There May Be Hope Afterall

Television analyst says McConnel's decision to hold a vote without Trump's specific approval is a turning-point.  An interesting, useful article;  and one with hope.  


Daily Kos Shares News of Hope

IMPLEMENTATION OF MARTIAL LAW BEING ATTEMPTED IN THE U. S.

 

Calling the President's attempts to declare a fake national emergency "an end-run" around Congress is putting it mildly.  As the ACLU said on Democracy Now today, the concern is not only what this particular "declaration" means, but what this means for this future with this President.  

People, in general, should be much more concerned than they so far appear to be.  We will see what the coming days bring.   But at a bare minimum we should prepare for massive resistance in the event a majority of the Supreme Court should rule to uphold this un-Constitutional undermining of the power of the people's Congress.  

In the meantime, there is much that can be done.  First, the media must help.  They can help by stop framing this as merely a political game of some sort.  They can help by emphasizing that with this particular President, we must realize the imposition of martial law is a real possibility;   this ridiculous declaration is only a first step.  
 

As for persons, we need to get informed and talk with our friends.   Then, we must organize at the level which is appropriate for an assault on our democracy.  Otherwise the days of all our First Amendment freedoms will be numbered.    

Brand-new Blog for Your Examination

New Blog Warns About the Dangers of Technology

New Technology Blog:

https://technopolyalert.blogspot.com/

Voter Suppression Issue Hits Prime-time

 

Stacey Abrams, candidate for Governor of Georgia in 2018, gave true importance to the issue of voter suppression efforts, mentioning several examples, in her Democratic "state of the union address" last evening.   This was a major development, as this would have been the first time millions of people have heard the specifics of true voter suppression efforts (committed by Republicans and their operatives.)

Many details of these voter suppression efforts have been given on this blog over the years.   A search here should reveal many of these facts.

Stacey Abrams is an important figure of our times and we can be grateful to her.

I'll have more to say about this matter in the future.  


Photo Credit: press pool via AP as found on St. Louis Public Radio (.org)

The Most Important Article

 ...of the month, maybe of the year.

The highlighted article shown below is very nearly the most useful article I have read in many a moon.  You will find in it an extremely valuable unraveling of the many strands of the web of deceit which ensnares us now. 

There is here not only good information about Stone, Trump, and Russia, but a placing of the relative importance of each person and subject.  This is an invaluable contribution to our knowledge and understanding.   

There is no need for me to comment much further, except to say, Be prepared for surprises in this great piece (not long) by world-famous journalist, Greg Palast, whose name has been mentioned with increasing frequency here on this blog.

 
Greg Palast Sorts Through the Many Strands of Our Political Dilemma

Time Out for Musical Inspiration

Fine men's ensemble and choir.  Innovative arrangement.  Superior, professional video production.
 

The Stone Indictment: Beginning to Hold the Media Accountable

Via Democratic Campaign Watch --

There is another lesson to be learned from today's arrest of political operative and thug, Roger Stone, other than all the others the media will put forward.  And that is that the media itself is culpable for the kind of campaign America endured in 2016, which was surely the ugliest, weirdest, and nastiest in memory.  Never before had the person installed in the Oval Office lost the popular vote by such a wide margin.   Never before had the winning candidate been accused of such a panoply of misdeeds, both amorous, financial, and otherwise.  And -- conservative estimates place the value of media "straight" news coverage of Trump at over $1 billion.  The Salon  article whose link is on Democratic Campaign Watch now heralds a new era in constructive media criticism.


https://democampaignwatch.blogspot.com/

Nope

Special Prosecutors: Their Power and Limitations

The web site Salon.com is featuring an interview with a book author who has written the history of special prosecutors in the U.S.  I am currently reviewing the article and the interview transcript.




What is clear so far is that prosecutors act as important catalysts for decisions.  But without public pressure, Presidents have a tendency to remain in office no matter the results of special prosecutors' investigations.

This is a warning to those who believe the Mueller investigation will surely lead directly to the ousting of the President.  On the positive side, the current investigation of Our Military Leader is a crucially important one, both for what it says about the strength of our democracy as well as the impact it can have on events. 

Read the article here:
Special Prosecutors: Their Power and Limitations

The Best Democracy Money Can Buy, 2018 Trailer

More to the point, the White House was stolen for Trump as Koch Brothers, and Republican operatives worked behind the scenes to expunge voter rolls. 

"We are not amused."

This quote, attributed to Queen Victoria, is exigently applicable to the feelings of many Americans today regarding our current monarchical Executive.  Many in the press and media, and certainly in entertainment, have found much material for merriment both for themselves and for others.

But increasingly in the press, there is no more amusement.  Recent editorials in The New York Times and The Washington Post attest to this welcome literary transformation. 

Now comes The New Yorker with a feature story on the man who transformed Our Military Leader (OML) from a D-list celebrity into a President, or so the article claims.  (I am still reading it at this hour, you see.) 

This article reminds me of the landmark book by Neil Postman, Amusing Ourselves to Death.  In this great 1985 non-fiction work, Postman lays out the dangers of a too-shallow television culture which was leading America into a zombie-like state of pixilation and stupor. 

Now, however -- and after all this time -- Americans seem to be waking up once again to reality, and none too soon.  The vexations are trumping humor.  Fear is triumphing over comedy.  No, we are not amused.  But we aren't stupid either.  And tolerance for inanity has its limits after all. 

Closing Out the Old Year

The fresh new-born baby of 2018, having long ago atrophied into a wizened old man, it is now time to say good-bye to a year strangely and unexpectedly filled with hope, albeit alongside bizarreness on a level never seen before in the U.S. executive branch.

But time to move on it surely is.  I am in process of understanding how this blog can be most useful.  This process, and a holiday rush, have meant a slowing of post frequency here in recent times.  It seems clear, however, that there is a place more than ever for rationality, study, and civil discourse.  This last statement may seem counter-intuitive what with raging "twitter wars" and the like.

At least we can say the American public is no more enamored of the banality, frivolousness, and sheer cruelty which can be on today's Internet.  They still, more than ever, want to be called to honor their better selves.

Perhaps, perhaps it is just possible there is a quite valuable role to be played by bloggers.   And perhaps the uncertainly of now opens up a golden opportunity for patriots, even of the musical kind. 

Forbes Magazine Lays Out Five Interlocking Conspiracies Affecting 2016 Election

... we do appear to be at a turning point, since we finally know what hold Putin has over Trump. Yet, we may be rather “at the end of the beginning,” in that we finally know how and why Trump became president.” The beginning of the end” will come once there is a viable path towards doing something about it.

Forbes magazine has laid out for the American people a scheme of five interlocking conspiracies which were carried out beginning in 2015 and continuing through 2016 and beyond, which Forbes says furthered Donald Trump's financial interests at the expense of the American people.

The article speaks for itself and is a must-read.

How Trump Deprived America of a Free Election: Forbes

Have I Not Even My Own Name Anymore?

The magazine label reads first, "READ MORE AT NEWYORKER.COM,"  then it says,

MY NAME
MY ADDRESS.

Now, I like The New Yorker all right, except for their inexplicable use of profanity, but it was a little jarring to see a promotion for the magazine's web site printed as if it were part of my address.

But this is what it has come to as we approach the final years of the second decade of the 21st Century.   People are "customers," "targets," and more.  Is it not this way of seeing people, which gets us angry?  Are we human still?  Or are we merely entities to be enticed, deceived, and exploited by big businesses?   (As I understand it The New Yorker is owned by Conde Nast and, along with other magazines in the group, is suffering circulation woes.  I sympathize with their plight.)  

It is long past time for a revision in the way our vast marketing and financial worlds are ordered.

People are tired of being ordered around.  


Best wishes from TMP for a wonderful Christmas lead-in period.  

Moment for History

Sen. Doug Jones of Alabama

 

 

 

Sen. Doug Jones of Alabama, elected one year ago this month, brought to justice the men who bombed the 16th Street Baptist Church in 1963.   You can clink on the link below for more information.

Then-Attorney Jones acting in his official capacity as a federal prosecutor was responsible for charging these criminals.  Any time is a good time to remember heroes such as Sen. Jones -- including this time. 


How Church Bombers Were Brought to Justice