Update from the Sunland
No.1054
21.3.22 – 27.3.22
Blog version: http://heartlandupdate.blogspot.com/
To all,
The follow-up news items:
-- The trial of Boeing Chief Technical Pilot Mark A. Forkner [1048] has concluded. The jury has not yet spoken (and they may never speak) to explain their reasoning. We do not know the basis of their ‘not guilty’ verdict. From the evidence I have seen (not all of the evidence presented at trial), I do not agree with the verdict, just as I disagreed with the O.J. Simpson criminal verdict [3.October.1995]. To me, Forkner’s conduct as Boeing’s Chief Technical Pilot during the B-737MAX certification led directly to the deaths of 346 innocent souls. He could not be charged with murder or even manslaughter, but to me, he killed nearly 350 people. He should have been held accountable. He lost his job and may never work as an experimental test pilot again. Boohoo!! He got off easy and got away with murder.
This week in contemporary events in the United States was dominated by the confirmation hearing for Judge Ketanji Onyika Brown Jackson. The fBICP senators put on quite the show of retribution. They were obsessed and consumed by their indignation over the Kavanaugh confirmation hearing [862, 870]. In reality, these are grievances retained from the Bork confirmation hearing [Senate Judiciary Committee rejected 5-9 (6.October.1987); full Senate rejected 58-42 (23.October.1987)]. The question that keeps coming back to me in the on-going debates about strict constructionists, who protects the people from the tyranny of the majority? If the majority decides that Jim Crow voter suppression laws, restricted voting rights, segregation, and banning of entry of any immigrants who are not Caucasian in appearance and Anglo-Saxon in heritage, is that acceptable under the Constitution and our model of jurisprudence? Virtually all of the fBICP senators on the Judiciary Committee chose child pornography as their cause célèbre in the confirmation hearings. The fBICP senators want us to believe the Judge Jackson was soft in her sentencing of child pornography convicts; therefore, she will make a bad Supreme Court justice. What failed to say in their questioning, they (the fBICP) had no problem with her rulings on the last three confirmation hearings before the committee. Judge Jackson endured brutal verbal assaults, strived mightily and delicately to explain the failure of Congress to update or reform the relevant law. It was a disgusting display of legislative malfeasance. Those fBICP senators sought to excoriate Judge Jackson. They failed! They only exposed their lack of substantive objection. Of course, the QAnon adherents jumped into action with multiple, erroneous, malicious, conspiracy theories to further the fBICP assault.
I have no desire whatsoever to discuss the outrageousness of Senators Graham, Cruz, Hawley, Cotton, and Blackburn. The content of their verbal assaults was not questioning of Judge Jackson’s jurisprudence; it was their sense of vengeance. I will note the questioning of two senators—one negative, one positive.
Senator Cornyn of Texas spent a fair amount of his time allotment questioning Judge Jackson on Obergefell v. Hodges [576 U.S. ___ (2015); no. 14-556] [706, 710], a religious liberty case regarding same-sex marriage. What Cornyn wants us to believe is protecting the rights of a small segment of our society offends and imposes on the religious liberty of the majority. This is classic moral projection and the tyranny of a perceived majority. Cornyn argued that substantive due process allows the court to substitute its views for the elected legislature. What Cornyn failed to recognize or acknowledge is, what right does one faction have to impose their moral values on other citizens who do not subscribe to those values simply because of their religious beliefs? Does one citizen or group of citizens have the right to impose their beliefs on everyone by their religious beliefs? If any citizen’s religious belief dictates that marriage is only between a man and a woman, I am good with that; it is their choice. Every citizen has the constitutional right to belief as they wish based on their chosen religion. Where I depart from the conservative position is when that citizen or group of citizens (no matter how large that group may be) decides to codify their beliefs into common law, which imposes those values on everyone. My objection to using religion or any other dogma to project moral values and choices upon every citizen is precisely where my resistance blooms. This is moral projection and one of the many reasons I cannot bring myself to vote for a conservative candidate. Further, from my perspective, the fBICP have disqualified themselves and should be banished from public service of any kind at any level. There is absolutely no place in a free, democratic society for anyone who supports insurrection, and the corrosion of our fundamental principles and forms of governance. I am sorry the white supremacists and nationalists feel their dominance is diminishing, eroding, and otherwise disappearing. It is our principles that bind us, not the pigmentation in our skin or any of the other social factors.
The other notable, I was impressed by Senator Jon Ossoff of Georgia. He asked insightful questions of Judge Jackson without emotion, rancor, or collateral agenda. His questioning and interaction with the nominee was noteworthy. If more senators and representatives followed Ossoff’s example, we would have a more functional Congress. It is always nice to hope.
The video clip of the final seconds of China Eastern flight MU-5735 place this event in the most unusual category. The aircraft appeared to be in a near vertical dive to impact in the mountainous terrain of southern PRC. The aircraft was a Boeing 737-800 operated by China Eastern Airlines Corporation Limited. We do not have much information to go on, and given this is a PRC event, we may never know what happened. Several Press reports indicate the search parties have recovered the Flight Data Recorder (FDR) and the Cockpit Voice Recorder (CVR), although I have not been able to confirm that information via my usual aircraft accident reporting networks. Based on what little we know so far, the past event that reminds me the most of this China Eastern crash is Germanwings Flight 4U-9525 (24.March.2015) [693, 694].
A recent opinion article in the Arizona Republic gives us all a glimpse of the fBICP crazies in Arizona.
“Reps. Andy Biggs and Paul Gosar are the proud Putin wing of Arizona's GOP – Opinion: They are not just outliers within the state, or the Republican Party, but within humanity.”
by EJ Montini
Arizona Republic
Published 8:00 a.m. MT March 22, 2022
These two yayhoos may be the two most obvious of the state’s crazies, but they are by far not the only ones. Just watching the fBICP primary campaign advertisements tells us all there are more of them out there. We must render these dinosaurs to oblivion just as their ancestors were 66 million years ago by the Chicxulub meteor impact.
The Supremes issued yet another controversial stay decision; this one was 7-2—Wisconsin Legislature v. Wisconsin Elections Commission [595 U. S. ____ (2022); 21A471]. The issue before the Court was the decision of the Wisconsin Supreme Court to favor (select) the Governor’s raced based apportionment. There are far too many of these stays, allowing the fBICP apportionment and election laws to remain in place while the Supremes allow these cases to pile up and “ripen.”
To me, the only criterion for apportionment of districts (seats) should be the counting residents by census. The social factors [age, gender, race, skin pigmentation, religion, ethnicity, national origin, sexual orientation, economic status (money), education, political affiliation, marital status (provided that the applicant has the capacity to enter into a binding contract), or disability] have NO place in deciding the apportionment of seats of representation at any level of government from local to federal. The gerrymandering shenanigans of both parties has got to end. Yet, gerrymandering is only one part of the election problems we face today. Gerrymandering does not decide the vote, but it does set the stage. I am far more concerned about the Jim Crow v2.0 laws being passed by the fBICP legislatures—all based on a meritless falsity.
President Biden went to Brussels, and then to Poland and the Polish border with Ukraine. While I remain very critical of the president’s insufficient response to Putin’s War, Biden has done far more than any other president, so he deserve some laudatory comment. He has done well. I am left with one dominant thought . . . .
Can anyone on the planet imagine [the person who shall no longer be named] sitting down at a mess hall table with a bunch of 82nd Airborne troopers to eat pizza? If anyone wanted a graphic example of the difference between the former and our current presidents, compare any clip from this Brussels-Poland trip to the infamous clip of 25.May.2017.
Comments and contributions from Update no.1053:
Comment to the Blog:
“I’m glad the James Webb Space Telescope is progressing toward operations.
“Somewhere between Mother Jones and Tucker Carlson, factual reporting exists. I’ll note that most of the garbage is labeled as opinion. I recommend seeking out as much factual reporting as one can stand and forming one’s own opinion.
“I read an article this morning by Robert Reich pointing out that dictators get lousy feedback because they surround themselves with toadies. The dictator hears what he wants to hear, not what’s real. Don’t underestimate that as a factor in Putin’s decisions, including whether to use nuclear weapons.”
My response to the Blog:
Likewise, I am eager to see the new, as yet, unseen images from JWST.
So, do you doubt the “leaked memo”?
I glean information from a wide variety of sources. Relying on a single source makes me nervous and suspicious. In the other related Press stories, they all pointed to the Mother Jones disclosure, which made me more uneasy. On the positive side, the story seemed consistent with a lot of different corroborated material. Whether the memo is true and accurate, Carlson’s words are factual, recorded and reviewable. His words stand on their own. And I condemn his words. One questions still haunts me on this topic, what’s wrong with this picture?
Quite so! I highly recommend the PBS series The Dictator’s Playbook. Narrow, filtered feedback is a common trait that leads them to ruin.
. . . follow-up comment:
“I tend to think the memo is probably real. I agree with using multiple sources, but remember that Tucker Carlson and many others are labeled as opinion rather than reporting. It's the opinion that stirs up trouble.”
. . . my follow-up response:
I cannot read Cyrillic, and even if I could, we have very little to go on regarding the validity of the memo. Yes, I think the notion presented by the “memo” is exactly my opinion regarding Carlson’s words. His 25.November.2019 broadcast was the most direct "WHY DO I CARE WHAT IS GOING ON IN THE CONFLICT BETWEEN UKRAINE AND RUSSIA? I'M SERIOUS. WHY SHOULDN'T I ROOT FOR RUSSIA? WHICH BY THE WAY, I AM.” I put his quote in caps because he was literally shouting. Whether the “memo” is true or not is nearly irrelevant. His words alone validate the notion.
Another contribution:
“Thanks Cap-a busy week for sure young man. I needed to re-read several of these items..I suppose it would help if I wasn’t on the other side of the pond and I might, might, savvy the lingo.”
My reply:
I never like to alienate readers of my writing by my word choices. I offer my humble apologies to you for any confusion or frustration my word choices may have caused. I will eagerly offer clarification if you can illuminate for me any particular point or words. I doubt you have ever listened to Tucker Carlson, but if you do or if you have, I suspect my words will clarify swiftly. Then again, I would offer contrarian counsel that listening to Tucker Carlson is a gross waste of time. Unfortunately, he is not just a single citizen expressing his opinion; he has an enormous megaphone and millions of American citizens actually believe what he says without question. That alone demands counter-argument.
My very best wishes to all. Take care of yourselves and each other.
Cheers,
Cap :-)
2 comments:
Good morning, Cap,
I would think Boeing’s Chief Technical Pilot, Mr. Forkner, would necessarily be aware of the misbehavior during the B-737MAX certification. It’s a shame he won’t be held accountable.
The Republican Party retains its base via such displays as the Jackson confirmation hearing. Sickening but effective. Much of that base still believes Russia is Communist, but they swallow whole their leaders’ support of Putin. Weird.
Voters here in Ohio passed a referendum attempting to get non-partisan redistricting. The commission attempting to do that is 5-2 Republican and can’t seem to design a map that the State Supreme Court will approve. Duh. The Jim Crow laws concern me, but the flow of money in US politics is my overriding issue.
President Biden’s cognitive abilities are slipping.
We were 2 degrees above a record low temperature this morning. In a couple of days, we’re supposed to hit the 70s. Oh, well. Enjoy whatever weather you’re having there,
Calvin
Good morning to you, Calvin,
I have not and probably never will see all of the evidence presented to the jury in the Forkner case, but from what I have seen in the public domain, there is no doubt in my little pea-brain that he was guilty (and not the only in the Boeing management structure of those days) and deserves punishment. To me, the jury allowed him to get away with murder just as the jury did in the O.J. Simpson murder case. But hey, that is just me.
Yes, exactly. Sickening indeed. If the fBICP believes Russia is Communist, why do they embrace Putin and Putin’s War? Weird is not an adequate word to explain their embrace of QAnon, Carlson, Jones, et al ad infinitum ad nauseum. In history, we see this class of blind loyalty in extreme ideological movements like National Socialism, Jim Jones, the KKK, and now QAnon.
Very hard to be non-partisan with a 5-2 fBICP bias. What were they thinking appointing such a biased apportionment commission? Thank God for the courts and judges. The only way I can think of creating a headcount only apportionment is to strip out that data the commission has access to, or bringing in out-of-state professional who do not know neighborhoods (only population density and districts). I’m with you on that. Jim Crow can be overcome; dark money is far harder to overcome. On the other side, Jim Crow laws have not yet been codified by the Supremes; unfortunately, dark money has. That reality alone makes money much harder to deal with.
Perhaps so. Sometimes the thought comes to me as well. But, even today, he is still infinitely better than what we just endured before him.
Rain for us today. Coming your way.
Stay warm and safe. Take care and enjoy.
Cheers,
Cap
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