Deranged Rhino

This is demonstrably false. If it were true, Bernie wouldn’t have pushed the Trump/Russia (a CIA concoction) for as long as he did. Bernie has no prayer of reigning in the IC. He’d be run over by them, as he’s been his entire congressional career.

Politics aside -- Trump's willingness to let the media show how the sausage is made live has been a boon to transparency overall.

Schiff should be along to leak it soon enough.

Not yet that I'm aware of.

I'm not a smart man before my coffee. I meant Aztec not Myan.

It does. Myan and Incan. Specifically, their sacrificial sites.

I'll take a pre-coffee crack at these two questions: 1) " If intelligent life exists, and as you imply, has been around far longer than us, in what way do you feel we'd be most likely to be threatened by them if at all." How could we be threatened by an advanced ETI species? How many different Sci-Fi plots do you want to re-hash? The answer would depend on what kind of intelligent life discovers us. An advanced species who is scavenging for resources could view our species in the same way the indigenous people were viewed by Europeans when they crossed the ocean, it didn't work out too well for the natives did it? Or, that same scavenging species could view us as less than microbes, and wipe us out simply to get us out of the way. No muss no fuss. Perhaps it's a more benign species, aquatic based, who views whales and dolphins as the intelligent life on this planet and our own species as a surface nuisance. Maybe they ignore us completely in favor of their research/communication with our ocean dwelling mammals -- until they decide our pollution is a threat and, in a move to protect the true intelligent life on this blue ball, they decide to wipe us out so the oceans can flourish. Or, perhaps, it's a species that's more interested in genetic engineering and farming than they are conquest. A species like this, could have discovered us millions of years ago and tinkered with our genetics and DNA in order to "grow" a science experiment. Perhaps they "grow" us for research, perhaps they "grow us" for profit (selling us off world/using us for parts or food), perhaps they are just playing a giant game of civilization for kicks. Genetic farmers, depending on their goals, would not only be observing their science experiment but also arranging our society/culture/governments to best help them continue their work undetected and unabated. The possibilities are as endless as your imagination when it comes to this question. 2) "How would they explore the Galaxy/universe?" Again, this answer could have (likely has) multiple answers. Some species may have developed along a technological timeline similar to our own, and are using (somewhat) conventional technology to cross the distances of the stars -- things like fusion reactors, arc ships/generational ships (where they exhaust lifetimes crossing the vast expanse of space, using cloning/genetics to keep their population going during the journey). There could be (likely are) many species who travel using scalar technology and worm hole travel which defy our (incomplete) models of physics. Then there are those who could use their advanced consciousness to travel vast distances without technology at all. The possibilities are once again quite endless. Let's just say, for the sake of discussion, that we (the US Gov't) had recovered technology from ETI visitors -- either in the form of crashes or straight forward technological exchanges. And let's say, for the sake of discussion, that these technologies have been locked away behind national security classifications at DARPA and Skunkworks and within the national defense industry for 70+ years. If, and it's a big if, that's true and there is a push to unveil some of this technology (for whatever reason) -- then the Space Force is the perfect vehicle. They can reveal "new" technology (which is really old) under the guise of this program, and if that tech involves propulsion and energy creation, then it would make sense to have the department of energy as a member of the space council. Made my morning with that one.