Justice

What Will You Do?


  • Post 1,014
  • PLEASE read the comments that follow this post.
  • __________________________________

Millions of years and millions of generations have made mammals and humans in particular protective of our young. It is a species preservation imperative and our instinct to preserve and protect has magnified into a tenderness, a softness of heart and an arms-enfolding vigilance for children.

That is why my heart breaks for 4-year-old Abigail Edan, who was held captive by Hamas terrorists. She’s alive only because her father shielded her from Hamas bullets with his body, this following her mother having been gunned down.

And my heart breaks, too, for the Palestinian children who are suffering, orphaned and terrorized. Would that I had a name and picture to make this more personal, but you’ve seen the pictures and videos so you know as well as I of the enormous trauma to these little kids.

To be clear, my heart breaks for all the innocents, whether dead or suffering, whether they are children, adults or old people. It’s just that little kids like Abigail Edan grab at my heart by the fistful due largely, I suppose, to that protection imperative.

In this momentary truce while innocent hostages who were held by Hamas are being exchanged for Palestinian prisoners held in Israel, people of many nations are beseeching Israel to be cautious, to protect civilian Palestinian life. Everyone – including Israel – agrees that’s the right thing to do, but there’s just one answer needed in order for Israel to comply:

How can Israel ensure that Hamas is made thoroughly unable to attack Israelis when the terrorists still hold their arsenals, stand ready to unleash death on Israelis and they have promised to do so “again and again“?

Hamas is dedicated to only two things: Wiping Israel off the map and killing all Jews. They’ve armed themselves to do just that and they don’t care who else suffers or dies in the process. Recall Maya Angelou’s words:

“When someone shows you who they are, believe them.”

So, believe Hamas: They are murderers.

Given the homicidal reality of Hamas, its butchery, its ISIS-copying barbarianism, Israel must protect its citizens. Doing that requires eliminating Hamas’ ability to attack Israel and Israelis. But Hamas is hiding behind cute 4-year-olds who are just as precious and just as heart grabbing as Abigail Edan.

With the constant of worldwide condemnation of Israel, I’ve asked this question in various ways and haven’t heard any workable answer:

If you were making the decisions for Israel, what would you do?
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In an effort to protect Palestinian civilians, Israel has announced when and where it would attack so that civilians could get out of the way. It did so via tens of thousands of leaflets dropped on Gaza and by tens of thousands of cell phone warnings. It has directed Palestinians to go south because attacks would commence in the north. It has done everything short of taking Palestinians by the hand and leading them out of harms way.

At the same time, Hamas has blocked civilians from leaving the northern part of Gaza. Hamas has kept them where they know Israeli munitions will strike because they’re directed at Hamas weapons caches which Hamas embeds with civilians. Arguably, Hamas is the murderer of those thousands of innocents, including those cute 4-year-old Palestinian kids.

Setting aside the insanely one-sided and ignorant international rage-fests against Israel, I’m wondering where the demonstrations are against Hamas for causing the deaths of Palestinians. Hamas is getting them killed as surely as if they themselves were shooting Palestinian children.

If you want to rail against the cruelty happening to Gaza Palestinians, and even if you don’t care about the cruelty still being done to Israelis by Hamas rockets, at least dump the responsibility for the main part of the human carnage in Gaza where it belongs: On Hamas.

Everyone agrees that the fighting and the misery it causes are awful, so what should Israel do now? Should it stop rooting out the torturers, the rapists, the murderers and their weapons caches? Should it hold peace talks with people who not only don’t want peace, but who live only for killing Israelis? Come on, help a little. Tell us your workable solution.

For those who still want to go rabid over the actions of Israel, first be informed. Go there. Live in the terror of that constant siege, waiting for the rockets and the machine guns to be pointed at you and your 4-year-old daughter, knowing that the terrorists intend to gang rape your 12-year-old daughter and that they may burn you and your spouse alive in your own house. We know that those are their intentions because it is what they have already done. Stay in that terror for a year or two and then let’s see if you still think Israel should stop attacking Hamas.

And remember: Your 4-year-old daughter is counting on you to protect her with your arms-enfolding vigilance. What exactly should Israel be doing now? What will you do?

Today is a good day to be the light

_____________________________

  • Our governance and electoral corruption and dysfunction and our ongoing mass murders are all of a piece, all the same problem with the same solution:
  • Fire the bastards!
  • The days are dwindling for us to take action. Get up! Do something to make things better.


  • Did someone forward this post to you? Welcome! Please subscribe – use the simple form above on the right. And pass this along to three others, encouraging them to subscribe, too. (IT’S A FREEBIE!) It’s going to take ALL OF US to get the job done.

    And add your comments below to help us all to be better informed.

    Thanks!

    The Fine Print:

    1. Writings quoted or linked from my posts reflect a point I want to make, at least in part. That does not mean that I endorse or agree with everything in such writings.
    2. There are lots of smart, well-informed people. Sometimes we agree; sometimes we don’t. Search for others’ views and decide for yourself.
    3. Errors in fact, grammar, spelling and punctuation are all embarrassingly mine. Glad to have your corrections.
    4. Responsibility for the content of these posts is unequivocally, totally, unavoidably mine.
    5. Book links to Amazon are provided for reference only. Please purchase your books through your local mom & pop bookstore. Keep them and your town or neighborhood vibrant.

    Click me

    JA


Copyright 2023 by Jack Altschuler
Reproduction and sharing are encouraged, providing proper attribution is given.

America Today


Post 1,013

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Put ‘Em Up

Markwayne Mullin is a brand new Republican Senator from Oklahoma. He stood vainly proud a couple of weeks ago for all Americans to see and emulate.

He was challenged by Teamsters boss Sean O’Brien, himself not an exemplar of gentlemanly conduct. Not one to let a stupid challenge go, Mullin challenged back, stood and took off his ring, daring O’Brien to a fist fight right there in the Senate hearing room. It took all the power committee chairman Sen. Bernie Sanders could muster to stop the idiocy.

Mullin exemplifies much of our national leadership, where differences are worked out with fists, just as they were on the playground in 7th grade. These are the people setting an example for the rest of us. These are the people telling Americans that physical violence is not just appropriate, but that it’s good.

These are the people leading the way to thugocracy, where elbows to the kidneys rule in the Rotunda, where laws mean nothing, where shouting down neighbors in a school board meeting proves that you can out-volume everyone else to get your way. They pave the path to where death threats and mass shootings are the stuff of real Americans, the currency of the realm. They make sure that the biggest bully gets to be President.

Mothers and fathers, teach your children well so that they have the sense not to follow these thugs. Our nation is counting on you.

The Supreme Court

After multiple exposés of big money from extremely wealthy Republican donors falling into the laps of 2 or 3 Supreme Court Justices and the public outrage these scandals caused, the Court has bravely issued its own ethics guidelines. It is a code of conduct much like that which applies to lower courts, but it differs in one key respect: The Supreme Court ethics rules offer absolutely no method of enforcement. It’s essentially a statement of, “Here’s how we should behave, but we don’t have to and you can’t make us. Nya-nya.”

Court watcher Dahlia Lithwick said that this new code appears to have been “principally drafted with the intention of instructing us that they still can’t be made to do anything.”

So, enjoy the Court’s disingenuous “there, there” pat on the back of your hand over their scandalous behavior. They are saying that their ethics rules mean nothing more than that you should ignore their possibly illegal behavior and just shut up about Court scandals.

Should we allow them their continuous self-pardon, the Court, the final arbiter of the law, will officially be the only place in all of America that is formally allowed to ignore the rule of law.

Oh, wait – that’s how it’s always been. What have we done?

The Rule of Law

Last Wednesday was the 60th anniversary of the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. That caused me to remember various events of his foreshortened presidency, including the much resisted admission of James Meredith to the University of Mississippi in 1962.

Governor Ross Barnett did everything he could to prevent the integration of Ole Miss, including appointing himself registrar of the university so that he could personally reject Meredith’s application. At last President Kennedy federalized the Mississippi National Guard to enforce the Supreme Court decision that Meredith must be admitted to the university. Not long after that Kennedy addressed the nation. Here is part of what he had to say.

For our nation is founded on the principle that observance of the law is the eternal safeguard of liberty – – and defiance of the law is the surest path to tyranny. The law which we obey includes the final rulings of our courts as well as the enactments of our legislative bodies. Even among law-abiding men, few laws are universally loved – – but they are uniformly respected and not resisted.

Americans are free, in short, to disagree with the law – – but not to disobey it. For in a government of laws, and not of men, no man – – however prominent or powerful – – and no mob – – however unruly or boisterous – – is entitled to defy a court of law. If this country should ever reach the point where any man or group of men, by force or threat of force, could long defy the commands of our courts and Constitution, then no law would stand free from doubt, no judge would be sure of his writ and no citizen would be safe from his neighbors.

That was 60 years ago and Kennedy is still right.

We have plenty of people breaking the law right now as flagrantly as Gov. Barnett did back then, although they’re often sneakier and more destructive of our democracy and the Constitution today. Think:

– January 6: Both the riot and all the criminal machinations to steal the election to keep Trump in power. You can add in Kari Lake in Arizona and all the other lying, self-centered, election denying defrauders.

– Trump’s promise that if elected in 2024 he will take all federal power for himself and remove all  public servants who aren’t loyal solely to him.

– Project 2025, a lofty language guide from the starch-in-their-underwear Heritage Foundation to dismantle the Constitution and all traditional American values and to give all power to a small cabal of rich people.

– The promised return of Trump’s Muslim ban and cruelty to dark skin people at our southern border, including the theft of their babies.

Lawlessness is not new, but we are at a point of dis-integration, where elected leaders gaslight us and incite us to break the law and where destruction fails to raise many eyebrows. The history books tell us what will happen if this progresses. Indeed, with the violence that happens every day, we are already at the point where “no citizen would be safe from his neighbors.” Ask any of the survivors or loved ones of the slain from our daily mass shootings how they’re feeling about their neighbors.

From Steve Schmidt:

We are accustomed to think of sociopaths as violent criminals, but in The Sociopath Next Door, Harvard psychologist Martha Stout reveals that a shocking 4 percent of ordinary people—one in twenty-five—has an often undetected mental disorder, the chief symptom of which is that that person possesses no conscience. He or she has no ability whatsoever to feel shame, guilt, or remorse. One in twenty-five everyday Americans, therefore, is secretly a sociopath. They could be your colleague, your neighbor, even family. And they can do literally anything at all and feel absolutely no guilt.

Given the constant presence of those who would demolish the rule of law, perhaps it’s time to reinvigorate our dedication to it. That will most certainly mean that we elect people who think the rule of law, democracy and majority rule are pretty good things. We’ll need people who have a conscience and possess the ability to feel guilt and shame. Perhaps it’s time that we refuse and eject from office all who think power for themselves is all that matters.

Today is a good day to be the light

_____________________________

  • Our governance and electoral corruption and dysfunction and our ongoing mass murders are all of a piece, all the same problem with the same solution:
  • Fire the bastards!
  • The days are dwindling for us to take action. Get up! Do something to make things better.


  • Did someone forward this post to you? Welcome! Please subscribe – use the simple form above on the right. And pass this along to three others, encouraging them to subscribe, too. (IT’S A FREEBIE!) It’s going to take ALL OF US to get the job done.

    And add your comments below to help us all to be better informed.

    Thanks!

    The Fine Print:

    1. Writings quoted or linked from my posts reflect a point I want to make, at least in part. That does not mean that I endorse or agree with everything in such writings.
    2. There are lots of smart, well-informed people. Sometimes we agree; sometimes we don’t. Search for others’ views and decide for yourself.
    3. Errors in fact, grammar, spelling and punctuation are all embarrassingly mine. Glad to have your corrections.
    4. Responsibility for the content of these posts is unequivocally, totally, unavoidably mine.
    5. Book links to Amazon are provided for reference only. Please purchase your books through your local mom & pop bookstore. Keep them and your town or neighborhood vibrant.

    Click me

    JA


Copyright 2023 by Jack Altschuler
Reproduction and sharing are encouraged, providing proper attribution is given.

There’s No Way To Be Subtle About This


Post 1,007

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Millions were horrified by the October 7 massacre in Israel. And millions have reveled in blaming the victims.

The insanity is not just the most recent “kill the Jews” massacre, but also the enthusiasm of Hamas apologists around the world, including at elite U.S. universities where lots of very ignorant smart students (“useful idiots”) parade their ignorance and misplaced values.

Israelis were good guys when they were murdered victims. As soon as they stood up and fought back the terrorists were forgotten and Israelis somehow became the bad guys. Being a target of such blame is a regular feature of life for Jews. Reference: The past 3,500 years.

The blood of murdered Israelis wasn’t yet dry before the wailing for Palestinians as the victims of Israelis began. The true responsibility for their suffering is the cruelty and criminality of Hamas and the inept, even criminal Palestinian leadership for 75 years. That truth has, at best, been touched only tangentially, as the world blames Jews yet again.

Well, screw that.

Here is a list of resources for the world to review as it decides where to point its finger.

Read Daniel Wolf’s post, J’Accuse – An Open Letter to Hamas Apologists.

And if you have the courage for it, read Dana Horn’s Why Jews Cannot Stop Shaking Right Now.

And if you think every mad thing in the Middle East is the fault of Jews and Israel, you owe yourself the benefit of an explanation grounded in fact. Find it here, oddly, from a far right source.

And if you’d like to hear a message of truth from an Israeli who means it when she says, “Never Again!” watch this video.

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I can already hear the yeah-but chorus, so,

There is a stereotype of Jews meekly walking into Nazi gas chambers. That stereotype ignores the uprisings and rebellions done by Jews who would not be willing victims to that evil. Be assured that today not even one single Israeli is thinking anything but “Never Again!” This woman certainly isn’t. They – we – will not be meek victims.

If you think the Israeli offensive is too much, too brutal, that’s understandable – and you need to focus on this: A Hamas leader proudly declared last Thursday that, “There will be second, third, fourth Al Aqsa against Israel.” Indeed, this one isn’t over yet and Hamas continues to rain hundreds of rockets into Israel to kill civilians.

“Ghazi Hamad, a Hamas spokesperson said, ‘We are not ashamed to say this with full force. We must teach Israel a lesson and we will do this again and again.'”

He went on with yet more extermination talk. Does it still look like the Israelis are the bad guys?

Hamas is telling us as plainly as can be that either Hamas is stopped here and now or there will be another October 7, then another and another. They will never stop killing Israelis and Jews until Israel is erased from the globe and all Jews are dead.

Or until Israel stops them permanently.
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So, to the clueless judgment dispensers of the world, especially the ones demanding that Israel stand down immediately:

If you were leading Israel right now, what would you do?

You’d damned well do whatever it takes to silence Hamas because you must protect your citizens.

You’d be sad for the non-combatant Palestinian losses and mad as hell that Hamas made you do that by putting their command centers underneath hospitals, their rocket launchers next to schools, their weapons caches in apartment buildings and their preventing civilians from escaping to safety.

Various Arab countries are pulling their ambassadors and envoys from Israel, including those of Bahrain, Egypt, Jordan and more. Their actions are in protest of Israel going after the Hamas murderers and the unintended harm to non-combatant Palestinians. If these Arab countries care so much about Palestinians, why has not even one of those countries or any other Arab or Muslim country done anything for Palestinians for over 75 years except to stoke their anger and send them arms to kill Israelis?

Gaza is by far the world’s oldest refugee camp and the entire Arab world is dedicated to keeping it that way. Next door to Gaza in the same desert there is a thriving, modern state. The Palestinians could build such a place for themselves, but instead they suffer in misery. They do so willingly and they accomplish not much more than to harbor resentment. Some transform their resentment into terrorism. It looks like they’d rather have their resentment and their rage and do their terrorism than have a good life for themselves and build something of value for their children.

So, after reading this and reviewing the linked material, somebody please tell me what Israel should do beyond what it is already doing to protect Palestinian civilians during this war started by Palestinian Hamas genocidal terrorists.

EXTRA CREDIT POP QUIZ
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Question #1: Name a country that would not pursue and attack foreign terrorists who had murdered over 1,400 of its citizens injured over 3,300 more and took over 240 hostages.

Answer #1: There are none. Not even one.

Question 2: Name the nations, organizations and self-appointed insightful ones who would criticize any nation for taking actions to protect its citizens and to apply justice.

Answer #2: There are none. Not even one. Except when it’s Israel pursuing terrorists. Then the world bloviates its useful idiot criticisms of Israel.

Question #3: Name all the nations of the world that announce in advance where they will attack and advises civilians where to go for safety.

Answer #3: The U.S. prior to bombing Japan and Germany in WW II. Israel in Gaza. That’s it.

Today is a good day to be the light

______________________________

  • Our governance and electoral corruption and dysfunction and our ongoing mass murders are all of a piece, all the same problem with the same solution:
  • Fire the bastards!
  • The days are dwindling for us to take action. Get up! Do something to make things better.


  • Did someone forward this post to you? Welcome! Please subscribe – use the simple form above on the right. And pass this along to three others, encouraging them to subscribe, too. (IT’S A FREEBIE!) It’s going to take ALL OF US to get the job done.

    And add your comments below to help us all to be better informed.

    Thanks!

    The Fine Print:

    1. Writings quoted or linked from my posts reflect a point I want to make, at least in part. That does not mean that I endorse or agree with everything in such writings.
    2. There are lots of smart, well-informed people. Sometimes we agree; sometimes we don’t. Search for others’ views and decide for yourself.
    3. Errors in fact, grammar, spelling and punctuation are all embarrassingly mine. Glad to have your corrections.
    4. Responsibility for the content of these posts is unequivocally, totally, unavoidably mine.
    5. Book links to Amazon are provided for reference only. Please purchase your books through your local mom & pop bookstore. Keep them and your town or neighborhood vibrant.

    Click me

    JA


Copyright 2023 by Jack Altschuler
Reproduction and sharing are encouraged, providing proper attribution is given.

Intractable


Post 1,004

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I need your great idea. Israelis and Palestinians need it more and the world is demanding it.

An example of that demand is in an October 18 op-ed from Charles M. Blow in the New York Times, An Evolving Moral High Ground in the Israel-Gaza War. Blow says of the Hamas attack that killed over 1,400 Israelis, butchered babies, took hostages and more that it, “.  .  . was horrid, barbaric and inexcusable. Israel has a right to defend itself and pursue the perpetrators.”

Then he says “.  .  . evacuation orders [to Palestinians] are imposed, electricity and basic supplies are cut off — is also horrid and not a justifiable response to the terrorist attacks.” Many are expressing similar views, including in massive street demonstrations around the world. They are especially calling for Israel to stop all attacks in Gaza. Understandable. Got it. Just one thing.

Hamas isn’t done trying to kill Israelis. In fact it has continued to fire rockets into Israel. If Israel stops attacking Hamas, they’ll do yet more killing of Israelis. If Israel backs off all military pressure, it will be jump starting the next large scale wave of Hamas terrorists killing Israelis.

On October 19, speaking from the Oval Office, President Biden said,

“[H]istory has taught us that when terrorists don’t pay a price for their terror, when dictators don’t pay a price for their aggression, they cause more chaos and death and more destruction. They keep going, and the cost and the threats to America and to the world keep rising.”

Substitute “Israel” for “America” in his words and you have the problem Israel faces right now.

We all understand the humanitarian imperative to avoid harming non-combatant Palestinians. But the “just one thing” part is the answer to the question of what Israel should do. We can ask it another way: After a cease fire, what comes next to accomplish these goals:

  1. Minimal harm to civilians.
  2. Safe and secure borders.
  3. An end to Hamas – because if they exist at all they will continue to kill Israelis, which would negate points 1 and 2

Did I get that right? What am I missing?

Hamas has two purposes for existing: to eliminate the state of Israel and to kill Jews. It’s in their charter. It’s hard to find a solution to end the violence when one party is absolutely dedicated to the elimination of its adversary as a state and the killing of all of its people. They leave no room for negotiation, much less any path to peace.

It looks to me that if Israel continues attacking Hamas sites in Gaza that the collateral damage will be dead and wounded Palestinians. If they back off, the dead and wounded will be Israelis. Either way, the world will blame Israel and Jews for civilian deaths. I’m at the tipping point to “I don’t care what the world thinks or who it blames.” But that’s just me.

Blow says that “Israel has a right to defend itself and pursue the perpetrators.” How should they do that in a way that protects non-combatants? Once we get past the Kumbaya recommendations, the practical requirement – the imperative – for protection remains. What should Israel do to defend itself and to pursue the perps?

Please don’t offer an “Everyone deserves to live in safety and freedom” solution, because that isn’t a solution, as Hamas won’t abide by it. And bombardment back to the stone age is unacceptable on its face, even though that has been the solution of choice for thousands of years. In the present day it’s called “ethnic cleansing” or whatever is Putin’s phony justification for what he’s doing to the people of Ukraine.

There are a lot of very smart people who have worked to find an answer to this so-far intractable problem. We need your great idea, something that can work for everyone.

Today is a good day to be the light

______________________________

  • Our governance and electoral corruption and dysfunction and our ongoing mass murders are all of a piece, all the same problem with the same solution:
  • Fire the bastards!
  • The days are dwindling for us to take action. Get up! Do something to make things better.


  • Did someone forward this post to you? Welcome! Please subscribe – use the simple form above on the right. And pass this along to three others, encouraging them to subscribe, too. (IT’S A FREEBIE!) It’s going to take ALL OF US to get the job done.

    And add your comments below to help us all to be better informed.

    Thanks!

    The Fine Print:

    1. Writings quoted or linked from my posts reflect a point I want to make, at least in part. That does not mean that I endorse or agree with everything in such writings.
    2. There are lots of smart, well-informed people. Sometimes we agree; sometimes we don’t. Search for others’ views and decide for yourself.
    3. Errors in fact, grammar, spelling and punctuation are all embarrassingly mine. Glad to have your corrections.
    4. Responsibility for the content of these posts is unequivocally, totally, unavoidably mine.
    5. Book links to Amazon are provided for reference only. Please purchase your books through your local mom & pop bookstore. Keep them and your town or neighborhood vibrant.

    Click me

    JA


Copyright 2023 by Jack Altschuler
Reproduction and sharing are encouraged, providing proper attribution is given.

Astonishing Idiocy


Post 1,003

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Astonishing National Idiocy*

Twelve score and 6 years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent a new nation, conceived in Liberty and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal. Twelve years later they gave us our glorious Constitution.

Now we are engaged in a great congressional and state legislative war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated can long endure.

We cannot dedicate – we cannot consecrate – we cannot hallow – this congress and these state legislatures. The brave men and women, living and dead, who long struggled there have consecrated them far above our poor power to add or detract. Yet their courage and their suffering are now defiled by those today committed to violating their sacred oath to protect and defend the Constitution of this land. Instead, they have tried to end our democratic republic and they continue to undermine the tenets of our free society. They seek to ensure that this nation, so conceived and so dedicated to Liberty, cannot endure.

Now we are faced with the prospect of a key betrayer of our nation becoming Speaker of  the House of Representatives. He stands in candidacy solely because of the cowardice of men and women who know better, but who chuse to compromise themselves and our nation for personal gain.

The world will little note what we say here, but it will never forget what the betrayers are doing here. It is for us the conscious, the loyal, to be dedicated to the unfinished work of the patriots who came before. It falls to we the living patriots to reject the usurpers, the cowards, those who seek to undermine our Constitution and steal the vote from every American. There is no other who will protect our justice, our Liberty and our freedom.

So it is for us to be dedicated to the great task remaining before us – that from the loyalists of old we take increased devotion to that cause which they served and for which they shall not have served in vain – that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom – and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.

Because if it perishes, we will have done this to ourselves. Astonishing idiocy.

Astonishing Middle East Idiocy

Bret Stevens wrote a remarkably clear analysis of the Gordian knot that is the intractable conflict in Israel/Gaza in his Sunday piece, Hamas Bears the Blame for Every Death in This War. Clearly, Hamas is responsible for all the Jewish death and destruction done by their hands, their knives, their beheading swords, their rifles, their rockets, their mortars and their machine guns. Hamas has only one purpose, and it is to kill Jews. They are to blame for those deaths and that destruction. But who is to blame for this war’s Palestinian deaths?

Hamas embeds its command headquarters, its rocket launchers – really all of its war matériel – in civilian sites, like schools, hospitals, apartment buildings and mosques. If Israel is to stop Hamas from killing Jews, it must destroy Hamas’ war making ability, but that means that non-combatant Palestinians will be in harms way of Israel hobbling Hamas.

Some have already been killed or injured in this war and many more will almost certainly be harmed. Hamas likes when that happens, because Hamas and the ivory tower pinheads pontificating far from danger can then blame Israel for horrid war atrocities.

As long as Hamas can make jihad on Jews, every death, regardless of nationality, helps their cause.

This is not new. Every Israeli reaction to war, intifada, jihad and suicide bombers has resulted in condemnation of Israel at the United Nations, on TV from myopic, blathering talking heads and from street protesters. That offers Israel a horrific choice:

Israel can come down hard on its attackers to degrade their ability to harm Israelis, but doing that means unintended harm will come to otherwise non-combatant Palestinians; or,

Israel can stay its substantial military might in order to protect Palestinian non-combatants and in the process leave Israelis vulnerable to the next homicidal attacks by Hamas.

This choice is fundamentally one of deciding the nationality of the next pile of corpses. It’s a hideous, ghastly choice engineered by Hamas.

What, you might ask, is the Astonishing Idiocy about this? It is in the comments from responders to Stevens’ essay, some packed with false equivalents, childish “can’t we all get along?” logic, phony accusations and more. It’s the part of the general public swayed by hyperbolic condemnation of Israel spewed by self-certain delusionals, regardless of what Israel does.

It is verbal violence promoting military violence against Israelis.

So, tell you what: Let’s invite Hamas, Hezbollah, the IDF and civilians from all parts of Gaza, the West Bank, Lebanon and Israel to join hands and sing Kumbaya and the Coca-Cola song about inviting the world to sing in perfect harmony. That should solve this problem.

That last was bitter sarcasm aimed at the Astonishing Idiocy of those comfortably willing to sacrifice Israelis on the alter of their ignorance and arrogance.

Once most of the hostilities had subsided and Israel was amassing hundreds of thousands of troops preparing a land invasion of Gaza, I began to think about what that would look like. It would be a blood bath, an atrocity. Hamas murderous militants would be killed and their stores of weapons would be seized or destroyed, but that would come at the cost of the death and suffering of thousands of Palestinian non-combatants and IDF soldiers.

So, I imagined a personality transformation, wherein Benjamin Netanyahu morphed from a self-serving despot wannabe into a statesman. Far fetched, I know, but stay with me.

He would announce that the IDF will stand by and not invade Gaza. It will protect all in need of protection. All that would be required is for Hamas to release all hostages/prisoners regardless of the color of their passport, be they civilian or military. Hamas must surrender its rocket launchers, rockets and other armaments. Certain criminals will be turned over to be tried in fair courts like at Nuremberg.

Right. This is fantasy. But a land invasion and the death and destruction it will cause won’t bring security to Israel. It will bring universal condemnation. And it will ensure that the next intifada is worse than all that came before, possibly looking more like the Yom Kippur war of 1973 when Arab nations joined forces to eliminate Israel.

Thomas Friedman agrees and sees a land invasion as a terrible and self-destructive thing (here and here). So does Marc Lynch of Foreign Affairs (here), as does President Biden and so many others. I fervently hope my confirmation bias vision comes to pass. Anything else will be self-inflicted Idiocy.

Homegrown Astonishing Idiocy

6-year-old Wadea Al Fayoume, a very cute Palestinian-American Muslim boy living in Joliet, IL with his mother, was stabbed 26 times by their landlord. Of course, his mom was stabbed multiple times, too, and was unable to attend the funeral of her little boy.

Apparently, he and his mom were guilty of the terrible crime of being Muslim. At least their attacker seems to have believed that to be a crime.

Words fail me. Tears and boiling blood do not.

Tuesday, October 17 4:00PM CDT

It’s reported that a rocket has exploded on a hospital in northern Gaza, killing hundreds. Various terrorist groups immediately blamed Israel. They didn’t look for facts or even informed opinions. That’s standard Middle East hate bias knee-jerk stuff.

Meanwhile, the Israel Foreign Ministry says it and others have video that proves that the missile was a misfire of a Hamas rocket. Several others fired at the same time made their way into Israel, but one never arrived there. It hit that hospital.

Even if they hear that explanation and see the video, no Palestinian will care about it and no rage will be calmed. They are determined to accuse, blame and be enraged. Without evidence. That rocket was just the best thing for Hamas. Makes me wonder if it really did misfire.

President Biden’s trip to the area has already been undermined by the Egyptians, Jordanians, Palestinians and others slamming doors.

Welcome to the fog of war where truth doesn’t matter, everyone is inflamed and almost nobody is informed.

Would that the only thing with enough importance to warrant comment were the perfidy, the cowardice and the disloyalty to country of congressional Republicans. O’ for those easier times, just 11 days ago.

______________________________

* Paraphrased from The Gettysburg Address by President Abraham Lincoln, delivered almost 160 years ago on November 19, 1863 at Gettysburg, PA.

Today is a good day to be the light

______________________________

  • Our governance and electoral corruption and dysfunction and our ongoing mass murders are all of a piece, all the same problem with the same solution:
  • Fire the bastards!
  • The days are dwindling for us to take action. Get up! Do something to make things better.


  • Did someone forward this post to you? Welcome! Please subscribe – use the simple form above on the right. And pass this along to three others, encouraging them to subscribe, too. (IT’S A FREEBIE!) It’s going to take ALL OF US to get the job done.

    And add your comments below to help us all to be better informed.

    Thanks!

    The Fine Print:

    1. Writings quoted or linked from my posts reflect a point I want to make, at least in part. That does not mean that I endorse or agree with everything in such writings.
    2. There are lots of smart, well-informed people. Sometimes we agree; sometimes we don’t. Search for others’ views and decide for yourself.
    3. Errors in fact, grammar, spelling and punctuation are all embarrassingly mine. Glad to have your corrections.
    4. Responsibility for the content of these posts is unequivocally, totally, unavoidably mine.
    5. Book links to Amazon are provided for reference only. Please purchase your books through your local mom & pop bookstore. Keep them and your town or neighborhood vibrant.

    Click me

    JA


Copyright 2023 by Jack Altschuler
Reproduction and sharing are encouraged, providing proper attribution is given.

Indictment


Clarification

In the midst of my joy over the beginning of accountability for wrongs done in association with January 6, I wrote last Wednesday, “O’ happy day!” And it was a happy day by reason of accountability. Let’s be clear, though, that this indictment of a former president is not one dimensional. Another dimension is fear.

I fear several things about this indictment. I fear that prosecuting Trump will galvanize hotheads to do stupid, destructive things, perhaps to attempt to use chaos and violence to take down our government, our freedoms and our rights. That’s been done more than once before.

I fear that a lone gunman, perhaps many lone gunmen, will kill and injure innocent people, including those who uphold our laws. They did that on January 6, so we know they won’t hesitate to attack cops.

And I fear that an extreme Trump supporter will slip into the jury and prevent justice from being done.

Another dimension to this indictment is the clarity that this is a profoundly proud moment for democracy.

This is how we declare to ourselves that there is no rule of one person, but that we are a nation of laws. This is how we say to those on the far right that while they proclaim that they are the true Americans, our rule of law flag is planted in the bedrock of justice and is what real Americans support. There is no need for anyone to like that or to agree. There simply is an absolute requirement for everyone to obey the law, not the rule of Trump.

Jack Smith and the members of his DOJ army are operating in a shooting gallery. They know that even as they stand for justice that they are at the center of the bulls eye of angry people. The death threats they’ve received haven’t stopped them and they remain willing to risk their lives for our Constitution and for We The People. So we stand with Jack Smith and his army because these heroes are standing for us.

Trump Supporters

There are millions of Trump supporters who are not dissuaded from their loyalty to him, even in the face of his well over 30,000 lies, his bumbling, our national debt exploding on his watch, his intentional estrangement of our allies, two impeachments and multiple felony indictments. That support seems curious to many of us so I’ve put some thought as to why they continue to follow and support him. Here’s a shopping list, pretty much off the top of my head.

  1. Many of these people are aggrieved for various disappointments felt as betrayals, a feeling of having been blown off, left behind by a government that simply doesn’t care about them. They aren’t entirely wrong about that. Think: offshoring of jobs encouraged by decades of government programs and policies that hollowed out whole towns. Because of that, they easily fall in line behind a defiant strongman, the “deep state” slayer. Leaving that line feels to them like going without a protector.
  2. Following and supporting Trump feels good, like they’re sticking it to the man who’s been sticking it to them for so long. Trump constantly models a middle finger for these folks and in that way they feel powerful.
  3. Leaving Trump would require people to admit:
    1. They were wrong to follow him. Nobody likes to say, “I was wrong.” Fonzie couldn’t say that at all.
    2. They were duped. Nobody likes to admit they were fooled.
    3. That the rule of law means more than the rule of Trump and that maybe intentional cruelty isn’t such a good idea.
  4. Conviction on felony charges would show Trump to be un-American, even anti-American. At that point, his followers would have to admit that following Trump made them un-American, a total betrayal to how they see themselves. That’s a nearly impossible trick to pull off.

The psychologists can craft a better, more  substantial list, but you get the picture. Leaving the support of Trump involves real loss for his staunch supporters and the various pains that go with doing that. It’s much easier and less painful to stay where they are and write yet another check payable to Trump.

So, cut these folks some slack in your comfortable judgement of them. They’re in a tough spot, albeit of their own making.

Focus instead on reaching those whose minds have not been enslaved and provide motivation to them to show up and vote.
.

BTW: Something is upside-down. Instead of we voters supporting candidates and elected officials, shouldn’t they be supporting and championing us?

Action Imperative

No vote is more urgent and important right now than Ohio Issue 1 in the election on August 8. The minority rule Republicans in the Ohio legislature have crafted a democracy killer of a bill. it’s a product of their brutality, as they seek to silence and dis-empower the majority of Ohio citizens. You know – the ones who believe in majority rule, aka democracy?

That bill would change the citizen ballot initiative process to require a 60% majority in order to pass a citizen ballot issue. A super majority. No more simple majority wins, the way we all were taught contests were supposed to be won. That would make it nearly impossible for citizens to stop the tyrannical minority Republican legislature. Voting for that bill is the equivalent of voters tightening a noose around their own necks. It would be volunteering to be electorally neutered, to have their democracy – rule by the people – killed.

This is anything but hyperbolic. Just one example: The Christian nationalists are all about forcing their views onto everyone else. Passing this bill would be a major stop toward the theocracy they hallucinate we’re supposed to be.

If you live in Ohio or know someone of voting age in Ohio or have ever been in Ohio and can remember the first name of someone you briefly met there, call, text or email them and urge them to

VOTE NO

on Tuesday.

For more on the terrible danger this bill portends, read David Pepper’s essay detailing a meeting of the extremists who want to take all the power from Ohioans. Be clear that when they’re done there, they’re coming for you wherever you live.

Quote of the Week

From Eugene Robinson in The Washington Post, August 3:

Personally, I wish jurors could return a verdict that goes beyond “guilty as charged.” Maybe something like “guilty as hell.”

Quote of the Decade

From former Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-IL):

America is strong, but democracy is delicate. It depends on leaders who swear an oath to protect the sacred rights enshrined in our Constitution; it depends on citizens working to elect reasonable, ethical leaders; it depends on our brave men and women in uniform to defend it; and it depends on YOU, ME, ALL OF US putting our country over party. [emphasis original]

  • Today is a good day to be the light

    ______________________________

  • Our governance and electoral corruption and dysfunction and our ongoing mass murders are all of a piece, all the same problem with the same solution:
  • Fire the bastards!
  • The days are dwindling for us to take action. Get up! Do something to make things better.

    Did someone forward this post to you? Welcome! Please subscribe – use the simple form above on the right. And pass this along to three others, encouraging them to subscribe, too. (IT’S A FREEBIE!) It’s going to take ALL OF US to get the job done.

    And add your comments below to help us all to be better informed.

    Thanks!

    The Fine Print:

    1. Writings quoted or linked from my posts reflect a point I want to make, at least in part. That does not mean that I endorse or agree with everything in such writings.
    2. There are lots of smart, well-informed people. Sometimes we agree; sometimes we don’t. Search for others’ views and decide for yourself.
    3. Errors in fact, grammar, spelling and punctuation are all embarrassingly mine. Glad to have your corrections.
    4. Responsibility for the content of these posts is unequivocally, totally, unavoidably mine.
    5. Book links to Amazon are provided for reference only. Please purchase your books through your local mom & pop bookstore. Keep them and your town or neighborhood vibrant.

    Click me

    JA


Copyright 2023 by Jack Altschuler
Reproduction and sharing are encouraged, providing proper attribution is given.

Frighteningly Curious


How is it that these are true?

Fox News was sued by Dominion Voting Systems and settled the lawsuit for $787,500,000.

Donald Trump was sued by E. Jean Carroll for assault and defamation, lost the suit and has to pay $5 million. Plus, he stands to get skewered for more money in a follow-on defamation lawsuit because he just can’t keep his mouth shut and refrain from attacking people.

Kari Lake, the election denial candidate for governor of Arizona, is being sued for defamation. Even her lawyers were fined in her insane effort to overturn her 2022 election loss.

Fox News and its on-air blabbers are being sued for defamation by Smartmatic Corporation for $2.7 billion.

Fox News and its on-air blabbers, most notably Tucker Carlson and Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI), are being sued for defamation by January 6 attendee Ray Epps for what will likely be more than $10 million.

Fox was sued by former staffer Abby Grossberg. Per the New York Times, “.  .  .  Fox’s lawyers had pushed her to give a misleading deposition in the Dominion case and [she is] alleging a hostile and discriminatory work environment.” Fox settled for $12 million. Said Grossberg, “I am hopeful, based on our discussions with Fox News today, that this resolution represents a positive step by the Network regarding its treatment of women and minorities in the workplace.” Gotta appreciate her optimism, however unfounded.

Over a thousand January 6 anti-democracy sedition perps have been arrested for felonies and hundreds are doing time in the hoosegow (good word).

James Fields was found guilty of first degree murder for driving his car into a group of people who were counter-protesting the Charlottesville, VA White nationalist rally in 2018. Apparently, he was one of Trump’s “very fine people.”

Kyle Rittenhouse traveled from his home in Illinois to Kenosha, WI carrying his illegal assault rifle in order to kill people. Somehow he wasn’t convicted and now he’s a hero to White supremacists.

All of these miscreants is or has been working to undermine our democracy. They use violence by word and deed to attack and suppress other Americans and, of course, they wave the flag and claim they are the true Americans.

They and those like them are extremists at war against our country. They are autocrat wannabees. They are Constitution defilers. Those like them were the killers at Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh, at Tops Friendly Market in Buffalo, at the Las Vegas concert massacre, at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde and so many more killings.

I’ve searched and just can’t find egregious behavior like these examples that has been done by people who lean right or are in the political center or on the left. To be fair, a small handful of lefty rioters were prosecuted following the police murder of George Floyd.

But nobody on the left is defaming righties. Nobody on the left is shooting and killing righties. Nobody on the left is intentionally driving their car into a crowd in order to kill righties. Nobody on the left is suborning perjury. Nobody on the left is storming the Capitol Building and committing violence and destruction in a treasonous effort to upend our democracy.

Why is that? How come we don’t see such abuses and assaults on our citizens, our institutions and our country done by right-leaners, centrists or lefties but we do see them done by righties?

When the news hit that Kari Lake was being sued for defamation, Joe Scarborough tweeted, “Gravity is returning.” Maybe so.

We seem to have part of our citizenry that consistently denies reality and, as you can see from the short list above, that has substantial consequences. It is an anti-gravity.

Obeisance to Trump got a bunch of people killed on January 6 and it nearly toppled our 247 year democracy project. It has caused hundreds of people to be murdered by angry haters and it has upset or ruined lives, like those of Ruby Freeman and her daughter Shaye Moss.

Only far righties inflict this kind of cruelty.
.

Be sure to tell us all if I got that wrong.

Perhaps, given the several push-backs, Scarborough will be proven right and gravity will return. But I tell you this with absolute confidence:

Getting us securely gravity-glued to Earth is going to take an ongoing campaign of promoting democracy. It will take democracy flag bearers in all of our elected offices. It will require ALL OF US to TAKE A STAND in the never ending battle for our values of truth, justice and democracy.
.

Last Point on This

From the New York Times report, How Trump’s 2020 Election Lies Have Gripped State Legislatures:

At least 357 sitting Republican legislators in closely contested battleground states have used the power of their office to discredit or try to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election .  .  .

The tally accounts for 44 percent of the Republican legislators in the nine states where the presidential race was most narrowly decided. In each of those states, the election was conducted without any evidence of widespread fraud .  .  .

Really now, have you heard any gravity-free, reality denial stuff like that coming from the right-leaners, centrists or lefties of our politics?

Our extremist righty American craziness is more than frighteningly curious. This is a 5-alarm fire we must fight. So get on the democracy fire engine (click the link and climb aboard) – it’s solidly on the ground – and together we’ll put out this un-American blaze of cruelty and fake patriotism.

Random ‘Ritings

From The New York Times Morning Briefing, 7/17/23:

Given the politics of vaccination, the recent victims [of COVID] are also disproportionately Republican and [W]hite.

We suffer around 80 deaths from COVID per day, down from the thousands dying from the disease every day at the peak of the pandemic. The Times reports that the improvement is largely due to:

  1. About 3/4 of U.S. adults have received at least one vaccine shot.
  2. Over 3/4 of Americans have been infected and retain some natural immunity.
  3. Paxlovid treatment is available and can reduce the severity of symptoms.

So, goody for us, especially for our life saving vaccines. Yet we still have baseless conspiracy spewers like Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. infecting us with anti-vaccine propaganda.

And we still have resisters, aided in their resistance by Kennedy and other deniers and by the extremists wailing about phantom infringement of their freedom.

Some of these resistors die because of their belief in those not worthy of their belief. And they die for their stubbornness. Effectively, they are saying, “I’d rather die than admit I’m wrong about science and government.”

That, too, is frighteningly curious.

For You, Ohio
.

Click here to see what Republicans in your state want to do.

Then VOTE NO! on August 8.

Quote of the Week

From Ed Gurowitz’s post of July 17, The Apocalypse is (Nearly) Here:

Maya Angelou famously said, “When someone shows you who they are, believe them.” Kevin McCarthy, Mitch McConnell, and others have shown us who the Republicans are by pandering to any group or organization that can keep them in office. It’s time the American people showed who we are and stop standing for being ignored and misrepresented. [emphasis mine]

Today is a good day to be the light.

______________________________

  • Our governance and electoral corruption and dysfunction and our ongoing mass murders are all of a piece, all the same problem with the same solution:
  • Fire the bastards!
  • The days are dwindling for us to take action. Get up! Do something to make things better.

    Did someone forward this post to you? Welcome! Please subscribe – use the simple form above on the right. And pass this along to three others, encouraging them to subscribe, too. (IT’S A FREEBIE!) It’s going to take a lot of us to get the job done.

    And add your comments below to help us all to be better informed.

    Thanks!

    The Fine Print:

    1. Writings quoted or linked from my posts reflect a point I want to make, at least in part. That does not mean that I endorse or agree with everything in such writings.
    2. There are lots of smart, well-informed people. Sometimes we agree; sometimes we don’t. Search for others’ views and decide for yourself.
    3. Errors in fact, grammar, spelling and punctuation are all embarrassingly mine. Glad to have your corrections.
    4. Responsibility for the content of these posts is unequivocally, totally, unavoidably mine.
    5. Book links to Amazon are provided for reference only. Please purchase your books through your local mom & pop bookstore. Keep them and your town or neighborhood vibrant.

    Click me

    JA


Copyright 2023 by Jack Altschuler
Reproduction and sharing are encouraged, providing proper attribution is given.

A Correction and Winning Elections


Correction

In my June 7 post I made a claim about Antifa that promoted discussion. I wrote,

There is no “woke.”
.

That’s just a label used inflame the base, much like they use the label “Antifa.” The panderers like to call out Antifa as though it is an invading army, a threat to our country, rather than an informal collection of Americans who refuse authoritarianism and fascism. Those who identify as Antifa don’t riot, they don’t intimidate other Americans, they don’t make death threats and they do think democracy is a good thing. Imagine that!

Well informed, eagle eye reader Sheila Markin replied privately,

Another good blog post. I agree with you.  But I do have some information that runs counter to the idea that Antifa is not like the far right.

The information comes from a counseling client I worked with about a year ago. He was a blogger on the left and had become an influencer. But someone revealed that he was an attorney and that he worked in BigLaw. After that he was assaulted verbally and threatened by “antifa.” The emotional toll was very heavy. He stopped blogging and invested more in his legal career but he was emotionally damaged by this.

The mere fact that he worked for BigLaw caused the backlash against him. He made good money which was considered a sin. His ideas were no longer considered valid. In my opinion extremism on the right and the left is bad news. Closed minded people are bad news. The right is worse but both the right and left are guilty of extremism and it is extremism that is so corrosive.

I’m not an expert on left wing social media, so I checked it out with Jay Becker to get her take on this. She introduced me to Antifa years ago. Here’s what she wrote:

The basic story has a ring of plausibility, not so much as an attack by “antifa” but because the tactics described are themselves so widespread among activists generally who identify as “woke:” rejecting or accepting a person because of their identity, not their political analysis (“standpoint epistemology”), rejecting ideas based on their source, not their content, etc. In this case, the person was canceled because he was a lawyer and worked for BigLaw, regardless of what he was advocating in his political writings, assuming that those threatening him were not making connections between his professional life and his advocacy, according to your friend’s report.
.
Verbal assaults have become common on social media against those who challenge whatever the latest “woke” tenets are, and any deviation can get you canceled by a virtual mob. That’s scary and intimidating, which stymies any real discussion, let alone debate. I have experienced this firsthand in trying to build resistance to abortion bans with Rise Up 4 Abortion Rights. Many people find these methods disturbing and grumble about them among themselves. The Revcoms (revolutionary communists) are taking this destructive phenomenon on directly. Here’s their 7 point indictment of “woke” as it has devolved, and here’s a playlist of their videos. I suggest starting with the speech Sunsara Taylor gave recently at UCLA, second on the playlist. (Watch at least the first 15 minutes, and you’ll see the “woke” bullies in action.)
.
So, I’m veering off from “antifa” but staying on topic because what your friend describes is so prevalent in how a generation of young people who do care about racism, fascism, misogyny, etc. is being trained to think and approach the world, which [is] doing a lot of harm. I hope it sheds some light, thanks for asking.
.
It seems that the unspoken invitation of social media to be a jerk is irresistible, regardless of which end of the political spectrum is its source.
.

Here’s a message to these left and right abusers. It comes from their moms:

Don’t be a jerk!

Thanks ever so much to Sheila and Jay for their insights and for permission to post their comments – big help.

I stand corrected.

What’s Your Message, Governor?

New Hampshire governor Chris Sununu delivered Republican clarity for all to see in his Washington Post opinion piece on June 5. He opened with, “Our [Republican] party is on a collision course toward electoral irrelevance without significant corrective action.” He declared, ” . . . candidates should not get into this race to further a vanity campaign, to sell books or to audition to serve as Donald Trump’s vice president.” So far, so good.

Sununu claims his vast worth as a leader and influencer and focuses direction for Republicans, saying, “We need to expand beyond the culture wars that alienate independents, young voters and suburban moms.” The problem with that is not about expanding beyond culture wars. That would be okay, it seems, although I don’t know what expanding means, since it doesn’t seem to mean stopping the lunacy,

The problem is that Sununu focuses on gaining votes. Not on what is right, moral, ethical, what We The People want or what’s best for the country. Just the pragmatics to gain votes and win elections.

Recall the so-called “Autopsy” that Republicans did after being pummeled in the 2012 election. That, too, was all about gaining more votes, not about changing Republicans’ evil ways. Indeed, they completely ignored that they were out of step with the vast majority of Americans. They ignored their own advice following that autopsy and have only become more entrenched in culture wars, demonizing and appealing to drooling, fang-toothed extremists.

There probably isn’t any reason to believe that Republican candidates will follow Sununu’s self-serving advice, nor will they get themselves aligned with the things the vast majority of Americans want. They will just continue to manipulate the system in order to retain their minority control, doing things like voter suppression and extreme gerrymandering.

Meanwhile, Sununu awaits the clamor for him to get into the race.

And Finally, FYI, The Key Provision of the Presidential Records Act (44 U.S.C. Chapter 22)

§ 2202. Ownership of Presidential records

The United States shall reserve and retain complete ownership, possession, and control of Presidential records;

Specifically, the PRA:

•  Establishes that Presidential records automatically transfer into the legal custody of the Archivist as soon as the President leaves office.

And that is why Donald J. Trump is going to prison.

Plus for election interference in Georgia.

Plus for  multiple counts of fraud in New York.

Plus for incitement of insurrection in DC.

Several years ago I predicted that once out of office, Trump will spend the rest of his days as a defendant in court and in prison. Easy forecasting.

  • Today is a good day to be the light.

    ______________________________

  • Our governance and electoral corruption and dysfunction and our ongoing mass murders are all of a piece, all the same problem with the same solution:
  • Fire the bastards!
  • The days are dwindling for us to take action. Get up! Do something to make things better.

    Did someone forward this post to you? Welcome! Please subscribe – use the simple form above on the right. And pass this along to three others, encouraging them to subscribe, too. (IT’S A FREEBIE!) It’s going to take a lot of us to get the job done.

    And add your comments below to help us all to be better informed.

    Thanks!

    The Fine Print:

    1. Writings quoted or linked from my posts reflect a point I want to make, at least in part. That does not mean that I endorse or agree with everything in such writings.
    2. There are lots of smart, well-informed people. Sometimes we agree; sometimes we don’t. Search for others’ views and decide for yourself.
    3. Errors in fact, grammar, spelling and punctuation are all embarrassingly mine. Glad to have your corrections.
    4. Responsibility for the content of these posts is unequivocally, totally, unavoidably mine.
    5. Book links to Amazon are provided for reference only. Please purchase your books through your local mom & pop bookstore. Keep them and your town or neighborhood vibrant.

    Click me

    JA


Copyright 2023 by Jack Altschuler
Reproduction and sharing are encouraged, providing proper attribution is given.

The Indictment of the Century – Until the Next One


Don’t you preferJack Smith’s perpetual “Don’t mess with me” face than that of the Orangeman’s?

We are being cautioned that the indictment of a former president and presidential candidate is a dark and serious moment in American history. I agree with the serious part, but this is a moment of light, not dark. It is a time of  cleansing sunshine and I just can’t stop smiling. This is a joyous seriousness.

We learned on Friday, June 9 that Trump has been indicted on 37 counts of criminal behavior. You can view the indicting document here – there’s a print button on the top right of that page. This is an easy read and you need to read it.

There isn’t anyone who doubts Trump’s guilt, not even the far right mouth breathers who declared his innocence even before the indictments were unsealed. They’re just slaves to the cult master’s wails of victimhood.

From Adam Kinzinger’s Country First post of June 10 regarding Republican leaders:

If you listen closely, most of these leaders and personalities aren’t claiming he’s innocent; they’re saying the Democrats have done bad things, too. “And, you know, that should cancel everything out, right?” [emphasis original]

But if we follow the what-about-ist logic to its natural conclusion, we find ourselves in a hellscape where any unethical or immoral behavior can be excused by someone else’s bad behavior . . . and running for office cocoons you from criminal prosecution because accountability would be “election interference” or “weaponizing justice.”

Craziness.

There is one thing, though, about his guilt.

Trump has been bragging and clucking in his social media posts, in TV appearances, at his rallies and at the CNN so-called town hall that he had the right to have had those documents by virtue of the Presidential Records Act. He said that to declassify the classified documents all he had to do was to think “declassify” and click his heels 3 times. Okay, I made up the heels part. And we know that he’s been a total idiot for confessing his wrongdoing repeatedly, knowing that indictments were coming ever-nearer.

But maybe he’s not a total idiot. Maybe he’s been gaming the system all along with his claims of his honesty and his rights.

I’m wondering if he can beat the rap or minimize the penalties by claiming he thought that what he was doing was legal. “There was no illegal intent,” his attorneys will claim. “There is no mens rea*. He’s innocent of conspiring to thwart the law.”

We all know that ignorance of the law is no excuse for breaking it, but sometimes ignorance can have a large impact on the outcome of a criminal case. Can he can get away with his malfeasance by claiming cluelessness? Can he create a hung jury by convincing just one juror that he’s made a simple, honest mistake? This is most worrisome.

Meanwhile, we’ve received news about Trump suck-up judge Aileen Cannon. She was appointed by Trump and proceeded to disgrace herself with idiotic rulings during the case focused on the seizing of documents from Trump’s Mar-A-Lago hidey hole. Two of her rulings were so egregiously terrible that she was reversed by the very conservative 11th District Appellate Court and she was admonished in scathing terms. Be sure to keep an eye out for Cannon’s thumb on the scale of justice as this stolen documents case proceeds – or stalls with bogus delays, dragging it into the 2024 election. This could get ugly.

It has already become ugly in MAGA-land. Immediately upon release of the indictment Andy Biggs (R-AZ) and Clay Higgins (R-LA) tweeted incitements to extremists. They did that long before they could have read the indictment, so it’s safe to assume they were spring loaded to call for violence at the slightest provocation. Apparently, they see themselves as the vanguard for the itchy, twitchy, trigger finger crowd.

These congressmen, dishonorable colleagues of actually honorable representatives, are just the first to attempt to incite violence. I fear there will be more like them who will be far more direct in their calls to violence. We are in the crosshairs of violent, angry, self-righteous people who are looking for an excuse to harm innocents.

Public memory is short. We so quickly forget the suffering caused by terrible events, like what actually happens in war. The soldiers come home scarred and silent, wanting most to forget. We erect monuments and mumble brave words and wave flags as though all that happened was glorious.

But there really was an American Civil War and we killed over 600,000 of our citizens, wounding at least 8 times more. Those soldiers, too, wanted to forget the carnage and the suffering.

It seems that forgetting is exactly what We The People have done, because now our perpetually angry who have never been to war are calling for a new civil war. How quickly we forget.

The lyrics of Where Have All The Flowers Gone are ringing in my ears.

Quotes For This Time of Indictment

“You heavens above, rain down my righteousness; let the clouds shower it down. Let the earth open wide, let salvation spring up, let righteousness flourish with it;” – Isaiah 45:8

“You DOJ in Washington, let the felony charges rain down like rule-of-law infusions for our sickened land. Let the doors of our prisons open wide for the wicked to enter and shut with finality behind them. Let accountability spring up in righteousness and the Earth tremble as a warning to all who would act wrongly.” – Jack 1:1

‘Nuther Thing

Somebody please explain why Trump Tower in New York and Trump’s The Bedminster Club haven’t been searched for stolen government documents. I haven’t found anything to suggest that either place has been tossed by the FBI, even though there is evidence that boxes of stolen government documents were moved from Mar-A-Lago to Bedminster, which leads to speculation that some might have been moved to Trump Tower, too.

Finally

Trump’s bottomless, never-ending malfeasance will provide all the motivation necessary for ongoing indictments. So, watch this space for the next exciting episode of The Indictment of the Century – Until The Next One.

And just for fun:

Mar-a-Lago Raiders

______________________________

* mens rea – the intention or knowledge of wrongdoing that constitutes part of a crime, as opposed to the action or conduct of the accused. – OxfordLanguages See also Wikipedia.

  • Today is a good day to be the light.

    ______________________________

  • Our governance and electoral corruption and dysfunction and our ongoing mass murders are all of a piece, all the same problem with the same solution:
  • Fire the bastards!
  • The days are dwindling for us to take action. Get up! Do something to make things better.

    Did someone forward this post to you? Welcome! Please subscribe – use the simple form above on the right. And pass this along to three others, encouraging them to subscribe, too. (IT’S A FREEBIE!) It’s going to take a lot of us to get the job done.

    And add your comments below to help us all to be better informed.

    Thanks!

    The Fine Print:

    1. Writings quoted or linked from my posts reflect a point I want to make, at least in part. That does not mean that I endorse or agree with everything in such writings.
    2. There are lots of smart, well-informed people. Sometimes we agree; sometimes we don’t. Search for others’ views and decide for yourself.
    3. Errors in fact, grammar, spelling and punctuation are all embarrassingly mine. Glad to have your corrections.
    4. Responsibility for the content of these posts is unequivocally, totally, unavoidably mine.
    5. Book links to Amazon are provided for reference only. Please purchase your books through your local mom & pop bookstore. Keep them and your town or neighborhood vibrant.

    Click me

    JA


Copyright 2023 by Jack Altschuler
Reproduction and sharing are encouraged, providing proper attribution is given.

Remember This Day


Remember this day, March 30, 2023, so that you can tell your grandchildren that this was the moment when justice began to return to America.

_______________________________

From Adam Kinzinger, March 30:

If you take one thing away from this email, let it be this: The indictment of Donald J. Trump doesn’t keep him from running for President; it doesn’t hurt his standing with his MAGA faithful; it doesn’t end the threat to democracy.

Trump, the MAGA movement, and all of their anti-democratic allies are just getting started. Many of them are already sending out breathless fundraising appeals in response to the indictment, ready to cash-in on their leader’s shameless criminality. Rather than disbanding, today’s events will hyperdrive the victim complex that holds the cult together. We are NOT in the clear.

Join the REASONABLE MAJORITY.

Today is a good day to be the light.

______________________________

  • Our governance and electoral corruption and dysfunction and our ongoing mass murders are all of a piece, all the same problem with the same solution:
  • Fire the bastards!
  • The days are dwindling for us to take action. Get up! Do something to make things better.


    Did someone forward this post to you? Welcome! Please subscribe – use the simple form above on the right. And pass this along to three others, encouraging them to subscribe, too. (IT’S A FREEBIE!) It’s going to take a lot of us to get the job done.

    And add your comments below to help us all to be better informed.

    Thanks!

    The Fine Print:

    1. Writings quoted or linked from my posts reflect a point I want to make, at least in part. That does not mean that I endorse or agree with everything in such writings.
    2. There are lots of smart, well-informed people. Sometimes we agree; sometimes we don’t. Search for others’ views and decide for yourself.
    3. Errors in fact, grammar, spelling and punctuation are all embarrassingly mine. Glad to have your corrections.
    4. Responsibility for the content of these posts is unequivocally, totally, unavoidably mine.
    5. Book links to Amazon are provided for reference only. Please purchase your books through your local mom & pop bookstore. Keep them and your town or neighborhood vibrant.

    JA


Copyright 2023 by Jack Altschuler
Reproduction and sharing are encouraged, providing proper attribution is given.

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