Sometimes I think the deep state is like an onion. Peel back one layer, and another layer presents itself.
Sometimes I think it is like a basement with an endless procession of sub-basements. Excavate one, and you encounter another below it. It is like that bit of Hindu cosmology that envisions the world resting on the back of a turtle, which rests on the back of a larger turtle, which rests on the back of a still larger turtle. Asked what that larger turtle stands upon, the answer is that it is "turtles all the way down."
That said, I suspect that the difficulty in surveying the deep state is not its depth but its extent. That is, I suspect that its roots are shallow while its area is both indefinitely large and protean.
The deep state also seems to resemble the Lernaean Hydra of Greek mythology. Hercules was sent to dispatch this multi-headed monster in the second of his twelve labors. Not only did the beast have poisonous breath, but its blood was so toxic that even its scent was fatal. Furthermore, the hydra had this alarming characteristic: if you cut off one of its heads, two grew back in its place. Hercules overcame this problem by having the stump of each head cauterized as soon as he had cut it off.
Another curious feature of the deep state is that exposure often fails to elicit effective condemnation. This is due in part to the propaganda arm of the deep state, sometimes called "the media," which does not so much report the news as echo the narrative fabricated by the deep state.
Consider the revelations about the Somali fraud in Minneapolis. I thought, and I continue to think, that that massive fraud perpetrated by Democrats will (to continue with Hercules) cauterize one head of the deep state hydra. What is interesting, though, is the alacrity with which the deep state stepped up to replace or at least drown out that revelation with the cacophony about ICE murdering innocent protestors. At the end of the day, I do not think that gambit will work in the court of public opinion. If you drive your car into an ICE agent, you should first be sure that your life insurance premiums are current. The same can be said about carrying a military-grade handgun to a protest and then getting into a fight with ICE agents. It’s not a recipe for longevity.