Update from the Sunland
No.1090
28.11.22 – 4.12.22
Blog version: http://heartlandupdate.blogspot.com/
To all,
The follow-up news items:
-- The U.S. Justice Department is working its way up the chain to the ultimate perpetrator on the January 6th insurrection [991]. The jury found five Oath Keeper leaders guilty of various felonious criminal counts. The most serious of the convictions was against Stewart Rhodes and Kelly Meggs—seditious conspiracy. For that crime, they get 20 years in prison or more. Rhodes faces a maximum of 60 years in prison. Meggs faces an 86-year maximum sentence. Watkins faces 56 years, Harrelson faces 46 years, and Caldwell faces 40 years. The presiding judge, United States District Court for the District of Columbia Judge Amit Priyavadan Mehta, will eventually sentence all five convicts. No sentencing date has yet been set. So far, 900 plus insurrection participants are in various stages of prosecution from arrest to imprisonment for their crimes.
On the public announcement of Rhodes conviction, our middle son sent a text message:
Word of the day: Schadenfreude.
For those unfamiliar with the German language, schadenfreude means pleasure derived by someone from another person's misfortune—a perfect word choice, quite apropos. Those five convicts deserve all that is coming to them. At the age of Rhodes and others, they will likely serve the rest of their days in federal confinement, contemplating the error of their ways. I hope they think it was worth it.
-- Congress passed, but the president has not yet signed into law, H.R.8404 - Respect for Marriage Act to codify the long-running struggle to protect the freedom of choice of ALL Americans with respect to the private and personal matter of marriage regardless of any one or combination of the social factors. The law was passed by a notable bipartisan majority [Senate: 61-36-0-3(0); House: 267-157-0-7(4)]. Whether the law will stand up to the inevitable U.S. Supreme Court scrutiny is yet to be determined. Nonetheless, the new law will be a worthy and appropriate action. Individual rights should never be subject to constriction or restriction without substantial public domain justification and rationale. The same principle applies to medical decisions between any and all citizens and their medical treatment professionals. The State does not belong and should be pushed out of our private lives and choices.
-- Cochise County, Arizona, steadfastly refused to certify the 2022 election results [1086] and defied court orders to certify the election results in accordance with established state law. Under threat of further Judicial command. Cochise County finally certified the county’s 2022 election results, more than a week after the deadline. Whether the state presses the lawsuit to make a point for rogue counties is yet to be disclosed is yet to be seen. Cochise County represents what dysfunctional or autocratic government looks like.
-- A three-judge panel of the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit soundly rejected Judge Cannon’s order for a special master in the Mar-a-Lago document seizure case { DONALD J. TRUMP v. United States of America [USDC FL SD Case 9:22-cv-81294-AMC (2022)] [1077]}. In their unanimous ruling { DONALD J. TRUMP v. United States of America [11CCA No. 22-13005 (2022)], the court concluded, “The district court improperly exercised equitable jurisdiction in this case.”
Unfortunately, Judge Cannon’s erroneous order handed [the person who shall no longer be named] a significant unrecoverable gift—time. He was able to delay the U.S. Government’s (USG) criminal investigation of his actions. The court was quite clear—a former president gets NO special treatment under the law.
Congress passed and President Biden signed into law H.J.Res.100 to avoid a national railroad labor strike. Of particular note regarding this legislation, the law was passed by a substantial bipartisan majority in both chambers of Congress [Senate: 80-15-1-4(0); House: 290-137-0-5(3)].
I hold mixed feelings and opinions on this issue, but I am grateful that the USG acted to avoid crippling the economy especially while we are struggling with inflation and the continuing recovery from the pandemic lockdown consequences.
I wonder if the Chief Executive Officer or the Senior Vice President for Operations of Union Pacific or BNSF Railway have paid sick leave? In the aviation industry, the CEO had the same benefits as an engineer or a mechanic. I do not understand why the railroad industry executives are resisting what is the correct and fair path?
Associated with the potential railroad strike noted above, a long-time friend, colleague, and consistent contributor to this humble forum send along the following collateral article for discussion.
“The one thing you need to know about the railroads – It's not that a rail strike would be bad for the economy”
by Robert Reich
Published: Dec 1 [2022]
. . . with comment:
“Reich is a former Secretary of Labor. Also, he clearly understands labor history.”
My response to the submittal:
I agree with Reich, but I'm a little troubled by the timing. Some of the labor grievances have been around for decades. I also agree with the USG that a rail strike would be devastating to the economy.
. . . Round two:
“I'm not sure what you mean by timing. The fact that railroads make obscene profits by understaffing and by not allowing time off even for illness is the overriding fact in this for me, as it is for Reich.”
. . . my response to round two:
So you are OK with bringing the country to her knees again for a resolution of a labor dispute that should have been raised decades ago? Is that correct?
I did say I agreed with Reich and you, but why should the country suffer?
. . . Round three:
“Also, if the Democrats would behave like the pro-labor party they claim to be, they could avert this.”
. . . my response to round three:
The USG is trying to find balance.
I wonder if the CEO of Union Pacific has paid sick leave?
. . . Round four:
“It's a pretty good assumption all the CEOs have paid sick leave. I'm hearing rumblings of a general strike, which I will support.”
. . . my response to round four:
I confess to my mixed feelings on this topic.
Comments and contributions from Update no.1089:
“‘morning Cap-goodness you’re about early today!
“Good to hear your Thanksgiving family event went so well. We’re looking forward to seeing a large number of our family over the Christmas period. Like you we also are separated from many of our ‘tribe.’ Yes agreed less distance than you two. We are just hoping the weather holds out!
“Good to hear your latest ‘To So Few’ book is published-I shall have to look out for it over here in Blighty. If not then there must be a solution. You’ve kept very busy writing this series, well done Cap.
“My writing seems to have lost that urge!”
My reply:
Yep, up early that morning. These things happen at my age. I haven’t used an alarm clock in decades. I just go with the flow.
Yep, again, the holiday went quite well despite the fullest house we’ve had in many years. It was an exceptional week of family and celebration.
We shall pray for Mother Nature to bless you with clear, dry weather for your family Christmas holiday.
Thank you. Publishing a new book feels a little like birthing a child. Any bookstore should be able to order a copy. Yes, I guess most folks would classify my passion as an obsession. I just enjoy the writing process. I am halfway through the writing of the first draft of Book 11, provisionally titled, Victory. Once that one is done, I will take a break from the TSF series to write the 3rd book of Anod and perhaps another one-off historical fiction illuminating and celebrating my great-uncle’s service with the 6th Marines in France a century ago. After that, I planned to return to Brian Drummond to get him through Korea and Vietnam before he retires.
. . . follow-up comment:
“You aren’t retiring are you! You can’t let Drummond retire- I can remember doing a runner across the border into Canada!”
. . . my follow-up comment:
I retired from the Marine Corps in 1995 and from the corporate world in 2014. I will only retire from writing when I can no longer create coherent sentences (TBD). [Some can argue that date is long passed.]
Brian will retire from service as a major general in 1982 after 38 years of broken service (1945-1949) [presently Book 16]. Yep, he was a runner in June 1939 against his parents’ wishes and made it across the border to Windsor, Ontario, Canada, with the assistance of Group Captain Spencer, RAF. Thank you for your help. Love the story. Book 11 will cover 1945. Korea and Vietnam lay ahead. Even after Brian retires from service, I’ve plans to pick up with Brian’s son, Scott, and his service in uniform under arms. The epic saga continues.
Comment to the Blog:
“Thanksgiving is one of the few holidays I take seriously, for the concept of gratitude it carries. Its history is a bit more complicated than that, though. I’ll also note that Native American Heritage Day is overshadowed by the sickness of Black Friday.
“Whatever one’s feelings about HSCJ6, their time is pretty much expired without actual results. Democratic underachievement goes back to Clinton, and Liz Cheney could only do so much.”
My response to the Blog:
Yes, absolutely! My few sentences were a simplistic snapshot, not intended to be a definitive treatise. I am not a fan nor participant in Black Friday or Cyber Monday. The commercialization of Christmas has destroyed the true, root meaning of the holiday, but we still celebrate, along with Boxing Day—picked up during our time in England.
Native American Heritage Day is a great opportunity to remember.
HSCJ6 is not done, yet. Let us not write them off so soon. Nonetheless, their days as we have known them are certainly numbered. The findings and recommendations from the HSCJ6 effort are important, but it is the court record that matters. I am optimistic that Special Counsel Smith will move quickly and precisely. The Department of Justice has moved against and successfully prosecuted hundreds of insurrectionists from that day, but we are still waiting for the leaders to face justice, and specifically, the paramount perpetrator, who still walks free breaking bread with white supremacists, neo-Nazis, Holocaust-deniers, and anti-Semites.
My very best wishes to all. Take care of yourselves and each other.
Cheers,
Cap :-)
2 comments:
Good morning, Cap,
It’s nice that the courts concerned with January 6, 2021, have worked their way up to the Oath Keepers' leadership. Perhaps they’ll get around to 45POTUS someday.
We’ll see what happens to the Respect for Marriage Act. I confess I haven’t yet studied it.
The Democrats are on TV this morning defending their strike-breaking. Meanwhile, the DNC has announced a performative change to their primary season favoring identity politics. That will not mollify labor (or me) and get the DNC the votes they need. (It’s a matter of record that the DNC controls the actual nomination.)
Enjoy your day,
Calvin
Good morning to you, Calvin,
Yea verily! There is always hope, until there isn’t. I can perhaps naïvely say I fully expect charges against the whole lot of ‘em up to and including 45POTUS. What he did was crimes of the highest order; his seditious actions are akin to the murder of the Republic . . . not just one or two people, but the whole damn country down to its very core. Further, he deserves solitary confinement for the rest of his natural life, or GenPop at the worst prison we can find. He is worthy of nothing less. And now, he has had the stupidity and audacity to publicly state the U.S. Constitution should be terminated, so he can be installed as president (i.e., dictator). But even worse than all that, there are more than a few so-called American citizens who fly his flag and believe in his worthless snake-oil elixir. I doubted the future of the Republic in the 60s & 70s, but that era was nothing compared to what we face today as a consequence of the destruction that man has inflicted upon this once grand Republic. No, he deserves nothing but the absolute worst punishment we can render to him; but we must charge, try, convict, and sentence the man and his enablers.
The news reported the disciplinary action has begun against Rudi Giuliani. He is one of those enablers who deserves criminal conviction and punishment.
I do not share your opinion of the Democratic Party. I do agree they displayed more than a few flaws, but I am struggling with what you expect Congress and the president to do in the face of a crippling national railroad strike. Please educate me, how does the DNC control nominations?
Yes, absolutely, every citizen deserves paid sick leave, but even that can be abused. Many years ago, Beech Aircraft implemented an unqualified 80-day paid sick leave benefit, thinking employees would respect the generous offering. Unfortunately, too many employees abused the benefit; I was not one of those, and I resented the abuse. That benefit lasted one year only. I worked my entire employed life with paid sick leave. I do not understand why railroad executives are resisting paid sick leave. I support the use of labor strikes, like war, as an absolute last resort. What I am struggling with in this issue is punishing the entire country and the world over a labor dispute. It is the sheer magnitude and consequences of such a national strike that causes me to balk.
Thank you for your contribution. Have a great day. Stay warm and safe. Take care and enjoy.
Cheers,
Cap
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