Update from the Heartland
No.820
11.9.17 – 17.9.17
Blog version: http://heartlandupdate.blogspot.com/
To
all,
The
planned fiery end of the Cassini mission occurred at 11:55 UT, Friday,
15.September.2017 – the 77th Battle of Britain Day. The Cassini spacecraft was nearing the
end of its useful fuel supply and the team decided to order the vehicle to
enter the atmosphere of Saturn and burn up on reentry. The last signal was received from the
spacecraft as it reentered the planet’s upper atmosphere at 70,000 miles per
hour. Cassini sent back to Earth
13 years worth of extraordinary images and new discoveries. Congratulations to the Cassini
team. Well done!
The Eichmann Show (2015) is a BBC
film based on the true story about the trial of Adolf Eichmann (1961) as told
through the eyes of two Americans – Producer Milton Fruchtman and Director Leo
Hurwitz. The movie is an
incredibly well done mixture of actual trial footage with actors to bring out
the story. I was so impressed by
the craftsmanship and story line that I recommend every human being on the
planet should watch this movie and especially every high school student. There are too many people who are
Holocaust-deniers and we must never forget what happened. It is not a pleasant topic, but it is a
vital subject for our history and our collective memory.
Former
Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton returned to the public arena this
week, as she hit the talk show circuit and offered interviews to promote her
new book.
Clinton
repeatedly said, “[James Comey] has forever changed history.” I am sure she truly believes Comey’s
letter to Congress weeks before the election snuffed out her momentum and
raised sufficient doubt in some voters just before the polling day.
This
simple statement is precisely and succinctly why I could not bring myself to
vote for her in the presidential election. She failed to illuminate the critical and essential fact
that her solo actions virtually forced FBI Director Comey to issue that
letter. She blames Comey. I blame her. Let us not forget that it was the discovery of electronic
messages with her that were discovered on Anthony Wiener’s computer during a
criminal investigation that prompted the FBI subsequent review in the first
place. Comey was simply reacting
in the only way he could to the facts.
If she had not done what she did with her private server, thumbing her
nose at established governmental security procedures, and most critically,
unilaterally deleting 30,000 electronic messages she alone deemed personal and
private rather than subject to governmental protection of records laws, there
would have been nothing – nothing I tell you – for Comey to investigate. No, Comey did not lose the election for
her. SHE lost the election by her
arrogant, self-centered, aloof choices and conduct. No, Comey did not change the election; you did,
Hillary. If you had not done what
you did, he would never have had to react to your bad behavior.
Further,
she also wants to abolish the Electoral College. On that, we fundamentally disagree. The Electoral College did not deny her
the election, either. Her
inability to reach out to citizens beyond the coasts cost her the
election. The Electoral College
has been an established, known entity for 227 years. To every citizen with any understanding of the Constitution
(especially Article II, Section 1, Clause 3), the presidential election process
has been a known quantity. I
imagine she was so enthralled with her popular, pre-election, polling numbers
that she did not feel the need to understand the middle of this Grand Republic. Donald Trump worked the middle and won
the constitutionally defined Electoral vote to become the 45th
President of the United States.
No,
Mrs. Clinton, you have only one person to blame for your election loss. Look in the mirror and move on.
Comments and contributions from Update no.819:
Comment to the Blog:
“We largely agree this week about Trump taking positive
actions. I want to add to the DACA
discussion that more than morality is at stake here. These DACA ‘dreamers’ have jobs by definition, and if we
deport them, we will blow a hole in our economy. Undocumented people in general contribute more to our economy
than most people realize. They
also have money taken out of their paychecks for Social Security and other
benefits they are not eligible to receive. Trump acted appropriately in trying to force Congress to
address the DACA issue, but I share your doubt about Congress being functional
enough to respond.
“Trump, as you personally probably know, is a Republican in
almost the same sense that Bernie Sanders is a Democrat. Trump has registered
with the GOP, but has been a Democrat, an independent, and a member of a small
party in the past. He doesn’t have
a history of working with Republicans as Sanders does with Democrats. Trump’s willingness to work with the
Democrats avoided a crisis the Republican Party probably would have caused. That flexibility also signals potential
for more achievements (good or bad).
“The worst of Hurricane Irma has apparently passed, as I
type this. Let us remember that Puerto Rico is part of the United States. That
is probably the part of our nation that has been damaged the most.”
My response to the
Blog:
Re:
DACA. No argument. Good observations. There are others, but the moral aspect
remains the predominant element for me.
Re:
Trump & Democrats. Quite so. I see Trump’s move as encouraging. The combination of staunch Republican
Trump supporters and Democrats would be a clear majority in both the House and
Senate. Perhaps they can achieve
more compromise and get some proper tasks done beyond the Harvey relief
supplemental funding bill.
Re:
Irma. I did not intend or mean to
imply Puerto Rico or the U.S. Virgin Islands were not part of the U.S. Yes, they saw worse damage due the
higher winds (Cat 5) and less stringent construction codes. Support is already there and will
increase. Just orders of magnitude
more people involved in Florida.
. . . a follow-up comment:
“I didn't mean my Puerto Rico comment directly for you. You have
readers who may not be well informed. I have noticed that people in the 50 States tend to think
Puerto Rico is a foreign nation. It's
not, and neither is U.S. Virgin Islands, which also took massive damage.”
. . . my follow-up response:
Ahso! They will be informed, now.
My
very best wishes to all. Take care
of yourselves and each other.
Cheers,
Cap :-)
2 comments:
Neither of us has much respect for Hillary Clinton, but that’s pretty much where the agreement ends this week. I see the email server fiasco as evidence of the hubris that permeates the top level of our government these days, but not as worthy of extensive investigation or of prosecution. I suspect most of the more powerful people in our government share that careless approach to functional decisions unless they fear losing elections or contributions over those decisions.
The content of the various hacked emails interests me much more, and that content has not been disputed at any time. Indeed, the most interesting part, Democratic National Committee (DNC) manipulation of the primaries, became an open statement in a lawsuit that has been dismissed for now. Those emails reveal the DNC’s (Clinton, Podesta, Wasserman Schultz) central concerns to be electing Mrs. Clinton and collecting large donations, not anything to do with the nation’s well being or the best way for the party to win the election. That influenced me to not vote for Mrs. Clinton despite my fear and mistrust of Trump. Given the low turnout, I was not alone in that.
The other major factor was research into Clinton’s actual record as Secretary of State and as Senator from New York. She supported Wall Street over the general public and she did some nasty marketing for contributors (such as supporting baby formula over breastfeeding in impoverished African nations and petroleum over any other power source). Even more importantly, she supported every military action under way or proposed. Her advocacy at State probably pushed us into action in Libya. I see Benghazi as one of those things that can happen in modern combat. The real question is what we were doing there.
We have discussed the Electoral College before. I favor one voter having one vote and see no reason to favor voters from one state over those from another. That only adds to the factionalism the Founders feared. Mrs Clinton collected about 3 million more votes than Trump, but Trump won the election. What justifies that under the notion that “all men are created equal”?
Calvin,
Re: “the hubris that permeates the top level of our government.” Actually, there is plenty of evidence to support your claim. It is the intoxication of power. She certainly exhibited the traits. And, there are many others who have succumbed to that intoxicant. The wisdom of Lucius Quinctius Cincinnatus (519–430 BC) has been lost on contemporary politicians . . . for quite some time now.
Re: “manipulation of the primaries.” The DNC got caught. The RNC did not. The establishment in both parties attempted to manipulate the primaries to obtain a candidate they supported; the DNC succeeded; the RNC did not. Personal opinion: The Russians hacked the DNC, turned over material that suited their purposes to WikiLeaks, and that information became public at a time calculated to do the most damage to Clinton’s campaign. For all we know, they were able to accomplish the very same thing with the RNC, but chose not to release their acquired information. I strongly suspect Mueller’s investigation results will be shocking and sobering in many aspects, once all the available data becomes public.
Re: Benghazi, Libya. I am not so sure.
Re: Electoral College. We will continue to disagree, and I hope we will continue to discuss the various aspects of the constitutional presidential election process. I see it differently. Although I remain disgusted by the outcome, I believe the Electoral College performed exactly as the Founders / Framers intended. Clinton cast all her effort on the coasts and what I see as minimal effort in the Heartland. Trump made a concerted and determined effort in more states and regions. He tapped into a deep vein of dissatisfaction among the citizens of this Grand Republic. The bottom line: he waged a far more effective constitutional campaign than did Clinton . . . although I am quite reticent to give him credit for understanding the Constitution.
“That’s just my opinion, but I could be wrong.”
Cheers,
Cap
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