Update no.893

Update from the Sunland

No.893

11.2.19 – 17.2.19

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

            To all,

            All good things must come to an end. It is with genuine sadness that I acknowledge NASA’s public announcement of the reality they are ending their efforts to revive the agency’s most durable Mars rover after 835 unanswered wakeup calls.  The Mars rover Opportunity’s planned 90-day mission became a 15-year bonanza of data from the red planet.  At the end, it was a planet-wide dust storm that probably covered and coated the vehicle’s solar power panel and starved the rover of vital electrical power.  The last communication from the rover occurred on 10.June.2018.  Some day, humans may find the Opportunity rover, dust off its solar panels, and the pioneering spacecraft might well come back to life. During its operation, the rover covered 28 miles of the Mars surface and sent back to Earth more than 200,000 images and other data.  Opportunity led the way for the Curiosity rover that is powered by a Multi-Mission Radioisotope Thermoelectric Generator (MMRTG) rather than solar cells. The MMRTG has a designed minimum life of 14 years.  Thus, Curiosity is not susceptible to dust storm compromise as Opportunity was.

            The follow-up news items:

-- After all the trauma, confusion and uncertainty of the last seven weeks [884-892], Congress passed by a veto-proof, bipartisan majority the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2019 [PL 116-xxx; H.J.Res.31; House: 300-128-0-4(3):Senate: 83-16-0-1(0);132 Stat. xxxx], ending the BIC’s threats to shutdown the government to satisfy his “I want my wall” tantrum.  The appropriations bill allocates “$1,375,000,000 is for the construction of primary pedestrian fencing, including levee pedestrian fencing, in the Rio Grande Valley Sector” [Division A, Title II, §230 (a)(1)].  For the record, the word ‘wall’ is not mentioned once in the bill’s 465 pages, and ‘concrete’ is mentioned only three times in provisions unrelated to border protection.  Given the votes in both chambers, the BIC wisely signed the bill.

            Of course, the BIC was not satisfied. In a Rose Garden announcement, the BIC indicated he would also sign an emergency declaration, ostensibly as authorized by the National Emergencies Act [PL 94–412; 90 Stat. 1255; 14.9.1976] [630]. The BIC apparently intends to use his declaration to reallocate existing fund from other congressionally approved appropriations to make up the shortfall in funding.  Then, for reasons I cannot imagine, the BIC publicly stated with respect to the declaration:

“In fact, the primary fight was on the wall. Everything else, we have so much, as I said, I don’t know what to do with it we have so much money. But on the wall, they skimped. 

“So I did -- I was successful, in that sense, but I want to do it faster. I could do the wall over a longer period of time. I didn’t need to do this. But I’d rather do it much faster. And I don’t have to do it for the election. I’ve already done a lot of wall, for the election -- 2020. And the only reason we’re up here talking about this is because of the election, because they want to try and win an election, which it looks like they’re not going to be able to do. And this is one of the ways they think they can possibly win, is by obstruction and a lot of other nonsense.”

“I didn’t need to do this”?  What kind of an emergency is that?  Since the BIC broadcast his intentions in advance, appropriate legal actions were prepared and filed immediately challenging the BIC’s clear abuse of power and constitutional violation of the separation of powers.  While it will like be some time, I look forward to reading the Supremes’ ruling and specifically what opinion Kavanaugh [862, 870, 874] signs up to or writes.

            Even a mentally challenged person would not be this foolish and capricious, so I suppose we must conclude that he intentionally sought to instigate a constitutional crisis for political purposes, just like he singularly created the border “emergency” situation, to placate his ardent supporters.

            As soon as he signed the appropriations bill and emergency declaration, the BIC flew off to his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida; so much for this urgent national emergency.
-- The Senate voted to confirm [54-45-0-1(0)] William Pelham Barr, of Virginia, to be attorney general of the United States [883].  Barr now takes over supervisory responsibility for the Special Counsel’s investigation from Deputy Attorney General Rosenstein.  I sure hope he rises to the occasion.  We shall see, and we will be paying attention.

            What would life in contemporary times be without one of the BIC’s infamous tweets?

“‘These guys, the investigators, ought to be in jail. What they have done, working with the Obama intelligence agencies, is simply unprecedented. This is one of the greatest political hoaxes ever perpetrated on the people of this Country, and Mueller is a coverup.’ Rush Limbaugh”

1:32 PM - 17 Feb 2019

The odd thing about this one. . . the BIC is POTUS, not a private citizen.  He is quoting a private citizen, talking head, commentator, as if he is a reliable source of facts.  The Special Counsel is a duly appointed agent of the U.S. Government.  The BIC is the constitutional chief executive of the U.S. Government.  In this tweet, he is implicitly siding with a private citizen who has no authority, no access, no basis in fact for his opinion. This one can added to the steadily mounting folder of beyond bizarre actions by the BIC.  I know his supporters love this stuff, but I find it so bloody disconcerting, disappointing, and outright reprehensible for any president.

            Continuation from Update no.890:

“Judicial Watch says not one bit of collusion found in Stone endictment (sic).. as expected.. most of America is sick of all this .. time to let Trump get to work and continue productiveness.”

My reply:

            Hey, actually, we agree.  I want this whole affair to be over regardless of the outcome or findings of the investigation.  Unfortunately, I believe you are succumbing to classic political spin that you favor.  Yes, I agree Judicial Watch has found no collusion in the Stone indictment. It absolutely baffles me when anyone including the BIC himself say no collusion.  I will not join the chorus of BIC supporters in that chant until I see the evidence presented by the Special Counsel.  I hope there was none; I truly do.  The implications of collusion with the Russians to affect the outcome of the 2016 are not good; in fact, they would be tragic for this Grand Republic.  So, respectfully, I will not join Judicial Watch in that judgment . . . until I see the evidence.

 . . . follow-up comment:

“I figured so .. if someone put solid facts in front of you you wouldn’t believe them because you have decided you want to believe what you want to believe.”

 . . . my follow-up reply:

            Solid facts?  Really?  Have you read the Stone indictment?  If not, you should.  The facts presented in the indictment are undoubtedly just a smidgen of what the Special Counsel holds.  The threshold is probable cause.  I doubt the Special Counsel would bring an indictment if he did not hold substantial further evidentiary facts to establish Stone’s guilt beyond a reasonable doubt—a much higher threshold.  So, please, read the stone indictment, read the public facts, and imagine what additional facts the Special Counsel holds.  I’m just sayin’.

            So, rather than point your accusatory finger at me, how about let’s focus on the facts we have . . . rather than opinions of politically biased individuals outside the investigation or a court of law.

 . . . and a follow-up, follow-up comment:

“I think I am finally near giving up on you .. Tom Fitton of Judicial Watch runs a non-partisan legal organization that is funded by the people to root out corruption in the government whether it be corruption by the Dems or the Reps .. If he announced something other than fact he could be counter sued.  Judicial Watch has sued for access to Clinton emails and they have mostly not come forward.. there lies corruption.. everything Hillary was involved in was mostly corrupt and the country knows it and so did Obama.”

 . . . along with my follow-up, follow-up reply:

            I am truly sorry to hear you say that. I try very hard to get the raw facts regarding any topic.  This is no different.  I listen to opinions and talking heads on both the right and left, and from various news sources, and then I try to reconcile those opinions with the actual facts; thus, my serious recommendation for you to read the Stone indictment directly, rather than rely upon an opinion filter.  Your choice entirely.  I have confidence in my process.  Judicial Watch is not as unbiased as you seem to believe.

            Continuation from Update no.891:

“Okey dokey .. how’s those collusion investigations going ?  Have they come up with anything or maybe new angles ?”

My reply:

            Apparently, you have seen the Special Counsel’s investigation report and findings.  Please let me know where you found it.  I would really like to read it for myself.

            Comments and contributions from Update no.892:

Comment to the Blog:

“Every so often, the 538 web site updates its chart comparing the Mueller investigation to others back to Watergate.  So far, Mueller has produced more charges and convictions against more subjects than Watergate at this time-point in the investigation.  Speeches are just vibrating air.

“I rejoice that Jeff Bezos stood up to the blackmailer David Pecker.  I'll note that the object of the blackmailer was to force Bezos to state that Pecker's action in publishing embarrassing information on Bezos was not political.  Hence, it was, in fact, a political act.

“A potential second government shutdown looms.  This is as ridiculous as it is damaging. We need to repeal the law behind shutdowns in general.  It backfired pretty much as expected.  That law is predicated on lawmakers avoiding damage to our nation by compromising on budget issues.  We have proven, repeatedly, that lawmakers don't care enough for that to work.”

My response to the Blog:

            “Speeches are just vibrating air.” Good one; I love it.  I have not been concerned about the Special Counsel’s investigation, for the reasons you cite, until the last couple of days. “Rumors,” disinformation, misinformation, or outright false propaganda has indicated the Special Counsel’s investigation is not examining the BIC’s business organization financial transactions, especially as those money deals may well reflect, if not directly influence, the BIC’s actions or worse criminal conduct.  Without delving into the money movement, I am having a hard time understanding how we can believe the Russian collusion aspect of the investigation was fully explored.  The Special Counsel may have decided the SDNY has jurisdiction in the money actions, but at a very minimum, the money part of collusion must be addressed.

            Re: Bezos.  Well said and spot on.

            I am not aware of any law regarding shutdowns, or perhaps it just does not come to mind.  The Constitution established that Congress must appropriate funds for the operation of government.  The Constitution assumes that all government employees (Legislative, Executive & Judiciary) will do the best thing for the country. The Constitution does not say what happens if Congress fails to appropriate; the implication is thus that the government stops operating.  The best suggestion I have heard to date is, if Congress fails to appropriate funds for any department, bureau, agency or commission under its jurisdiction (without terminating the organization), then neither Congress nor the White House (all employees from top to bottom) will not be paid, period, full stop, i.e., compensation for the affected period is forfeited, not just deferred.  The motivation to avoid shutdowns would be substantially different.

 . . . Round two:

“The shutdowns result from the way underlying laws operate.  In a quick search, all I found was the Budget Control Act of 2011 and the ‘fiscal cliff’ of 2013.  You may remember that Republicans typically howl about debt and deficits (and confuse the two) during Democrat Presidencies, and I was looking for something from Clinton's purportedly Democrat administration.  Unfortunately, I'm not able to name that.  So now, the Resident can use the laws that are in place to hold the nation hostage over one budget item.

“The Founders' assumption that future politicians would operate in goodwill may have been the most foolish idea of their time.  They could have looked around at their colleagues and known better.  Self-interest prevailed then as now.”

 . . . my response to round two:

            I think you may be referring to the Budget Control Act of 2011 [PL 112-025; S.365; Senate: 74-26-0-0(0); House: 269-161-0-3(2); 125 Stat. 240; 2.8.2011] and perhaps the No Budget, No Pay Act of 2013 [PL 113-003; H.R.325; Senate: 64-34-0-2(0); House: 285-144-0-3(3); 127 Stat. 51; 4.2.2013].  Both bills deal with debt ceiling control actions that were clearly never effective, as they were intended; proof: the consistent violations hence. To my knowledge, the first government shutdown occurred on 30.September.1976, during the Ford administration—two centuries after Independence.

            You are spot on correct.  Republicans, especially in recent times, like to howl at spending on Democrat-favored programs, and go deaf, dumb and blind with respect to spending on Republican-favored programs.  Both have seriously increased the national debt; there have been 20 shutdowns since; both parties are culpable.  Even the Tea Party ultra-conservatives fall victim to the exact same phenomenon, e.g., the “I want my wall” foolishness.

            I think the Founders / Framers were far wiser than your words suggest, e.g., three equal branches, super-majority for cloture in the Senate or to over-ride a presidential veto, and of course impeachment.  Yes, I agree, and I think they would as well, that they were flawed human beings as we all are, which is why they created a cumbersome system of governance; they sought checks & balances to compensate for human foibles.

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

Cheers,

Cap                        :-)

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