Update no.1066

 Update from the Sunland

No.1066

13.6.22 – 19.6.22

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

 

To all,

 

The follow-up news items:

-- I continue my absorption of the HSCJ6 hearings [1020]. This week, they held sessions two and three of their public hearings. Most of the available news channels carried the testimony [except Fox News, of course, as previously reported [1065]}. For those who wish to accuse me of listening to or favoring one news source or another, I watched the hearings on C-SPAN—a neutral, independent, congressional news channel.

HSCJ6 Session Three dealt with the extraordinary pressure brought to bear on Vice President Mike Pence. The content graphically illuminated how bloody close we came to losing the representative democracy that has been the fundamental foundation of this once grand republic. I will contend historically that what happened up to, during, and after the insurrection [991] was the closest we have ever come in 235 years to losing our system of governance, and I will further argue, losing the very freedom we cherish.

The HSCJ6 repeatedly displayed a tweet from [the person who shall no longer be named] that proved pivotal in instigating the violent penetration of the Capitol Building on the day of the insurrection.

Mike Pence didn’t have the courage to do what should have been done to protect our Country and our Constitution, giving State a chance to certify a corrected set of facts, not the fraudulent or inaccurate ones which they were asked to previously certify. USA demands the truth!

2:24 PM – Jan 6, 2021 – Twitter for iPhone [991]

The above tweet was read aloud with a bullhorn to the mob on the steps of the Capitol Building. After the reading, chants of “Hang Mike Pence” grew among the attackers. [Separately, multiple news sources reported that an FBI confidential informant (CI) within the Proud Boys stated he was convinced they would have harmed and likely killed Pence if the Proud Boys had been able to grab him.] The HSCJ6 documented that the mob got within 40 feet of the vice president but did not find him. The threat was real.

Although many of us suspected the former president’s culpability in inciting the insurrection [991], it has become painfully apparent that [the person who shall no longer be named] purposefully, willfully, and with malice of forethought decided to ignore a vast sea of legal minds informing and advising him that he had lost the election. He has persisted to this day in his false, fraudulent, and destructive claims of widespread election malfeasance that have not affected the outcome. No one had offered a single scintilla of evidence—EVIDENCE—although there is an ocean of baseless accusations and myriad conspiracy theories. The election was constitutionally certified [U.S. Constitution Article II, Section 1, Clauses 2 & 3, and the 12^th Amendment]. [The person who shall no longer be named] desperately searched for voices that would tell him what he wanted to hear. He found them in the persona of John Eastman and Rudi Giuliani. He knew without question that his claims of election fraud were wrong, false, fraudulent, and destructive.

God bless Vice President Michael Richard ‘Mike’ Pence of Indiana for his moral courage to do what the U.S. Constitution required of him and to defy the deeply flawed man who happened to be president at the time. I cannot imagine what might have happened if Pence had not had the moral and intellectual courage to resist the extraordinary pressure applied by [the person who shall no longer be named] and his sycophant encouragers [Eastman, Giuliani & others]. I do not agree with many, if not most or all, of Pence’s political positions, but I publicly laud him for standing tall in his hour of trial.

Eastman and Giuliani fed the man’s delusional predisposition stemming from his malignant narcissism, and the HSCJ6 had multiple bits of evidence that at least Eastman knew beforehand that what he was espousing and advising the president of prior to, during, and after the insurrection was illegal and unconstitutional. I read the Eastman two-page memorandum {22.12.2020} [1055] and the expanded six-page rendition {3.1.2021, just three days prior to the insurrection} [1055] that was the basic argument for overthrowing the election. Judge David Carter’s words of official condemnation in his ruling in the case of Eastman v. Thompson [USDC CD CA SD Case No. 8:22-cv-00099-DOC-DFM (2022)] [1055] were the most poignant, direct, and damning. “Dr. Eastman likely acted deceitfully and dishonestly each time he pushed an outcome-driven plan that he knew was unsupported by the law.” Further, Judge Carter observed, “Based on the evidence, the Court finds that it is more likely than not that President Trump and Dr. Eastman dishonestly conspired to obstruct the Joint Session of Congress on January 6, 2021.” Judge Carter went on. “Dr. Eastman and President Trump launched a campaign to overturn a democratic election, an action unprecedented in American history. Their campaign was not confined to the ivory tower—it was a coup in search of a legal theory. The plan spurred violent attacks on the seat of our nation’s government, led to the deaths of several law enforcement officers, and deepened public distrust in our political process.” Judge Carter concluded, “If Dr. Eastman and President Trump’s plan had worked, it would have permanently ended the peaceful transition of power, undermining American democracy and the Constitution. If the country does not commit to investigating and pursuing accountability for those responsible, the Court fears January 6 will repeat itself.” [redaction and emphasis mine]

All of this abomination grows from one single source—the malignant narcissism of [the person who shall no longer be named]. His affliction led him to deny all reliable sources counsel that his claims of a fraudulent election were wrong and fraudulent. But, he found a lone voice in the sea of counter-claims that fed his ego, and he latched onto those bogus hypothesis like a drowning man in heavy seas grasping for a life ring tossed to him from afar.

In Session Three, Judge John Michael Luttig, a retired 4^th Circuit Court of Appeals judge, declared publicly and under oath before the HSCJ6 that [the person who shall no longer be named] and his allies remain a “clear and present danger to American democracy,” to the U.S. Constitution, and to We, the People, of the United States of America. Judge Luttig is spot on correct!

We are not yet done with the treachery of that single man at the very center of this direct attack on the U.S. Constitution and the very essence of what once made this nation great. The mantra chant of the fBICP and its leader—make America great again (MAGA)—is doing exactly the opposite—tearing at the very foundation of this once grand republic. We came dreadfully close to ending the grand experiment. We have a very long way to go before we are done with this sordid episode, and the history is still being written.

 

Comments and contributions from Update no.1065:

“Proud boys being supporters of he who cannot be named? Not familiar with that one.”

My reply:

The two known action groups on the day of the insurrection [991] were the Oath Keepers and the Proud Boys. The Oath Keepers is an American far-right anti-government militia. The Proud Boys an American far-right, neo-fascist, and exclusively male organization that promotes and engages in political violence in the United States. They are both rather disturbing groups that verge upon white supremacist functionaries. Neither group even remotely supports or defends the Constitution of the United States. They use their interpretation of our foundational document as a false façade for their criminal conduct. I expect the leaders of both groups to feel the full weight of the law.

These groups (and many others like them) have been around for quite a long time. [The person who shall no longer be named] publicly sanctioned these far-right radical groups, and he brought them illumination and prominence. Unfortunately, it is going to take some time to undo what he has done. To me, both groups (and others) are political terrorist groups that are attempting to impose their beliefs on everyone by intimidation or force of arms. To me, they are no different from other terrorist groups like ISIL and al-Qa’ida. They deserve the same fate.

 . . . follow-up comment:

“However, those two action groups do sound somewhat disturbing. Although I’m certain they wouldn’t think so. I take it they are not armed for action to attempt to impose their abhorrent views.”

 . . . my follow-up reply:

‘Disturbing’ is putting it delicately, my friend. Groups like the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers have been around for decades. It was not until [the person who shall no longer be named] gave them high-level, public sanction {e.g., “there are good people on both sides”} that they reached mainstream awareness. The purpose and intent of groups like these vary from white supremacy to neo-fascist to outright anti-government anarchy. All of those far-right quasi-militia groups are known to be armed, although they apparently chose not to bring firearms to the insurrection. I suspect there were hidden firearms that were not used or drawn, but no evidence or proof to my knowledge. Yes, they all seek to impose their views, their values, their beliefs on everyone, because they have convinced themselves that their way is the correct way. We will overcome these groups as we have overcome predecessor groups.

 

Comment to the Blog:

“I read Nineteen Eighty-Four in a high school class in about 1975. That prepared me to realize what the Reagan Administration and all of its successors were doing with propaganda.

“The current firearms legislation may help a little if it passes.

“Arrogance permeates the highest ranks of large endeavors. Exceptions occur, though. Jimmy Carter and Gerald Ford come to mind.

“Petroleum products are an unregulated addiction.”

My response to the Blog:

Propaganda has been used by all sides for far longer than 1981. I could argue the Yellow Journalism of the late 1890s was propaganda that led directly to the Spanish-American War and the closest we ever came to empire. Our task, with the vital assistance of an independent press, is to reconcile the propaganda with facts. The Internet with all its evil sides has taken that reconciliation to another level. Politicians of all colors have been irritated by and complained of journalism they do not like. However, until the last administration, a president never outright attempted to destroy the Press and its foundations so openly and publicly. Nixon had his enemy’s list, but that was largely hidden from public view. The “fake news” attacks so common to MAGA were far bolder and direct than Nixon’s paranoia ever reached.

I am waiting to see the words in the Senate bill. I would bet a dollar to donuts that some reconciliation will be necessary to achieve a final bill for law. Something is better than nothing, but my fear of another CSA remains.

I would not allow exceptions for Ford or Carter. We can discuss if you wish.

Interesting supposition. I do have some resistance to the word ‘addiction’ in this context. Petroleum and its myriad derivatives permeate every facet of modern life, e.g., plastics, synthetic fabrics and materials, energy, transport from bicycles to rockets, ad infinitum. If we instantly removed petroleum, life as we know it would cease. Most humans would find a way to adapt, but many would not survive the jump.

 . . . follow-up comment:

“Propaganda goes back as far as language. The point about King Baby is that he believed he didn’t need the mainstream outlets anymore. That’s nothing new, either; tyrants do that. I dated my comment back to Reagan because that’s when mainstream media started repeating wild claims. That ‘welfare queen’ with the Cadillac comes to my mind. Nobody ever found her, but the story lives on. There are many other examples since.

“No, ‘life as we know it’ wouldn’t cease without petroleum, although there would be a crisis if production ceased suddenly, much like withdrawal. We have substitutes for almost all of its functions. It would be a matter of allocating remaining supplies and shifting production resources. Most nations would adapt more quickly than the U.S.

“Another way to see petroleum, or rather car culture, is as a product of capitalism. Cars and related consumer goods have become necessary by having infrastructure built around them and other infrastructure (such as transit) destroyed. Prosperous European nations have shown us that the trend can be reversed.”

 . . . my follow-up response:

Language has been used since speech has evolved to influence others for a purpose. Just for clarity, the broad definition of propaganda is = information, ideas, or rumors deliberately spread widely to help or harm a person, group, movement, institution, nation, et cetera. One of many common traits among dictators, strongmen, and such, is the suppression, oppression, or termination of any independent Press that might challenge their propaganda, e.g., “fake news.” Your choice of markers is understood, appropriate, and accepted . . . with the only proviso that such propaganda goes back far deeper into history. We are besieged by such misinformation propaganda in the daily bombardment of insane political advertisements. The outrageousness of so many are mind-boggling, disgusting, and nauseating. But far worse than the existence of such propaganda, far too many citizens actually believe such drivel, and a smaller percentage act on the propaganda to the point of violence on such false information, e.g., the insurrection [6.1.2021]. Far too many people refuse to test the veracity of such bogus claims. [The person who shall no longer be named] did not invent or create propaganda as a tool, but he absolutely exploited the tool as every conman in history has done. And most of his believers refuse to learn or even ask; they just believe; thus, my often-used analogy of him as just another bogus snake-oil salesman.

Thank you for your opinion. First, allow me to restate for the record, I am an absolute proponent, advocate, and preacher that we must ween ourselves off of fossil fuels. It has to happen, preferably sooner rather than later. That said, I think most of us do not appreciate how deeply entwined we are with petroleum and its derivatives. If we want to imagine what life would be like without petroleum derivatives, we have but to look at life prior to 1859. I will argue that coal is just an alternative form of petroleum—a solid form, if you will. The first use of coal goes back at least three millennia. You may well be correct; however, I think you are seriously understating the depth of our dependence on petro-derivatives.

I cannot and will not argue with your observations of “car culture.” It is a self-reinforcing phenomenon.

 

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

Cheers,

Cap                  :-)