Update no.991

 Update from the Sunland

No.991

4.1.21 – 10.1.21

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

 

            To all,

 

I sensed that things were going to get much worse this week [990].  I had no imagination that it would turn into the shitshow that it did.  Just to put the events of Wednesday in perspective, let us put some things in proper order.

{A relevant FYI is important here.  The man (at least I think he is a man) who was known at one time as the president of the United States of America and was also been known on occasion in this forum as the Oh So Great Orange One (OSGOO) [sarcasm not in words], and eventually the Bully-in-Chief (BIC), has sacrificed any vestige of dignity he had remaining.  Henceforth, that man will only be referred to as the [person who shall no longer be named]; he no longer deserves even the moniker of the BIC.}

On 29.September.2020, during the campaign, the [person who shall no longer be named] commanded his contaminated army:
“Proud Boys, stand back and standby.”

On 18.December.2020, the [person who shall no longer be named] tweeted:

Peter Navarro releases 36-page report alleging election fraud 'more than sufficient' to swing victory to Trump https://washex.am/3nwaBCe. A great report by Peter. Statistically impossible to have lost the 2020 Election. Big protest in D.C. on January 6th. Be there, will be wild!

This claim about election fraud is disputed

11:42 PM · Dec 18, 2020

[Emphasis by the host.]

On 20.December.2020, he tweeted:

Big protest in DC on January 6th.  Be there, will be wild!

Dec 20, 2020
[Emphasis mine.]

On 30.December.2020, he tweeted:

JANUARY SIXTH, SEE YOU IN DC!

Dec 30, 2020
[Capitalization by the originator.]

On 5.January.2021, he tweeted:

I will be speaking at the SAVE AMERICA RALLY tomorrow on the Ellipse at 11AM Eastern. Arrive early — doors open at 7AM Eastern. BIG CROWDS!

3:43 PM · Jan 5, 2021
[Capitalization by the originator.]

The above tweets from the [person who shall no longer be named] should be sufficient to establish that what happened Wednesday morning was not some impromptu political protest rally.  It was precisely and exactly as it appears to be—a direct, well-planned event intended to gather and incite his followers to action.

The speaker’s stage was located on the Ellipse in Washington with the White House as a backdrop and resplendent with waving American flags along with big signs and banners declaring SAVE AMERICA MARCH.  The whole purpose from the get-go of this event was to march on the Capitol Building while Congress was in session, but more specifically when they were counting the Electoral College ballots, with illusions of the storming of the Bastille [14.7.1789] dancing in their heads.  This was organized, designed and intended to do just what happened on Wednesday afternoon in our nation’s capitol.  The speakers at the rally were:

-- Katrina Lanette Pierson née Shaddix of Texas

-- Amy Leigh Kramer of Colorado

-- Georgia State Representative Vernon Jones

-- Texas Attorney General Warren Kenneth ‘Ken’ Paxton Jr.

-- Texas State Senator Angela Paxton

-- Eric Frederick [no name]

-- Lara Lea [no name] née Yunaska (wife of scion Eric)

-- Kimberly Ann Guilfoyle (bed partner of Jr.)

-- Donald John [no name], Junior

-- U.S. Representative David Madison Cawthorne of North Carolina

-- Rudolph William Louis ‘Rudi’ Giuliani of New York

-- Professor John C. Eastman of Chapman University School of Law

-- [person who shall no longer be named—AKA Perpetrator No.1]

Remember these names; they are co-conspirators and accomplices.  They stoked the mob that provided cover for the assault force of the insurrection that temporarily occupied and trashed the Capitol Building.  I choose not to repeat the vitriolic drivel of the spawn.  [FYI: Tiffany had the presence of mind to avoid this affair, or perhaps, she was not invited; Melania & Baron were nowhere in sight.] At the very same rally, the personal lawyer of the [person who shall no longer be named] extolled the attendees at the rally, 

"If we're wrong we will be made fools of, but if we're right a lot of them will go to jail.  Let's have trial by combat.”
[Emphasis mine.]

How do you think the mindless minions of the [person who shall no longer be named] will take that statement?  The woman shot by Capitol Police was a former Air Force member; she knew precisely what combat means.

The [person who shall no longer be named—Perpetrator No.1], the last to take the stage, spoke for one hour and 14 minutes, after he kept his “people” waiting in the cold for an hour.  His message contains 11,000 plus words (25 pages of his nonsense) spanning over an hour, so I must select a few key sentences.  I am not going to repeat his lies.

“All Vice-President Pence has to do is send it back to the States to recertify, and we become president, and you are the happiest people.”

This was only one sentence of many in his speech by which he setup Vice President Pence to be thrown under the bus.  The [person who shall no longer be named—Perpetrator No.1] respects no one and nothing other than himself.

“We’re gathered together in the heart of our nation’s Capitol for one very, very basic and simple reason, to save our democracy.”

“They’ve used the pandemic as a way of defrauding the people in a proper election.”

“After this, we’re going to walk down and I’ll be there with you. We’re going to walk down. We’re going to walk down any one you want, but I think right here. We’re going walk down to the Capitol, and we’re going to cheer on our brave senators, and congressmen and women. We’re probably not going to be cheering so much for some of them because you’ll never take back our country with weakness. You have to show strength, and you have to be strong.”  [Emphasis mine.]

Did the [person who shall no longer be named—Perpetrator No.1] walk with his “people” to Capitol Hill?  No!  Did he stand with his “people”?  No!  After all, he is a spineless coward and a draft dodger who is perfectly content instigating others to do his wet work, just like Charles Manson, Adolf Hitler, and Joseph Stalin.

“I’m going to read you pages [of evidence].”
“We’ve amassed overwhelming evidence about a fake election.”

What is your guess?  Did the [person who shall no longer be named] offer us his evidence?  No!  He gave us nothing but hearsay—not one scintilla of evidence.  The U.S. Justice Department investigated and found no substantive evidence of fraud that might have even remotely altered the outcome of the election.  [Just an important FYI here: There are bad people in every election who try to fraudulently vote; most are rejected; some are caught, charged, tried and convicted.  The difference is scale.]  He had over a month with 60+ court cases across the country to present just enough evidence to establish probable cause to gain judicial consent for a trial, but he failed in every single one.  Why?  Because they have nothing but hearsay and conspiracy theories—not evidence.  Just because the [person who shall no longer be named] repeats false claims multitudinous times does not make them facts or evidence.  Courts do not accept such nonsense.  Not one of those cases got passed a preliminary hearing before they were dismissed and thrown out.  The [person who shall no longer be named] could not make his case in court, where rules of evidence preside, so he took to the bully-pulpit to spew his lies.  Unfortunately and regrettably, far too many American citizens actually believe what the man says.  He has a very long history of lies, long before he became POTUS, and he continues to perpetuate those lies, and in this case, using those lies to incite a mob to insurrection.

Shortly before the rally ended, and the mob and assault force moved to Capitol Hill, the joint session of Congress began their constitutionally mandated action to count and record the votes of the Electoral College.  Vice President Pence began opening and announcing the votes.  On the 3^rd state, Arizona, Representative Paul Anthony Gosar of Arizona filed a formal motion of Objection to reject the votes of Arizona citizens, including me.  I say, damn him to hell for eternity!  He is not worthy of respect in any form—not for his position, not for his political ideology, not for his person.  My vote matters.  Yours, Gosar, does not.  Damn you!

The two chambers separated to debate the motion of Objection. The [person who shall no longer be named] tweeted:

Mike Pence didn’t have the courage to do what should have been done to protect our Country and our Constitution, giving States a chance to certify a corrected set of facts, not the fraudulent or inaccurate ones which they were asked to previously certify. USA demands the truth!

This claim of election fraud is disputed, and this Tweet can’t be replied to, Retweeted, or liked due to a risk of violence.

12:24 PM · Jan 6, 2021

[Emphasis by the host.]

That tweet was from the person elected to be President of the United States of America, now known as [person who shall no longer be named].  The fact that Twitter had to attached such a warning is a terrible statement.  This is what he has brought to us, to serve his adolescent ego.  Shortly afterward, Rudi Giuliani tweeted:

To all those patriots challenging the fraudulent election, 

POTUS wants you to EXPRESS YOUR OPINION PEACEFULLY,

We are the law and order party,

You are on the right side of the law and history.

Act with respect for all.

12:52 PM · Jan 6, 2021

[Capitalization by the originator.]

Once upon a time, this man was referred to as America’s mayor.  No longer!  How does “express your opinion peacefully” square with “trial by combat”?  The order had been given.  He cannot put the Genie back in the bottle.  Today, he is just another joke of a man who swallowed the magic snake-oil elixir peddled by the [person who shall no longer be named].  The BICP (former GOP) once was but is not now the law and order party; now, they are the insurrection party.

Around the time the two chambers began debating the motion of Objection, the insurrectionists breached the security perimeter, entered the Capitol Building, and began trashing the place.  Both chambers suspended their work and evacuated.

What we witnessed on Wednesday, 6.January.2021, was rebellion.  It was treason.  It was anarchy.  It was insurrection in the truest sense of the word.  This is the [person who shall no longer be named; Perpetrator no.1], and history will mark and remember what happened on this latest day of infamy.

He got what he wanted.  If it would not go his way, he incited his “people” to close down the government.  Well done, asshole!  To all of those who support the [person who shall no longer be named], I hope you are happy.  What a proud day, I say with bitter, sad, disgusted sarcasm!

This is exactly what malignant narcissism can and does do.  Just like Adolf Hitler in 1945, the [person who shall no longer be named] decided to burn the house down rather than respect the will of the People.

To the rest of the world: I encourage everyone who reads these words, and so many more who do not.  This once grand republic is no more.  Turn away from the United States.  We have abdicated our place as a shining light on the hill.  We are no longer to be admired or respected as an example of democracy.

The last time this happened was 24.August.1814, when British regulars burned Washington, DC.  On 1.March.1954, Puerto Rican separatists shot up the House of Representatives, wounding five, but that event was a long way from burning or trashing the Capitol Building.  Yes, to all you [person who shall no longer be named] supporters, I hope you are happy.  I am NOT!  As I watched and listened to these events play out, I feel exactly the same as I did on 11.September.2001—deep gut wrenching nausea.  I will NOT forget.  I have tried to listen to those voices that defend the [person who shall no longer be named]; I am done!  Please do not send me another word.  I do not care to hear another word from or about that despicable man.  There is NO defense.  I do not care how high the Dow Jones Industrial Average goes, or how big your 401K is or will be.  Your personal wealth is not and never was worth the integrity of this once grand republic.

The BICP (former & no more GOP) members incited this violence and anarchy.  Thank you Ted Cruz, Josh Hawley, Paul Gosar, et al, for showing your true colors.  We have known for years that this is exactly who the [person who shall no longer be named] is, but we expected more of our elected officials.  We clearly know how you are now.  We will NOT forget.

Worse, in that mob of flags was a Confederate flag and a green version of a Nazi battle ensign with some far-right fascist emblem in placed of the hákenkreuz (Nazi swastika).

The Capitol was finally cleared at 17:40 [R] EST.  Four citizens died; the number of dead has grown to six with the suicide of a Capitol Police officer.  Countless others injured.  Over a hundred people have been arrested so far, with more to follow I imagine.  Two pipe bombs and 11 Molotov Cocktail petrol bombs were discovered in the Capitol Building before they could go off or be employed.  Other weapons of insurrection were detected and confiscated.

Where were the patriots in that mob to stand with the Capitol Police to defend the seat of the legislative branch of our government?  Where were the women and men who took an oath of office to support and defend the Constitution {not the [person who shall no longer be named]?}  One of those veterans died when she was shot inside the Capitol Building.  She is not a hero; she is a traitor to her oath of office.

The [person who shall no longer be named] knew exactly and precisely what he was doing when he lit the fire, stoked his minions, and ordered them to go to the Capitol Building to disrupt or stop the constitutionally mandated actions of the day.  The Proud Boys and their like minded “people” did precisely as their leader ordered.  What is even more despicable, the [person who shall no longer be named] proclaimed he would march with them to Capitol Hill.  Did he?  No!  He was just as much of spineless coward as he was in the 1960s when he was a draft dodger.  He is a coward and a traitor.

I stand with General John Francis Kelly, USMC (Ret.), former chief of staff to the [person who shall no longer be named], when he publicly stated, “What happened on Capitol Hill yesterday is a direct result of his poisoning the minds of people with the lies and the fraud.”  The magic snake-oil elixir that the [person who shall no longer be named] has peddled for years is in fact toxic.  His drivel is not some benign, worthless, ineffective, harmless crap; it is TOXIC!  People died on Wednesday.  Our democracy was assaulted by his lies and those who believed those lies.  We bear witness to the consequences of the junk he peddles to susceptible American citizens (and unfortunately, to others around the world)—poisoning minds indeed!

This is NOT the United States of America I served as a proud Marine for 25 years.  Damn the [person who shall no longer be named] to the hell he has created.

 

Circa 17:20 [R] EST, Wednesday, 6.January.2021, after the insurrection had failed, the [person who shall no longer be named] released the following video message.

I know your pain.  I know you’re hurt. We had an election that was stolen from us.  It was a landslide election, and everyone knows it, especially the other side, but you have to go home now. We have to have peace.  We have to have law and order. We have to respect our great people in law and order. We don’t want anybody hurt.  It’s a very tough period of time.  There’s never been a time like this where such a thing happened, where they could take it away from all of us, from me, from you, from our country.  This was a fraudulent election, but we can’t play into the hands of these people. We have to have peace.  So go home.  We love you.  You’re very special. You’ve seen what happens. You see the way others are treated that are so bad and so evil. I know how you feel. But go home and go home at peace.

[Emphasis mine.]

No matter how many times the [person who shall no longer be named] repeats and perpetuates his lies to We, the People, they will never become facts or evidence.  No, this is not going to go down as you hoped and intended.  Henceforth, you will be remembered as the only president in the history of this once grand republic to have incited insurrection against the U.S. Government.  Well done!  Quite apropos, it seems to me.

The sycophant talking head supporters of the [person who shall no longer be named] began immediately to justify their leader’s actions on Wednesday.  They ask, where was the outrage with Black Lives Matter riots last year.  To them I say, the Black Lives Matter protests contain anarchist elements that committed crimes.  To be sure, the majority of the “Save America March” rally participants committed minor crimes of trespass, which a hardcore group used as cover to actually carry out the insurrection invasion of the Capitol Building while Congress was in session.  Whether purposefully or unwittingly, everyone in the whole mob were accomplices to the insurrection.

To my knowledge of history, der Führer Adolf Hitler never killed anyone himself, never pulled the trigger, and yet, he incited his followers to kill more than 20,000,000 people in his name outside of combat.  He committed suicide to avoid justice.

 

Fortunately, while I was on medical appointments Wednesday afternoon, Jeanne took a screen shot of a tweet from the [person who shall no longer be named]:

These are the things and events that happen when a sacred landslide election victory is so unceremoniously & viciously stripped away from great patriots who had been badly & unfairly treat for so long.  Go home with live & in peace.  Remember this day forever.

6:01 PM · Jan 6, 2021

The tweet immediately above was actually removed and restricted by Twitter, so thank you Jeanne.  The social media companies suspended the [person who shall no longer be named] for his outrageous conduct and inciting violence.  By the time I got home, I tried to verify the tweet of the [person who shall no longer be named], but it had already been removed by and from Twitter; so, I am grateful for Jeanne’s presence of mind to take a screen shot before it disappeared.

Oh my, to the [person who shall no longer be named], rest assured, We, the People, will never forget what you have done to this once grand republic.  We will never forget!  This is an event comparable to previous days of infamy—7.December.1941 and 11.September.2001.  The previous two events were foreign enemies.  Today’s event was domestic enemies.  No, we shall never forget what you have done.  We now have a third day of infamy, and the [person who shall no longer be named] shall be recorded as the Perpetrator No.1.  I can only hope and trust the Justice Department will charge, try, convict, and imprison him for the rest of his natural life.

The conspiracists of the day accused Franklin Roosevelt of knowingly looking the other way as warnings of the Japanese attack mounted; they accused him of purposefully seeking the attack to justify going to war.  History and the facts do NOT support such nonsense.  What is different with this 6.January.2021 attack is, the president pulled the trigger himself.  He directly incited his small army to march on the Capitol with the implied purpose of disrupting the constitutionally mandated counting of the Electoral College votes.

{I will note here a personal opinion.  I believe the [person who shall no longer be named] had visions of declaring martial law, suspending the Constitution, and extending his administration “for the good of the people.”  Only one little problem, he now stands accused of inciting insurrection no less serious than Jefferson Davis.}

 

After the Capitol Building was cleared of the invaders, Congress reconvened to continue their constitutional duty through a good portion of the night.

At 23:08 [R] EST, Wednesday, 6.January.2021, On the Objection (Shall the Objection Submitted by the Gentleman from Arizona, Mr. Gosar, and the Senator from Texas, Mr. Cruz, and Others Be Sustained?): Shall the Objection Submitted by the Gentleman from Arizona, Mr. Gosar, and the Senator from Texas, Mr. Cruz, and Others Be Sustained?  Congress voted: Senate: 6-93-0-1(0); House: 121-303-0-7(4).

On the second Objection, at 03:08 [R] EST, Thursday, 7.January.2021, On the Objection (Shall the Objection Submitted by the Gentleman from Pennsylvania, Mr. Perry, and the Senator from Missouri, Mr. Hawley, Be Sustained?): Shall the Objection Submitted by the Gentleman from Pennsylvania, Mr. Perry, and the Senator from Missouri, Mr. Hawley, Be Sustained?  Congress voted: Senate: 7-92-0-1(0); House: 128-282-0-11(4).

The seven (7) BICP senators who joined the insurrection were:

-- Rafael Edward ‘Ted’ Cruz of Texas

-- Joshua David ‘Josh’ Hawley of Missouri

-- Cindy Hyde-Smith of Mississippi

-- Cynthia Marie Lummis Wiederspahn of Wyoming

-- Roger Wayne Marshall of Kansas

-- Richard Lynn ‘Rick’ Scott of Florida

-- Thomas Hawley ‘Tommy’ Tuberville of Alabama

Please do not forget!

Interestingly, out-going, defeated, Senator Loeffler of Georgia, a hardcore QAnon supporter, voted nay.  Perdue was the only senator who did not vote.  At the conclusion, Vice President Pence performed his constitutional duty and declared Biden and Harris duly elected by the Electoral College in accordance with the Constitution.  It is over.

Now, we must endure the dissent of the supporters of the [person who shall no longer be named].  These are the times in which we live.  Life goes on.

Despite the armed insurrection and attempted coup d’état on Wednesday, Congress did its constitutional duty and certified the Electoral College vote.  Joseph R. ‘Joe’ Biden is officially and finally the president-elect and will assume the office at noon EST, Wednesday, 20.Janurary.2021.  The forces that the [person who shall no longer be named] encouraged and cajoled to do his dirty work, his wet work, are still circulating among us.  The work to punish the insurrectionists and expunge that element from this once grand republic must go on as relentlessly as we pursued the jihadists that perpetrated and carried out the 11.September.2001 attacks.  Justice must be served.

 

I confess to feeling a fair amount of empathy for those good American citizens who placed so much faith and hope in the man they believed would cure our political maladies.  I have family and friends who are in that group of citizens.  They are also equally disappointed and disgusted by what happened on Wednesday.  The [person who shall no longer be named] failed you and failed all of us.  I am sorry for your pain, but as Sir Winston Churchill so eloquently observed, “. . . pain brings attention to an unhealthy state of things.”  I have to believe, or rather I want to believe, that this terrible time will pass into the history books.  Life will go on.

 

For all I have rightly maligned Senator Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky over the years, I must acknowledge and give him appropriate recognition for his efforts on the floor of the Senate to avoid what happened on Wednesday.  The forces of the [person who shall no longer be named] Proud Boys army would not be deterred from their efforts to serve their master.  Thank you, Mitch, for doing the right thing, although it was woefully late; you finally stood up to the insanity that has abducted your once grand old party.  I hope you never again hold the mantle of power you have abused for so long, but I am grateful for your words of defiance against the mindlessness of the [person who shall no longer be named].

 

My personal message to the [person who shall no longer be named]:

Please leave the White House.  Please go play golf all day, every day; I strongly encourage you to do so.  We do not need another word of any kind, in any form, from you ever again for the rest of your natural life.  Enjoy your golf until the FBI comes to arrest you for inciting insurrection.  Justice will come for you and your equally malignant family.  To quote Oliver Cromwell, “In the name of God, go!” [20.April.1653]

 

For a change of pace during this week of turmoil, pain and tragedy, a friend and frequent contributor sent along this missive:

“Here's a short explanation of what ‘legalization’ means versus ‘decriminalization’ in sex work.  This comes from a sex worker called Mistress Matisse I follow on Twitter.  (I couldn't figure out how to send it directly.)

“Sexworkers want our jobs DECRIMINALIZED, not LEGALIZED. Why? Legalization means sexwork STAYS a crime, but state creates loopholes *only for rich business owners*, not workers. Decriminalization means: removal of all criminal penalties for one-to-one exchange of sex for money.”
[Emphasis by the originator.]

 . . . to which I responded:

I am not seeing her point.  “Legalization” means to make legal, to give legal validity or sanction to the object.  I am not seeing the subtlety by which she claims it “STAYS a crime.”

Especially with prostitution or sex work in the larger context, the issue is far bigger than just decriminalization or legalization.  I am not a fan or supporter of either, although as half-steps, that is better than leaving prostitution a crime.  It should have never been a crime—classic moral projection and a direct insult to our precious freedom of choice.  I advocate for the whole enchilada—full reform.  I want repeal of all anti-prostitution laws and passage of positive legislation to protect sex workers and their customers to include professional regulation like doctors, lawyers, nurses, and even barbers and plumbers, et al.  We must license and recognize legal certified sex workers to break the chain of criminal subculture activities, e.g., coercion, forced, sex trafficking, et al.

 . . . with this follow-up comment:

“Her point is that the ‘professional regulation’ you speak of will inevitably be colored by the same attitudes and angles that apply to sex work today.”

 . . . along with my follow-up response:

If that is her point, I do not see that as any different from all the other laws we have.  As long as bureaucrats, law enforcement, prosecutors, judges and juries are allowed to impart their morality on interpretation of the law as applied to individuals, we will continue to suffer that phenomenon.  As Justice Marshall wrote in McCulloch v. Maryland [17 U.S. {4 Wheat.} 316 (1819)] [416], “[T]he power to tax involves the power to destroy.”  The exact same power applies to all laws, as it would be in sex work regulation.  If we allow a staunchly social conservative zealot to administer a set of sex work regulations without supervision or checks & balances, then they would have the power to destroy the purpose of the regulation.  The very same phenomenon applies to all morality-based law and regulation.  We must start somewhere with decriminalization of sex work, psychotropic substance consumption, body privacy, and all the other invasions we have allowed on our freedom of choice and fundamental right to privacy.  One day, We, the People, will reclaim our most fundamental rights.

 

A related foreign observation:

“Who really holds the power in the U.S.?

“Disunited States of America

“Policy shaping daily life in the U.S. is less about who’s president than who controls the government of each of its 50 states. Their laws are as important as federal law.”

by Richard Keiser

Le Monde diplomatique

Published: January 2021

https://mondediplo.com/2021/01/12usa

This is how our Allies see us now.  Is this really the image we want the world to hold of the United States of America and our 250 years of history?  As for me, no, this is not the United States I know and love.

 

God bless the voting residents of Georgia.  Raphael Gamaliel Warnock and Thomas Jonathan ‘Jon’ Ossoff were duly elected in the Georgia runoff election of Tuesday, 5.January.2021, per Georgia law.  The Senate will now be evenly split, 50-50, which in turn means that Vice President-elect Harris will cast the deciding vote if there is a tie on any vote, and most importantly, Mitch McConnell will no longer be the majority leader.

 

Just a simple personal note to close this week’s edition, I am fortunate that I enjoy writing so much, and I am able to lose myself in the characters and stories from the anarchy of this week.  It is a blessing to forget about today and immerse myself in yesterday or tomorrow.  I am putting the finishing touches on my manuscript submittal package to the publisher for my 19^th book and 9^th book of my To So Few series of historical novels [hopefully, To So Few – Struggle will be published later this year].  Next, I must complete the revisions demanded by the publisher of my manuscript provisionally titled: Indulgence (formerly titled Heaven on Earth); I expect to complete that work in a few months.  I might get everything done for the book to be published late this year.  I am also working on completing outlines for three new projects including the 10^th book of the To So Few series, the 3^rd book of the Anod series of science fiction novels, and an historical fiction Wild Wild West novel set in the 1870s.  I am blessed to have these distractions from the turmoil of today.  My writing continues.

 

            Comments and contributions from Update no.990:

Comment to the Blog:

“Rather than discuss that narcissist, I’ll just note that since the election, we’re seeing Democrats vote with Republicans on things Republicans want.  Nothing to see here folks, just go look at the crazy guy.

“Your other correspondent seems to have both bad information and rash assumptions.  ‘Working-class’ describes the source of income rather than the amount.  You updated him on the bill.  If he’s in the very common situation he describes, the $600 won’t do him much good.  It’s mostly gone from my account already.”

My response to the Blog:

I have a modestly different take on the bipartisanship we have seen since the election.  The items they are voting on are wanted by all political types, or at least the majority, even overriding the BIC.

That was the point of my correction.  Not everyone who reads or participates in the Update forum are political wonks.  The US$600 is certainly not enough to help most citizens, but as we’ve agreed earlier, something is better than nothing.

Today, we get the Georgia run-off election results (hopefully).  The BIC is no longer even trying to mask his election corruption activities—a major sign of desperation.  I eagerly await the day when he is out of office and no longer protected by qualified immunity.

 . . . follow-up comment:

“‘All political types’ don't want the bloated Defense budget, and my political type don't want Nancy Pelosi.  The DNC Democrats don't mind, but they're a long way from all political types.”

 . . . my follow-up response:

            Those voting against the NDAA veto override were interesting—Sanders, Cruz, Warren, Lee . . . a total of 13 senators; 6 others chose or were unable to vote—Graham, Sasse, Jones, Loeffler, Perdue, Gardner.  That is quite a mix.  Yet, 81 voted to override.  In the House, 322 voted to override with 291 required to override.  AOC & Omar voted against override.  With those numbers, it is hard to consistency of political purpose.  We can certainly argue the size of the Defense budget.  OK, that said, I acknowledge that I overstated with my use of the modifier “all,” since not all political types are represented in Congress, e.g., no Greens, no Libertarians.  Please accept my concession.

 

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

Cheers,

Cap                  :-)