Past Featured Photo

President Barack Obama (2009-2017)

"The people of the United States are entitled to assume that their President is telling the truth.   The pattern of misrepresentation and half-truths that emerges from our investigation reveals a presidential policy cynically based on the premise that the truth itself is negotiable."

To whom can we attribute this quote?  Rep. Adam Schiff?   House Judiciary Committee Chair Jerry Nadler?  Nancy Pelosi?  

No, the actual speaker was one Caldwell Butler, U.S. Representative from Virginia before the House Judiciary Committee hearing on the impeachment of Richard Nixon on July 25, 1974.*

And yet the quote could have been given in December 2019, some forty-five years later.  It could just as easily have been said about our current military leader.  

Nixon could be secretive, at best, and a criminal conspirator, at worst.  The impeachment committee said he had abused power, and attempted to obstruct justice (though not technically criminal).   But Nixon with all his faults still seemed like a President.  Even in his co-called crazy moments talking to the paintings of dead Presidents in the White House, Nixon still seemed presidential.

Such cannot be said in the America of today.  This individual does not always act presidential.  And now, says the House of Representatives, he is not fit to be President.  

Perhaps it is true that, as has been said, history does not repeat itself but it does rhyme.  It rhymes.   And it also echoes.   

May God yet save the United States of America. 

 





*The Final Days.   Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein.  New York:  Simon and Schuster, 1976, p. 283.
 

 

Holiday Relaxation?

Some people put Christmas music on the stereo, radio, or computerized device.  Some people over-eat.  Some take trips, or walk amidst the winter moonlight.

As for me this year, I am reading books.   Finally, now that Christmas is over I am actually reading books again, after tending to musical endeavors. 

My main book at the moment is one I had never read:  The Final Days, about the Nixon Watergate scandal, written by those reportorial sleuths Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein.  The book, published in 1976, covers those portions of 1973-74 in which the country slowly awoke to the festering pustule called Watergate. 

So much about The Final Days registers now.  While the Ukrainian fiasco is different from the Watergate crisis in many ways, the reactions of the President in both cases do have their similarities.  The secretiveness and furtiveness, the self-dealing and self-deluding are all familiar traits of both leaders. 

The value, of course, of the Woodward-Bernstein book is its contemporaneity, its careful attention to the details of events so close in time.  If we get a similar book out of the OML nightmare, we shall be lucky.

In due time, the truth will out, as they always say.  Truth has an energy all its own, and is not something a human being or any group of persons can simply twirl in the air and set down at will.  Thus, we the people still have truth on our side, if we will just honor it and swear by it.  

The president Is Impeached

Rush post


In a proud moment for the Constitution, though a sad day in the House, the president of the United States has been impeached.  This is only the third time in history the House of Representatives has voted out articles of impeachment.  It happens to be the only time articles of impeachment have been voted out of a Democratic-led House.

Speaker Pelosi has spoken graciously about the work of the committee chairs, and has make further eloquent statements in a press conference following the vote.

Perhaps tellingly, she has also said the actual sending of the articles of impeachment to the Senate will be predicated upon suitable arrangements being made by Senate leaders to receive them and conduct a fair trial there. 

The American people through their representatives have now said enough is enough;  that there is reason to believe this president should be removed from office through the impeachment and conviction process. 

While this is, of course, most laudable, it will take more than this to set the country on the right course again.  The entire history of this blog has been what constructive, non-violent things can be done to renew America's promise.   It shall be my honor to repeat these suggestions, and to add more as needed.

Nancy Pelosi Gives Impassioned Speech for Impeachment on House Floor

Nancy Pelosi, the Speaker of the House, has just given an impassioned and eloquent speech not simply defending the impeachment effort, but our entire republican system of government.  This important statement lays down the foundation and rationale for impeachment of this president at this time.  How fortunate we are to have Nancy Pelosi as Speaker of the House now!

America is at a crossroads.  Shall we have rule by the people, or shall we have a king?  Have we become so cynical that we no w eschew the responsibilities as well as the freedoms of democracy for the expediency of a vaudevillian dictator who says he can do whatever he wants?

No, I say, NO!  We shall not have anything but democracy.   No matter how inconvenient democracy may be, under proper leadership, it is still the best system of government.  For every other way of governing is leadership by the powerful, the wealthy, the self-appointed or, usually, all three.

Let us be about the business of democracy!  Let us be about this unfortunate but necessary business of impeachment!

Huge Crowds Demonstrate for Impeachment All Across America Tuesday Night

Rush Link --

Often in freezing weather many thousands of people turn out to support impeachment of OML:
Thousands Demonstrate for Impeachment Across America 


 

Last Chance for Democracy?

The U.S. House of Representatives is set to approve two articles of impeachment this week.  This important development, so needed now, has the potential to re-invigorate our democracy.

In order for this to happen, impeachment must be seen as one of many activities which must occur now.  First, the people must be engaged in all aspects of the democratic experiment -- including reading and listening (learning), monitoring their Congress members, monitoring press and media, monitoring big business, advocating and proposing. 

I have made mention of press and media.  This key component of the democratic process has itself long been corrupted by complacency and hubris.  Lately, something of worry and anxiety -- if not humility -- has crept into the journalistic ethos.  For the attacks against the media have taken their toll.

What we do not yet have is open soul-searching on the part of media persons who helped enable a wolf in clown's clothing to seek the nomination of a major political party, transform it, then set about transforming an entire country.  This crime against humanity is a crime against truth and a crime against democracy.

Somehow, the notion of America as a good and just place endures.  The memory of the Founding Fathers and mothers, as well as the many torch-bearers of following generations, has not been expunged. 

So it is up to we, the people, to do our duty as we see it -- to see that this nation of liberty and justice indeed shall not perish.  Let us be about this business. 

Put Trump on House Arrest -- the U.S. House of Representatives: Columnist's Inference

Of course the House won't -- or cannot -- put Our Military Leader (OML) on house arrest.  But according to columnist Margaret Carlson, with the Republican majority leader of the Senate already raising money on the notion of making sure impeachment fails in the Senate, politicians and citizens should look seriously at the options available.  

I, for one, do not necessarily agree that the American people cannot tolerate a longer impeachment process.   For one thing, there is important news about all kinds of nefarious activities coming out almost daily, making for riveting television.  For another, the witnesses the House committee chairs are calling are first-rate and more than informative -- they are inspiring. In and of themselves they are a much-needed antidote to the dark perfidy of this White House.

I also do not necessarily believe the articles of impeachment need to be severely limited due to some limited brain-power on the part of Americans.   We can handle it, if it is necessary, and done in a dignified way.

Another advantage is the time it gives Congress to pursue other legislative remedies, while the corruption is on display daily.  

So, let Congress be on guard.  As Ms. Carlson says, this President who is acquitted might be worse than one whose impeachment is simply indefinitely investigated.  

Keeping OML in the House

Stop the Presses!

Powerful testimony from Judiciary Committee Witnesses


In Brief --

Witnesses before the House Judiciary Committee -- professors all -- gave stirring denunciations of the Presidential attempts to involve a foreign power in America's political campaign.  There can be no doubt that these Constitutional experts were appalled by the efforts of OML to enlist the help of Ukraine in our American election process.  

The import, stated clearly, was our democratic form of government itself is at stake.  In short, this attack on our republic must not stand. 

Zucked: A Facebook Morality Tale

The New Yorker this week features an article on Roger McNamee, early technology pioneer, on the Facebook matter.  It is a fascinating story of the conversion experience of an important early investor in, to a critic of, Silicon Valley.

The focus of his 2019 book is, of course, the creation of Mark Zuckerberg.  But were you, dear reader, aware that Facebook is currently valued at $500 Billion dollars?  That is an astronomical sum by an measure.

More to the point, McNamee charges that Facebook, Google, and other such firms have made our private data a source of profit.  Is this right?, McNamee asks.

Regular readers of this blog can easily guess at my own personal response.  But, naturally, I encourage each person to make up his or her own mind.  Zucked should help.

N.B.  Also see comment below for more.  

Netherlands Faces Threat of Becoming a "Narco State"

A system of inter-connected drug distribution has solidified into a behemoth threatening to over-take the Dutch nation.  The article hyper-linked below tells the story.

The story of the Netherlands is a warning for nations considering the legalization of something as supposedly harmless as marijuana.  As I have detailed here in the past marijuana is no more inherently harmless than alcohol which is itself a drug -- and the arterial flow-through for countless societal problems around the world.

In the case of Holland a seemingly innocuous decriminalization of pot has developed into a nation awash in drugs of all kinds, especially the illegal kind.  The country is essentially crying out for help from the international community.

The experience of the Netherlands is clearly a clarion wake-up call for the United States which has insufficient control over the pot producers in the land, according to reports I have seen.   And now come further reports that Congress is considering loosening federal restrictions on marijuana as well.

Parenthetically, I can say that users and abusers of pot should be pitied and aided, not given life-sentences.  But as for national policy, there is absolutely no need to repeat the Dutch mistake.  Instead, let us be sure to learn from it.  


Drug Lords Threaten to Take Over The Netherlands

Sages from the Past Can Help Us Now

Below are two quotations from ancient and classical sources which describe our American scene now.  It is indeed a perilous time for democracy with enemies both foreign and domestic.  Let us hear these sages speak now....

When a man unprincipled in private life desperate in his fortune, bold in his temper, possessed of considerable talents...is seen to mount the hobby horse of popularity -- to join in the cry of danger to liberty -- to take every opportunity of embarrassing the General Government & bringing it under suspicion -- to flatter and fall in with all the nonsense of the zealots of the day -- It may justly be suspected that his object is to throw things into confusion that he may "ride the storm and direct the whirlwind."  

                                                                                               -- Alexander Hamilton
 

++++++++++++++

Then came certain of the elders of Israel unto me, and sat before me.

And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,

Son of man, these men have set up their idols in their heart, and put the stumblingblock of their iniquity before their face:  should I be enquired of at all by them?

Therefore speak unto them, and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD;  Every man of the house of Israel that setteth up his idols in his heart, and putteth the stumblingblock of his iniquity before his face, and cometh to the prophet;  I the LORD will answer him that cometh according to the multitude of his idols;

That I may take the house of Israel in their own heart, because they are all estranged from me through their idols.

 Therefore saith the Lord GOD;  Repent, and turn yourselves from your idols;  and turn away your faces from all your abominations.

                                                                                           -- Ezekiel 14:1-6


Posted on this the final day of scheduled open hearings into impeachment by the House Committee on Intelligence, Rep. Adam Schiff, chairman 

Courts Being Corrupted by OML

Rush Post

via People for the American Way

**BREAKING** Republicans in the Senate JUST used their rubber-stamp majority to confirm one of Trump’s worst judicial nominees yet … and just a week after "The New York Times" reported on the nominee Steven Menashi’s part in an illegal scheme with Education Secretary Betsy DeVos to deny debt relief to students who were ripped off by greedy for-profit universities!

Nearly every Republican voted “yes” to confirm Menashi, a Trump White House lawyer, who was hand-selected by Trump for a lifetime seat on one of our nation’s most powerful courts – the very same federal appeals court that just issued a ruling against Trump’s efforts to hide his tax returns from prosecutors in New York.

Menashi is a radical right-wing extremist who, in his many writings, has expressed blatant hostility towards...  women, low-income families, Muslims, and immigrants. But he’s not the first unfit, unethical bigot nominated by Trump or confirmed by Mitch McConnell’s Republican majority to a lifetime seat on the federal bench. And he might not be the last.

                                                                                              -- People for the American Way

--------------------
This is a reminder that OML can be impeached, but that is not all that must be done now.  I'll have more to say about this soon.  In the meantime, it is clear it is time for all hands on deck so the ship of state may be swabbed clean of filth and corruption.

TMP
 

Politico Suggests Not One But Several "Simple" Ways OML Could Be Removed from Office

"Politico," the popular on-line political magazine, says it has found one or more easy ways OML could be convicted and removed from office.  I posit there could be others, once all the options are investigated.   After all, few Americans -- including journalists -- understand all the Senate rules.

As a musician, one of my constant annoyances is the un-creative and ignorant attitudes the press and media take toward politics.   They are constantly looking into crystal balls, with little or no evidence to go on.  This is made obvious by their frequent use of the words "likely" and "unlikely."  This, when you come down to it, is nothing but personal speculation.  Remember, Richard Nixon was re-elected by one of the biggest margins in American history.   Only fantasists on the left were predicting anything like impeachment at that time.

I want to give this Politico article its due.  I can see other scenarios, too.  Politico actually mentions other factors, such as the retirements of several aged Republicans, and the low approval ratings of McConnell.  A scenario in which Republicans find it very difficult to vote against conviction could well develop if the Congressional hearings are clear and convincing.  Add in a serious economic down-turn, and it is not hard to see a snow-ball effect toward impeachment and conviction.

I'll stop there.   I don't want to take up the habit of crystal ball gazing, after all. 


Politico Finds an Easy Path or Two or Three to Impeachment Conviction

The Media Inch Their Way Toward "The Whole Truth"

One of the recent additions to my life is satellite television service.  For many years I simply didn't have either cable or satellite service.  Now for the last several months I have been enjoying accessing everything from baseball to politics to religion via my satellite dish.  The plethora of commercials on most channels, including news channels is astonishing, aggravating, and distracting.  This subject will be handled in a later post.

It is clear at this point that the media is slowly -- ever so slowly -- crawling toward the truth about the state of our voting in this country.  Tomorrow, elections will be held in numerous locations in the United States.  Here's hoping for a relatively trouble-free, calm, and viable election out-come.

Tonight on the Chris Hayes program election integrity was skirted around.  But at least it was present, however dimly.  It is true, as the Hayes program said, that the circumstances of the 2020 election, with the same "swing" states, are similar to those of 2016.  What is different, as was also pointed out, are the impeachment inquiry and the softening of the economy.

Still essentially unreported are the vast efforts of vote suppression and other dirty tricks being conducted by various forces allied with the Republican Party.  One of the most recent examples is highlighted at the link below.

The American media, itself a beneficiary of corporate largess through the copious quantity of those commercials and ads, still needs to report on the truth of the methods of vote suppression which have been rampant and so very hurtful in our land.   


Jim Crow Steals Election in North Carolina

Graphic courtesy Elections at Risk by Dorothy Fadiman