Update from the Sunland
No.1207
17.2.25 – 23.2.25
Blog version: http://heartlandupdate.blogspot.com/
To all,
The 2020 election was NOT stolen or fraudulent, just as the 2016 and 2024 elections were not fraudulent.
[The person who shall no longer be named] [AKA no name] LOST fair and square. Elections are elections whether you win or lose. No matter how many times that man babbles on, spewing his lies it does not change the truth.
I know that man’s malignant narcissism prevents him from recognizing reality, but his petulant rantings and foot-stomping do not alter the truth. The more he denies reality, the more mentally ill he appears. He issued presidential pardons to every criminal, violent and non-violent, who was prosecuted for their crimes on 6.January.2020. The criminal felon absolved other criminals simply because they support him. But that is not enough. That man continues to spew his outright lies about the 2020 election to this very day. And worse, We, the People, elected him to be president . . . AGAIN!
To be crystal clear, no member of NATO asked or even approached Ukraine about becoming a member of the defense organization. Ukraine, a free, independent, and sovereign nation, sought membership in NATO for many obvious reasons. NATO has always been and will remain a defense organization. At no time in its entire history has NATO been the aggressor. Can Russia say the same? It has been more than 80 years since anyone attacked Russia. It is long past time for the Russian right-wing to grow up and get real. NATO is a defense organization. It has no hegemonic tendencies or traits. The Russian right-wing conservative nationalists have nothing to fear other than the paranoid imaginings of their fevered consciousness. Russia has absolutely no right whatsoever to demand Ukraine be denied membership in NATO. For the last 11 years, Russia has consistently demonstrated to the world exactly why Ukraine wants to be and should be admitted to NATO.
The current U.S. administration continues its shock campaign on multiple fronts. On Monday the 24th, the UN General Assembly in the 11th Emergency Special Session voted on Resolution A/ES-11/L.10, titled: “Advancing a comprehensive, just and lasting peace in Ukraine.” The shock came when the United States voted with Russia, Belarus, and the DPRK against the resolution and against our Allies in Europe. The General Assembly registered vote count was: In favor – 93, Against – 18, Abstain – 65. The rationale for the extraordinary vote has not been provided. It is presumed that the U.S. objected to the phrase “the full-scale invasion of Ukraine by the Russian Federation,” which by the way, is the absolute truth. That is exactly what happened on 24.February.2022. Go figure!
A few hours later, the UN Security Council voted on Resolution 2774 (2025) that stated, “the Security Council implores a swift end to the conflict and further urges a lasting peace between Ukraine and the Russian Federation.” The Security Council vote was: In favor – 10, Against – 0, Abstain – 5 (Denmark, France, Greece, Slovenia and United Kingdom).
The message in these two UN votes is clear to Ukraine and our European Allies. The United States under the current administration is moving away from them and closer to Russia. Putin and his right-wing conservatives in the Federation Council and the State Duma must be dancing the jig of elation. They have finally succeeded breaking the United States from NATO and displaying the untrustworthiness and dysfunction of the United States. Dictatorship is the only efficient form of governance. The world order is crumbling before our eyes due to one man and his supporters.
It seems to me that the MAGAt supporters of [no name] and his surrogate wet-work man are perfectly happy with the baseless dismemberment of multiple federal departments and agencies. As long as nothing touches the MAGAts and their lives, they are good with it. Kill it! Destroy it all! Constitution, laws, norms, traditions, and principles be damned! None of them could care less if their cuts affect other citizens or people. Screw them all! They are taking a 10-gauge shotgun to a task that should take a small screwdriver. From my perspective, that is an extraordinarily self-centered, isolationist, selfish attitude toward federal governmental functions. It is an every-man-for-himself, survival of the fittest mentality.
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) was created by Congress in the aftermath of the 2008 banking collapse and induced deep recession. DOGE has essentially eliminated the CFPB with a single threat and dictum. The supporters of the action claim we have many other agencies to carry our consumer protection. I have one response to that position. How did that work out in 2008! That was a rhetorical question, not a query.
On Friday, 21.February.2025, President [no name] dismissed Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Charles Quinton ‘CQ’ Brown Jr., USAF; Chief of Naval Operations Admiral Lisa Marie Franchetti, USN; and Vice Chief of Staff of the Air Force Gen. James C. ‘Jim’ Slife, USAF, declaring them all to be DEI or ‘woke’ selections. On his first day in office, [no name] fired Commandant of the Coast Guard Admiral Linda Lee Fagan, USCG [USCGA 1985]. On Truth Social, [no name] declared his intention to nominate Lieutenant General John Daniel Caine ‘Razin’ Caine, USAF [VMI 1990] to succeed Brown. Gee, I wonder what Caine’s qualifications are? [No name] also claimed that he was not done. He fully intended to dismiss all "woke" generals and those responsible for the troubled 2021 pullout from Afghanistan.
[No name] is absolutely, categorically, and emphatically wrong. They each have a lifetime of devout service to the Constitution and We, the People, in defense of the United States of America.
To be precise and clear, every officer in military service regardless of service branch knows and acknowledges that s/he serves at the “pleasure of the president.” The president has the right and authority to dismiss any officer, at any level of command, for any reason he chooses. As with so many of his actions, just because he can do it, does not mean he should. [No name] sent a very deep chill among those citizens who choose to serve. In other words, their loyalty had better be to him rather than the Constitution and We, the People.
Now, the bonehead has shown us exactly what he thinks of this once grand republic. [No name] intends to offer a “gold card” visa that has all the benefits of a traditional green card plus a priority path to full citizenship. You too can have one of these “gold card” visas for a mere US$5M each. To the wealthy, the republic is for sale. He has established what citizenship is worth. Now we know!
Then, we hear that [no name] wants to produce a missile defense umbrella like Israel’s “Iron Dome” system, and he wants to call it the “Golden Dome” system. I suspect he sees himself as King Midas—everything he touches turns to pure gold. I guess he never learned Greek mythology. Go figure!
As each day goes on, I see more and more vidclips, memes, text posts, and such seriously criticizing and condemning [no name] and his wet-work man, Elon Musk. While I agree with most of those critical items, my first impression is invariable, where were you before last year’s election? The second question that always comes to mine before the previous question even cooled is, did you vote? Where was this outrage when we were casting votes? Again, this is exactly what happens when a mobilized minority does vote and too many of the rest of us do not vote. Let this be a lesson—a very costly lesson!
On Friday, President Zelensky of Ukraine made the long journey to Washington, District of Columbia, to meet with President [no name]. In the Oval Office with the two presidents were Vice President Vance and Secretary of State Rubio. To say the least, the meeting did not go well. The president of the United States parroting Putin’s hegemonic rhetoric is outright disgusting. He chastised Zelensky, “You’re gambling with World War III.” No, you idiot, they are defending their country, just like we would if our country was attacked. The president and vice-present tag-teamed Zelensky in front of the Press and their cameras for the world to see. They sought to humiliate him before the world. Zelensky conducted himself with strength, grace and calm. He was not going to buckle under the onslaught of the bully. At the end, [no name] declared, “Enough!” He added, “He can come back when he is ready for peace.” After just Two hours and 20 minutes after he arrived, Zelensky was unceremoniously escorted out of the West Wing by an unknown woman and deposited on the doorstep. When that man says ‘peace,’ he means as he defines it, not as Ukrainians want it. He is attempting to dictate terms for Ukraine to accept. Given his recent performance at the UN (noted above), he seeks to impose Russia’s terms on Ukraine.
Once again (and probably not the last time), [no name] graphically displayed his disdain and probably his ignorance of a fundamental principle of leadership—praise in public, criticize in private. They jumped Zelensky, and to his credit, the Ukrainian president was not intimidated and did not back down. He stood up to the bully.
I am reminded . . . his first term as president was epitomized by the moment at the NATO summit conference on 25.May.2017, when he literally pushed Prime Minister Duško Marković of Montenegro out of his way, so he could move to the front and puff up his chest as the biggest bully and the ugliest Ugly American in the room. His second term will be illuminated by this abysmal event in the Oval Office. Please note down this date—28.February.2025—a date that shall live in infamy.
There is one word that explodes into my mind to summarize that two-hour visit—EMBARRASSING! It was embarrassing for the United States of America, for our history of defending the peace, and especially for We, the People. I have never been so embarrassed to be an American in my entire 76 years of life (so far), including my 25 years of service to the Republic as an officer of Marines. That was not a president of the United States sitting in that yellow chair in front of the fireplace; that was a common schoolyard bully.
Comments and contributions from Update no.1206:
“Thanks Cap-nothing gets any calmer does it. In fact just the opposite. I fear you are going to have a great deal to write about for an endless period. Keep going! We like to be kept in the picture even if we don’t like what we read.”
My reply:
Absolutely not! We have just under four years to go of this chaos, bedlam, and mayhem. It is the nature of the beast, I am afraid. This is a public demonstration of how democracy fails . . . validating the dictator’s presumption and premise.
Yes, indeed! As I have already experience, that despicable man vastly exceeds my capacity to absorb and respond. The best I can do is slog it out as I am able.
I will keep going to the best of my ability. For the record, I refuse to sacrifice my “real” writing; the stories are too important to me.
I have always been a knowledge-over-ignorance person. I would rather know—good, bad, or ugly. I tell my doctors exactly the same thing. I would rather know than not.
Comment to the Blog:
“Obviously, we need to keep the Felon of the United States (FOTUS) from doing as he wishes with USAID and any other programs where he’s given that kind of power. He harms the USA as much as he does other nations. That’s why so many agencies were created by Congress to be independent.
“FOTUS spouts nonsense often, and that continues around the Ukraine invasion. I wonder if Putin has access to the Epstein data. I’ve seen pictures of FOTUS and the Muskrat with Epstein and Ms. Maxwell. Those have circulated for years without being debunked.
“FOTUS’s enablers would do well to study what happened to Putin’s wealthy supporters. Many of them left tall buildings via windows.
“I favor improving efficiency and effectiveness in government spending and in processes such as permitting. I don’t favor de-regulation of corporations or cutting services. Oscar Wilde said, “What is a cynic? A man who knows the price of everything and the value of nothing.” That fits FOTUS and his co-conspirators.
“We have a drunk in charge of the Department of Defense trying to cut costs just when FOTUS is trying to start a war.”
My response to the Blog:
The resistance to [no name]’s mindless chaos has already begun. Our tool to that end is the Judicial Branch. Of course, there are no guarantees, but that is our path. Our problem (and weakness) is we believe in the Constitution and the rule of law; he does not. He could not careless. He has the mindlessness of a dictator as his father taught him as a boy. Running a company as a dictator is one thing. Running a country that way is an infinitely worse action.
Yes, indeed! [No name] spouts so much nonsense and drivel that President Macron had to publicly correct him yesterday—“to be clear.”
Quite so, but those dead men were replaced by loyalists to Putin. The oligarchy continues to churn. I believe Putin is prepared to terminate as many men as he needs to in order to quash any dissent or resistance to his dicta. [No name] has not gone that far . . . YET! He is dreadfully close.
I would say Oscar Wilde was spot on with his observation.
The clown show circus is getting more absurd. At least Hegseth is publicly in favor of strong national defense. Patel has a long history of conspiratorial accusations against the FBI. Gabbard is the antithesis of an intelligence professional. The chaos continues to worsen.
. . . with follow-up comment:
“The judiciary is holding up reasonably well, but other tools are coming into play, especially pressure on Members of Congress. Keep in mind that three House special elections are coming up soon, and the House is only Republican by 217-216.
“Hegseth is caught in a conflict. He favors a strong defense but he’s been ordered (probably) to cut back. Given time and minimal management skills, he could probably do it, but Muskrat wants change right now or sooner. Hegseth’s an alcoholic, so he will break under pressure.”
. . . any my follow-up response:
It only takes a few judges like Aileen Cannon in Florida to contaminate the process.
However the special elections turn out, it is still going to be a very thin margin for one party or the other, which will not discourage [no name] from this path of chaos.
Hegseth is part of the clown show circus, and he will play his part. We can only hope the professional officers will do the right thing when the time comes. Hegseth’s confirmation moved us one step closer to “Seven Days in May.”
There is always hope until there isn’t.
An observation from across the pond:
“What an outrageous display by a certain individual whose name I refuse to mention but regrettably known to us all. Such a display of inexcusable and appalling bad manners should never be witnessed by the world and has made many viewers aware of the disgusting global attitude that person passes on. How he made The White House again is an total mystery, don’t you have any legal means of removing him from what is surely the most powerful leadership position in the entire world?
“Our papers are full of disgusting comments, none of which praises your respected country. One I’m reading now, ‘A spectacle to horrify the world’. I’m looking forward to seeing your views Cap.”
My reply:
I have run out of appropriate adjectives to describe that abhorrently disgusting impromptu press event in the Oval Office on Friday. I am still writing about the event, so I shall reserve my comments to this week’s Update. You will have more to read in a few days.
When you are an isolationist, as the America Firsters were in 1941 and the MAGAts are today, you do not care what other people think. You are perfectly content turning your back on the world and stand behind our faux-moats of oceans. The conservatives are so bloody desperate to return to a day long gone when white Protestants males dominated every aspect of American life. Back then, they were called WASPs—White, Anglo-Saxon, Protestants. I refuse to go back. Regrettably, that minority voted in the last election, and they have their fool in the White House, control both chambers of Congress (however so thin the margins may be), and arguably dominate the U.S. Supreme Court. The mid-term elections (next year) will give partial correction . . . if the rest of us vote.
“A spectacle to horrify the world” is an excellent description. I think it should be clear that Putin and Xi have won. They have reduced the United States to a bevy of blithering idiots, which is why I claim American democracy has failed. The blaring, clear message to the rest of the world—you are on your own. The United States will no longer be there to help. We are no longer a trustworthy friend. Isolationists have gained the power; they are fulfilling their objectives—withdrawing the United States from the world community.
“That’s just my opinion, but I could be wrong.”
My very best wishes to all. Take care of yourselves and each other.
Cheers,
Cap :-)
