Update no.890

Update from the Sunland

No.890

21.1.19 – 27.1.19

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

            To all,

            The follow-up news items:

-- Change is always difficult.  The Supremes are no different.  The Court issued stay orders blocking several lower court orders stopping the BIC’s ban on transgender citizens serving in the military.  The divided Court indicated they want the cases to ripen in the lower courts before they review and decide the matter.  As discussed in last week’s Update [889], military service should be based on performance—NOT gender, sexual orientation, or any other single or combination of the social factors.  I appreciate the Court’s careful deliberation on such an important matter, but I think they got this decision wrong.  They should have protected the rights of the individual, first.

-- The President of the United States has a constitutional obligation to report to Congress on the State of the Union [Article II, Section 3].  The Constitution does not say exactly when, where or how the report must be given.  Since 1913, the report has been delivered in person in January or February of each year. Speaker of the House Pelosi advised the BIC that this year’s State of the Union should be postponed until the shutdown [884] ended.  After some chest-beating, the BIC tweeted:

“As the Shutdown was going on, Nancy Pelosi asked me to give the State of the Union Address. I agreed. She then changed her mind because of the Shutdown, suggesting a later date. This is her prerogative - I will do the Address when the Shutdown is over. I am not looking for an....”

8:12 PM - 23 Jan 2019

and

“....alternative venue for the SOTU Address because there is no venue that can compete with the history, tradition and importance of the House Chamber. I look forward to giving a “great” State of the Union Address in the near future!”

8:18 PM - 23 Jan 2019

In this instance, I agree with the Speaker, and the BIC did the correct thing backing down.  He put himself in a bad position.

-- After first agreeing to testify before the House Oversight Committee voluntarily, the BIC’s former fixer attorney and now convicted felon Michael Cohen [868] postponed his testimony due to concerns for the safety of himself and his family as a consequence of threats from the BIC and his mouthpiece attorney Rudy Giuliani.  The Senate Intelligence Committee issued a subpoena to compel Cohen to appear before their committee.  Cohen is scheduled to testify before the Senate committee on the 12^th of February.  Whether we are able to hear his testimony remains uncertain. Further, I trust the BIC’s actions and his lawyer’s contributions will be assessed by the Special Counsel for obstruction of justice.

-- Friday evening, Congress and the BIC publicly announced agreement to a continuing resolution to end the disastrous shutdown, at least for three weeks, until 15^th of February.  Because it happened late Friday, I have not been able to read the resolution, yet (I expect to do so once the information is publicly available).  The BIC started this foolish shutdown hostage situation, and surprise, surprise, he swallowed his pride and ego to end it . . . even if temporarily.  He deserves credit for finally doing the correct thing.  The monkey is now on the back of Congress, and they (Republicans, Democrats and Independents) had better stand up to the mark.  Sufficient elements of a comprehensive immigration reform bill already exist.  Versions have been presented at various times over the last bunch of years. The time has come for Congress to stand up to the mark, put the pieces together, and pass something meaningful.

            As I have written multitudinous times, boarder barriers of various types are necessary and required.  Let us not get hung up on words.  I would strongly recommend appropriate funding for border barriers and other security measures be included.  Congress can (and should) make the barrier-funding contingent upon a proper, public, approved, detailed plan being presented for concurrence by Congress.

            I am not, never have been and never will be in favor of the BIC’s silly, unspecified, vanity wall on the southern land border.  Well . . . wait . . . in the interest of forthright disclosure, at one very weak moment, I did say, “Unfortunately, I think the BIC is using the military as he is using the DACA folks . . . he is that desperate for his bloody border wall.  For all the largesse and waste pumped by Congress, I say give him his damn wall, so we can get some real things done.” [850]

            The hard right-wing talking heads like Ann Coulter resorted to Trumpian ad hominem assaults on their messiah.  Regurgitation of their drivel is not worthy . . . and is readily available from multiple sources, should anyone be so inclined.

-- Another one bites the dust.  A longtime political adviser to the BIC, Roger Jason Stone Jr., was arrested in the pre-dawn hours at his Florida home on charges of lying to Congress, obstruction of an official proceeding, and witness tampering.  This is the latest indictment from Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation [804].  Reading the indictment is quite illuminating for what it says, but more importantly, the significance is in what it does not say.  This indictment is low-hanging fruit to place Stone in the vice.  Now, the real work will begin.  Stone proudly and vociferously proclaimed, he “will not bear false witness” against the BIC.  I say, good.  Tell the truth and let the chips fall where they may.  The “Trump campaign” is broadly displayed throughout this indictment.  The White House mouthpiece publicly stated, the indictment against Stone “has nothing to do with the President.”  Interesting splitting of hairs, since the BIC’s name is on virtually every page.  The noose tightened quite a bit more.

            Of course, the BIC could not let the spectacle pass.  He tweeted:

“If Roger Stone was indicted for lying to Congress, what about the lying done by Comey, Brennan, Clapper, Lisa Page & lover, Baker and soooo many others? What about Hillary to FBI and her 33,000 deleted Emails? What about Lisa & Peter’s deleted texts & Wiener’s laptop? Much more!”

5:42 AM - 26 Jan 2019

For the BIC and the BIC’s mouthpiece to claim, this indictment has nothing to do with him is outright delusional.  This indictment appears to sting the BIC far more than all the others, as his tweets has an unusual air of desperation to them.  Justice has nothing to do with his actions; it is all about him.  The tightening noose must be really irritating him . . . a lot!

            Question: who stands to gain the most from the Brexit chaos?  Answer: Russia. Another question: who stands to gain the most from political chaos in the United States?  Answer: Russia.  Just one more question: who stands to gain the most from the dissolution of NATO?  Answer: Russia.  What is the one common element in all this?

            Bizarre is an understatement regarding the happenings in Venezuela this week alone.  Presidente de la Asamblea Nacional de VenezuelaJuan Gerardo Guaidó Márquez declared himself interim president.  The BIC and Vice President Pence pledged the backing of the United States for Guaidó.  Of course, Russia and the PRC publicly admonished the United States for meddling in Venezuelan affairs and proclaimed their support for deposed President Nicolás Maduro.  The tragedy of Venezuela is staggering even to the imagination.  The specter of international conflict over the rubble of Venezuela just reached the concerning level.  This could go south very quickly.

            Comments and contributions from Update no.889:

“We expected the total eclipse at 5AM this morning-I was up and about at 4 to find we had 8/8ths cloud cover! And it wasn’t cirrus. This the second lunar eclipse in succession lost in this way!

“Will try to come back to you for the update- doing headless chicken gyrations here.”

My reply:

            Nature of the beast . . . weather is the fine, fickle, finger of fate.  We deal with what comes.  Jeanne was out with me, but the reddish hue of the blood Moon was dimmed too much by the thin layer of high clouds for her to appreciate it.  We could see enough to know the Moon was eclipsed by the Earth’s shadow.  Hey, at least we tried.

            Whatever you can contribute about conditions in the Motherland are always appreciated.

Comment to the Blog:

“I saw a total lunar eclipse of a full moon from East Texas in the early 1980s.  It was a thing of beauty, but it also took place in pleasant weather, earlier in the evening, and I had a pleasant companion.  I was too tired this time and the temperature was in the single digits above zero Fahrenheit.  It was a no go this time.

“Any way it goes, Brexit will be the U.K.'s biggest mistake in many decades.

“My concern with the partial government shutdown doesn't involve concern about either the pointless wall or the egos involved.  We know about that.  Let's get on with issues deserving our attention.  The harm to our economy and environment, the cringe-worthy international embarrassment, and the harm to many of our people all matter more than the battle of egos between Chump and the corporate wing of the Democrats.  I'll point out that many more people than the 800,000 unpaid Federal employees are affected.  New products cannot be approved in some fields, farmers needing various permits for their businesses have nobody to provide them, FAA investigations of air crashes cannot occur, and there's more.  National Parks are being destroyed due to personnel on furlough.  If this continues, SNAP benefits will not be disbursed.  I could not care less if the baby gets his toy or not or if Schumer and Pelosi feel humiliated.  We need to re-open the government and examine the power structure in our country.  Speaking of the power structure, Mitch McConnell’s support of his Leader’s insanity is itself insane and his ability to stop the Senate from resolving this serious issue argues for change.

“Mr. Barr at least knows the words, language level, and tone to use at a confirmation hearing.  Let's hope his statements about an independent judiciary hold up in practice.  Barr will surely be confirmed by the Senate.  Almost exactly the same body confirmed Kavanaugh and other less presentable nominees.”

My response to the Blog:

            Well, at least we got to see the eclipse . . . even though dimmed.  Maybe next time!

            Yes, we shall see how Brexit plays out. I suppose that is their rogue election quite akin to our election of the BIC—the vocal minority voted.

            Frankly, I agree with you on this.  The collateral damage being done by the BIC in holding the federal government employees hostage in his political row is far greater than just those federal employees affected.  Our local Press are illuminating the local consequences of the BIC’s actions.  The BIC made this a macho bully thing.  He has to be shown that such conduct is absolutely and categorically unacceptable.  When you give into the bully, you only encourage the bully; we do not need yet another example of that reality; now is the time to stand up to the bully. The only reasonable way out of this is the pain to grow to such a level that sufficient, reasonable, moderate Republicans override the Majority Leader’s blockage.  Congress must pass veto-proof appropriations bills to re-open the government and diffuse the hostage situation.  Then, real, productive negotiations to find reasonable comprehensive immigration reform can be carried out.

            Yeah, McConnell has take tribal insanity to unimaginable levels and has done so since President Obama was elected.  He has almost singularly destroyed the deliberative history of the U.S. Senate, and allowed the higher order of the senatorial debate to devolve into tribal parochialism.  The damage done by McConnell alone is incalculable.

            Another yeah, as I wrote, the demeanor and tone contrast between Barr and Kavanaugh hearings was brilliantly stark.  I would have felt much better if the two men had been reversed in nomination.  Yes, Barr will likely be confirmed, and rightly so. Then, we must hope he does what he said he would do in the tumult and chaos that is the BIC’s administration. We shall see.

Another contribution:

“TDS .. you truly have it .. and dire derangement it is .. when will YOUR unfounded ego see and believe it is not Trumps so called inflated ego that is pushing his demand of the wall? It is the majority and the people who voted for him and even multitudes of those who didn’t who want the wall !!  It is long overdue and even Bill Clinton set aside billions for the wall but never used the funds.. don’t even want to KNOW where those appropriation tax dollars went...

“So if Trump caves in to that idiot Pelosi et al, it will be just another President who doesn’t do what needs to be done !!  Get over YOUR ego .. a man who does nothing but blog Trump hate .. watch that you tube I sent Jeanne and PLEASE be open eyed !!  Just once !!!  I am losing energy “debating “ with someone who only sees what he wants to see and what mainstream media brainwashes him to see !!!”

My reply:

            I shall not take the bait of your ad hominem rhetoric.

            Allow me to take a different tack . . . have you seen a plan for the BIC’s vaunted wall?  Where does each segment go?  How much does each appropriate segment cost to install and maintain? How will the effectiveness of each segment be judged?  In short, where is the plan?

            You appear to have missed my statements of support for appropriate barriers in specific locations as part of a border control defense in depth.  Democrats support appropriate border barriers, as I support appropriate border barriers.  I simply cannot agree to “I want my wall.”  I also cannot agree to nearly a million federal employees being held hostage to satisfy the BIC’s “I want my wall” tantrum.  He alone has made this a macho-male thing; he must be shown he cannot succeed by bullying people into compliance with his non-specific “I want my wall” demands.

            Your ego and my ego are not the issue; the BIC’s ego is a matter of considerable concern.  I’ve seen his kind far too many times.  Apparently, you have not.  I cannot fault you for that paucity of experience with narcissistic megalomaniacs.  I do not agree with your political positions regarding the BIC’s conduct, but I accept your right to express them.  I thank you sincerely for doing so.  Vigorous public debate is vital to any and every democracy.

 . . . Round two:

“As I told Jeanne building a wall is not rocket science .. but your insistence on making it so just continues to illustrate that anything more than half America wants and needs is going to be an ongoing ridiculous cause of friction with the rest who just hate anything that might make Trump look good. As such I refuse to go with this silly debate .. Just base the wall cost on previous cost of what it was before multiplied by footage required, bumped up by increased material cost hows that?  It’s not like it’s a health care plan for Gods sake but as always bureaucracy steps in which is why in the past nothing got done .. a good leader with good teams can get it done if we can just get the Socialists out of the way. WTF are APPROPRIATE barriers ? ??? Please ...  cmon Cap ..  you know what they are .. whatever is not visually ugly and is effective .. just git er done and quit stalling so we can go on to other business !!!  Like healthcare and infrastructure !!  

“It’s NOT Trumps wall it’s the country’s wall if it makes you more comfortable .. as you know he campaigned on it and his American voters want it. His shutdown is not a first for an American President and people needing paid will be paid except politicians ... If he’s a bully then I’m a bully because I want to see our wall complete.

“I do not see him as narcissistic at all .. I see him as the first President in a long time who knows how to get things done and cut through the bureaucracy .. I see that as strength and what this country needs . I immensely admire him and wish instead of sitting here wasting time debating... yada yada yada .. I could help get things done !!! I have donated toward Judicial Watch to get to the bottom of this friction going on with for instance mueller investigations etc .. I think you will find there has been even more corruption in the U.S. Govt just since Reagan alone than you ever imagined.. it has been a dynasty of Bushes and Clinton’s with an Obama thrown in to serve as a link to yet another Clinton which thankfully failed .. They were all connected .”

 . . . my reply to round two:

            I shall do my best to keep this respectful and dignified.

            I have (and I am not alone) no interest in making the BIC look bad.  He does that quite well all by himself.  I am only interested in doing the correct things for this Grand Republic; I have absolutely no interest in making the BIC look good or bad. Where we appear to differ is: you accept what the BIC says as gospel, prima facie, and I have found no reason to believe a word he says.  He has consistently and persistently been far less than truthful.  I categorically reject and condemn his nonsense of “truthful hyperbole”; that notion is bullshit, plain and simple.

            One more time, I am all in favor of appropriate and proper border barriers, and I believe the vast majority of American citizens are.  We all want proper immigration control measures that include appropriate border barriers. Again, where we differ is: I do not accept “I want my wall,” as justification for appropriating US$5.7B in Treasury funds.  If the BIC wants my support for his vaunted wall, I want to see a proper plan: where, what, how far, and how much.  I also want to see our measures of effectiveness.

            Strangely, as the nation suffers the pistol pointed at the head of the opposition in what amounts to extortion, we are treated to video clips of illegal immigrants using ladders at night to surmount existing tall border walls already in place, and we see reports of numerous tunnels underneath the existing barriers.

            Again, my point is, where is the defense in depth part of the plan.  Any barrier is only an obstacle to be overcome by those with a will to do so.  Where is the plan for what happens after individuals overcome the barrier?  The BIC cannot continue to say “I want my wall” and expect deliberative citizens to believe him or acquiesce to his demands.  Some of us know absolutely that he is neither omniscient nor omnipotent.

            The BIC’s using the partial government shutdown and holding nearly a million good, innocent, loyal citizens as hostages is wrong in every way from every aspect.  It is extortion, which is a felonious crime.  Bullying and extortion are not acceptable or tolerable political tools.  Full stop!  End the shutdown, and then negotiations can begin.  The BIC threw down the gauntlet; he cannot be allowed to prevail in his attempt to extort funding from Congress.

            As the BIC persists, the estimated costs of his shutdown have exceeded the funds he is asking in this particular installment—more than US$6B so far and no end in sight.  Soon, highly trained federal employees will have to seek other, more stable employment to protect their families.  When that happens, the extraordinary cost of his shutdown will compound.  In the BIC’s shutdown, we are talking about losing the function of the Justice Department, Homeland Security, Coast Guard, the FAA, among others.  These are not peripheral, nice-to-have federal employees. The BIC must swallow his pride and end the shutdown, period, full stop!

            You are fully entitled to see him as you wish and believe whatever he says.  That is your right as a citizen in good standing.  I will only illuminate the definition; narcissism = a psychological condition characterized by self-preoccupation, lack of empathy, and unconscious deficits in self-esteem.  He sure seems to fit those symptoms.  The American Psychiatric Association in its Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) classifies narcissism as a personality disorder.  Anyone may choose to ignore the signs, symptoms and consequences of his personality disorders (narcissism is only one of many); I do not and I cannot.  Narcissism has been a personality flaw for millennia; the BIC is not the first and will not be the last.

            Again, you are entitled to your opinion. I appreciate your willingness to express your opinions to further public debate.  As for me, I shall wait to read the Special Counsel’s report before casting judgment.  The BIC’s persistent exclamations against the Special Counsel do absolutely nothing but make him look guilty.  Despite all the smoke created by the BIC, I still hold my opinions until I see the evidence.  One more time, I cannot believe a word he says.

 . . . Round three:

“Your syndrome and blinders will be alleviated and removed in a short period of time.  Your bully is bringing corruption in past governments to light and trial.  It is them and their media that has led your mind astray.  I suggest in your abundance of time you have, you do some easily found research on YouTube.. Use the search words Bush and envelope and follow the viewing threads .. and don’t neglect to view the ones you see on JFK !”

 . . . my reply to round three:

            So you say.  You win!  Congratulations.  ‘Nuf said.

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

Cheers,

Cap                        :-)