Update no.1172

Update from the Sunland

No.1172

24.6.24 – 30.6.24

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

 

To all,

 

The follow-up news items:

-- Oklahoma has gone beyond Louisiana [1171]. Oklahoma dictated that the state public schools will display the Ten Commandments similar to Louisiana, but they went much farther. Oklahoma ordered a Bible in every classroom, and the Bible will be taught to all pupils regardless of their religious beliefs. Oklahoma State Superintendent of Public Instruction Ryan Walters publicly declared, “The Bible is a necessary historical document to teach our kids about the history of this country, to have a complete understanding of Western civilization, to have an understanding of the basis of our legal system."

The emergence of Christian nationalism has been enabled and encouraged by [the person who shall no longer be named]. Thank you very much, he said sarcastically. There was not even a smidgen of gesture toward balance or equality. It is all about Christian domination. That is not and never has been the United States of America, but it is Oklahoma, apparently. We might ask, what about Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism, and religious derivatives thereof? What if a child was raised in an agnostic or atheist family? Their answer: We do not care! We want it the way it used to be.

By the First Amendment, no state can dictate a state religion (no matter what the rationale). The Oklahoma dictum is a direct and blatant affront to the U.S. Constitution. This resurgence has got to stop and be nipped in the bud before it goes too much farther.

 

On Thursday evening, the first mutually agreed presidential debate between President Biden and [the person who shall no longer be named] took place in Atlanta with CNN simulcasting to all the networks. There was no audience. Their microphone was switched on only when it was their turn to speak. My summary of the whole thing: I like the revised format and rules for these debates, especially no audience. To the debate itself: That was outright painful! He was slack-jawed, staring blankly, mumbling with the occasional void, nothing episodes. While I have sympathy and empathy for the man, he wants another four years as president of the United States of America. He is not auditioning for a tottering old man in some television show or movie. Both men are their respective party’s presumptive candidates.

President Biden’s voice was too OFF; he tried to talk too fast, making him difficult to understand too many times. Yes, he had some blanks and some hesitations. Biden seemed tired causing his lifelong studder to be accentuated. He may have over-prepared and over-stressed his voice. President Biden did not appear strong and robust. He seemed tired, worn out, and difficult to hear; it was a tragic look for an aging president.

All in all, it was a very poor performance, not worthy of the president of the United States, who is supposed to instill confidence, trust, inspiration, and a sense of the future. President Biden failed on that objective.

On the other hand, Little Fingers gave disjointed, chopped-up answers full of false statements. He repeatedly stated that everyone wanted a woman’s fundamental rights to be regulated by the states, and everyone wanted it that way. FALSE! I do not want anyone’s fundamental rights parsed by any state for any reason. He said Democrats advocate for 9^th-month, post-birth abortions—absolutely FALSE! Even Roe v. Wade [410 U.S. 113 (1973)] [319] did not allow third trimester abortions (post-quickening). It was really rich when Little Fingers accused President Biden of lying on everything. He accuses Biden of everything he has done and is doing. The conman is desperately trying to revise history and smokescreen the facts of the last nine years.

The respective party’s will soon select their candidate. Those two are the presumptive nominees, but neither is actually the selected party candidate. Given these two old men, I will still vote for the best person of those available on the ballot. I would rather have a tottering, well-intentioned, good man with good advisors around him than a misogynist, convicted felon, snake-oil conman who refuses to recognize or tell the truth. We will do the best we can. On to November!

 

A regular contributor and friend proffered an opinion of the Thursday night presidential debate that started this thread.

“I don’t doubt last night’s Presidential debate will be addressed in the blog. I thought I’d offer my opinion of the news coverage I’ve seen so far: the New York Times’ Morning and Politics articles and the CBS Morning News 8 a.m. Eastern broadcast. I think Little Fingers gave his usual aggressively ignorant performance and Biden seemed incoherent and less capable. Early focus groups gave the impression that turnout would decrease further, to Biden’s detriment. For horse-race purposes, the Democrats would do better with Kamala Harris. She has extensive experience as a District Attorney to give her speaking and reasoning skills and she is much younger and healthier than Little Fingers.

“I’m not sure whether this would be a blog comment or if it would fit on the blog at all, but I wanted to discuss it.”

 . . . to which I relied:

The shouts for Biden to withdraw and allow the convention to select his successor are still pervasive and compelling, And yet, as of this writing, President Biden remains steadfast and determined. He claims he had a bad cold. What we witnessed Thursday night was not a bad cold, Mister President. The emperor has no clothes. In several campaign events after the debate, regular Joe reappeared, a miraculous transformation in a very short span of time. Whatever happened for whatever reason, what occurred was not good for the nation or President Biden. We are not likely to get another opportunity to see the two of them debate until September, which will be far too late to make a change like that. The Democratic Convention is in mid-August, that will be the last opportunity.

 . . . and this follow-up:

“The DNC is reaping the harvest of its tight control of the party going back to Clinton.

“By this time, many others have written about the difficulties and risks of replacing Biden. If, upon reflection, he'd cooperate, the Democrats have a few potential candidates available with good name recognition. Kamala Harris is a frequent target of the ignorant, although I haven't heard specific allegations. Gavin Newsom is "moderate for California" and knows how to deal with the attacks. I'd favor Newsom, but getting there would be tough. 

“It ought to be fascinating.”

 . . . with my follow-up reply?

The DNC efforts to control the candidate selection process goes back a lot farther than Clinton. I suspect this particular rendition may turn into something very ugly and messy.

I suppose all politicians must have gargantuan egos to even attempt the process, set aside holding onto the office. I suspect we are seeing the reflection of Joe’s ego. But, thanks to those around him, he has no idea that he has no clothes . . . just imagination.

I like Newsom as well. I also like Whitmer, Klobuchar, and others. Joe must resign voluntarily, but at present, those around him are apparently not capable of telling him he is not wearing any clothes.

I am afraid the next four months are going to be historic and chaotic. Strap in.

 . . . the last word:

“At this stage of things, I'm thinking in strictly electoral terms. I don't particularly like Newsom, but he does have name recognition going for him. Governor Whitmer is more to my taste, and she might be a strong candidate. 

“I agree that we live in ‘interesting’ times. Oh, well.”

 

My evolution in political thought has undergone quite a shift. I grew up in a staunchly Republican household. My parents were “John Birch” Republicans, also known as Orange County conservatives, although we never lived in Orange County. In my teen years, I met Barry Goldwater and campaigned for the Arizona Republican in the 1964 presidential election. In my earlier adult years, I thought and called myself a conservative. As time when on, I began to support more socially liberal positions that caused me to transition to how I described myself as socially liberal and fiscally conservative. Today, thanks to [the person who shall no longer be named] and his MAGAt believers, I can find nothing familiar with the current body of so-called conservatives. In fact, I can find nothing familiar or attractive in the rhetoric, positions, and policies of today’s so-called conservatives.

Popular thought used to be that people are liberal when they are young and idealistic, and become progressively more conservative as they age. I used to think that was true. For me, it is abjectly false. I can find nothing supportable in that notion. I can never be a “conservative” as it is defined today. I am emphatically not a MAGAt, but the clincher is the so-called conservatives who are standing up for that conman, fraud, and convicted felon. They literally sacrificed their integrity and their ideals to support ihr Lieber Anführer.

 

Comments and contributions from Update no.1171:

Comment to the Blog:

“Posting the Ten Commandments in public school classrooms is in fact an ‘establishment of religion’ violation of the Constitution.

“United States v. Rahimi had a well-chosen defendant and situation. I’m glad we’ve made some progress in controlling the availability of firearms, however small it may be.”

My response to the Blog:

Quite so! It will be interesting to see how the district court, the 5^th Circuit, and potentially the Supreme Court work through their contortions to avoid declaring the Louisiana law unconstitutional, as it should be so condemned. It will likely take years to grind through the judicial system to invalidate that law.

Rahimi is a poster child for exactly who should be prohibited from being anywhere near any type of firearm or other weapon for that matter. Fortunately, the Supremes got it right in the Rahimi decision. That said, the Thomas dissent is chilling to read.

 . . . Round two:

“I still find it fascinating that numbers of people who claim Christ also support that felon who has multiple marriages (and scandals) and a court finding of rape. I have an entire rant I’ll spare your readers about organized religion in general; this is an outstanding example. The lust for power overcomes any moral values. I sincerely hope that the felon at the center of our debate will have vanished from the public consciousness by the time the Louisiana law is overturned.

“The Thomas dissent is the product of Thomas’s income. For someone with a relatively high IQ, first ignoring what he knows and then coming up with some sane-sounding rationalization for the position is probably hard work, but he earns much more than his government pay.

“I favor regulating firearms much like we regulate cars, with most of the same logic. The Rahimi decision is a step in that direction.”

 . . . my response to round two:

Fascinating is one word. I find it absolutely baffling how people with professed conservative morality can rationalize supporting (giving money) and voting for an immoral, adulterer, liar, convicted felon, twice impeached, four times indicted con-artist who is still bilking people with his grift. Let the rant roll. Why not? I obviously do it when appropriate. The lust for power . . . indeed! That would be a worthy objective and entirely possible. We can only hope.

Thomas did present the long history of arms’ control as accurately as my knowledge of history reflects. That portion of his dissenting opinion was actually interesting. It was his translation of that history into his opinion rationale that he went off the rails.

I can agree with your opinion on firearms regulation as long as we have clear provisions and processes for remedy against overzealous prosecutors and law enforcement. There is very little abuse of vehicular regulation to my knowledge, and given the emotions, the potential for prosecutorial abuse with firearms regulation is palpable.

 . . . Round three:

“The rant about ‘organized’ religion, in summary form: a person often benefits morally and spiritually from any given set of religious beliefs that attract them. Small groups of the like-minded, say 10 people or less, usually reinforce those benefits. When more people or any amount of money enter the equation, soon greed and power overwhelm the spiritual benefits for more and more people. Examples abound. For me, that summarizes the history of organized religions.”

 . . . my response to round three:

Not much of a rant. ;-) I cannot argue with or dispute a word. I will add that I have long claimed from my study of history that religion was, is, and to a certain degree still is, the single greatest destructive force known to mankind. Countless wars, untold death has been inflicted in the name of religious parochialism. And yet, that said, religion has also been an essential factor of maturation in our evolution. I can argue that religion brought civilization, laws, art, music, and even science despite major convulsions (perhaps most notably the inquisition and persecution of Galileo). At the end of the day, all religions are administered by flawed human beings susceptible to all the foibles as the rest of us.

 

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

Cheers,

Cap                  :-)