Update no.925

Update from the Sunland

No.925

30.9.19 – 6.10.19

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

            To all,

            The follow-up news items:

-- Details of the now infamous telephone conversation [924] continue to flow into the public domain, and the image those evolving details create, flesh out and colorize is not a pretty one.  The BIC and his devoutly loyal talking-head sycophants have striven and persist in striving mightily to convince us what we hear, read, and see from any source other than him is, of course, fake news.  What the BIC and his sycophants fail to understand, appreciate, or recognize is some of us read and fully realize exactly what his words mean.  His incessant protestations simply reinforce the reality.

            Attorneys representing the Intelligence Community whistleblower now claim they are representing multiple whistleblowers in the expanding accusations against the BIC, not just the original.  At least one of the new whistleblowers reportedly has direct, first hand knowledge, so one of the main arguments against them evaporates.  We have not yet seen these additional complaints, but I imagine we will eventually.

            Aside from the paucity of any morality on the part of the BIC and his advisors, the deeply revolting aspect of this whole sordid affair is the lack of any regard whatsoever for the Ukraine and the Ukrainian people, who have been engaged in a war with Putin’s Russia in Eastern Ukraine.  The Russians invaded them, and the world did painfully little to help the Ukrainians defend their country.  And, what does the BIC do, he takes advantage of a country struggling to defend itself for his political gain.  How heartless and disgusting can one man be?

-- As the number of drug producer companies settling claims in the opioid crisis [805] outside of court continues to grow, we learn more of the obscene greed of the Sackler family.  In the days before Purdue Pharma declared bankruptcy [922], Purdue Pharma transferred US$12-13B (yes, that’s ‘B’ for billion) to the Sackler family, which they reportedly transferred offshore to protect their ill-gotten gains from the bankruptcy court and perhaps even the law.  I am not particularly optimistic the Sacklers will be held accountable, but there is always hope . . . until there isn’t.

-- The protests in Hong Kong [918] are escalating in violence as the autocrats of Beijing surprisingly remain nervously restrained.  How much longer they will hold their trigger finger is yet to be realized, and we must pay attention and observe.  We may not be able to help the residents of Hong Kong, but at least we can bear witness to their plight.

-- I do not know what the BIC finds so fascinating about tariffs [802]; who’da thunk’it!  The same day the World Trade Organization decided the U.S. was entitled to levy tariffs on European Union products in retribution for the EU’s subsidies to Airbus SE, he initiated the process to impose US$7.5B in new tariffs on the EU.  Once again, correct objective, wrong tool.  The Bully needs no friends, because he is omnipotent.

-- In addition to his global trade war, the BIC has apparently decided to expand his war on immigrants, refugees and visitors [789].  The infamous “people familiar with the matter” indicate the BIC intends to issue a proclamation requiring applicants for immigrant visas to show proof of health care coverage.  The BIC is floating a trial balloon to see if anyone shoots.  Why doesn’t he just require every non-American citizen coming to this country for any reason must have a million dollars in the bank, or maybe even a billion dollars.  Oh wait, damn, did I just give the BIC another bonehead idea to isolate and insulate this Grand Republic from the rest of the world?

            Among so many outrageous statements by the BIC this week, one sequence he saw fit to retweet represents so much of what is wrong with the current POTUS.

No.1:

“Nancy Pelosi and the Democrats can’t put down the Impeachment match. They know they couldn’t beat him in 2016 against Hillary Clinton, and they’re increasingly aware of the fact that they won’t win against him in 2020, and Impeachment is the only tool they have to get….

6:11 PM – 29 Sep 2019

No.2:

....rid of Donald J. Trump - And the Democrats don’t care if they burn down and destroy this nation in the process. I have never seen the Evangelical Christians more angry over any issue than this attempt to illegitimately remove this President from office, overturn the 2016....

6:11 PM - 29 Sep 2019

No.3:

....Election, and negate the votes of millions of Evangelicals in the process. They know the only Impeachable offense that President Trump has committed was beating Hillary Clinton in 2016. That’s the unpardonable sin for which the Democrats will never forgive him.....

6:11 PM - 29 Sep 2019

No.4:

....If the Democrats are successful in removing the President from office (which they will never be), it will cause a Civil War like fracture in this Nation from which our Country will never heal.” Pastor Robert Jeffress, @FoxNews

6:11 PM - 29 Sep 2019

The fact that the BIC would retweet such fallacious drivel speaks volumes for the kind of man he is.  This crap is right out of the dictator’s playbook.  Civil war . . . really?  This is classic BIC.  He finds any nonsense he likes, that flatters him, and he retweets it, and then claims he never said any such thing.  Technically, they are not his words; however, when he reiterates something (anything), he de facto endorses those words as his own.  Yet, that will not stop his sycophants from bellowing out such thoughts.

            To me, the worst part of his whole exchange is the original speaker—Pastor Robert James Jeffress Jr., Minister of First Baptist Church of Dallas [Texas].  Jeffress has a long history of such political diatribes.  Beyond the fact that he is wrong in almost every way, the fact that a minister a Baptist church says such things invokes several relevant thoughts.  First, as a citizen, he enjoys freedom of speech; he has every right to say such things, no matter how wrong they are.  However, as a church minister, who enjoys tax-exempt status, he does not get a free pass.  When religious leaders get involved in politics, we are returned to the days of Cardinal Richelieu (1624-1642), i.e., “I am the word of God, and therefore God has directed this action”—very dangerous ground.  Second, religious leaders can dabble in politics all they wish, or they can enjoy tax exempt and protected status; they have no right to both—one or the other; they must choose.

            Lastly, at the bottom line, regardless of who says such words, these thoughts in the public domain are inciteful, especially among a group of comparatively ignorant, violence-inclined followers.  The BIC and Jeffress cannot claim uninvolvement after saying and retweeting the words.  In essence, they have endorsed civil war, if they do not get their way politically.  Only one side talks like this.  We have a clear choice.

            The Labor Department reported the U.S. economy added 136,000 jobs in September, and the unemployment rate dropped to 3.5% in September from 3.7% in August, marking the lowest jobless rate since December 1969 when it also logged in at 3.5%.

            Comments and contributions from Update no.924:

Comment to the Blog:

“I will use the singular ‘they’ to refer to the whistle-blower, as recently sanctioned by Merriam-Webster.  I also read the complaint, and I noted professional diligence and thoroughness rarely seen in public.  They are in danger, which is my immediate concern about them.

“No doubt all sides pressure Admiral McGuire hard.  Checking in with the White House and/or the Justice Department higher-ups were mistakes nonetheless.

“The memorandum purporting to be a record of the crucial phone call to Ukraine exemplifies incompetence.  It states that it's not a verbatim record, uses ellipses to conceal most of the contents, and still manages to give damning information.

“It's always good to see the Boris Johnsons of this world take a punch.

“The House of Representatives has no duty to convince ‘We the People’ of anything about impeachment.  Their duty is to study whether to send Articles of Impeachment to the Senate, much as a grand jury decides whether to send an indictment for trial by a petit jury.  The will of ‘the people,’ at this point, is a political issue rather than a legal one.

“The engineers at Boeing or elsewhere do not set the procedures or make the decisions about their processes.  Those are management duties.  The engineers do participate knowingly.  I see plenty of civil and criminal liability to go around, but overall safety improvement will not occur without regulatory change.”

My response to the Blog:

            Oh yes indeed; they are in danger—all of them.  The BIC is spouting off about treason, spies, and confronting his accuser.  He has NO right to confront the whistleblower; the law is very clear.  He will get his opportunity in the Senate during his impeachment trial.

            Yes, I do not envy Admiral McGuire’s position.  He handled himself well before Congress, but that does not absolve him of his wrong choices in the early stage of the whistleblower affair.  The whistleblower complaint is similar in nature to the Special Counsel’s Report—clues for Congress to investigate.  There were felonious crimes represented in the evidence presented in the Special Counsel’s Report, just as there is in the whistleblower’s complaint.  The complaint is NOT a charging document.  And, given the 1973 OLC memorandum, Congress is the only organization that has the authority to charge and try a sitting president.  McGuire’s fundamental and foundational mistake occurred when he failed to immediately forward the complaint to Congress after the ICIG’s validity determination, since the subject of the complaint was the president himself—not an aide, advisor or minister—the BIC himself.

            While I must agree with your assessment there is no explicit “duty” of the House to convince We, the People, that duty is implied, just as it is for the president and a declaration of war.  Impeachment is a constitutional process to override an election—the votes of We, the People.  We see graphic examples in history from Roosevelt’s successful efforts prior to WW2, to Johnson’s failure in Vietnam and Bush 43’s failure in Afghanistan & Iraq.  As I have suggested previously, the charging in the House is quite akin to a prosecutor’s decision to charge in a criminal case—what is the likelihood of conviction?  Yes, of course, any involvement of the people in the decision and action process is political and NOT legal; there is no requirement in the Constitution or common law for governmental officers in any branch to seek consent of the people; however, the political consequences simply cannot be ignored.

            Civil and criminal liability with respect to Boeing’s failure in the B737-MAX certification is yet to be established. The physical evidence in the public domain so far is not complimentary to Boeing.  Other than the damage to Boeing’s reputation, what matters is charging documents that are yet to appear.

Another contribution:

“Never will I support anyone other than Trump unless an equivalently strong person comes forward to replace him .. one who has not been in the government swamp for 20 years or more and has a great business sense and all the other positive qualities of our President.  Never will I vote for a Democrat, especially not Joe Biden. He is the epitome of sleeze and corruption .. too bad if Trump tried to get information on Biden brought forward.. someone needs to let the people know the truth about Biden and the corruption involved with his manipulation of the Ukraine government involving his son.  CNN would never come forward with the truth ..  it all gets swept under the carpet just as the total corruption involving the Clintons over dozens of years.. I am ashamed of our past governments and the wool they pulled over the eyes of the American sheep.. And I am ashamed of those who don’t step forward and demand truth .. if it is even possible for an American citizen to demand truth . It’s a sad situation.. but I’m sure you like most Democrat politicians, the mainstream media, the ladies of the View, Jimmy Kimmel, Bob Deniro etc are loving this right now .. if they succeed in impeachment you will rue the day a devastating replacement steps in .. if a Democrat wins the next election and our country turns to Socialism and subsequent doom I hope I am around and you are around to not let you hear the end of it !!!  Karma is a mother ...”

My reply:

            Who you support and vote for is your business entirely, and for whatever reason(s) that matters to you.  Thank you for sharing your perspective.

            Yes, no disagreement.  The obligation of any political candidate is to illuminate what s/he stands for and the differences between his opponents.  That is different in the BIC’s case is he chose to use his position as POTUS to strong-arm the president of another country to do his dirty work for him.  That is the definition of abuse of power.  No president has unilateral power, as the BIC has been shown.  Even if the most socialist among the Democrat candidates was elected, there is a great distance between that candidate’s personal beliefs or desires, and the implementation of law.

            Yes, again, agreed.  Joe and Hunter Biden should have known better than to allow the son to take such a job, while the father was serving in the executive branch.  The appearance of conflict of interest at a minimum is undeniable.  Hunter Biden has no expertise or qualifications to justify such a lavishly compensated position on a foreign board of directors other than his birthright.  Yet, I am not aware of any violation of law.

            Your accusations of CNN suggest you are not aware of what CNN has reported.  You have no obligation to learn; I’m just sayin’.

            Well, it seems you have endorsed the BIC’s retweet of the civil war consequence given the potential of conviction in the Senate in an impeachment trial.  That is sad commentary.  I am obligated to strenuously object.  That is not the rule of law.  Threatening civil war is not worthy of any American citizen, and especially POTUS.  I am not eager for impeachment.  The thought of the consummate moral projectionist gaining the instruments of power is not particularly appealing to me.  Further, as I have argued previously, I do not advocate for impeachment without a reasonable likelihood of conviction in the Senate (no different from a criminal prosecution decision by a prosecutor).  Impeachment is a political act since it is negating an election by We, the People; however, there are constitutional reasons to do so.  An inquiry is NOT articles of impeachment; the process must play out.

. . . Round two:

“Very suspicious with the high salary involved .. you are too naive Cap... it was more Democrat money-shuffling under the table ..  I sent you a cartoon that is so right on .. What matters most is in any manner possible Americans need to be warned of the corrupt /dangerous politicians running for office .. voting for Biden will be akin to voting for Clinton’s .. he comes across intentionally as a gentle man but he’s evil ..

“Impeachment will never happen .. it’s all MORE Democrat distraction and attempt for THEM to affect the 2020 election... inquiry my ass .. just like the Mueller investigation it’s all meant to attempt to keep the President from getting his job done  .. time to start prosecuting those responsible for these frivolous inquiries and investigations”

 . . . my reply to round two:

            You are absolutely correct.  The publicly reported US$50K per month compensation to Hunter Biden for his service on the board of directors of a Ukrainian gas company is outrageous.  In modern political ethics, the appearance of unethical conduct is unethical and unacceptable in itself.  If his father sanctioned such outrageous compensation, then it is even worse.

            I will object to your explicit and broader implicit accusation that the corruption of money in politics applies to only Democrats.  Republicans are equally as bad, although perhaps a little cleverer in hiding their corruption.  As others and I have written in this humble forum repeatedly and consistently, money in politics corrupts them all.

            Equating Biden and Clinton (either one) is wrong.  Biden is not evil anymore than Obama or the BIC are.

            I do believe you are likely incorrect.  Impeachment is looking more and more likely every time the BIC speaks or tweets.  Conviction in his impeachment trial is unlikely at this stage, but that might change.  Impeachment is like indictment.  The trial is different.

            I will not waste my precious time illuminating each and every point in the Special Counsel’s report or the whistleblower’s complaint.  They documented the BIC’s actions in various circumstances.  If you choose to ignore the facts, that is your choice entirely.  I hold no illusions of informing or dissuading you.  You appear to see the BIC as the messiah; I do not; I see him as he is—the Bully In Chief.

. . . Round three:

“All I can say is you are likely still wearing blinders and always will .. All I have heard is Democrat financial corruption.. Clinton’s Obama’s and Biden’s .. if you can find financial corruption among Republican presidents/VPs  (not including Bush families as they were just as evil) please do cite examples ..”

 . . . my reply to round three:

            It is interesting and entertaining to see you use the exact same information warfare techniques that so many other Republican talking-heads are using to this very moment.

            Well done!  You win!  I am devoid of any worthy argument.  You are spot on correct in every possible way.  As we abbreviate in the nautical services . . . BZ!

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

Cheers,

Cap                        :-)