Update no.1065

 Update from the Sunland

No.1065

6.6.22 – 12.6.22

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

 

To all,

 

The follow-up news items:

-- Five top leaders of the Proud Boys were indicted on the serious charge of seditious conspiracy (among other lesser crimes) for their role in the January 6^th insurrection [991]. The Proud Boys defendants include: 

·      Henry ‘Enrique’ Tarrio, 38, of Miami, Florida, the former national chairman

·      Ethan Nordean, 31, AKA Rufio Panman, of Auburn, Washington 

·      Joseph Randall Biggs, 38, of Ormond Beach, Florida

·      Zachary Rehl, 37, of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

·      Dominic Pezzola, 44, AKA Spaz, Spazzo, and Spazzolini, of Rochester, New York

All of the accused remain in detention. They all pleaded not guilty to the charges. I trust the five leaders will enjoy their time as guests of the government for their transgressions.

-- On Thursday evening, C-SPAN and other news channels broadcast the first public hearing of the HSCJ6 [1020] in prime time. I watched every minute of the hearing from start to finish. While there was new testimony and information, most of the first hearing was a rehash of what we have known and seen for the last 18 months. Some of us heard the speeches and watched the insurrection play out live on the telly that day—6.January.2021. As HSCJ6 Chairman Representative Thompson stated, what happened on the 6^th of January was an attempted coup d'état in the United States of America. We have suffered our share of miseries, abuses and insults in the centuries of our existence, but we have never experienced a coup until the malignant narcissism of [the person who shall no longer be named] led that man to see his fragile ego as far more important than centuries of the history, tradition, spirit, and the very foundation of this once grand republic. We are now faced with confronting the obscenity inflicted upon us all by that poor excuse of a man.

On top of the reality of events before, during, and after that infamous day, we have the further insult of:

Nescientia super scientia

The watchword of the MAGA right and the de facto motto of the fBICP—Ignorance over Knowledge. In furtherance of that motto, Fox News announced they will not carry the HSCJ6 [1020] public hearings. Only they will provide the real truth—Big Brother in the flesh. I truly appreciate the genius of George Orwell, nom de plume of Eric Arthur Blair, in his seminal work Nineteen Eighty-Four, but I never dreamt we would actually see the manifestation of the novel in life, and especially in this country. Unfortunately, the citizens who most need to watch and listen to the HSCJ6 hearings (or eventually read the final report) will not do so. Regrettably, we must endure and overcome their ignorance and intransigence in addition to the other realities of the crimes committed up to, including and after the insurrection—coup d'état indeed!

 

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson survived a no-confidence vote [211-148] within the Conservative Party as a consequence of what has become known as PartyGate, i.e., the laws and rules apply to everyone else—not those in power. The notion does sound familiar. Where have we seen that concept?

 

On Monday, Mohave County Superior Court Judge Lee Frank Jantzen dashed the hopes of the Arizona Republican Party—Arizona Republican Party v. Katie Hobbs [AZ SpC MC CV-2022-00594 (2022)]. The Arizona faction of the fBICP sought to declare Arizona’s early voting laws unconstitutional that have been in place since 1918, six years after statehood. The fBICP is desperate to implement Jim Crow v2.0 voter suppression laws to compensate for their diminishing minority status. Judge Jantzen established that the fBICP did not meet the very first element of standing for the case to proceed to trial. The fBICP failed. We shall continue to have the option of early voting by mail, preserving the voting method used by the overwhelming majority of voters in Arizona.

In political questions such as this, I often play it out to the extreme in order to understand or feel the boundaries. At the founding of this once grand republic, only male, Anglo-Saxon, Protestant, landowners could vote. What if the fBICP takes Jim Crow v2.0 to its natural extreme, they might require restricting polling stations to one site and open it for eight hours, oh heck, let us open the polling station for one hour at mid-day. Such restrictions would enable only wealthy people with means to vote. That scenario may sound ridiculous, but that is exactly the direction most of the fBICP dominated states are heading. They are restricting the ability of every citizen to vote down to something they feel will enable ‘their’ voters and discourage or prevent ‘those’ voters from casting any vote. What the fBICP is doing today is no different from what Southern Democrats did in the former Confederate States more than a century ago . . . just different techniques. One hundred plus years ago, the tools used for voter suppression were the poll tax, ‘literacy’ tests, and outright discrimination. Today, it is no early voting, restricting polling station sites and hours, and no voting by mail. We shall overcome!

 

The House of Representatives passed H.R.7910 - Protecting Our Kids Act [House: 223-204-0-1(7)]. The bill is not exactly a comprehensive firearms reform act, but it is a worthy start. Now, the bill goes to the Senate, where a bipartisan committee is working on their own version. The House bill generally prohibits the sale or transfer of certain semiautomatic firearms to individuals who are under 21 years of age; establishes new federal criminal offenses for gun trafficking and related conduct; establishes a federal statutory framework to regulate ghost guns (i.e., guns without serial numbers) and to regulate the storage of firearms on residential premises; subjects bump stocks to regulation under federal firearms laws; and prohibits the import, sale, manufacture, transfer, and possession of large capacity ammunition feeding devices. We must wait for the Senate committee’s effort.  The reconciliation process will take longer. Until then, we continue to hope for the comprehensive reform we need.

 

Comments and contributions from Update no.1064:

Comment to the Blog:

“Top Gun aerobatic flight sequences shown in IMAX would surely induce motion sickness in me, and I didn’t like the characters in the earlier one.

“I remember Attorneys General being fired during Watergate for trying to do their jobs. Maybe this one could be let go for not trying.

“I recall the Watergate hearings as a great deal of procedural pomp with rare revelations. Let’s hope the January 6 hearings go better.

“I always get a cynical chuckle at the notion that war or weapons will be limited.

“I keep hearing and reading the red herring that firearms don’t kill people. We know that. The firearms themselves don’t have any more agency than knives. That’s why sane people want to regulate the people who manufacture, distribute, and use firearms.

“The real issue about abortion is the unknowable question of when a fetus or infant has an independent consciousness or spirit. Some people decide their opinion about that and try to impose it on others. (Religion is not law; anyhow The Bible has absolutely nothing to say on that question.)”

My response to the Blog:

I recognize and acknowledge that not everyone is fascinated or enamored with flying machines. TG or TGM are not for those folks. In such circumstances, if visual stimulation causes you discomfort, close your eyes for a few seconds; it usually relieves the discomfort. TGM is not for everyone, but those who enjoy such things, it is a worthy movie.

I think you may be referring to U.S. Attorney General Elliott Richardson who refused to fire Watergate Special Prosecutor Archibald Cox and resigned. Nixon subsequently ordered Deputy Attorney General William Ruckelshaus to fire Cox. Ruckelshaus also refused and resigned. Interestingly, then Solicitor General Robert Bork picked up the lance and fired Cox. The sequences became known as the Saturday Night Massacre [20.10.1973].

Attorney General Garland owes us an explanation—a rationale for his decision. I doubt we will get such an explanation until historians can illuminate the process and facts. Based on the evidence I have seen, there is more than enough evidence beyond probable cause to indict Meadows and Savino. Garland is walking on very thin ice.

I watched as much of the Watergate hearings as I was able. Those were the days before VCRs and DVRs. I do share your observations about the Watergate hearings, but revelations did surface. The wheels of justice ground on outside the Watergate hearings. I suspect the same will be true here. I expect to see revelations in the HSCJ6 hearings, but I am prepared for disappointment. Certainly, the USAG decisions regarding Meadows & Savino were deeply disappointing. The thought that the real, ultimate perpetrator in the current insurrection cataclysm may well walk away free as the predecessor Nixon did; Nixon was a criminal, full stop, and he walked away. I suppose we can hold some modicum of hope that history will record [the person who shall no longer be named]’s malfeasance beyond a court of law.

Cynical chuckle noted.

I have no problem with regulation. What I cannot tolerate, condone or support is regulation that gives us another CSA. With CSA, we see how easy it is to impose regulation, and how bloody difficult it is to reform or repeal such regulation. I would rather suffer no regulation than have another CSA. Period, full stop!

No, indeed. Religion is not law. That said, I know there are fervent evangelicals who proclaim the Bible is God’s law and supersedes any human law. I do not share their parochial fervor. I still believe the Roe court got it spot on correct. A woman’s fundamental right to privacy and freedom of choice prevail until the threshold of ‘quickening,’ which will move over time as medical technology advances.

 

Another contribution:

“Yes Boris screwed up with his attendance at lockdown parties, silly man. You cannot behave as so and remain in power. But somehow he has squeezed his way forward. The whole episode is a shame because it is generally accepted that he has otherwise carried out a good job steering the country through some very difficult times. And now he has much more to do-Ukraine goes on and we’re now sending some heavy artillery, Covid simmers in the background and now we have gross financial worries with inflation growing by the day. I don’t envy him at all. I hope you are paying less, a lot less than we are for fuels. This morning we paid almost £2/litre for diesel for our Italian salon. I’ll let you do the sums bud.”

[For those readers who choose not to do the mathematics, but would like to know the conversion, I offer the following conversion:

3.78541 liters/gallon x 2 £/liter = 7.57 £/gallon x 1.24  US$/£ = US$9.39 per gallon]

“Fortunately, like you we have solar warmth and so heating the house does not, as yet, come into the equation. Let’s hope this can all be sorted before then.”

My reply:

Yes, he does not deserve to be the leader, just as our previous fellow was even more so undeserving of being the leader of this once grand republic. Whether we can ever return to grandeur is yet to be determined. The no-confidence report was closer than I expected, but it was a clear shot across the bow for a prime minister (like our previous president) who apparently thinks he is above the law {i.e., “The King can do no wrong.” (Blackstone 1-7-237) [772]}. These wannabe demagogues must have their grossly inflated egos deflated; they are only ordinary men who happen to be in extraordinary circumstances.

Yes, from my distance, he has guided your nation through difficult times, which places him well above our previous president.

We are paying less than you, but not by much. We’re over US$6/gallon.

 

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

Cheers,

Cap                  :-)