Update no.1204

Update from the Sunland

No.1204

3.2.25 – 9.2.25

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

 

To all,

 

No amount of evidence will ever persuade an idiot.

-- Mark Twain

 

When a clown moves into a palace, he does not become a king. The palace becomes a circus.

-- Turkish proverb

 

To our neighbors, allies and friends . . . 

What you see today in the United States of America is NOT representative of Americans in general. We are much better than this. President [who shall no longer be named, AKA no name] does NOT represent the United States. We are much better than this. It is with true remorse, regret, and humility that I urge everyone to ignore this government as best you can. Like good Americans, I must ask you to join us in our struggle to endure the insult that is this administration. This too shall pass!

 

[No name] ordered the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) to issue so-called buyout letters. The OPM eMail memorandum reportedly was sent to two of three million federal employees, including the FBI, CIA, and other essential national security agencies. It is not a proposal. He has actually done it. 

The action is reportedly a termination with eight months’ pay. The effort is clearly intended to circumvent employment law constructed to eliminate capricious dismissal. He is doing exactly what he said he was going to do . . . gut and skin the federal government.

I have seen no indication of what a buyout looks like in detail other than inducing the resignation of federal employees. The underlying objective is to replace all non-believer federal employees with staunch loyalists . . . loyal to him . . . rather than to the U.S. Constitution. Sound familiar?

The federal employee union advised members not to trust [no name]’s buyout offer, and rightly so. There is no authority nor funding to enable the buyout termination effort. The president’s effort is being challenged in court and not likely to fair well.

 

After the Night of Long Knives [29/30.6.1934] and the death of Hindenburg [2.8.1934], Hitler declared himself Führer [3.8.1934] and the Germany people approved by plebiscite vesting Hitler with sole executive power as Führer(i.e., dictator for life). Shortly after these events [20.August.1934], der Führer ordered a loyalty oath be administered to the German professional military and federal civil servants. For the purists among us, here is the original German—The Oath. The Nazis developed, printed, and distributed a nifty little card to ensure no one forgot the words or the oath.

Der Eid

Ich schwöre bei Gott

diesen heiligen Eid,
daß ich dem Führer des

Deutschen Reiches und Volkes

Adolf Hitler,

dem Oberbefehlshaber

der Wehrmacht, unbedingten

Gehorsam leisten und

als tapferer Soldat bereit

sein will, jederzeit für

diesen Eid mein Leben

einzusetzen.

For those who need help with the original German, here is the English translation. "I swear by God this holy oath that I shall render unconditional obedience to the Leader of the German Reich and people, Adolf Hitler, supreme commander of the armed forces, and that as a brave soldier I shall at all times be prepared to give my life for this oath." 

What the little ditty above offers us is how incredibly close we live between freedom and democracy . . . and the oppression of dictatorship. What Hitler and the Nazis did quite legal. They followed the law, and a majority of the German people endorsed the changes noted above. They wanted and voted for a “strong leader” who would lead them to a better tomorrow. So how did that work out?

Whether we like to admit it or not, we are walking down exactly the same path. We see proof of that observation daily as [no name] unilaterally strives to dismember the federal government and eliminate the professional civil service. He feels 77M out of 330M people voted for him (oh wait, kinda like Hitler, actually) to be a dictator (in his mind, and I am certain in the minds of a portion of those who knowingly voted for the American wannabe-dictator). We oh so close to repeating history.

 

[No name] stated that the United States was going to “take over” the Gaza Strip and develop the land into the Riviera of the Eastern Mediterranean. He intends to distribute (relocate) two million Gaza Palestinians to neighboring countries that have rejected the notion. One little detail, like ‘W’s huge mistake, who is going to police the area? This is the Ugly American Syndrome [AKA American exceptionalism] gone wild on massive steroids. The rest of the world does not want American domination or even American democracy. Islamic fascists have been striving for decades to drag the United States into the quagmire of the Middle East. [No name] fulfilled their dream in one instant.

 

It is one thing to be an individual QAnon believer. That is freedom of choice. You can believe what you wish for whatever reason(s) you wish.

It is a monumentally different matter to have a QAnon whack-o in charge of a major department of the federal government, oh heck, the whole damn country. Most of us know better and recognize there is absolutely nothing socially and intellectually redeemable about QAnon whack-o nonsense conspiracy theories. Putting those crazies in charge is dangerous and disastrous.

The MAGAts and spineless others in the Senate have abdicated to ihr Anführer, so now it is up to the Judiciary to stand in the breech as the last line of defense against the wannabe dictator.

I have no problem if the president wants to eliminate USAID (I believe he is wrong!). He simply needs to make the proposal to Congress and change the law. Terminating the agency by dictatorial fiat is unconstitutional, wrong. Government at any level is not a business. It is a not-for-profit service entity. The MAGAts may not agree with what and/or how USAID does its work, but the place to change that is in congressional committee rooms and the chamber floors of Congress. The president has no authority to terminate USAID, or the Department of Education, or turn HHS into a QAnon cesspool. We have a Constitution!

 

I do not include [the person who shall no longer be named] among the MAGAts. He believes in only one thing—himself . . . oh, and selling worthless shit to the MAGAts. The whole MAGA thing was a brain-fart of [no name] like a catch phrase associated with his useless snake-oil elixir that MAGAts willingly consumed.

[No name] has been accusing every administration of “weaponizing” the Department of Justice. He knows that is not true—a boldface lie. What he really means when he spews such things is, he intends to do just that –weaponize the Justice Department, i.e., his vengeance tour. To that man, and now his MAGAt believers, enforcing the law is weaponizing the Department of Justice against them. No, you freakin’ idiot(s), if you violate the law, the U.S. attorneys are charged by the Constitution to enforce the laws. Instead of riling up the MAGAts, if you do not like the law, propose to Congress to change the law. Turning to a wannabe-dictator is outright rejection of the Constitution—the only thing that has bound us together for a quarter of a millennia.

 

Comments and contributions from Update no.1203:

Comment to the Blog:

“No amount of passionate writing can prevent what has already happened. The question now is how to support the resistance.

“Robert Reich today points out that the Felon increases his power by exercising it, hence the scary maneuvers. Aggression is the only tool the Felon owns, but he’s skilled with that one. He always needs an enemy to use it.

“Your statement about the Felon’s supporters ignores well-known facts of political psychology. The Felon isn’t the first or the last dictator.

“Muskrat is the operative danger to the USA and to me personally. His team controls Treasury and other computers that are legally required to be secured against private citizens.

“Reports on the air crash at Reagan National Airport immediately reminded me that Ronald Reagan broke the air traffic controllers’ union (PATCO); now official reports say the tower was understaffed. That’s no coincidence. See above about the Felon’s rants.

“I’m nearly ready to write a glowing book review of Hope for Cynics, by Jamil Zaki. It’s a very credible, concrete discussion of addressing one’s own negativity (justified or not).”

My response to the Blog:

Quite so! What is done is done! But, we can learn from our mistakes and grow as a society. Yes, the resistance is vital and dreadfully necessary these days.

Once again, I would say Reich is spot on. Tiny is intentionally pushing the limits of Executive power. As he so often does, he is flooding the zone with incompetent nominees, outrageous unilateral actions, and nonsense statements. In short, he is doing his utmost to be the bully-in-chief, to intimidate everyone, friend and foe. He wants people to fear him and what he might do.

Oh, I do not ignore the traits and actions of wannabe dictators. He acted like a malevolent dictator in business, and he is doing exactly the same thing as president. He is what he is. We, the People, elected him to be a dictator, so we got what we voted for. Now, we must endure what we have done.

Let us not forget that [no name] enabled and authorized Musk to do what he is doing. Musk is an agent, not the authority. I do agree that he is going far beyond the law, but that as well is not particularly surprising since his enabler is doing exactly the same thing. There is no doubt in my little pea-brain that Agent Musk is a serious threat to the rule of law and to our freedom, just as [no name] is an even greater threat.

Two generations of air traffic controllers have entered service since the Reagan confrontation with the union [1981]. I do not see the connection. The NTSB will deeply analyze the conduct and performance of all air traffic controllers that night. We must not forget that the pilot is ultimately responsible for the actions of his/her aircraft. [No name]’s mindless, ill-informed, foolish statements about that accident are nonsensical to the extreme.

Interesting title and topic. I look forward to your review.

 . . . follow-up comment:

“Reich’s assessment, if anything, is understated. Reich assumes that this dictator will fall from overreach, as they historically do. I study history, too, and my question is how much death and destruction must happen before something stops him.

“FOTUS enabled Musk, but Musk must be stopped individually. He amounts to a crude hacker who somehow believes he should destroy government on his own.

“Unions invariably address under-staffing as a major work issue, and it was thus with PATCO. The loss of PATCO inevitably led to permanent staffing issues. Unions are not only about pay issues.

“We shall see where/if I publish my review. I’ve been thinking about that, and my old long-forgotten blog has no audience.”

 . . . my follow-up response:

Precisely the salient question. None of us can predict the future. However, from my perspective and opinion, I am afraid we are facing incalculable “death and destruction.” I do not see anything that will stop him other than 20.January.2029 . . . and even that is doubtful. On the other hand, he is just a mortal human being who will reach his return to dust like all other human beings in history. Death will stop him. Unfortunately, he has created a generation of acolytes that pose a far greater threat to our fragile democracy.

I share your view of Musk’s DOGE activities. So far, Congress had demonstrated its impotence.

I cannot argue with your assessment of the current FAA ATC staffing issues.

If you ever do write it, I would like to read it. ‘Nuf said.

 

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

Cheers,

Cap                  :-)