Update from the Sunland
No.1074
8.8.22 – 14.8.22
Blog version: http://heartlandupdate.blogspot.com/
To all,
Lamentably, I have not seen the stars in more than a week. It is the monsoon season here in the southwest desert. We need the rain, although it is spotty. So, I suppose my altered nightscape is worthwhile.
The follow-up news items:
-- On Monday, the vice of justice ratcheted a couple notches tighter on [the person who shall no longer be named]. The FBI executed a valid search warrant in Case No. 9: 22-mj-08332-BER at the former president’s home of Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida.
The warrant alleges:
* Violation of the Espionage Act [18 U.S.C. § 793]
* Obstruction of Justice [18 U.S.C. § 1519]
* Criminal mishandling of government documents and property [18 U.S.C. § 2071]
Of course, the malignant narcissist claimed foul and began his characteristic misinformation campaign. The one man who could clarify what happened on Monday chose not to do so. Why? Because his malignant narcissism is being fed by the confusion, doubt, uncertainty and distrust he has thrived on for more than seven years (and in reality, all of his adult life [and I use ‘adult’ quite loosely]). He does NOT want clarity. He wants muddy. Why? Because he can claim martyrdom in that he is being persecuted by the left. Attorney General Garland called his bluff and filed a petition with the court to unseal the search warrant and the property receipt, which was done by a federal judge on Friday. The Justice Department is governed by rules that evolved over decades. [The person who shall no longer be named] neither observes nor honors any rules. Rules are for the peons like me. He could have unilaterally disclosed the search warrant and the inventory receipt, but he has chosen not to do so.
On Friday, with federal court approval, the search warrant and property receipt for the removed items were made public. If you would like to read it for yourself, here is the URL:
https://apps.npr.org/documents/document.html?id=22131380-trump-warrant-uns
One of the bevy of lawyer drones serving him apparently certified in writing that all classified government documents had been removed in June from the former president’s private residence. Ooopsy-daisy! Someone has a much bigger problem today.
If you, or me, or anyone other than him had been caught with Top Secret – Sensitive Compartmented Information (TS-SCI) in our private possession, we would have been arrested, held in jail, charged, convicted, sentenced, and imprisoned. Just to keep things in perspective, please read:
“Ex-official who investigated Hillary Clinton's emails said the documents recovered by the FBI at Trump's Mar-a-Lago were particularly 'stunning' and 'egregious'”
by Hannah Getahun
Business Insider
Published: Sat, August 13, 2022, 11:30 PM
https://www.yahoo.com/news/ex-official-investigated-hillary-clintons-063033045.html
Of course, true to form, his army of blind, mindless minions have chosen to act on implied or indirect orders from ihr Anführer (see below) and threatened the judge and others associated with the search warrant and its execution.
If you do not thumb your nose at the law, you do not have to worry about the execution of a search warrant. [The person who shall no longer be named] has consistently and persistently acted in a manner that he believes the law does not apply to him in any form. You can only act like that for so long before the law catches up to you. He has eluded accountability for his criminal conduct for a long time, and he has gotten away with it . . . unlike any of the rest us of would be allowed to do.
Monday’s action was only about government document and property handling—felonious nonetheless, but there is so much more of the law he has violated. Perhaps naïvely, I still hold onto hope and faith that justice will prevail even in the case of a self-inflated malignant narcissist like that conman.
-- On Wednesday, 10.August.2022, as ordered by the court, [the person who shall no longer be named] travelled to New York City with his bloated entourage of lawyers and Secret Service agents to be deposed by the attorney general of New York. The deposition was associated with a criminal investigation regarding fraudulent claims in a wide variety of areas including state taxes. He spent six hours and answered one question—his name. He claimed his constitutional 5thAmendment protection 440 times. Quite odd after he railed for years against others who have claimed the 5thAmendment protection. I considered including several instances of his words with citations, but I decided such recounting was not worth my time. The man needs to go to prison never to be heard from again.
-- After his damning testimony to the United States House of Representatives Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol [1020] {HSCJ6}, Arizona State House of Representatives Speaker Russell ‘Rusty’ Bowers [1067] was “primaried” by the fBICP minions in his district in favor of a candidate endorsed by [the person who shall no longer be named]. Bowers is a life-long Republican and successful politician, dedicated conservative, and valuable leader. For those who might wish to read a little more beyond the headline, this article should suffice.
“Reflecting on election loss to Trump-backed candidate, Rusty Bowers invokes the Dark Ages – Arizona House Speaker describes GOP’s trajectory as ‘frightening’”
by Ray Stern
Arizona Republic
Published 6:35 p.m. MT Aug. 3, 2022 | Updated 1:56 p.m. MT Aug. 8, 2022
The newly selected fBICP candidate is a BIG LIE advocate. He will face an independent candidate in the general election with no Democrat candidate. Bowers was not from my Arizona House district, so I will not get to vote against the fBICP candidate.
A friend and frequent contributor to this humble forum sent along the following article for the reading pleasure of you and me.
“Inside the War Between Trump and His Generals - How Mark Milley and others in the Pentagon handled the national-security threat posed by their own Commander-in-Chief.”
[redaction mine, for obvious reasons]
by Susan B. Glasser and Peter Baker
The New Yorker
Published: August 15, 2022 Issue
https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2022/08/15/inside-the-war-between-trump-and-his-generals
Live and learn!
The same friend and frequent contributor noted above sent another interesting article.
“The worst memo in American history - It came from Lewis Powell
by Robert Reich
Published: Aug 11 [2022]
With that introduction, I had to read “The Memo.” To be candid and forthright, I had never heard of or read the object of Reich’s opinion. It became a must-read.
Two months before he was nominated to fill Hugo Black’s vacant seat on the U.S. Supreme Court, attorney Lewis Franklin Powell, Jr., wrote a 34-page Confidential Memorandum dated: 23.August.1971; and titled: Attack on American Free Enterprise System. He wrote the memorandum to Eugene Beauharnais Sydnor, Jr., Chairman, Education Committee, U.S. Chamber of Commerce.
As is my practice, I began writing my thoughts as I read the memo. After the first five pages, I wrote, “Powell was absolutely, categorically, and broadly wrong as he displayed his ideological parochialism. Yes, there have always been socialists and communists in our midst; that is the very nature of democracy and indeed a free society. We need diverse voices, thoughts, ideas, opinions, and recommendations.” After reading the remainder of the memorandum, I wrote the word ‘soften.’ In toto, the best I can say is, Powell’s premise is biased, colored, and otherwise woefully incomplete. The word ‘balance’ only appears twice, and it is on p.13 in a section about college campuses.
Powell’s opinion begins with the very first sentence. “No thoughtful person can question that the American economic system is under broad attack.” He chose the word ‘attack’ to imply an armed, violent struggle. He uses the term ‘American Free Enterprise System’ to label the structure that he is defending, but he does not define what he means. This is all too common in contemporary tribal isolationism. The technique leaves the definition to the reader. Powell rails against the Left, socialism, communism, and other leftist ideologies. Since he left the definition up to the reader, I shall offer my definition as I read implied in his essay. What is the American Free Enterprise System? I assume by Powell’s treatise, he means an Ayn Rand style economy driven by free (wide open) market forces unbridled by regulation—true, pure capitalism. Anything beneath that state is ‘an attack’ on the system itself.
Contrary to what Gordon Gekko so famously declared, Greed is not good. Greed is inhumane. It is ruthless. The profit motive is essential to encouraging innovation, advancement, improvement, and even ambition. Without the profit motive, the energy of any economic system is sapped from the sinew. That is the principal failing utopian ideology of Marxist communism. To a true capitalist, labor is no different from a cow to be butchered, or a horse to be harnessed; labor is an expendable—to be consumed to maximize profit, cast aside when no longer productive, and a replacement laborer hired. He talks about the left and labor as adversaries, virtually as enemies in war, rather than as partners. Labor unions came into existence with the Industrial Revolution. Collective bargaining organizations grew to find balance with the industrial barons in the mold of Gordon Gekko.
Powell argues against what he sees as the political bias in universities primarily, and especially the social science departments, but in fact, his target is the entire education system. It is under the education section of “The Memo” that he mentions the word ‘balance.’ That is where my opinion of his memorandum began to soften. His argument for balance in education is spot on the money, it seems to me. In thinking through Powell’s words, recurring thoughts kept coming back to me. What are we if we cannot tolerate other views, ideas, opinions, and perspective? Are our concepts of governance, public debate, progression, and evolution so fragile and soft that we cannot possibly debate our way of life? To me, we must compete with views, ideas, opinions, and perspective. If we believe our concepts are truly the best, then those thoughts should prevail in the forum of public debate. Why is our system better? What makes it better? Standing on it’s claim as the best just because it’s the best is not a functional argument. Powell tries to advocate for balance, and yet it is hardly balance they seek; they want to preserve dominance.
Conservatives seek to preserve the societal “system” as they know it, as it was at some particular moment of time, it is perfect in every respect. They believe there is no need to change the system. They abhor progress. They seek the status quo (as they define it) or the status quo ante (as they imagine it). Progress is unacceptable unless sanctioned by them. “The Memo” might well be the manifesto for the contemporary conservative movement. If that is what it means to be conservative, I say, no thank you.
An armed man tried to attack the FBI Field Office in Cincinnati, Ohio, on Thursday. His cyber-glimpses suggest he thought he was acting on orders from sein Anführer. It did not end well for the fellow.
This is exactly what has been unleashed by [the person who shall no longer be named] with his BIG LIE. I suspect this is only the top snowflake on top of the tip of the iceberg. And the BIG LIE persists to this very day, nearly two years after the 2020 election, without a single verifiable fact—only accusations, imaginings, and hallucinations.
Comments and contributions from Update no.1073:
Comment to the Blog:
“I didn’t really need the detailed explanation of how the government kills someone.
“Alex Jones’s punitive damages may be reduced on appeal, but let’s hope it’s enough to really send a message to others. In the meantime, whatever methods are available to keep the money available will be wise.
“I’m not looking to Dick Cheney for wisdom, insight, or anything else.
“Kansans have spoken, loudly, in favor of healthcare rights and in favor of democracy.
“The Texas story is hilarious from a safe distance. I’ll note that their budget has risen to $27 million in a county of 57 people, so that might be a factor despite the denials.
“People would appear out of the woodwork to apply for those jobs you mentioned if they offered decent pay and working conditions.”
My response to the Blog:
My apologies. I get carried away sometimes.
Perhaps. The message from the jury and the court are fairly clear. I suspect he is going to face criminal charges for lying under oath in court. Further, if he is found to be siphoning money off to hide it from his damages penalty, he will likely face additional criminal charges that could send him to prison to contemplate the error of his ways. In addition, he has other pending defamation cases in the process. That man deserves everything coming his way with the mass outright false vile bile he has spewed on innocent gullible people.
OK. ‘Nuf said. He was still spot on correct.
Yes, they have, but I suspect conservative Kansans will not go quietly into the good night.
Yeah, exactly . . . a safe distance. That is the nepotism that we find in Hollywood movies, but I suspect Loving County, Texas, would be too rich for even Hollywood. Yep, quite true . . . always follow the money.
The debate of labor & wages is an unwinnable affair. We cannot pay everyone from ditchdiggers to CEOs US1M/hour, so they can live comfortably. Yes, every worker deserves dignity, respect, and a fair wage for labor performed, but the difficulty is where is the balance point?
Another contribution:
“Our political turmoil is miniscule compared to your comments Cap. At the moment your country seems somewhat devoid of ‘putting the nation first’ and producing agreement on these ghastly infantile disagreements. But who am I suggesting to you how to improve your political landscape.
“What is the solution then Cap?”
My reply:
I can only imagine how others outside this once grand republic view the political nonsense going on here. Devoid of ‘nation first’ is spot on—an accurate observation. There are very few among our political leadership who are putting the nation first. One exception that is clearly in public view is Representative Liz Cheney of Wyoming. She has stood to the mark and not been found wanting. She faces a bitter fBICP primary next week. I do not agree with much in her staunchly conservative politics, but she has struck the nail squarely and buried it with her contributions to the HSCJ6 (the insurrection investigation). I would add Representative Adam Kinzinger of Illinois to that short list, but he has chosen not to run for re-election given the blatantly obvious fBICP condemnations in his district.
“Ghastly infantile disagreements” is a precise, eloquent description of what we are enduring now. We are no longer a worthy example for fledgling democracies, but hopefully, one day, we will return to that status. The fBICP’s blind defense of ihr Anführer is disgusting in the extreme. That man (and I hate to use that descriptor) is a yet-to-be-convicted felonious criminal, and yet the fBICP defends him like Mafia capos defending their don.
A few years ago, I would have answered your query with a simple . . . expunge my generation from the body politic. Unfortunately, we witness that they are breeding a new generation of malcontents. Now, I am afraid the solution is to lean into the long fight. This once grand republic is not and never has been a Caucasian, Christian, exclusive nation. Those who wrap themselves in the flag and claim patriotism for their actions to regress all of us 154+ years are not American citizens; they are tribal minions striving to retain the political power they perceived they once enjoyed.
. . . follow-up comment:
https://www.ft.com/content/3eb878a9-bd37-44a3-82c9-014bd0571001
“I’m certain you’ll be aware of this Cap. But who are these supporters, what are their political aims for the future? Calling the republicans ‘Commies’. It is a time of great unrest Cap-I trust your grand Republic will gather the strength and willingness to eventually overcome these disturbing attitudes. You are a ‘one important nation’ not a divided muddle as we daily see you. Is this really democracy?”
. . . my follow-up reply:
The answer to your query is far more complex than I can address in an eMail reply or in this humble forum. I shall try to summarize my opinion.
I still believe that if you want to unite Americans, you have but to attack the nation, e.g., Pearl Harbor & 9/11.
What we are experiencing today is an admixture of many elements and forces. At the bottom line, and at the center, we have a political party that is waning, and they are desperate to hold onto power to dictate their values to the remainder of the country. At the periphery, we have white supremacist groups of many forms and ultra-right evangelical Christians all of which seek to impose their values, beliefs, opinions, and imaginings on every citizen. Some of these forces go back to before the Revolution and have been passed down from parents to children for many generations. We cannot ignore the dissatisfaction represented by the Tea Party movement that exploded with the election of President Obama. The movement has roots going back into the 90’s as resentment over the performance of Congress. Throw in conspiracists who see the boogeyman under every bridge, and things begin to stink quickly. I also believe the ultra-fast communications enabled by cellphones, text-messaging, the Internet, YouTube, et al ad infinitum, and the gullibility of a population unprepared and unwilling to learn the skills necessary to assess information, we have an exponentially amplifying effect on those far-right fringe voices. They now appear far bigger than they are. [The person who shall no longer be named] was enough of a huckster and conman to recognize those corrosive forces to successfully sell his worthless snake-oil elixir as a cure-all to that gullible population so willing to believe. And, as we say almost every day, they truly and deeply believe.
I could go on but that is a simple incomplete summary of what I see today.
Because of that man’s malignant narcissism and the corruption of the once Grand Old Party (GOP, Republican Party), we have a very destructive corrosive cesspool that has degenerated a once grand political party into what I now refer to as the fBICP—former Bully In Chief Party. He owns it. He controls it. Those former Republicans who recognize the truth and reality are most often too afraid to shout, “The emperor has no clothes.”
I am sad to say, it is going to take generations to unravel and overcome what that malignant narcissistic man has unleashed on American society.
I apologize for taking so long to answer, but these feelings seriously stir my oath of office as a Marine officer to “. . . support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic . . .” I rarely imagined ‘domestic’ enemies would actually present themselves, but alas, they have.
My very best wishes to all. Take care of yourselves and each other.
Cheers,
Cap :-)
6 comments:
Good morning, Cap,
Attorney General Garland’s insistence on slow pacing and utterly correct procedure has shown its value. I have read those documents, and the property receipt is damning. No amount of bluster and bullshit can excuse some of those documents being at Mar-A-Lago.
In our time, economics education has lost its balance, judging by the public statements of those so educated. It’s a lot of trickle-down drivel based on very limited excerpts from Adam Smith’s 1776 work Wealth of Nations. That’s a definite dumbing down from even a high-school education in the 1970s.
Enjoy the sunshine or monsoon as best you can,
Calvin
Good morning to you, Calvin,
I do not think he is intentionally slowing the progress of the Justice Department investigations and prosecutions because he prefers slow. I think it is his insistence upon methodical, meticulous investigations and prosecutions that makes the process seem slow to us. I think [the person who shall no longer be named] should have been in prison a long time ago. If you or I had done just a mere fraction of what he has done, we would have been tried, convicted, sentenced, and enjoying the hospitality of the federal government by now. AG Garland knows he is going to face the Supreme Court’s judgment in the prosecution of [the person who shall no longer be named]. I imagine he is preparing as much for that as the base trial in district court.
Yes, the property receipt is damning. Item 2A alone puts the FBI/DoJ investigation in an entirely different realm. Being who and what he is, [the person who shall no longer be named] immediately began to do what he always does—lie, obfuscate, confuse, and otherwise flood the public with misinformation. [As Roy Cohn always said, “Deny, deny, deny.”] His claims (so far) have been outrageous, irrational, and irrelevant. It does not matter a hoot what he thinks. What matters is what is stamped on those documents; if any document is not stamped “Declassified” and by what authority and when, then it is NOT declassified. What I think he is doing is setting up some group of innocent civil servants to take the fall instead of him, i.e., he did not do what I told him to do (‘I am not to blame’). I do not expect that defense to float.
I agree. Trickle-down economics is a slight of hand con job. By the time the trickle reaches us peons, it does not even wet the ground—worthless. The wealth gap between entry level and CEO continues to widen as the wealthy suck off more profits for themselves. To me, what the executive ranks of business are doing is no different from the complete disregard for worker safety and welfare that was commonplace a century ago. I like the ‘share’ concept, i.e., an entry level employee would get one share and the CEO would get 35 shares. I am reticent to regulate such things via dictum from the federal government, but something must be done. Money is an important motivator, but money is just too damn corrupting of otherwise decent people. Add in an immortal bad fellow like you know who and you get destruction.
“That’ just my opinion, but I could be wrong.”
Have a great day. I saw the stars this morning, finally. Take care and enjoy.
Cheers,
Cap
I get a NYT summary of the news each day and read an article about Liz Cheney that really gives me hope and inspires me. I would love to get a bumper sticker that says, “Liz for Prez!” Liz Cheney is a person who gets it. She recognizes that this is her moment in history to stop the Trump train. It’s each person’s moment in history to do his/her part. Here’s an excerpt from the article:
“…What’s not complicated is Ms. Cheney’s view of this moment and her role. She not only believes that the country is at risk, but also that it can be pulled from its downward spiral only by those who answer history’s call.
She says she is a firm believer in the ‘great man theory’ of history — the notion that America has been sustained by leaders who emerged at critical times to lead.
“‘It’s absolutely clear that the only thing that makes a difference is individuals,’ Ms. Cheney said in an interview this month. ‘It’s the only thing that makes a difference.’”
Thank you for your contribution to this humble forum.
While I agree with Liz Cheney’s position on some issues, I emphatically disagree with her on virtually all of her moral projection positions. That said, I have highlighted her stance in his humble forum against the tyranny and destructiveness of the BIG LIE from the outset of this fiasco. Cheney has stood, nearly alone, to the mark and not been found wanting. Her courageous actions will be recorded appropriately in the annals of history. As much as I admire her efforts to find justice in the January 6th investigation and praise her for the defiant opposition to her party to find justice for the latest criminal president we have endured, Cheney would have to significantly dampen her moral projection political positions to gain my vote for president. There is hope after she changed her hard right stance on LBGT matters to reconcile with her sister.
“That just my opinion, but I could be wrong.”
Again, thank you for your contribution.
Have a great day. Take care and enjoy.
Cheers,
Cap
I have never had the luxury of voting for a candidate whose moral stances were aligned with mine. I have observed from my experience that moral stances evolve for those with critical thinking ability. My morale stances have evolved over my lifetime. That Liz has been able to put aside her unquestioning fealty to the Republican Party and speak truth to power demonstrates her critical thinking ability. A good leader of America, I hope, can set aside his/her moral stances and strongly held beliefs to make room for other conflicting moral stances and strongly held beliefs in public policy debate. The genius of our founding fathers was creating a framework of government that makes room for all citizens. If she understands that her personal moral stances are not the basis for public policy governing all our citizenry we will be okay. I would hope all aspiring leaders have this understanding. But, alas…
Good morning to you . . .
Well said, actually. I share your observations. I will go farther to suggest finding a candidate who aligns completely with each of us is verging upon mythology. As citizens, we must select the best of the lot. As a dedicated Independent voter, I choose not to participate in the primaries—party selection process.
I will add an extended observation to your words. I call the phenomenon ‘moral projection,’ i.e., the urge to impose one faction’s moral values on all citizens via the law. Liz Cheney voted against non-heterosexual marriage and other non-heterosexual rights measures. Her voting record and public statements caused an estrangement with her younger sister, Mary. Liz eventually changed her stance, and the sisters reconciled. Liz has not yet altered other typical socially conservative moral projection stances. To me, moral projection is a violation of the very essence of our freedom—right to privacy and freedom of choice. Conservatives must resist the urge to dictate their private choices on everyone else.
“That’s just my opinion, but I could be wrong.”
Have a great day. Take care and enjoy.
Cheers,
Cap
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