Reader makes ominous comparison to (in)fertility, Raniere, and Asimov’s ‘the Mule’

A reader writes:

Keith Raniere himself has identified Isaac Asimov as one of his heroes, and his classic science fiction “Foundation Trilogy” as inspirational to him.

It has already been noted here that mind-control, by the tragic antagonist who styles himself “the Mule,” is the concluding premise of the Foundation Trilogy.

Given the overwhelming volume of reports of Raniere’s sex-addiction, and of women being promised that they would bear his blessed child, is it not strange that only a single child, Kristen Keeffe’s son, has ever issued from the compound in Clifton Park?

Given the data, it is difficult to avoid the conclusion that Keith Raniere may be (nearly) infertile.

And one could easily believe that this would infuriate him. In his own mind, he is the smartest man  in history. How tragic that an heir is denied to him.

And this brings us back to the Foundation Trilogy, and the reason the tragic antagonist adopts the title “the Mule.”

The Mule is actually a small, skinny, and deformed man, who poses as his own escaped court jester Magnifico, to trick agents of the First Foundation into finding the Second Foundation for him.  The young woman protagonist Beyta Darrell is able to halt his rise, because he chooses not to control her mind, because she is the first woman who had ever liked Magnifico without being controlled emotionally.  After foiling him, she says

“You shall be the last ruler of your dynasty, as well as the first!”

Something caught Magnifico.  “Of my dynasty?  Yes, I had thought of that, often.  That I might establish a dynasty.  That I might have a suitable consort.”

Bayta suddenly caught the meaning of the look in his eyes and froze horribly.

Magnifico shook his head.  “I sense your revulsion, but that’s silly.  If things were otherwise, I could make you happy very easily.  It would be an artificial ecstasy, but there would be no difference between it and the genuine emotion.  But things are NOT otherwise.  I call myself the Mule — but not because of my strength — obviously –”

 

 

muleraniere
Keith Raniere as ‘The Mule’

About the author

Frank Parlato

1 Comment

Click here to post a comment

Please leave a comment: Your opinion is important to us! (Email & username are optional)

  • So Raniere is inspired by The Mule as a character that he has an affinity for and wants to possibly be like? It fits since Raniere’s been accused of running a mind-control type cult by Rick Ross and psychomanipulative powers are The Mule’s thing.

About the Author

Frank Parlato is an investigative journalist.

His work has been cited in hundreds of news outlets, like The New York Times, The Daily Mail, VICE News, CBS News, Fox News, New York Post, New York Daily News, Oxygen, Rolling Stone, People Magazine, The Sun, The Times of London, CBS Inside Edition, among many others in all five continents.

His work to expose and take down NXIVM is featured in books like “Captive” by Catherine Oxenberg, “Scarred” by Sarah Edmonson, “The Program” by Toni Natalie, and “NXIVM. La Secta Que Sedujo al Poder en México” by Juan Alberto Vasquez.

Parlato has been prominently featured on HBO’s docuseries “The Vow” and was the lead investigator and coordinating producer for Investigation Discovery’s “The Lost Women of NXIVM.” In addition, he was credited in the Starz docuseries 'Seduced' for saving 'slave' women from being branded and escaping the sex-slave cult known as DOS.

Parlato appeared on the Nancy Grace Show, Beyond the Headlines with Gretchen Carlson, Dr. Oz, American Greed, Dateline NBC, and NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt, where Parlato conducted the first-ever interview with Keith Raniere after his arrest. This was ironic, as many credit Parlato as one of the primary architects of his arrest and the cratering of the cult he founded.

Parlato is a consulting producer and appears in TNT's The Heiress and the Sex Cult, which premieres on May 22, 2022.

IMDb — Frank Parlato

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frank_Parlato,_Jr.

Contact Frank with tips or for help.
Phone / Text: (305) 783-7083
Email: frankparlato@gmail.com

Archives