My brother Nicholas is a man of action and ideas and sometimes I wonder if he

was born in the wrong century or centuries before. He spent 31 years in the

foreign service of the US government and the intelligence community. He's a

writer now retired from the government and in corporate life, living in Europe.

And he's our guest on the Chicago Way podcast.

Nick has just written an outstanding piece for the American conservative magazine

under this title, Lessons from a Turkish coup. The country that invented the deep state

teaches us how it can be dealt with. And the parallels between Turkey and the United States

are striking. Between Turkey going through coups, the deep state, the Kamalis there,

and the United States now since the trump years of the Russia collusion host. And perhaps before

the Washington establishment becomes the American Kamalists. And if there's anyone who knows about

the Kamalis and Turkey and the Kamalis and Washington and the deep state, it is Nicholas

Spirit on Cass, my brother Nick. When we were young and working in the butcher shop

of our family's store, Nick was also working towards his black belt in Kyokushin Karate.

He disappeared into the meat cooler and threw left hooks at the hanging cattle,

just like Rocky Belboa. And our dad hated that. Years later, he disappeared into his books and

papers at Georgetown University. And then later, he disappeared into Turkey, Syria, wherever we

didn't know. The US government knew where he was, but we didn't know. And he never talked about

his work. Our mom didn't like that because moms want to know everything.

He's now retired, as I said, and can talk some, having served 31 years,

mostly as Deputy Assistant Secretary of State, Director of Intelligence at the White House,

National Security Council, Deputy National Intelligence Office for Europe,

...