Here’s another one of Glenn Kirschner’s wonderful YouTube videos on the state of our Justice system and, especially, the legal machinations of Donald Trump and his lawless administration.
This is a particularly good explanation of why Glenn believes the Supreme Court will finally bring an end to Trump’s attempts to hide his tax returns from the American people. If you aren’t familiar with how the courts work and, especially, what the real role is of the highest court in the land, Glenn does a pretty good job of explaining it.
PS – As of today, there are 13 days left until Election Day. If you haven’t yet voted, please have a plan and . . . git ‘er done!!
Amy Coney Barrett considers herself a “Constitutional Originalist.” What, exactly, does that mean? According to Merriam-Webster, it is “a legal philosophy that the words in documents and especially the U.S. Constitution should be interpreted as they were understood at the time they were written.” (https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/originalism)
Think about what that means. If we are to interpret the Constitution based on the realities of the day in the late 18th century, then shouldn’t the only people allowed to vote in national elections be white, property-owning men? What do we make of the 3/5 clause of Article I, Section 2 of the Constitution and how do we reconcile the 14th Amendment (passed in 1868) with the “original” intent of said Article?
In my less than humble opinion, this concept of originalism is as flawed as belief in the Bible being the infallible word of God. Both require one NOT believe in evolution; I don’t here mean biological evolution (which many Bible believers don’t recognize as real) but the natural evolution of society and its economic, political, and general attitudes toward what’s good and just for a people. Our laws, our habits, our customs, our culture, even our morals change over time; sometimes imperceptibly and others rapidly and definitively.
When the Constitution was written, the framers included (Article V) the ability to amend it and, in fact, the first ten amendments—the Bill of Rights—were needed to ensure adoption of the nascent Constitution by some of the States who wanted more guarantees of freedom from unnecessary restrictions on the States and individuals.
Inasmuch as there is a method by which the Constitution can and, in fact, has been amended how can a logical argument be sustained that it must be interpreted in light of the reality of nearly two hundred fifty years ago? This makes absolutely no sense. Two hundred fifty years ago virtually none of the structures, organizations, and technologies we currently enjoy existed. How do we interpret their use and ownership if they weren’t around when the document was written?
Originalism is a sham argument and should be completely ignored. Any jurist taking such a position is, IMLTHO, an intellectually dishonest poseur and should be ignored . . . if not ridiculed. This includes Amy Coney Barrett who, if she had any integrity at all, would not allow this raw power grab and farce of a nomination process to continue.
Here’s today’s “Justice Matters,” from Glenn Kirschner. Glenn lays out the latest Appellate Court ruling involving the Manhattan D.A.’s subpoena for Trump’s tax returns. He points out the judges essentially told Trump’s lawyer, William Consovoy, that his arguments were “full of shit.” (my words)
Check out the video. It’s a little more than eight minutes. One point worth remembering; it’s virtually impossible at this point we will see these tax returns prior to the election. This is because the subpoena Vance is seeking to enforce is for a Grand Jury proceeding and, unless it results in a criminal indictment against Trump, in which the documents would finally appear as evidence, they will remain secret. So … essentially, this means Trump’s dilatory moves have succeeded … at least to the point that his taxes will not be revealed to the public prior to November 3.
I think it’s important for us to recognize how disrespectful this is to the American people. Time and again Trump makes it clear he has nothing but contempt for democracy or the people of the United States. He professes to love this country; he perversely hugs the Stars and Stripes as if it has something he wants to grab, but he has shown no respect at all for the human beings that make up the vast bulk of the nation’s people. As of this moment, we’re approaching 210,000 deaths from, and nearly 7.3 million people infected with, the Coronavirus, yet there’s still no national testing or contact tracing plan, and precious little else in the way of Federal leadership.
Regardless of what these tax returns end up showing us, and past experience makes it likely—IMO—they will show us how dishonest Trump actually is, we know who the man is. He’s shown us repeatedly how little he cares for anyone save himself and those who praise and support him. We need to throw him out of office, along with as many of the weak-kneed, treacherous sycophants and bootlickers we can muster the votes to remove from their positions.
These are desperate times, and our nation is on the verge of becoming an autocracy, with a deeply flawed person at its helm. We can’t let this happen. We need to show up this election season in numbers like never before.
Older people like me need to recognize that Trump and those who support him would prefer we were dead. Many, like me, are now collecting social security and are on Medicare. We worked and paid for these things. They aren’t entitlements—at least not in the sense the right uses the word—they are earnings that our representatives have not managed well over the years. We’re perceived as a financial drag on the economy.
Younger people, more than ever before, need to show up this election season as well. This is an all-hands-on-deck moment. Trump and the entire Republican party are science deniers and, as such, they cannot (and will not) accept the science of climate change, nor will they accept the science of epidemiology. The future of our planet and our species is being threatened by these idiots.
Thirty-nine days until election day, though we all should know by now that this (and many preceding) election(s) is not being conducted or resolved on November 3, 2020. Nowadays we don’t even refer to election day so much as we talk about “election season.”
I am making the argument that, despite how desperately we want to get rid of Donald Trump, it might be even more important to flip the Senate. Without a compliant Senate, if Trump manages to steal this election, he’ll have a far more difficult time getting anything done without the sycophancy of Moscow Mitch and his merry band of bootlickers and toadies.
In that vein, here’s a great video showing the duplicity and hypocrisy of Senator Lindsey Graham. For the record, I don’t give a rat’s ass what Lindsey’s sexual preferences are; I just have a hard time believing he’s not deeply ensconced in the closet. Regardless, I’m quite sure his hypocrisy and cowardice are genuine.
Of course, the best result would be voting in Joe Biden, flipping the Senate, and retaining control over the House. I think we can be reasonably confident the House will remain in Democratic control but, despite the polls, electing Biden and gaining control over the Senate are not foregone conclusions. We need to keep working making these things happen.
So . . . we’re less than two months away from election day, November 3, 2020, and Donald Trump is clearly intent on either stealing the election or causing so much chaos and doubt about our system of voting that he can delay the inevitable.
Given the importance of this particular election, I thought I would spend the remainder of time between now and 11/3 sharing some of the videos and podcasts that are being produced to educate and influence voters; at least the ones I think will contribute to Donald John Trump’s defeat and removal from office. If I have something specific to say, I’ll do that as well, but I’m going to depend on the work of others a bit more than usual.
They won’t necessarily be in any particular order, though I will try and make them timely. Exceptions may be particularly effective ads that are not strictly contemporaneous with the events/remarks that precipitated them.
This is one Glenn put up yesterday. I’m inserting the FBI’s PSA he refers to as well, just in case you want to read it for yourself. Glenn distills the PSA down to five (5) words . . .
“Do. Not. Trust. Donald. Trump.”
Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) | Foreign Actors and Cybercriminals Likely to Spread Disinformation Regarding 2020 Election Results /js/init.js/js/federated-analytics.js
September 22, 2020
Alert Number
I-092220-PSA
Questions regarding this PSA should be directed to your local FBI Field Office.
Foreign Actors and Cybercriminals Likely to Spread Disinformation Regarding 2020 Election Results
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) are issuing this announcement to raise awareness of the potential threat posed by attempts to spread disinformation regarding the results of the 2020 elections. Foreign actors and cybercriminals could create new websites, change existing websites, and create or share corresponding social media content to spread false information in an attempt to discredit the electoral process and undermine confidence in U.S. democratic institutions.
State and local officials typically require several days to weeks to certify elections’ final results in order to ensure every legally cast vote is accurately counted. The increased use of mail-in ballots due to COVID-19 protocols could leave officials with incomplete results on election night. Foreign actors and cybercriminals could exploit the time required to certify and announce elections’ results by disseminating disinformation that includes reports of voter suppression, cyberattacks targeting election infrastructure, voter or ballot fraud, and other problems intended to convince the public of the elections’ illegitimacy.
The FBI and CISA urge the American public to critically evaluate the sources of the information they consume and to seek out reliable and verified information from trusted sources, such as state and local election officials. The public should also be aware that if foreign actors or cyber criminals were able to successfully change an election-related website, the underlying data and internal systems would remain uncompromised.
Recommendations
Seek out information from trustworthy sources, such as state and local election officials; verify who produced the content; and consider their intent.
Verify through multiple reliable sources any reports about problems in voting or election results, and consider searching for other reliable sources before sharing such information via social media or other avenues.
For information about final election results, rely on state and local government election officials.
Report potential election crimes—such as disinformation about the manner, time, or place of voting—to the FBI.
If appropriate, make use of in-platform tools offered by social media companies for reporting suspicious posts that appear to be spreading false or inconsistent information about election-related problems or results.
The FBI is responsible for investigating malign foreign influence operations and malicious cyber activity targeting election infrastructure and other U.S. democratic institutions. CISA is responsible for protecting the nation’s critical infrastructure from physical and cyber threats. The FBI and CISA provide services and information to uphold the security, integrity, and resiliency of the U.S. electoral processes.
Victim Reporting and Additional Information
The FBI encourages victims to report information concerning suspicious or criminal activity to their local field office (www.fbi.gov/contact-us/field-offices).
For additional assistance and best practices, and common terms, please visit the following websites:
Nearly 50 years ago I was preparing for a revolution. It was premature, but I was young and brash. Now I’m an old man and, although I’m in reasonably good shape, old bodies don’t lend themselves readily to battle.
Nevertheless, it’s looking more likely to me a revolution will be necessary to defeat Trump and his bootlickers, toadies, and sycophants. They are all inexorably locked into white supremacy and patriarchy and I don’t see logic doing anything to disabuse them of their hatreds and prejudices.
I think there’s a better than even chance Trump and his minions will find a way to steal the presidency. Should we flip the Senate (hardly guaranteed) and retain the House (all but guaranteed) it’s quite possible Trump can be impeached again—a first for the country—and found guilty this time.
I remain hopeful we can keep from descending into a Balkanized mess of a country but, should the populace rise up, I will do everything in my power to support them for as long as I’m able.
At the same time, should Trump manage to pull off an electoral coup, I’m more than ready to support an effort for California and other states to secede. The country I was born and raised in is already becoming completely unrecognizable to me.
As I’m searching for material for the three books I’m now working on, I have to reconcile the reality that I’ve spread my work out between two computers: the iMac I purchased when I retired from Rocketdyne in 2010 (and which was essentially replaced by a newer model – by warranty – in 2013); and the HP Laptop I’ve been using for the past two years plus. I’ve even purchased a separate copy of Scrivener, which I’m using as my writing software, for both operating systems.
At any rate, I’m copying and moving things around and, as I was copying some photos and other stuff, I happened upon this limerick, which I thought to share. I write them on occasion, and I know I’ve shared a few of them here in my blog over the years. I wrote this one in December of 2013 so, maybe I’ve posted it before . . . but I don’t think so.
Fox newscasts, so chock full of hate Render truth an impervious gate They so often dissemble We can’t help but tremble With hope they will soon meet their fate
ADDENDUM – I just discovered I not only posted this before, it actually wasn’t even a year ago that I did so. I don’t know whether to be dismayed, or heartened, by the fact I used the exact same title as I did this time. <Sheesh!> Therefore, I’m leaving this here as a testament to my declining cognitive functions . . . maybe. Here’s the link to the last time I posted it: https://atomic-temporary-2455556.wpcomstaging.com/2019/10/31/a-forgotten-limerick/
Until yesterday, I had no reason to worry that my county’s elected Clerk and Recorder, Mark Lunn, might not be as non-partisan as I’d want that office holder to be. That he has chosen to exploit the tragedy of this little boy’s murder in this manner is either deceitful or incredibly disingenuous. I no longer have any faith in this man’s impartiality or his ability to be fair.
May God bless Cannon’s family and carry them through their grief. All lives matter-don’t be shamed into not saying that because it’s not “politically correct.” Every life, without qualification is precious, #all lives matter! https://t.co/B4fRc5J471
As has been pointed out by hundreds of people, the man who shot and killed young Cannon was immediately apprehended and is sitting in jail without bail. OTOH – The three police officers who murdered Breonna Taylor in her sleep five months ago are still walking free. This is just another instance of people minimizing the effects of racism in this country. It’s despicable and I expect we’ll be taking Mr. Lunn to task for it.
I have been asked by a dear friend of mine to share the following blog post. Here is what she said about it:
“My friend’s father has become an activist. At age 80+, he is FIRED UP to get the word out and effect positive change in the upcoming election. Can you help him make this message go viral? He doesn’t use social media, but knows about its reach and power. I’m inspired by his activism! And am helping by lending my blog page. Here’s his message:”
Friends & Family, In this November election, more than ever before, we must prevail. To do this we need to counter “faith based” (1) voting and voting by people who have short attention spans & respond well to rhetorical fear/hate campaign ads. Looking forward, if we let these people win, we could very well look up and find we have “dictatorship,” a bought-and-paid-for senate and an uncontrollable US “oligarchy” (2). Think Germany in the 1930’s when millions of innocent people died during the rise of the Nazis.
This time, we must stop Trump & we must break the GOP deadlock in the US Senate. This means electing at least 5 of the below listed senators.
With all the candidates now in place, we are left with making a concerted effort to influence the election outcomes. And the best tool we have is to contribute to the war chests of the “good people”.
Please consider making contribution to the following campaigns (click on the website, then on “Donate”).
Biden/Harris for president/VP joebiden.com (vs. Trump)
Candidates for federal (& state) offices in your state
Candidates for US Senate in other states. None of these accept corporate PAC money; any amount would be appreciated-even $5:
MAKE IT REALLY EASY: When you go to make your first contribution, the website will ask if you want to contribute. If you click “Donate,” it will ask if you want to sign-up to use Act Blue. This is really a good idea, because for all contributions thereafter, when you click “donate” & the “amount”, ActBlue sends your contribution to appropriate candidate & bills your credit card.
PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE help to multiply our efforts by sharing this message with your friends and family…. And, ask them to also share it with as many people as they can. Just copy and paste the blog link and share it via email, or post it on Facebook, Twitter, or your platform of choice. The link is https://rickladd.wordpress.com/2020/08/17/gotv-and-give/
Thank you for your help!
Notes:
(1) Faith based voting: My grandparents always voted Republican, my parents always voted Republican therefore I must vote Republican. Or my club president said vote Republican or my minister said vote Republican therefore… No data or other proof needed.
(2) Oligarchy: A small group of people having control of a country, organization (the 1-percenters)
Systems Savvy 