Racial Justice

For John, BLUF:  The US Supreme Court came down on racial quotas in college admissions, and rightfully so.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Senator E Warren on SCOTUS on Affirmitive Action

From Twitter, by Senator Elizabeth Warren, Democraft from Massachusetts.  "Blue Check"

Here is the Tweet:

Elizabeth Warren
@SenWarren

An extremist Supreme Court has once again reversed decades of settled law, rolled back the march toward racial justice, and narrowed educational opportunity for all. I won't stop fighting for young people with big dreams who deserve an equal chance to pursue their future.

Last edited 12:03 PM · Jun 29, 2023 · 7.1M Views

1,484 Retweets  2,532 Quotes  7,030 Likes  288 Bookmarks

I accept the second sentence as written.

The Senator rails against the upsetting "of settled law".  But, what if it was wrongly settled?  Does she scorn Brown v Board of Education because it overturned decades of settled law??

I am not sure what Senator Warren's vision is for racial justice when she says the decision "rolled back the march toward racial justice".  Does she want a country where the percentsges of people in different positions, and at different levels, match the percentage of that group across the nation, down to a low margin of error?  Do we want to shoehorn people into such a representation of equality?

The Senstor writes about the Supreme Court decision:  "narrowed educational opportunity for all."  All?  It seems to have opened up opportunities for those Asian Americans who had sued Harved.  Unless Harvard is expanding its student body, it is a Zero-sum game  That is, you win, I lose.  Even Senator Warren's former colleagues from Harvard should understand that.

I believe Students for Fair Admission v Harvard♠ was properly settled and I hope to see all progress, based on their individual merit.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

♠  And, the sister case, Students for Fair Admissioon v University of North Caroina.

What Does the DA Care About

For John, BLUF:  The Cityr of Atlanta seeems to have a District Attorney who is not much interested in Domestic Tranquility.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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District Attorney Recuses Her Office From Prosecuting Atlanta Domestic Terrorists

From PJ Media, by Reporter Chris Queen, 26 June 2023, 2:28 PM.

Here is the lede plus two:

Authorities have arrested more than 50 domestic terrorists who ravaged metro Atlanta over the past several months trying to stop the construction of a public safety training center just outside the city.  These thugs, who are aligned with Antifa and tied to one of Stacey Abrams’ groups, shot at a Georgia state trooper, did damage to construction equipment, torched a police car, and damaged a historic building in midtown Atlanta.  They also targeted the offices of the contractors in charge of the project and allegedly booby-trapped a popular park, and members have reportedly protested at church services where contract employees were worshiping.

You can read my extensive coverage of the situation here, complete with links to all my articles, but suffice it to say that it’s going to take a while to move these suspects through the court system.  And now, authorities have one less venue to handle the prosecution.

DeKalb County District Attorney Sherry Boston announced on Friday that she is recusing her office from the prosecution of these Antifa goons.  WSB-TV reports that Boston released a statement that she will “withdraw her office from the prosecution of all current cases related to the Atlanta Public Safety Training Center.”

If you can't count on your local District Attorney you are in big trouble.  Selective prosecution is a destoryer of civil soociety.  And, if it is like this case, where the DA seems to be siding with the anti-Police faction, one can be excused for wondering if local goveernment has fallen apart.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

Fox Shakeup

For John, BLUF:  Fox News seems to be suffering from a self inflilcted wound.  The questioon is why.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Fox News announces new primetime lineup with Laura Ingraham, Jesse Watters, Sean Hannity, and Greg Gutfeld

Here is the sub-headline:

'[New lineup] will ensure our viewers have access to unrivaled coverage from our best-in-class team for years to come,' CEO Suzanne Scott said

From Fox News, by Reporter Brian Flood, 26 June 2023, 11:43am EDT.

Here is the lede plus two:

Fox News Channel will debut a new primetime lineup on July 17, FOX News Media CEO Suzanne Scott announced on Monday.

"The Ingraham Angle" with Laura Ingraham will kick things off at 7 p.m. ET, followed by "Jesse Watters Primetime" shifting to 8 p.m. ET, "Hannity" will remain at 9 p.m. ET and "Gutfeld!" will begin at 10 p.m. ET.

"FOX News Channel has been America’s destination for news and analysis for more than 21 years and we are thrilled to debut a new lineup. The unique perspectives of Laura Ingraham, Jesse Watters, Sean Hannity, and Greg Gutfeld will ensure our viewers have access to unrivaled coverage from our best-in-class team for years to come," Scott announced.

I admit to be one of those who think that Fox News made a big mistake in terminating Opinionator Tucker Carlson.  I think Mr Carlson was well liked and was appealing to a lot of viewers.

As to the new lineup, I do not think that Fox News has made up for the loss of Mr Carlson.  I like Ms Laura Ingram, but I don't think she is everyone's cup of tea.  She was where she was supposed to be.  As for Talker Jesse Watters, his style is different from Tucker Carlson, and not a good substitute.  The move does extend Mr Watters' work day.  Moving Mr Greg Gutfeld to the Ten slot seems reasonable.  Overall, not a splendid mixup.

Good luck to Fox and to the rest of us.

Regards  —  Cliff

The American Way

For John, BLUF:  Freedom requires a little tolerence, even of the intolerent.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Neo-Nazis protest 2 Georgia synagogues over the weekend

From Jewish Telegraphic Agency, by Reporter Andrew Lapin, 26 June 2023 3:05.

Here is the lede plus three:

Two Georgia synagogues were targeted by nearly identical antisemitic protests over the weekend, both allegedly organized by a neo-Nazi group that has gained notoriety in recent months.

On Friday, a group of around 10 to 15 protesters gathered outside Temple Beth Israel, a Reform congregation in Macon, a city in central Georgia. They carried crude signs, hung an effigy from a post and spouted antisemitic vitriol before being broken up by police.

The next day, around 11 people waved swastika flags and displayed very similar antisemitic messages outside a Chabad center in Marietta, Georgia, about 100 miles to the north. The signs blamed Jews for wielding control over elected officials or institutions, such as the media and the Federal Reserve. Another sign reportedly referenced the 1913 lynching of Leo Frank, a Jewish factory owner, which took place in Marietta.

Both protests appeared to be the work of the Goyim Defense League, a neo-Nazi group that has spread its messaging and instigated other antisemitic incidents around the country. The organization’s leader, Jon Minadeo II, was arrested and charged with disorderly conduct and public disturbance following the protest in Macon, and signs at the Marietta demonstration referenced the group’s streaming channel.

On the one hand, this is dispicable.  On the other hand, as the US Supreme Court has ruled, the right to free speech applies to all, even those we find dispicable.  It is the genius American way.

First, I hope no one gets hurt.  Second, I hope no one is prevented from worshipping.  Other than that, I am ready to move on.

Hat tip to the The Drudge Report.

Regards  —  Cliff

Preparation

For John, BLUF:  Here is a very short article calling us to prayer and preperation for our nation's 250th anniversary in 2026.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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My homeland in Ordinary Times

From The Pilot, by Ms Lucia A. Silecchia, 21 June 2023.

Here is the lede plus one:

Three more years.

As we celebrate Independence Day this year, I can't help thinking that we are now in the three-year run-up to our nation's 250th anniversary in 2026. In some ways, three years seems like a long time away. Yet, if advancing years have taught me anything, it is that time passes far more quickly than I anticipate!

The celebration of our nation's bicentennial in 1976 dominated some of my early childhood memories. Yet, so far, the celebration of our nation's fast-approaching 250th birthday is not receiving much public attention. I hope that this changes soon.

Meanwhile, I have a modest proposal.

And her modest proposal is prayer for this noble experiment, broken into three prayers over three years.

• Perhaps we can direct our prayers in each of the next three years to one of our three branches of government.  (Legislative, Executive, Judicial)
• Perhaps, instead, we may order our prayers toward the three levels of government, rather than the three branches.  (Federal, State, Local)
• Perhaps, instead, we can organize our prayers temporally -- praying on our nation's past this first year, its present in the second year, and its future in the third year.

A good thought for preparation for our 250th Anniversary.

Regards  —  Cliff

Is E Warren Secure in Her Seat?

For John, BLUF:  I would normally think Senator E Warren was secure in her position, but the poll mentioned below got my interest.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Shock Poll:  Dem Elizabeth Warren Surprisingly Vulnerable, Trails GOP’s Charlie Baker by Double Digits

Here is the sub-headline:

Former Gov. Charlie Baker (R-MA) holds a double-digit lead over Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) in a hypothetical U.S. Senate race match-up in Massachusetts, according to a poll.

From Breitbart, by Reporter Nick Gilbertson, 11 May 2023.

Here is the lede plus three:

The poll, conducted by the Fiscal Alliance Foundation, shows that 49 percent of the likely voter respondents would back Baker if he announced a bid, placing him 15 points ahead of Warren at 34 percent.

2024 Massachusetts Senate GE: Charlie Baker (R) 49% (+15) Elizabeth Warren (D-Inc) 34% Advantage, Inc/@FiscalAlliance, 750 LV, 5/6-7https://t.co/NCLiy4JkmW pic.twitter.com/ykA13tKN7m — Political Polls (@Politics_Polls) May 11, 2023

Moreover, the moderate Republican leads by a wide margin with independents, as Fiscal Alliance Foundation spokesman Paul D. Craney noted in a release associated with the survey:

Senator Warren has significantly higher unfavorable numbers than her fellow Democrats statewide and that seems to be creating an opening for Baker, who always enjoyed large amounts of cross-party appeal. Looking at the cross tabs, Republicans seem to coalesce behind Baker (79%) in a way that Democrats do not around Warren (56%), and Baker leads with independent/unenrolled voters 2-1 at 57-26%.

This is a late post, but it could be important.  The Presidential race could also complicate the calculations.

It is interesting to me that the Fiscal Alliance would match former governor Charlie Baker against Senator Elizabeth Warren.  For one thing, he isn't seeking the seat.  For another, Former Governor Baker isn't that popular with all the rank and file Republicans, although more popular than Senator Warren..

For sure, they are unlikely to come looking for me to run.

Regards  —  Cliff

The Paperwork

For John, BLUF:  We need to be looking out for each other, and we need to be in a position to do so.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Buckle Up, Buttercup

Here is the sub-headline:

Life's about to get rough with you

From Cedar’s Substack, by Ms Cedar Sanderson, 20 June 2023.

Here is the lede plus one:

Spoiler: we’re all alive.

This publishes mid-week, but on Sunday the fun started. My husband, best-beloved of my heart and First Reader, came to me in the kitchen and complained of indigestion. I was working on a yellow squash relish, and we’d had a heavy breakfast, so I asked him if he wanted me to find the tums. He said he’d have a glass of milk, and we went on with life. Not much later, he came back, sweating, and asked me to drive him to the doc-in-a-box. He was having chest pain radiating into his arm and hand, nausea, and a headache.

The author gives us some lessons learned:

• Be careful of a Do Not RESUSSITATE (DNR) order.  With such a document in place you shouldn't even do CPR on your spouse.
• What is needed is an advanced care directive (ACD).
• If you are in a relationship with no legal basis, get the medical PoA set up.

During my time in the Air Force I learned the aphorism, "The job isn't done until the paperwork is complete".

I would add,

• Everyone needs a Patient Advocate; someone to go to the desk and convey information, from the patient wants ice cream to the patient isn't acting normally.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

Knowing Your Fascists

For John, BLUF:  This is about a sideshow, but it is attracting some attention.  To Vax or not.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Are you following the pretty formidable coalition with neofascist leanings?

From Althouse Blog, by Professor Ann Althouse, 18 June 2023.

This is about Joe Rogan challenging Professor Peter Hotez to come on his show to debate Democratic Party Presidential Challenger Robert F Kennedy, Jr.

Professor Hotez Tweeted:

I'm quite concerned about the Elon-Tucker link, then fold in Rogan and RFK Jr and it becomes a pretty formidable coalition with neofascist leanings.  In some ways darker or perhaps more dangerous than Trump, in my opinion.  Awful.  I just hope Team Biden is preparing.

Do these people even know the origins of Fascism?  Do they connect it with Benito Mussolini?  Do they understand that it was Mussolini's invention after he rejected Communism and invented his own system of socialism?  Do they understand it is more "Left" than "Right"?  Do they undertaand that Left and Right were great terms in late 1700s France, but are artificial constructs today?

When Professor Hotez says, "I just hope Team Biden is preparing," do he and Team Biden know that it is both within the party and external?

As for myself, I worry about the Fascists supporting President Joe Biden.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

Anathematizing Our Opponents

For John, BLUF:  We can all try to get along or we can divide up and hate each other.  The former is what we were supposed to have learned in Kindergarten.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Impeachments, insurrection, indictments — and indifference from Trump’s followers

Here is the sub-headline:

There’s no redemption for supporters who’ve chosen racist ideology over country or even party.

From The Boston Globe, by Columnist Renée Graham, 13 June 2023, 2:22 PM.

Here is the lede plus one:

It’s not that Republicans defending Donald Trump don’t believe that the former president willfully took boxes of classified documents when he left the White House; piled them up in unsecured locations all over Mar-a-Lago, his Florida estate; endangered national security by showing them to guests; and tried everything short of smothering them in ketchup and eating them to keep them despite federal officials repeatedly demanding their swift return.

They just don’t care.

So, the Columnist asserts that those who follow Donald Trump are, in the Judeo-Christian view, mired in sin and cannot be saved.  For us there is no redemption, nothing to expiate our sins.  That is a pretty stark judgement.  It reminds me of 2016, when one of my friends said to me that until I renounced Donald Trump I had nothing to say [to them].

The end of the column wasn't much kinder than the beginning.

This is what happens to people dialed into their phony victimization and beliefs that equality is the province of whiteness (or those willing to employ pretzel logic to twist toward white adjacency) while accountability is a punishment only for those they don’t like.

Eight years ago this week, Trump descended an escalator in his garish Manhattan “tower” to announce his bid for the Republican presidential nomination. He’s been dragging this nation through hell ever since, and his followers remain down for a ride that has pulverized political norms, the rule of law, and democracy itself. And that’s shocking only to those who still refuse to acknowledge the white supremacist origins of Trump’s repulsive success.

In fact, it expanded into something like an invocation of Author Robin J. DiAngelo's White Fragility:  Why It's So Hard for White People to Talk About Racism.  We are supporting Donald Trump because we are "White Supremecists".

In my mind I compared this Column with Dr Richard Haass' book, The Bill of Obligations:  The Ten Habits of Good Citizens.  My conclusion was that the Author had judged some 74 million fellow Citizens and found them wanting.  They were so bad that there was no basis for compromise.♠

If the Biden voting base really thinks those who voted for Donald J Trump, and still support him, are irredeemable, then we are setting ourselves up for a confrontation.  Perhaps we will end up like Senegal this last month.♥  There are 23 dead in Senegal as of this writing.  I don't think we want to go there.

Because of my concern about the tone of this Column and the direction it seemed to be heading, I made it a topic for Lowell's Local Access TV City Life Show.  I invited, via EMail, Ms Graham to come on the show and present her views.  Alas, she did not respond.

In the mean time, we all need to acknowledge that our neighbors have acceptable reasons for favoring one candidate or another.  We are not living through the Stalinist Era, the Hitler Era or the Maoist Era.  There is no Gulag, no concentration camps, no Re-Education Camps.  No one has declared a Year Zero for the United States.  So, let us walk on together, working to make our union more perfect.

Regards  —  Cliff

♠  In researching this Blog Post I did come across something new for me.  It turned out "The Redeemers" was a political coalition in the Southern United States during the Reconstruction Era.  They were the Southern wing of the Democratic Party and their goal was to regain their political power and reestablish White supremacy.  Wikipedia has them active from the 1870s to 1910.
♥  There are rumors that two term President Macky Sall is trying to make a third run, despite a Constitutional limit of two terms.  There are segments who believe the conviction of opposition leader Ousmane Sonko represents an effort to prevent him from running in 2024.

Daniel Ellsberg (RIP)

For John, BLUF:  Daniel Elsburg made his name with The Pentagon Papers, a collection of documents on the Viet-nam War, which he leaked to the media..  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Daniel Ellsberg, Pentagon Papers whistleblower, dies aged 92

Here is the sub-headline:

Analyst who leaked studies showing US government knew the Vietnam war was un-winnable became activist and writer

From , by Martin Pengelly in New York @MartinPengelly Fri 16 Jun 2023 15.04 EDT.

Here is the lede plus one:

Daniel Ellsberg, a US government analyst who became one of the most famous whistleblowers in world politics when he leaked the Pentagon Papers, has died. He was 92. His death was confirmed by his family on Friday.

In March, Ellsberg announced that he had inoperable pancreatic cancer. Saying he had been given three to six months to live, he said he had chosen not to undergo chemotherapy and had been assured of hospice care.

“I am not in any physical pain,” Ellsberg wrote then, adding: “My cardiologist has given me license to abandon my salt-free diet of the last six years. This has improved my life dramatically: the pleasure of eating my favourite foods!”

On Friday, the family said Ellsberg “was not in pain” when he died “surrounded by his family”. He spent his final months eating “hot chocolate, croissants, cake, poppyseed bagels and lox” and enjoying “several viewings of his all-time favourite [movie], Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid,” their statement added.

“In his final days, surrounded by so much love from so many people, Daniel joked, ‘If I had known dying would be like this, I would have done it sooner … ’

It is nicee to see someone with a sense of humor about their condition.

I think the subheadline at The Orange County Register csaptured an important outcome of the leak of the Pentsagon Papers.

The government consultant’s leak inspired acts of retaliation by President Richard Nixon that helped lead to his resignation.

The leaked documents from Dr Ellsburg to The New York Times laid bare disshonesty and confusion within severwl Administrations regsrding the war in Viet-nam.  To that extent it was good for the nation.  On the other hand, it served to further undermine ongoing efforts to support the relatively free and Democratic Republic of Viet-nam.  In the end the US Congress pulled the rug out from under the South Viet-namese government and it fell to the Communist Dictatorship of North Viet-nam.

There are those who say we could not win the war in Viet-nam.  I am not one of them.  However, we would have needed a military leader more like Edward Lansdale, which the Army lacked.

One collateral outcome of the leaks was, on 30 June 1971, a Supreme Court decision, 6–3, that the government failed to meet the heavy burden of proof required for a prior restraint injunction (New York Times Co. v. United States).  This is an important part of our Free Press Rights under the First Amendment.

Regards  —  Cliff

Being a Good Citizen

For John, BLUF:  It is easy to complain about our Government, but we, as citizens, have obligations to keeping the ship of state in the proper channel, and doing an ever better job of looking out for the crew and passangers.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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The Bill of Obligations: The Ten Habits of Good Citizens
Author:  Richard Haass
Kindle Version:  237 Pages
Publisher:  Penguin Press
Language:  English
ASIN:  B0B8R2HJVJ
Publication Date:  January 24, 2023

the author of this little handbook on Democrcy, Doctor Richard Haass, is the outgoing President of the Council on Foreign Relations.  He has made a career in foreign relations, including being Director of Policy Planning at the Department of State, a position once held by Mr X, George F. Kennan.

As Mr Haass tells us, his answer to the question, "What keeps you up at night" is:

The most urgent and significant threat to American security and stability stems not from abroad but from within, from political divisions that for only the second time in U.S. history have raised questions about the future of American democracy and even the United States itself.

He is one of those who subscribes to the theory that the 6 January 2021 riot on Capitol Hill is the result of scheming by Members of Congress and the President, claiming there is "overwhelming evidence".  If there is such evidence, former Speaker Nancy Pelosi has kept it well hidden.

Calling on his background in Government the author has framed ten obligations of citizenship, things that should happen but that the law cannot require.  The reason for these obligations is the fact that the promises of the Declaration of Independence has not been fully delivered.  Only by all of us communicating with each other can we move beyond the issues in society toward the full promise of the Declaration.  The Author points to slavery, the status of women and the treatment of Native Americans, with the discrimination based on race, gender, religion or nation of origin or some other characteristic.  Progress has come in these United States slowly, but it has come through people learning more and then taking political action.

It is that learning and political action that Author Hass has incorporated in his ten obligations:

1. Be informed
2. Get involved
3. Stay open to compromise
4. Remain civil
5. Reject violence
6. Value norms
7. Promote the common good
8. Respect government service
9. Support the teaching of civics
10. Put country first

At first I was disappointed that voting was not his number one obligation.  However, voting without being informaed can do as much harm as good.  As I worked through the list I saw the wisdom in the choices and order.

Voting is very important.  It is one of the big hammers in a democracy, another being campaign contributions.  Elected officials respond to Voters.  If the voting numbers fall off, the politicians feel free to proceed as they will.  If voters increase in number, the local politicians pay attention.  I encourage people I meet to vote.nbsp; I try to do it with humor.  But, I want my fellow Citizens to vote.

Voting is very important, but it should be informed voting.  We gather what we know from our family and our friends.  In the past we bought newspapers and news magazines.  Today not so much.  There is the Internet, with news available from original sources and from collections of articles, such as Drudge and memorandum.  The key is the reader and his or her choices of sources.  Some searh to reinforcee their existing beliefs and some search out opposing views, to test their views.  I favor the second.

The rest of the list is the mechanics of making a diverse society work as the various members and groups compromise for the greater good.

I highly recommend this book.  The author has just retired and he can use the royalties.  The rest of us can use the book as a civics booster shot.  That booster is important as we go into an election campaign that seems more fraught than normal..

Regards  —  Cliff

Missing the Message

For John, BLUF:  It seems the Democrats can't read the Republican base and the Republicans return the favor.  And the unenrolled?  Where do they fall?  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Jill Biden:  It's "a little shocking" that some Republicans still support Trump after indictment

From Hot Air, by Reporter Karen Townsend, 13 June 2023, 7:31 PM.

Here is the lede plus one:

Her husband is trying not to talk about Trump’s indictments but Jill Biden is yammering away. She has officially begun her role as fundraiser for Joe Biden’s re-election campaign and will be touring the country.

She’s starting out on the Upper East Side of Manhattan, which seems appropriate now that the Democrat Party is the party of the wealthy and elites. Speaking to a small group of Democrat donors in an apartment, she said she was surprised to see a headline before her flight landed that said a majority of Republicans still plan to vote for Trump, even as he prepared to appear in a court in Miami on Tuesday.

“They don’t care about the indictment. So that’s a little shocking, I think,” she said.

Jill told the donors that the 2024 presidential election presents a choice – a choice between the “strong, steady leadership” of her husband or the “chaos and corruption, hatred and division” of “MAGA Republicans.” WOW! I sure hope she continues with that line of attack because it’s a beauty. The matriarch of the Biden crime family is calling the former president corrupt. As if that isn’t tone-deaf enough, she calls “MAGA Republicans” out for “hatred and division.” Are you kidding me?

Law Professor Glenn Reynolds says:  "If anything, the reverse."

An ABC/Ipsos Poll shows:

Independents are more divided, with 45% believing he should have been charged, a third saying he should not have been, and 22% saying they don't know.

I think Mr Trump is polling pretty well.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

President Trump v DOJ

For John, BLUF:  It is time to stop the use of the law to get at one's political opponents, particularly in the case of presidential elections.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Donald Trump pleads not guilty to classified documents charges

From CNN, by Reporters Tierney Sneed, Hannah Rabinowitz, Jeremy Herb, Holmes Lybrand and Katelyn Polantz, Updated 13 June 2023, 4:38 PM EDT.

Anyone following the news knows that Former President Donald Trump showed up in Court today to plead Not Guilty to Charges brouoght by the US Department of Justice (Indictment Here).  This is so embarrassing.  We are becoming a banana republic.

I would like to see someone put an end to this use of the legal system to attack former Presidents, and people running for President.  I don't think President Biden is in a position to do that.  He has backed himself into a corner.  However, President Trump is in a position to set, or reset, the standard.

I would like to see President Trump make a public statement along the following lines:

Recent events involving the Department of Justice and myself could be reason to react in a bitter manner.  I am innocent.  But, it has happened, even though it should not have.

However, the presidency is a small fraternity.  Today, of all the Presidents, only six are living, Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton, George W Bush, Barack Obama, myself and Joe Biden.  We have unique experiences, and have carried heavy burdens, burdens others cannot imagine.

When I am again inaugurated President, in 2025, I will not be legally going after any members of our fraternity, including President Biden.  There is nothing to be gained by settling political scores by creating legal cases against former Presidents.  We are brothers, and some day brothers and sisters, and we should protect each other.  While it is good for us, much more important, it is good for our Nation.

Set a good standard, Mr President.

Regards  —  Cliff

True Justice

For John, BLUF:  On 1 May 2023, 30 year old Jordan Neely died while being restrained on the F Train in New York City.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Ethics Quote Of The Month:  Heather Mac Donald

From Ethics Alarms, by Mr Jack Marshall, 28 May 2023.

Here is the lede:

“When government abdicates its responsibility to maintain public safety, a few citizens, for now at least, will step into the breach. Penny was one of them. He restrained Neely not out of racism or malice but to protect his fellow passengers. He was showing classically male virtues: chivalry, courage and initiative. Male heroism threatens the entitlement state by providing an example of self-reliance apart from the professional helper class. And for that reason, he must be taken down.”

—Heather Mac Donald, in her scorching essay,
“Daniel Penny is a scapegoat for a failed system”

The death of Jordan Neely was a tragedy.  Holding Daniel Penny responsible is just the bureaucratic institution trying to cover for its failures and covering up for its larger failures with the homeless and the mentally ill.

Governments, out of fear of being sued by the ACLU, and its ilk, seems unable to develop plans to protect its citizens, and its homeless and mentally ill, aside from taking legal actions against ordinary citizens who resist the more uncivil actions of the untreated mentally ill.

Sometimes rhe Citizens don't want a Marshall Will Kane making trouble, hoping it won't touch them.  On the other hand, sometimes they vote in a Rudy Giuliani to clean up the City.

Regards  —  Cliff

FISA to be Reformed by House

For John, BLUF:  We have good news, a bipartisan move to reform the operation of the FISA Court.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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GOP won't reauthorize FISA without FBI reforms following Durham report: 'Stop the abuses'

From The Washington Examiner, by Justice Department Reporter Jerry Dunleavy, 2 June 2023, 07:00 AM.

Here is the lede plus three:

Leading House Republicans won't back the reauthorization of powers under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act without major reforms in the wake of the FBI’s FISA abuses and special counsel John Durham’s report.

Rep. Mike Turner (R-OH), chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, Rep. Darin LaHood (R-IL), the Turner-designated leader of the committee’s FISA Working Group, and Rep. Mike Garcia (R-CA), another key committee member, all spoke with the Washington Examiner about the need for guardrails before FISA powers are reauthorized.

The trio of lawmakers want reforms at the FBI and at the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, which approves the secret warrants.  Their demands are at odds with the Biden administration, which wants to reauthorize FISA Section 702 powers without changes before it expires at the end of 2023.

“We have been very clear on a bipartisan basis with the intelligence community and the FBI that there is no support in Congress for a clean reauthorization of 702,” Turner told the Washington Examiner.  “Reforms are necessary. We will be taking up the issue of reforms, and they will not be limited to 702 itself.  It will encompass both abuses that we are aware of and abuses that are now in the public domain as a result of disclosure and Durham.”

The use of a "Sunset Clause" in the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) was a good idea.  It forces Congress to review the operation of the Act and allows space for modifications in the reenactment.  The Durham Report cries for such a review.

Well intentioned Federal Bureaucrats, thinking they are doing good, can undermine our form of government, and our Freedoms.  I am glad to see House Members, on a bipartisan basis, reviewing the situation and updating our laws.

The Biden Administration is wrong to ask for a clean renewal.  It makes one wonder if they are paying attention, and if they are protective of our Civil Rights.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

Comey Warns Of Trump in 2024

For John, BLUF:  Mr James Comey, former FBI Director, is warning about a second Trump time in office.  Do you think he fears justice?  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Comey Warns Trump Might Use the Constitution Against Him and His Corrupt Friends

From PJ Media, by Opinion Writer Robert Spencer, 5 June 2023, 11:34.

Here is the lede plus two:

It is now well established that the FBI has become thoroughly and possibly irreparably corrupt and politicized, serving as a thuggish arm of the Leftist establishment rather than any kind of law enforcement agency.  Its decline accelerated during the tenure of the intensely partisan Leftist apparatchik James Comey as FBI director, but in the six years since Donald Trump removed Comey from office amid a storm of controversy, the lanky corruptocrat has shown not the slightest hint of introspection, much less regret.  Instead, he just went on MSNBC to warn that a new Trump administration could see the president weaponizing the justice system.  Well, Comey certainly knows all about weaponizing federal agencies for partisan purposes.

Former Biden explainer and current MSNBC host Jen Psaki said to Comey, “You’ve said that Trump poses a near-existential threat to the rule of law, and, and this is something, similar language, that I hear privately from national security officials, some people you and I both know, who will say this, privately, about what a second term could mean.  But tell me a little bit about the specifics of what he could try to do. What do you mean by that?”

The question was ridiculous, and the whole scenario was a charade.  Now that the Russian Collusion hoax has been definitively exposed and the Democrats’ Jan. 6 “insurrection” scenario has been discredited, Psaki should have been asking Comey about the contempt for the rule of law of his Leftist friends and colleagues, not of Donald Trump.  But for that, Psaki would have to be a genuine journalist, not a flack for the Leftist establishment playing the role of a journalist in order to fool gullible MSNBC viewers and throw red meat to the committed ideologues among their tiny audience.

I think this is a little overdrawn.  However, not by much.  I agree that among thinking Republicans Mr James Comey is understood to have been a vile person, who subverted the law and operated in unethical ways.  In short, he was not a gentleman.

Now Mr Comey comes before us and says that a Second Term President Trump would use his Constitutional powers to clean up the swamp that is Washington.  I sure hope so.  Or any other Republican elected to that office.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

Fox News Flailing

For John, BLUF:  It seems Management at Fox News has lost its ever-loving mind.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Fox News Channel Cancels ‘The Next Revolution’ With Steve Hilton As It Debuts ‘Fox News Saturday Night’ And New Weekend Primetime Lineup

From Deadline, by Tom Tapp, 1 June 2023, 2:26pm.

Here is the lede plus one:

Fox News Channel announced today that it is canceling The Next Revolution with Steve Hilton, though the network indicated the host would stay on as a contributor. The move is part of a reshuffle of the channel’s weekend primetime lineup, the new version of which is set to debut on Saturday.

Megan Albano, Senior Vice President of The Five & Weekend Programming at Fox News Channel indicated that The Big Saturday/Sunday Show will become The Big Weekend Show, airing at 7 p.m. ET on Saturdays and Sundays while a new entry, Fox News Saturday Night, will premiere at 10 p.m. ET. Trey Gowdy’s Sunday Night in America will move into the spot formerly occupied by Hilton’s show at 9 p.m. ET.

Has fox News hired someone from Anheiser Bush to help them make programing decisions?

This, on top of shutting down Tucker Carlson, is a second big strike.

Who is next, Maria Bartiroma?

Hat tip to my Wife.

Regards  —  Cliff