Update from the
Heartland
No.754
23.5.16 – 29.5.16
Blog version: http://heartlandupdate.blogspot.com/
To all,
The follow-up news items:
-- U.S. Attorney General Loretta Elizabeth Lynch announced
she has decided to seek the death penalty for Dylann Roof – the man charged
with killing nine parishioners at the historic Emmanual AME (African Methodist
Episcopal) Church (est. 1816), Charleston, South Carolina [705; 17.June.2015]. Roof
is charged with nine counts of murder in state court and with hate crimes in
federal court. He had hoped his murderous
actions would spark further racial violence; he failed. Roof deserves to pay the ultimate price
for his crimes.
-- The State Department’s Office of the Inspector General issued its
report to Congress on the whole mixing of private and governmental eMail,
Clinton’s private server, and the missing official records issue [713]. The IG faulted Hillary Clinton and four of her
predecessors for “long-standing” failures in record keeping and cyber-security compliance.
The IG’s independent report is separate from the FBI’s criminal investigation. The findings are not surprising and are
certainly consistent with my understanding of the facts associated with this
issue. I am truly and genuinely
disappointed in the cavalier attitude of so many secretaries of state toward
cyber-security and disregard for the Presidential Recordings Preservation Act
[PL 93-526; 88 Stat. 1695; 19.December.1974], and specifically Title II – Public Documents
Act [88 Stat. 1698]. This is not new law. Clinton’s blatant disregard for the law
and policy that applies to ALL federal employees including the secretary of
state and the president remains the most troubling element of this affair.
President Obama visited the Socialist
Republic of Vietnam (SRV) to continue the process of improving relations for a
host of reasons, not least of which is collecting up the regional nations to
counter the hegemonic land grab of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) in the
South China Sea. The President
made his Vietnam visit on his way to the G-7 Summit in Ise-Shima, Japan, where
the leaders had plenty of topics to discuss from the aggressiveness of Russia
and the PRC, to the economic doldrums and risks. After the summit conference, President Obama went with Prime
Minister Shinzo Abe to Hiroshima, becoming the first U.S. president to visit
the memorial to those who died that August day in 1945. The President paid his respects on
behalf of this Grand Republic and gave an admirable speech. Yet, what struck me in the Press
coverage of the ceremonial event were the references used by too many media
talking heads – terms like tragedy, horrific, and the darkest day in human
history. Really? You will never hear me use terms like
that. I see Truman’s decision in
far broader terms; the instantaneous cost of (at the outside) a quarter of a
million lives, the two bombings ended the war and saved perhaps three million
or more Allied and Japanese lives.
There was no reason to apologize for those two events. If there was an apology due, it should
have come from Prime Minister Abe for the many millions of lives taken by the
hegemonic offensive actions of Imperial Japan. For the record, I think President Obama made an appropriate
gesture of reconciliation in both Vietnam and Japan. Well done, Sir!
President Obama signed into law the Women Airforce
Service Pilot Arlington Inurnment Restoration Act [PL
114-158; H.R.4336; Senate: unanimous consent; House: 385-0-0-48(2); 129
Stat. xxxx; 20.May.2016], which enables former WASPs
to be interred at Arlington National Cemetery along with male military service
personnel. This is an appropriate
follow-on law to the congressional gold medal law [PL
111-040; 123 Stat. 1958; 1.July.2009]. This action was long overdue, and I am
grateful it is finally done.
Comments and contributions from Update no.753:
“A granddaughter graduating from high school! Oh, my. Very hard to believe it’s that time already. Congratulations!
“This just in on MS804:
My response:
Thx
for yr generous words. Yes, it is
that time, but Tylyn is the only graduate this year.
Thx
for the news. I have not received
confirmatory news from my other usual aviation safety sources. I am confident they will find the FDR
& CVR in comparative short order.
The data will tell us a lot more than we know at the moment. Standing by . .
. . . Round two:
“Regarding MS804, let the confusion continue. Why does this have to happen every time
there is an aviation accident? I
had accident investigation as one of my graduate courses and I’ve studied many
accidents over the years. The
media frenzy that always ensues after an accident and the misinformation that
is liberally dispersed really pisses me off. I guess it’s one of those don’t let the facts get in the way
of a good story kind of things.”
. . . my response to round two:
Re:
MS804. I’m with you on this one,
Brother. Spot on! The 24/7 news cycle has driven more
than a few electronic news sources to fill the space with virtually anything
and everything they can get their hands on, and when there is not enough of
that, they find “experts” like the GOP front-runner, who unilaterally declared
the root cause, since he is omniscient . . . like God. Unfortunately, we must filter out all
the noise and focus on the facts.
Equally, too many citizens do not understand the aviation crash investigation
process and the methodical time it takes to perform a proper investigation, and
regrettably, some elements of the Press play to the lowest common denominator
for ratings and dollars.
‘Nuf
said.
. . . Round three:
"Agreed!
But, you are too quick to disparage the GOP frontrunner, akin to the left
always blaming Bush at every opportunity, and quite possibly like me blaming at
every opportunity you present to me the rampant unchecked lack of leadership in
our administration and government and the disintegrating social fabric of our
nation on our leader.”
. . . my response to round three:
Wow! Most impressive, actually! I resist disparagement; he is doing an
incredible job of that all by himself . . . just opening his mouth. The disgusting demonstration continues to
this very day. It appears I shall
have to change my moniker for him, soon, which means we will be bombarded by
his obnoxious behavior for another five months; and, who knows, heaven forbid,
for the next four years. I see him
in an entirely different light than many other Americans. I shudder to think anyone can see him
as a leader of anything beyond his shameless self-promotion, devoid of even a
sliver of detectible humility or compassion for another human being. And, for the record, my opinion of the
GOP front-runner evolved from a time long, long ago, and he has amplified my
impression by orders of magnitude in the last year of this quadrennial rendition
of the silly season. Other than
that, Kemosahbee . . . hey, he’s a great man; and, my opinion has absolutely
nothing to do with anyone else other than him (alone), and Barack did not make
me say that.
. . . Round four:
“Should I just make it easy on myself and give up, and let us let
the Alan Combs, the Valerie Jarretts, the Jemhu Greens, and the Juan Williams
of the country continue to run amok and not hold leadership of the country
accountable, for it is the likes of them and their ilk that have created the
GOP frontrunner. And it is that GOP frontrunner that many Americans see
as someone willing to say something in the face of political correctness, do
something about the rampant entitlement chaos, and hold accountable those that
need to be held accountable. I am one of those Americans that is fed up
with political correctness run amok, fed up with the growing entitlement mentality,
and extremely fed up with the leadership of our country putting themselves
above the law and not holding their employees accountable. I may have
regrets down the road, but at this point in time I am eagerly willing to accept
the likes of the GOP frontrunner. Now that I have given you another
opportunity to defend the king again, fire away and tell me where I’m wrong.”
. . . my response to round four:
No,
you should not just give up. The
political terrain has changed. CNN
reports previous uncommitted delegates have declared for the Republican
front-runner, which in turn has apparently pushed him past the 1,237-delegate
threshold. I will wait until after
the 7.June primaries to acknowledge his change in status. So, regardless of what I think of the
man, it appears he will be the Republican Party nominee and will stand for
election on 1.November – that election is the only one that counts. In accordance with the Constitution,
the Electoral College will affirm the choice in December.
Re:
Political accountability. I cannot
argue with the logic or reasoning in your position. Justice says, people who do wrong should be punished,
regardless of their position, wealth, authority, or narcissism. So, I find myself in a rather awkward
position. I cannot defend the
wrong-doing in the Obama Administration; those who did wrong should be
punished. However, I can cite
examples of unpunished wrong-doing in every administration at least back to
Johnson, and perhaps beyond, if I worked at it. This is not to justify what the current administration has
done . . . only to put things in perspective.
Re:
GOP front-runner. I see numerous
fatal character flaws that make him dangerous in the Oval Office, and I use
that word intentionally and specifically.
Yet, the choice is not up to me.
If We, the People, vote for the Republican front-runner, he will become
POTUS, and I will do my level best to respect whomever is President of the
United States of America, as I have tried to do with every President from
Barack Obama and prior. I truly
regret that political polarization has produced such blindness in our citizenry.
At
the end of the day, I respect your opinion and encourage you to express your
opinion as you choose.
Comment to the Blog:
“The flap over transgender people using restrooms is pointless
nonsense as a national issue, and it illustrates the depths to which the two
major parties have fallen. The Republicans benefit from this because it's still
more red meat for the ‘moral values’ voters and perhaps rouses fear in a few of
their truly paranoid followers that are not burned out on this stuff. What do
the Democrats get from keeping this going? They get to claim they are defending
the downtrodden and it makes a distraction from the fact that they are not
defending anyone from Wall Street or their other major donors. That roster
resembles the Republicans' major donor list more than either party wants voters
to realize. We need to quit wasting airtime, money, and energy on this.
Americans have more important issues.
“Your first linked article this week (‘We Just Lost America’)
lacks quality in both thought and writing. Mr. Reyes basically lists the many issues on which the writer
feels everyone else should just shut up and then spends a couple of sentences
talking about ‘unity.’ I see the Constitution and the history of the United
States as illustrations of ‘unity in diversity,’ and I do not see disagreement
short of violence as a threat to our nation. He's just whining because his side
is losing so many arguments. The same applies to Cardinal Sarah.
“The only real thing wrong with the CBS report on young children's
perception of race is the headline, and that's not so bad. The notion that a
report on children's intellectual development via perception of race somehow
implies some disaster is beyond me. The report simply identifies the age at
which children realize that race cannot change, typically somewhere between the
ages of 6 and 9. The only ‘problem’ I can even imagine with that is that it
means children are not born racists, which is negative only to racists.”
My reply to the Blog:
Re:
flap. Agreed. Quite so. That was my point precisely. Transgender citizens have been using
restrooms as long as there have been such facilities available to the
public. This was a terribly
cynical, bogus issue, and to think state legislators and the governor wasted
their time and capacity passing such a foolish law, making a problem out of a
non-problem, and then making it illegal.
Yes, indeed, we have far more important topics to discuss and debate.
Re:
“unity of diversity.” Spot on, my
brother. My resistance to the
morality laws rests predominately upon my objection to other people or the
State entering the private domain.
Morality is a private matter between the individual and God, and it is
taught by their parents from infancy with most of it set by five years old.
Re:
“children are not born racists.” Amen, brother.
They are taught racism by their parents and those around them, as they
are taught whatever morality they grow up with in childhood.
Another contribution:
"Thanks again for your words-of course being a non-‘Kansaserian’ I
had no idea who this ‘Brownback’ was, so I found the answer below:
yes, in full agreement with you on those points my friend."
My response:
My
apologies for wasting your time, my friend. Brownback is not worth knowing. I would like to return him to private life as soon as
humanly possible.
My
very best wishes to all. Take care
of yourselves and each other.
Cheers,
Cap :-)
2 comments:
My liberal/progressive/populist sources continue discussing the chance of an FBI interview and/or an indictment of Secretary Clinton over the email flap. The indictment would be over the statute addressing destruction, removal, or concealment of official records. I would not be offended if Clinton and her predecessors were all indicted. That would make a group of object lessons for future high officials. Given my political preferences, I would rather see that come before the Democrat Convention if it comes. Those "super" delegates would then serve a useful purpose in nominating Senator Sanders without last-minute rule changes. Prior to the California primary would be even better. I fear it will be an "October surprise."
Note on the election: I guess both parties have lost track of the fact that the election ultimately is a popularity contest, not so different from high school class officer elections. The Donald has proven that to the Republicans. However, the decision-makers among the Democrats seem to be ignoring this reality. I suspect they are used to not seeking high turnout, because in the past lower turnout has benefited the Establishment. This year, the axe falls one way or the other. Both the Donald and Senator Sanders have aroused the populace. The Donald can tip the balance if "un-favorability" is the central issue. Clinton has a brittle personality that Trump can bring out, and Clinton's team is totally unable to make her look clean and rational in the face of that strategy. They would be on the defensive the whole way. Indeed, they already have been since about March. If Sanders is not the Democrat nominee, we probably get President Loudmouth and whatever follows.
I am sad and afraid that Obama is willing to arm Vietnam and probably other nations in Southeast Asia. That ought to be the headline grabber in his trip, but he was able to make the visit to Hiroshima overshadow his preparations to continue our "war" footing. Marketing wins in politics. Regardless of positive or negative opinions of his Hiroshima stop, the marketing is the message that the Hiroshima visit is the important part of this travel. Not true, but a successful marketing of the message.
Incidentally, the deliberate taking of a quarter of a million lives merits an apology regardless of claims and circumstances. Whether you can justify it or not, it was certainly horrific. The bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki scarred the entire world, and the consequences continue today, over 60 years later. How you cannot see that baffles me.
I am not sure who you choose for your audience. Technical discussions of military aviation lose ordinary Americans.
Calvin,
Re: eMail issue. Agreed. I would prefer to have this done with, however it turns out. I advocate for a complete, thorough, authoritative investigation, and if the law was violated, I expect indictment and justice. Regardless of whether she is the Democratic Party nominee, leaving this open is not helpful to anyone, as I filter out the political ramifications. A postscript note: it is unfortunate she did not have more knowledgeable, competent and engaged friends and colleagues to have avoided such a simple and foolish (serious) mistake. In her position as secretary of state, this is by definition a national security matter.
Re: election. Thank you for your observations. The decisions for both major parties will be made in July. We shall see. Truth be told, I think Hillary Clinton has the capacity and potential to be a good president. Unfortunately, this will likely be her last shot, and the signs do not look good.
Re: “war footing.” OK; I don’t see it.
Re; Hiroshima. Agreed. I only see it as a visit long overdue. I’m thankful that he did it.
Re: war. We are repulsed by the imagery, but war is all about killing, full stop. It is ugly, nasty, disgusting business, which is precisely why war should be the choice of last resort, and one of the reasons I give President Obama credit. You are entitled to your opinion, and I respect your confidence to express your opinion. My position regarding the President Truman’s nuclear weapon employment decision should not be baffling whatsoever. His choice was clear, and respectfully, he made the correct decision, given the plethora of contributory evidence. If an apology was to be offered, what would the apology be for . . . taking 250K to save 3-4M and end ending the carnage Imperial Japan inflicted upon Asia and the Pacific for 14 years and taking the lives of many millions?
I do not ‘choose’ my audience. My audience chooses to read my Update, and a fraction choose to offer comments and contributions. Not everything I write about is of any interest to some, perhaps even most, but readers of the Update usually find something of value in my yammerings.
“That’s just my opinion, but I could be wrong.”
Cheers,
Cap
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