Update no.1123

 Update from the Sunland

No.1123

17.7.23 – 23.7.23

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

 

To all,

 

The follow-up news items:

-- Judge Aileen Cannon set a trial date of 20.May.2024 for Tiny’s classified documents case [1074, 1108]. Apparently, the May date was a compromise between prosecution who sought a speedy trial and Tiny’s lawyer army who sought an indefinite postponement at least until sometime after the 2024 presential election. Of course, he does! He is rolling the dice that he will become the default winner so he can attempt to pardon himself and terminate all federal investigations into his criminal conduct. Both actions would cause a constitutional crisis. At best, for him, he is successful. At worst, he utilizes the appeals process to delay, delay, delay. One way or another, he seeks to escape justice.

-- Of course, being a loyal minion, Representative Gaetz of Florida has introduced legislation to remove the Special Counsel’s funding and stop the investigation and prosecution of the former president [991], according to the so-called “Freedom Press” (which actually appears to be neither about freedom nor about proper journalism). My oh my, that will step Gaetz up a few more notches in the hierarchy of sycophants & minions for ihr Anführer. The audacity, hypocrisy, and depravity of the MAGA bunch is unbounded, and still, the snake-oil consumers believe. Will wonders ever cease?

 

In the category of just-when-we-think-it-can’t-get-any-worse, the Florida Board of Education issued another dictum (they call it ‘academic standards’—cute [sarcasm]) requiring middle schools to teach children in their charge that enslaved people in our past "developed skills which, in some instances, could be applied for their personal benefit." WTF! This is typical white supremacy crap . . . cover up the truth and point to the positive, whatever there is of it. They tell us, forget about the Holocaust, Hitler built the Autobahn and made the trains run on time, as if that would somehow convince the people to ignore the millions of innocent people who were murdered because they had convenient transportation. The advocates claim they do not want to make anyone feel uncomfortable or guilty about the past. This is a lowest common denominator action. To which I say, the history of slavery should make us all uncomfortable, very uncomfortable. It was wrong 400 years ago, and it is still wrong to this day. We must remember! We must teach our children the vile consequences of slavery in order to prevent the practice from ever happening again, and now more importantly, to correct the wrongs and injustice that generated institutional racism. It is going to take a long time and considerable effort to unravel this ridiculous and despicable tripe, but these are the troubled times in which we live.

 

I do not recall what triggered my urge to write about BLACK LIVES MATTER (BLM), but here we are. The movement began in the wake of the Trayvon Martin / George Zimmerman confrontation in 2012, formed by Patrisse Cullors, Alicia Garza, and Opal Tometi. To me, BLM has a very noble and justified purpose.

The white supremacists, white nationalists, neo-cons, MAGA bunch, and all the other affiliated groups have railed against the movement with accusations and epithets like all lives matter, or white lives matter too. The fallacy of their lame complaints is the presumption of equality and thus the implicit taking away of rights and privileges. From my perspective, BLM is only a public protest against the institutional racism Americans with dark skin pigmentation have suffered for 155 years, perhaps 160 years, but most emphatically for 404 years. I have long resented the white reaction to BLM, instead of understanding and support—their disdain. I have come to see the white reaction to BLM as exhibit no.1 for the existence and sustainment of institutional racism.

Now, the Florida Legislature and Governor DeSantis have directed the teaching of Florida school children that slavery had positive benefit in that their indenture taught them a useful trade like blacksmith, cooking, or tending crops. The absurdity exceeds the audacity of such nonsense, which is precisely why we desperately need the teach a simpler equivalent of Critical Race Theory. Florida’s justification is they do not want white children to feel guilty or uncomfortable for what happened in the past. To me, the Florida action is yet another example of ignorance over knowledge. I condemn ignorance in all its forms.

I am reminded of George Orwell’s writing in Nineteen Eighty-Four:

“War is peace.

Freedom is slavery.

Ignorance is strength.”

Orwell articulated the dictum of Big Brother to emphasize the absurdity of autocracy or dictatorship. War is killing and death. Slavery is the ultimate oppression. And, ignorance . . . well, ignorance is the paramount weakness. And yet, the conservatives insist upon living in the past . . . in an era when they dominated society, and they dictated the rules to suit their dominance. BLM, CRT, all of it are a yearning to be free and enjoy true equality under the law and in the conduct of society. The fight for freedom is not over and, in some ways, has only just begun.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.

That was the ideal that founded this nation. We have yet to achieve that noble ideal. None of us shall know freedom until we all have freedom. Let freedom ring!

 

A friend and occasional contributor to this humble forum sent the following URL under the subject line: “Russia-US nuclear war is no fantasy, says Kremlin ally.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6yizj4haNMM

To which I replied:

This is a tad off the mark, I do believe. No one is (yet) talking about attacking Russia. No one is mocking Russia's nuclear deterrence. Many nations are helping to defend a sovereign nation that has been invaded by an aggressor nation (Russia). If Russia chooses to attack commercial shipping of free nations in freedom of seas violations, we have every right to defend those ships and international commerce. If Putin and the right-wing fanatics in Russia choose to attack, they will be dealt with accordingly. We are not going to cower in fear of what Russia might do.

We must never be intimidated by Putin’s saber rattling and Russia’s nuclear arsenal. Reality is just that simple. So far, I think President Biden and the other allied leaders are doing a masterful job in trying to sustain Ukraine in defending their homeland despite the best of the neo-cons in all countries to retain their blinders and wishful thinking.

 

Russia announced this week that they have mined Ukraine’s Black Sea ports, as they pounded Odessa with missiles and attack drones attacking primarily the city’s grain storage infrastructure in retaliation for the second Ukrainian attack on the Kerch Bridge.

I commented to the announcement that this was another step toward general war.

The question was asked, “when you suggest ‘general war,’ how much of an escalation do you suspect?” 

To which, I answered, “By ‘general war,’ I mean direct combat between U.S., NATO, and Russian forces. Such engagement could easily escalate to broader combat. Frankly, I cannot imagine it going as far as NATO forces on Russian territory ala Korea 1950, but that decision would likely be made in Russia. The bottom line is, Putin and the ultra-nationalists who support him cannot be allowed to invade, occupy, and subsume a neighboring sovereign nation. Putin's interpretation of history is irrelevant, just as Hitler's was in 1938.”

In an expanded version, we are approaching, if not beyond, the point where we should be mobilizing our armed forces and converting our industrial capacity for national defense. Russia is trying to choke Ukraine to death. The question to us is, are we going to standby and watch a sovereign nation be strangled into non-existence? The neo-cons in this country are of the general mind . . . hey, none of our business. Ironically, that mindset is the very same position that conservatives took in 1938. History recorded the consequences of conservatives in the United Kingdom and in the United States advocating for isolationism—it is not our war. In questions like these, I am constantly reminded of the wise words.

“The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.”

-- Edmund Burke, 1770

We cannot . . . we must not turn our backs on evil. If we do, the only thing that will happen is we will get stabbed in the back as we were in 1941.

 

President Joe Biden has selected Admiral Lisa Marie Franchetti, USN, to be the next chief of naval operations. If she is confirmed by the U.S. Senate, Franchetti will be the first woman to be a military service chief and the first female member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff in history. She has been the vice chief of naval operations since September of last year. I offer my congratulations to Admiral Franchetti and gratitude to President Biden for taking the historic step.

Of course, Admiral Franchetti’s appointment faces Senator Tuberville’s singular obstruction [1107]. Until her appointment is confirmed, she will serve as acting CNO until she is confirmed or rejected. This whole Tuberville nonsense is taking on a theater of the absurd dimension, and there is no sign of him coming to his senses (if he has any common sense, which we must acknowledge, he may not). The Senate must have 60+ votes to overcome Tuberville’s hold. The majority leader apparently does not believe he can gain 9 Republican votes for cloture on this issue. So, we wait!

 

Comments and contributions from Update no.1122:

Comment to the Blog:

“Tommy Tuberville stands out in his opposition to democratic government. His actions obstruct national security and well-being. He’s like a bratty 5-year-old at the controls of a bulldozer.

“Gangsters don’t like law enforcement, but most don’t reach the audience that Tiny & Co. does.

“The Elenis case is an attack on LGBT people rather than some nebulous fear. None of the rhetoric around this mentions Muslims, Buddhists, or even pagans, who presumably would also upset radical Christians. Also, Ms. Smith takes a needlessly difficult path in addressing her ‘fear.’ Including the phrase ‘traditional Christian wedding’ in her branding would fend off the rest of us. That would cost her money if she ran an actual business, but she’s free to lose money. She just wanted to attack gay people. Sad to say, she succeeded. (Your disclaimer wouldn’t affect actual events, so that lady would be offended sooner or later.)”

Comment to the Blog:

Yes, Tuberville most certainly does. He cares far more about his believes regarding women’s reproductive rights than he does about national security. A very good analogy . . . a bratty preschooler indeed . . . like ihr Anführer. It seems many of the MAGA crowd are in the bratty 5-year-old category.

Another very accurate observations . . . gangsters as well.

Yes, the Elenis ruling most emphatically is a direct assault on LGBT rights, but it is also an assault on the 1st Amendment. The majority (conservative) Supremes claim they are protecting speech and religious rights, but they are not. They are selecting who they favor. Elenis is a negatively astonishing decision on multiple levels. But, I guess that should not be a surprise after Citizens United and Dobbs. My point with the suggested disclaimer was a valid, commonly used discriminator. I agreed; she wanted personal objections in a non-existent, hypothetical situation before this conservative Supreme Court bench to gain an affirmation of personal beliefs; she succeeded and won. Supreme Court justices, regardless of their personal beliefs, should have abided stare decisis—their prior rulings. Yes, I am sure you are correct; Smith is going to be offended by LBGT folks (and probably other social factors) regardless, and now, she has the sanction of the U.S. Supreme Court. I am gobsmacked!

 

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

Cheers,

Cap                  :-)