The Debt and Good Will

For John, BLUF:  The Debt Clock is incresing every minute.  It cant go on.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Mew, mew, mew!

Here is the sub-headline:

Evangelical Christians Bad!

From The Bugscuffle Gazette, by Ian, 3 November 2025.

Here is the lede plus one:

I know better than to check social media first thing in the morning.

The first thing that popped up on my feed was a long-winded whinge about field hospitals in Myanmar being closed due to cuts in US aid. The whinger then goes on to opine at length about how Evangelical Christians are responsible because they put Orange Man Bad into office, and they’re just big hypocritical meanies who are hypocritical. And mean.

Setting aside the fact that — boy, howdy — am I not an Evangelical Christian, I’d like to gently drive a single point home:

The United States of America is $38,111,295,151,230 in debt.

We can't sustain that kind of spending without consequences.

When that debt collapses — and it will — the consequences will be catastrophic and global. Closing field hospitals in Myanmar may be bad, but it doesn’t touch the hem of the garment of Bad that will land on the world when the U.S. has to default on its debt.

If we had bothered to vote into office politicans who were financially literate and fiscally responsible there’s a chance we could keep funding field hospitals in Myanmar — but, instead, we voted into office parasites who burned through pallets of cash at a rate that caused drunken sailors to exclaim, “Hold on, now.”

The current US debt is 38 trillion dollars. It will pass 40 trillion dollars in the next calendar year.

This. Is. Unsustainable.

I have been told that all we have to do it print more money and as lonng as people have faith in the doller it can continue for ever.  except the interest cost is at $960 Billion, and growing.  If we pay for the interest by printing moore money, then it will begin to speed up.  The thing is, all that printed money is backed by bonds issued by the US Government.  What happens when people and institutions stop buying those bonds?  Default and global pain.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

v

City Life Show on Short Hiatus

For John, BLUF:  The Producer of City Life Show, and its leadin, The Dawn Patrol, is on a one week break, but the discussion goes on.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Last Time we Said it. This Time it's True.

Here is the sub-headline:

Je Suis Charlie Isn't Just a Slogan Anymore

From The Conservative Historian, by Blogger JIM MCCOY, 13 September 2025.

Here is the lede:

Once upon a time, I sat in a classroom at Wayne State University and, having listened to a faculty member scream offended and threaten to have me expelled because I wouldn’t kiss her ass, told her that the only way to silence me would be to kill me. I meant it then. I mean it now. If standing up for what I believe in costs me my life then know that I am content to have died in service to a good cause and that, given the chance, I’d do it again.

But, not everyone is sensitive to the events of last week.

1. First we had the horrid murder of Ukrainian Refugee Iryna Zarutska, on August 22, 2025, on the Lynx Blue Line in Charlotte, North Carolina, by a mentally unstable career criminal.
2. Then, the next day, we had the assassination of Turning Poit USA Head, Charlie Kirk, by , it ppears, Mr Tyler Robinson, who was arrested peacefully.
3. Then we had the outpouring of vile comments following the Assassination, from Office Depot, to social media, to classrooms and the media.

Mr Robert Sterling on X wrote a long piece on this last ooint, which started:.

My liberal friends are completely oblivious about how radicalizing the last week has been for tens of millions of normal Americans. Zero clue. I’m not talking about people who are “online”; I mean regular, everyday Americans. “Normies.” People who scroll through Facebook posts and Instagram reels from the Dutch Bros drive thru line. Political moderates who have water cooler chats about Mahomes touchdowns and Bon Jovi concerts, not Twitter threads or Rachel Maddow monologues. Millions of them. Tens of millions. They’re logging on, they’re engaging, and they’re furious. And I’ll be candid: They blame you guys. They blame the left. Regardless of whether you believe it to be justified, they think you’re the bad guys here. And they are reacting accordingly.

Let us emulate Charlie Kirk and engage in respectful debate.  Let us not resort to comparing our fellow citizens to the worst of our opponents (or Allies) in WWII.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

Naming the Problem

For John, BLUF:  In the process of writing about how we are mischaracterizing racism in these United States, Blogger Sarah Hoyt touches on how we have misnamed some serious problems, by grouping them under the name homelessness.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Telling The Truth

From ACCORDING TO HOYT, by Writer Sarah Hoyt, 9 September 2025.

Here are the key paragraphs:

We need to have the courage to teach the truth to the young.

You know other truths we need to teach to the young? The “homeless” or “unhoused” aren’t in fact normal human beings in need of a house. The names are a lie.

Naming them that, pretending that, just points at the wrong problem and calls for the wrong action.

Yes there are a lot of people in the US who can’t afford a place to live, or are in trouble house wise, because times are hard right now, particularly for the young.

BUT–

But that doesn’t mean that people who have any skills/ability to navigate the normal world are living on the streets. Oh, there will be some: orphans without friends exist. But they’re rarer than hen’s teeth.

Most people on the street are mental health tragedies, and/or criminal and/or willfull mooches, or some combinations of all three.

And I’m torn on this, because mental health is a slippery thing, but on the other hand there’s such a thing as an obvious danger to himself and others.

Different people see different aspects of what we call homelessness.  What we call Homelessness includes people who are mentally ill, who are drug addicts,♠ who suffer from other substance abuse, and who are legitimately without housing.  There is no "one size fits all" in a situation like this.  We need a new aaproach, and perhaps the best approach would be to drop homelessness and adopt "continuum of care" for all such effortts. .

For sure, what we are doing now is not working well.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

♠  For example, Lowell Resident David Prestipino has been posting videos, appear before the City Council and appearing on City Life Show to talk about drug addiction and its pernicious imipacts..

The Undocumented

For John, BLUF:  We have an immigration system, given us by Congress but the Biden Administrationo decided to bypass Federal Rules, and it has been a disaster.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Boston whistleblower warns of migrant crime spillover as Trump’s crackdown looms

Here is the sub-headline:

“The Healey hotels were well known for having sex trafficking, domestic violence,' said Fetherston, 'Now, you've opened it up to all of the cities and towns'

From Fox News, by Reporter Peter Pinedo, 30 August 2025, 9:00 am EDT

Here is the lede plus two:

As Democratic leaders in Massachusetts triple down on resistance against federal intervention to clamp down on crime, a migrant shelter whistleblower is sounding the alarm about an increase in crime in neighborhoods across the state and especially in Boston.

Jon Fetherston, who ran one of the state-funded migrant shelters in Marlborough, Massachusetts, and blew the whistle about rampant crime and sex abuse taking place in the hotel shelter system. He now says that since Democratic Gov. Maura Healey closed down the shelter system, there has been an uptick in domestic violence, sex trafficking, shoplifting and even auto accidents.

"The Healey hotels were well known for having sex trafficking, domestic violence. We've reported cases of rape, unfortunately, in there," Fetherston said. "Now, you've opened it up to all of the cities and towns in Massachusetts."

Mr Fetherston further elaborates:

"Governor Healey wants you to think she just snaps her fingers and closes all of the hotels and then disperses people into the communities that the thousand incidents that were reported back in 2024, and the state has refused to release the data for 2025, she just thinks that those serious instances aren't going to happen in the communities that now she's forced people into."

Yes, in the past, we have had immigrants who have formed criminal gangs.  However, the vast majority have come to peacefully build lives based on freedom and family.  This recent wave of undocumented immigrnts, thank you President Biden, seem to be more on the criminal side than the peaceful side.  This makes it harder for them to be accepted by the rest of us.

In the mean time, Democrts seem to want us to just accept these undocumented immigrants as though they had put in the hard work legal immigrants have.  Thanks to the US Congress, legal immigrants have to follow an ardous path to become legal residents and then citizens.  What lesson do the undocumented draw, aside from the partisan disaster on Capitol Hill?

Hat tip to my Friend Randy Gweleman, who recommends i move down South, "while you still have a chance!!"

Regards  —  Cliff

v

Being Safe between Home and School

For John, BLUF:  Young men and women are reacting to confronting criminals on the streets.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Teen Girls Defend Themselves

From @Rightanglenews, by Right Angle News Network, 25 Aug 2025, 9:34 AM.

Here is the Text to accompny the video in the text:

BREAKING - Police have arrested and charged a 14-year-old girl after she was forced to brandish a knife to defend herself and her friend against a migrant who attempted to assault her near St Ann’s Lane in Dundee, Scotland.

It is a sign that the local Government is fialing the Citizens when young teen girls are going around armed to protect themselves from predators.

It is no surprise that Member of Parliament Nigel Fargage's UK Independence Partyparty is getting attention in Great Britian.  Labour and the Conservative Parties should pay attention

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

v

End of Bombing in Cambodia

For John, BLUF:  History may be boring, but it is important.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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1973 – Vietnam War: The USAF bombing of Cambodia ends.

From Wikipedia.

Here is the extract:

August 15 – The U.S. bombing of Cambodia ends, officially halting 12 years of combat activity in Southeast Asia according to the Case–Church Amendment-an act that prohibits military operations in Laos, Cambodia, and North and South Vietnam as a follow-up of the Paris Peace Accords.

This is just a very small note on the last USAF mission into Cambocia.

In August of 1973 I was the Wing Commander's back seater in the F-4E, at Korat RTAFB (Royal Thai Air Force Base).  I had the position because I was an Instructor Pilot and Flight Examiner.  Five years laterr I again worked for Colonel Robert Crouch, although several layers down in the NATO Air Headquarters in Naples, Italy (AIRSOUTH).

It was public knowledge that our efforts in support of the Cambodian Military was coming to an end.  The US Congress had voted to quit.  I decided that there would be press present and I further decided that I would not wish to be interviewed.  I didn't expect I would have nice things to say.

So, I took leave and flew back to be with my family in Fort Walton Beach, Florida.  Sitting in our Florida Room I watch Colonel Crouch on TV News, nding the last official flight, taxing into his parking spot and deplaning, alonog with Major Paul Schwimm, who was his back seater for the day.  That was my war [termination] protest.

In researching this blog post I came across a New York Times article from 16 August 1973, "No Champagne or Cheers as Last Plane Comes In From Cambodia;" which said the last to land from Cambodia was Captain Lonnie 0. Ratley, an A-7 Pilot.  I knew Lon Rstley, from Ramstein Air Base, in Germany.  He was a Suadron Commander in the 86th Tactical Fighter Wing.

Retired in Lowell, MA, every week I run into Refugees from Cambodia, or their children.  My State Rep is a Cambodian Refugee.  I know a couple of City Councillors, including our Vice Mayor, who are Cambodian Refugees.  Sometimes I apologize for our failure in our support of the Cambodian Army, which led to the Cambodian Genocide.

UPDATED.

Regards  —  Cliff

Whom to Trust?

For John, BLUF:  Question everything.  Tear and compare.  Trust few, unless they have proven themselves worthy of trust.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Meet the Leakers!  Russiagate Was More Incestuous Than You Could Believe

From PJ Media, by Columnist Stephen Green, 13 August 2025, 11:20 AM.

Here is the lede plus four:

Many years ago, Bill Whittle gave me the sharpest definition you might ever read for the proper role of journalism in a healthy republic:  "They're the antibodies of the body politic." But we do not live in a healthy republic — and journalists too often are part of the cancer we're trying to eliminate.

Case in point:  So-called journalists who, instead of investigating Russiagate claims, performed as marionettes for the Obama-era intelligence community, determined to rig and then undo a presidential election.

And now we have at least two names.

I'll get to those in just a moment, but first, this important reminder.

At the center of the Obama White House’s fabricated Russia collusion narrative is Sen. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) — currently under investigation by the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Maryland for mortgage fraud.

The two are Reorter Ellen Nakashima, of The Washington Post, and Reporter Michael Schmidt, of The New York Times.

Then there is this:

John Solomon and Jerry Dunleavy reported late on Tuesday that "Columbia University law professor Daniel Richman admitted to [FBI] agents in interviews he routinely communicated on behalf of [then-FBI director James] Comey, his longtime friend, with Times reporter Michael Schmidt, whose work was among the newspaper's 2018 Pulitzer-winning stories on Russian election interference."

Pulitzer-winning fake news — good grief.

The sad part of this, for me, is that a Pulitzer Prize was awarded and likely won't be revoked.  Just as Reporter Walter Duranty's Pulizer for what turned out to be the Holodomor, was never revoked.

I am counting on the Press to aim for the target and to come close.  For them to be a partisan hack is not only very disappointing, but is bad for our Republic.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

Let's Not Be Brazil

For John, BLUF:  Ms Tulsi Gabbard has uncovered corrupt action by a orevious Administratio.  We need ro takeaction, to send a signal, while avoiding actions where former presidents or recent Candidates are pursued in a way that appears political  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Gabbard Refers Barack Obama for Criminal Investigation Over Russiagate Scandal

From PJ Media, by Columnist Matt Margolis, 23 JULY 2025, at 3:22 PM.

Here is the lede plus three:

Barack Obama has long pretended that he had no hand in the Russia collusion hoax, but that narrative is crumbling fast. Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard has just declassified a trove of explosive documents that reveal the Obama administration’s direct role in fabricating the January 2017 Intelligence Community Assessment (ICA) — the cornerstone of the bogus claim that Donald Trump was a Russian asset.

One key piece of evidence is a 2020 House Intelligence Committee report that flatly states that there was no Russian cyber interference connected ato Trump’s win. Despite that, Obama demanded a rushed intelligence assessment in the final weeks of 2016, deliberately designed to push the false claim that Vladimir Putin helped install Trump. The goal? To sabotage the incoming president before he was even sworn in.

According to the documents, Obama and his top advisers — working hand in glove with Hillary Clinton’s campaign and their loyal media allies — staged a coordinated, calculated effort to weaponize U.S. intelligence for political warfare. What began as a smear campaign has now turned into something much bigger.

On Wednesday, Gabbard confirmed during a White House press briefing that her office has officially referred Obama to the Department of Justice for criminal investigation over his leading role in the conspiracy.

I like and respect DNI Tulsi Gabbard.  Her actions to reveal criminal actions during the RussiaGate activities is fundamental to restoring order to our politics.  That saud, I think Attorney Geenerral Pam Bonfi should use some discretion in who is prosecuted.  In particular, we should avoid legal action against presidents andmajor contenders.♠ 

Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro< is an example of a high ranking politician being harrassed by the opposition in office.  We should avoid that king of thing strongly.  It could destroy our Republic.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

♠  In the election of 1920, Eugene V. Debs, the Socialist Party presidential candidate, polled nearly a million votes without ever hitting the campaign trail.&  Candidate Debs was in the federal penitentiary in Atlanta, Georgia, serving a 10-year sentence for sedition. It was a not a bum rap. Debs had defiantly disobeyed a law he deemed unjust, (Under President Wilson's Sedition Act of 1918.

Let the Little Children Come to Me

For John, BLUF:  Jesus reaches out to the little ones.

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By Evelyn Virginia Krieger.

Regards  —  Cliff

The Forth of July as seen by a 17 year old

For John, BLUF: I'm proud to be a Catholic American! (: .

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What Does The Church Say About Patriotism? (Morning Air)

From Relevant Radio, by Mr. Moralies, 3 July 2025.

Here is the lede plus one: Here is a quote from the Catholic Catechism:

"The love and service of one's country follow from the duty of gratitude and belong to the order of charity."

.

.

It is importent that as young people we understand that we are not given things becouse we desere them, but because somone before us loved us, even though they never knew us and died for a county they would no longer get to live in.  Graditude is severly lacking in our culture because people have forgotten what it means to need something. I'm not talking about needing the next new iphone or car or a better house, but really NEEDING somthing like the freedom to pray, to sell your goods at a price that you set, without the crushing weight of taxes sucking the life out of you. 

Freedom is not the government helping us when we need help, but stepping out of the way so that others might come to our aid. it is incredible what human beings will do when left to their own devises with the government there only was a light guideline for their our actions. 

So the 4th of July, I belive is not the only day to remember The United States of America, but simply one in which we remeber it in a special way.  We have to live out our graditude because it belongs to the order of charity, that is, love, and if we can't love our county how can we look into the eyes of the One who gave it to us and say we love Him. 

Regards  —  Cliff's granddaughter

v

Impeach President Trump!

For John, BLUF:  Calls for Impeachment make Democrats appear unhinged, or at least badly disoriented  But, bring it on.  Maybe it would give a boost to the Big Beautiful Bill.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Ocasio-Cortez says Iran bombing is grounds for Trump impeachment

From The Hill, by Reporter Mychael Schnell, 21 June 2025, 11:33 PM ET.

Here is the lede plus four:

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) on Saturday night said President Trump’s decision to strike three of Iran’s nuclear sites is grounds for impeachment, becoming one of the first elected Democrats to back the constitutional punishment after the attack in the Middle East.

Trump announced Sunday night that the U.S. executed a “spectacular military success” in Iran, striking three nuclear facilities — including Fordow, which is hidden deep in a mountain south of Tehran. He warned that the U.S. would order additional strikes if Iran does not come to the table to negotiate a peace agreement.

While several House Democrats slammed Trump’s strike as unconstitutional, Ocasio-Cortez was one of a select few to go a step further and categorize the move as impeachable.

“The President’s disastrous decision to bomb Iran without authorization is a grave violation of the Constitution and Congressional War Powers,” Ocasio-Cortez wrote in a post on the social platform X. “He has impulsively risked launching a war that may ensnare us for generations. It is absolutely and clearly grounds for impeachment.”

Article 1 of the Constitution gives Congress the authority to “declare war,” one of the largest powers held by the legislative branch. In the past, however, presidents of both parties have struck adversaries militarily without approval from Congress.

Aside from the fact that Democratic Presidents before President Trump have set precedent for this koind of act withuot prior conosultation with Congress, there is the question of if this Operation could have been pulled off if it had been briefed to a Congress that leaks like a seive.

The other side of this issue is a successful impeachment with a Senate Conviction would end up with a new President.  I would be very sad to see President Trump go, given his efforts to meet the desires of those who elected him back in November.  On the other hand, JD Vance would be a great President and Usha Vance a great First Lady.

Before we contemplate such an upheavel, we need to ask what are the odds Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer could gather the required two-thirds of Senators present to vote for Conviction (that would be 67 with a full Senate of 53 Republicans and 47 Democrats)?  Slim to none.

Regards  —  Cliff

Senator Chuck Schumer Confirms SCOTUS Ruling by His Dissent

For John, BLUF:  Senator Schumer and his clique, blow hot and cold on the Federal Judiciary, including the US Supreme Court.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Schumer:  ‘Disgraceful’ Trump immunity decision will ‘weaken’ democracy

From The Hill, by Reporter Alexander Bolton, 1 Jult 2024, 12:43 PM ET.

Here is the lede plus three:

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) slammed the Supreme Court’s “disgraceful” decision Monday to shield former President Trump’s official acts from prosecution, which will delay his trial on Jan. 6-related charges.

Schumer warned the 6-3 decision “enables the former President to weaken our democracy by breaking the law.”

“This is a sad day for America and a sad day for our democracy. The very basis of our judicial system is that no one is above the law. Treason or incitement of insurrection should not be considered a core constitutional power afforded to a president,” he said.

Schumer also warned that the Supreme Court has undermined its credibility, echoing the criticisms of other Senate Democrats who have accused conservative justices on the court of becoming partisan players.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumr (D-NY) has a history of opposing rulings of the US Supreme Court, even threatennig Justices..

I use Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer as a sort of bellweather.  If he is against it, it must be good.

I wonder if Senator Schumer has even read the US Supreme Court decision, TRUMP v. UNITED STATES, which is 111 pages, with dissents.  The decision itself, written by Chief Justice John Robers, is 43 pages.

Probably not.  Too much work.

Regards  —  Cliff

Great Performance

For John, BLUF:  Peacetime practice leads to great operational execution.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Lloyd Austin gave us Kabul.

@PeteHegseth gave us Fordow, Natanz, and Isfahan.

From 𝕏, by Captain Ed.

Here is the Tweet:

Ed Morrissey
@EdMorrissey

Consider the opsec in place, along with the rapid marshaling of assets to the region and the expert logistics demonstrated in this mission ... and tell me if anyone will be arguing that @SecDef is some kind of amateur in over his head after today.
x.com/MaryMargOlohan…

Past performance is not indicative of future results.  But, it gives hope.

I think this performance may be due to what I call Middle Leadership Syndrome.$nbsp; This is where middle level leadership thinks they could have done a better job than the "political" military leadership under which they have served in the past.  Thus, there is strong motivation to provide an excellent military performance, rather than some politically correct outcome.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

History Flag Day

For John, BLUF:  History is the good and the bad and how it merges.

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Building Inspector Shoots Up Republicans

From The Redheaded libertarian, 14 Jun 2025, 12:10 AM

Here is the Tweet:

June 14, 2017, BernieBro James Hodgkinson opened fire on Congressmen, Senators, staff & police at their baseball practice. Steve Scalise was shot. This was a textbook act of domestic terrorism, but the feds would deem it “suicide by cop” before sweeping it under the rug.

I had forgotten, just like they wanted me to.

Today is the 250th Anniversary of the founding of the US Army, Flag Day,♠  President Trump's Birthday, and the Anniversary of the shooting of the Republican Congressional Vbaseball Team.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit, who notes:

AND TODAY BERNIE IS CALLING FOR INSURRECTION:

Regards  —  Cliff

♠  Remember when Nike was going to recognize Betsy Ross ?  Then they pulled the shoes because someoone sho doesn't believe in political evolution objected.

Happy Birthday, US Army

For John, BLUF:  Presidents come and go, but th US Army continues to serve.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Soldiers in uniforms from different time periods have taken over the streets of Washington, DC ahead of tomorrow’s parade—it’s like history coming to life!

From I Meme Therefore I Am, 13 June 2025.

I know some are asserting that this is about President Trumpo's birthday, on the same day as the birthday of the US Army.  It may be the same day, but this is about the Army.  It is about Duty, Honor, Country.

Some are participating in demonstrations, some under the name No Kings Day.  This is sad.  Can't we all come together for a clebratory birthday party, and leave "No Kings Day" for the Foueth of July.

Here is ATF head Randi Weingarten:

“On Saturday, folks across the country will join in peaceful, nonviolent action to affirm that in America, power belongs to the people,” Weingarten posted on X, sharing a link to information about the protests. “We’re coming together to lift up what matters most: strong public schools, thriving communities & opportunity for all.”

Frankly, she should spend the weekend working on strong public schools, not on spending taxpayer dollars to demonstrate against those who voted for President Donald Trump back in November.

And Senator Bernie Sanders:

I want to applaud all the patriots who will be participating, as I will, in No King rallies across the country.

Really?

Is this just more of Democrats throwing a temper tantrum over Donald Trump winning in November and then trying to execute the platform he ran on?

Thank you, US Army.

Regards  —  Cliff

Is John Wilkes Booth an example for Democrats?

For John, BLUF:  As we look back over the Biden Administration we see treason justified as patriotism.

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Biden's Prostate Cancer and the Tyranny of the Experts

Here is the sub-headline:

Ezekiel Emanuel is an opponent of long life. So why did he back someone so old for president?

From The Wall Strret Journal, by Reporter Allysia Finley, 25 May 2025 3:53 pm ET

And, The InstaPundit, 27 May 2025, 10:43 pm.

Margot Cleveland
@ProfMJCleveland

Same reason judges are entering orders against Trump even though they lack jurisdiction.

Rep. James Comer

@RepJamesComer
🚨 Longtime aide to former President Joe Biden admitted that White House staff felt justified doing “undemocratic things” during his term in office because they believed President Donald Trump posed an existential threat to American democracy.
https://dailycaller.com/2025/05/25/biden-aide-admits-staff-undemocratic-trump-threat-democracy/

i am combing the InstaPundit Blog Post and the Wall Street Journal article reference.  It all comes down to hating Donald Trump.

This is about Trump. No lie is too big when it comes to beating DJT.  In the minds of some Democrats, keeping JRB available was critical to saving the United States from Trump.  We are talking real TDS.  Rather than seeing that the first four years showing that Trump could function like a President, these folks doubled down on the Second Coming of Hitler.

These are people who would commit treason in the name of patriotism.  They are like John Wilkes Booth, who shouted Sic semper tyrannis (Thus Always to Tyrants), as he shot President Lincoln.  In the end Mr Booth helped slow the needed healing of this nation by almost a hundred years.

These days we have former FBI Director James Comey posting a photo of shells arranged to say 8647.  Some say it doesn't really mean that, but what was the man thinking?   They are out there.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

=

Memorial Day

For John, BLUF:  Another Memorial Day, but our duty continues.

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Memorial Day

Which Used to be known as Decoration Day

Because this was the day we used to decorate the graves of Civil War Veterans.

On this day, especially, I mourn those I have know who were lost, including two roommates who were subsequently killed. One was Alan Trent, from Conneticut, my Freshman Year Roommate at the Air Force Academy. Subsequently he died flying a Close Air Support mission in South Viet-nam.  The other was my Pilot Training roommate, Aado Kommandant, from Estonia originally, who dies on his first mission out of Cam Rahn Bay, in 1966.

For almost 59 years I have been married to an Air Force widow, and have raised her two original children as my own.  He dies on a training sortie while on day 179 of a 90 day deployment to Okinawa to provide air defense while the original F-102s were deployed to Southeast Asia, for the same purpose.  His plan was never found and he was designated as missing and presumed dead.

I never met Robert Harlan, but I subsequently served with some of his friends, includin Greg Smith, Waynr Bechler and John Brennan.  I believe adopting his children gave me a special responsibility to a fellow comrade, who I never met.  But, all of us alive owe some debit to those who gave their last full measure of devotion to our Nation.

Regards  —  Cliff

=

Robbing Peter to Pay Paul

For John, BLUF:  There is no free lunch, even when the Feds are paying.

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Trump’s budget threatens Mass. English learner, college transition programs

From The Boston Globe, by Reporters Christopher Huffaker and Marcela Rodrigues, 14 May 2025, 11:11 a.m

Here is the lede plus six:

NEW BEDFORD — Students at Alfred J. Gomes Elementary School didn’t hesitate when teacher Natalia Gioni asked them to sing along.

“Somos como las flores, necesitamos la lluvia y el sol,” the first-graders sang as they learned what plants need to grow and survive. Water, sunlight, and air, they told Gioni in Spanish.

As bilingualism is celebrated at the New Bedford school, superintendent Andrew O‘Leary is concerned President Trump’s proposed budget for 2026 would eliminate federal funding that supports English language acquisition programs.

The $890 million cut nationwide would translate to the loss of three or four staff members in New Bedford, where the district receives about half a million dollars for these programs.

“It would be the federal government turning its back on the community,” O‘Leary said.

Similar scenes are playing out across the state as school districts, higher education institutions, and education advocates grapple with the potential impact of billions in cuts proposed for federal funding streams ranging from schooling for migrant farmworkers and their children to programs that help high school students from disadvantaged backgrounds transition to college.

The president’s proposed budget is a wish list of sorts and is unlikely to be implemented as written. However, it emphasizes the priorities of the administration and reflects other federal actions already underway, such as the cutting in half of the Education Department workforce. Congress ultimately sets the budget, often via stopgap spending bills in recent years, but Republicans control the legislature and tend to be closely aligned with the president’s priorities.

My first question is why, with a 14 May dateline, this is the lead story in today's (Monday, 26 May) EMail of Boston Globe Hearlines?

My next question is why Massachusetts, and New Bedford, are looking for the taxpayers in Fort Yukon, Alaska, to pay for this effort.  If it is important, why not raises taxes locally (SALT) and fund it locally?

Are Citizens not aware that we have a National Debt of $36.898 Trillion.  That has come about because the People, and the elected folks in Congress, think we can spend into debt without consequences.  We can't.

We should also acknowledge that if our Commonwealth Labor Force Participation Rate was higher than 62.3, we could do more.  If we had more people working we would have more tax coming in to the towns aand the Commonwealth.  Is our Labor Force Participation Rate where it is because we lack jobs, or because we have created structural disincentives to work.  I suspect the second.

Regards  —  Cliff

The Parties, Viewed From Midtown Manhattan

For John, BLUF:  It doesn't appear that Democrats have settled on why Trump won and it it is just him.

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How Donald Trump Has Remade America’s Political Landscape

From The Old Gray Lady, by Political Correspondent Shane Goldmacher, 24 May 2025

Here is the lede plus two:

Donald J. Trump’s victory in 2024 was not an outlier.

It was the culmination of continuous gains by Republicans in much of the country each time he has run for president, a sea of red that amounts to a flashing warning sign for a Democratic Party out of power and hoping for a comeback.

The steady march to the right at the county level reveals not just the extent of the nation’s transformation in the Trump era but also the degree to which the United States now resembles two countries charging in opposite directions.

Then follows a series of charts showing the demographics and voting patterns of the various counties in these United States.  And analysis.

The article says:

Democrats are gaining ground in a small sliver of the best-educated enclaves.

Doesn't that tell you more about the elite universities than it does about America?

Chris Kofinis, a Democratic strategist who served as chief of staff to former Senator Joe Manchin of West Virginia, who left the party last year, is quoted, warning that such optimism was misplaced.

“Trump is the symptom, not the disease,”

And President Trump really echoes this when he says, "They aren't after me. They are after you. I am just in the way."

Some Democrats have taken comfort from how narrowly Mr. Trump won the popular vote in 2024

But, he did win the Popular Vote as well as the Electoral College.

I can remember when Democrats thought Republicans would never win the popular vote again, and tried to undermine the Constitution with some sort of workaround pact (National Popular VoteI nterstate Compact), which some in Maine are now trying to back out of.

Could it be Dems are just to old?  That is David Hogg's view.  Bernie, Pelosi, Biden, Coburn, etc.  Maybe Chuck Schumer? (Only 74).

Hat tip to my Brother, Lance.

Regards  —  Cliff

States Adrift

For John, BLUF:  This is robbing Peter to pay Paul.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Attorneys General Sue Over Access to $1 Billion in Federal School Aid

Here is the sub-headline:

The Trump administration abruptly cut states’ access to Covid pandemic funding for school programs, saying they’d had enough time to spend it.

From The Old Gray Lady, by Reporters Hurubie Meko and Troy Closson, 10 April 2025, 8:37 p.m. ET.

Here is the lede plus one:

Sixteen attorneys general and a Democratic governor sued the Trump administration on Thursday to restore access to over $1 billion in federal pandemic relief aid for schools that was recently halted, saying that the pullback could cause acute harm to students.

The suit, led by New York’s attorney general, Letitia James, and filed in Manhattan federal court, is one of the latest efforts by states to fight President Trump’s clawback of funding allocated to programs he does not want the government to support. The funding was part of a windfall of more than $190 billion that the U.S. Department of Education distributed to schools at the height of the coronavirus pandemic.

Per Wikipedia, on this day in 2023, "The World Health Organization declares the end of the COVID-19 pandemic as a global health emergency."

Two years ago.  And various States have not yet spent all the money they were given to help cope with the COVID-19 Pandemic?  Why have those States, such as New York, been so negligent in meeting the needs of their children.

And, per the Debt Clock, as of 1429 Eastern Time today our Nation Debt was $36,811,822,327,728.  That is $36.8 Trillion Dollars.  And it is going up about $29 Billion a week.

I can understand New York Attorney General Letitia James not graspinng the seriousness of the situation.  But the others?  Surely they can't all be that near sighted!

At some point that great American financial streucture will collapse and we will all, except maybe for the bureaucrats, be reduced to poverty.  That would not be good.  The Academics would all point to the Greek Financial Crisis of 2008.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

Trump the Monarch

For John, BLUF:  I don't think President Trump wishes to be a Monarch or Dictator, but I do think he is tired of a huge bureaucracy, and Judiciary, standing between him and what he was elected to do.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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These Thinkers Set the Stage for Trump the All-Powerful

From The Old Gray Lady, by Professor Damon Linker♠, 4 May 2025.

Here is the lede plus three:

With a blitz of moves in his 100 days in office, President Trump has sought to greatly enlarge executive power.  The typical explanation is that he’s following and expanding a legal idea devised by conservatives during the Reagan administration, the unitary executive theory.

It’s not even close.  Mr. Trump has gone beyond that or any other mainstream notion.  Instead, members of his administration justify Mr. Trump’s instinctual attraction to power by reaching for a longer tradition of right-wing thought that favors explicitly monarchical and even dictatorial rule.

Those arguments — imported from Europe and translated to the American context — have risen to greater prominence now than at any time since the 1930s.

Mr. Trump’s first months back in office have provided a sort of experiment in applying these radical ideas.  The alarming results show why no one in American history, up until now, has attempted to put them into practice — and why they present an urgent threat to the nation.

Since the 1930s?  Is the author saying that President Franklin Delano Roosevelt was a right wing nut case?  It would seem so.

As an aside, I would note that if the Federal Bureaucracy and the Media had not messed with the Election in 2020, suppressing the Hunter Biden Laptop (From Hell), Mr Trump would currently be enjoying his retirement in Mara Lago.  Instead, they enforce a sabbatical on him, giving him time to study what he had done wrong in his first term.  And, he learned.

And he wrote:

Here you can see why, for instance, Mr. Trump fired inspectors general at more than a dozen federal agencies, despite law requiring the president to give Congress 30 days notice of, and provide cause for, his intent to dismiss them.

Actually, I don’t.  I think that he should have used the regular process.  Could he have ’suspended” them while he waited the 30 days?  I would think so.

Then:

You can also see why Mr. Trump rejects the very idea of a person or office in the executive branch being independent of his will.

I agree.  If you are an official in the Executive branch, then you are an extension of the President.  If you don’t work for the President, who do you work for?  Who is your manager, and who is your manager’s manager?

As to:

He thinks he has unlimited enforcement discretion, allowing him to choose not to enforce duly enacted legislation, as he has done with the law banning TikTok.

How is he different from President Joseph R Biden?  President Biden ignored laws to allow millions of immigrants into the nation without any due process.  You can call them undocumented, but that just puts emphasis on the lack of following the law, as enacted by the Congress.

But, at the end:

The best way to mitigate that risk is to insist that presidents accept the constraints of ruling within a constitutional order defined by the separation of powers.  And the only way to ensure they will accept such limits may be to demand that those who seek the nation’s highest office display an understanding of those limits and accept them as a necessary bulwark against tyranny.

Multiple guess test or essay test?

When I think of the National Socialist era in German politics I think of the authors Karl Binding (jurist) and Alfred Hoche (psychiatrist) and their 1920 Book, Allowing the Destruction of Life Unworthy of Life.  Yes, I think the Socialism was bad.  And the aggressive foreign policy was bad.  But the worst of it was marrying Eugenics they picked up from us with the ideas of Binding and Hoche, leading, through euthanasia of “worthless eaters" to the Death Camps.

Hat tip to my Middle Brother.

Regards  —  Cliff

♠  Damon Linker is a senior lecturer in the political science department at the University of Pennsylvania and a senior fellow at the Open Society Project at the Niskanen Center. He writes the newsletter Notes From the Middleground.

Where Goes the Democratic Party

For John, BLUF:  This is a time of uncertainty, as President Trump creates his form of chaos and the Democrats crete their's.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Meet the Man Who Murdered the Democratic Party

From PJ Media, by Author Scott Pinsker, 16 April 2025, 8:06 PM.

Here is the lede plus seven:

A pair of earthshattering, history-altering, Chris Christie-sized stories broke this week, but they’ve (mostly) skated beneath the political periphery.  That’s because you can’t grasp the sheer enormity of the consequences until you connect them together.

On their own, they’re inconsequential, back-of-the-page news stories — scarcely soliciting a shoulder shrug from political wonks.  But together, as a one-two punch, it will change American politics forever.

And it will murder the modern Democratic Party.  There’s been a slow-moving coup… but nobody’s noticed!

It’s tied to the larger political realignment nationally:  Under the MAGA banner, the GOP has evolved into the party of the working man.  The Bush-era days of country club conservatives has come and gone (assuming the club isn’t Mar-a-Lago, of course).  We’ve gone from Wall Street to Main Street.

But the Democratic Party is realigning, too.

Liberals are frothing in furious rage — and not only at Republicans. A record number have lost faith in the Democratic Party.  Its favorability has never been this dismal.  Liberals are begging — pleading — for new leaders and a new direction.  Even in New York, 53% of Democrats want to fire the Democrats’ Senate leader… who is FROM New York.  (Sorry, Chuck Schumer.)  This isn’t normal behavior.

There’s never been a better time for an outsider to seize control.

Our first big story is the Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) whistlestop tour with Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.).  (In honor of Bernie Sanders, I hereby dub it the B.S. tour.)  Although they’ve been generating headlines for the size of their enormous crowds — even in ruby-red districts — that’s not the most meaningful part.

I agree with Author Scott Pinsker.  I have been saying there is a problem for several weeks.  To quote myself from yesterday:

I am especially worried because i see the Democratic Party rudderless and the danger of radicals rearing up to take leadership.

That was in response to a posting at Actons Create Conosequences, by Dr Cynthia Warson, "consequences & anniversaries".

If the serious Democratd, as opposed t the Progressives, don't provide leadership to the party, we could find our nation devolving into a riots and worse.  Now is hte time for serious Democrats to come to the fore.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

Letitia James, AG of NY or a Land Deal Bind

For John, BLUF:  As they say, "Payback is a B_tch."  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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If This Is What It Looks Like, NY AG Letitia James Is In a World of Trouble

From PJ Media, by coastal conservative Athena Thorne, 11 April 2025, 1:23 PM.

Here is the a key etract:

[Sam E.] Antar has unearthed an interesting document bearing the signature of the heroine of our story, Tish James.  It's a Specific Power of Attorney she signed for her relative, Shamice Thompson-Hairston, to be able to complete a real estate purchase on her behalf.  The property in question is a modest residence in Norfolk, Va., which the two women purchased jointly.  But the potential legal problem for James is a claim she made on the POA she signed on Aug. 17, 2023:

"I intend to occupy this property as my principal residence," swore James.  But did she?  Since she went on to conduct her infamous fraud suit against Donald Trump two months later, it seems highly unlikely.  But if she didn't move to Virginia, that would mean she fraudulently signed the document.

Why would James have lied on the POA?  As anyone who has purchased a second home can tell you, mortgage rates are lower on primary homes than on investment properties.  Was James deliberately misrepresenting her status as a resident co-owner to obtain more favorable loan terms?

Perhaps James really did start spending most of her time with Thompson-Hairston in their jointly owned old Virginia home — but that would lead to a different legal pitfall for her.  Multiple New York State laws require residency for state officers.  "If James declared Virginia as her principal residence—which the power of attorney clearly shows was her intention—she may have triggered an automatic vacancy in the office of Attorney General under New York law—potentially invalidating her authority during the very period she was prosecuting her highest-profile case," notes Antar.

Yes, it may be fraud, but could it not just as likely be a stupid mistake.

Given her treatment of President Donald J Trump there is an urge to say "and you too", but that would be impolite and spiteful.  So, and the best of British luck to her.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

Jobs in Massachusetts

For John, BLUF:  Here in Massahusetts our employment picture is a flat line, and could be worse under a President Trump reeconfigured economy.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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The Mass. job market is stalling even before MAGAnomics kicks in

Here is the sub-headline:

The stagnant job market underscores the state’s vulnerability as the White House seeks to cut health care and education spending

From The Boston Globe, by Columnist Larry Edelman, Updated 24 March 2025, 8:06 a.m..

Yes, this is three weeks late, but it is an issue that is still with us, and after the problems on Wall Street this week, should be of concern to us.

Here is the lede plus one:

Massachusetts' employment growth has been, to use a technical term, meh.

The latest:  Employment was flat over the 12 months through January, newly revised Labor Department data show. Construction and retail were down — not a surprise — but professional services and information also took a hit. Those are newer cracks in what’s supposed to be the state’s white-collar foundation. Hiring gains came mostly in health care and private education — our prized “eds and meds.” The leisure and hospitality sector, along with state and local government, also offset declines elsewhere.

The unemployment rate ticked up to 4.2 percent from 3.7 percent a year earlier. The number of people collecting benefits was the highest since February 2023.

Why it matters:  Job losses across a swath of industries underscore the state’s vulnerability as President Trump’s second-term economic agenda shapes up to be a stress test we’re not ready for.

The scary part was "President Trump’s second-term economic agenda shapes up to be a stress test we’re not ready for."  In the author's words, we are an economy based on "eds and meds".  For us it is made worse by the DOGE effort trying to eliminate excessive overhead costs related to research funding.♠ 

The President wants to return jobs to middle Americans.  That would be jobs that were exported to cheaper production nations over the last few decades.  Nike Shoes would be a good example.  See this article from Think Spot, "Why Wall Street Was Bound To Hate Trump's Tariffs".

Trump wants to turbocharge manufacturing by expanding tariffs on imported goods, while slashing what his team calls “government and government-adjacent” spending — a catch-all that includes anything he hates.

We do have to reduce Fedeeral spending.  We can not sustain a Federal Government debt of $36.711 Trillion, and growing.

Regards  —  Cliff

♠  The author also mentions the Trump Administration is yanking funding as part of "cracking down on antisemitism," like fighting antisemitism is a bad thing.

Politics Isn't Beanbag

For John, BLUF:  The Democratic Party is in disarray and the fringe types are stirring up trouble.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Solving Problems

Here is the sub-headline:

You start at the end and you work your way back.

From The Lefsetz Newsletter, by Music Business Critic Bob Lefsetz, 6 April 2025.

This is a longish posting about President Trump and protests against him and his actions.  This is the introduction and then the discussion of where things are right now:

A pro knows.

The amateur gets heated up, acts without restraint, they’re pissed and someone has to pay. Is this to their benefit?

Very rarely.

Yes, the protests seem to be well organized and financed, but the author thinks what is lacking is a man with a plan.  Thus, we face the danger of damaging our democracy with revolution.

Here are the last five paragraphs:

Now if there is not organized pushback, then there is spontaneous revolution, and that’s uncontrollable. That’s when people start rioting in the street, sabotaging institutions because they just can’t take it anymore. That’s the story of the UnitedHealthcare assassination. But when it comes to the entire country coming under the power and the whims of an authoritarian, many more people are pissed.

This could be coming. If for no other reason than the left is not organized.

But the key is to be organized, focus on the result you want and then come up with a plan of action. You must concentrate on practicality more than emotions. Trump is a paper tiger, for now anyway. But he does control the military…

It’s your duty to stand up for America and its democracy. And I know you want to and I know your leaders have let you down. But it’s best not to act willy-nilly. It’s best to study your opponent and hit him in the chin when he is not prepared for it, when he thinks you’re a wimp and he’s the almighty.

This is doable.

This strikes me as an appeal to the Democrat voting part of society.  But, it is a warning to all of us.  That is to say, it is a warning about how a lack of organization on the part of the Democratic Party can lead to people not involved in the institutional Democratic Party might organize themselves and move in the direction of revolution.  That would not be good for the People of the United States.  We do best when we accept the peaceful exchange of power.  However, we have, in the past, rejected this approach.  in 1861 it cost us 655,000 dead from wounds or disease.

One thing for the the BLM and Antifa and Indivisible crowd to consider is that the folks on the conservtive side, the ones advocating for gun rights, are the ones who have pauchased all those guns.

Hat tip to the Vern Edwards, from the FAR Bootcamp.

Regards  —  Cliff

Subsidiarity Starts With The Family

For John, BLUF:  Family first.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Snow White and the Household Covenant

Here is the sub-headline:

In terms of quality, the recent live action Snow White film is about as far away from the 1937 original film as one could be. More importantly it lacks a crucial message.

From Noble Cobra Magazine, by Writer David Breitenbeck, 9 April 2025.

Here is the lede plus seven:

I genuinely believe that the Snow White remake is cursed. I think that the sheer cynical disrespect that the current Disney is showing to its foundational film has goaded Uncle Walt’s spirit into a vengeful wrath, causing him to inflict it with every possible injury so as to ensure its failure. From a lead actress who couldn’t seem to open her mouth without enraging half the internet (and whose casting contradicts the very title of the film), to snubbing a whole class of actors only to replace them with vomit-inducing CGI alternatives, all the stars are aligning to make this a wreck of ages; a film that is not only unwanted, but loathed on a personal level by just about everyone who encounters it.

In that spirit, let us imitate Dante and leave this cursed creation to wallow in its own failure while we turn to better things; namely the revered original film.

To read more insightful reviews and retrospectives from David Breitenbeck, please Subscribe to The Everyman Commentary.

The story, as everyone knows, is of a young princess with ‘skin white as snow.’ Her wicked stepmother, the Queen, is jealous of the girl’s youthful beauty and forces her to work as a servant. But when even this fails to prevent the princess from overshadowing her, the Queen tries to have her murdered. The woodsman she hires for the deed, however, cannot bring himself to harm the girl and urges her to flee. Snow White then comes to the cottage of the seven dwarfs, who agree to give her shelter.

It’s a beautiful little story, full of wisdom as most fairy tales are, and Walt Disney’s adaptation is nothing short of a masterpiece. For today, however, I want to dial in and focus on the dynamics of Snow White’s role in the dwarfs’ cottage.

Despite the fact that she is desperate and fleeing for her life, Snow White doesn’t simply beg shelter from charity, much less demand it as a right. Instead, seeing the state of the place, she judges that they need a ‘mother’ to clean and take care of the cottage, and so sets to work dusting and sweeping the place with her animal friends in the hopes that the owners will let her stay in return.

This is emblematic of one of Snow White’s key character traits: that she is humble and self-effacing (in contrast to the proud and selfish Queen). Being a princess, she could theoretically demand the dwarfs help her, but the idea never crosses her mind. She looks at the situation, sees that they have a need she can fulfill, and does it gladly as a sign of good faith.

In this way Snow White claims a place in the household, which is confirmed when she finally meets the dwarfs. The arrangement they come to is not a contract, but is more like a covenant. It is not an impersonal “I will do x in exchange for y,” in which the obligations of each party are specifically spelled out and go no further. The dwarfs are, essentially, adopting Snow White in their family circle as a mother or big sister. There is an assumption, of course, that she will uphold her end of the bargain, but the arrangement doesn’t begin and end with her household duties. It is simply that she is one of them now; a member of the family, with all the unspoken rights and obligations that go with it. She shares in both the prosperity and the work of the household, and enjoys the company and protection of the rest of the family.

Subsidiarrity, in my understanding, is the way we should organize, with the family being the bedrock, and larger organizations (Local, State, Federal) existing to deal with those things that need to have more people brought together to be effectively dealt with.  The family is the bedrock.

The author too seems to see the family as the bedrock of society and the foundation of a harmonious set of relationships.  That family is not ego centered, but rather open and cooperative.  Unlike the evil Step Mother, the family wishes to maximize the value of all.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

Do The Right Thing

For John, BLUF:  Being magnanimus is a sign of strength.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Macron should be a clever statesman and pardon Le Pen

From Brussels Signal, by Henry Olsen, 8 Apr8l 2025.

Here is the lede plus eight:

Marine Le Pen’s conviction for embezzlement, coupled with the court’s imposition of a five-year ban on running for public office, matters well outside of France. President Donald Trump has taken note of this, posting “FREE MARINE LE PEN” on social media.

French President Emmanuel Macron thus has yet another source of potential disagreement with the American President, as if the controversies over US tariffs and the Trump Administration’s approach toward NATO and the Ukraine-Russia war were not enough. That is something he does not want even as he surely revels privately in the potential demise of his dogged, and dangerous, foe.

Le Pen is appealing the conviction. The conviction might be overturned on appeal, or the sentence might be altered. Either could free Le Pen to run for President a fourth time and end the crisis.

But if the conviction and sentenced are upheld on appeal, Macron should burnish his standing with America and support French democracy with one simple act: he should pardon Le Pen. The French President, like the American President, has a plenary power to pardon convicted criminals under the French Constitution. That power allows him to exempt a convict from serving part or all of her sentence.

Le Pen would not have her conviction expunged. But she would be able to run again in the 2027 presidential election and campaign in public.

Macron will surely not want to do this. He clearly views Le Pen and her National Rally as dangerous to the country. That’s why he brokered the so-called “democratic alliance” to stop National Rally from winning the second round of last year’s parliamentary election.

Pardoning Le Pen serves many purposes. First, it takes away her claim of being a martyr for French democracy. Others who have been subjected to legal procedures that would end their political lives, like Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu, have rallied their adherents by claiming to be subject to “lawfare” and a “political witch hunt”.

Efforts to silence a prominent conservative populist via the law usually fails to keep populists from keeping or expanding their power. Driving Austrian Freedom Party leader Heinz-Christian Strache from office because of the so-called “Ibiza affair” in 2019 did not stop his successor, Herbert Kickl, from leading the party to first place in last year’s election.

That’s what early French polls suggest would happen if Le Pen is barred from running. Her deputy, Jordan Bardella, leads in a hypothetical contest in a late March poll, retaining 93 percent of voters who would have backed Le Pen.

Yes, a long extract, but it is European politics, and thus complicated, with new and strange names.  President Macron is the leader of France and married to his school teacher.  Le Pen is the Daughter of Jean-Marie Le Pen, comtroversial founder of the National Front Party, now the National Raal.

i think the proposal makes sense.  Her appeal of her conviction will just keep her in the news and harden her followers.  It may well garner her sympathy amongst the centerist voters.

i was surprised at how US President Donald Trump was woven into the story.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

Are we in the Midst of a Color Revolution?

For John, BLUF:  The Democrats lost in November and now they are protesting, thinking, perhaps, that that will cow the voters who voted for Donald J Trump, and cow the President Himself.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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The liberals’ license:  How the left finds release in an age of rage

From The Hill, by Professor Jonathan Turley, 5 April 2025, 10:30 AM ET.

Here is the lede plus four:

“We should replace our piece of crap Constitution.”

Those words from author Elie Mystal, a regular commentator on MSNBC, are hardly surprising from someone who previously called the Constitution “trash” and urged not just the abolition of the U.S. Senate but also of “all voter registration laws.”

But Mystal’s radical rhetoric is becoming mainstream on the left, as shown by his best-selling books and popular media appearances.

There is a counter-constitutional movement building in law schools and across the country. And although Mystal has not advocated violence, some on the left are turning to political violence and criminal acts. It is part of the “righteous rage” that many of them see as absolving them from the basic demands not only of civility but of legality.

They are part of a rising class of American Jacobins — bourgeois revolutionaries increasingly prepared to trash everything, from cars to the Constitution.

Jacobins:

Commonly known as the Jacobin Club (Club des Jacobins) or simply the Jacobins (/ˈdʒækəbɪnz/; French: [ʒakɔbɛ̃]), was the most influential political club during the French Revolution of 1789. The period of its political ascendancy includes the Reign of Terror, during which well over 10,000 people were put on trial and executed in France, many for "political crimes".[3][4]

The author, Elie Mystal, is a graduate of Harvard Law School.  One wonders, some times, what exactly they are teaching down county.

Am I going to have to read Mr Mystal's book to understand if he even has something to reploce our current controlling document.  I grant the Constitution is not perfect, and in the beginning had compromises to get each of the thirteen states on board.  On the other hand, it has worked to provide a certain degree of prosperity for a large portion of the population and opportunity for the rest.

Yet, we see people burning Tesla vehicles and attacking dealterships.  In Lowell we have had a Tesla shot on the street.  Now, on Saturday we had demonstrations trying to reverse the results of the November past election.  Do we all still live in a Democracy?  Time will tell.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

Go forth and Sin No More

For John, BLUF:  The joke goes "No, not you Mother."  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Fifth Sunday of Lent

Year C Readings

From The Gospel of St John, 8:1-11,

Then Jesus said, “Neither do I condemn you.
Go, and from now on do not sin any more.”

Thus, the value of Confession..

Regards  —  Cliff

Chris Did It

For John, BLUF:  People of all sorts continue to blame Christopher Columbus for all the ills of the world, and by extentino, "The West".  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Global warming?  Blame Christopher Columbus

From The Conservative Woman, by Freelance Journalist Henry Getley, 4 April 2025.

Here is the lede plus two:

GLOBAL warming is man-made, we are endlessly told by the climate change industry. You might think that ‘man’ in this context is a generic term for mankind. But a nutty-sounding professor has now narrowed down the culprit to one particular man . . . Christopher Columbus.

Yes, the Genoese explorer who in 1492 crossed the Atlantic from Spain in search of the Indies and instead found America (actually, he came ashore on an island in the Bahamas) is apparently the villain of the piece.

He is named and blamed in a new book called Dark Laboratory by Tao Leigh Goffe, an associate professor of Africana, Puerto Rican and Latino Studies at the City University of New York.  I haven’t read it, but several reviews – even by sympathetic critics – suggest it’s opaque, rambling and eminently putdownable unless you’re fully signed up to the climate nonsense.

Frankly, the thesis of the book makes one want to shout out Falcon Code 101.  It is hard to believe the author does not realize the activities Admiral Columbus brought with him had beeen ongoing for thouands of years in the other hemisphere.  Or for that matter, in this hemisphere.  The Blog poster goes on:

She tells us that European colonisation of the Caribbean, started by Columbus, ‘first formulated the structures of modern capitalism’ via slavery and racism. The creation of monocrop agriculture, the clearing of terrestrial and marine ecosystems and the degradation of the environment ‘made territories vulnerable to extreme weather’. And so on.

I think it goes without saying that the arrival of Europeans in new lands during the age of discovery was often harmful to the indigenous inhabitants. But in this case, the author is falling into that familiar trap for historians – judging what happened in the past by modern standards. Slavery and racism are obviously reprehensible from our point of view in 2025. But, like it or not, that’s how they did things 500 years ago.

I have to admit that I thought modern capitalism started in England and The Netherlands.  Spain I think of as an exploitive economy, along the lines laid out in Why Nations Fail:  The Origins of Power, Prosperity, and Poverty.  That book is captured in a Wikipedia post, of which the follow in an extract:

They emphasize instead organizational conditions and not least the quality of the state and institutions, as well as whose purpose the state and institutions serve.  As long as the state and the institutions do not serve everyone but only an exploitative elite, it is very difficult to achieve economic development for the entire nation.  Democracy as a growth factor is also a central part of the book.

Will I read this book?  Perhaps, after I finish all the tell all books from the 2024 Presidential Election.  I currently have one on my Kindle and two prepurchased.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

From the Heartland

Blog Template.
For John, BLUF:  The Democrats, with a magnificant machine, lack a selling message.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Does Tim Walz think we still want to hear from him?

Here is the sub-headline:

A disastrous campaign doesn’t seem to have sparked any reflection

From The Spectator, by Millinneal Grace Curley, March 24, 2025

Here is the lede plus three:

If you thought an embarrassing loss in November would result in Tim Walz taking a hint, you thought wrong. The Democratic party is seeing its popularity continue to decline, even from that low point. A recent NBC poll showed the party’s favorability rating hitting a low not seen since 1990.

Yet Walz seems hell bent on sticking around. This leads those of us who just suffered through his three month stint as a vice presidential candidate to ask: are the Dems really doing this again?

Despite the lack of demand, Walz is riding a non-existent wave of momentum and making headlines as he goes. While appearing on the This Is Gavin Newsom podcast, Walz and Newsom tried to unpack why the Democrat party is losing support from men.

Of course, who better to expound on this topic than the man who was specifically selected as Harris’ running mate to help improve her standing with the male demographic, and managed to make things worse for her! He is an expert in this field.

I think Grace Curley captures it here.  Governor Tim Walz may represent some vision of masculinity, but he falls well short in appealing to the young male demographiv.

The Democratic National Committee seems to have lost the sent along the campaign trail.  Yes, it is still early days for the Mid-Terms, but still, the need to be thinking about getting their act together, rather than rely on saying "Orangeman Bad" and vandelizing Teslas .

Regards  —  Cliff

Former Mass First Lady Passes Away

For John, BLUF:  Another heads off to Heaven.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Kitty Dukakis, wife of former Massachusetts governor and failed Democratic presidential nominee Michael Dukakis, dead at 88

From The New York Post, by Reporter Christopher Scarglato, 22 March 2025, 10:47 a.m. ET.

Here is the lede plus two:

Kitty Dukakis, the wife of former Massachusetts governor and 1988 Democratic presidential nominee Michael Dukakis, died on Friday, her family said.

The cause behind her death was complications from dementia, said her son John, according to The Washington Post.

Dukakis, 88, was Massachusetts’s first lady from 1975 to 1979 and again from 1983 to 1991 while her husband spent three terms as governor.

She is survived by her husband, Michael, who is 91.

May she rest in peace.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

When Does the Economy Rebound

For John, BLUF:  Senator Warren is correct, the econoomy didn't recover on dayy one, but the steps are beingh taken to move it ahead.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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https://pjmedia.com/catherinesalgado/2025/03/02/bessent-calls-out-media-for-hiding-economic-crisis-until-trump-took-office-n4937486

Bessent Calls Out Media for Hiding Economic Crisis Until Trump Took Office

From PJ Media, by Columnist Catherine Salgado, 2 March 2025, 1:45 PM.

Here is the lede plus two:

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent started off his CBS News interview Sunday by ripping leftist media — including CBS — for pretending Joe Biden’s horrible economy was great until he left office.

As We the People picked up extra jobs or lost jobs, as we struggled to pay bills and saw inflation eat up our savings, mainstream media swore we were fools who didn’t appreciate a booming economy. But as soon as Donald Trump took office and inherited Biden-Harris’s economic morass, the media began screeching hysterically about egg prices and insurance costs. As Bessent said, these stooges are total hypocrites.

Addressing the ever insidious “Face the Nation” moderator Margaret Brennan, who expressed concern about prices and economic backsliding, Bessent said, “You know, Margaret, what I find interesting is, for the past year and a half, and during the campaign, most of the media said, Oh, the economy is great. It's just a vibe session. Now that President Trump's in office, there's an economic problem. And I'll tell you what the problem was–”

Why, yes, it is Moderator Margaret Brennan, of CBS Face the Nation, one more time.  She comes across as an apologist for the AutoPen Administration.  In this case she is covering for that Administrations sad economic policies.

President Trump may have thought that he was going to turn the economy around on day one, just by his personality and promise to Make America Great Again.  It didn't happen.  The economic drag of the previous Administration has held us back.

But, I am optomistic that the economy is sound and with the efforts of the current Adminiistration to provide more energy and to reduce regulations thihngs will free up and the economy will forge ahead. Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

Burning Teslas Warm the Climate

For John, BLUF:  .  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Tesla Vandalism

From Rasmussen, by Rasmussen Reports.

Here is the text:

"Tesla automobiles and Tesla dealerships have been vandalized by anti-Trump protesters.  Is vandalism against Tesla an appropriate form of protest?"

NO -
DEM:  61%
IND:  79%
GOP:  78%
All Voters:  72%

I am disappointed that the numbers are so low for Independents and Republicans.

But, the percentage for Democrats is significantly lower.  Do these people not realize that they are abandoning the crusade of climate change?  Do they like being opposed to making Government better?  Do they realize that they are making a mockery of previous demonstrations?  And what does the use of the swastika say to Native Americans?

I am glad to see that our Attorney General is taking this seriously.  These perpatrators are domestic terrorists and deserve punishment.  Feloony convictions♠ are totally appropriate.

This Tesla Protest is far worse than the supposed Insurrection on 6 January 2021.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

♠  And in many places a felony connviction means a loss of one's right to vote.

Truth Emerging

For John, BLUF:  Mnetioned in Dispatches.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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'We Were Badly Misled' About COVID Origin, Says ...

From Hot Air, by Capotain Ed Morreissey, 17 March 2025, 9:20 AM.

Here is the lede plus one:

Were they 'misled'? Or did they lead the charge against anyone who dared question the consensus?

Now that the cat has come out of the bag, suddenly the New York Times feels the need to get out in front of the backlash. For years, the NYT ran story after story, scathing column after column, about anyone who dared to challenge The Science®. How dare people suggest that a novel coronavirus might have emerged from the nearby lab being run under questionable practices doing exactly the kind of research intended to produce novel coronaviruses! Those dissenters were all raaaaaacists, remember?

Now, the NYT -- and not even in its own editorial voice -- wants to play victim of The Science®:

Since scientists first began playing around with dangerous pathogens in laboratories, the world has experienced four or five pandemics, depending on how you count. One of them, the 1977 Russian flu, was almost certainly sparked by a research mishap. Some Western scientists quickly suspected the odd virus had resided in a lab freezer for a couple of decades, but they kept mostly quiet for fear of ruffling feathers.

Yet in 2020, when people started speculating that a laboratory accident might have been the spark that started the Covid-19 pandemic, they were treated like kooks and cranks. Many public health officials and prominent scientists dismissed the idea as a conspiracy theory, insisting that the virus had emerged from animals in a seafood market in Wuhan, China. And when a nonprofit called EcoHealth Alliance lost a grant because it was planning to conduct risky research into bat viruses with the Wuhan Institute of Virology — research that, if conducted with lax safety standards, could have resulted in a dangerous pathogen leaking out into the world — no fewer than 77 Nobel laureates and 31 scientific societies lined up to defend the organization.

So, the Wuhan research was totally safe and the pandemic was definitely caused by natural transmission: It certainly seemed like consensus.

We have since learned, however, that to promote the appearance of consensus, some officials and scientists hid or understated crucial facts, misled at least one reporter, orchestrated campaigns of supposedly independent voices and even compared notes about how to hide their communications in order to keep the public from hearing the whole story. And as for that Wuhan laboratory’s research, the details that have since emerged show that safety precautions may have been terrifyingly lax.

And it goes on and gets better.  Read the whole thing.

There is little doubt in my mind that we, the Citizenry, were fed disinformation about the COVID-19 Pandemic.♠  I would like to put all the blame on Dr A Fauci, but that would not be fair.  He was aided and abetted by others in the medical community.  And, there was the Trump-despising Press, who went with Dr Fauci, because it was the easy way to place the burden on President Trump 45  Sad.  Very sad.

It is going to tqke time for experts, in and out of Government, to regain the confidence of the American People.  I hope those "experts" starat working on it soon.  I owuld like to get back to the time that Sergeant Friday and Inspector Lewis Erskine represented what was best in Government.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

♠  An Undertaker friend of mine pointed out early on that the typical surgical mask was not suited to dealing with the COVID-19 virus.  Rather, we needed the N-95  But, I have been at hospitals that rejected the N-95 and asked me to don the ineffective mask.

England Now Has a Version of DOGE

For John, BLUF:  When Labour Party Sir Keir Starmer looks to be adopting a reform of the Bureaucracy, maybe DOGE isn't so off base.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Starmer to abolish NHS England

Here is the sub-headline:

KEY MOMENTS

From The aatelegraph, 13 March 2025 3:05pm.

Here is an extract:

Starmer: We’ve created ‘watchdog state’ out of step with the public Sir Keir Starmer said: “I’m going to send teams into every government department with a clear mission from me to make the state more innovative and more efficient. But we also need to go further and faster on regulation.”

The Prime Minister insisted it was “not about questioning the dedication or the effort of civil servants” but rather “the system we’ve got in place”.

“Over a number of years politicians have chosen to hide behind vast arrays of quangos, arms-length bodies, regulators, you name it, a cottage industry of checkers and blockers, using taxpayer money to stop the Government delivering on taxpayer priorities.”

Sir Keir admitted “we always knew it was going to be contentious” to promise to build 1.5 million homes during the current Parliament, adding: “Some parts of the state haven’t got the memo.”

He warned an office conversion into 139 homes was in jeopardy “because the [cricket] ball strike assessment doesn’t appear to have been taken by a specialist qualified consultant”.

“People across Britain are frustrated, they don’t think politics works for them, it doesn’t deliver on its promises... Parts of the state see their job as blocking government from doing great things it was elected to do... We’ve cleared a watchdog state, completely out of whack with the priorities of the British people.”

It sounds to me like British Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has broken the code and realizes that the Bureaucracy has become its own self-perpetuating organism.  It reminds me, in a way, of the 1983 film, War Games.

This suggests that maybe President Trump and Elon Musk may be on a good path.

Regards  —  Cliff