Update no.1050

 Update from the Sunland

No.1050

21.2.22 – 27.2.22

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

 

            To all,

 

Our family is proud to share the Rose Hill (Kansas) Police Department public announcement.

https://www.facebook.com/RoseHillPoliceDepartment/posts/315611757261208

Our youngest son, Taylor Warden Parlier, has been promoted to be the department’s new chief of Police. Taylor is very good at what he does. He is going to be a great chief. With his promotion, he outranks me, making a proud father even prouder. Henceforth, Taylor is now El Jefe.

 

            The follow-up news items:

-- [The person who shall no longer be named] suffered another setback a week ago. I would not call it a defeat because it is only an interim milestone. The man has so many legal cases mounting against him—civil, criminal and investigative. The latest one is actually three similar cases, all three civil cases, under the citation Thompson v. ------- [USDC DC Case No. 21-cv-00400 (APM)], all related to the instigation of the January 6^th insurrection. The latest judicial slap in the face to the orange one was a judge’s ruling on the various motions to dismiss. U.S. District Judge Amit Priyavadan Mehta of the United States District Court for the District of Columbia granted the motions with a few of the charges and denied the motions on all the other charges, which means the trial will proceed. The judge’s 112-page order was a preview of sorts of the United States House Select Committee to Investigate the January 6^th Attack on the United States Capitol [1020] {HSCJ6} final report. The judge’s order was a preview of what we are likely to see in considerable factual detail in he court proceedings during trial. The judge reviewed a good chunk of the facts as we have seen in a wide variety of fora, and the judge added the applicable law. Neither the former president nor any of his supporters offered any physical evidence to substantiate or validate his allegations or speech that incited the insurrection. Based on the judge’s dismissal rulings, I would say it is not looking good for the Oh So Great Orange One. On the flip side of that coin, I think the judge missed the mark and was wrong in his assessment of conspiracy charges against Giuliani and Junior. One particular point struck me. In dismissing one of the charges against the former president, Judge Mehta noted that the president enjoyed protected speech when the objects of his words were plainly matters of public concern. The judge very loosely defined ‘matters of public concern.’ Very disappointingly, the judge failed to even acknowledge that the bloody man created the public concern; he created the problem without a shred of evidence. That is the insidiousness of the BIG LIE. I cannot believe that judgment will stand up under full judicial scrutiny. In that, I think Judge Mehta was flat wrong.

The American people (at least those who vote) give any president extraordinary power. They entrust him to respect that power and action it in accordance with the Constitution and the laws s/he swore an oath to protect and defend those laws. We trust every president to do the right thing, but they are human beings. The American people elected [the person who shall no longer be named] to be president in 2016, but from my perspective, they failed to recognize or even acknowledge the profound character flaws the man displayed all of his adult life. He has consistently demonstrated he is not (and never was) worthy of the trust we placed in him.

 

Then, as if on cue, with the Olympic Games in Beijing concluded, the dictator Putin decided it was time to act and pulled the trigger. On Monday, President Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin of Russia, with the stroke of his pen, declared the two provinces of the Donbass region independent countries and ordered the Russian Army in to the area to ‘protect the peace’—the peace he disturbed in 2014 and every month since. He also gave a long, vitriolic speech justifying his actions proclaiming Ukraine was never a legitimate state. It was always part of Russia. It was a very long speech and took me several days of reading and collateral research to complete my assessment. He gave us the history of Ukraine according to Putin. Most of the facts he presented were correct and accurate. The only problem is, he left out an awful lot of related facts. His Ukrainian history according to Putin is woefully lacking, highly selective, and leaves the implication that it is flat out wrong. History is history.

For several months, the dictator Putin and his minions told us that Russian troops on the border of Ukraine were just there for training. They had no intentions of invading Ukraine. We did not have hard evidence of that lie and disinformation, until . . . In the early morning hours of Thursday, 24.February.2022, the Russians attacked cities throughout Ukraine with cruise missiles and rockets, followed by mobile forces invasion of Ukraine from the north, east and south. Thanks to the dictator Putin, we have yet another war in Europe. Now, there is no doubt, no subterfuge, the dictator Putin has chosen war to subjugate his neighbor, Ukraine, who would not bend a knee to his dicta.

The central salient issue Putin refuses to recognize set aside acknowledge is sovereign countries have free choice. Why does Putin think his neighbors seek the protection of NATO instead of the protection of Russia? Could it be they fear Russian domination, NOT NATO domination. He needs to look at reality rather than subscribe to his fevered dreams as a vision of the future. NATO has not sought expansion. Eastern European countries on Russia’s periphery have eagerly sought membership to gain the protection of NATO’s umbrella, i.e., to defend their sovereignty and independence from historic Russian intimidation, domination and oppression. That is the paramount fact.

 

In the frame of insult to injury, the head of Russian space agency Roscosmos, Dmitry Rogozin, was not happy about Allied sanctions against Russia for its invasion of Ukraine. He publicly stated:

"If you block cooperation with us, who will save the ISS from an uncontrolled deorbit and fall into the United States or Europe? There is also the option of dropping a 500-ton structure to India and China. Do you want to threaten them with such a prospect? The ISS does not fly over Russia, so all the risks are yours."

The International Space Station may well become on of the costs to be paid for the Russian invasion of sovereign Ukraine. If so, I say so be it. 

 

Of course, in these troubled times with [the person who shall no longer be named] still alive, he felt compelled to communicate how proud he was of his hero. On Tuesday, after Putin’s long speech noted above, he was interviewed on a right-wing talk radio show. He said, "This is genius. So Putin is now saying it’s independent — a large section of Ukraine. I said, how smart is that? And he’s gonna go in and be a peacekeeper. We could use that on our southern border. That’s the strongest peace force I’ve ever seen. There were more army tanks than I’ve ever seen. They’re gonna keep peace, all right." But wait, that was not enough. He went onto say, "No, but think of it. Here’s a guy who’s very savvy. I know him very well — very, very well. By the way, this never would have happened with us. Had I been in office, not even thinkable. This would never have happened. But here’s a guy that says, 'You know, I’m gonna declare a big portion of Ukraine independent.' He used the word 'independent.' 'And we’re gonna go out, and we’re gonna in, and we’re gonna help keep peace.'” He said all of that between Putin’s proclamation and the full invasion of Ukraine. I wonder how he feels now. Oh wait, he does not care a hoot about anyone except himself . . . well, and Ivanka.

 

As is my nature, I offer a few additional thoughts on this week’s events. One image kept coming to me as events unfolded. The events in Ukraine were like watching a nature video of a pride of lions consuming the back half of a water buffalo before their prey is even dead. His ‘modest’ invasion of Donetsk and Luhansk Oblasts under the fallacious pretext of assisting the newly declared independent provinces and preserve the peace was only art of a much broader plan—reconstitute the Soviet Union and its domination of Eastern Europe. If the Ukrainian Army had not counterattacked, he gains two large eastern province with barely a shot fired. If they had counterattacked, he is justified (in his mind) responding to the provocation. In hindsight, the serious mistake was not taking an all-out offensive to take back the region occupied by the ‘little green men’ and the Crimea in 2014 when Putin invaded the first time. Yet, on the Ukrainian side, they had just ousted their own Moscow-aligned dictator in the 2014 Ukrainian revolution, known as the Revolution of Dignity. Russian took a bite of the buffalo in 2014, and it cost them very little. We enabled the bear to return for another go at the buffalo.

 

From my perspective and knowledge, the sanctions imposed on Russia and its leaders including the dictator Putin have been far too tepid and frankly underwhelming. Sanctions take time to be effective. Waiting to see how far Putin will go just adds more time to the sanction effectiveness timeline. The Russian people are good people with the exact same interests and desires as other peaceful people of the world. They are being led by a rogue leader. I truly wish there was a way to punish the leaders without affecting the people but that is not realistic, if not impossible. Russia needs to be totally isolated as a pariah state in a peaceful world, and I mean totally isolated—no exports, no imports, no travel, no money transfers, no representation, nothing in or out.  Frankly, Russia should be removed from the U.N. Security Council.

That said, President Biden has implemented stronger sanctions than his predecessors, but they are far short of what they deserve to be, in my humble opinion. I must also emphatically state that this course was set by President Bush (43) who failed to react strongly to Putin’s invasion of the sovereign nation of Georgia in 2008, and by President Obama who failed to react strongly to Putin’s annexation of Crimea in 2014 and his “little green men” invasion of the Donbass region of Ukraine in 2014. Of course, [the person who shall no longer be named] genuflecting before his idol did nothing but embolden the Russian dictator. Despite the inaction of his predecessors, unfortunately, President Biden will bear the burden of history for what he does now.

 

            Comments and contributions from Update no.1049:

“Is it looking worse for your former ‘leader’? How sad. How sad that someone in that position should deteriorate into a power and money grabbing citizen.

“He could yet bring disgrace on your system of electing your governing bodies and the quality of the Americans who supported him so strongly. What a mess.”

My reply:

Yes, looking much worse . . . almost by the day. I am reading another judge’s ruling that the civil case associated with his culpability in the January 6^th insurrection will go forward against the objections of [the person who shall no longer be named]. He was (is) a power-hungry, money-grubbing, con man all of his adult life. He conducted himself as POTUS in exactly the same manner—no change. I am certain there is much more to come. 

Yes, it is truly tragic that someone with such deep and profound character flaws got elected to be POTUS. In part, it is a measure of how dissatisfied a large portion of our voting citizenry was that pushed them to reach for such a flawed man. But, it is what it is, and we must deal with it.

Yes, so far, we are not done with his mutant, abhorrent conduct, and yes, he is capable of bringing even greater disgrace to this once grand republic. He is a terrible human being. His influence on this country is way beyond a mess; it is cataclysmic in its tragic proportions and scope. But, to me, the saddest aspect is the certainty that millions of American citizens cannot see the reality of the man, and his snake-oil elixir has rendered them incapable of seeing that reality.

 . . . follow-up comment:

“As non-U.S. citizen I often feel difficulty writing about other countries leaders-I mean is it anything to do with myself, several thousand miles to the east? However I do have tendency to support your views on this subject. I too do find it difficult to understand that such an individual could convince so many of any nation that he was the right man for the job. Yes snake oil could be the answer. Is Putin using the same product?”

 . . . my follow-up reply:

You have expressed that reluctance for some time. I can only urge you to abandon that notion. The United States is an actor on the world stage. That fact alone makes us fair game for criticism. So fire away; you have as much right to do so as I do.

My disgust for that man cannot be overstated. He is a despicable human being. And yet, I must give him credit; he has convinced many American citizens that he is the messiah in the flesh, and they believe. His snake-oil elixir has convinced them he is the cure. Thus, our problem is far greater than the vile conduct of that man. Criticize away, my friend. Putin is far more sophisticated than [the person who shall no longer be named] will ever or can ever be. And, the tragedy Putin has unleashed in Ukraine has only just begun. More bloodshed ahead.

 

Comment to the Blog:

“In the case of King Baby, the wheels of justice grind slowly, but perhaps fine. The increasingly ridiculous resistance supports that.

“Harm reduction continues to be our best strategy to reduce the damage from drugs to both users and society. How marijuana became a Schedule I drug is a footnote in political, not medical, history.

“I gather from your post that Putin is concerned that his sphere of influence is diminishing (Poland, Romania) and he wants to stop that loss. That’s much simpler than all the noise on TV.”

My response to the Blog:

Indeed! Quite slowly. But that is the nature of the beast. Yeah, so it seems. They subscribe to his playbook . . . stay resolute, smother them in legal action, and wait out your adversaries. I’m reading yet another defeat in court for the man (should be in this week’s Update).

Agreed. However, that is not federal policy nor law. The CSA was wrong when it was signed into law by Nixon in 1970. With today’s congressional intransigence, reforming the law to take a more informed and less-harmful approach to consumption (free choice) is highly unlikely. I agree completely regarding the mindlessness of the CSA with respect to marijuana; it was entirely political (emotional), not scientific, logical, or reasoned. I will argue and have argued that other substances on Schedule I even as currently defined are not appropriate for Schedule I action. Ignorance is NOT an acceptable position, but that is exactly what the CSA imposes—ignorance over knowledge. I have hope that one day we will wake up and mature as a society. Prohibition is NEVER an acceptable action in a free society.

I think of Putin’s mindset in quite a different form. I see his actions as quite akin to Hitler’s Lebensraum policy. He, in fact, publicly stated that he never saw Ukraine as a legitimate state and always believed Ukraine was a Russian province, just as Hitler saw Sudetenland. Putin so declared that yesterday and sent the Russian Army into Eastern Ukraine. While Hitler saw his policy as ethnic sovereignty (a right), Putin’s similar approach is more from a security perspective very much in the Stalinist model. If he is allowed to consume Ukraine, the Baltics are likely next and potentially Poland. I imagine he sees the relationship of Poland in a similar context as Ukraine to Russia. Based on his statement yesterday, he clearly has no respect (none) for Ukrainian free choice and certainly not sovereignty. To me, Putin is the contemporary Hitler and Stalin.

 . . . Round two:

“I tire of all the trumpery, but it persists so far.

“I hope for the repeal of the Controlled Substances Act (CSA). It has done enough harm.

“I have no abiding interest in politicians’ ideals if they exist. There is a long history between Ukraine and Russia, but if Putin can acquire Black Sea ports it will improve Russia’s commerce immensely. He might see at least Poland in a similar light. The concept of Lebensraum is probably a factor although Putin might want to consider how that backfired on Hitler. There is never contentment in a conquered nation.”

 . . . my response to round two:

My oh my, I am with you entirely. I tired of that man long before he ever declared his candidacy (2015). He will not go away. Once again, this week’s Update is evolving with his outrageously ignorant conduct—praising Putin for invading Ukraine. Really! The only thing that will stop him is death or prison. Either is fine by me.

I would love to see the day when we repeal the CSA; it is decades overdue. It took 14 years to come to our senses with alcohol prohibition. We are at 51 years and still counting with the ill-advised, destructive prohibition on psychotropic substances and their consumption. The CSA has done more harm than we could ever calculate, and the destruction continues unchecked.

I listened to a portion of Putin’s speech on Monday, and it was sufficient to spark my curiosity. I am about halfway through reading the verbatim text of his speech Monday, justifying his invasion of Ukraine. More to follow in this week’s Update. You are, of course, quite correct, but Putin does not care; he believes his army and the FSB will succeed. The bloodshed in Ukraine has only just begun. So far, I am not impressed with the Allied response. Germany has done the most. But, I must remember, it took the U.S. nearly a year to take the fight to the Axis after war was declared. We do not have a declaration of war . . . yet. I doubt Ukraine will go quietly into the good night.

 . . . Round three:

“This may be obvious, but your comparison to a World War compels me to state that in no case do I want another World War.”

 . . . my response to round three:

Understood.

I doubt anyone, including the dictator Putin, wants another world war. However, as of this writing, Thursday, 24.February.2022, Putin has launched a broad general invasion of Ukraine. He lobbed cruise missiles at virtually every major cities in Ukraine and Russian troops have crossed the border in multiple sites. The invasion of Ukraine President Biden has been warning us about has begun. As Kurt Vonnegut so succinctly and eloquently wrote, “And so it goes.”

If Putin is successful in subjugating Ukraine, I strongly suspect the dictator Xi will do the same in Taiwan.

 . . . Round four:

“I woke up to Putin's speech to the Russian people. What I could pick up of that indicated intentions far beyond Ukraine and dared the rest of the world to stop him. That's very different from a dispute about a neighboring territory. I think we're in trouble.”

 . . . my response to round four:

Quite so. I am trying to monitor the unfolding situation. As he declared on Monday, the dictator Putin has started yet another European war. FoxNews is reporting that even Belarussian forces may have joined in the attack on Ukraine. Russian forces staged in Moldovia are also involved.

All of the naysayers criticizing President Biden and like [the person who shall no longer be named] praising the dictator Putin are uncharacteristically quiet today. To me, the time is now to totally isolate Russia. Cutoff all finance, all exports or imports, cancel all flights or any transportation into or out of Russia. Putin has launched a broad general invasion of the whole of Ukraine far beyond Donbass. How far Putin intends to go is unknown, but it is at least all of Ukraine. I also believe general U.S. mobilization is warranted. We have given Putin the benefit of the doubt for too long; there is no more doubt. If we do not counter Putin swiftly, I fear the other dictator Xi will see weakness and decide now is the time to take back Taiwan. Putin has unleashed the beast, and yes we are all in trouble.

We watch.

This challenge will define Biden’s presidency.

 . . . Round five:

“The isolation of Russia might be helpful if it can be complete enough. One issue with mobilization, among others, is that some insane people would like to try out ‘tactical’ nuclear weapons, which would be apocalyptic.”

 . . . my response to round five:

The sanctions so far are a long way from where I think they should be. Giving Putin immunity for now is flat wrong. I do not understand why the president has chosen not to apply sanctions to the man who started this debacle. So far, the president has gone after the money. The objective of the Russian invasion appears to be decapitation of the Ukraine government and installation of an autocratic dictator under Putin’s thumb—quite Stalin-esque; rather than occupation. Putin’s distant dream is apparently to reconstitute the Soviet Union. For all the accusations he has made against the U.S. and EU about aggression, Russia (Putin) is the ONLY country being aggressive—Georgia (2008), Crimea & Donbass (2014), and Ukraine (2022). NATO has never been the aggressor; it has always been reactive (defensive).

I cannot imagine Putin being that crazy, insane, or disturbed to use tactical nukes, but anything is possible with a dictator bent upon hegemony.

The journey continues . . . 

 . . . Round six:

“One cautionary note I've seen about sanctions generally is about being aware of ripple effects due to globalization. It may not be easy to get at Putin personally. He has taken steps to insulate the Russian economy due to prior sanctions, and I'd expect him to extend that to his personal accounts. I could see him as insane enough to use nukes.

“It's early in the morning as I write this, and I'm in no hurry to learn the new developments.”

 . . . my response to round six:

Quite so . . . a most apropos cautionary note. Stopping exports of Russian oil and gas most certainly will affect Western consumers since full compensation is not likely. But, I think it would affect Russia far more severely. Some estimates place as much as 40% of Russian GDP is directly from oil & gas exports.

From my perspective, I do not think Putin is suicidal. Using nuclear, biological or chemical weapons would take his hegemonic actions much farther down into the war criminal category.

We look to a brighter tomorrow . . . 

 

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

Cheers,

Cap                  :-)

Update no.1049

 Update from the Sunland

No.1049

14.2.22 – 20.2.22

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

 

            To all,

 

            The follow-up news items:

-- The legal vice closing in on [the person who shall no longer be named] continues to ratchet inward. The latest example is a letter released by the New York State Attorney General. The accounting firm Mazars USA, LLP [903, 957], declared it can no longer stand behind 10 years’ worth of tax returns and financial statements for the ------- Organization. In the letter dated 9.February.2022, and publicly released on Monday, 14.February.2022, Mazars USA, LLP, General Counsel William J. Kelly informed Alan Garten, Esq., Executive Vice President and Chief Legal Officer, The ------- Organization. The letter stated:

We write to advise that the Statements of Financial Condition for Donald J. Trump for the years ending June 30, 2011 - June 30, 2020, should no longer be relied upon and you should inform any recipients thereof who are currently relying upon one or more of those documents that those documents should not be relied upon.

We have come to this conclusion based, in part, upon the filings made by the New York Attorney General on January 18, 2022, our own investigation, and information received from internal and external sources. While we have not concluded that the various financial statements, as a whole, contain material discrepancies, based upon the totality of the circumstances, we believe our advice to you to no longer rely upon those financial statements is appropriate. [emphasis mine]

Of course, as we have become all too accustomed in our suffering, [the person who shall no longer be named] ordered The ------- Organization to issue a rebuttal statement. Until the closing of this week’s Update, I tried to find a copy of the four-page statement without success. Multiple national Press sources reported that The ------- Organization response stated in part:

While we are disappointed that Mazars has chosen to part ways, their February 9, 2022 letter confirms that after conducting a subsequent review of all prior statements of financial condition, Mazars’ work was performed in accordance with all applicable accounting standards and principles and that such statements of financial condition do not contain any material discrepancies. This confirmation effectively renders the investigations by the DA and AG moot.

Clearly, The ------- Organization does not understand or appreciate the English language, but then again, that reality is nothing new. The Mazars letter explicitly states, “our advice to you [The ------- Organization] to no longer rely upon those financial statements.” Not only is The ------- Organization response factually incorrect, they ignore the facts, which is their right to do. Nonetheless, the court and jury will decide the truth.

Before I could publish this week’s Update, yet another ratcheting closed of the legal vice in which [the person who shall no longer be named] has placed himself occurred.

-- [The person who shall no longer be named] [705], Junior, and Ivana Marie ‘Ivanka’ ------- (AKA Yael Kushner) sought to quash subpoenas issued by the New York State Office of Attorney General (OAG) in the ongoing state civil case regarding their tax records. Justice Arthur F. Engoron of the Supreme Court, New York County rendered judgment in the case of New York v. ------- [NYSC Index No. 451685/2020 (2022)] and ordered all three of them to sit for depositions with the state attorney general. In presenting his reasoning, Justice Engoron noted the Mazars letter and specifically The ------- Organization response noted above. In doing so, Engoron wrote, “To proclaim that the Mazars' red-flag warning that the Trump financial statements are unreliable suddenly renders the OAG's longstanding investigation moot is as audacious as it is preposterous.” Further, Engoron ordered all three of them to comply within 21 days. You live by the sword; you die by the sword. We shall see.

Although we have not yet seen the hard substantiation, the accumulating evidence made public so far is painting a clarifying image that explains why [the person who shall no longer be named] fought so hard to keep his tax returns from public scrutiny.

Unfortunately, to those who have swallowed his bogus snake-oil, they do not care. He is the messiah. In their eyes and thoughts, he is incapable of making a mistake, malfeasance, and criminal conduct. Fortunately, the Court does not care about any of that nonsense. Judgment will eventually be decided.

Just an FYI, I note that Eric ------- and The ------- Organization CFO Allen Howard Weisselberg were not on the Respondents list. Hmmm? Could it be they have turned state’s evidence? And, the OAG civil case first is genius in that the defendants do not hold the same protections they do in a criminal case and should give the prosecutors an opportunity to flush out the whole rotten lot. Things may get interesting in court about the same time that the United States House Select Committee to Investigate the January 6^th Attack on the United States Capitol [1020] publishes at least its preliminary, if not final, report.

-- Another related FYI: Allen Weisselberg [705] is due to go on trial in late August to early September of this year. When the vice tightens on the right hand, the rest of the body will squeal.

 

The case of 15-year-old Russian figure skater phenom Kamila Valieva is mutating from disgusting to vile. She tested positive for a banned substance, and yet she was allowed to compete. She was a member of the team competing for the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC). With Valieva’s skilled performance, they won first place (the United States was second and Japan third). When the positive test last December came to light, the medal ceremony was indefinitely suspended. The International Olympic Committee (IOC) by their caution are punishing not just the offender (Valieva) but all the athletes who would have stood on the podium, and arguably all Olympic athletes. Now, the Russians claim it was a mix-up with the medications prescribed for Valieva’s grandfather. And, they expect us to believe that. The incompetence of the IOC is de facto emasculating the substance abuse rules in place for everyone, but the Russians are proving they are apparently incapable of complying with the international rules. Russia has been on probation since it was banned from international competition after the 2014 Sochi Olympics. They are on probation! And they still got caught. The Russians are winning literally and figuratively.

During my tenure as chancellor of the Prescott Campus of Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University (ERAU), I heard many excuses for positive drug tests that terminated an aeronautical student’s enrollment. None of those excuses included “a mix-up with my grandfather’s medication.” The university policy was zero tolerance. Positive was positive, period. The same criterion should apply to Valieva and other violators of the sport substance policy.

Tell you what, let us just drop all the substance abuse nonsense. Let us just open it up—anything goes. Human beings who wish to be burned up in a matter of years just to hold a gold medal should be allowed to kill themselves as they choose. No wait, since we are going that far, let us just build robots to compete in these sport events. After all, human beings are just too frail and temperamental, and we love our sports.

The IOCs decision to allow her to compete in the follow-on short program was wrong in every possible way. The IOC rules, like the rules at ERAU, were internal stipulations, not local laws. Due process does not apply. So, I guess, all an athlete has to do is claim my grandfather did it.

 

A frequent contributor to this humble forum sent along the following article:

“Nation’s First Supervised Drug-Injection Sites Open in New York – During the first official day in operation at the two Manhattan facilities, trained staff reversed two overdoses, officials said.”

by Jeffery C. Mays and Andy Newman

New York Times

Published: Nov. 30, 2021

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/11/30/nyregion/supervised-injection-sites-nyc.html

During the ensuing exchange, it was mentioned that the U.S. Justice Department was evaluating similar programs, to which an additional article was added:

“Justice Dept. signals it may allow safe injection sites – So-called safe injection sites are safe havens for people to use heroin and other narcotics with protections against fatal overdoses.”

by: Jennifer Peltz and Michael Balsamo

Associated Press

Published: 5:09 PM EST February 7, 2022; Updated: 5:17 PM EST February 7, 2022

https://www.10tv.com/article/news/nation-world/justice-dept-may-allow-safe-injection-sites/507-791dcc31-dc63-4a83-bfb4-aa55e4d57f3d?fbclid=IwAR1kDcIVlIOkRY3aHzb4PzsMVluSmspul-l78O6_D4caP72u0-t0_1rAvjY

The two New York City safe injections sites are in East Harlem and Washington Heights. The sites offered basic medical treatment to prevent overdoses, treatment options, diversion encouragement, and controversially, consumption rooms where clean needles and associated supplies are provided. A similar program in Philadelphia was challenged in court, validated by the district court, and rejected by the 3^rd Circuit Court of Appeals—United States v. Safehouse [3CCA No. 20-1422 (2021)]. Safehouse (Philadelphia) uses the notion of a “consumption room” to offer a safe means of consumption to prevent or reduce overdoses, reduce disease, and enable rehabilitation. The Safehouse ruling seemed odd to me in conjunction with the reports that the Justice Department was evaluating safe injection sites. Then, the date said it all (Filed: January 12, 2021). The whole case hinges upon the judicial interpretation of the existing law—21 U.S.C. §856. The government’s challenge began under the previous administration. The 2-1 majority in Safehouse noted, “[M]any Americans think that federal drug laws should move away from law enforcement toward harm reduction. But courts are not arbiters of policy. We must apply the laws as written. If the laws are unwise, Safehouse and its supporters can lobby Congress to carve out an exception. Because we cannot do that, we will reverse and remand.” Illuminating the ludicrousness of the Safehouse ruling, Circuit Judge Jane Richards Roth in her dissenting opinion noted, “Thus, the government concedes that Safehouse could provide a Consumption Room in a mobile van parked outside its facility.”

I understand the judicial reasoning in Safehouse. I agree with the court’s interpretation—the law is the law regardless of how bad the law is. However, thinking beyond Safehouse, the ruling is quite representative of the base fallacy of U.S. drug policy. And yet, it is odd logic and reasoning, federal law lists both opiods and marijuana as Schedule I substances under the CSA, i.e., they “have no currently accepted medical use in the United States, a lack of accepted safety for use under medical supervision, and a high potential for abuse.”  Today, we know that rationale is patently false; but, the law is the law. This brings us to the old saying widely attributed to Henry Ford goes, “If you always do what you've always done, you'll always get what you've always got.” So, we continue to butt our heads against the reinforced concrete wall and expect to open a door.

 

Amidst the relentless fBICP effort to suppress and control the vote, we bear witness here in Arizona to their despicable efforts to return us to an era 70 plus years ago and erode democracy itself.

“Arizona Rep. Jake Hoffman asked Mike Pence not to count the state's 2020 electoral votes, according to recently released records – The day before rioters stormed the U.S. Capitol, Rep. Jake Hoffman asked Vice President Mike Pence to not accept the state’s official electoral votes.”

by Richard Ruelas

Arizona Republic

Published: 4:31 p.m. MT Feb. 16, 2022 | Updated 5:56 p.m. MT Feb. 16, 2022

https://www.azcentral.com/story/news/politics/arizona/2022/02/16/rep-jake-hoffman-asked-pence-not-accept-arizona-electoral-votes/6820511001/

and

“GOP election temper tantrum drags on, this time with a plan to split Maricopa County – Opinion: The GOP-controlled Arizona Legislature continues its retribution tour, moving one step closer to dividing Maricopa County into four pieces and dividing you from the money in your wallet.”

by Laurie Roberts

Arizona Republic

Published 2:05 p.m. MT Feb. 16, 2022 | Updated 9:00 a.m. MT Feb. 17, 2022

https://www.azcentral.com/story/opinion/op-ed/laurieroberts/2022/02/16/splitting-maricopa-county-payback-planning-hoffman-bill/6818034001/?utm_source=azcentral-Opinions%20News%20Now&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=baseline&utm_term=hero&utm_content=1531AR-E-NLETTER39

Both articles give us a decent glimpse into the malfeasance of the fBICP with respect to their extraordinary efforts to implement Jim Crow v2.0 before this fall’s election. The fBICP dominated Arizona legislature has taken steps toward splitting up Maricopa County carving off three new counties—Mogollon, O’odham, and Hohokam in addition to a significantly diminished Maricopa County. Anyone want to guess why? Does anyone want to guess who introduced the bill? Hint: state representative noted above.

 

While we watch [the person who shall no longer be named] and his fBICP corrode, dismember, and burn down this once grand republic, Vladimir Putin has apparently decided to press his intimidation and hegemony in Ukraine and Eastern Europe. I found this Der Spiegel article on the specific issue.

“NATO's Eastward Expansion – Is Vladimir Putin Right? – Vladimir Putin insists that the West cheated Russia by expanding NATO eastward following the end of the Cold War. Is there anything to his claims? The short answer: It's complicated.”

by Klaus Wiegrefe

Der Spiegel

Published: 15.02.2022, 11.13 Uhr

https://www.spiegel.de/international/world/nato-s-eastward-expansion-is-vladimir-putin-right-a-bf318d2c-7aeb-4b59-8d5f-1d8c94e1964d?sara_ecid=nl_upd_1jtzCCtmxpVo9GAZr2b4X8GquyeAc9&nlid=bfjpqhxz

As World War II approached its inevitable conclusion, Stalin, Churchill (Attlee) and Roosevelt (Truman) met several times to decide the post-war “peace.” They drew the lines, the borders of the European nations. As the intentions and conduct of Stalin and the Soviet Union became clear, the Western Allies formed and established the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO; 4.4.1949) to counter the Soviet moves to set in place buffer states that became known as the Warsaw Pact (Eastern Europe)—a passel of vassal states. Warsaw Pact (Eastern Europe) began to dissolve with the signing of the Treaty on the Final Settlement with Respect to Germany (AKA Two Plus Four Agreement; signed in Moscow by France, USSR, UK & U.S.) and the withdrawal of East Germany (German Democratic Republic) in advance of reunification. The Pact officially disbanded (1.7.1991) with the dissolution of the Soviet Union (1990-1991). Those countries gained their freedom from Russian domination. The Western Allies tried mightily to enable democratic free choice in the post-war reconstruction, but Stalin’s Soviet Union refused and only recognized its interests and perception of security. As reflected by Wiegrefe, assurances were made to the Russians by the Western Allies during the treaty negotiations. Yet, what the treaty did not acknowledge was the free choice of the affected sovereign states. To my knowledge, NATO did not solicit or seek membership for the newly freed Eastern European states. They sought membership since there has been historic no-love-lost between those countries and Russia. To be clear, many people in neighboring states joined the Germans against the Russians, so much so that the Germans formed a Waffen-SS division—14 Waffen-Grenadier-Division der SS [Galizische Nr. 1]. Ukraine wants the same protections against Russian domination that Poland and Romania enjoy. NATO has not shown any eagerness to admit Ukraine to the alliance, but they have not rejected the potential either. Ukraine has a fundamental right to choose its path, its associations, and its alliances. Putin rejects the notion. He apparently sees Ukraine in the same context as the Soviet Union. To me, what Putin is doing in Ukraine is no different from what Hitler did in Sudetenland (Czechoslovakia) in 1938. The region within a sovereign nation had a majority of ethnic Germans. Without the Czechs participating, Chamberlain (UK) and Daladier (France) agreed to Hitler’s demands under threat of military force to carve off the Sudetenland and gave it to Germany in desperate attempt to feed the beast. We know how that worked out. Not only is Putin doing the exact same thing, he is using virtually identical techniques—propaganda, deception, disinformation, false flag provocations, mobilized and positioned military combat units, et cetera. We failed to act in 2014, and Russia still holds sovereign Ukrainian territory—Crimea and Donbass. None of us wants war, including Putin. However, the difference between Putin and the rest of us is he wants a subjugated Ukraine, i.e., not a NATO member state. At this moment, we face two fundamental questions: 1.) Is Ukraine a sovereign state (not a vassal region of Russia), and 2.) Is Ukraine entitled to free choice? We cannot and must not be intimidated by Russia’s nuclear weapons inventory. That said, President Biden has not mobilized the United States for war. But, then again, war is not his choice. That choice belongs to Vladimir Putin entirely. If the Russian president chooses war, we must stand for freedom and free choice. President Biden is gambling that war can be averted.

 

            Comments and contributions from Update no.1048:

Comment to the Blog:

“The spectacle of the Senate Minority Leader not representing his party bodes ill for said party. Senator McConnell might have been avoiding legal liability for something with his remarks, but King Baby has never reached that level of sophistication.

“I guess the whole voting rights issue will have to be fought again. I suggest that it will go better if we first address Citizens United and other money-in-politics issues.

“The broad term for what happened in the Boeing 737MAX issue is regulatory capture. Back to money in politics.”

My response to the Blog:

Oh my, I sure hope you are correct in that assessment. The fBICP has irreparably comprised whatever integrity they once possessed. We have candidates for all levels of Arizona state government that make blatant, overt references to [the person who shall no longer be named] and the BIG LIE. One, a candidate for U.S. Senate, actually says “Let’s Go Brandon” in his campaign adds. It is revolting and nauseating, but these are the times in which we live. Worse, the fBICP believers are running for secretary of state in many states including Arizona, which would put them much closer to actual electoral malfeasance. You are spot on correct; [the person who shall no longer be named] has always been exactly what he seems—a snake-oil salesman con man. He has not tried to hide what he is. And millions of citizens still believe in him.

As a related side note, the accounting firm for the ------- Organization, Mazars, has publicly terminated its association saying that its financial statements on behalf of the ------- Organization could not be relied upon. As a footnote, I suspect Mazars has finally realized reality with the swirl of legal (criminal) investigations around the Organization and the man.

Yes, agreed, again. After reading recent rulings by the new Supremes, I have no confidence the Court will correct the grievous wrong of Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission [558 U.S. 310 (2010)] [424], which in turn means the only way to remedy the Court’s mistake is a constitutional amendment. We bear witness to the fragility of common law. We thought the Voting Rights Act of 1965 (VRA) [PL 89-110, 79 Stat. 437] finally ended Jim Crow discrimination and abuse. Unfortunately, SCOTUS began to dismantle the VRA with Shelby County, Alabama v. Holder [570 U.S. 529 (2013)] [607], and with its recent terse statement in Merrill v. Milligan [595 U. S. ____ (2022)] [1048], they have signaled they are likely to negate section 2 of the VRA, which will essentially negate the whole law. To me, the new Supremes have de facto endorsed Jim Crow v2.0. This is going to be a very long fight that I am not likely to see the conclusion.

I am not so sure about the money in politics linkage to the abysmal Boeing conduct in the B737MAX debacle. I suppose money in politics is the root of everything. Those of us who worked in aviation (and especially aviation engineering) saw this disaster begin with the gestation of the cost over all other criteria in the 1980s. We all felt the effects, so I can imagine the inordinate and gargantuan pressure those B737MAX engineers had to be under. It was cost-cutting gone wild, and very few leaders were willing to stand up to that tidal wave. Money is essential to designing and building things. The key is balance between all the design factors of which cost is one important element. Boeing got grossly out of balance; they are paying a terrible price, and Forkner is likely to go to prison (the first of many I expect).

 

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

Cheers,

Cap                  :-)

Update no.1048

 Update from the Sunland

No.1048

7.1222 – 13.2.22

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

 

            To all,

 

            The follow-up news items:

-- On Tuesday the 8^th, Minority Leader Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky held a brief, impromptu news conference. A reporter asked the minority leader about the Republican National Committee (RNC) action last week regarding the censure of Representatives Cheney and Kinzinger, and the RNC calling the January 6^th insurrection “legitimate political discourse” [1047]. McConnell responded, “We were all here. We saw what happened. It was a violent insurrection for the purpose of trying to prevent the peaceful transfer of power after a legitimately certified election from one administration to the next. That's what it was." [emphasis mine] The Senate minority leader went on to add, "The issue is whether or not the RNC should be sort of singling out members of our party who may have different views from the majority. That's not the job of the RNC.”

Of course, the sycophants were prompt in their rebuttal on behalf of their lord and master. Senator Josh Hawley of Missouri declared, “Whatever you think about the RNC vote, it reflects the view of most Republicans.” And, therein lies the rub. Hawley is exactly correct. We see plainly what the fBICP believes—the BIG LIE, of which “legitimate political discourse” is now a part.

Then, as is his penchant, the [oh so great orange one] was incapable of walking away in the face of the truth. He is so bloody predictable. The next day, [the person who shall no longer be named] issued the following public statement

Statement by Donald J. Trump, 45th President of the

United States of America

Mitch McConnell does not speak for the Republican Party, [sic] and does not represent the views of the vast majority of its voters. He did nothing to fight for his constituents and stop the most fraudulent election in American history. And he does nothing to stop the lawless Biden Administration, the invasion of our Borders, rising Inflation, Unconstitutional mandates, the persecution of political opponents, fact finding on the incompentent [sic] Afghanistan withdrawal, the giving away our energy independence, etc., which is all because of the fraudulent election. Instead, he bails out the Radical Left and the RINOs.

 

If Mitch would have fought for the election, like the Democrats would have if in the same position, we would not be discussing any of the above today, and our Country would be STRONG and PROUD instead of weak and embarrassed.

Since the man has demonstrated consistently over many years, he is incapable of telling the truth. Thus, despite his protestation, I would say Senator McConnell was spot on correct, and the conclusive evidence to that fact is the statement directly above.

Many people ask me why I cannot stop poking at [the person who shall no longer be named]. I offer the latest evidentiary example—number gazillion. He will not go away and disappear into the dustbin of history, and he cannot be allowed to spew his factless lies. We must all resist.

 

Now we learn the previous president broke the law (again) and removed boxes of presidential records from the White House and transported them to Mar-a-Lago in direct violation of the Presidential Records Act of 1978 [PL 93-591; 88 Stat. 2523] [1039]. {NOTE: the Presidential Records Act is the very same law [the person who shall no longer be named] condemned Hillary Clinton for violating.} He removed 15 boxes of documents, and circumstantial information indicates he destroyed or removed a number of documents from those boxes. His action is virtually identical to the dreadful Hillary Clinton mistake. Further, based on his conduct, especially in recent years, we have no way to know if he destroyed incriminating documents from those boxes, which is most likely the reason he did what he did.

 

On Monday, a thin 5-4 majority issued a stay in two similar cases under Merrill v. Milligan [595 U. S. ____ (2022); Nos. 21A375 (21–1086) and 21A376 (21–1087)]. Associate Justice Elena Kagan summarized in her dissenting opinion the judiciary process that instigated the appeal. She wrote, “After considering a massive factual record, developed over seven days of testimony, and reviewing more than 1,000 pages of briefing, a three-judge District Court held that Alabama’s redistricting plan violated Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act (VRA).” She concluded, “And most of all, it does a disservice to Black Alabamians who under that precedent have had their electoral power diminished—in violation of a law this Court once knew to buttress all of American democracy.”

After reading the majority’s ruling, I wrote, Wow, the defective reasoning of the majority is staggering. Upon reading the whole decision, the majority’s defective rationale simply does not make sense. On one hand they say, this is too close to the 2022 mid-term elections, and on the other, they say hey, let’s take our time to decide this. The timeline was not defined by the Court; it was defined by the Alabama legislature. By this ruling, the Supremes are saying, hey, fBICP legislatures take your time and wait until a few months before an election to issue your gerrymandering plans. The really disappointing aspect of the Supremes’ ill-advised stay is it allows an injurious law to go into effect, just as the majority did in the case of Whole Woman’s Health v. Jackson [595 U.S. ___ (2021)]      [1040]. It allows the new fBICP law in Alabama to go into effect while the Court takes its time deciding the merits. In the Merrill case, the Alabama fBICP enacted a new gerrymandered election redistricting law that the three-judge district court panel rejected as noted in Kagan’s dissent.

The hypocrisy of this ruling is outright staggering. If the new Alabama law dealt with a gain or loss of seats in the House, the reasoning would be more understandable, but that is NOT the case in Alabama. The district court’s ruling simply meant that Alabama would have to use the previous districting until new lines can be approved by the court as compliant with the Constitution and established law. Leave the law as is until the Court takes its time deciding the merits. But no, the majority was far more concerned about “harm” to the State (i.e., the fBICP) rather than harm to the People. Alabama conducted an election in 2020 with established district lines. There should be no confusion whatsoever. The thin majority of the Supremes is allowing change without studying the merits, rather than protecting the status quo until the merits are decided. Many experts have surmised the Court’s unusual stay signals their intention to gut the remainder of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 [PL 89-110; 79 Stat. 437; 6.8.1965] [528, 607].

I read this ruling word-for-word, and I see a white majority in Alabama trying desperately to hold onto the power they had and are slowly losing. Worse, the new Supreme Court majority is bound and determined to take us back 60+ years. If this is what contemporary conservativism means, then I am absolutely and categorically against it. And, we should all be against it. The Supremes’ majority cannot and will not stifle change.

 

Let us not forget that Mitch McConnell is unilaterally blocking the very voting rights reform legislation passed by the House that would correct many, if not all, of the fBICP voter suppression laws enacted in half of the states, including Alabama noted above. Many of those draconian laws were enacted after January 6^th.

 

In the realm of something we do not see every day, former Boeing 737MAX Chief Technical Pilot Mark A. Forkner was indicted last October on six counts—United States v. Forkner [USDC NDTX Fort Worth Division No. 4:21-cr-00268-O (2021)]. This case is notable for several reasons. First, Forkner was responsible for presenting the aircraft certification data and recommendations for the aircraft to the FAA. The government indicted Forkner on two counts of false statements, and four counts of wire fraud. Having a chief pilot indicted for fraudulent work is a very rare event. Second, U.S. District Judge Reed Charles O’Connor granted the defendant’s motion to dismiss with respect to the first two charges but not the last four. The judge’s whole argument hung upon the proposition that software is not a part by the definition of 18 U.S.C. § 31 (a)(7). That decision sparked my curiosity, so I looked up the U.S. Code definition. The law, 18 U.S.C. § 31 (a)(7), defines a part as “a frame, assembly, component, appliance, engine, propeller, material, part, spare part, piece, section, or related integral or auxiliary equipment.” Forkner’s trial is now scheduled to begin on 7.March.2022.

The case grew out of the investigation into the certification of the B737MAX after two tragic aircraft crashes—Lion Air Flight 610 in Indonesia (29.10.2018) [878, 889, 928] and Ethiopian Airline Flight 302 in Ethiopia (10.3.2019) [896, 897, 900]. Both aircraft crashed in an eerily similar manner. The more we learned, the worse the information appeared. There were a lot of things wrong with the certification of the B737MAX that deserve prosecution. I trust Forkner is just the most obvious salient, and I expect other criminal charges against the chief engineer, the program manager, and other executives who set the stage and undoubtedly pressured the certification team to compromise good engineering sense.

Judge O’Connor’s reasoning struck me as particularly odd. Declaring that software is not a part by the U.S. Code definition is quite akin to stating that the coding of the brain (education, experience, memory, skills, et cetera) is not part of the human body. The U.S. Attorneys failed to properly inform the judge, and the judge was fundamentally wrong to make the statement he did. Despite the judge’s glaring mistake, Forkner’s trial will go ahead. When it is all said and done, I expect Forkner will be invited to be a guest of the federal government for a few years to contemplate the errors of his ways.

 

            Comments and contributions from Update no.1047:

Comment to the Blog:

“Election fraud is exceedingly rare. We may be proud of that fact and continue to prosecute the few exceptions.

“The vise does indeed continue to tighten around King Baby. It’s good to see Pence come out against him because Pence has influence among the conservative Christians.

“We knew that Reps. Cheney and Kinzinger would be GOP targets. Why anyone with an IQ and a conscience would support King Baby is beyond me.

“With Nazi Germany and with our current racism, the key word is indeed “supremacy,” whether of “Aryans”, “white” people, or Israeli Jews. Just like any bully, they try to prove they’re better by diminishing others. In the end, their actions are less about any specific other race than about their own claim to superiority.

“I can talk about politics in harmony with anyone I know if I focus on corruption. Apparently you and your soon-to-be Libertarian commentator agree. Perhaps that should be a single-issue voter’s cause.”

My response to the Blog:

Yes, agreed, spot on, close the front door! However, if one was prone to believe or even listen to the fBICP, you might think fraud altered the election results in favor of Biden; I say Biden because such claims have not translated into other election results—only the presidency. Further, all of the documented election fraud publicly available from 2020 have been Republican, not Democrat. Go figure!

Indeed and agreed!

Again, indeed and agreed! However, millions still do. The next two elections will likely be bellwether events. I confess to being gobsmacked that [the person who shall no longer be named] won a single Republican primary given his profound and well-known character flaws set aside the general election and presidency. But, he did by the constitutionally established election process. And, despite the mountains of continuously accumulating hard evidence, millions of American citizens still support him and actually believe anything he says. Go figure!

I certainly can agree with your assessment regarding Nazism and contemporary white supremacy activities . . . thanks in large part to their amplified voice offered by [the person who shall no longer be named].

Your suggestion works for me. I imagine it will work for others. We will get an indicator this coming fall.

 

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

Cheers,

Cap                  :-)

Update no.1047

 Update from the Sunland

No.1047

31.1.22 – 6.2.22

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

 

            To all,

 

            The follow-up news items:

-- As seems to be the norm these days, both sides, all sides, select slivers of fact and embellish them with nonsense to paint a picture they wish to paint. So it is with the fBICP and the BIG LIE [982 & sub]. The following article is germane to this issue and associated debate.

“Scottsdale woman pleads guilty to casting dead mother's ballot in 2020 election”

by Julie Luchetta

Arizona Republic

Published: 7:15 p.m. MT; Feb 1, 2022

https://www.azcentral.com/story/news/local/scottsdale-breaking/2022/02/01/election-fraud-woman-admits-signing-and-casting-dead-moms-ballot/9306363002/?utm_source=azcentral-Law%20&%20Order&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=baseline&utm_term=hero&utm_content=1531AR-E-NLETTER38

As reported by the Arizona Republic, “Election fraud is exceedingly rare. Over the past decade, Arizona has prosecuted election crimes amounting to less than 0.0001% of votes cast here.” Is there attempted fraud in our elections? Yes, absolutely! To my knowledge, there has been attempted fraud in every election since the Founding. Should be implementing laws to make fraud more difficult? Yes, absolutely! What the fBICP is doing in legislatures they control, they are using a thermonuclear device to swat a fly. Their actions are wrong in every possible way for that reason. They are using a distortion of the facts to justify draconian voter suppression laws that place a significantly greater burden on the poor and underprivileged of our society. The fBICP ‘solution’ is grossly out of proportion to the size of the problem. Election fraud warrants action, but the fBICP solution is wrong, period, full stop. BTW, does anyone want to guess who the woman fraudulently voted for?

-- As the vice closing in on the former president continues to tighten, [the person who shall no longer be named] persists in his BIG LIE [982 & sub]. Former Vice President Mike Pence made his most forceful condemnation of the former president yet. He spoke at the Federalist Society's Florida Chapters Conference at Disney's Yacht and Beach Club Resort at Lake Buena Vista, Florida. Pence stated, "I heard this week that President Trump said that I had the right to overturn the election. But President Trump is wrong. I had no right to overturn the election. The presidency belongs to the American people and the American people alone. And frankly, there is no idea more un-American than the notion that any one person could choose the American president. Under the Constitution, I had no right to change the outcome of the election.” And, Vice President Pence was spot on correct. I must also add that I did not agree with many other elements of his speech, but at least he got this one correct.

-- On Friday, in Salt Lake City at their annual meeting, the Republican National Committee voted by voice vote to censure Representatives Liz Cheney of Wyoming and Adam Kinzinger of Illinois. Beyond the same-o-same-o fBICP political drivel, the resolution states in part:

“WHEREAS, The Conference must not be sabotaged by Representatives Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger who have demonstrated, with actions and words, that they support Democrat efforts to destroy President Trump more than they support winning back a Republican majority in 2022;”

and they concluded:

“WHEREAS, Representatives Cheney and Kinzinger are participating in a Democrat-led persecution of ordinary citizens engaged in legitimate political discourse, and they are both utilizing their past professed political affiliation to mask Democrat abuse of prosecutorial power for partisan purposes, therefore, be it

“RESOLVED, That the Republican National Committee hereby formally censures Representatives Liz Cheney of Wyoming and Adam Kinzinger of Illinois and shall immediately cease any and all support of them as members.” [emphasis mine]

This one resolution speaks volumes about the degeneration of the once-upon-a-time Grand Old Party into a mere minor remnant that is the fBICP under the spell of [the person who shall no longer be named]. Fortunately, for all the rest of us, Cheney and Kinzinger had the courage, commitment, and belief in the greater good to do the true patriotic thing, putting the Constitution and national interests above base party politics. This resolution shall serve as Exhibit Number 1 as to why I will not likely ever vote for a fBICP member at any level of government. They have forfeited their legitimacy at the altar of the orange one.

 

The race baiting by the fBICP [the former GOP] continues unabated and is likely to get much worse before it has a chance to get better. Further, the remedy is likely to take a very long time to a day I shall not live to see. Nonetheless, the fight must continue inexorably until we mature as a society or perish in the rubbish bin of history.

A number of related thoughts have been rumbling through my little pea-brain. I used to think conservatives stood for fiscal prudence, small government, and a strong military. I suppose that notion was true back in the days of Barry Goldwater. Today’s conservatives exhibit none of those traits. They are far more occupied and consumed by returning all of us to a bygone day of social conservatism, when predecessor social conservatives dictated the laws and morality for everyone. They are obsessed with rolling back the calendar to a day 50-60 years ago, if not farther back. They are banning books or history that makes them feel uncomfortable. And, of course, anything not to their liking makes them feel uncomfortable. Further, they want to ban books for everyone, because (they reason) if a book makes them uncomfortable, it will make everyone uncomfortable. Conservatives do not want to teach their children history, and thus, they want to prevent all other children from learning history. We saw the pseudo-outrage over Critical Race Theory, which is an intellectual examination of racism. What leads one race to enslave another? How is racism perpetuated long after slavery has been unconstitutional and illegal? The social conservatives seek to ban the Pulitzer Prize winning graphic novel about The Holocaust—Maus. Since they are in the mood to ban books that make them feel uncomfortable, some jurisdictions are adding books like To Kill a Mockingbird, A Clockwork Orange, The Confessions of Nat Turner, and of course, any book about abortion, non-heterosexuality, gender identity, or racism. I strongly object to what they are doing on many levels, not least of which is we should feel uncomfortable about The Holocaust, racism, and oppression in any form. Our children should feel uncomfortable because history is uncomfortable, and they must know history. If the social conservatives are uncomfortable with any book, movie, television program, or whatever, then do not read it, watch it, listen to it, or consider it. Book banning and denial of history is wrong on every possible level. The way we are going to break the grip of racism, xenophobia, and the myriad other social ills is to teach our children that hate is wrong. Yet, all of this oppression in the name of comfort just reinforces the general observation, the fBICP prefers ignorance over knowledge. Let the world recognize the fBICP for what they are—oppressors . . . unless you agree with them. Freedom and rights are theirs, not for the rest of us unanointed.

 

In a Monday ABC broadcast of The View, Whoopi Goldberg contended that The Holocaust was not about race. I understood what she was trying to say, however, her statement was ill informed and too narrowly viewed. The following day, she publicly apologized for her statement. As part of that apology, they interviewed Jonathan Greenblatt, National Director and CEO of the Anti-Defamation League (ADL). He rightly informed the listeners that the basis of Nazi ideology and the notion of Aryan supremacy took root from Adolf Hitler seminal book “Mein Kampf” [My Fight, or My Struggle], i.e., Aryans [Germans] were the superior race—the master race. That ideological foundation led the Nazis to persecute and murder on a massive scale all of those they considered sub-human, e.g., Jews, Roma (gypsies), Slavs, homosexuals, political dissenters, ad infinitum. Greenblatt went on to note more than a few anti-Semitic signs and sweatshirts with “Camp Auschwitz – 6MWE” [6MWE = Six Million Wasn’t Enough]. He properly noted that white supremacy and anti-Semitism are very much alive and now thanks to [the person who shall no longer be named] and his fBICP enablers, the movement is flourishing. While I agree and endorse Greenblatt’s statements, I have to quibble with one statement he spoke toward the end of his interview. He said, “When you demonize the Jewish people and demonize the Jewish state that is flat out wrong.” While the key word is ‘demonize,’ the implication is that Israel is above criticism because of the state religion. Israel does not get a free pass simply because it endorses a particular state religion. I would have been good if he had left the ‘Jewish state’ out of the argument, but he did not and thus my disagreement. Israel is a political entity and cannot hide from criticism behind their state religion. The nation deserves criticism and even condemnation for some past actions, e.g., the West Bank settlement campaign. And for all that, Whoopi was suspended for two weeks, which I think was wrong, excessive, and frankly unfair. But, these are the times in which we live.

[A related side note: if you believe the Holocaust did not occur, I strongly and emphatically urge you to read “Mein Kampf” from cover to cover; it was Hitler’s blueprint and ideological basis for what became The Holocaust; the book was published in 1925 (long before he became chancellor).]

 

Then, we have the spineless sycophant for [the person who shall no longer be named] known as Cruz, who chose to criticize President Biden’s nomination to SCOTUS before the man has even chosen his nominee. Why didn’t Cruz wait and criticize the qualifications of the president’s nominee after he made his choice? I laud the president’s commitment. President Biden stated explicitly he would pick a highly qualified person. So Cruz, how about let us all see who the president picks, and then you can unleash your epithets.

 

            Comments and contributions from Update no.1046:

Comment to the Blog:

“I put a lot of effort into finding Blog Number 879 but still couldn’t find any statement from Stormy Daniels. Please clarify.

“I see Justice Breyer’s resignation as wise. Collegiality on the Supreme Court vanished like bipartisanship in Congress.

“My intense disagreements with the Libertarian Party are about seeing corporations as if they were individuals.”

My response to the Blog:

I am not sure how you assumed Update no.879 was a statement by Stormy Daniels. Nonetheless, I offer my apologies for your difficulty in finding Update no.879. I suppose I should create some kind of index beyond the integral one at the bottom of the left column. The cited reference noted a Wall Street Journal article and my reading of her book.

Perhaps so. the evidence is on your side. However, I hold a faint hope that the nobility of the law shall overcome the contemporary partisan ideological divide. Time shall tell the tale. Until then, we must endure.

As you noted, that is one of my major objections as well . . . among others. A corporation is not and never was an individual or a citizen; it is only a legal construct for business {despite Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission [558 U.S. 310 (2010)] [424]}. Corporations should have never been imbued with the rights of citizenship. My central issue with the Libertarian Party is, how they might govern as a minority party? They have a far better shot at achieving the presidency, but it is Congress that makes the laws. Until they can obtain a majority in both chambers of Congress, I see their political position as just rhetoric. Yet, that said, I have more than once defaulted to a Libertarian vote as the best of the available candidates on election day.

 . . . follow-up comments:

“In this week’s post, you stated, ‘I stand with Ms. Stephanie Gregory Clifford (AKA Stormy Daniels) [879].’ I assumed this was a reference to something you or she had said in that post. I have read her book, but I would never assume the reader had and remembered its contents.

“The Libertarians are of interest to me most of all as another party that seeks ballot access and is thwarted by the two ‘major’ parties. Others, including the Green Party USA and a new People’s Party, do the same. This country would be healthier if more parties, of whatever policy beliefs, had access to the ballot.”

 . . . along with my follow-up comments:

It was just a thought at the moment regarding Ms. Clifford’s on-going legal action and trial against her one-time, now convicted felon, former attorney who allegedly bilked her of a lot of book sales money. I did not want to spend time musing about the trial. I apologize for my succinct comment causing a disturbance in the Force.

I would agree. I share your opinion regarding ‘other’ parties, but as with all such questions, it comes back to how will they govern in a largely binary Congress. We must elect ‘other’ party candidates to both chambers of Congress to break the paradigm.  One of the reasons we had to endure the insanity of the previous administration is a prevalent underlying dissatisfaction with the inability of Congress to work for the people.

 

Another contribution:

“A vastly inadequate summary of the 2022 Mississippi Libertarian Party Convention:

“Small number of impressively energetic attendees, much time spent necessarily on minor by-law changes, excellent chair performance regrettably including announcement of her retirement from leadership, well planned and arranged venue, much evidence of struggle for membership, remarkably small budget, absolutely brilliant beautiful inspirational keynote speaker Hannah Cox of Fee.org and Based-Politics.com, typically warm friendly ‘integrated’ Mississippi folks surprised at and receptive of my enthusiastic response and contribution as a non-member guest, and so on.

“Little info about current national candidates' plans.

“All in all, we are very impressed by the local state party members and the available national party literature, most of which I suspect would be more than acceptable by majority of thinking Americans, who unfortunately will probably still vote out of habit for candidates of the two major corrupt parties rather than bravely ‘wasting’ their vote as I intend to do.

“I remain a former Republican, present Flaming Conserviberal, seriously considering membership in this wonderful third party effort to return to the solid principles of individual freedom and limited government envisioned but not perfected by our Founders.”

My reply:

I am glad you were able to attend the Mississippi Libertarian Party Convention. Thank you for sharing your observations. Good on you that you were able to participate.

Yeah, way too much voting out of habit. The blind loyalty to a demagogue simply because of a label (misappropriate BTW) is the most disturbing, and frankly, not a good commentary on the American citizenry. To be fair, the blind loyalty of which I speak exists on both sides of the political divide. When I see the effects of this blind loyalty, I see the wisdom of the Founders / Framers. They recognized how important education and intellectual curiosity was to any viable democratic system of governance. While I could never support the other qualification factors implemented by the Founders / Framers, there was valuable wisdom in their starting point. Unfortunately, contemporary politics has demonstrated that even qualified (by the original criteria) individuals fail to consider the greater good beyond their perceived political power.

My military career, especially as my first major employment from adulthood and beyond, drove my non-partisanship. I took my oath of office quite seriously. I was never a Republican, never a Democrat, never a Libertarian, and I highly doubt I will ever join a political party. I used to think of my political ideology as conservative, then that thinking began to fracture. For most of my adult life, I referred to my thinking as fiscally conservative, socially liberal. Now, the ideological corruption and inhumanity of the so-called conservative movement coupled with the absolute hypocrisy of the fBICP (former GOP) have rendered me verging upon pragmatic socialism. Today, I find nothing, and I genuinely mean nothing, of value in anything associated with the fBICP. I cannot ignore them, as much as I might wish, because there are still far too many of those blind loyalists who sustain that pseudo-party.

The central question to the Libertarian Party remains, how do they propose to govern as a minority party?

 . . . with follow-comments:

“Thanks. I am impressed by the similarity of our respective ideological evolutions. It seems that our only recurring persistent disagreements occur with respect to the questions of (1) would Hillary have been better, and (2) whether Trump's several important kept promises outweigh the several failures of his agenda and the lasting dangers of the cult following resulting from his malignant narcissism (which you correctly evaluated before me).

“I'm still glad I voted for Dr. Carson, then reluctantly for Trump, and soon completely severed all sympathies for the GOP. My hope is that the best of Libertarian Party ideals can overcome the unfair isolationist reputation that makes it an easy target for the media and two-party loyalists. I harbor no hope for a turn back by the Democrats from their stated intentions to gently and cleverly enslave all but the richest of Americans.

“Keep smiling. I enjoy your ultimate optimism for our grand experiment in government.”

 . . . along with my follow-up comments:

Yes, and agreed. We share more in common than we have differences. To your “recurring persistent disagreements,” I offer my opinions.

1.) In the greater sense, yes, she would have been much better. She would have conducted herself in a presidential manner, and she most emphatically would have offered far greater humanity than the other guy. Although not part of my direct response to your query, I will say we are very long overdue for a female president. All that said, I am compelled to repeat my oft-stated observation that Ms. Clinton disqualified herself when she chose to selfishly place herself above logic, reason, and the law in using her private servers for her private and professional eMail. Such actions (by anyone) are a direct threat to national security and are extraordinarily selfish moves.

2.) I am not going to expend the inordinate amount to time it would take to argue the point. First, I fundamentally disagree with calling some of his “accomplishments” actually accomplishments. Case in point, the whole nonsense of a 2,000-mile border wall with the naïve notion that Mexico was going to pay for it, and that it would accomplish what he claimed. I have long written of my fundamental, broad disagreement with his ridiculous contention. Without comprehensive immigration reform and a defense in depth to back-up the physical obstacle of a border wall, there is no hope of a wall working. There are many other disagreements, e.g., the ludicrous tax cut, the unconstitutional ‘theft’ of one and arguably two Supreme Court nominations, and his deadly, laissez-faire, every man for himself pandemic response, et al ad infinitum ad nauseum. Nonetheless, his “accomplishments” pale to inconsequential levels in the face of his abhorrent conduct, e.g., 25.5.2017, inject disinfectant, and of course the BIG LIE. So, no, I cannot overcome my revulsion as a consequence of his conduct; I cannot think of one instance of his conduct being presidential. I have gone on too long; I must stop here.

The damage and destruction of his malignant narcissism affliction are incalculable and will be felt for long after he and we are gone.

I hope you can find affinity with the Libertarians. I eagerly await your explanation of how the “unfair isolationist reputation” is wrong. I look forward to learning more. I am neither media nor two-party loyalist. I am a critical observer and thinker.

Democrat intentions to “gently and cleverly enslave all” is an interesting, intriguing, and worthy accusation. Regrettably, it sounds like fBICP rhetoric rather than informed observation or opinion. Perhaps you can take the time to explain why you believe that position to be true. I have lived and worked in both England and Italy. Both have socialist elements, e.g., medical treatment, and I never felt “enslaved” or lacking freedom.

My optimism has been sorely and deeply shaken by the last administration from the BIG LIE to the incessant feeding of white supremacist attitudes. I have long been an optimist, but that natural trait has been severely corroded by the malignant narcissist in chief; and, he is still meting out his destruction, e.g., his multiple statements in Conroe, Texas. Worse, more than a few former Republicans (now fBICP members) persist in enabling him. What does that tell us?

 

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

Cheers,

Cap                  :-)