Update no.1202

 Update from the Sunland

No.1202

20.1.25 – 26.1.25

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

 

To all,

 

The follow-up news items:

-- Inauguration of President [who shall no longer be named], AKA [no name] [705 & sub] took place on Monday, 20.January.2025, in the Capitol Rotunda due to bitterly cold weather outside. And so, the next episode of the clown show of chaos began.

 

Democracy

in the American Republic

has failed!

A substantial portion of eligible citizens [10M to 18M, depending on how we wish to count] felt no reason to vote; and thus, a felonious criminal demagogue con-man has been duly elected and sworn in as president of the United States of America. The coalition of right-, extreme-right-, and ultra-right-wing factions within this once grand republic were coalesced and given voice by that con-man, otherwise known as [the person who shall no longer be named] or now just [no name], and THEY VOTE!

As Chief Justice John Marshall wrote for the Court in McCulloch v. Maryland [17 U.S. 316 (1819); 4 Wheat. 316], “That the power to tax involves the power to destroy; that the power to destroy may defeat and render useless the power to create . . . .” [17 U.S. 316; 431] [416]. In this instance, the corollary is, the power to vote is also the power to destroy. In his explanation of what became known as the Tytler Cycle, Lord Woodhouselee (Alexander Fraser Tytler) said:

“A democracy cannot exist as a permanent form of government. It can only exist until the voters discover that they can vote themselves largesse from the public treasury. From that moment on, the majority always votes for the candidates promising the most benefits from the public treasury with the result that a democracy always collapses over loose fiscal policy, always followed by a dictatorship.”

―Alexander Fraser Tytler [1787]

The power to vote, like the power to tax, can be misused to destructive ends. Tytler referred to access to the Treasury, but the very same danger lies in the dictation of constrictions on the essential freedoms we enjoy in the furtherance of a majority (or willful minority) dominance. The conservatives have demonstrated their willingness to burn the whole house down in order to preserve their power. And, the rest of us have allowed this change to happen.

As Benjamin Franklin walked out of the Constitutional Convention [17.9.1987] after approving the new Constitution, he was asked by Elizabeth Willing Powel, "Well, Doctor, what have we got, a republic or a monarchy?" Franklin presciently responded, “A republic if you can keep it.” Please note his choice of the second rather than first person pronoun. Preserving the republic was up to us. He and his colleagues had done the best they could to give us the foundation of a strong republic. As the last election and Monday’s events demonstrated, we could not keep it. We have failed Ben, our ancestors, our contemporaries, and our successors.

I appreciate and publicly laud the extraordinary efforts of President Joe Biden after the debacle of the previous administration as well as his efforts to demonstrate to the world the peaceful transfer of power from his administration to that of the incoming administration. He gave us a demonstration and example of how a gentleman with moral grounding and respect for others should act as president of the United States.

Within hours of taking the oath of office (again) and swearing to “preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States,” [no name] violated the U.S. Constitution when he signed an executive order preventing birthright citizen as guaranteed by the first sentence of §1 of the 14^th Amendment. This one is perhaps the most glaring and dramatic evidence of what lays ahead of us. AND THIS IS JUST THE FIRST PARTIAL DAY OF HIS PRESIDENCY!!! There are four (4) years to go. I shudder to think of what his action portends for the future.

We elected a felonious criminal to be president of the United States, and what does that criminal do during the first hours of his new administration? He pardons 1,500 plus other felonious criminals who took part in an egregious insurrection against the U.S. Constitution. A criminal pardoning other criminals . . . go figure! Most of those convicted plead guilty. A jury or a judge did not have to evaluate facts in their cases. The convicts plead guilty! A criminal pardoning other criminals. There is no doubt whatsoever that the Founders and Framers would have been outraged, disgusted, and thoroughly baffled by what We, the People, did last November, and by what the newest president immediately did. Those insurrectionists violated multitudinous laws and the U.S. Constitution. They were tried in a court of law in accordance with our trial procedures, more than a few were convicted of Seditious Conspiracy in stimulating the insurrection.

[No name] unilaterally declared, there will only be two genders—male and female. By what right does he (or any person) have to say such a thing?

And, this is just the beginning!

Further, President [no name] induced and otherwise caused to happen his predecessor issuing a number of “preemptive pardons” to protect citizens who committed no crime, none of them have never been charged (other than by the false lies of the con-man-in-chief), and have never been tried or convicted in a court of law. Among those preemptively pardoned by President Biden were the whole January 6^th committee (HSCJ6) and the former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

[No name]’s despicable actions were not a flash in the pan. He repeatedly told us publicly that he was going to do these things during his candidacy before being nominated by a once grand old political party and during the presidential campaign. Multitudinous accomplished leaders told us (warned us) that he was a danger to our democracy. Despite all the forewarning signs, 77M citizens voted for the felonious criminal, and worse (to me), 10+M additional citizens chose apathy over their duty to the republic. Yes, I think it is safe to say the American republic has failed. My generation destroyed it. History beyond my remaining lifetime will record whether the destruction is reparable, and the integrity of the republic can be reestablished.

The Canadian Province of Ontario produced and released a video telling Americans that the province stands with the United States. The video is well done and succinct. They bought a considerable amount of time slots on multiple channels to present their argument. Yet, I find the video extraordinarily sad. Canada has been and remains a stable and staunch ally of the United States. The reality that induced Ontario to produce such a video is regrettable in just about every aspect I can think of. The video is not dramatically different from the myriad tech CEOs genuflecting at the altar of the Bully-in-Chief. I apologize to our Canadian ally and to Ontario specifically for the Ugly American Syndrome that drove you to make a public statement of “we’re with you.” Canada has always been a good ally. That reality has not changed. To me, the Ontario video is yet another demonstration of what [no name] has done to this once grand republic.

I offer full, unconditional, unequivocal apologies to my children, their children, and all good citizens of this once grand republic. My generation has destroyed what stood for 250 years of history. We were never perfect, and we were always a work in progress, but we failed to protect the republic we inherited. And now, we hand the rubble to you. I witnessed more than a few challenges to the integrity of the republic in my lifetime, but none of those challenges even remotely compares to the magnitude of our current problem.

My words above may seem very dark and depressed. I suppose they are, but they are my feelings about what has happened to this once grand republic. Yes, I suppose I am experiencing a form of depression. But, I can only assure you, I am not suicidal, and I have no intention of moving to another progressive and stable country. In the famous words of Commodore Stephen Decatur, Jr., USN, my country, right or wrong, my country. This is my country. I shall stand with my country until the end—for better or worse, in good times and bad times, through thick and thin. I am not going anywhere.

Now, it is time, yet again, for us to endure.

 

On Thursday, U.S. District Judge John Clare Coughenour of the Western District of Washington at Seattle issued a 14-day Temporary Restraining Order (TSO) against President [no name], delaying enforcement of his Executive Order (EO) prohibiting birthright citizenship. The EO is ironically titled: Protecting the Meaning and Value of American Citizenship. When he issued his ruling, Judge Coughenour publicly stated that the EO was “blatantly unconstitutional” and rightly so. [No name] has one teeny-weeny little problem; his EO violates the first sentence of §1 of the 14^thAmendment (1868) to the U.S. Constitution. Of course, as we well know, [no name] truly believes neither the U.S. Constitution nor any law applies to him or his dicta. He is entitled to do what he pleases.

 

On Friday night, the Senate confirmed Peter Brian ‘Pete’ Hegseth by a vote of 51-50-0-0(0). The vice president had to come in to break the tie. Three Republican senators voted No, forcing the tie. Hegseth was sworn in as the new secretary of Defense.

Birds of a feather, so they say. Heaven help us!

 

Also confirmed in the last few days were:

Marco Antonio Rubio of Florida – secretary of State [Senate: 99-0-0-0(1)]

John Lee Ratcliffe of Texas – director of the Central Intelligence Agency [Senate: 74-25-0-1(0)]

Kristi Lynn Noem, née Arnold, of South Dakota – secretary of Homeland Security [Senate: 59-34-0-7(0)].

Noem is problematic for me . . . too many missteps, but hey, my opinion does not matter a twit. I shall give the others the benefit of the doubt until they prove otherwise.

 

Comments and contributions from Update no.1201:

Comment to the Blog:

“Your sentence, “The vehicle experienced a Rapid Unscheduled Disassembly (RUD) with debris observed falling into the ocean near the Turks and Caicos Islands” fascinates me. Beyond the silly euphemism for ‘the thing fell apart,’ there’s the sheer opaqueness of reporting dangerous misadventures as if they were successes.

“I’m not a TikTok user. The Establishment legal argument doesn’t work in reasoned discourse because so many others have access to everyone’s information. The hidden point is that TikTok is out-competing Muskrat and Zuckerberg. The Felon’s and others’ reversals on this issue reflect their awakening to the importance of 150 million of ‘we the people’ who use TikTok.

“The Middle East remains unpredictable. I haven’t seen recent reporting on Netanyahu’s trial, which has great bearing on the outcome.

“The ‘socio-political aspects and ramifications to the climate change issue’ change nothing in physics, chemistry, or biology. Good luck with your caution.”

My response to the Blog:

The Rapid Unscheduled Disassembly of the Starship 33 craft was not a success. But, if we learn, all failures can have a positive consequence. I suspect that will be the case for the SpaceX program. Good engineering learns from its failures.

I am not a TikTok subscriber either . . . and never will be. However, I have seen more than a few TikTok vidclips over the years. Your observation is correct and is a problem. However, there is a huge difference between commercial utilization versus PRC intelligence and cyber-operations against the United States. I do see a difference.

I have not seen anything on Netanyahu’s corruption trial either. I suspect they have a similar limited immunity provision in their law. We can only hope justice comes to all criminals.

I do believe you may be conflating things, my friend. The issue is not the science. My point is the political decisions made as a consequence of the science. Taken to the extreme, we simply cannot regress to the pre-industrial age to solve the climate change problem. Is societal and cultural change required to deal with climate change—YES, absolutely. The question to us is, how far do we go with the required change?

 . . . Round two:

“The private space program endangers civilians and pollutes the environment, which you don’t point out. It’s an ego trip for billionaires, financed by taxpayers.

“’Commercial utilization’ of our information means selling it to the highest bidder, including national entities. Duh.

“Netanyahu will remain in office to avoid consequences as long as possible. Prolonging the genocide serves that aim.

“My climate issue is the science. As current trends continue, millions more humans and many other species are doomed. I don’t know what you mean by ‘regress to the pre-industrial age.’ I’m unaware of any suggestion like that. Is that something emanating from the far right or is it corporate? The required changes to avoid apocalyptic deterioration were determined by science, not politics. The only political aspect is that we didn’t do what was needed and won’t until post-apocalyptic times. I grieve for the survivors as much as the dead.”

 . . . my response to round two:

Let it suffice to say that I do not share your view of the space program.

Yes, true, but the sovereign nation at issue here is actively trying to subvert our country. Huge difference.

Yes, just as [no name] has done and is doing. Like [no name], Netanyahu is a product of the ultra-right-wing factions he uses to maintain power. Israelis, like Americans, must vote to banish those extreme-right-wing factions to the shadows from which they came.

“Doomed” is an excessive descriptor, it seems to me. The popular notion is the industrial age, billowing carbon into the atmosphere, is the direct cause of climate change, and thus can be easily reversed by reverting back to the pre-industrial age. I cannot subscribe to the doom & gloom perspective. The sun continues to rise in the east.

 . . . Round three:

“Please note that I specified the ‘private’ space program.

“The difference is nil. Our information is available worldwide whether or not a Chinese company owns one of the sources.

“The climate turning point that was extensively studied and agreed upon by climate scientists was when the world’s temperature exceeded pre-industrial levels by 1.5ºC. We exceeded that last year. Reverting to the pre-industrial age is impossible. You’re an engineer; you know better. The sun rises in the east, but what it illuminates will continue to change.”

 . . . my response to round three:

OK, explanation accepted. I will only add that the “private” space programs are broadly under USG contract, direction, and supervision . . . at least for now.

Perhaps so . . . so you say. You see them as the same. I do not.

OK. So what are you proposing we do?

 . . . Round four:

“As far as what we do about climate change, we're probably past the prevention stage. Let's turn our attention to aiding those already harmed.”

 . . . my response to round four:

Perhaps so. Time shall tell the tale.

From your words, I read that the doomsday clock is inexorably ticking to our end of days, and any action to affect climate change positively is wasted effort. If accurate, that seems far more fatalistic than I think the situation warrants. I believe we must still ween ourselves off fossil fuels as soon as we can efficiently accomplish the task.

A related FYI: as an indicator of the difficulty in that task, my family is an example. I have tried repeatedly to switch to all-electric automobiles and install a solar power panel on the roof of our home. Half of us focuses on the negative, e.g., battery range & recharging time; the other half sees the positive with the negatives in the manageable category. So, we remain at loggerhead.

 

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

Cheers,

Cap                  :-)