Update no.1023

 Update from the Sunland

No.1023

16.8.21 – 22.8.21

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

 

            To all,

 

Grandson Judson entered high school as a freshman this week. His history teacher gave his class a “get acquainted” writing assignment. Middle Son Tyson shared Judson’s writing assignment which read:

“Congrats! You have a time machine.”

“You can go to any point in human history anywhere in the world.

“Where would you go? What would you do?

“Would you just visit and observe? Or would you change something?

“If so, what do you imagine the consequences of your changes to be?”

The assignment was intriguing enough. Think about it. How would you answer the assignment questions? It was Tyson’s response to his son’s assignment that sent me into uproarious laughter. His choice: “I’d go back to the Fall of 1945 and convince Fred Trump to pull out. [with cool emoji placed here]” I showed the text to Jeanne, and she joined me in gut-busting laughter. We all need a good laugh in these troubled times. Thank you, Tyson. Great choice by the way. Good writing to Judson.

 

            The follow-up news items:

-- The Afghan Government [0014 & sub] did not collapse, it evaporated—poof, gone! I have never seen nor am I aware of any government in history disappearing so fast and so completely. What that tells me is the Afghan government never existed. At best, the Afghan government was a local face or agent for the United States occupation. After the evaporation of the Afghan government and military, President Biden made a public statement on Monday. He made several additional public statements during the week. They were not perfect speeches, but he remained calm, direct and frank; I thought he did a respectable job.

It is easy to criticize. Where are the solutions? We have substantial military presence in England, Germany, Italy, Japan, and elsewhere, 75 years after the war’s end. But, the monumental difference in all those countries is, they had a stable government. Afghanistan did not and never has had a stable government. President Biden deserves criticism for this failure, but there were no easy answers. At least he had the balls to do what should have been done more than a decade ago. So we can throw stones to our heart's content, but it would be more productive to look to the future rather than the past.

The U.S. only holds Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul. American troops abandoned the massive Bagram Air Base during the night of 4/5.July.2021. [FYI: Bagram is 55 kilometers north of Kabul Airport.] President Biden has already returned several more thousand combat troops just to better secure Kabul Airport after the tragedy of last Sunday. The U.S. would have to send many tens of thousands more troops to secure other airbase centers for Allied evacuations. The Taliban controls access to Kabul Airport and movement throughout the country. The expectation that Allied individuals scattered throughout the country to make their way to the airport is unrealistic and frankly unacceptable. Well, at least the current administration has adopted the policy of the previous administration—every man for himself.

I must praise the USAF C-17 crew that used their local authority to load 823 refugees aboard their aircraft last Sunday and fly them to safety—a now iconic image of this episode. Desperate Afghanis tried to stowaway in the wheel wells and cling to the exterior; they fell from the aircraft in flight or died from exposure during the flight. It was this event that stimulated the president to send more troops to Kabul.

Good luck to all those trying to leave Afghanistan. God bless our military for doing an extraordinary job trying to bring order to chaos.

 

You know, we have been dealing with the COVID-19 virus pandemic for 20 months now [946 & sub]. The remaining logic resident in my pea brain continues to tell me the outrage of a minority of us is so bloody misapplied as to verge upon insane. This week, Governor Douglas Anthony Ducey Jr. of Arizona decided he just had to join the other fBICP crazies in Florida and Texas.

 “From vouchers to federal funding, Ducey offers incentives to Arizona schools, parents to reject mask mandates”

by Yana Kunichoff

Arizona Republic

Published: 2:43 p.m. MT Aug. 17, 2021 | Updated 6:03 p.m. MT Aug. 17, 2021

https://www.azcentral.com/story/news/politics/arizona-education/2021/08/17/arizona-gov-doug-ducey-offers-incentives-reject-mask-mandates/8169357002/?utm_source=azcentral-News%20Alert&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=news_alerts&utm_term=news_alert&utm_conten

Ducey has taken the insanity to a new more ridiculous level. This nonsense has gone to the bullies’ game of one-up-manship of who can be craziest. Ducey’s latest insanity:

·      Up to $1,800 Per Pupil for Schools that Follow State Ban on Mask, Vaccine Mandates.

·      Up to $7,000 Per Child Who Leaves School Because of Mandates

Can anyone believe this? Trying to find a silver lining in a dark cloud, children who refuse to wear masks staying out of school is maybe a positive move.

With Ducey striving to see how high he can get the COVID-19 infections, Alabama reported on Wednesday that they have negative eleven ICU beds in the entire state. In this context, -11 ICU beds means they are being forced to place COVID-19 patients in unqualified or converted spaces, which in turn risks exposing other uninfected patients to possible infection by the virus.

An angry woman at an affluent neighborhood school in Austin, Texas, decided her political position was more important than another person’s safety. She snatched a facial mask from a young teacher’s face. Frankly, I think what that angry woman did was assault and battery, and should be charged as the felony crime it was. This selfish insanity must stop!

To all those idiots out there, the issue we face today is breaking the chain of infection, NOT your freedom of choice. This whole pandemic response (whatever that is) is about protecting the community, quite like a foreign enemy attacking the United States of America, e.g., 7.December.1941 or 11.September.2001. In such attacks, we pull together to defeat the enemy and protect the homeland. While the [person who shall no longer be named] did not create this atmosphere of insanity, selfishness, and foolishness, he is the one, and the only one, who gave that conduct sanction, legitimacy, and in fact, stoked the fires of individual freedom over collective security. He alone gave QAnon a far greater voice than it ever would have had on its own.

Then, to conclude this section (for now), Randi Mayem Singer so succinctly and eloquently stated in her Twitter post, “If you don't believe in vaccines, please stop believing in hospitals. Leave the hospital beds for Americans who believe doctors over Facebook conspiracies.” Spot on!

 

I have recently seen political advertisements using images of Jeff Bezos’ recent spaceflight in a vehicle designed, engineered, built and operated by Bezos’ Blue Origin space launch company. The advertisement video points an accusatory finger at Bezos for not paying corporate or wealth taxes. Some folks will shout “Yea verily!” I say we must be very careful. Chief Justice John Marshall so precisely and wisely stated in McCulloch v. Maryland [17 U.S. {4 Wheat.}316 (1819)][416], “[T]he power to tax involves the power to destroy.” I do agree we have not been in balance for quite some time now. Corporations and wealthy Americans need to pay their fair share. We have not been in that state in a very long time, if ever. Bezos used the tax breaks when Amazon was a start-up; they are a very long way beyond start-up status now. We need to have a correction, to get our tax code back in balance. Yet, that said, profits enable new developments like Blue Origin, SpaceX, and Virgin Galactic. We must be careful not to destroy as we move the wealthy toward their fair share.

 

In other parallel discussions, I have come to realize that the Taliban is a contemporary and graphic demonstration of conservatism, i.e., the preservation of religious dogma from eight centuries ago. I have long [122 & sub] said that Islam has been and remains roughly 600 years behind Christianity in terms of maturation. The Taliban is a near perfect representation of that maturity gap. In this context, there are many Muslims who do not embrace conservative Islam. The Taliban claim they have changed, that they are a new and improved version. To many of their number have exhibited the same violence they used prior to 9/11 to subjugate Afghanis. I will watch, wait and remain vigilant once the evacuation is complete to see whether their proclamations are true. Perhaps, that fundamentalist sect has, in fact, matured to be more respectful of the humanity they are charged to protect. More importantly, for the United States and Western democracies, I hope it is true, and I also hope they do not return to harboring the radicals that killed so many innocent people in the name of the conservative version of their religion.

 

Just a casual observation: the fBICP and supporters of the [person who shall no longer be named] love to tell us no one should tell us what we should put in our bodies, but they feel righteously empowered to tell a woman what she must do inside her body. Go figure!

 

            Comments and contributions from Update no.1022:

Comment to the Blog:

“The first infrastructure bill could pass, but the Democrats are too divided to pass the $3.5 trillion bill. Pelosi holding out for that one could crash both.

“The collective damage Dominion claims from Giuliani, Powell, and Lindell are an amount far beyond what they'd reasonably be expected to own. I guess we'll have to be satisfied with bankruptcies.

“I'm burned out re COVID.

“Our Afghanistan adventure is a bit more egregious than our Vietnam one because the US supported the Taliban against the Soviet Union and left them in power. Other than that, it's almost exactly the same, right down to the airport evacuation.

“I have never been conservative, and I have been surrounded by them most of my life. I have come to understand some of their positions/fears better than I once did, but I'm still basically a leftist. That said, I'm not bound to a party or position the way so many are.”

My response to the Blog:

That may well be, but the gears of congressional gamesmanship will continue to grind on as they play legislative chicken. Yes, this may well crash both. This appears to be an all-or-nothing event quite like we have seen previously with immigration reform; we still have nothing in that area.

Yes, correct; and it is what they deserve for their contribution to the BIG LIE. Although I must say, even if these cases go that far, it will be small satisfaction. We have only to look at O.J. Simpson; he declared bankruptcy after losing his civil case, but he still lives very well. I imagine those three defendants will use their legal skills to preserve sufficient wealth for a very comfortable life. In the case of these defendants, I suppose something is better than nothing. They deserve prison like the person who garners their misguided loyalty.

We are all burned out on COVID-19, but that does not alter reality.

Well, I do not quite see it the same way. There were 58,000 U.S. dead in Vietnam, and 3,300 in Afghanistan. Yes, there was that complication in the genesis and relationship. A little-known fact, we also supported the Viet Minh against the Japanese, before we chose the French over the Viet Minh in Indochina. I will agree there are many similarities. One notable difference, the ARVN fought on without U.S. participation for several years; that did not happen in Afghanistan. To me, the starkest reality in Afghanistan, our presence alone sustained a corrupt government that the Afghan military did not support. The will to fight for freedom is buried deep in the minds of every soldier. Those soldiers spoke emphatically. We must accept that reality.

I would have said I understand Republicans before the fiasco beginning in 2015 began to play out. Today, I do not understand the mindless allegiance to the [person who shall no longer be named] beyond the attraction of a perceived strong-man [who BTW, I will argue he is neither strong nor a man]. To me, it is exactly the same phenomenon history records occurred in Germany in 1933. The experience of the previous administration and its aftermath will ensure I will never again vote for that political party in any form.

 . . . follow-up comment:

“You make some good points, especially about the Republican Party. I want to separate, at least in my mind, ‘legitimate’ conservatives from the followers of the Chump. That's a parallel to my position as a leftist but not a Democrat post-Clinton. U.S. politics is in a whirl much more than any time in my memory, and one potential outcome is the emergence of new parties as in 1856. I would very much welcome that.”

 . . . my follow-up response:

Thank you for your generous words. I do try.

I am with you. There are, indeed, good, worthy Republicans; however, the ones who have made their presence known publicly appear to be a demonstrable minority within what used to be the Republican Party. The fBICP (as I call them) appear to be a significant majority of that group, and they bear no resemblance whatsoever to the once Grand Old Party.

My position on the Clintons (both Bill & Hillary) is well known and documented. I am far more attentive to the progressives among the Democratic Party. The likes of Sanders, Warren, and even Ocasio-Cortez have some good ideas (among others that are far more radical), but we need negotiation and compromise to realize the benefits of those ideas rather than just overpowering the minority. Despite his flaws, President Biden is doing the right thing in pushing hard for bipartisan participation; he deserves credit for that reality alone. I also agree with you on the need for more viable political parties, but that is going to be a tough nut to crack.

 

Another contribution:

“Cap-good day. All arrived this end and have started to peruse as am out this evening. Had a look at the video I could certainly understand his point of view but his selection of rather course language did taint the message somewhat.

“However mate will proceed. Keep clear of that damned bug it’s still on the rampage. Oh and keep sunbathing but if you could spare it we would like to see some ultra violet-virtually non-existent this side this summer.”

My reply:

Yeah, his language was rather coarse, but his anger certainly punctuated the points he offered. This whole freedom nonsense with respect to the virus and pandemic is simply tragic in gargantuan proportions; it is killing people and threatening our entire medical treatment system; and worse, they refuse to see reality. Such is the cost of freedom.

Likewise, my friend. Rest assured, we are doing our part. We have gone back to wearing masks in public interior spaces, and we will get our vaccine booster shots in a couple of months.

No, no sunbathing for me; my sun days are long past, cannot afford the risk anymore. I tolerate the sun in short doses these days.

Hey, I understand. We’re overcast here this morning—go figure. This summer is proving to be substantially cooler and wetter than last year and even the averages. Strange year for us.

 . . . follow-up comment:

“Since our ‘freedom’ was announced our Covid cases have been forever on the increase but not death rates-due to the skill of our medics and the success of the vaccines. We still have the vocal few who quite frequently act with stupid ridicules about the effectiveness of the vaccines. I guess personal contamination and death is the only way that can deal with that attitude, regrettably. Meanwhile unfortunately, they have contaminated several poor individuals they may have brushed against. Yes my friend no gambling with this, it is here to stay for some time yet. Wear those masks.”

 . . . my follow-up reply:

The [person who shall no longer be named] set the tone and established the political & cultural confrontation with his laissez-faire pandemic response—every man for himself. President Biden and his administration have been struggling mightily to overcome that foolish, illogical mindset. We see examples every day of the destruction that despicable man created 18 months ago (I write about just one such incident in this week’s Update [1023]). We are working to schedule our booster shots, and we are also complying with the CDC mask guidelines. We are doing our part to help with the pandemic response. I do not want to wear a facial mask any more than others, but I do believe doing so is important to help break the chain of infection for everyone. Unfortunately, too many American citizens are selfish, self-centered, and not willing to help others. As long as the virus can find supportive host environments, the virus will do what viruses do—reproduce, mutate, and find ways to overcome the obstacles presented to its reproduction. We soldier on despite the insanity around us. We shall overcome.

 

A different contribution:

“Ah, so we can no longer rely on the GOP as the conservative party? Surprise, surprise.

“That's why, as you know from my years of responses to your thoughtful blog, I have claimed for decades to be a Conserviberal. Much like you, I don't fit the dictionary definition of Conservative, because I am socially liberal, try hard to recognize inevitable changes, and sympathize with the poor. More later.

“The dictionary does not adequately describe ‘conservative’ in the political context. You know from my years of communications that I claim to be a ‘Conserviberal,’ even a ‘Flaming Conserviberal’ because I am passionate about constitutional law, personal freedom and accountability, and absolute separation of state action from church and charity, while believing in individual rights of privacy and non-destructive freedom of behavior.

“With the GOP hopelessly suicidal, we need another party to resist the inexorable movement of the Democratic Party to the far left. I voted Libertarian last time and plan to again, not because if any hope for perfection but in protest. Our party system will be the death of us. Sad.”

My response:

Yes, well, the abandonment of conservative values is a disappointment as so many have departed the GOP for the fBICP and their führer. Perhaps not a surprise as desperate times lead desperate people to do desperate things. We witness the consequences of that social axiom.

In a day now long gone, I would have joined you in embracing your term as that most closely defining my political views. However, I see nothing conservative in the classic terms of reference that used to be true in the current rendition. There is nothing politically conservative about the fBICP today; thus, my turning back to the dictionary definition.

Like you, I am passionate about constitutional law. Now two decades past, I used to get into raging debates with a constitutional scholar until her untimely passing. The centroid of those debates was strict constructionist (e.g., Scalia) versus contemporary interpretation of the Constitution. An example, her argument was privacy did not and does not exist in the Constitution, thus privacy is only a definition of common law. I argued, no, the fundamental right to privacy exists above the Constitution as one of those unspecified “unalienable” rights mentioned in the Declaration; i.e, privacy was assumed by the Founders/Framers. Thus, in this context, I cannot embrace conservatism as life is constant change. Nothing is static, thus the status quo cannot stand.

Just a couple of related comments, we, as a society, are sorely lacking in the accountability portion of that relationship with freedom. We see the consequences in many forms today, not least of which is this damnable issue of facial masks during a pandemic as an affront to freedom of choice.

The separation of church and state by the strict interpretation of the Constitution is unilateral, while my interpretation insists that it must be bilateral. Too many so called clerics interfere with politics to an unacceptable extent.

Freedom of choice and the fundamental right to privacy are very big topics with me.

I do not see the Democratic Party as inexorably moving left. Yes, the Democratic Party is under tension, as it should be. I do not and cannot embrace the progressive agenda, but there are some very important and valuable points they espouse. Those matters should be debated in Congress and compromise sought to find worthy solutions. In today’s intransigent political climate, that endstate appears impossible. I have voted Libertarian in recent years, but not last year; the stakes were far too high for a protest vote, IMHO.

I can argue that our sense of individual freedom without accountability or consequences will be the death of us. The Russian and Chinese dictators are making very effective use of this particular vulnerability.

 

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

Cheers,

Cap                  :-)