Steve Schmidt

National Defense


Guest Essay

Regular reader, sometimes commenter and boyhood pal Frank Levy has supplied some guest essays for this column. He has a keen insight, so I asked his permission to share one of his recent FaceBook posts with you.

Give some thought to what he describes, as we stumble forward in our self-imposed Through the Looking Glass national reality. You can apply the principle message to a lot more than U.S. Space Command.

Why Would the United States Move USSPACECOM to Alabama?

I have to admit I am enjoying watching Alabama’s Republican elite, Tommy Tuberville, Tommy Battle, Katie Brit, Rep. Dale Strong, Rep Mike Rogers and others twist themselves into apoplectic knots to express their outrage over the decision to keep USSPACECOM in Colorado and not move it to Huntsville, AL.

For me, the decision makes complete sense. Common sense and concerns over national security dictate that USSPACECOM NOT be moved to Alabama. After all, why would US Military leadership and the White House move an extremely important military facility to a state where the White Republican power structure and the MAGA crowd that elects them over and over again don’t believe in anything that America believes in, like

  • – The Voting Rights Act
  • – The Civil Rights Act
  • – marriage equality
  • – Diversity, Equity and Inclusion
  • – Affirmative Action
  • – a woman’s right to a safe and legal abortion
  • – science education that does not include creationism
  • – The Constitution of the United States of America (except the Second Amendment) [They believe in that absolutely]
  • – the rule of law
  • – that Biden won the 2020 election

Add to that list the fact that the Republican super-majority in the Alabama legislature chose to defy SCOTUS with its newest Congressional redistricting plan because it simply didn’t like the decision and because Kevin McCarthy wants to keep his MAGA majority in Congress.

Why would the United States of America build a huge, expensive military facility, spend billions of dollars to post military personnel there and improve the economy of a state that officially celebrates Confederate Memorial Day and the birthdays of [traitors] Robert E. Lee and Jefferson Davis, the leaders of the Confederate States that attacked the United States to preserve its power to enslave Black people for profit?

Why would the United States build what it believes to be a facility necessary to its national security in a state that once seceded from the Union, attacked it and might just do it again?

I get why Alabama’s Republican leaders and the MAGA crew that elected them would be angry at not getting USSPACECOM. It is all about the money.

As an American citizen and resident of Alabama I would have been furious if President Biden, Secretary of Defense Austin and Gen. James Dickinson, Head of USSPACECOM, had moved USSPACECOM to Alabama. In my not at all humble opinion, [the decision to keep it in Colorado] was the only decision that could be made. [all brackets mine – JA]

———————————

Commenting of Levy’s post, smart person and also boyhood pal Kirk Landers wrote:

I believe the space command should be based in a state where the majority of people believe the earth is round and revolves around the sun. It’s also best if most people don’t believe that [the advance of] all knowledge stopped with the writing of the Christian bible.

I had to weigh in with:

There should not be a reward for anti-American behavior like MAGA and Confederate treachery and that alone should keep USSPACECOM out of Alabama. I don’t know anything about the national defense aspects of the geography choice of the agency, but Lander’s comments pretty well outline the requirement for a science based organization to be located where people believe in science.

Taking this one step further, read this from Steve Schmidt, August 18:

It is important to understand the desecration and chaos Trump and his mob have wrought with their attack against America. They have normalized conspiracy. They have made the truth and lie equal in a public square contaminated by the toxic sewage of division, propaganda and misinformation. They have assaulted the essence of America through a conspiracy to seize [the] power that was bestowed by the American people on Joe Biden. The treachery is historic, unprecedented and ongoing. The days ahead will test America’s spirit, resolve and democracy.

That test for us is to turn the voices of “division, propaganda and misinformation” and even treachery into voices of patriotism. If those voices are instead determined to destroy, then our test will be to stand stronger for the principles we claim to hold dear and to overwhelm the voices of destruction. Our typical national yawn of apathy toward elections will have to be replaced by a renewed dedication to democracy.

Here’s another angle on this.

Last Thursday Schmidt’s post put fresh perspective to something you may have thought about but perhaps without a full perspective.

“Boomers” refers to our fleet of nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarines. The absolute nature of their purpose is difficult to comprehend fully. The sailors aboard these vessels are stunningly smart, dedicated, well trained, prepared and young. We invest our collective future in their hands, extending even beyond time that is foreseeable.

Click here and read Schmidt’s piece. Watch the embedded videos, then sit back in your chair and think about what he’s shown you.

The graphic in the notes section following all of my posts (see below) is correct:

It seems pretty clear that all of the previous “Most Important Elections of Our Lifetime” pale in comparison to what’s at stake next November.

My hope for every next election is that it is the last one for which we’ll need that reminder in order to protect all aspects of national security.

  • 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 2024 by Jack Altschuler
Reproduction and sharing are encouraged, providing proper attribution is given.

John Wilkes Booth


Click me

While checking into a state park lodge for a family reunion, I got into a discussion with the guy behind the counter. The net of it was that he directed me to a couple of websites: Bay Area Transparency and 1st Amendment Auditor. I started watching a video on each of them and lost patience at lightning speed. They appear to be pseudo documentaries focused on taking down law enforcement by means of entrapment, temper tantrum badgering and vomiting accusations.

These videos have the smell of a guy with anti-authority mania, victimhood adoration and severe daddy issues, all of which he uses to bludgeon others.

In one scene the host is operating his camera with his mouth in full-auto blabbing mode while finger jabbing at a police officer in the middle of the street. He’s complaining that there are signs indicating parking only for state vehicles and that the police shouldn’t be allowed to make up their own rules and limit others. That’s his gotcha.

The point is that he goes to great lengths to find ways that injustice prevails and disadvantages him. He accuses and badgers police officers who are polite in return. He sounds like he has an adult body and an adult voice, but he has the maturity and self-control of a kid having a tantrum on the floor of the cereal aisle.

Why should you care about that?

Because this guy is a poster child for our infestation of MAGA plague. He appears to believe that he’s doing a red, white and blue, true American patriotic unmasking of authoritarian over-reach and cruelty, all this over a parking space.

Extrapolate that to millions of people whose weapons aren’t cameras, but instead are semi-automatic pistols and assault rifles. That’s why you should care.

We have an overload of citizens who think they’ve been wronged, who believe that there is a deep state populated by oppressors who happily crush true Americans. These are people who have devolved into anarchist king killers.

Last Tuesday I saw a clip of reporter Vaughn Hillyard interviewing a woman at a Trump rally in New Hampshire (view from 2:10). He asked what will happen if Trump is found guilty. She responded, “civil war.” Take your own guess as to why saying that would appear to please her.

As disastrous as such violence would be, not prosecuting Trump would eventually be far worse, so I’m not advocating backing off prosecutions. Indeed, I’m for full speed ahead to nail that law breaker and his sycophantic co-conspirators. Accountability is all that forestalls worse. See my post this Wednesday for more about that.

There is a very high level of anger, belligerence, and vitriol in the bellies of millions of Americans. They’re people with “issues” and they act as though only violence will assuage their “issues.” These are people who don’t just want the parking signs taken down. They want everything taken down.

The Republican Party is no longer the party of Lincoln. It is the party of John Wilkes Booth.

Maybe Some Sanity and Relief is Coming From

H.J.Res.54 – Proposing an amendment to the Constitution of the United States providing that the rights protected and extended by the Constitution are the rights of natural persons only. (118th Congress)
Sponsor: Rep. Jayapal, Pramila [D-WA-7] (Introduced 04/10/2023)

We’ve tried this before. Maybe we can bring it to the right conclusion this time.

January 21, 2010 was a dark and dangerous day for the United States. It was the day that the Supreme Court announced its findings in the Citizens United case and produced a thunder clap decision that was scarcely related to the case actually brought before the Supreme Court.

The Court, in its warped, John Roberts anti-wisdom, decided that corporations have all the same rights as people. It reaffirmed that money isn’t a tangible property; it’s speech. It said that it’s okay for wealthy individuals and corporations to make enormous financial donations to politicians and SuperPACs. And it said that it’s okay for much of that bribery to remain secret. Fundamentally, that decision validated politics as a pay-to-play scheme, giving lots more power to rich people and corporations and way less to you. And none of that had anything to do with Citizens United wanting to post a smash-mouth video trashing Hillary.

In his dissent in this case, Justice John Paul Stevens wrote that in addressing an issue that was not raised by the litigants,

“ . . . the majority changed the case to give themselves an opportunity to change the law.”

“A democracy cannot function effectively when its constituent members believe laws are being bought and sold.”

And that’s why this proposed amendment is critically important.

I’ve done many presentations about the craziness of this case and others. Click here and scroll down to the embedded 15-minute video for a taste test. It’s from 2014 and, sadly, it’s still timely today.

Many of us have been searching for an answer to the question of what we can do to reverse this theft of our government (see MoveToAmend). From the lead-in to this section of a proposed Constitutional amendment, it looks (again) like relief might be on the way.

What you can do now is to encourage your Representative to co-sponsor H.J. Res. 54. Because this is a proposed amendment to the Constitution it’s going to take years to get this done. That’s why today is a good day to start.

Quote of the Week

Steve Schmidt writes a post entitled The Warning and I heartily recommend it. Last Wednesday he centered his comments around those of President James Garfield and his address to his Union Army “Boys in Blue” in his essay America Is Not Our Politics. It is a splendid reminder of the real America, so I heartily recommend it to you.

To make the point about America being something else and not being our politics, Schmidt wrote,

These are troubled days where idiocy, malice, cowardice and appeasement have become the rocket fuel for political advancement.

And, of course, that isn’t who you or I or any of us is. Read Schmidt’s post.

Not Just For Fun

I saw this pic that led a story in the Washington Post about a murder cold case. Intending no disrespect for that story or the people involved, I just had to use it for a spoof.

In my interpretation, peeking from behind that door are Ron DeSantis and some dope of a placeholder for all the self-righteous Republican politicians who think they belong in your bedroom.

Here’s what that will look like in video if the self-righteous ones (including Clarence Thomas) get their way.

From David Corn’s Our Town Newsletter of August 12:

” .  .  .  the fundamental reality [is] that for many on the right, the war against reproductive rights is a war against sex. These folks just don’t like the idea of us having a good time on our own terms.”

  • 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 2024 by Jack Altschuler
Reproduction and sharing are encouraged, providing proper attribution is given.

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