Confusion Over Freedom

For John, BLUF:  No Church Servics, but it is OK for mobs of people to wander through US Citizes.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Clever Churchgoers Avoid Arrest By Disguising Themselves As Rioters

From The Babylon Bee, 1 June 2020.

Here is the lede plus one:

LOS ANGELES, CA—Religious people in Southern California have found a bold, creative solution for in-person meetings in spite of the continuing lockdown.  This past weekend, several area churches attended church services disguised as righteously indignant rioters.

"We already have the righteous indignation thing down," said one church elder.  "Now, we've simply added black balaclavas, hoodies, Guy Fawkes masks, and baseball bats!  We found that when we do this, we can meet in large groups without much interference from the local authorities.  It's been a delightful experience."

Makes sense.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

Protesting Athletes

For John, BLUF:  The idea of athletes doing political protest has become popularized, but the NBA may have put paid the idea.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Opinion: LeBron James undermines values he's espoused in most disgraceful moment of career

From USA Today, by Columnist Dan Wolken, 15 October 2019.

Here is the lede plus three:

On behalf of the 327 million American citizens who generally believe that freedom is good and authoritarian regimes are less good, let me apologize to LeBron James of the Los Angeles Lakers.

It must have been a real inconvenience to take that 13-hour chartered flight to China last week and hang around a luxury hotel in Shanghai for five days while promotional appearances got canceled.  Surely it was awful to be in the middle of an international firestorm where the stakes were so high: Would preseason NBA games be played or not?

And to think, LeBron and his teammates were so disrupted all because Houston Rockets general manager Daryl Morey had the temerity to send a relatively anodyne tweet supporting a protest that pretty much every one of his countrymen — whether on the left or right side of the political spectrum — would agree with over the rights Hong Kongers were promised when the United Kingdom handed control of the territory over to China in 1997.

Because as James tweeted on Monday night, trying to clarify comments he made to the media earlier in the evening:  “My team and this league just went through a difficult week.  I think people need to understand what a tweet or statement can do to others.  And I believe nobody stopped and considered what would happen.  Could have waited a week to send it.”

The odds that Hong Kong Protesters win are slim, but, still, to not sympathize with their hopes seems Un-American.

And, does Mr James boycott in the US (South Carolina), but give China a free pass?

There is, apparently, some blowback on Social Media.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

Desolve the People

For John, BLUF:  Governments sometimes forget that the People are sovereign.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Obama – Just Too Good for Us

From The Old Gray Lady, by Columnist Maureen Dowd, 2 June 2018.

The beginning of last week's column:

It was a moment of peak Spock.

Hours after the globe-rattling election of a man whom Barack Obama has total disdain for, a toon who would take a chain saw to the former president’s legacy on policy and decency, Obama sent a message to his adviser Ben Rhodes:  “There are more stars in the sky than grains of sand on the earth.”

Perhaps Obama should have used a different line with a celestial theme by Shakespeare:  “The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars, but in ourselves.”

As president, Obama always found us wanting.  We were constantly disappointing him.  He would tell us the right thing to do and then sigh and purse his lips when his instructions were not followed.

Shortly after Donald Trump was elected, Rhodes writes in his new book,  “The World as It Is,” Obama asked his aides, “What if we were wrong?”

But in his next breath, the president made it clear that what he meant was:  What if we were wrong in being so right?  What if we were too good for these people?

“Maybe we pushed too far,” the president continued.  “Maybe people just want to fall back into their tribe.”

So really, he’s not acknowledging any flaws but simply wondering if we were even more benighted than he thought.  He’s saying that, sadly, we were not enlightened enough for the momentous changes wrought by the smartest people in the world — or even evolved enough for the first African-American president.

“Sometimes I wonder whether I was 10 or 20 years too early,” Obama mused to aides.

Which reminds me of East German Poet and Playwright Bertolt Brecht and his poem, after the 1953 East German uprising, The Solution

After the uprising of the 17th of June
The Secretary of the Writers' Union
Had leaflets distributed in the Stalinallee
Stating that the people
Had forfeited the confidence of the government
And could win it back only
By redoubled efforts.  Would it not be easier
In that case for the government
To dissolve the people
And elect another?

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

Schumer Saves the Day

For John, BLUF:  I don't think President Trump should be firing anyone in Main Justice, nor anyone from the Special Counsel Office, but that doesn't mean that I hold those folks in a lot of respect.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Schumer: Trump firing Rosenstein would spark 'constitutional crisis'

From The Hill, by Reporter Jordain Carney, 10 April 2018.

Here is the quote from Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer:

"For the sake of our country, we plead with you.  Don’t put this country through a constitutional crisis.  ...  The rule of law is paramount in this country.  No man, not even the president, is above it."

How is there a Constitutional Crisis unless Mr Schumer stirs one up?

Maybe Mr Schumer believes that by shouting about it he has President Trump on notice and thus prevents anything untoward from happening.

As I think about it, the idea of a cabinet or sub-cabinet official who can not be fired is an absurdity.  Otherwise the President is hamstrung.  A hamstrung President is no President.  And, from a certain perspective, that is what the likes of Senator Schumer wishes.

But, the question of firing Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein is just a surrogate for the question of firing Special Counsel Robert Mueller, who appears to have no specific mandate, but seems to be roaming far and wide, perhaps having abandoned the original "Russia Collusion" topic for a search for every possible flaw in the President and those who work with him.

I don't think I would be OK with such a wide ranging search for criminality, given the potential to start the kind of banana republic approach of going after one's predecessor.  And it smacks too much of "Show me the man and I will find you the crime." Stalin era persecution. But, if I thought both sides were being examined I might at least find it balanced.  Maybe, in the end, Mr Mueller will be shown to believe in Truth, Justice and the American Way.  I sure hope so, but my hope is running a little thin.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

Where is Healthcare Going?

For John, BLUF:  The Congressional Democrats plan to go to full socialized medicine, and then let it all slide down hill.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Where Is The Democrats' Plan To Fix ObamaCare?

An Investors Business Daily OpEd from back in May.

Followed by this one, yesterday, 18 July 2017.

Democrats Will Soon Regret That Republicans Failed To Repeal ObamaCare

So, if there is going to be all this Democratic Party winning in November of 2018, will there be an articulation of a plan before that, or will it be another Nancy Pelosi "We have to pass it so you can read it" kind of thing?

Remember, if you like your doctor you can keep your doctor.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

Another view of the MOAB Attack in Afghanistan

For John, BLUF:  It is political commentary via sarcasm.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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American Public Learns We’re Still Fighting In Afghanistan After Pentagon Drops Huge Bomb There

This is a week old, but it is still pertinent commentary.

MOAB—Massive Ordnance Air Blast (Bomb) (GBU-43).

The first four paragraphs of the article:

NEW YORK — The American public learned today the U.S. military was still fighting in Afghanistan after the Pentagon announced it had dropped a huge bomb there, sources confirmed.

Just hours after the U.S. Air Force dropped a massive ordnance air blast bomb, nicknamed “the mother of all bombs,” on an ISIS cave complex in Nangahar Province, a wide swath of Americans were seen with confusion on their faces over the revelation there’s still a war going on there.

“You mean to tell me that we’re still at war in Afghanistan?  The country we invaded almost 16 years ago after 9/11?” asked Benjamin Martin, a financial advisor who, like most Americans, supports the troops 100% in their fight against the terrorists or whatever.  “And they’re going after ISIS?  I thought ISIS was in Syria, or Iraq?  Where’s Syria and Iraq again?”

According to defense officials, the bombing was yet another blunder for the Pentagon, since news of it dashed hopes that most people outside of the military wouldn’t ask too many questions or even think of the longest war in American history.

There is more at the above Link.

Remember, it is The Duffle Blog.  The humorist sarcastic cynical writer is Mr Paul Sharpe, on 14 April 2017.

Regards  —  Cliff

Senator Waffle Warren Didn't Really Snub Nominee Betsy DeVos

For John, BLUF:  There are not enough excuses to cover our Senior Senator.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Warren vs. DeVos: How a Perceived Handshake ‘Snub’ Exposed The Right Wing’s Cultural Ignorance

Report by Mr Stephen Miller, at Heat Street.

The article points out how Republicans didn't realize that Senator Waffle Warren was merely using a very legitimate Indian Sign to acknowledge Ms Betsy DeVos.  The article puts it down to typical Republican insensitivity toward minorities.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

Professor Krugman's Mind Adrift

TRIGGER WARNING:  In which I talk about how deranged some people are about Mr Trump appearing to have won the election.

For John, BLUF:  Boy, the Democrats are poor losers.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Useful Idiots Galore

Fair Warning.  It is Nobel Laureate and New York Times columnist Paul Krugman.  He is off on a rant and taking up the old Communist meme about "useful idiots".

The lede:

On Wednesday an editorial in The Times described Donald Trump as a “useful idiot” serving Russian interests.  That may not be exactly right.  After all, useful idiots are supposed to be unaware of how they’re being used, but Mr. Trump probably knows very well how much he owes to Vladimir Putin.  Remember, he once openly appealed to the Russians to hack Hillary Clinton’s emails.

So, Paul Krugman as much as says that Mr Trump is in the tank for Russian President Vladimir Putin.  That is to say, he believes, but is unwilling to come out and say so, Mr Trump is a traitor.

And, to the second point of Professor Krugman, about Mr Trump's comments about Mrs Clinton's EMails, I was able to take it the way it was intended—Mrs Clinton had left her server open to being hacked and maybe it had been and maybe the Russians had the EMails.  That the Russians would release any EMails they had, except if it was useful to them, is risible.  Mr Trump was commenting on the carelessness of Mrs Clinton and the possible consequences of that carelessness.  He was pointing out that Mrs Clinton's carelessness could have adverse consequences.  People who have handled and respected classified information tend to get that point.

Then Professor Krugman says:

Still, the general picture of a president-elect who owes his position in part to intervention by a foreign power, and shows every sign of being prepared to use U.S. policy to reward that power, is accurate.

No it isn't.  It isn't like Mr Trump has hired the 1930s editorial policy of The New York Times.  Mr Trump is looking across the globe and trying to judge what is good for America.  He has the example of President Obama, who, four years ago, ridiculed Governor Mitt Romney's idea that Russia was a threat to the US.  Four years and a couple of months ago.  What has changed?  Has President Putin changed?  I am doubtful.  Professor Krugman is just out there blowing in the breeze.

Professor Krugman also attacks, in the same column, FBI Director James Comey.  The Professor writes:

…the dramatic, totally unjustified last-minute intervention by the F.B.I., which appears to have become a highly partisan institution, with distinct alt-right sympathies.

There it is, the "alt-right".  Maybe worse than "fascists".

We are talking conspiracy theories here.

The real problem is that after making his case that Mr Trump is a traitor and Director Comey is a co-conspirator, Professor Krugman fails to offer up a remedy.  He fails to tell us what to do.  Well, not those of us, the "deplorables", who voted for Mr Trump, but those who didn't.  Should they just stay home and pet their kitten or puppy and eat ice cream or should they take to the streets?  Is Professor Krugman calling for a putsch, like that famous one in Munich, 8-9 November 1923?  I hope not.  But he is not clear.  Things are terrible, and there is treason out there amongst the Republicans and the "alt-right", but . . ..

So, Professor Krugman is convinced that Mrs Clinton would have won if not for the intervention of the Russians.  The idea that she alienated a large segment of voters seems to have never entered his mind.  The only answer to why Mrs Clinton lost the Electoral College vote is because evil forces conspired with traitorous politicians to deceive the voters.  There you have it.  "We were pure and they were bad."

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

PS:  It isn't clear to me that Professor Krugman differentiates between computer hacking and the use of the term "hacking" to describe political warfare.

Explaining the Election

TRIGGER WARNING:  In which I explain Mrs Clinton's loss.

For John, BLUF:  Some are still in the denial phase.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Law Professor Glenn Harlan Reynolds told us, at 10:52 this evening, that he found the following on Facebook:

Just to be Clear

First they tried rioting, then they tried threatening electors, then they claimed the Russians hacked the voting machines, when all that failed, they came up with a new ploy, Donald Trump’s win isn’t legitimate because the Russians interfered int eh election in favor of Trump, so the electors shouldn’t vote for him.  But let’s be clear, they didn’t vote illegally, they didn’t hack the voting machines, no, what the Russians are being accused of is hacking the e-mails that Wikileaks released.  In other words, according to the Democrats, the electors should overturn the results of a legitimately won election, because the Russians exposed the lies, deceit, corruption, and collusion, of the Clinton campaign, the DNC, and the media.

And you thought Facebook would be suppressing the truth.

Well, not just the EMail releases, but also the fact that Mr Trump offered hope and change to those who saw none in an upcoming Clinton Administration.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

Over the Top

For John, BLUF:  Poor judgment abounds, unfortunately.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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I can't believe I paid for this Sunday's edition of The Boston Globe.

But, I have a subscription.  However, unless the Red Sox are exciting, maybe not for long.  My wife loves the Red Sox.

Maybe this is an apt comment:

Have you no sense of decency, sir?  At long last, have you left no sense of decency?

Joseph N Welch, 9 June 1954

Regards  —  Cliff

Excellent Ad

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

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From the Blog of Moe Lane.

" Marco Rubio shows us how to troll the Washington Post."

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

Registry of Journalists

For John, BLUF:  Would it include Freelancers like City Life hosts and co-hosts?  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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From Twitchy "LOL.  Journalists are concerned over a proposed ‘Responsible Journalism Registry Law’ in S.C."

Journalists seem concerned that a new proposed law in South Carolina to create a state registry of journalists might somehow violate the 1st Amendment.

Sheesh, all this new law does is create a database of names.  There’s not even a waiting period or a prohibition against assault-journalists! And from the little we know about the law, it still allows Americans on the terror no-fly list to still publish their opinions.  So, what’s the big deal?

Here in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts we could let the local Chief of Police keep the list.

Yes, if you were wondering, the person who has submitted this, State Rep Michael A Pitts, is a member of the NRA, a retired Police Officer and a member of the Army Reserve.

And, he is innovative and has a great sense of humor.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

Border Patrol

TRIGGER WARNING:  Murderers are on the loose.
For John, BLUF:  Context is always important and hypocrisy always abounds.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Yesterday I was listening to a News Conference on the radio and a New York State Trooper was talking about two escaped convicts and how, in the search, they had secured the border with Vermont.

What kind of an unAmerican comment is that?

I thought we didn't do that sort of thing, because it discriminates against minority groups.  Certainly we aren't doing it in the Desert Southwest?

And Governor Cuomo was at the Press Conference and didn't say anything about this unAmerican kind of activity.  Is this a further example of the Police out of control?  Has anyone contacted Baltimore State’s Attorney Marilyn J. Mosby?  Has the Department of Justice been rung in?

Regards  —  Cliff

Terrorism is Tickling the United States

For John, BLUF:  One always has to be alert.  A "misplaced" back pack can be a bomb.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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From CNN's Pentagon Correspondent, Ms Barbara Starr, we have this Friday evening story, "ISIS activity prompts threat level increase at bases".

Security conditions at U.S. military bases have been increased over growing concerns about terror threats, officials said Friday.

A U.S. official confirmed to CNN that U.S. military bases are now at "Force Protection Bravo," which is defined by the Pentagon as an "increased and predictable threat of terrorism."  It is the third-highest threat level on a five-tier scale used by the Department of Defense.

U.S. military officials added Friday that the announcement, which comes in the aftermath of the shooting at a Texas cartoon contest featuring drawings of the Prophet Mohammed, was not the result of a specific threat but because the military had become concerned about several recent incidents.

The military became alarmed when one of the jihadists linked to the Garland attack tweeted the name and address of a U.S. military officer connected to the military's Syrian rebel training program, a U.S. military official told CNN.

I can report that yesterday (Friday), while the front gate to Hanscom AFB looked calm and business as usual, when I got to the Clinic I saw that the parking row closest to the Clinic was coned off.  Further, when I got to the entrance there were two young Airmen doing spot checks on ID Cards.  They let me through without any questions, but then I probably look like I am not a threat.

Read more of the article at the link.

NB:  This was not Fox News hyping something, but a report from the well respected and sober CNN.

Regards  —  Cliff

Not What Was Expected

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

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Someone is trying to maintain some sense of perspective over the killing of the killers of cartoonists.

Here is a cartoon offering from Foreign Policy.  It is titled "72 Virgins and a Five Panel Cartoon".  The tag line is "This paradise isn't quite what the Kouachi brothers expected."

Regards  —  Cliff

Definition of "Liberal Paradise"

For John, BLUF:  Well, we all know how Sheriff Joe Arpaio thinks.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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A liberal paradise would be a place where everybody has guaranteed employment, free comprehensive health care, free education, free food, free housing, free clothing, free utilities....and only Law Enforcement has guns.
Believe it or not, such a place indeed exists....it's called prison.

~ Sheriff Joe Arpaio

Forwarded to me by one of my friends.  Needless to say, he won't be voting for Senator Mary Landrieu in the runoff, even if she get a Presidential Veto of the XL Pipeline overridden.

Regards  —  Cliff

It Isn't Just the Koch Brothers

For John, BLUF:  It isn't the amount you contribute, it is if you agree with my politics.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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This last weekend's New York Times Magazine had an article on big money in politics.  In this case about billionaire being willing to drop $50 million in the current election.  The title is "How Billionaire Oligarchs Are Becoming Their Own Political Parties".  The author is Mr Jim Rutenbergoct.

In August, Tom Steyer and seven campaign advisers sat in a small conference room in Coral Gables, Fla., trying to figure out how to save the world.  Steyer, who is 57, has a fortune of roughly $1.5 billion, and his advisers were among the most talented political operatives in the United States.  Steyer is especially concerned about climate change, and his immediate goal, the object of discussion that day, was to replace the sitting governor of Florida, Rick Scott, a Republican who has questioned the very existence of anthropogenic climate change, with Charlie Crist, the previous governor, whose environmental views hew more closely to Steyer’s.

Think of the outrage if Mr Steyer was supporting Governor Scott.

Regards  —  Cliff

Criticism of President re Iraq

For John, BLUF:  There is a lot of scrambling to protect individual reputations.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Here is a headline from the blog Yid with Lid:

Leon Panetta-- ISIS Flourished Because US Left Iraq Too Soon-Involved In Syria Too Late

Those Republicans are relentless in their criticism of the President.

Regards  —  Cliff

Vote Suppression

For John, BLUF:  If there is fraudulent registration, does that not dilute my vote?  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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More Republican harassment of Democrat voters.♠  From Atlanta, Georgia, TV Channel 2:

ATLANTA — Channel 2 Action News has learned Georgia's secretary of state is investigating allegations of forged voter registration applications and demanding records from a voter registration group with ties to one of the state's highest ranking Democrats.

Georgia's Secretary of State is Republican Brian P Kemp.

Regards  —  Cliff

♠  Or voters who might vote Democrat.

Tea Parties Bring Down Airliner

For John, BLUF:  Blame the Tea Parties.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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From the web presence, The Hill, we have this article by Mr Jim Treacher, with the headline:

TPM’s Josh Marshall: Hey, What’s Russian For ‘Tea Party’?

The bottom line of the article:

Everything bad that happens in the world can be traced back to you, teahadists. And the more you deny it, the truer it gets.

There you have it.  The Tea Parties are the sum of all evil.  The Caliphate (née ISIL) is OK, but Tea Parties are not.  Not even for little girls on a summer afternoon.

Hat tip to the Instapundit.

Regards  —  Cliff