Update no.774

Update from the Heartland

No.774

10.10.16 – 16.10.16

Blog version:  http://heartlandupdate.blogspot.com/

To all,

            Retrospective remorse and retrospective accusation raise an important societal issue this week.  All of the accusations made against Donald Joseph Trump this week are well beyond the statute of limitations in most states, and thus cannot be tried in a court of law.  Thus, they are intended to ‘punish’ Trump in the court of public opinion.  I understand the resentment of these women; however, I am left with a highly conflicted opinion and position.

            I am deeply troubled by such episodes, and yes that includes Donald J. Trump, Bill Cosby, et al.  Do I believe Cosby did what he is accused of doing?  Yes.  Do I believe Trump did what he claimed to have done in the Billy Bush video clip and did what he is accused of doing by the other women?  Yes, absolutely . . . and most likely much, much more than what is seen to date.  He bragged that he sexually assaulted women – a felonious crime in every state.  Female citizens – nine by the closing of this edition of the Update – have accused the Donald of feloniously and sexually assaulting them.  Yet, none of that makes what is happening right, worthy or even proper.  To my knowledge, not one of the Donald’s accusers filed a criminal complaint at the time of the alleged occurrence.  As a consequence, the accusation is automatically called into question and automatically gives their abuser a legal out.  If just one of his accusers had filed a criminal complaint, we would have a different ballgame.

            As a related side note, when I served as the chancellor of a university campus, I had to deal with a handful of sexual assault cases during my tenure.  Complaints were made with the Dean of Students.  In each of those cases, I truly believed each of the women had valid complaints.  I tried personally to convince the women to file police reports and allow the police to properly investigate the incidents, and if appropriate, prosecute the criminal conduct to which they had been subjected.  None of them agreed to do so, which in turn means there is no public record of those assaults.  I consulted the university’s local legal counsel to find an alternative.  There were none.  In fact, there was nothing we could do other than listen and empathize.

            Our social conservative attitudes toward sex often, if not universally, blame women for sexual assaults.  Those women brought on the behavior by their conduct, their dress, their language, their behavior, or even just finding themselves in a conducive situation or environment.  Men were simply following nature’s instincts.  We have witnessed in some Muslim society’s a female rape victim being stoned to death – she caused it because she exposed a square centimeter of bare skin, or she went into public without a male chaperon.  I have asked myself for decades, why are so many women reluctant to report sexual assault incidents?  My continuing conclusion: our culture has taught them to be embarrassed, to self blame themselves, or to avoid attracting attention.  One day, I hope we can mature as a society such that female citizens can be proud of their sexuality and expect to be respected.  We must enable our female citizens and stand beside them to confront sexual assault from an unwanted kiss or touching, to outright rape.  Retrospective remorse and retrospective accusation are not helpful to anyone and they are unfair even to the likes of Trump.

            That said, I must say I have seen his kind all of my adult life – in school, in the military, in business, in the cockpit, in politics . . . every segment of society.  These are men who believe to their core that they are too handsome, too rich, too powerful, too irresistible, to be denied anything they wish to take.  Sexual assault is NOT about sex or sexual gratification; it is ALL about power – the dominance of another human being.  Men who do these things exhibit the exact same attitude we marked in history as the “divine right of kings,” i.e., the king had divine authority and could never do any wrong.  The attitude led such royal authority to rape a newly wed wife simply because they could.  The Founders and Framers of this Grand Republic sought to eradicate that notion of superiority.  We are ALL equal under the law.

            Each of us must make a personal judgment by Election Day.  Some can and will overlook the character flaws to vote as they feel most fits their expectations of the candidates.  We can only pray we choose wisely.

            Comments and contributions from Update no.773:

Comment to the Blog:

“I abhor Donald Trump, but I still want to point out a factor that may seem strange to those unfamiliar with this particular form of creep. That ‘foolish, juvenile, machismo performance’ you point out is not limited to truth. He may or may not have actually assaulted people as he claims.  Bragging about sexually assaulting people seems totally irrational.  It is.  But that doesn’t stop that type of man from doing so.  It makes him feel supremely powerful, which is all that matters to him.

“What do you see as different between the two Vice-Presidential candidates’ statements on religion?  I read them three times, and they say precisely the same thing to me, except for the indirect phrase ‘all lives,’ probably a ‘dog whistle’ for the anti-abortion folks.

“Your other contributor defined ‘feckless’ more or less correctly, but left it incomplete. Merriam-Webster gives us ‘(1) weak, ineffective; (2) worthless, irresponsible.’  That second definition is the Republican assessment of President Obama.  It remains a poor choice of words to address the general public.

“Your pro-Trump contributor ignores the obvious.  We have no idea what Trump might do as President because he has little interest in reality.  I have seen a technical (sociological) definition of a ‘bullshitter’ as a person with no interest in truth or untruth, but with a high priority on making some point regardless of fact.  That differs from lying purposefully.  The Donald speaks bullshit and has no interest in truth versus lies.

“The Democratic nominee’s most serious mistakes revolve around her seeking the Presidency for many years without following any moral values.  Her tenure as Secretary of State, in particular, was marked by actions inappropriate to her stated beliefs and values.  Her long and profitable relationship with Wall Street and other corporate interests belies her party’s platform.  I also believe she used whatever means were available to defend her husband’s reckless and hurtful sexual escapades.  That would have nothing to do with loving that sex addict and everything to do with not letting him harm her own chances of rising to power, or to more power.

“I vote Green Party USA right down the ballot.

“How is Judaism ‘mature’? If Israel represents Judaism, that statement is insupportable. Beyond that, my own type of religion is older than any of those.  We have matured in our ritual lives and in our doctrine, which is easier for us because we do not believe in sacred text.  All the same, we still attract people who would and sometimes do abuse it.  Our deliberate lack of hierarchy makes it easier to weed those out. So we offer no positions of power to be seized and abused, but we still get abusers.  We have our radicals, too, but all we need do about them is distance ourselves.  All religions are subject to those people.”

My response to the Blog:

            Thank you for your opinions.

            Re: sexual assault.  I have seen no evidence that the Republican nominee has actually committed sexual assault, despite his verbal claims he did.  There is not a sliver of doubt in my little pea brain that he actually committed the felonious crime of sexual assault many times, perhaps even perpetually.  I have seen his type far too many times in my life; there is consistency.  Rape is a crime of violence and power . . . not sexual gratification.  Conversely, there is little doubt in my mind that more than a few women have thrown themselves at him . . . and men like him.

            Re: religious difference.  Apparently I failed to communicate properly.  Please allow me another attempt.  The difference is moral projection.  One candidate seeks to impose his religious beliefs on everyone, i.e., there is no freedom of choice, except as defined by him and his followers.  The other candidate resists the temptation of moral projection and the need to validate his religious beliefs.

            Re: feckless.  I do not think it was intended to be an exhaustive treatment.  Nonetheless, thank you for your supplementary opinion.

            Re: the Republican nominee.  There are more than a few, intelligent, informed, thoughtful citizens who cannot support any other candidate other than the current Republican nominee.  The process baffles me.  The best I can think, they are so desperate for a game-changer, they accept, ignore or rationalize his vast character flaws.  I intend no disparagement of my friends who loyally support the Republican nominee, but I cannot avoid noting that more than a few intelligent, informed Germans voted for National Socialist candidates in 1932 and 1933 that lead directly to the Hitler dictatorship.  The “Manhattan Mussolini” truly scares me . . . way too close to history for my liking.

            Re: “most serious mistakes.”  We all have our perspectives.  To me, the most serious was the private server and mixing personal & professional (that included highly classified material) eMails, but hey that is just me.  I do not see the money aspect in the same light; she is playing by the rules as they exist.  Until Citizens United [558 U.S. 310 (2010)] [424] is overturned somehow and true election financing reform is implemented, we have what we have.

            Re: “sexual escapades.”  The fallacy of this whole topic is and remains, we do not know what agreements / arrangements exist in their marriage.  We are judging them by what we were indoctrinated as “normal” or “acceptable.”  To my knowledge, the Clintons have not shared their private attitudes regarding sex.  My criticism of Bill’s conduct focused on abuse of power, NOT extra-marital sex, which is their business entirely; NOT ours.

            Re: Green Party.  Congratulations.  Such confidence must be comforting.

            Re: “How is Judaism ‘mature’?”  My answer depends upon how we define mature.  To my knowledge of history, the two older revealed religions have not used evangelical aggression / violence for territorial gain or to dominate others for centuries.  Well, I suppose we could probably pick up more current examples like Northern Ireland that has a religious component, or Gaza Strip that as a religious component, et cetera.  It is not the religion’s fault; it is individuals who use religion to justify their megalomaniacal purposes that cause the problems.

 . . . Round two:

“Re: Secretary Clinton's response to her husband's sexual issues.  I have no interest in their marriage, but I am concerned with how she treated the various other women who have been documented as his targets or paramours.

“As far as the older Abrahmic religions maturing: I think not. Israel continues to expand its territory via the ‘settlements’ in neighboring areas and to kill and abuse the Palestinians.  The Christians scuffle with each other, but at present I have no examples on the scale of their participation in the colonization of the Americas.  I really don't count strife that seems internal to me, which would include the tragedy in Ireland and Northern Ireland.  From out here, one brand of Christian (or Muslim or Jew) looks very like another, the only question being whether a given faction is militant in a correct sense.”

 . . . my response to round two:

            Re: Hillary’s alleged treatment of Bill’s lovers/victims.  I continue to struggle with the specter of retrospective remorse.  If Hillary did what she is alleged to have done relative to Bill’s sexual partners, her conduct was felonious, and yet no criminal charges have ever been filed against Hillary (or Bill for that matter).  That whole aspect of their lives remains suspect.  I am not going to call someone criminal or condemn them without more substantial information . . . and years after the fact.

            Re: revealed religions maturing.  I’m not aware of Christians and Jews killing people solely because of their religious beliefs or affiliation.  There are more than a small number of Muslims who are doing just that, e.g., ISIL, Boko Haram, et cetera.  Therein lies the difference.

 . . . Round three:

“As far as whatever Hillary Clinton has done to the other women in Bill's sexual life, that kind of thing typically works out in historical time to be true but exaggerated, on the scale of misdemeanors rather than felonies.  I would not expect prosecution of Hillary at any time because she is deeply embedded in the political establishment.  There are just too many powerful people who want her to stay in their circles, and the fear of Trump makes that all the more true.

“The Jews (Israel) are killing people and taking over their property in order to increase Israel's territory and are otherwise persecuting Palestinians for the ‘crime’ of not being Jews.  Is that not obvious?  I'm academic enough five years after college to enjoy giving rigorous sources, but that's on the evening news over and over.  Christians are not in that phase at present (at least not as Christians) in my awareness.”

 . . . my response to round three:

            I have a hard time believing that suppression of accusations could be so pervasive and absolute – doesn’t mean it’s not possible, just not plausible.  If no one stands up to power, there will be no check.  Accusations become public record, even if prosecution is suppressed.

            Re: Israeli West Bank settlements.  I have been writing against the settlement initiative by the conservative Israeli government for quite some time now [142; 29.8.2004].  I have been speaking against the settlement initiative for decades, but I cannot recover my earlier written words.  The settlement initiative has been wrong from the outset.  In fact, I espouse all those settlements become Palestinian when Palestine becomes a sovereign nation.

            Re: not being Jewish.  No, it is not obvious.  The Israelis react strongly (we could argue too strongly) to those who commit criminal acts or threaten the State.  Christians are not Jewish; do Israelis persecute Christians because they are not Jewish?  Do Israelis persecute all Muslims because they are not Jewish?

 . . . Round four:

“I have an easy time believing, although I tried to introduce a moderate view which you ignored.  Richard Nixon was unpopular with power brokers in DC; they saw his flaws easily.  They don't see Hillary that way because she has spent most of her adult life ensuring they don't.

“The Israeli/Palestinian issue and the Midwest in general are issues beyond what I can deal with in a conservative context, and even more so after the effort of voting yesterday. (A blog link posts to Facebook if you want more on that.)”

 . . . my response to round four:

            Interesting perspective.

            I think you meant Mideast rather than Midwest.

            I would be happy to read your parallel words, if you can give me the URL.

 . . . Round five:

“I've always felt that voting is the one real civic duty of Americans. It's getting harder and scarier than it's been in the past. Do your best, and thank you for doing it.”

 . . . my response to round five:

Calvin,

            Wilco.  You can count on it.

Another contribution:

“Thank you for your Update once again.  I want to at the very least, before further contribution, post-in some comments I left in an author-observer' Facebook page, that you might find of interest:

“Darren G. Sarvis:  It is amazing to me few hold Hillary partly accountable for the terrible regional mess now centered in Syria that has killed tens-of-thousands of innocents and displaced perhaps millions, with immigrant load pressuring and changing Europe forever. In aggregate: we now are closer to WW3, partly due to Hillary. It amazes me locker room talk (Trump) or sexual misconduct (Bill) are the forefront of the debate, not the many more serious geopolitical/economic items, trend-vectors, risks and threats. Not to mention on our domestic front it seems the racial/class divide is growing, political polarization is growing, and our law officers are getting ambushed and being demonized by CNN and the other socialist alphabet news agencies.   ~Darren”

“I shall read your Update an entirety, today, and look forward to it, as always.”

 . . . a third party contributor added [re-transmitted as written]:

“here stands a Woman for Trump, ddd! and you can tell 'em I Said So!

“about Shrillary Cackling Rotten Clinton??? that ugly big-mouth excuse for a chick makes this straight, white, Christian, American Born girl SICK! 

“as if our country isn't in bad enough shape as it is, she will push the flush handle on the commode obama's created of our Beautiful Beloved America and fill 'er up again, But Worse!

“i am scared and frustrated, but sending lots of love to you from sunny, warm ocean beach,

“ps Paul Ryan is a weasel and a p***y! i emailed him to tell his what i thought of him, as if he cares...he's right down there with Romney and the Bush turkeys!”

 . . . to which the primary contributor added:

“I would not put anything past the Clinton Cartel, and hope Trump's safety is being taken well care of given the risks.

“It concerns me the alphabet news agencies would rather talk about locker room talk by Trump, eleven years ago, instead of the proxy war between USA vs. Russia in Syria.”

My reply to this collective contribution:

            Whoa dawgy!  What could I possibly say to all that?

            Fortunately, each of us in this Grand Republic is entitled to believe whatever we wish to believe, for whatever reason we wish to believe, and to vote for whomever we choose.

            We bear live witness to the psychology of dictatorship . . . an eerie repeat of 1932/33.  The only question is, how far is this going to go?

            Blaming all this bullshit on the Press is really . . . really rich . . . quite consistent with the megalomaniacal, egocentric narcissism of the Republican nominee – match made in hell, so it seems.  After all, she deserved it; she had a p***y that just begged to be grabbed by the “Manhattan Mussolini” – it is his divine right, the divine right of kings; he is entitled to do, to say, what he wishes, because he is the greatest man that has ever walked on God’s little green earth – ever!  We are blessed to have him walking among us.

            I trust you will be proud of your choice.

 . . . the contributor’s follow-up comment:

“I agree we live in surreal times, like you mention, 1932/33.

“Just today I mentioned to my friend that I believe the PsyOps is so well perfected now (Technocracy?) that we really are in a for-sure physical/emotional MATRIX, if not a SPIRITUAL one too.

“We are at a dangerous point in our experiment at this Grand Republic, we seem to have to choose between the Hillary the criminal and Goldman Sachs whore, or Trump the womanizing used car salesman.  Which archetype between the two of them, will square off the best (or worst) with Putin.  Talk about juxtapositions and who can get us into descending DefCon slots fastest--Hillary or Trump???”

 . . . my follow-up reply:

            We vote in less than four weeks.  Well, actually, early voting has already begun.  I will cast my vote on Election Day.  This too shall pass.

A different contribution:

“Check these two articles:

http://www.salon.com/2016/10/11/russian-propaganda-on-wikileaks-makes-its-way-into-a-donald-trump-speech-in-record-time/

And

http://www.newsweek.com/vladimir-putin-sidney-blumenthal-hillary-clinton-donald-trump-benghazi-sputnik-508635

“Both deal with how Russian intelligence misinformation got to Trump’s campaign in very, very short order from initially being published.  Very disturbing to see how the KGB and GRU are trying to influence the elections - and how somebody or bodies in Trump’s staff are facilitating it.

“This is not the first time this has happened either.”

The two articles linked above:

“Russian propaganda on WikiLeaks makes its way into a Donald Trump speech in record time – The Russian outlet Sputnik briefly published a misleading article, but Trump had it before it was taken down”

by Amanda Marcotte

salon.com

Published: TUESDAY, OCT 11, 2016; 09:16 AM CDT

http://www.salon.com/2016/10/11/russian-propaganda-on-wikileaks-makes-its-way-into-a-donald-trump-speech-in-record-time/

and

Dear Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin, I am not Sidney Blumenthal”

by Kurt Eichenwald

Newsweek

Published: 10/10/16 at 7:45 PM

http://www.newsweek.com/vladimir-putin-sidney-blumenthal-hillary-clinton-donald-trump-benghazi-sputnik-508635

My response:

            Desperate times lead desperate people to do desperate things.  The Republican nominee is a wounded animal, and he is latching onto any bit of propaganda that feeds his image and lashing out at any thing and anyone within striking distance.  He is about as desperate as they get . . . which makes him even more dangerous.

            This is not the first time Russians have meddled in the affairs of other states.  I suspect Putin is a student and fan of Josef Stalin, and probably sees himself as a modern day Stalin.  Like Uncle Joe so eloquently said, “The people who cast the votes don't decide an election, the people who count the votes do.”

One last contribution:

“Hello ... Multitudes of illegal immigrants including potential terrorists are coming into Arizona, NM and Texas in places there are no sufficient walls .. and with our current laws they get by with working here and staying without becoming citizens..the money they make often gets sent to their countries of origin so does nothing to benefit our country..”

My response:

            A wall will NEVER be the answer.  Congress must pass appropriate laws AND appropriate sufficient money for a defense in depth . . . yes, a wall in places, but we must have enforcement and tracking down to the local level.  We are a long way from a defense in depth system.  The problem is not illegal aliens.  The problem is inadequate to non-existent laws that make the uncertainty in this country far more attractive to citizens in other countries.  We must make it less attractive for employers from households to corporations to hire undocumented people.  I had to present my work visa from the government in both England and Italy; my employer had to hold a copy of my work visa.  I also had to register with local law enforcement, as well.  We do not have laws like that.  We also need a guest worker program for manual labor jobs most Americans do not want to do.

 . . . follow-up comment:

“I say if they want to stay here and work so bad they can go through the ropes to become a citizen and pay into our tax system or else go back .. but to keep MORE from coming in we either need a good tall wall or hire more to watch the borders .. the former MIGHT be less expensive in the long run.”

 . . . my follow-up response:

            Work visas are NOT citizenship.  We may provide a pathway, but a work visa is simply access for a class of job assignments for a specified period.  We have forced illegal aliens into hiding.  We must coax them into the daylight, to be supervised.  Threatening deportation by its very nature creates and maintains an underground culture.  We have created a criminal sub-culture by our foolish policies.  Reforms must get illegal immigration into the open, so it can be properly controlled.  Building a wall along the entire southern border and advocating deportation squads to deport 11M people simply perpetuates the abysmal situation we have today.  The Republican insistence on border security first . . . and then immigration reform is foolish in the extreme and guarantees the status quo.

            My very best wishes to all.  Take care of yourselves and each other.

Cheers,

Cap                        :-)