Month: September 2021

When Trump is out of office the United States and our allies need to convene a second set of Nuremberg Trials to prosecute all of the crimes that were committed and are still be committed by Trump and his entire administration and extend it even further to include the Republican leadership of obstruction, especially McConnell, and his stacking of the judiciary with unqualified, controversial, reactionary, conflicted, unendorsed, politically motivated and partisan jurists. Those jurists should undergo a review by the National Bar Association and other legal bodies as to their appropriateness to sit on the bench and in cases where they are found to be inappropriately placed, they should be removed from those lifetime positions on the court.

Posted on August 25, 2019 Leave a comment on The clean up in the aftermath

We have 2, or arguably 3, systems of justice in the United States.There’s one for the rich, powerful and priviledged. High ranking government officials and members of Congress piggyback onto this system which was created mainly to cater to the needs of the CEOs, billionaires, the moneyed class. This is the justice system that is serviced by the Supreme Court and by the DOJ under Barr. Let’s just call it what it is, the justice system of the priviledged and powerful.Then there is the justice system for the rest of us, the 98% of ordinary Americans who are expected to follow laws and who are held accountable to the laws of the land. It actually metes out justice and is based on law and order. Then, arguably there is the justice system of extreme justice that is the system for marginalized minorities. It especially targets Blacks, Hispanics, and the poor. It often delivers extremely harsh punishment for minor crimes and infractions and is the justice system that is responsible for creating the largest incarcerated population in the world.Wouldn’t it be nice if we could pare our 3-tiered justice system down to one system that neither caters to the already priviledged or unjustly imprisons innocent people and simply applies the same law and order to everyone? And to have a Supreme Court that works for the people, all the people? Wouldn’t that be nice?

Posted on August 25, 2019 Leave a comment on Justice in the United States of America

Had a passenger on my bus yesterday who was looking for the tavern that made him so happy the night before. He said he really had fun at that tavern and it was his quest to find it again. As far as I know, that was the sole activity he had planned for the day. He wasn’t sure exactly where the tavern was or how to get there. But his goal was to find it again today. Life is strange. It can be lived with or without constraints. We are all free to improvise or plan and be organized. Happiness can be achieved either way, I guess.

Here’s an idea and it’s hypothetical. You know when you see posts that just seems so far fetched and off base and which do not at all match your perception of reality that you feel compelled to write a public response to it? My gut feeling is that the content of the post IS far fetched and is not based in reality but is there to provoke people into making comments to find out what people are thinking to see how it can be manipulated and used. I’m thinking Russians and Koch backed groups working on subverting and demolishing our democracy might be some of the key groups involved in this kind of activity. Do you think I’m being paranoid and unrealistic?

Posted on August 25, 2019 Leave a comment on A little bit of skilled prying

You know what would be nice? If we didn’t have a government that functions based on who provides the politicians with the most cash. Wouldn’t it be swell if we had elected representatives who went to Washington DC to work for a short period of time (because of term limits) and they don’t go there to get rich. They go to serve as public servants for the people who elect them. Wouldn’t that be peachy?

Posted on August 25, 2019 Leave a comment on Bears repeating

Trump is “threatening” to send immigrants to sanctuary cities and states. This is yet again another desperate attempt to distract from what is really important and that is that Barr still has not released the full Mueller report to Congress and a redacted version of it, (to protect ongoing investigations) to the people. The people deserve to have the full report and will likely get it in time. But, Barr is still keeping the report hidden from Congress and Trump has thrown out this red herring of sending immigrants to sanctuary cities and states to distract from that concern. But it is not going away. Congress and the people are still waiting for Barr to hand over the Mueller report. It is not Barrs’ or Trump’s personal property to keep to themselves. The Mueller investigation was done on behalf of and for the American people, not for Trump or Barr. Whatever it contains, it is the property of the people, not of Trump and Barr.

People seek refuge and sanctuary when they are endangered and need to try to put their lives back together. They are recovering from trauma.

The most amazing thing about the United States, the one thing that has always truly made it exceptional and a stand out among nations is that it has always been open to immigrants, to people seeking sanctuary, and in doing so, America has thrived and flourished. The benefits of people immigrating to the United States are well known. Immigrants work hard, pay taxes, and contribute to the culture and society of the United States in countless ways.

In Christian society, and I am stating this as an atheist observer of the Christian culture that I have lived with my entire life, taking care of people in need is supposed to be a central tenet. This was one of Jesus Christ’s principle teachings. One of his principle demands.

There are two types of Christians in the United States. Those who talk loudly and all the time about Jesus but know nothing about him, what he stands for, his teachings and the demands he put on his followers, among them, to take care of those in need. They go to bible study and their mega churches to hear hellfire and brimstone every week but they still manage to learn and know nothing about Jesus and what he taught and what was important to him and what he prescribed for Christians to do and how they should behave and live their lives. And, there are those Christians who are what I think of as true Christians who actually do not really talk about Jesus very much but they do live their lives according to the teachings of Jesus Christ. When observing the two types of Christians, it is very clear, by the way they live their lives, who the true Christians are by their actions and by their acceptance, love, care and concern for their fellow human beings.

To the true Christian, the idea of refuge and sanctuary is not foreign, not repugnant, but necessary when there is a need for it. It is part of the covenant that true Christians have with their leader, Jesus Christ.

Trump, because he is throwing it out there to distract, is nevertheless throwing it out there, is promising the “threat” of sending immigrants to sanctuary cities and states like it’s some kind of a horrible thing he is about to unleash to punish places that have become sanctuaries because they have become sanctuaries and have defended their right to do so in some cases, going against Trump and his anti-American policies when it comes to immigrants.

Trump can find immigrants to ship to places of sanctuary to do what he thinks will be punishing them, and to distract from what’s really important, don’t forget. But Trump cannot find the thousands of children he has ripped from their families in his anti-American policy crusade of turning immigrants away or harassing them, breaking their families apart, and trying to turn them into scapegoats.

Trump will do what he can get away with. But, he should know that sending immigrants to places of sanctuaries will not be viewed by true Christians as a bad thing. And, that by doing so, he may be doing those places a favor because, in the long haul, those immigrants will make their contributions to the communities that they live in. They will work hard, pay taxes, and bring their cultural and social vitality into the mix. Those are all positives.

Oh, and btw, if Trump sends immigrants to places of sanctuary, they will then be free to decide where they want to be. Some may go to places where they have friend and family waiting that may or may not be places of sanctuary. Or they may stay. It will be up to them to decide where to live.

Posted on August 25, 2019 Leave a comment on What a true Christian response would be

Kentucky, you have so much to be thankful for: bluegrass, beautiful thoroughbred horses, the Kentucky Derby and mint juleps, bourbon/whiskey. And, now you are going to have an Aluminum plant owned and built by Mitch McConnell’s good friend, Russian oligarch, Oleg Derepaska. He will employ a few Kentuckians at his shiny new aluminum smelter in Kentucky. Until recently, Oleg Derepaska was one of those Russian oligarchs who were under sanction by the United States government. But, thankfully for Kentucky, Mitch McConnell helped president Trump and the treasury department lift sanctions on good old Oleg Derapaska. So, now he can bring one of his aluminum plants to Kentucky and pollute there instead of in Russia and he will give a few Kentuckians a job but they probably will not have any benefits. Or, is Kentucky already a “Right to Work” state? If so, it won’t be Derapaska deciding on working conditions and wages, etc for the Kentuckians, it will be the state of Kentucky. Anyway, Kentucky, Поздравляю, which means, congratulations, in Russian. Aren’t you happy Russia is looking out for the state of Kentucky? I’m certain Mitch is.

Posted on August 25, 2019 Leave a comment on My Old Kentucky Home

Am I wrong to think that the Mueller Report is not the property of Barr or any AG or of Trump? I believe the Mueller Report belongs to the American people. Mueller did not do his investigation for Trump or even for the AG or the Justice Department more broadly speaking. The Mueller investigation was done for and on behalf of the American people. It needs to be released to Congress and to the American people now. What is the reason for Barr delaying its release and not doing so immediately? Is Barr busy at work modifying and redacting it? Or is he allowing Trump the opportunity to have his team look at it and prepare a defense, or doing so himself, on Trump’s behalf? If AG Barr is modyifying or redacting parts of the report that he wants to withhold from Congress and the American people I am assuming that that is not legal and that even though Barr is AG he could be prosecuted for such activity. Am I wrong about any of this? I don’t think so. If Barr is at all concerned about how this delay of releasing the Mueller report is being perceived, he should release it now. We are all waiting for it. And we are all expecting the full, unredacted, unmodified report, not something that Barr thinks he needs to make more palatable.

The Mueller report has still not been released by the DOJ to Congress in its full, unreacted form.

Isn’t it reassuring how even some of Trump’s economic advisors are now admitting that his tax law is not helping, but worsening the economy? All of these experts and government officials are fretting about the state of the economy but not proposing that anything be done about it. Nor are they boldly talking publicly about what specifically is wrong because that would be going against Trump and his idiocy. Gee, I’m glad the country is a in such capable hands.

Posted on August 25, 2019 Leave a comment on I’d be laughing if I weren’t crying

Trump and McConnell have caused this shutdown of the federal government. More than 800,000 federal workers have been required to work but have not been paid for a month and counting. Government employees are expected and required to work for no pay. Why? Why isn’t the federal government telling federal workers that since they are not being paid they do not have to show up for work? That would be the honest thing to do. At least then some of those workers may be able to do something to try to earn a little money so they are not thrown to the curb by their landlords or so they can buy food or pay the heating bill. Why are the people of the states with republican senators who are accomplices to this crime of extortion not calling their senators EVERY DAY and demanding that they end this shutdown? Why is Mitch McConnell feeling absolutely no pressure to simply allow a vote to reopen the government? I would support TSA agents and air traffic controllers and all employees of federal agencies who are currently being held hostage without pay to call for a general strike and not show up to work for which they are not being paid until the federal government is reopened. We should ALL support a general strike of all federal employees until the shutdown ends.

Posted on August 25, 2019 Leave a comment on No shame, no decency