Update no.880

Update from the Sunland

No.880

12.11.18 – 18.11.18

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

            To all,

            The follow-up news items:

-- In an extraordinary, negative, symbolic action, the Vatican ordered the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops to take no action to address the sex-abuse crisis that has rocked the church for a long time [430], at their annual meeting.  This is another one of those, what on Earth are they thinking?

-- After the BIC revoked the press credential of CNN journalist Jim Acosta [879], CNN filed suit against the BIC for violation of the First and Fifth Amendmentsto the Constitution.  A federal judge (ironically appointed by the BIC and confirmed by the Republican Senate) granted a Temporary Restraining Order (TSO) to CNN and Acosta, ordering his press credential to be reinstated until the scheduled trial next summer.

            In an interesting related opinion:

“CNN’s Acosta Privilege – Does the First Amendment require the President to listen to a partisan and inaccurate lecture?”

by James Freeman

Wall Street Journal

Published: Nov. 13, 2018; 5:53 p.m. ET

https://www.wsj.com/articles/cnns-acosta-privilege-1542149623?mod=djemBestOfTheWeb

Freeman offered his opinion.  I will offer mine. Yes, OSGOO, that is exactly what you are required to do.  The Press must ask the difficult, probing, antagonistic, challenging questions we all need them to ask.  In compliance with the judge’s TSO, Acosta’s press credential was temporarily reinstated.  And, I imagine orders were issued to everyone in the White House to never call upon Acosta or perhaps never talk to him.  After the judge’s ruling, the BIC said the White House would establish rules for decorum.  Whatever they are, the rules must apply equally to the OSGOO.  After all, he is the rudest, most obnoxious person in the whole damn room.  The BIC’s conduct in news conferences is orders of magnitude worse than any journalist I have ever witnessed.

-- The BIC was not the only political leader having a rough week.  Prime Minister Theresa May had an unusually long Cabinet meeting to gain concurrence with the nation’s Brexit [758] plan before taking the plan to Parliament for approval.  Brexit Secretary Dominic Raab resigned and publicly stated that the UK's deal with the EU "presents a very real threat to the integrity of the United Kingdom."  Strong words!  Other ministers also resigned after Raab, including Work and Pensions Secretary Esther McVey, and junior ministers Shailesh Vara (Northern Ireland) and Suella Braverman (Brexit ministry).

-- In the BIC’s on-going, friends-with-our-adversaries/adversaries-with-our-friends routine, he tweeted out on Tuesday:

 “Emmanuel Macron suggests building its own army to protect Europe against the U.S., China and Russia.  But it was Germany in World Wars One & Two - How did that work out for France?  They were starting to learn German in Paris before the U.S. came along.  Pay for NATO or not!”

3:50 AM - 13 Nov 2018

And . . .

“On Trade, France makes excellent wine, but so does the U.S.  The problem is that France makes it very hard for the U.S. to sell its wines into France, and charges big Tariffs, whereas the U.S. makes it easy for French wines, and charges very small Tariffs.  Not fair, must change!”

5:07 AM - 13 Nov 2018

And . . .

“The problem is that Emmanuel suffers from a very low Approval Rating in France, 26%, and an unemployment rate of almost 10%.  He was just trying to get onto another subject.  By the way, there is no country more Nationalist than France, very proud people-and rightfully so!........”

5:17 AM - 13 Nov 2018

The OSGOO is out of his freakin’ mind.  This is not how you resolve differences with an ally.  In fact, this is also not how you resolved differences with an adversary or potential enemy.  What on God’s little green Earth is he thinking!

            A couple of relevant articles seemed appropriate on this topic.

“Trump Is Right About Nationalism – It’s not just about interests or even values. Americans cherish our country’s shared history and character.”

by Marco Rubio

Wall Street Journal

Published: Nov. 13, 2018; 7:08 p.m. ET

https://www.wsj.com/articles/trump-is-right-about-nationalism-1542154128?mod=djemMER_h

No, Marco, the BIC is wrong and so are you.  However, on the flip side, Rubio stated, “The U.S. isn’t a subsidiary of an international order, but it also is more than a group of people bound by a border, competing against others the way a sports team or business empire competes with its rivals.”  Yes, I will agree; this Grand Republic is not and most likely will never be a “subsidiary of an international order.”  However, like it or not, we are a part of the international community, or at least should be.  We should treat our neighbors as we wish to be treated.  The OSGOO is working mightily to isolate the United States as a pariah . . . and doing a helluva job at that.  Apparently, the isolationists and nationalists among us are quite happy with that status.  Instead of being the shining light on the hill, the OSGOO is making us the Ugly American bully among nations of friends and accomplishing exactly what Vladimir Putin is trying to achieve—separating the United States from our allies, isolating us, and making our allies weaker and more vulnerable to Russian hegemony.

“Macron to Trump: ‘You’re No Patriot!’”

by Patrick J. Buchanan

Published: Tuesday - November 13, 2018 at 5:07 am

http://buchanan.org/blog/macron-to-trump-youre-no-patriot-130512

Buchanan concluded, “But Trump did not say that other countries don’t matter.  He only said we should put our own country first.”  Sorry, Pat, you are wrong as well.  The BIC’s actions demonstrate clearly and without equivocation, the United States first, foremost and above all others, which directly implies no other countries matter.  Macron is spot on the money to call out the BIC for his singular, isolationist conduct.  The worst of it, the OSGOO is the elected president; we are not.  We have two more years of this abuse to endure, before healing and recovery can begin.

-- The Los Angeles Police Department arrested Attorney Michael Avenatti on suspicion of domestic violence.  Avenatti is the attorney of record for Stormy Daniels [837], who was arrested herself in Columbus, Ohio [862], on trumped up, politically motivated charges.  Both of Avenatti’s ex-wives issued public statements that he had never been violent toward them or anyone else.  It is unclear what the basis is for the arrest, but whatever it is, the arrest sure does appear to be politically motivated, like those against his client Stormy Daniels.  A scheduled political event for Avenatti was promptly canceled, exacting a cost for accusations.  Are these legal actions just another version of the pipe bomber [877] and the synagogue killer [877]?

-- The Central Intelligence Agency has reportedly concluded that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman directly ordered the murder of the Saudi journalist and U.S. resident Jamal Khashoggi [876], at the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul.  The CIA’s assessment is based on “an understanding of how Saudi Arabia works,” rather than on “smoking gun” evidence.  Perhaps the only person on the planet who is not so convinced is the OSGOO; he continues to wiggle around trying to find justification to exonerate or at least cover for his good buddy, the crown prince—yet another autocratic dictator.

-- The OSGOO continues his relentless attacks on the Special Counsel investigation [804] with a flurry of tweets that came in the wake of his abysmal performance at the Remembrance Day celebration in France and his conspicuous absence from any Veterans Day ceremonies; the only thing that would have been worse than his failure would have been him playing golf on Veterans Day.  The BIC’s tweets were:

“The inner workings of the Mueller investigation are a total mess. They have found no collusion and have gone absolutely nuts. They are screaming and shouting at people, horribly threatening them to come up with the answers they want. They are a disgrace to our Nation and don’t...”

4:14 AM - 15 Nov 2018

Followed by:

“....care how many lives the ruin. These are Angry People, including the highly conflicted Bob Mueller, who worked for Obama for 8 years. They won’t even look at all of the bad acts and crimes on the other side. A TOTAL WITCH HUNT LIKE NO OTHER IN AMERICAN HISTORY!”

4:32 AM - 15 Nov 2018

There are so many false statements it is not worth my time to list them.  The BIC’s disrespect for the rule of law is absolutely mind-boggling.  With the BIC’s incessant erroneous tweets, I am reminded of another infamous president 45 years ago.

            President Nixon infamously self-professed, “[P]eople have got to know whether or not their president is a crook. Well, I'm not a crook.”  We know how that turned out; less than a year later, Nixon resigned—the only president in history to do so.  He was indeed a crook, who committed multiple federal felonious crimes while he occupied the Oval Office.  In all fairness, he resigned before the House passed articles of impeachment, and newly inaugurated and un-elected President Gerald Ford pardoned him a month later before criminal charges were filed.  The BIC’s incessant self-denials remind me of those Nixon days.

            The Arizona election for the U.S. Senate was finally decided with the counting of absentee and provisional ballots—Kyrsten Lea Sinema will take the seat of retiring Senator Jeff Flake.

            The one really positive outcome in the entire 2018 mid-term election is Representative Devin Nunes of California, who was unfortunately re-elected, will NOT be the chairman of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence and will be unable to so grotesquely bias the Committee’s work on behalf of the BIC.  Given his lapdog performance, I am confident he will attempt mightily to persist in being the BIC’s agent.

            With all the nonsense of the last couple of months of the silly season and especially the last two weeks since the election, the following opinion article stood out.

“Judges are treating Trump as a second-class president – Judges won't let Trump exercise powers that other presidents would be allowed to exercise.”

by Robert Robb

Arizona Republic 

Published: 6:06 a.m. MT Nov. 16, 2018 | Updated 6:52 a.m. MT Nov. 16, 2018

https://www.azcentral.com/story/opinion/op-ed/robertrobb/2018/11/16/trump-daca-ruling-ninth-circuit-court/2016817002/?utm_source=azcentral-Opinions News Now&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=baseline&utm_term=hero

The OSGOO should consider himself blessed that he is being treated as a second-class president, because his public conduct is at a very low-class level—far below second-class status.  I mean, really, just look at his tweets from this week only.  The BIC is incapable—humanly incapable—of perceiving the criticism. To him, the criticism is a vast left-wing conspiracy concocted by the liberal Press and conservative haters. When the OSGOO persists in acting like a common schoolyard bully, it should be no surprise to anyone that judges do not look kindly upon the BIC’s bad behavior.

            Robb states, “Authority shouldn't depend on character,” and he is correct—it shouldn’t, but it does.  One of many aspects of leadership is perception. What do people perceive in their leader.  I can remember one of the few comments my uncle made about his dreadful experience in the Battle of Hürtgen Forest and the Battle of the Bulge. He swore profane epithets at the memory of General George Patton and in almost the very next breath issued forth words of praise verging upon worship.  He hated how the general drove them, but he respected him and believed in him, and they cherish their accomplishments under his leadership. The Constitution and the law define authority, but leadership is the execution of authority.  Authority may not depend upon character, but leadership to execute authority most assuredly does.

            Sir Winston Churchill so wisely observed, “Criticism may not be agreeable, but it is necessary; it fulfils the same function as pain in the human body, it calls attention to the development of an unhealthy state of things.” [1901]  That is a trait and capacity, the BIC has failed to learn, and failed miserably.  No, it should be no surprise to Robb, or the BIC, or any rational human being why judges are not inclined to show appropriate deference to the current occupant of the Oval Office.  These are the consequences of the BIC’s choice of totally disregarding norms of presidential conduct.  Further, he is demonstrated his inability to respect the office he holds, and citizens like me will not respect him for his disrespect of the People’s Office.

            And then, there is another relevant opinion.

“Doubling Down on Mueller – What will Democrats (and Jeff Flake) do if the probe finds no collusion evidence?”

by Kimberley A. Strassel

Wall Street Journal

Published: Nov. 15, 2018; 7:07 p.m. ET

https://www.wsj.com/articles/doubling-down-on-mueller-1542326829?mod=djemMER_h

Strassel offers an interesting opinion.  If that is the outcome of the Special Counsel investigation, my answer will be, thank you very much for your extraordinary effort.  Now we know, which is monumentally more reliable than the BIC’s incessant rants.  However, beyond the baseless speculation, none of us, including the OSGOO, have seen the Special Counsel’s report and findings.  Until we do, all of this, including the BIC’s rants, are pure conjecture and should be treated as such.

            Comments and contributions from Update no.879:

Comment to the Blog:

“I'm in agreement with you and your other commentator on appropriate regulation of firearms.  We shall see how such efforts proceed.  The NRA seems to be losing influence, but whether it has lost enough power for the rest of us to make sensible rules remains to be seen.

“Trump (Chump) proceeds apace.  The comparison in this week's post to a mobster fits.  As with so many other mobsters, he underestimates the reach and importance of those seeking to stop him.  Now he has removed Attorney General Sessions for what may be Sessions' only notable sound ethical action ever, recusing himself from the Mueller investigation.  Even if Chump manages to stop Mueller from carrying out his duty, other legal avenues remain. New York State’s investigation continues, and the Democrat majority in the House of Representatives looms as a new source of justice.

“I support sex workers in their quest to work safely, and I would respect any typical sex worker more than I do Chump.  In the case of Stormy Daniels, my respect is specifically increased by her courage and honesty.  I have yet to read her book, but I look forward to it.  That respect also goes out to others that have revealed Chump’s nature.

“I don't know if Chump's attempt to create a worldwide embargo on Iran (minus nations he exempted, of course) will have an effect on Iran or other nations.  I know Chump has once again lowered our standing among nations.  So much for ‘America First.’

“The midterm elections are pretty much what I expected. (I follow fivethirtyeight.comand recommend them as a source of sound statistical predictions.)  Now let's see which Democrats lead their party.  If it's the Clinton-Schumer-Pelosi faction, expect more of Chump's domination.  If the progressives are in charge, look for change.

“President Macron of France is, of course, more intelligent and also wiser than Chump.  Chump's misbehavior probably annoys other leaders, but he surprises none.  Macron makes an excellent point about Europe needing its own defense force. The USA is no longer capable of being the world’s policeman, and the world has not benefited from it.

“Chump's press conference faux pasis no news. Perhaps the press would be wise to report the news with directly quoting Chump (including Twitter) and without showing him on camera.”

My response to the Blog:

            Hopefully, we have reached a threshold for proper, comprehensive, bipartisan action regarding gun control.  My principal word of caution remains, there must be safeguards to protect the constitutional rights of all citizens against overreach by overzealous prosecutors.  At the root of this matter is the underlying mistrust of government . . . well, perhaps not government, but the people who occupy positions of power, e.g., U.S. attorneys and district attorneys, within the government.

            Chump . . . I like it . . . quite fitting, it seems to me.

            The BIC is monumentally more afraid of professional investigators probing into his business activities.  It is his business conduct he is most worried about, which is probably why he chants his incessant mantra—no collusion.  He may well be correct, but the evidence must support his claims.  I am deeply concerned he may yet try to fire the Special Counsel, or through his lackey Whitaker starve the investigation of funding to complete their work.

            I have long been a vocal advocate for protections and regulation for sex work of all kinds from strippers to prostitutes. We are a long way from that state. The Stormy book was interesting and actually gives us a little more insight into the conduct of the BIC. If you read her book, please let me know what you think.

            In the BIC’s view of leadership, fear is the key, if not the ultimate, ingredient.  Virtually everything he says or does is based on fear, namely fear of what he might do . . . the essence of intimidation and bullying.

            Predictions and expectations are different.  I understood the predictions—the forecast. My expectations were naively placed at a higher level with the larger than past turn-out.

            The BIC would do well to learn from Macron, but he is either incapable or unwilling, or both . . . but still . . . 

            Starving the BIC of publicity would be helpful, but the thought of him skulking around in the dark is even more mind-boggling.

 . . . follow-up comment:

“One follow-up point: I don't want Trump skulking around in the dark.  [shudders]  I just don't want his performances to be shown directly.”

 . . . my follow-up response:

            I’m with you.  I would prefer not to see the worst elements of American society—misogynists, white supremacists, neo-Nazis, conspiracists, el al. Giving those elements oxygen is not helpful.  Unfortunately, the BIC has encouraged, enabled, cheered and pumped up those elements.  Even beyond that reality, so many good, intelligent, informed and contemplative citizens have decided to ignore or discount his bad behavior to get what they want—a strong economy, a stronger military, and socially conservative judges.  It is not so much his bad behavior that bothers me anymore; it is what he is doing to our society—to We, the People—that really scares me.

Another contribution:

“I agree with the opinions conveyed here. It is actually comforting reading these viewpoints.  I've been steaming ever day since his, UnBeLiEvAbLe election.

“My rambunctious two year old twin grandsons are more respectful than this arrogant p---k! Anyway...

“Being a California girl for 65 years and spending countless hours in awe of the federally protected coastline, the vast nationally recognized forests in California... the parks ..

“I could go on..

“What ‘he’ said regarding California firefighters, not even implying, but stating that the poor management of and inept skills of, all those on the frontlines of California protection of National forests and personal homelands is at fault for these disasters is totally inconceivable..

“My grammar may suck, but I'm so angry!

“He is in his head..  (so scary) when he opens his mouth or tweets or always looks smug and all knowing.  He then comes back with ‘others’ written rebuttals.  Of course he tries to read, what is not his actual opinion, so poorly.  As if their words aren't an insult and an (unbelievable) attempt at an excuse for anything.

“I've never believed he has any comprehension of what the impact of what he says and does has on the fine, hardworking people of this state or our country.  And the world!

“The list of nasty adjectives i could list here is almost endless.  He will never speak for me.

“I agree, history will show what happens when people think their vote doesn't count.  Or they can't seek out a rational opinion of who will best fulfill this complicated, powerful job of leading us as a nation.  I still can't believe we ended up here.

“Voting is the way out of this disaster.  We must unite.  Fight for our freedom from this insanity.

“THIS IS NOT NORMAL.

            on any level.

“I admit, I'm Scared of what's next.

            God or God.dess.

                        Help Us All!

“p.s. firefighters are fearless and pay a HuGe price being of such service, against such a rapacious enemy.

            And victim's don't heal from sick insults. Especially in shock + grief.

            You may not agree with what I'm saying here.  But blessings to our forefathers that afford me the right to say it.”

My reply:

            I’m glad you found some comfort in the words of Update no.879.  I share your disappointment in the 2018 election; I had perhaps naively hoped for a rebuke of the BIC, to at least partially curtail some of his shenanigans.  While we gain at least a partial check in the House, the control of the Senate may well turn out to be tragic in that the Senate confirms presidential appointments, and specifically judges.

            Yes, what the BIC publicly said in the middle of those horrific wildfires is unconscionable.  What kind of a human being would berate people who are trying to survive?  Yet, the monumentally worse aspect of the BIC’s words is the substantial segment of our population who cheer the BIC to greater and more offensive obscenities.  The BIC has tapped into and illuminated a rather dark segment of our citizenry.  I stand with Californians and condemn the BIC’s outrageous falsehoods.  He has no clue what compassion and empathy are.

            The BIC, or OSGOO as I sometimes refer to him, has done incalculable damage to this Grand Republic.  His bad conduct obliterates the good aspects of what he is doing.  I am finding it more difficult and repulsive to give him credit for the good elements.

            We had one little ray of brightness. Yesterday, they finally declared a winner in the Arizona Senate race.  Sinema tried very hard to walk a moderate, collaborative line. Unfortunately, McSally embraced the BIC to such a degree that I referred to her as the BIC with tits. Oddly, McSally may be seated in the Senate before Sinema, since Kyl is expected to resign soon and the governor is expected to appoint McSally, but if that happens, she will have to stand for election in 2020 . . . along with her bosom buddy.

            I do not know what it will take for the remaining 40-50% of our eligible voters to actually participate.  Today, there are so many ways to vote, in some states up to a month before Election Day.  They can vote from the recliner in their living room. There are no more excuses for not voting.

            You are spot on correct.  What we are enduring is NOT normal, despite the BIC’s enormous efforts to define a new, more miscreant behavior as the new normal.  I can only hope I live, long enough to witness recovery from this abuse.  It is tragic what he is doing to our standing in the world community.

            Our hearts and prayers go out to all those who have lost in the latest episodes of wildfires.  May all those who have suffered find comfort.

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

Cheers,

Cap                        :-)