the extreme left.

Recently, these Marxists have courted strange bedfellows under the cover of religious equality: the Nazi-like Islamists.

Recently, these Marxists have courted strange bedfellows under the cover of religious equality: the Nazi-like Islamists. For 1,300 years, these jihadists have promulgated their intransigent primitive beliefs, treating women as subhuman and murdering infidels, in order to advance their barbaric theocracy. This bizarre “red-green alliance” is fostering an anti-Semitic atmosphere, enabling the rise of Marxist candidates around our country. Recent election results in New York City, Los Angeles, Seattle, and in our nation’s capital, as well as by Platner in Maine, Somalis in Minnesota, and Muslims in Michigan, may only be the beginning of this socialist surge.

The last several generations of the swamp have muddied the waters, concealing the birth of their bastard stepchildren. Their carefully groomed fanatical offspring have increasingly polarized the public and created division along racial, economic, religious, and political lines. For years, these Marxist ideologues, “the enemy within,” have been nurturing an anti-American movement in an attempt to undermine the soul of our country. Believing their “utopian” moment has finally arrived, they are now determined to hijack the Democratic Party, creating a permanent presence.

 

But Why?

Identifying these groups raises the question: How did we get here? The deep-seated establishment of the swamp has persisted in its growing dominance, controlling the reins of power since the turn of the twentieth century. As European despotic collectivism steadily crept into our system, the Progressive movement began eroding our natural rights and undermining our individualism. This Marxist indoctrination has trickled down from our elite universities and moved both political parties to foster the socialist cancer of a mixed economy. The natural progression of this disease has led to malignant welfare state policies, metastasized primarily by the Democrats.

In 1948, Norman Thomas, a six-time US Presidential candidate of the Socialist Party, stated:

The American people will never knowingly adopt Socialism. But under the name of “liberalism” they will adopt every fragment of the Socialist program, until one day America will be a Socialist nation, without knowing how it happened.

This sentiment was furthered in 1984 by Gus Hall, a four-time presidential candidate of the Communist Party: “There’s no longer a need for the Communist Party USA because the Democratic Party has adopted all our platforms.” Both Thomas and Hall quit American politics, agreeing that both parties have quietly embraced and implemented nearly every collectivist tenet of their Marxist ideology.

For the last two decades, our social divisiveness and political hostilities have consistently intensified, and Ayn Rand’s writings have become eerily prophetic. Paraphrasing one of her insightful observations, it is becoming increasingly clear that, if left unchecked, the liberals will defeat the conservatives; the progressives will defeat the liberals; the socialists will defeat the progressives; the communists will defeat the socialists.

Rand predicted that when the Marxist communists win, total collectivism will be achieved: the sacrifice of all individuals to the state, resulting in an inevitable authoritarian dictatorship.

Is this the discreet, unrealized trajectory of the “ideological zealots,” or worse, the resolute, deceitful aim of “The Uniparty” that justifies power by any means? Notice, we have been steadily moved leftward by the vociferous liberal democrats and the silent RINOs, now functioning as a “Uniparty” and being pulled even further leftward by the ideologues of the Democrat Party’s progressive wing. Will communism and an authoritarian dictatorship be the final steps for our country?

The illusion that our elections make any significant difference has given the populace a sense of participation in determining the country’s future. But, for generations and behind the scenes, the swamp’s faceless puppet masters have pulled the strings and danced the politicians to promote their hidden agenda of increased authority and to sanction one-party rule.

As Ayn Rand so aptly stated in her 1963 essay “Collectivized Rights” (in The Virtue of Selfishness):

There are four characteristics which brand a country unmistakably as a dictatorship: one party rule—executions without trial or with a mock trial, for political offenses—the nationalization or expropriation of private property—and censorship.

Notice how each of these characteristics has imperceptibly crept into our current political reality, actively stirring the swamp and muddying the waters while slyly vying for dominance. Their subtle Marxist methods direct a fabricated narrative, create psychological fear and dependence, foster division of competing interests, and proselytize in broad, subjectively interpreted platitudes—all of it discreetly but forcefully executed by the levers of administrative power.

“The Uniparty” is evil, deep-rooted, and very potent, willing to retain power at any cost. Its motivations and decisions promote continued command and control instead of the nation’s betterment.

The hordes of “ideological zealots” have mostly succumbed to the swamp’s tactics and goals, while secretly furthering their unrealistic utopian ideals with an almost religious fanaticism. They’ve become blind, indoctrinated minions, an army of “useful idiots,” which the establishment quietly encourages. Their marching orders, coming from some elusive wizard or other, are carried out by a cadre of organized revolutionaries, whose mission is to undermine America’s core values and create chaos. As money mysteriously appears, paid insurgents masquerade as peaceful protesters, but are overtly bent on violence and allegations of brutality when they are apprehended.

As summarized by C. Bradley Thompson in his essay, “Why Marxism—Evil Laid Bare” (in The Objective Standard):

Engraved on Marx’s tombstone are the words: “The philosophers have only interpreted the world in various ways; the point, however, is to change it.” A proper Marxist revolutionary is one who is morally prepared to use violence—what Marx called “revolutionary terrorism.” It is a call to a particular kind of action—to armed action—to violent revolution—to permanent revolution.

Both these hateful groups must rely on the brazen use of offensive force, relying on the foolish tolerance of violence by too many of our leaders. Their savagery and corruption have steadily increased, becoming normalized, and now threaten our treasured “life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness.”

But will they eventually splinter or fall in line with the swamp? Will the diabolical Islamists surreptitiously continue to expand Sharia throughout their nationally established network? Will the revolutionary zealots persist in advancing their radical Marxist agenda by any means necessary?

 

So, Now What?

As a nation, we must first identify the type of governance and freedoms we want. History has shown that freedom is impossible in cooperation with “ideological zealots,” which must result in some form of authoritarian rule. “The Uniparty,” whether intended or not, will ultimately reach the same conclusion. All that will be left are limited and elastic rights, as the masses are gradually deceived into thinking that the swamp’s form of collectivism is the only available moral ideal for the “greater good.”

An honest assessment reveals just a single, binary choice—freedom or statism.

Since the Obama years, our country’s political disunity has encouraged a hyper-partisan “pick-a-side” mentality representing either pro-American or anti-American. Will the next decade play out with a reinvigorated Republican Party, navigating towards a freer, constrained, limited government? Will these intransigent ideologues hijack the Democratic Party? Could “The Uniparty’s” influence diminish through attrition and divided loyalties, or will their authority strengthen and intensify, crushing all and installing one-party rule forever? Time will tell.

Hopefully, the ongoing exposé of the Marxists will continue to reveal their anti-American nature to the voters, while unraveling their political alliances. And, optimistically, justice will prevail as the muddy waters of the corrupt, deceitful swamp continue to be exposed, turning it into an environment of accountability and transparency. Once these evils are recognized, the muddied waters of the swamp can become clear. All the fearful and complicated “unknowns” will recede, and it can turn into a calm lake with a peaceful, transparent clarity.

Until then, however, knowing the outcomes of both of these collectivist systems, the populace must embrace its civic responsibility and totally reject both of them. Whatever other alternatives are available, they may at least be a possible pathway to preserving our freedoms. Today is a battle for ideologies, best summed by Patrick Henry’s impassioned quote, “Give me liberty, or give me death!”

As we approach our glorious 250th anniversary, the entire nation should embrace an inspired, rational patriotism that celebrates “truth, justice, and the American way.” Returning to our republic’s enlightened principles, as our Founding Fathers intended, we can then swat away the zealots and drain that infested swamp of its malevolent Uniparty.

 

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