The Other

When writing an opinion I often fret that either I do not have any idea about which to write or that I will do so in a way that is not true and subject myself

to many authoritative critiques. When I hear something that is so true and not explained by me then I decide to publish the crafty thought and give credit where credit is due.

Yesterday, Alex Wagner, political commentator on MSNBC, interviewed Trevor Noah, political commentator and host of the Trevor Noah Show on Comedy Central.  

The conversation in which the two were engaged centered around the dramatic split many see within the US polity and many wonder why the political milieu has been so toxic.  In other words, why is so much hate and invective spewed by a nation which prides itself on its concept of equality and justice? Why so much of it centers on the "Other."  The

"Other" in the present case is anyone who is a minority and has suffered violence or verbal attack for many years.  Invective by the majority is couched in a variety of rationales so that one can see it clearly and ultimately understand and accept the rationales for it whether it is true or not.

Trevor Noah explained it as such: "When people are struggling and in poverty (or not) they are told that the reason for their social distemper is certainly in the

person of the "Other."  The "Other," of course, can be defined as black people, brown people, immigrants, gays, Jews and anyone else who does not fit into the descriptive narration of the majority, and who does not look like you, does not pray like you, does not culturally blend in like you but is rather in a minority. 

Even when blame for social malevolence is assessed not to be because of the "Other," Noah stated, the "Other" is still a convenient scapegoat especially when it has

been blanketed in virulent appellations of hatred for thousands of years.

Someone once said to me "when books are burned It is logical then that men will be burned too.  The right wing extremists have pronounced the Jews, the longest hatred, of course, have collectively suffered the mortal consequences of being called a killer of God by the majority.  If one is a killer of God then what does that mean?  It means overthrowing all that is considered good and righteous and thus requires the ultimate penalty of death.

One's mind travels to the Holocaust where Germans rounded up all the Jews they could and annihilated them in the amount of 6 million, an unfathomable number.  The Germans wanted to kill all the Jews of Europe and nearly did and most of the majority acquiesced, it is said, yelling "Goodbye Jews."

What are we to do with the perpetrators of the Holocaust?  Is it enough to lash back in anger? Is it enough to punish them?  Is it enough to win a war?  The only answer I fear is to say Never Again.  That is the best, I think, rational men can do. But you say it already is happening in Ukraine by the Russians that innocents are being slaughtered. It is already happening here as so many are vilified because of the color of their skin and totalitarian inherently unjust Fascism is knocking at our door.  If we shirk our duty then we can be assured that the ugliness will happen again and that it very well could happen to you!

 

Rachel Maddow has been hard at work as she said she would be.

 

On January 6, 2021 in our country there was, as most know, a  nefariously violent attempt at the Capitol by right wing fascist-like plotters such as the Proud Boys, Oathkeepers and others to overthrow our Democracy, overturn a fair election and negate the freedoms attendant to it.  At the same time they, and most important to the plot, would place at the apex of political power the twice impeached one time president Donald J. Trump, to illegally secure for him the reins of forever power.  A nice gig if you can get it!

We know the 9:00 p.m. broadcast on MSNBC of the Rachel Maddow Show was shortened, to my dismay, to a once a week Monday broadcast of her show because, she said, she wanted to apply her storytelling craft and historical expertise to other entertainment venues both nonfiction and fiction alike.  She is presenting to us in podcast form a work entitled "Ultra"  -- Episodes 1 and 2 which are available for streaming today.  It is called "Ultra", I think, because the podcast deals with a plot by ultra rightwing extremists to overthrow a duly elected government.  Sound familiar?

Rachel Maddow's podcast Episode 1 and 2 out today is a historical narration of a time in the 1940s not unlike our own where totalitarian groups plotted to overthrow the nation's democracy and install, in Hitler-like fashion, a strong rightwing extremist leader who would be president for life. 

The crudeness of the action by rightwing extremists on January 6, cannot be overstated. The damage to the Capitol -- the premier symbol of our Democracy --, offices of the House Speaker defiled not to mention even defecation on the premises were incredulously observed.

I have pasted the link to "Ultra" Episode 1 and 2 below for your enjoyment and entertainment (it will entertain you) or I have pasted the link below for your historical edification to try to ensure at the precipice of our 2022 very important midterm elections, that this attempt by Facist-like extremists be roundly subverted and our system of government saved.  If we go back to business as usual it is certain, I believe, that the violent attempt on January 6, 2021 will happen again.

PLEASE VOTE AND VOTE DEMOCRAT UP AND DOWN THE TICKET.

FEEL FREE TO SEND THIS IN ITS ENTIRETY TO ANYONE YOU CHOOSE!!

https://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-presents-ultra

"But let justice flow like water, and righteousness, like an unfailing stream.” Amos 5:6 -- INVESTIGATION TRACKER OF DONALD J. TRUMP

 

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But let justice flow like water, and righteousness, like an unfailing stream.” Amos 5:6 -- INVESTIGATION TRACKER OF DONALD J. TRUMP

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Trump investigation tracker: Up-to-date status reports on where each investigation stands Grid is here to help you follow the multiple investigations underway. Steve Reilly, Investigative Reporter, Matt Stiles, Senior Data Visualization Reporter, and Leah Askarinam, Politics Editor September 9, 2022 Since leaving office in January 2021, former president Donald Trump has been mired in legal difficulties, with a sprawling array of investigations probing his activities in office, his business and his private life. These legal entanglements threaten to derail Trump’s ambitions to run for president in 2024. Outside of politics, they could also cost him millions or lead to indictments on charges that carry lengthy prison sentences. Developments in the civil, federal and fact-finding investigations spanning from New York to Florida have come at a rapid pace in the form of Justice Department filings, state and local government disclosures, and media reports. Grid has sorted and summarized those developments in a live tracker that will be updated as long as these investigations continue. Here is a look at the major ongoing investigations involving Trump, along with news coverage tracking the latest significant developments. The Department of Justice investigation into government records stored at Mar-a-Lago

The Department of Justice released a photo of classified documents seized from Trump's office at Mar-a-Lago. (Department of Justice)

Investigation type: Criminal

Jurisdiction: Federal

What is under investigation: On Aug. 8, federal authorities executed a search warrant on Trump’s Florida resort as part of an ongoing criminal investigation of the storage of classified records and other sensitive documents at Mar-a-Lago. The search warrant and a warrant affidavit were unsealed in federal court in late August, revealing that federal investigators had been authorized to seize all physical documents and records located at the property “illegally possessed in violation of” three different criminal laws, including a portion of the Espionage Act. In addition to classified and top secret documents, the affidavit states: “There is also probable cause to believe that evidence of obstruction will be found at the premises.”

Why it matters: Trump has not been accused of a crime in the matter, and the search warrant and affidavit do not amount to a formal accusation. However, the three potential crimes being investigated carry lengthy prison sentences.

The Fulton County district attorney’s investigation into electoral interference in Georgia

Voters line up for the first day of early voting outside of the High Museum polling station on Dec. 14, 2020, in Atlanta. (Jessica McGowan/Getty Images)

Investigation type: Criminal

Jurisdiction: State

What is under investigation: In early 2021, Fulton County, Georgia, District Attorney Fani Willis opened an investigation of Trump’s alleged efforts to sway the election results in Georgia, including a Jan. 2, 2021, phone call with state Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger in which Trump said he wanted to “find” enough votes to make up for his margin of defeat. Willis in January requested a special grand jury with investigative power, and in July a judge approved the grand jury’s subpoenas for Trump lawyers Kenneth Chesebro, John Eastman, Jenna Ellis, Rudy Giuliani and Cleta Mitchell, along with Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), who also made postelection calls to Georgia election officials.

Why it matters: Solicitation of election fraud is a crime in Georgia, and legal experts told Grid that Trump may have violated state law. The Fulton County district attorney’s investigation has developed at a rapid pace this year and could ultimately lead to criminal charges against Trump or his allies.

The House select committee’s investigation of the Jan. 6 attack

Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.), chair of the Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the U.S. Capitol, and Vice Chairwoman Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) preside over a committee hearing on June 9 in Washington, D.C. (Win McNamee/Getty Images)

Investigation type: Congressional fact-finding

Jurisdiction: Federal

What is under investigation: Since July 2021, the House Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the U.S. Capitol has been probing efforts by Trump and his allies to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election. At the committee’s first public hearing in June, its chair, Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., said the committee’s work had uncovered “a sprawling multistep conspiracy aimed at overturning the presidential election” and that “Donald Trump was at the center of this conspiracy.” The committee has since received additional information and is expected to hold additional public hearings this year.

Why it matters: The Jan. 6 committee does not have the power to bring charges, but it can make referrals to other agencies and can uncover facts that prompt further investigation by law enforcement. Committee members have signaled an intent to deliver a final report by the end of the year, and the committee’s authorizing resolution specifies that it will terminate within 30 days of issuing that report.

The Department of Justice investigation into the Jan. 6 attack

Investigation type: Criminal

Jurisdiction: Federal

What is under investigation: The federal investigation into the Jan. 6, 2021, breach of the Capitol Building has so far led to more than 800 arrests. By March, the federal investigation into the insurrection had reportedly broadened to include actions by former government officials, including Trump, involved in orchestrating the “Stop the Steal” rally that precipitated the attack. Justice Department prosecutors have reportedly asked witnesses about Trump’s actions in front of a federal grand jury. In early September, a federal grand jury reportedly issued new subpoenas seeking information regarding Save America PAC, one of Trump’s major political fundraising vehicles.

Why it matters: Despite the prosecution and conviction of hundreds of individual participants in the Jan. 6 attack, none of the powerful political figures involved in the events of the day have been charged with a crime. But one year after the attack, Attorney General Merrick Garland said that the Justice Department “remains committed to holding all January 6th perpetrators, at any level, accountable under law.”

The New York state attorney general’s investigation into Trump’s businesses

Investigation type: Civil

Jurisdiction: State

What is under investigation: New York State Attorney General Letitia James in early 2019 began a civil investigation into the Trump Organization’s financial practices following congressional testimony by former Trump lawyer Michael Cohen indicating the company deflated assets in order to decrease its taxes. Trump’s son Eric Trump was deposed in October 2020 and pleaded the Fifth Amendment more than 500 times. In August, Donald Trump was deposed in the investigation and pleaded the Fifth more than 400 times.

Why it matters: The New York state attorney general’s investigation could lead to a range of outcomes for the Trump Organization, up to and including a possible lawsuit, or even the company losing its ability to conduct certain business operations in the state. Additionally, facts that have come to light through the civil investigation have factored into a joint criminal investigation with the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office.

New York attorney general and Manhattan District Attorney’s Office’s investigation into Trump’s business dealings

Investigation type: Criminal

Jurisdiction: State

What is under investigation: In 2020, then-Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr. began an investigation into the finances of the Trump Organization. By mid-2021, the state attorney general’s office had joined the Manhattan district attorney in the investigation. In July 2021, the Trump Organization and its longtime Chief Financial Officer Allen Weisselberg were charged in a 15-count indictment alleging they “engaged in a scheme constituting a systematic ongoing course of conduct with intent to defraud.” Weisselberg in August pleaded guilty to 15 felonies, many of which related to concealing benefits in order to underreport his income.

Why it matters: Weisselberg is by far Trump’s longest-tenured business partner and one of his most loyal lieutenants. He has reportedly not agreed to cooperate with authorities in their broader investigation into Trump but is required as part of his plea deal to testify at the Trump Organization trial scheduled to take place later this year.

• Steve Reilly

  Investigative Reporter

  Steve Reilly is an investigative reporter for Grid focusing on threats to democracy.

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  Matt Stiles

  Senior Data Visualization Reporter

  Matt Stiles is the senior data visualization reporter for Grid.

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  Leah Askarinam

  Politics Editor

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On Democracy

 

I love to write.  I think about the subject of my efforts long and hard before I write.  Sometimes it does not come easily to me but listening to Ali Velshi yesterday morning on MSNBC (a channel which occupies 9/10ths of my time) culminated in a light bulb moment. I figured out what was going to be the subject of my next effort. 

Ali Velshi's soliloquy on Democracy after covering the war-torn Ukraine was extemporaneously brillant.  He delivered with perfection his profound thoughts on the brutality of war against a totalitarian Russian bully, Putin, and at the same time gave me the subject of my next piece.  It will be entitled On Democracy.  Thank you, Ali Velshi, for delivering one of the most profound rationales for Democracy I have ever had the privilege to hear and why the struggle to maintain our democracy is so costly but ever-so necessary.  

Thank you again, Ali Velshi. I will dedicate my next piece to you and, as always, continue to watch MSNBC because it has the best news coverage, commentary and communicatively conveys, by far, the best and most profoundly humane political thought of any other news programming station.  Your profound thoughts on Democracy moved me to tears!

On Democracy

I spent two days last week viewing historical documentaries on Netflix -- one was entitled "Pearl Harbor."   I know the historicity of Pearl Harbor.  If I know it so well why does it make me cry everytime I view it and everytime I hear our National Anthem when viewing it?  I cry when I see the dismemberment of our entire Pacific fleet, the bravery of our men and women in uniform, and their horrific injuries by the surprise attack on the US at the hands of the Empire of Japan on December 7, 1941.  Those in the military risk their lives so that our Democracy and we live.  Especially during WWII that remained clear.

Japan was celebrating the efficacy of the attack and bestowing congratulations on the Japanese officers who led it. Another Japanese officer said he was not so ebulent.  He said "I think we have awoken a sleeping giant."  He was, of course, correct.  The attack ensured the United States would enter the war and thousands if not millions signed up to do so.   On December 8, 1941, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt asked a Joint Session of Congress to declare war against Germany and Italy and against the Empire of Japan in response to the surprise attack on Pearl Harbor.  "In his remarks, the president assured Members of Congress and the American people, “With confidence in our armed forces, with the unbounding determination of our people, in our righteous might we will gain the inevitable triumph. So help us God.” The vote to go to war was nearly unanimous. Winston Churchill, the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, said he had never slept so well as when he heard of the Japanese sneak attack on America at Pearl Harbor because, he said, he knew the United Kingdom would be safe when America entered the war.  The allies would add US power to their arsenal.

I can only watch the events of that day with a sense of envy.  I thought that it would be the last time the US was so united. Love of country and its Democracy led us to that day.  America rolled up its sleeves and went to war to save Democracy for us, for the United Kingdom and for, indeed, the world. 

Governments are Instituted to show where the decision making powers exist.  It has been said that Democracy is the worst form of government except for all the others. Yes, it is difficult to get an entire nation's representatives to agree on one issue. If one wants ease of decision making then a totalitarian form of government is the one for you.  The totalitarian state takes the responsibility of decision making out of the hands of the people and places it in the hands of one omnipotent leader and his supportive henchmen whether one likes that decision or not.  His or her word is law.  The leader is above the law.  Moreover, if one questions the leader's powers one opens oneself up to retaliatory violence and even death because in a totalitarian form of government such as Communism, Fascism, or monarchy the leader is the final and really the only word.  To defy his word means imprisonment, torture or worse.

Our Founders showed their brilliance by dividing power up between three institutions -- the Legislative, mentioned first, then the Executive, and the Judicial branch each with its own set of powers and checks on the other powers within the system.  They called it "checks and balances" whereby each institution can ride shotgun on Constitutional democracy to protect it, importantly, by non-violent opposition.  That power is derived from a just set of Constitutionally allowable techniques to arrive at policy through duly elected representatives of the people.  Yes, Democracy is sometimes messy and difficult but strives toward fairness.  The final arbitrators of stalemate are the Courts. President Barack Obama loved the Martin Luther King quote "The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice" so much so that he had it woven into the carpet in the oval office.

Our values, those of our elected representatives and the courts are the nationally agreed upon formation of how to handle differences in a democracy.  Couple that with a separation of church and state which the Founders so presciently formed because they saw what happened when religion's mandates are the final but ever so debatable arbiter.  Include the Bill of Rights to the essential fairness against the usurpation of government power and one has a nation which has guarded our Constitutional republic carefully against tyranny for over 200 years. 

Totalitarian governments kill millions as there is no inhibitor on the leader.  The Axis powers of Germany, Italy, and Japan in WWII killed an estimated 50 million or more.   The founders of Democracies can try to stop that because of the essential fairness within Democracy itself and its ability to debate policy.  Our Founders formed a Constitutional lifeguard to protect our democratic union.  We have as Benjamin Franklin told the one who asked him what kind of government they had created-- "a Republic, if  you can keep it" he said and so we have kept it for over 200 years.  200 more years, anyone? Let's go for it!!

Tracking Trump's Troubles

 Summary by Zack Everson with my Comments

"Donald Trump is involved in so many lawsuits and investigations–including allegations of election interference, business fraud, violating the Ku Klux Klan Act, mishandling presidential documents, inciting a mob, defrauding his niece and personal defamation that it can be difficult to keep them all straight."

"Forbes Magazine is making that easier, with this one-of-a-kind tracker following Trump’s troubles." 

My Comment: I do not know about you but when I clicked on the link to Trump's plethora of legal entanglements I was overcome with mental incredulity.  Examining all of Trump's lawsuits both criminal and civil, reminded me of a tsunami.  I felt like I was drowning.  There are so many lawsuits that Forbes divided them into categories to make for easier reading.  I enumerate the categories below and put a number counting just how many lawsuits there are. I attach the link below to the entire article which summarizes each and every one for your reading enjoyment.

1.  Business  - 14

2.  2020 Election - 5 

3. January 6, 2021 - 9

4.  Personal Disputes - 10

https://www.forbes.com/sites/zacheverson/2022/02/10/tracking-trump-arundown-of-all-the-investigations-and-cases-involving-the-former-president/?sh=6c25e7aa7f24

My Comment:  When Trump, with Melania behind him, rode down the escalator in Trump Tower into our lives I had no idea of what a colossally horrid and consequently disastrous fascistically authoritarian presidency he would want to create with him at the helm.  I had no idea he would zero in to our political milieu attempting to dismember democracy and even carry out with him our uber classified national nuclear secrets. 

Hillary Clinton got the description of those who succumbed to his intoxicating personality and lies as deplorable.  That is exactly the correct description of what his minions who, indeed, would unethically look away even if he shot someone in Times Square.  For some reason this ugly man inside and out with his bleached blond swept over thinning hair would captivate, perhaps, millions. 

When Benjamin Franklin was asked what kind of system the Founders created he said it was a Republic "IF you can keep it."  Thinking of the top secret documents he stashed away when his presidency was done perhaps nuclear in nature if you can keep it is up for grabs.  What could this immoral and unethical man do with the peoples documents he stole?  They are not his to keep, they are the people's documents.  What means more to the man Trump than his family or his country?  I avere money is the most important thing to the ugly man Trump.  Yes, I think he would sell this nation's nuclear secrets for millions to a nation that would pay phenomenal money to him to have them.  If I let my imagination run wild I would say he could sell them to Putin, Saudi Arabia, China, North Korea or anyone that could come up with enough money.

A Republic IF you can keep it is hanging by a thread.  Dear God, protect this nation from the unethical, immoral sickening slug that is Trump who would sell his mother for a million bucks.  A rightwing terrorist ally of Trump advised us to sleep well after the FBI with warrant in hand swept into Mar-A-Lago looking for nuclear documents Trump had squirreled away.  The right wing terrorist advised us to sleep well because the next day he said would be war.  I hope this is one war this nation will win!

To be President or not to be that is the question

 

My Comment:  It is debatable whether a newspaper editorial opinion has much sway as to the outcome of major or even minor races for political office.  Occasionally, though, newspapers that slanted decidedly one way should be paid attention to when for a singular moment in time they are compelled to change their usual tune on the decidedly imperative and mind blowing January 6, assault on the most democratic institution as the US Capitol, the People's House.  Such it is with the New York Post and the Wall Street Journal, two usually resoundingly conservative voices and their usual conservative political slant. I copied and pasted their views below because I thought their opinions made the most sense and because I hoped their opinions would land on Trump and especially his supporters' heads like a ton of proverbial bricks which might be enough to doom this decidedly and horrifically unqualified MAGA candidate, Donald Trump. I thought for some time what the tenor of my opinion would be but I could not find the strongest words which would convey the most anti-Trump sentiment to help doom his candidacy.  Both the New York Post and the Wall Street Journal newspapers did what I could not. I post them both below for your consideration.

Trump’s silence on Jan. 6 is damning -- New York Post -- Editorial Board

"As his followers stormed the Capitol, calling for his vice president to be hanged, President Donald Trump sat in his private dining room, watching TV, doing nothing

For three hours, seven minutes.

There has been much debate over whether Trump’s rally speech on Jan. 6, 2021, constituted “incitement.” That’s somewhat of a red herring. What matters more — and has become crystal clear in recent days — is that Trump didn’t lift a finger to stop the violence that followed.

And he was the only person who could stop what was happening. He was the only one the crowd was listening to. It was incitement by silence.

Trump only wanted one thing during that infamous afternoon: to pressure Vice President Mike Pence to decertify the election of Joe Biden.

He thought the violence of his loyal followers would make Pence crack, or delay the vote altogether. 

To his eternal shame, as appalled aides implored him to publicly call on his followers to go home, he instead further fanned the flames by tweeting: “Mike Pence didn’t have the courage to do what should have been done to protect our Country and our Constitution.”

His only focus was to find any means — damn the consequences — to block the peaceful transfer of power.

There is no other explanation, just as there is no defense, for his refusal to stop the violence.

It’s up to the Justice Department to decide if this is a crime. But as a matter of principle, as a matter of character, Trump has proven himself unworthy to be this country’s chief executive again."

WSJ editorial board: ‘Trump utterly failed’ his Jan. 6 trial by Caroline Vakil

The Wall Street Journal’s editorial board criticized former President Trump for refusing to take action on Jan. 6, 2021, as a mob of Trump supporters ransacked the Capitol, saying in an editorial published Friday that his vice president passed his “Jan. 6 trial” while Trump “utterly failed his.”

“Mr. Trump took an oath to defend the Constitution, and he had a duty as Commander in Chief to protect the Capitol from a mob attacking it in his name. He refused. He didn’t call the military to send help. He didn’t call [then-Vice President Mike Pence] to check on the safety of his loyal VP. Instead he fed the mob’s anger and let the riot play out,”

“Character is revealed in a crisis, and Mr. Pence passed his Jan. 6 trial. Mr. Trump utterly failed his,” the editorial board added.

The Journal’s editorial came one day after the House select committee investigating the Capitol riot held its final summer hearing, which focused on the 187 minutes between Trump finishing his remarks at his “Stop the Steal” rally on Jan. 6 and a tweet he sent in the late afternoon telling his supporters to go home.

Using footage of taped depositions from officials like former White House counsel Pat Cipollone and in-person testimony from Trump White House officials Sarah Matthews and Matthew Pottinger, the committee accused the former president of dereliction of duty as they described how for hours he did nothing to stop the violence that ensued that day.

“President Trump did not fail to act during the 187 minutes between leaving the Ellipse and telling the mob to go home,” committee member Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.) said during the hearing. “He chose not to act.” 

The Journal’s editorial board made clear that it did not agree with the committee on all fronts of its investigation — arguing it “lacks political balance” and was “trying to make a criminal case that might be hard to prove and might tear the country apart.”

However, the editorial board also acknowledged that “the facts it is laying out in hearings are sobering” as it condemned Trump’s inaction on the day of the riot. 

The editorial comes as The New York Post’s editorial board also offered strong words against the former president in its own editorial on Friday.

“It’s up to the Justice Department to decide if this is a crime. But as a matter of principle, as a matter of character, Trump has proven himself unworthy to be this country’s chief executive again,”

A Jewish View on Abortion

 

I was taught from a very young age by my mother that Jews consider the life of the mother the most important and that if a choice had to be made to save the life of the mother or the fetus or baby it was the mother's life that took preeminence. See  link below.  I must have been only a child when she told me specifically that. Now my mother was not a woman who was involved in political issues but on that issue she was firm. I thought Jews often get those social issues correct and it makes me proud now to think that the tribe has it right 

 

The question now is how do we reverse that noxious decision overturning Roe? By electing a Democratic president for the next decade or two as the older Supreme Court justices retire. A Democratic president would not have to kow tow to Christian right fundamentalists. Oh sure, easy ..... NOT but as my example for all things political Professor Howard Zinn would have said keep your eye on the prize and keep fighting no matter the right wing extremists disgusting influence. They are wrong!! Do not give up the fight to bring back choice and Roe. Full term human life is at stake!

 

 https://www.msnbc.com/opinion/msnbc-opinion/roe-v-wade-overturned-abortion-banned-christian-freedom-what-about-n1296568

Clear and Present Danger

The January Six committee hearing today on the pressuring of Vice President Pence by former president Donald Trump to not certify the electoral college vote on January 6.  Pence was asked by the former president Trump to not certify the count and to throw the count back to the states.  Vice President Pence was told numerous times as was Trump that it was not within his constitutional authority to do so. He was authorized to certify the count as a formality only and had no authority to question it, much less throw it back to the states as Trump wanted.  Pence told the president he could not do that and that it was unconstitutional and, in fact, illegal for him to do this.  He was met with Trumpian fury calling Pence a "wimp." Pence stood his ground and never faltered.  He refused to declare the electoral count invalid despite encountering much pressure and anger from the former president against him.  He was nothing less than a profile in courage.  Pence never capitulated.  This was the most riveting and profound congressional hearing on the January 6, 2021 violent insurrection at the capitol as I have ever heard.  I was riveted.  The room was dead silence as we heard the mesmerizing testimony of numbers involved in the scheme or knew about it. 

Again, our nation has dodged a bullet that would have understatedly compromised it if not destroyed our democracy as we know it, plunging the nation into a constitutional crisis that would shake the very foundations upon which the republic stands if not destroy it. 

A clear and present danger in the person of Donald J. Trump who attempted to thwart the 2020 election and do what no other in our nation has tried to do by unconstitutionally overthrowing the 2020 election and subverting the will of the people.  This would have thrown the nation into a constitutional crisis which has never happened in the history of this nation. Patriots and profiles in courage presented roadblocks thereby saving our democratic republic at least this time.  Mike Pence's life was threatened as the violent mob egged on by Trump yelled "hang Mike Pence."  There was a gallows with a rope awaiting the successful location of him.  He was destined for hanging if the mob could locate him.  Pence refused to get into his chauffeured car worrying that he might be whisked off to a place unknown.  Rightfully, he was in fear for his life and did not know how far Trump would go not accepting his electoral loss.   One can only shudder at what could have happened as the mob was itching to locate Nancy Pelosi, Senator Schumer and others who could have been in their sites and even killed.

J. Michael Lusttig, a retired federal judge and leading conservative who advised Vice President Mike Pence ahead of the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, that it would be illegal not to certify the electors.  Lustig's testimony was measured and profound.  One could see he was shaken to his core at just how close this nation came to its destruction.  If you get a chance to view the questioning today I suggest you do so (See link below). 

"A republic if you can keep it," Franklin answered when a woman questioned what type of government the Founders formed. So far a free nation stands irrespective of the clear and present danger it suffered and still does from Trump. 

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/trump-jan-6-hang-mike-pence_n_62ab3b72e4b0c77098aaf481

31 Patriot Front Extremists Aiming To 'Riot' At Idaho Pride Event Arrested: Officials

 

Yet another moment of incredulity. See link below.

We are 1/2 an ever-so-violent nation with one of two only parties, the Republican Party, offering right wing fascist tendencies!

Can no one stop this reality?

VOTE DEMOCRAT AND TELL EVERYONE YOU KNOW TO VOTE DEMOCRAT ALSO AND SAVE DEMOCRACY.

 

 

 https://www.huffpost.com/entry/coeur-dalene-pride-event-riot_n_62a52bc1e4b0cf43c849dd90

The Republican Party today

Take a look at the link below, read it and wonder why oh why could this guy who said what he did still win his seat?

Is this what the Republican Party has become? I shake my head in dismay and disbelief. Where is this nation headed with a totalitarian right wing extremist party as the only other choice for whom to vote? Sad, god awful sad!

https://news.yahoo.com/gop-candidate-carl-paladino-calls-161513014.html

Violence guns and men

 

The past weeks news of murderous gun violence both in Buffalo, New York at a Tops supermarket and beyond in Uvalde, Texas, at the Robb Elementary School taking the lives of nineteen innocent children and 2 teachers again drove me into a cerebral stupor as I try to explain these all-too-frequent occurrences in our nation.  I am saturated with sadness drowning in tears and with, I admit, rage. Both emotions beg for analyses as to why these senseless acts of gun violence, and murder of innocents occur with seemingly never-ending shameful regularity in our nation. 

Perhaps, because the analysis of this national gun violence is so complex in its abundance weaving in and out of a labyrinth that it makes me want to give up before I even try to make sense of it all.  Let's attack the understanding of violence from both a larger perspective of historical and biological rationales to a smaller analysis that is particular to our own national history.

Man is and has been a violent creature both because of an evolutionary propensity to survive and prevail over anything else.  His desire to satisfy this seemingly bottomless hunger to get what he wants in competitive struggle with those around him and even with alien others continues in perpetuity.  We can see this combat in other species, too, in their desire for dominance both with their own kind and in a survival-of-the-fittest competition with others for scarce resources. As man progressed so did his inclination to make war and his ability to build a better mousetrap or weapon became prominent. In sum, the violent nature of our species' DNA cannot be denied.  Violence is in us from our evolutionary beginning.

In a smaller national analysis, why is gun violence and the killing it births so prevalent in our nation?  The film director Michael Moore was asked that question.  He tends to agree with the NRA’s stance that “guns don’t kill people — people kill people,” but he believes it is more accurate to say, “Americans kill people.” He said we are a violent nation; violent from the very beginning of our nation's founding and that we are good at it.  White men gained power by destroying first the Indians whom they discovered were here before anyone else then systematically conquering black and brown African people by the millions forcing them into the cruel indentured servitude of slavery over centuries that has been entrenched in Black history and shows its mark today.  America has been at war first against the British, and then followed a series of violent conquests shown in the chart below dedicated in this nation and in pertinent part to the maintenance of white supremacy and the maintenance of white men over black and brown men in positions of power. 

NO WORDS JUST TEARS

14 elementary school children massacred and one teacher - No words just tears

 I must write something and yet there are no words or if there are I cannot right now express or find them.

With all the injustice in this country and now this massacre  -- the height of injustice.  I can think of one word -- children, children, children. 

Texas governor Abbott should be fired i.e. thrown out of office with umpteen Republicons going with him like Ted Cruz and many others who suck at the breast of the NRA and gun manufacturers. Money the mother's milk of corruption.  The NRA means money in these unconscionable elected officials' pockets -- mainly Republican but not always exclusively Republican yet mostly Republican.

These were 2nd, 3rd and 4th graders. This is worse than shootings all over the country every day. One cannot minimize this and put it in the same category as all the others sad as those shootings were and have been. This is Newtown II. Children, barely out of the crib cut down in senseless slaughter.

I must collect my emotional self; perhaps more words will follow but now there are no words just tears.

 

Staggering: Supreme Court Leak Shows Justices Preparing To Overturn Roe

 

This is what happens when you have minority rule as a result of colossal gerrymandering and vote fixing. The majority on the issue of abortion in this country is well defined and in huge numbers wants abortion to be kept safe and legal.

Funny how Republicans when abortion is not legal turn their backs on the result of having a child that is not wanted either because of major birth defects,  rape, financial hardship or the god awful occurrence of incest?   When the life of the mother is secondary what happens to that child when abortion is illegal? Republicans wash their hands of the responsibility for the care and maintenance of an unwanted or for that matter a medically compromised child. Worse still is the thought of mandating a juvenile or a child to have a child.

If one can believe a Republican woman said that making abortion illegal presents a good opportunity for the mother to have a child and they further say that child could cure cancer. This is where their lack of intelligence presents stupidity as the result of this heinous decision. It will stand with the abhorrent Dred Scott  Supreme Court decision as one of the worst court decisions in US history. 

What if that unwanted child does NOT cure cancer but becomes a serial killer? The two possibilities are of equal merit.  I would go out on a limb and say having an unwanted child produces unwanted results. It is more likely that child will suffer the negative ramifications of his/her birth. 

So what does that mean for the majority in this nation? It means that the Democratic/Independent Progressive voting  MUST be gotten out en masse!!  Support Democrats up and down the ticket and hope we all live to see the day when quack abortionists and the deaths they wield to women do not become the rule.

David and Goliath

 Short of being in the middle of the Ukraine and Russian war crimes war I can only accept what those I trust who have been there are saying. We are still a democracy and free speech is our best shot at truth telling. I was skeptical of Secretary of State Blinken's statement yesterday after the Kyiv visit that Russia is failing in its war aims, and Ukraine is succeeding.  I trust our advocates of free speech to tell the truth and know for sure Putin is a consummate liar just like Trump. The visit yesterday of our two highest secretaries -- Secretary of State Blinken and our military expert and Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin -- were shining examples of American commitment to Ukraine's winning this war for the protection of democracy and to crush the authoritarian war criminal Putin and his authoritarian state. In view of the powerful support of the US, other democracies and the Ukrainian superb resistance I am believing Blinken's statement that Ukraine will be there long after Putin's demise. [applause applause]

I hope as the days pass and Ukraine wins it will be the world's win and Ukraine will go down in history as the greatest victory since David fought Goliath. This time a Ukrainian win will be a phenomenal victory for democracy and those who study war will marvel at the Ukrainian success and superb perseverance against the bloviating mammoth Russia for a very long time. And, oh by the way, in France the rightwing extremist fascist Marine LePen [yes, that is how she spells her name] lost by a very large margin. We breathe a sigh of relief!  Onward, to defeat in this country our own fascist threat, the Trumpians and their Republican allies who want power so much they are willing to take democracy down to get it.  Do not let them.  Vote Democrat up and down the ticket!

The crime of war

War is so bestial and so horrific, and so damaging it is a wonder to me that nations would consider war as an option to solve differences between nation states.  I also thought WWII taught mankind a war crimes lesson.  Humanity has been taught that the horrific war crimes committed by nations when they are at war will be prosecuted as they were at Nuremberg and in modern times by the ICC (The International Criminal Court -- The Hague.) 

We know crimes committed by the German state in WWII rose to the level of war crimes much like Justice Stewart defined pornography as "I know it when I see it" to determine what is profanity.  War crimes, similarly, committed by nations at war are so horrific, so serious, so obvious and so beyond the definition of civilized humanity that, indeed, it too falls under the conclusion like pornography--I know a war crime when I see it.  Still, those nations prosecuted by the Hague give civilized man a yardstick to measure atrocities when they are committed by persons engaged in war and give humanity a place to prosecute those crimes in the International Criminal Court. "The International Criminal Court the (ICC) investigates and, where warranted, tries individuals charged with the gravest crimes of concern to the international community those of: genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity and the crime of aggression."  Do we know a war crime when we see it?  Yes, but to extract from that the ability to try, convict and punish those who have committed war crimes is, especially in the instant case of Russia's reprehensible crimes against humanity against the sovereign nation Ukraine we need a definitional format of just what the war crime(s) is (are).  We are helped by the media with their voluminous reporting and photographing the many atrocities committed by Russia commanded by and at the direction of Vladimir Putin against the innocent civilian population of Ukraine.

The media and photography give the mind's eye truth to asking the court to press charges against Russia for war crimes.  "Western and Ukrainian leaders have accused Russia of war crimes before, and the International Criminal Court’s prosecutor has opened a probe to investigate the conflict." "But the latest reports ratcheted up the condemnation even further, with Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and some Western leaders going so far as to accuse Russia of genocide." I concur with this request.  Yes, I know war crimes when I see them.  The Maripol bombing in general but in particular of a hospital by Russians and a pregnant woman succumbing to the attacks is yet another example of a war crime.  Hundreds maybe thousands of civilians have been raped.  "Russian soldiers have raped girls as young as ten and branded women’s bodies with swastikas," a Ukrainian MP has claimed.  Lesia Vasylenko said children had been left with wounds from serious sexual assault, adding: “Russian men did this.”  It comes as Russian troops are accused of massacring, torturing and raping hundreds of civilians on the outskirts of the capital Kyiv in Bucha and in Irpin. 

To my mind war is so lethal, so barbaric, and so inhuman that war itself should be labeled a war crime.  Man's inhumanity to man I was always told is a permanent condition of mankind.  If one looks at the concentration camps of WWII, and looks at Ukraine now there can be no doubt that war itself is a war crime.  50 million people died in WWII.  Yes, I said 50 million.  What kind of mental contortions have to be constructed to allow man the ability to do that to the innocent of other men.  As I see it, those NATO nations should act to defend Ukraine and give them all the weapons they need to defend against the Russian beast despite Ukraine not being a member of NATO.  The crime of war should bring with it a potential for the redress of grievances.   Justice, justice, justice I cry so that the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice the oft quoted line speaks.  I wake up, take a shower, then think on the crime of war and ask where can the Ukrainian go to find justice and how long will it take?  It will take as the song said to the twelfth of never and that is a long long time. 

In the meantime give those Ukrainians what they need to fight Putin's plague and watch as this time justice may bend toward justice even within the crime of war!

 

A reason to hope and a time to kvell?

Russia has agreed to talks with Zalensky and according to MSNBC reporting Ukraine is entering into these talks from a position of strength!!! I hope that is correct. I do not want to wax euphoric .... YET.

Democracy and Ukraine it seems, so far, are winning this war. Russia underestimated the strength of Ukraine.  If Russia were winning they would never enter into talks. Could the good guys be victorious? I surely HOPE SO as do the many democratic states in Europe. This is the most positive I have been since the invasion of Russian aggressors almost a month ago when I knew the Ukrainians would launch a patriotic defense of their land but could Russian numbers in the end prevail. 

Keep praying for Ukraine or do what you do by asking a higher power to overcome the imbalanced strength of the Russian Goliath.

As a side note.  Thoughts about the Ukrainian people.  My grandparents emigrated from Ukraine from the towns of Shepatovka and Sluvuta (at the turn of the 20th century) to overcome Russian pogroms (organized attacks) and the Nazi Holocaust against the Jews.  What a smart move!  Had they stayed they probably would have ended up in Babi Yar, a pit where they tossed dead Jews.  Over 33,000 Jews were killed and tossed there in over a week's time.  I never knew my grandfather but I can only kvell (Yiddish for beam with pride) at the foresight he had to get on a boat to America, to him, a strange land.  I was told he was fiercely patriotic and loved this country.  His progeny reflected the success for which he had hoped.  It and other branches spawned doctors, businessmen and women, teachers, a diplomat at the presidential level and many college graduates.  Oh yes, by the way, Zelensky, the president of Ukraine, is Jewish. So much for the Russian fake news that Ukraine was invaded by Nazis and that the Russians are engaged in a defensive war against them.  That falls into the category of Russian bulls&^%.

The moral of that story is trust NOTHING Putin says and pray for the good democratic people of Ukraine to prevail!!

ANOTHER GOP BEAST

GOP Sen. Mike Braun Says Interracial Marriage Should Be Left To The States.  

The link below is about our kindly empathetic GOP.  If it were up to Indiana Senator Mike Braun the ugly position above would be law. He walked it back by saying he got the question wrong. If anyone believes that I have a bridge to sell you.

Why doesn't the vile, sickening, putrid Republican senator from Indiana set up his own Nazi state somewhere the art of being an empathetic human is non existent?  Another dirtbag in the GOP.  These GOPers crawl out from the bottom of the sea. Question: How many GOPers agree with him? Answer: Many. 

 

Vote Democratic Blue everywhere! 

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/mike-braun-interracial-marriage_n_623a3627e4b0c727d4848948

THE RUSSIAN CHALLENGE AND THE NATO MANTRA

Dissecting the international upheaval is a challenge. In truth, whether Putin will attack Ukraine I do not really know. I suspect he will push forward because what I do know and have said often is that Russia in the end wants a reemergence under its power the Russian Eastern European block nations before the fall of the Soviet Union. Crimea was first, now it is Ukraine, soon I suspect Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania will be in his sights as is Bulgaria. The Nazi horror Hitler is Putin's teacher. Little by little Hitler emerged as a potent force for the annexation of German hegemony through the appropriation of nations one by one on the pretext of protecting German speaking people. Chamberlain got it wrong. Hitler wanted the whole of Europe and would stop at nothing. The Sudetenland land was first, then Poland, Czechoslovakia and beyond were under German authoritarian aegis. He did not stop at the Sudetenland. Hitler was stopped by Russia because the Russian winter was a prohibitive factor. Make no mistake Hitler wanted Russia too. Hitler wanted the world. The allies and the Russian winter ultimately defeated him before Hitler could have won it all and now our allies must remain united and not repeat the Chamberlain debacle by allowing Putin to gain little by little what he wants by invasion. NATO was designed in the face of Nazi defeat to never let another power reach for global domination. Putin does not want NATO to stop him now. It must not be sanctioned that one nation by merely overpowering other nations surrounding its borders can again do the same just because it wants to. Our NATO allies must hold fast stopping Russian aggression or the west will see a reemergence of the attempt at world domination and authoritarian leadership. We are now at an inflection point. Domestic right wing extremism in our midst makes for a very dangerous situation with a nuclear power flexing its Russian muscle saying do not let NATO or anything else threaten Russian power. The US can play that game too and should flex its own threatening muscle in response. Perhaps extreme sanctions can stop the Russian state. My first inclination is to say no it will not but the NATO powers should remain together saying as NATO's mantra said that an attack on one nation is an attack on all.

The unethical SCOTUS Clarence Thomas

 

Every single day there is yet another accusation that sets my hair on fire as to the unethical reality of, this time SCOTUS and the steep cliff the opposition to all things extremist right must climb to expose and eradicate these unethical influences to yet another institution of our division of power nation--the Supreme Court.

We on the rational side of things political must depend on savvy others to advocate and mount a legal offense to these egregious unethical sins this time by the Supreme Court in the person of one of its justices, Clarence Thomas and his wife's membership and advocacy for right wing legal cases that are to be brought before this court for adjudication. What will happen to the extremist right wingnut Clarence Thomas and his dance with the extremist right wing of his wife's political advocacy?  This is yet another attempt at packing the Court with justices who will influence the outcome of legislation brought before it such as the affirmative action programs of many educational institutions that the right has been chafing at the bit to eradicate.  Ginni Thomas, Clarence Thomas's wife, has been a vociferous advocate for these right wing causes which will demand attention by this Court yet again ensuring the decisions of the court of litigation brought before it will list to the often extremist political right.  This Court, above any other, has become an arm of the extremist political right wing ensuring the outcome of its various cases even before the cases are argued.  Justice Thomas is a flagrant abuser of an ethical code of justice that ensures blind justice uninfluenced by political causes and opinion.  It is just plain unethical and wrong.  Justice Thomas must recuse himself from sitting and judging on cases in which his wife is intimately involved.

I attach a link to an article by Demicia Inman of The Grio entitled "Clarence Thomas" wife supported rioters before the siege: ..." 

 

 

"https://news.yahoo.com/clarence-thomas-wife-supported-rioters-231103492.html