An investigation of most purported "threats" to public health and safety reveals that the greatest threat is centralized government power.
By John Leake
The Focal Points
November 12, 2026
The whole aim of practical politics is to keep the populace alarmed (and hence clamorous to be led to safety) by an endless series of hobgoblins, most of them imaginary. -H.L. Mencken
In response to my recent essay on the Russell Brand conviction, several readers asked me why on earth I published a detailed report on this case on our Substack newsletter. The point-which seems obvious to me-is that Russell Brand has been sent to prison solely on the grounds of public denunciations and accusations, with zero substantiating evidence.
It doesn't matter if you regard him as an unsympathetic or suspicious character. The moment the state is allowed to suspend hard-won legal protections against possible false accusations, we are back to the heresy trials and witch hunts of the 16th and 17th century, when thousands were burned at the stake on the grounds of accusations.
If that period of history strikes you as too remote, then consider the millions who lived under the great totalitarian regimes of the 20th century, in which men and women could be thrown into a Gulag or Concentration Camp on the basis of denunciations.
When feeling and expressing moral outrage becomes more important than adhering to due process for the accused, anyone who challenges the dictates of central power can be accused of all manner of offenses and incarcerated.
During the pandemic, Dr. Peter McCullough was accused of "spreading misinformation," fired from his job, sued by his former employer, forced to spend a fortune on attorneys, vilified and maligned in the public forum, stripped of his professorships, editorships, and most of his academic credentials. Such is the tried and true method by which tyrants eliminate critics and dissidents.
Elucidating the nature of tyranny in all its forms is the primary activity of our mission at this Focal Points newsletter and at our McCullough Foundation. As an investigative reporter, my job is to elucidate ALL the ways in "We the People" are manipulated, controlled, and exploited by central power.
Tyrants love emergencies and crises because they seemingly justify the expansion of state power and the massive theft and transfer of wealth from the citizenry to special interests who are ostensibly in the business of "countering" threats.
The purported threat could be anything-a novel infectious disease, changes in the earth's climate, Russian or Iranian bogeymen, or even moral defects such as "sexism" or "racism."
ANY threat can be deceptively used to justify a massive intervention such as transferring hundreds of billions of dollars and weapons to the "heroic" regime of Volodymyr Zelenskyy and his cronies in Ukraine to "save" the West from the Russian bogeyman, Vladimir Putin.
The innumerable indications that enormous wealth has been transferred from US taxpayers to Ukraine's corrupt oligarchy are obscured by propaganda. And, as we have learned about propaganda, it always works-it never fails to mesmerize millions, no matter how many times it is revealed that the US and other governments cannot be trusted.
I wonder what percentage of US taxpayers is aware of the mounting evidence that hundreds of millions of Western money, earmarked for protecting Ukraine's energy infrastructure, has likely been stolen?
For example, yesterday, November 10, Ukraine's TSN television news service published an investigative report showing a lavish penthouse with marble columns, gilded decorations, an indoor swimming pool, and a live crocodile kept in a terrarium.
The television report identifies the property in Dnipro, Ukraine as part of an investigation involving contracts to protect electrical infrastructure in the Kyiv region.
Ukrainian media identify the suspected owner as Vladyslav Sokolov, a businessman from Dnipro and former candidate for the Dnipropetrovsk regional council. Companies reportedly associated with Sokolov supplied construction materials for infrastructure-protection projects.
Whether Sokolov is indeed guilty of skimming funds earmarked for protecting Ukraine's energy infrastructure needs to be fully investigated and fairly adjudicated in court.
However, on the face of it, it seems odd that-in a country whose median household income is approximately $200 per month-Sokolov is apparently trying to surpass the Roman Emperor Nero in opulence. The following appears to be an image of him at his desk.
Why is investigating and reporting this story within our purview ? Because the US government's proxy war against Russia in Ukraine does NOT serve the interests of "We the People," and it elevates the risk of a nuclear exchange with Russia, which would have catastrophic consequences for our public health in the United States.
This article was originally published at The Focal Points.