BLACKMAIL: THE KEY TO UNLOCKING PIZZAGATE?

Note: this passage is taken from a longer work I am in the process of composing, on the meta-significance of #Pizzagate.

James Alefantis, owner of "family friendly" Comet Pizza.

by Andy Nowicki

It is important to acknowledge, first and foremost, that #Pizzagate is about many things. It is "relevant," that is to say, in numerous ways. It could even be said to "contain multitudes," none of them pretty or pleasant.

BLACKMAIL AND THE RED DEATH

The new Greek government.

by Colin Liddell

There is an art to blackmailing. I should know because I’m pretty sure my ancestors on the Scottish border were mixed up in it, either as perpetrators or victims, along with the Nixons, Maxwells, Armstrongs, and the other feisty Border clans.

You see, "blackmail" is an old Scottish Borders word, from back in the day when the Borders was a relatively lawless zone (for around 700 years) and what little law there was, carried a price tag.

Like any business transaction – kidnapping or hostage taking, for example – it depends on offering a relative service, i.e. giving the payer some benefit over not paying. Once the benefit is eliminated, it all becomes a bit pointless. Credibility is an issue. Morality not so much.