A year ago today, Trump retweeted pro-Trump lawyer Lin Wood’s declaration that Georgia governor Brian Kemp and Georgia secretary of state Brad Raffensperger would “soon be going to jail” because they would not overturn the election results in Georgia.
I recently read your bio. I am impressed with your service over the years. You have been an outstanding example of a public official and a role model for our kids. Please don’t disappoint us now.
Modern Americans are an impatient bunch. We do think it stunning that we are approaching the one year mark from when our government suffered a violent attempted coup. By now it is obvious that this was NOT just a random group of protesters turned rioters. We know now that they were organized and aided by several Individuals who were assistants to or advisors of the former president - as well as members of Congress.
There was a complex plot with alternate options to overthrow the government – to deny a duly elected president-elect his peaceful transition to the White House.
Should I be confident that you and your staff are vigorously pursuing your own investigation and preparing to file charges – and about to arrest those who were attempting that coup? Should I feel that the House Committee investigation the events of January 6 is a compliment to your own efforts – not a substitute?
American patience is running thin. Time is not on our side. Democracy in America is becoming a sadly dark and ironic joke on the international stage. Please act.
The Federalist Society’s website claims, “The Federalist Society for Law and Public Policy Studies is a group of conservatives and libertarians…founded on the principles that the state exists to preserve freedom, that the separation of governmental powers is central to our Constitution, and that it is emphatically the province and duty of the judiciary to say what the law is, not what it should be.” Which is utter bullpucky, as they’ve demonstrated over and over. If they believed in truth in advertising (or truth in general) their statement of principle would say, “The Federalist Society is a group of partisan hacks that frets that liberal, progressive principles are eroding the privileged position of wealthy, white males in America. We will do everything in our power, legal or not, to elevate right-wing, Republican judges and politicians to positions of power, democracy be damned.” That’s a more accurate description of Federalists, including the 6 members who are currently justices on the Supreme Court.
It never ceases to amaze me that the GOP penny-pinches on human welfare, but boosts defense waste—after all, dropping even a single bomb means the end of civilization as we now know it. That last caveat has been true throughout my life: my father was deeply enmeshed in the defense industry throughout WWII and Korea, and I worked a scut job at an aircraft manufacturer during VietNam. What a hopeless view of humanity we support in building more toys we don’t need while children, schools, and the homeless starve.
Manchin sits there in his yacht on the Potomac which he drives to and from in his Maserati and lets more and more people languish in poverty. What a brutal, selfish person he is.
Jeffery Clark postpones his appearance before the January 6th committee AGAIN due to a "medical condition". Would that ailment be a burnt butt caused by being being a pants on fire liar? Curious minds want to know...
"despite Republican and conservative Democratic concern about the deficit, today by a vote of 88 to 11 the Senate passed a $768 billion National Defense Authorization Act, which gives the Pentagon $25 billion more than Biden’s budget asked for in a measure that funds the military for only a single year. "
Here we see the single largest weakness in American Democracy. Military contractors paying off their representatives to vote said contractors ever more money to enable the build of ever more needless weapons for the always needless, constant wars on the backs of the American poor (and demographically diverse) in military service.
$7.68 TRILLION over a 10 year period absolutely dwarfing all other spending.
We can see how this weakness for military spending played out over the last 20 years.
The USA participated in a war in Afghanistan even though none of the 9-11 attackers were Afghan citizens or born in Afghanistan. The planning for the attack took place in Germany. Nevertheless, the USA spent two decades killing innocent Afghan citizens for "profit".
But wait, the story goes on. Because we wanted even more war profit for Military contractors we invaded Iraq based on the lie that weapons of mass destruction were present there. A bold lie that a woman in the British secret service openly called out before Britain voted with the US to invade.
So, yesterday, our representatives re-affirmed their commitment to being paid off by military contractors thereby forming a circular firing squad for Democracy.
I would say this is sad, however, apparently, given the widespread nature of corruption and being paid of in Democracies from India to the United States, that it must be: 1) normal in Democracy and 2) normal for human beings in Democracies.
Lastly, although Republicans appear hysterical about "Socialism" and "Communism", nothing comes closer to approximating those words in our Democracy than relationship between our government (Congress and the President) and Military Contractors.
So, the next time a Republican starts frothing at the mouth about "Socialism" at a Christmas Party just say: "768 Billion dollars a year for Socialism in the US".
Socialism for the Rich.
And, if you do a little demographic research on who manages to garner the fantastically well paid positions at military contractors, which INCLUDE retirement pensions still, and huge amounts of accrued vacation,, at military contractors, you will be able to see even better why nobody is complaining about giving that money away like welfare checks.
Manchin is a greedy, attention-grabbing hack whose REAL concern is with the fossil fuel sector that, no doubt, pays handsomely for his support. He’s not conservative; he is not a concerned leader; he’s a pig relishing his power to obstruct, cashing in at the same time.
I wrote "Trump's Treason" June 21: "Democrats impeached Trump for inciting the insurrection, but the Senate failed to convict, and hearings are underway. But the treason hides in plain sight. It was sedition by omission, or intentional dereliction of duty, by Trump and a handful of loyalists embedded inside the Pentagon and White House.
Exhibit 1: That day, one dozen powerful politicians from both parties and public officials placed frantic “911” calls during the attack to persons in high office at both the Pentagon and the White House. They pleaded for National Guard assistance as the small force of Capitol guards was being overtaken by thousands of armed and crazed thugs. A gallows was erected for the world’s cameras to underscore their intent. All this was televised in real-time.
Exhibit 2: The Pentagon and President sat on their hands for four hours before sending in the National Guard. By comparison, on September 11, 2000, it took the Pentagon just five minutes after the first terrorist attack hit the World Trade Center to evacuate the President and his cabinet to safety, to scramble thousands of jets, and shut down America’s airspace.
The End Game: Dangerous goons would be invited to Washington D.C., stoked by Trump in a speech, sent to the Capitol to “remove” Vice President Mike Pence and Nancy Pelosi from the Presidential line of succession, and, finally, invoke The Insurrection Act of 1807. This law allows a President to unilaterally send in troops across the country in certain limited circumstances involved in the defense of constitutional rights. Trump intended to extend his tenure indefinitely by starting, then quelling, his own insurrection. https://dianefrancis.substack.com/p/trumps-treason
An article in the National Review, dated 12/15/21, begins with the sentence " The Capitol riot happened because President Donald Trump simply lied, and lied, and lied."
Much as I want the rest of Build Back Better passed, if our congress does not get on the stick and pass voting rights legislation (all of it), then this is simply an exercise in futility. (My original description was much more crude, but I thought that was a bit much here, even for me. Maybe even for TC.)
Like it or not, time is running out. The situation with our climate is beyond repair. There is a satellite image from GOES-East that is some of the most complex satellite imagery detailing wildfires, a dust storm, snow squalls, and a line of thunderstorms between Colorado and Missouri. I am afraid that with the deliberateness of the DOJ investigation of the Insurrection of 6 January, we may be past the point of no return there.
I have been seeing more and more written about the state of "Moral Injury" that seems to be occurring in our population these days. The first I heard of this phenomenon was from the military 10 years or so ago; the moral injury of a sniper forced to either shoot a 10 year old girl who was wearing a vest of explosives and walking towards an outpost of his unit, or to not shoot her and have the outpost blown up. We are living in a pandemic that is as bad as it is because of the politicization of the initial crisis and the steadfast belief that vaccinations and governmental attempts to mitigate the spread of the virus are infringements of liberty. We are living in a nation where 40% of the population seems to be just fine with an overthrow of democracy and insertion of a criminal as "supreme dictator for life" and steadfast in their belief in white, male, cisgendered, heterosexual supremacy. This has caused/is causing a moral injury to those of us who do not fall under that authoritarian umbrella, or of those who support us and democracy.
For people pondering what to do about the Republicans, Robert Hubbell has laid it out very clearly, with help from Len Lubinsky:
Len’s list of top ten House candidates to support in 2022.
"A frequent request from readers is for recommendations about candidates to support in 2022. I am not an expert in the national political landscape, so I have come to rely on Leonard Lubinsky’s recommendations. Len writes Len’s Political Notes, which provide detailed reviews and recommendations regarding Democratic candidates. Len just published a special note on this “top ten” House candidates (incumbents and challengers) where donations can make a strategic difference. See “Len's Letter #46 Ten House Candidates to Donate to Now.” If you have a favorite candidate that you are currently supporting, continue to do so! Or rely on your usual source of recommendations (e.g., EMILY's List) The important point is to support Democrats financially now. Early money makes a big difference."
It's hard to imagine Jordan smart enough to have drafted the text himself, so he just might be telling the truth. He's been a willing conduit for all sorts of nonsensical rabble-rousing in the past.
"Jordan’s office confirmed his authorship of the text but claimed the text was only him forwarding a legal theory by Joseph Schmitz, a Federalist Society lawyer who was President George W. Bush’s inspector general for the Defense Department;"
Also, what proportion of the military funding is maintenance vs new system program development? Seems to me that 80-90% of $768B would suffice as we've been planning around Russia and China for years. A show of a little bit of fiscal responsibility by the military would be nice given documented inefficiencies in spending on past projects. Adding 15$B on top of his $753B request shows he wasn't trying to defund the services despite any spin to the contrary.
And just think, Jordon almost made the January 6 insurrection investigation team, but Pelosi saw the joke and gave away the punch-line. By his own admission, Jordon was in almost constant contact with Trump through out 2020 leading up and to and beyond the election. What other seditious information was he forwarding to the former president from other GREAT minds.
And, besides all that, will someone take a moment to explain to me how Trump ever came to the conclusion that he was like some God approved French King whose continuation as President was supernaturally destined to be. The guy never did the job of President as advertised in the democracy job description. He spent his time campaigning, playing golf and commuting to Florida on weekends. Of course, once he turned governance over to bent operatives/wreckers of special interests, what was there for him to do but thumb-punch his I-Phone and watch the Fox provide a reality-tv narrative.
His fans say Trump is what being against political correctness looks like. His speedymart course in formal logic forgot to show him that being not politically correct does not entail being "politically incorrect", let alone politically vile, thoughtless and stupid.
There are thousands of Americans in jails throughout the country whose crimes amounted to far less than those of the Republicans, including Members of the House, who are still walking around free to spout lies, with the aid of subversive media like Fox, OAN and Newsmax which the First Amendment allows to exist. Congressmen, many in the "Freedom Caucus," ran an organized campaign to "hammer home the idea that the election was tainted, announce legal actions being taken by the campaign, and bolster the case with allegations of fraud," as reported in today's New York Times. And the pending extradition of Julian Assange, as reported today in an MSNBC article by ex-FBI Ass't. Director Frank Figliuzzi can lead to sufficient evidence to indict many of them, including the former president, for the acts which the Mueller investigation uncovered, but walked away from because of AG Bill Barr's loyalty to the former president at that time. We should be wary of what will happen on the streets of this country when this sh-t hits the fan.
Never mind the Congress, this past Tuesday, spent $758 billion for 1-year of Defense authorization, $30 billion more than the President had requested. Senator Manchin, nonetheless, has demanded a 10-year number for Build Back Better not to exceed $1.75 trillion. Considering that the child tax credit alone would amount to $1.4 trillion over 10 years and that a budget increase is a non-starter, does Congress submit to taking away every climate provision? Affordable child care? Universal Pre-K? Investments in housing? In elder care? Manchin knows his terms cannot be met. The result: Despite months of back and forth with Manchin, Senate Democrats will likely miss passing Biden’s Build Back Better plan before the end of the year, putting this legislation off until 2022. And we also have today’s announcement from President Biden that “There’s nothing domestically more important than voting rights; it’s the single biggest issue.”
I imagine one could make the case that the pressure to prioritize voting rights has increased this week with the dramatic revelations delivered by the House Select Committee detailing the conspiracy led by Trump to overturn the results of the Presidential election on January 6th with the support of Republican Senators and Republican members of the House. Still, how confident can we be that Biden will be able to convince Manchin (considering the months of back and forth over BBB) and the rest of the Democrats in the Senate immediately to pass voter protection legislation that would require a Senate rule change that neither Manchin nor some others have indicated they would support?
We need to speak up. Sent just now:
Dear Attorney General Garland:
I recently read your bio. I am impressed with your service over the years. You have been an outstanding example of a public official and a role model for our kids. Please don’t disappoint us now.
Modern Americans are an impatient bunch. We do think it stunning that we are approaching the one year mark from when our government suffered a violent attempted coup. By now it is obvious that this was NOT just a random group of protesters turned rioters. We know now that they were organized and aided by several Individuals who were assistants to or advisors of the former president - as well as members of Congress.
There was a complex plot with alternate options to overthrow the government – to deny a duly elected president-elect his peaceful transition to the White House.
Should I be confident that you and your staff are vigorously pursuing your own investigation and preparing to file charges – and about to arrest those who were attempting that coup? Should I feel that the House Committee investigation the events of January 6 is a compliment to your own efforts – not a substitute?
American patience is running thin. Time is not on our side. Democracy in America is becoming a sadly dark and ironic joke on the international stage. Please act.
With deep respect and admiration,
Bill Alstrom
Acton, MA
The Federalist Society’s website claims, “The Federalist Society for Law and Public Policy Studies is a group of conservatives and libertarians…founded on the principles that the state exists to preserve freedom, that the separation of governmental powers is central to our Constitution, and that it is emphatically the province and duty of the judiciary to say what the law is, not what it should be.” Which is utter bullpucky, as they’ve demonstrated over and over. If they believed in truth in advertising (or truth in general) their statement of principle would say, “The Federalist Society is a group of partisan hacks that frets that liberal, progressive principles are eroding the privileged position of wealthy, white males in America. We will do everything in our power, legal or not, to elevate right-wing, Republican judges and politicians to positions of power, democracy be damned.” That’s a more accurate description of Federalists, including the 6 members who are currently justices on the Supreme Court.
It never ceases to amaze me that the GOP penny-pinches on human welfare, but boosts defense waste—after all, dropping even a single bomb means the end of civilization as we now know it. That last caveat has been true throughout my life: my father was deeply enmeshed in the defense industry throughout WWII and Korea, and I worked a scut job at an aircraft manufacturer during VietNam. What a hopeless view of humanity we support in building more toys we don’t need while children, schools, and the homeless starve.
Manchin sits there in his yacht on the Potomac which he drives to and from in his Maserati and lets more and more people languish in poverty. What a brutal, selfish person he is.
Jeffery Clark postpones his appearance before the January 6th committee AGAIN due to a "medical condition". Would that ailment be a burnt butt caused by being being a pants on fire liar? Curious minds want to know...
"despite Republican and conservative Democratic concern about the deficit, today by a vote of 88 to 11 the Senate passed a $768 billion National Defense Authorization Act, which gives the Pentagon $25 billion more than Biden’s budget asked for in a measure that funds the military for only a single year. "
Here we see the single largest weakness in American Democracy. Military contractors paying off their representatives to vote said contractors ever more money to enable the build of ever more needless weapons for the always needless, constant wars on the backs of the American poor (and demographically diverse) in military service.
$7.68 TRILLION over a 10 year period absolutely dwarfing all other spending.
We can see how this weakness for military spending played out over the last 20 years.
The USA participated in a war in Afghanistan even though none of the 9-11 attackers were Afghan citizens or born in Afghanistan. The planning for the attack took place in Germany. Nevertheless, the USA spent two decades killing innocent Afghan citizens for "profit".
But wait, the story goes on. Because we wanted even more war profit for Military contractors we invaded Iraq based on the lie that weapons of mass destruction were present there. A bold lie that a woman in the British secret service openly called out before Britain voted with the US to invade.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Katharine_Gun
So, yesterday, our representatives re-affirmed their commitment to being paid off by military contractors thereby forming a circular firing squad for Democracy.
I would say this is sad, however, apparently, given the widespread nature of corruption and being paid of in Democracies from India to the United States, that it must be: 1) normal in Democracy and 2) normal for human beings in Democracies.
Lastly, although Republicans appear hysterical about "Socialism" and "Communism", nothing comes closer to approximating those words in our Democracy than relationship between our government (Congress and the President) and Military Contractors.
So, the next time a Republican starts frothing at the mouth about "Socialism" at a Christmas Party just say: "768 Billion dollars a year for Socialism in the US".
Socialism for the Rich.
And, if you do a little demographic research on who manages to garner the fantastically well paid positions at military contractors, which INCLUDE retirement pensions still, and huge amounts of accrued vacation,, at military contractors, you will be able to see even better why nobody is complaining about giving that money away like welfare checks.
So who is the real welfare queen in America?
Yep, you got it. (I won't write it here).
Manchin is a greedy, attention-grabbing hack whose REAL concern is with the fossil fuel sector that, no doubt, pays handsomely for his support. He’s not conservative; he is not a concerned leader; he’s a pig relishing his power to obstruct, cashing in at the same time.
I wrote "Trump's Treason" June 21: "Democrats impeached Trump for inciting the insurrection, but the Senate failed to convict, and hearings are underway. But the treason hides in plain sight. It was sedition by omission, or intentional dereliction of duty, by Trump and a handful of loyalists embedded inside the Pentagon and White House.
Exhibit 1: That day, one dozen powerful politicians from both parties and public officials placed frantic “911” calls during the attack to persons in high office at both the Pentagon and the White House. They pleaded for National Guard assistance as the small force of Capitol guards was being overtaken by thousands of armed and crazed thugs. A gallows was erected for the world’s cameras to underscore their intent. All this was televised in real-time.
Exhibit 2: The Pentagon and President sat on their hands for four hours before sending in the National Guard. By comparison, on September 11, 2000, it took the Pentagon just five minutes after the first terrorist attack hit the World Trade Center to evacuate the President and his cabinet to safety, to scramble thousands of jets, and shut down America’s airspace.
The End Game: Dangerous goons would be invited to Washington D.C., stoked by Trump in a speech, sent to the Capitol to “remove” Vice President Mike Pence and Nancy Pelosi from the Presidential line of succession, and, finally, invoke The Insurrection Act of 1807. This law allows a President to unilaterally send in troops across the country in certain limited circumstances involved in the defense of constitutional rights. Trump intended to extend his tenure indefinitely by starting, then quelling, his own insurrection. https://dianefrancis.substack.com/p/trumps-treason
Unless he’s in the hospital, the committee should either go to Clark’s home or set up a video meeting. This is crazy.
An article in the National Review, dated 12/15/21, begins with the sentence " The Capitol riot happened because President Donald Trump simply lied, and lied, and lied."
https://www.nationalreview.com/2021/12/gone-too-far/?utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=NR%20Daily%20Monday%20through%20Friday%202021-12-15&utm_term=NRDaily-Smart
Much as I want the rest of Build Back Better passed, if our congress does not get on the stick and pass voting rights legislation (all of it), then this is simply an exercise in futility. (My original description was much more crude, but I thought that was a bit much here, even for me. Maybe even for TC.)
Like it or not, time is running out. The situation with our climate is beyond repair. There is a satellite image from GOES-East that is some of the most complex satellite imagery detailing wildfires, a dust storm, snow squalls, and a line of thunderstorms between Colorado and Missouri. I am afraid that with the deliberateness of the DOJ investigation of the Insurrection of 6 January, we may be past the point of no return there.
I have been seeing more and more written about the state of "Moral Injury" that seems to be occurring in our population these days. The first I heard of this phenomenon was from the military 10 years or so ago; the moral injury of a sniper forced to either shoot a 10 year old girl who was wearing a vest of explosives and walking towards an outpost of his unit, or to not shoot her and have the outpost blown up. We are living in a pandemic that is as bad as it is because of the politicization of the initial crisis and the steadfast belief that vaccinations and governmental attempts to mitigate the spread of the virus are infringements of liberty. We are living in a nation where 40% of the population seems to be just fine with an overthrow of democracy and insertion of a criminal as "supreme dictator for life" and steadfast in their belief in white, male, cisgendered, heterosexual supremacy. This has caused/is causing a moral injury to those of us who do not fall under that authoritarian umbrella, or of those who support us and democracy.
I don't know First Aid for moral injury.
For people pondering what to do about the Republicans, Robert Hubbell has laid it out very clearly, with help from Len Lubinsky:
Len’s list of top ten House candidates to support in 2022.
"A frequent request from readers is for recommendations about candidates to support in 2022. I am not an expert in the national political landscape, so I have come to rely on Leonard Lubinsky’s recommendations. Len writes Len’s Political Notes, which provide detailed reviews and recommendations regarding Democratic candidates. Len just published a special note on this “top ten” House candidates (incumbents and challengers) where donations can make a strategic difference. See “Len's Letter #46 Ten House Candidates to Donate to Now.” If you have a favorite candidate that you are currently supporting, continue to do so! Or rely on your usual source of recommendations (e.g., EMILY's List) The important point is to support Democrats financially now. Early money makes a big difference."
https://roberthubbell.substack.com/p/todays-edition-deja-vu-all-over-again
It's hard to imagine Jordan smart enough to have drafted the text himself, so he just might be telling the truth. He's been a willing conduit for all sorts of nonsensical rabble-rousing in the past.
"Jordan’s office confirmed his authorship of the text but claimed the text was only him forwarding a legal theory by Joseph Schmitz, a Federalist Society lawyer who was President George W. Bush’s inspector general for the Defense Department;"
Also, what proportion of the military funding is maintenance vs new system program development? Seems to me that 80-90% of $768B would suffice as we've been planning around Russia and China for years. A show of a little bit of fiscal responsibility by the military would be nice given documented inefficiencies in spending on past projects. Adding 15$B on top of his $753B request shows he wasn't trying to defund the services despite any spin to the contrary.
And just think, Jordon almost made the January 6 insurrection investigation team, but Pelosi saw the joke and gave away the punch-line. By his own admission, Jordon was in almost constant contact with Trump through out 2020 leading up and to and beyond the election. What other seditious information was he forwarding to the former president from other GREAT minds.
And, besides all that, will someone take a moment to explain to me how Trump ever came to the conclusion that he was like some God approved French King whose continuation as President was supernaturally destined to be. The guy never did the job of President as advertised in the democracy job description. He spent his time campaigning, playing golf and commuting to Florida on weekends. Of course, once he turned governance over to bent operatives/wreckers of special interests, what was there for him to do but thumb-punch his I-Phone and watch the Fox provide a reality-tv narrative.
His fans say Trump is what being against political correctness looks like. His speedymart course in formal logic forgot to show him that being not politically correct does not entail being "politically incorrect", let alone politically vile, thoughtless and stupid.
There are thousands of Americans in jails throughout the country whose crimes amounted to far less than those of the Republicans, including Members of the House, who are still walking around free to spout lies, with the aid of subversive media like Fox, OAN and Newsmax which the First Amendment allows to exist. Congressmen, many in the "Freedom Caucus," ran an organized campaign to "hammer home the idea that the election was tainted, announce legal actions being taken by the campaign, and bolster the case with allegations of fraud," as reported in today's New York Times. And the pending extradition of Julian Assange, as reported today in an MSNBC article by ex-FBI Ass't. Director Frank Figliuzzi can lead to sufficient evidence to indict many of them, including the former president, for the acts which the Mueller investigation uncovered, but walked away from because of AG Bill Barr's loyalty to the former president at that time. We should be wary of what will happen on the streets of this country when this sh-t hits the fan.
Never mind the Congress, this past Tuesday, spent $758 billion for 1-year of Defense authorization, $30 billion more than the President had requested. Senator Manchin, nonetheless, has demanded a 10-year number for Build Back Better not to exceed $1.75 trillion. Considering that the child tax credit alone would amount to $1.4 trillion over 10 years and that a budget increase is a non-starter, does Congress submit to taking away every climate provision? Affordable child care? Universal Pre-K? Investments in housing? In elder care? Manchin knows his terms cannot be met. The result: Despite months of back and forth with Manchin, Senate Democrats will likely miss passing Biden’s Build Back Better plan before the end of the year, putting this legislation off until 2022. And we also have today’s announcement from President Biden that “There’s nothing domestically more important than voting rights; it’s the single biggest issue.”
I imagine one could make the case that the pressure to prioritize voting rights has increased this week with the dramatic revelations delivered by the House Select Committee detailing the conspiracy led by Trump to overturn the results of the Presidential election on January 6th with the support of Republican Senators and Republican members of the House. Still, how confident can we be that Biden will be able to convince Manchin (considering the months of back and forth over BBB) and the rest of the Democrats in the Senate immediately to pass voter protection legislation that would require a Senate rule change that neither Manchin nor some others have indicated they would support?