Update no.1176

 Update from the Sunland

No.1176

22.7.24 – 28.7.24

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

 

To all,

 

The follow-up news items:

-- U.S. Secret Service Director Kimberly A. Cheatle resigned after the attempted assassination of [the person who shall no longer be named] [1174] and enduring a blistering House Oversight Committee grilling. I give her credit for standing to the mark and taking the criticism, some of it unwarranted. Cheatle is succeeded by Acting Director Ronald L. Rowe Jr., who was the deputy director and is a career Secret Service officer.

-- Vice President Kamala Devi Harris [1175] has reportedly secured the commitments of sufficient convention delegates to lock up the party nomination. She is certainly has been acting as the presumptive nominee. The question now is who will she select as her running mate? A select committee is feverishly vetting potential candidates.

Who is the old man now?

 

I acknowledge that I am slow, but hey, better late than never. I finally figured out why so many intelligent conservatives support a convicted and indicted conman to be president—ihr Lieber Anführer. Why do so many professed evangelical conservative Christians sustain a man who clearly and emphatically has no moral values. Little Fingers does not care a twit about running the government, our public policy, or dealing with the myriad issues. They need an oblivious clueless front man who is malleable and will approve what they want done . . . thus, Federalist Society and conservative judicial nominations at all levels like Judge Cannon, and the Heritage Foundation and Project 2025 intending to dominate the government at all levels for generations to come. Little Fingers only cares about his grift of the American people, and he has figured out how to mobilize the far right and the fringe far right like the Proud Boys, Oath Keepers, et al, to serve his purpose. A malevolent symbiotic relationship has evolved between the determined conman and the willing intellectual right. Little Fingers is a convenient idiot who is perfectly comfortable being their dupe as long as the right elite does not interfere with his grift. Voila! Conundrum solved and explained. I am slow, but I eventually get there.

Postscript: only one problem, that convenient idiot may wield the powerful instruments of state if he is re-elected. We must deny him that power.

 

The Olympic Games in Paris have begun. Fascinating watching already.

 

Comments and contributions from Update no.1175:

Comment to the Blog:

“I understand President Biden’s reluctance to stand down, but it helps. Democrat sources already claim much higher donations. Also, let’s focus on the Orange Guy’s age and health.

“The likely successor to Biden is Vice President Harris; Biden’s campaign has changed its name to Harris for President. DNC structure and name recognition will do the rest. I found a New York Times article on Harris’s policy record
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/07/21/us/politics/kamala-harris-abortion-immigration-economy-israel.html?campaign_id=57&instance_id=129385&nl=the-evening&regi_id=78152399&segment_id=172777&te=1&user_id=e80ee7285ce6f8ffd8e13b1ea6c5d93e
and it looks good other than not tackling Wall Street or campaign funding.

“Judge Cannon ought to be removed.

“My grievance with JD Vance is personal as well as political. He wrote a memoir featuring people like those in my youth and led into a blaming-them tirade despite his own success. Also, note that racists respond poorly to Vance’s wife, the child of Indian immigrants.

“The whole COVID response is still flawed on all parts.

“The CrowdStrike Internet crash exemplifies one danger of corporate consolidation. I again feel grateful as a Linux user.”

My response to the Blog:

Quite so! President Biden has endorsed Vice President Harris to replace him on the Democrat ticket. It appears Democrats are rallying around Harris. I could not read the NYT article; my subscription has lapsed. One important, salient, and key distinction: one candidate is an accomplished prosecutor of felons, and the other candidate is a convicted felon. That is enough for me . . . but there is more. At President Biden’s behest, it appears sufficient delegates have pledged to transfer from Biden to Harris, nearly assuring her confirmation as the Democratic candidate. The next question is who she will choose as her running mate.

Yes, she should; she is way out of her depth, verging on incompetent.

You are far closer to J.D. Vance, being from Ohio. Blaming others is intended to make him look better. His politics are way off the page from my perspective. But his kissing Little Fingers’ ass is the worst and disqualifying in my book.

I am not sure I see the current flaws. COVID-19 has been dramatically reduced to influenza status—a recurring virus we must deal with constantly.

I am grateful we are on Apple systems. It was a monumental error. The fallout is only beginning.

 . . . Round two:

“I’m still digging into Harris’s policy history to determine my personal vote. As far as electoral issues, Harris clearly hit the ground running, and the ‘prosecutor versus felon’ filter gives a major marketing opportunity.

“One of the problems with corruption is that appointees are chosen for traits other than competence, all the way to the Supreme Court.

“Vance had a ‘homecoming’ rally yesterday. He spoke very differently of those who raised him, but others will have plenty to say about his attitudes.

“Every person with a public platform has mishandled the entire COVID issue. Based on people around me, it’s making a comeback and is relatively serious. However, those who screwed up before are silent now.

“We shall see how far the CrowdStrike error reaches. The lack of competing suppliers is astounding.”

 . . . my response to round two:

Good, brief assessment, I do believe. I have confidence she will handle herself well against Little Fingers. President Biden’s address to the nation from the Oval Office is tonight . . . should be interesting.

Yes, that is one of the problems among many. The Senate confirmation process is supposed to cull out most of those, but we all know how party parochialism and intransigence have corrupted that process.

Yes, indeed, not least of which is his clear compromising of his morals and integrity.

Hopefully, the COVID outbreak near you improves quickly and does not get worse. So far so good here.

Quite so. Competition may well become more important after this debacle.

 . . . Round three:

“I just read a bit of oppo research on Harris from the Green Party. The part that stands out to me is her abuse of prison labor as AG of California. Her office stated that they kept prisoners longer than they should have specifically to use them as wildfire fighters at $1 an hour.

“I'm learning more about Vance than he emphasized in his book. I had noticed that his parents were the generation that left the hills, not JD. He kept mentioning his uncles starting businesses in the book, but I didn't connect the dots that his family had quite a bit more money than the people I grew up with.

“The absence of competition is a logical outcome of unrestrained capitalism. Many of the events we see lately result from that, not just the Internet outage.”

 . . . my response to round three:

Something is a little fishy about that tidbit, not least which is, I am not aware of DAs or AGs being involved so deeply in the parole or release process. Just like there is no evidence of such conduct, I have no evidence to refute the statement. I am suspicious. Further, there is a timing question with respect to an on-going fire season. I would be careful with that one.

Good point and observation. He is not what he seems. He will be under a powerful microscope for the next few months.

Oh so true. It is also the reason that unbiased governmental regulation is necessary and required. We cannot trust those driven by the profit motive to respect the common, public good or the rights of citizens.

 . . . Round four:

“I was already aware of California’s use of prisoners to fight wildfires. They earn ‘thank you’ and $1 an hour. I was also aware of various states being accused of keeping prisoners longer than they were entitled to do so to use their labor. This has to be defended in court, of course. I don’t have a research link right now, but it’s a continuing issue. A search for ‘prison labor abuse’ ought to produce credible information.

“The ripples of the Powell memo continue long after Powell himself is beyond the reach of justice.”

 . . . my response to round four:

I will attempt to learn more. I will note that, as with so many issues, the key is in the definition of the word ‘abuse.’ Those prisoners are not productive citizens in good standing; they are convicted felons, many sentenced to hard labor as part of their punishment. That said, unilaterally or capriciously extending their prison terms without due process of law is flat wrong. I stand ready to learn.

Quite so . . . as is usually the case with such political statements. I suspect Project 2025 will be just such a political statement in the history books.

 . . . Round five:

“Keeping prisoners longer than their sentences is abuse. In the California case, they were required to be released because of a case on overcrowding; California (Kamala Harris as AG) fought the order to decrease the prison population because they needed firefighters. I'm familiar with the moral judgment that permits people to be mistreated because they're ‘bad’ people, but I don't share the attitude.

“The distinction with the Powell memo is that it has been acted upon and changed society; it's not merely a ‘statement.’”

 . . . my response to round five:

As with any law, it is vulnerable and susceptible to abuse by overzealous prosecutors and enforcement officials. The incarcerated population is significantly more susceptible to abuse than common, law-abiding citizens. I acknowledge that there are good people, who simply made a mistake, among the imprisoned. They deserve respect when serving their sentences. There are also good people who have falsely prosecuted and incarcerated. That recognized, there are truly bad men who are habitual criminals and offenders of the public good. The habeas corpus law allows inmates to challenge such abuse. It is not clear to me based on what I have seen so far that such appeals have been made to confront such abuse.

‘Mistreated’ is a word in dire need of definition and context. Broadly, people in prison violated the law and are being punished, not sent to some government funded resort. It is punishment. Some of the behavior you cite is truly abuse and must be stopped. There are clearly conducts that must be corrected. Abuse is not acceptable for anyone even truly bad men.

The way to stop the Powell Memo and Project 2025 is vote for people against those anti-democratic efforts. If we are complacent with our votes, we deserve what comes.

 . . . Round six:

“The prison labor issue isn’t about prosecutors and law enforcement officers. It’s about States and contractors keeping people in prisons beyond their statutory obligation to make money on their labor. Thus lawsuits (habeas corpus) challenging the abuse. Kamala Harris’s office defended that practice as suiting the needs of the State of California for firefighters, not as legally or morally appropriate. I don’t relate to that entire ‘good versus bad’ discussion

“The mistreatment I referred to is being forced to work essentially for free while remaining imprisoned. In the case of firefighting, that work is dangerous as well as difficult and grossly underpaid.

“Voting ‘against’ the Nazis isn’t working. Give us something to vote ‘for.’”

 . . . my response to round six:

I considered giving you the last word, but unfortunately, I cannot resist. My apologies!

Enforcement officials include so-called corrections officers.

I will agree with your foundational premise that for-profit organizations in any aspect of prison/punishment system is wrong in every manner. If the State incarcerates or otherwise imposes a punishment on a citizen, the State is solely responsible for the inmate’s well-being; that responsibility cannot be abdicated or delegated.

I read your words, and the impression I am left with is there are no ‘bad’ people in prison, only good people falsely imprisoned. I must reject the notion.

Imprisonment at hard labor is often the punishment. No where does it say anything about compensation. It is punishment for violating the law.

If we split the non-MAGA vote into fractions, then MAGA wins. I am sorry, MAGA is simply too much of a threat to our traditional form of governance and to our essential freedoms. A vote ‘against’ is just more important, I could say vital, in this election cycle than a vote’ for.’

 . . . Round seven:

“One more try. It's not about ‘bad’ people or ‘good’ people, either way. It's about the people who operate the prisons (not corrections officers) keeping prisoners beyond their sentences in order to make (or save) money on their labor.”

 . . . my response to round seven:

OK. The last word to you.

 

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

Cheers,

Cap                  :-)