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

Penny Update

Even the lawyers get it.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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From Twitter / 𝕏, by Ashley St. Clair (@stclairashley), 4 December 2024, 12:14.

Here is the Tweet:

Word from attorney in Manhattan court house today:

“Everyone with a shred of common sense about the madness surrounding crime in New York is on pins and needles, desperately hoping for an acquittal for Penny. Today, I spoke with prosecutors, clerks, court officers, and my colleagues in the defense bar. In absolute unison, they agree: this is a case that should never have seen the inside of a courtroom. G-d save Daniel Penny.”

I agree with the quoted lawyer.

Could there have been some out of touch political theater going on here?  Perhaps the Jury will enlighten us.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

Offer Revoked

For John, BLUF:  The Department of Defense seems to be in administrative chaos.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Defense Secretary Revokes Plea Deal for Accused Sept. 11 Plotters

Here is the sub-headline:

Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin III assumed direct oversight of the case and effectively put the death penalty back on the table.

From The Old Gray Lady, by Reporter Carol Rosenberg, Reporting from Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, 2 August 2024, Updated 8:41 p.m. ET.

Here is the lede plus three:

Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin III on Friday overruled the overseer of the war court at Guantánamo Bay and revoked a plea agreement reached earlier this week with the accused mastermind of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks and two alleged accomplices.

The Pentagon announced the decision with the release of a memorandum relieving the senior official at the Defense Department responsible for military commissions of her oversight of the capital case against Khalid Shaikh Mohammed and his alleged accomplices for the attacks that killed nearly 3,000 people in New York City, at the Pentagon and in a Pennsylvania field.

The overseer, retired Brig. Gen. Susan K. Escallier, signed a pretrial agreement on Wednesday with Mr. Mohammed, Walid bin Attash and Mustafa al-Hawsawi that exchanged guilty pleas for sentences of at most life in prison. In taking away the authority, Mr. Austin assumed direct oversight of the case and canceled the agreement, effectively reinstating it as a death-penalty case. He left Ms. Escallier in the role of oversight of Guantánamo’s other cases.

Because of the stakes involved, the “responsibility for such a decision should rest with me,” Mr. Austin said in an order released Friday night by the Pentagon.

This is embarrassing.  Why did SecDef Lloyd Austin not knonw about this before it went public.  This suggests very poor staffing.

The other side of this is that given an offer was made, and accpeted, and should it not have been peremptorily revoked?  It strikes me as going against our tradition of English Common Law.  I will ask a lawyer .

Hat tip to the Citizen Free Press.

Regards  —  Cliff

Give us Justice

For John, BLUF:  The couorts, and prosecutors, need to have an even hand for all crime, or they will destory our democracy.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Politically selective prosecution

From Tilting At Windmills, by Blogger Tom Knighton, 25 June 2024.

Here is the lede plus six:

The way things are supposed to work in our country, people shouldn’t be punished selectively. Their politics should be largely irrelevant to their prosecution nor should who they are or what they stand for prevent it if prosecution is warranted.

That’s the ideal situation, at least.

In reality, prosecutors use all kinds of criteria to determine who gets prosecuted and who doesn’t. Sometimes, that’s informed by the DA’s politics. A conservative “tough on crime” type might prosecute someone that a more liberal DA would let walk, for example.

But again, as long as the defendant’s politics don’t play into things, I don’t have an issue with that. District attorneys are voted on, after all, and people deserve what they vote for.

In Manhattan, however, DA Alvin Bragg isn’t trying to be subtle. He’s blatantly allowing his politics to expressly determine who gets prosecuted and who doesn’t.

For example, we all know about Trump’s prosecution for a crime that makes absolutely no sense. Bragg distorted the law and likely only got a conviction because of an equally biased judge. The idea that an internal accounting error, at worst, is fraud was stupid beyond belief.

Then there’s the flip side, where now people feel betrayed by Bragg over who he didn’t prosecute.

Law professor Glenn Harlan Reynolds says:  "When the law isn’t evenhanded, people will take the law into their own hands.".

Mob justice isn't very just.  A lot of factors can be quickly paaaed over as the mob and its leaders seek swift justice.  We need real justice, with real courts and real prosecutors and defense attorneys.  The George Soros backed attornies are depriving us of that justice, and it will turn around and bite them.

A thought for criminals and law abiding citizens both:  The police do not exist to protect the law abiding citizens from the criminals, but to protect the criminals from those citizens.  Remember what our Founding Fsthers wrote back in 1776:

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.--That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed

The courts should be how we secure those rights and DA Alvin Bragg, and others, are standing in the way.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

Trying to Influence the News

For John, BLUF:  The Main Stream Media trying to influence the news.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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NBC’s Secret Trump Scheme Exposed – Here’s Their Shocking Move Against Judge Cannon

From Patriot Journal, by Reporter Mick Farthing, 4 June 2024.

Here is the lede plus three:

Democrats have engaged in what some are calling “lawfare” against Donald Trump. They have launched several criminal trials in various districts, hoping, it seems, to stop him from becoming president. One of the trials is over, resulting in a guilty verdict.

Another case is in Florida, where a federal prosecutor is trying to pin Trump for the documents he kept at Mar-A-Lago.

The big problem for the left? The prosecutor, Special Counsel Jack Smith, has been outed for “manipulating evidence.” The judge presiding has postponed the case until the election to sort through these accusations. Now, it has come to light that Democrats plotted to get this judge removed to speed up the case.

From Breitbart: NBC and MSNBC legal analyst Glenn Kirschner has been revealed as the origin of an “orchestrated campaign” to file complaints against Judge Aileen Cannon, who is presiding over former President Donald Trump’s case in Florida…

This kiind of action seems self-defeating.  And a little too activist for a legitimate news organization.

If the Biden side (including NBC) believes in the legal system, as they claim, they should let it work out its efforts without people trying to put their thumb on the scale.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

New York Finds Donald Trump Guilty

For John, BLUF:  This kind of thing makes us look like a banana republic, or Russia.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Trump and associates ordered to pay $364 million in civil business fraud case

From The Washington Examiner, by Reporter Kaelan Deese, 16 February 2024, 3:18 pm.

Here is the lede plus one:

Former President Donald Trump and his associates were found liable by a New York court on Friday for committing decades of business fraud through his real estate empire, the Trump Organization, and a court ordered them to pay roughly $364 million in penalties.

New York Supreme Court Justice Arthur Engoron’s ruling ordered Trump and his companies to pay millions of dollars to the state, while his adult children and other associates under the Trump Organization were ordered to pay additional fees in the millions.  Engoron barred Trump from “serving as an officer or director of any New York corporation or other legal entity in New York” for three years, according to the ruling.

Of course it wil be appealed.

In the mean time, to whom does the New York City Mayor turn when he needs the next ice skating rink, or like facility, rehabilitated?

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

Hunter's Indictment

For John, BLUF:  The indictment of Mr Hunter Biden didn't make sense at the time.  This helps clear it up a little.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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The Hunter Biden Indictments Are a Ruse.  Here’s Why.

From PJ Media, by Reporter Matt Margolis, 15 September 2023, 11:04 AM.

Here is the lede plus three:

It’s a true reflection of the sad state of our justice system that we have to be suspicious of anything it does.  When we first learned that Hunter Biden would likely be indicted, I was skeptical and felt that even if Special Counsel David Weiss did indict him, it would be a ruse.  Still, when the indictments came down on Thursday, it was hard not to feel somewhat elated—but that suspicion still nags at me.

Seriously, does anyone believe that Hunter Biden will actually face any jail time?  Would Weiss, one of the architects of Hunter’s ridiculous plea deal, actually put Hunter Biden behind bars? I don’t.  But in the meantime, many think it is a possibility.

According to Mike Davis, a former law clerk for Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch, we shouldn’t be fooled by these indictments, and he explains why.

“Don’t be fooled,” he began in a lengthy post on X/Twitter. “Today’s indictment of Hunter Biden for gun felonies is just more coverup by Delaware U.S. Attorney David Weiss, who has protected the Bidens for years.”

And then Mr Davis explains in some detail.

It appears to me the Democratic Party Establishment does not want President Biden to run in 2024. To avoid a messy fight at their Convention, 19-22 August 2024, Mr Biden needs to step down before the Primaries get serious.  For that to happen, Mr Hunter Biden needs to be in a safe harbor.  That task falls to DoJ and Special Counsel David Weiss.

The other loose end is Ms Kamala Harris.  If she isn't going to slide in as the Democratic Party nominee someone will have to talk to her, or force her out as Vice President.♠

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

♠  à la Spiro T Agnew.

Justice For Andy Ngo

For John, BLUF:  AntiFa seems to hate freedom of the press and hate Reporters who do not adhere to their party line.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Judge rules three of Andy Ngo's Antifa attackers must pay him $100,000 each

From Hot Air, by Reporter John Sexton, 22 August 2023, 7:20 PM.

Here is the lede plus three:

A small amount of justice at last in this case.

Earlier this month Andy Ngo’s civil trial against members of Rose City Antifa went to trial. As I explained here, the trial only involved two defendants, John Hacker and Elizabeth Richter, because three other defendants had been found “in default,” meaning they were found liable (the judge would determine the amount of that liability after the trial). One additional defendant had settled the case with Ngo prior to the trial. The trial of the remaining two defendants resulted in the jury siding with the defense.

. . .

Ngo tried to have the verdict overturned given that Hacker had admitted the incident in the gym but the judge didn’t allow it.

Yesterday, the judge issued his decision on the remaining three people who’d been found in default prior to the trial. Each of them was ordered to pay Ngo $100,000.

I am glad to see justice finally given to Reporter Andy Ngo.  I ad been disappointed in the jury.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

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

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

Getting Trump

For John, BLUF:  Our politics appears to be becoming more and more partisan.  Is there a way we could pause?  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Special prosecutor won’t be Mueller sequel

Here is the sub-headline:

From The [Lowell] Sun, by Noah Feldman, 26 November 2022.

Here is the lede plus three:

To no one’s surprise, Attorney General Merrick Garland has appointed a special prosecutor, Jack Smith, to investigate former President Donald Trump. You might think that you’ve seen this movie before. But there’s little reason to think this will be a repeat of the Robert Mueller investigation that declined to bring charges against Trump. Charges are more likely this time around — though that doesn’t guarantee they will stick.

Remember how worried we were about whether special counsel Mueller would be fired? And remember how then-Attorney General William Barr subverted Mueller’s report by misrepresenting its contents in advance of its release?

Garland is no Barr. He will respect the special counsel’s independence. It would be almost impossible for him to insist on prosecution if Smith judged it inappropriate. And it would be astonishing if he blocked charges that Smith wanted to bring. Either method of contravening the special prosecutor would politicize the prosecution decision. Garland’s whole emphasis at the Department of Justice has been to restore the department to its traditional (and desirable) status as nonpartisan.

Smith is by all accounts a straight shooter, free of partisan bias. He won’t be afraid to charge Trump with federal crimes if the evidence supports it. That’s bad news for Trump. Especially because, with respect to the classified documents Trump took from the White House to Mar-a-Lago, it already seems clear there is enough evidence for criminal charges.

The article is kind of disrespectful of former US Attorney General William Barr, while puffing up Attorney General Merrick Garland.

More interesting to me is how the author sees Special Council Jack Smith as "a straight shooter, free of partisaan bias."  Not everyone sees it that way.  Take Ms Mia Cathell, of Town Hall.  Her 25 November 2022 (11:00 AM) article, "There's Something Fishy About the Special Counsel Investigating Trump" brings up how Mr Smith went after Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell, esentially knocking him out of the 2016 GOP Presidential Primary Race.  The fact that the US Supreme Court reversed the conviction 9 to 0 doesn't erase the blot at the time, which disrupted our political process.  I would mark him down for this.

Then, there is Mr Smith's close association with the former IRS Official, Ms Lois Lerner.  Enough said.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

Looking for Justice, Andy Ngo Version

For John, BLUF:  The conflict between Anftifa and a free press has been around for a couople of years.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Portland's Antifa 'Justice' Strikes Again

From PJ Media, by Reporter Victoria Taft, 16 NOVEMBER 2022, 9:17 AM.

Here is the lede plus two:

A Portland “anti-fascist” activist has been found not guilty of being a fascist by roughing up a journalist and stealing his phone because he didn’t like what the reporter said about his Antifa friends.  After the Portland judge let off the notorious Portland Antifa attacker, he delivered a lecture to the victim, reporter Andy Ngo.

There’s your justice, Portland.

Ngo sought justice in court for three-and-a-half years against John Hacker, one of a mob of activists that has made a point to follow, chase, hassle, and attack Ngo multiple times.

Is there justice to be found in Portland, Oregon?  Is that part of Oregon really part of America?

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

Justice for All

For John, BLUF:  In this new world that is evovling out of Western Civilization the criminals are gaining more rights than the People.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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The charging of Jose Alba and the war on self-defense

From The New Neo, by Herself, 8 July 2022.

Here is the lede plus two:

The war on self-defense continues, in New York City this time.

You know how it goes with these Soros-backed leftist DAs such as New York’s Alvin Bragg.  When Bragg was elected in January, I wrote this post about his plans and what to expect.  They’re the same sort of things we’ve become familiar with from the now-recalled Chesa Boudin of San Franisco, and from the hopefully-soon-to-be-recalled George Gascon of Los Angeles.  In that post I mentioned that this was one of Bragg’s awful guidelines:

Armed robbers who use guns or other deadly weapons to stick up stores and other businesses will be prosecuted only for petty larceny, a misdemeanor, provided no victims were seriously injured and there’s no “genuine risk of physical harm” to anyone.  Armed robbery, a class B felony, would typically be punishable by a maximum of 25 years in prison, while petty larceny subjects offenders to up to 364 days in jail and a $1,000 fine…

This story writes itself.

Without the police the Citizens bring justice themselves.  The police exist to protect the criminals from the Citizens.  The job of these Prosecutors is to keep the Citizens down so they do not rise up against the criminals and the Government.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

Depopulate DC

For John, BLUF:  I have heard calls to make the District of Columbia a Ghost Town.  I think it is a bridge too far.  It is as good a place as any to hold the politicians.  But, disperse the Agencies and their bureaucrats..  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Dismantle the D.C. Company Town

Here is the sub-headline:

It’s time that Americans faced up to the reality that their governing apparat is a corrupt, self-engorging Leviathan.

From American Greatness, by Author Roger Kimball, 4 June 2022.

Here is the lede plus one:

Gertrude Stein famously warned that it was important to know how far to go when going too far.

It pains me to admit that Democrats seem to have a far better sense of all that than do Republicans.  Perhaps it’s because Democrats have a visceral appreciation of William Hazlitt’s observation that “those who lack delicacy hold us in their power.”  The Democrats, that is to say, long ago became expert at the game of holding their opponents to standards that they themselves violate not just with impunity but with ostentatious glee.

The Author, Mr Kimball, then goes on to compare the treatment of a Ms Hillary Clinton Lawyer, Mr Michael Sussmann, with the treatment of GoP (and Trump Administration staff members) retired Army Lieutenant General Michael Flynn and Mr Peter Navarro.  Just for spice the Author mentions Attorney General Eric Holder being cited for Contempt of Congress and nothing happened.  Definite double standard.

The author mentions:

Increasingly, once-respected institutions like the FBI, Congress, the Justice Department, to say nothing of the educational establishment and corporate culture, have lost their claim on the people’s allegiance.$nbsp; That allegiance is not something that can be repaired by diktat.

Too right.  And President Biden's hectoring manner also isn't going to heal this.

There used to be a West Virginia Senator who made it a practice of moving DC Federal Agencies to West Virginia.  That would be Senator Robert Byrd.

We could all benefit by encouraging that state of mind.  The Nation's Capitol is a corrupt City.  Has tended that way for a long time.  Likely can't be reformed, so we should spread it out.

Electing Republicans won't fix this, nor would the election of Socialists.  Our best hope is to reduce the bureaucracy in DC.  Not close the City.  We need a national capitol.  But, reduce the bureaucratic concentration of power in Washington and its environs.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

Seeking Truth and Jutice

For John, BLUF:  The below describes an revered institution of higher eduction that is not reflective.  Otherwise, they would be appalled by their conduct in this situation.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Ilya Shapiro resigns from Georgetown following reinstatement after 122-day investigation of tweets

From The Fire, by Ms Sabrina Conza, 6 June 2022.

Here is the lede plus two:

After a more than four-month investigation that led to his reinstatement last week,  Ilya Shapiro resigned today from Georgetown University Law Center.

On June 2, Shapiro was reinstated as senior lecturer and executive director for the Georgetown Center for the Constitution after a 122-day investigation — which began before Shapiro started his first day on the job.  Georgetown investigated Shapiro after he tweeted that Sri Srinivasan, chief judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, would be President Biden’s “best pick” for the Supreme Court.  He continued:  “But alas [Srinivasan] doesn’t fit into latest intersectionality hierarchy so we’ll get lesser black woman.”  Shapiro’s “lesser black woman” phrasing gained considerable attention on Twitter and within the Georgetown community, and led Georgetown Law Dean William Treanor to denounce the tweet as “appalling” and “at odds with everything we stand for at Georgetown Law.”

Although Georgetown was correct to reinstate Shapiro, its initiation of an investigation transgressed its purported commitment to “the untrammeled expression of ideas and information.”  Investigations of protected speech produce a chilling effect.  Moreover, Georgetown, in its stated justification for reinstating Shapiro, made little effort to defend these principles, making clear that it is not interested in protecting the expressive rights of faculty and students with dissenting viewpoints.  For this reason and more, Shapiro’s decision to resign from Georgetown is readily understandable — indeed, his resignation letter is mandatory reading for anyone interested in FIRE’s issues.

In her article, including two of the three quoted paragraphs, Ms Conza provides a number of links.  Plus, she publishes Mr Shapiro's letter of resignation.

If my friend Jim Shannon, from Church, were still with us I would tell him how sorry I felt for him, what with his graduation from and affection for Georgetown University.  This is an embzrrassment for Georgetown University, for Higher Education, for the Catholic Church and for the Jesuits.  As a person who has persued a college degree and a post graduate degree, but never associated with Georgetown, I am embarrassed.  As an American I am embarrassed.

As for Mr Shapiro's tweet, it might hurt the feelings of some, but seems a fair assessment of the situation at the time.  Back in the old dsys we would say "Sticks and stones may break my bones, but names will never hurt me."  Can't we all grow up a little and learn to accept comments and criticism?

The more importnt lesson to be lerned is tht the western tradition of free inquiry, which moves forward science and the humanities, is in jeopardy.  That will be a loss for all of us.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

Trusting The Government to Do What is Right

For John, BLUF:  The Department of Justice, and the FBI, are large Bureaucratic organizations and sometimes act for self-preservation, rather than the larger good of the nation.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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DOJ collected Project Veritas emails but didn't reveal it to federal judge overseeing case

From Hot Air, by Writer John Sexton, 22 March 2022 3:30 PM ET.

Here is the lede plus one:

An attorney for Project Veritas sent a letter to District Court Judge Analisa Torres accusing the Department of Justice of sidestepping her prior rulings designed to protect the journalistic and attorney-client privileges of the organization.  Microsoft recently revealed that the DOJ had previously seized Project Veritas documents from a cloud account using a warrant which was not revealed to the court and which Microsoft was forbidden from revealing until recently.

At the base of all of this is the FBI investigation into how Project Veritas wound up in possession of Ashley Biden’s diary.  An FBI raid of homes belonging to Project Veritas CEO James O’Keefe and two former PV journalists, resulted in the FBI seizing a number of phones, laptops, thumb drives, etc. last November.  Project Veritas asked Judge Torres to appoint a Special Master to review the seized information and determine what should and should not be turned over to authorities.  Judge Torres agreed and ordered everything that had been gathered turned over to the Special Master.  But even after she issued that decision, the DOJ didn’t reveal the PV documents it had already collected from Microsoft and went behind Judge Torres back and the back of the Special Master she appointed to keep the previously seized documents a secret.

More recently Brietbart had an article (12 May) saying "Whistleblower Says FBI Targeting ‘News Media’".  It appears, from the outside, looking in, that the FBI and Project Veritas have developed mutual animosity and just can't let go.

The thing that bothers me is some unit of the Department of Justice writing its own rules regarding searching and seizure of information.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

Weapons of Mass Destruction

For John, BLUF:  They aren't guilty until the Jury says so, and the Jury represents the Common Man—us.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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No convictions for defendants in Michigan Gov. Whitmer kidnapping trial

Here is the sub-headline:

Anti-government militia members were charged with hatching a plot against the state's Democratic leader, angry over restrictions she ordered in the early days of the pandemic.

from NBC Newa, by Reporters David K. Li and Mohammed Syed, 8 April 2022, 2:32 PM EDT.

Here is the lede plus †hree

A federal jury failed to convict four men accused of plotting to kidnap Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, whom they despised for the restrictions she ordered early in the pandemic.

The panel in Grand Rapids considered charges against Daniel Harris, 24, Adam Fox, 38, Barry Croft Jr., 46, and Brandon Caserta, 33, all charged with conspiracy.

All but Caserta are also charged with knowingly conspiring to use weapons of mass destruction against persons or property, in an alleged plot to slow responding police.

Croft and Harris were also charged with possession of an unregistered destructive device.  Harris was charged with possession of a semi-automatic assault rifle that wasn't registered to him.

I want to first deal with the term "weapons of mass destruction".  In my mind the use or the term in this court case, while conforming to current US Law, erases an important line; a line that is between normal ways of killing people and destroying property and the use of nuclear, radiological, chemical and biological weapons, which are expected to create thousand of casualities, and, iin the case of nuclear weapons, blocks of destruction.  See, for example, this Wikipediaa article.

As for the jury, I expect they did their duty in sorting through the facts,  It appears to me that the involvement of the FBI was too heavy in the plotting, thus giving plausability to a defense argument that the defendents were trapped.  Further, this seems to be an action at a time when emotions were high and this "conspiracy" may have just been blown out of proportion.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

Support Your Local Sheriff

For John, BLUF:  Envision a world wheree there were no police.  Would order come automatically, or by the rule of the strong?  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Seattle bartender was slashed in the face, judge released the suspect without bail

From Hot Air, by Reporter John Sexton, 18 February 2022, 3:20 PM ET.

Here is the lede plus five:

The incident happened back at the end of December at Joe’s Bar and Grill in Seattle.  Bartender Felicite Ogilvy was given the job of checking people’s vaccination cards which was mandated at the time:

“I asked him, ‘do you have your vaccination card?’ and he said ‘I’ve had the vaccine but I don’t have the card’ and I was like OK but you need to have proof of it,” Ogilvy said…

“He ended up basically saying ‘You’re picking on me,'” Ogilvy said.  “I’m not going to deal with it.’  That’s when he started getting hostile.”

A coworker came over to help defuse the escalating situation – and even a few customers – but the man wouldn’t go and fought back with a long stick.  Witnesses said a sharp piece of metal was attached to the bottom end.

“He swung the stick as hard as he could at my face, so not only did it puncture me, he also slit me,” Ogilvy said.

The wound was so deep Ogilvy needed 31 stitches to close it up.

The InstaPundit comments:

KEEP THIS UP AND YOU’LL GET VIGILANTES AND DEATH SQUADS EVENTUALLY:

I don't think he is wrong about how this might evolve.  I have heard people say that the purpose of the police is to protect the perps from the victims.

The Defund the Police crowd appears not to have thought this out.  At least not long term.  If neighborhoods feel they are being abused by criminals and the criminals have not banded together in some sort of Mafia manner, then the victimes themselves may band together.  A Mafia organization is a solutiion to conflict and banditry, as long as it does not arouse the anger of the normal citizenry.  That anger can be controlled by the Mafia, as long as the Mafia doesn't go too far.  When it goes too far, then Citizens seek alternative solutions.

Succeess in obtaining a steady flow of justice requires courage.  Otherwise the cartels win.  Because a mafia or cartels is not real capitalism, but rather closer to socialism or communism, the average person does not prosper, nor does the area as a whole.

Economic growth, and increasing human prosperity requires freedom and justice.  Perhaps the failure to maintain justice and order is another version of the flawed Piven and Cloward Strategy for ending poverty.

My recommendation is support your local sherrif.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

Star Chamber?

For John, BLUF:  Whixh should be controlling when it comes to social/cultural issues, the welcoming nation or the culture of the immigrants coming in?  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Denmark’s Ex-Immigration Minister Gets Jail Sentence for Ordering Separation of Child Brides From Their ‘Husbands’

Here is the sub-headline:

BBC:  “The verdict cannot be appealed and the jail sentence is unconditional, meaning that it must be served.”

Freom Legal Insurrection, by Blogger Vijeta Uniyal, 14 December 2021, 11:30am.

Here is the lede plus one:

On Monday, Denmark’s high-power court convicted Inger Stoejberg, who served as the country’s immigration minister between 2015-19, for ordering the separation of refugees couples if the woman was under 18.

Stoejberg’s 2016 order, as she argues, was aimed at stamping out the practice of child brides who were being imported into the country in the wake of the migrant wave. “A total of 23 couples were separated, with the wives ranging in age from 15 to 17 years,” Germany’s DW News reported.

Here is the really disturbing part of the story, which is why the title of this Blog:

The so-called Impeachment Court, specially set up for Stoejberg’s trial, “agreed that the order had violated Danish law and the European Convention on Human Rights,” the TV network Euronews reported.

It seems to me that if a nation has age restrictions on marriages they should be enforced on everyone.  Otherwise they should be changed to reflect what is being allowed for some.  A two tiered system is inherently unequal.

Considering that in the West young teenage bridges were accepted several centuries ago it might be the way to go, except that in our current culture education suggests that 18 is a reasonable marriage age for all.  Our culture expects youth to stay in school until graduation from high school.  It is a reasonable expectation for society today.

A special court for Ms Stoejberg seems fishy to me.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

The Press Not Over 6 January

For John, BLUF:  I am just assuming that my view of the situatoin and that of the Reporters below are different in some details.  That is much better than assuming they are just trying to gaslight me.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Justice Dept. under pressure to resolve some lesser cases

From The [Lowell] Sun, by Reporters Alanna Durkin Richer and Colleen Long, of the Associated Press, 2 May 2021.

Here is the lede plus three:

More than 400 people have been charged with federal crimes in the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol.

But prison time may be another story.

With new defendants still flooding into Washington’s federal court, the Justice Department is under pressure to quickly resolve the least serious of cases.

While defendants charged with crimes such as conspiracy and assaulting officers during the insurrection could be looking at hefty sentences, some members of the mob who weren’t caught joining in the violence or destruction could see little to no time behind bars.

The article still uses the now discredited term "Insurrection".♠♥

Then there is this paragraph:

After Trump’s impeachment by the House resulted in an acquittal by the Senate, these criminal cases are one possible route for justice.

Your reading may differ, but to me the Reporters are trying to tie the Senate trial and acquittal of President Donald J Trump (February 9, 2021 – February 13, 2021) to criminal action against the 6 January rioters.  At one level that seems backwards.  At a second level it seems that the Reporters are saying that President Trump was guilty as charged by the House and that the Corrupt Republican Senators wrongly voted to acquit him and that the only justice for the American People is to try some of those who supported him and to ensure punishment for them.♦

This was not a good piece of journalism.

Hat tip to The [Lowell] Sun.

Regards  —  Cliff

♠  There is a Wikipedia entry for Insurrection, but it isn't very clarifying.
♥  If the Occupty Capitol Hill movement was an insurrection, then we need a better taxonomy of this kind of activity.  There was only one incident of gunfire.  No one tried to torch the Capitol building.  Aside from one protestor shot (Ashli Elizabeth Babbitt) no one else was shot and few were beaten up.  Most exited the Czpitol Building soon after entering it.  There was no occupation of offices and no calls for like activities elsewhere, in support of the Occupy Czapitol Hill action.  In fact, it was much different from its like action in Seattlem which results in CHAZ.
♦  My take on the Second Impeachment is that Speaker Nancy Pelosi has never been able to forgive Mr Donald J Trump for running for President and that she has felt all along a need to strike back at him and punish and humiliate him.  From Impeachment I to ripping up his State of the Union Speech to Impeachment II.  It seems to me that for Speaker Pelosi President Trump represented the worst side of America and the fact that the People in the hinterlands, the deplorables and irredeamables, are just not able to appreciate what she (Ms Pelosi) and the Democratic Party are doing for them.  In her view, it seems, those people should just sit down and color.