The Stories Don't Seem to Change
And we cannot tune out the sameness because it is still horrific!
Before I jump into the variations on the same story, or the characters in the stories, let me pose one simple question: Who the fuck is Lora Loomer? I mean, we know that she has somehow become BFF with the Felon, but what are her bona fides? It seems to me that she adopted a far right ethos before she ever got to college and when Mount Holyoke seemed to “reject’ her because of her conservative philosophy, she transferred to Barry University in Florida graduating with a degree in broadcast journalism. On November 8, 2016, the day of the presidential election, as part of a Project Veritas stunt, she went to a polling station dressed in a burqa and asked for a ballot under the name of Huma Abedin, who was vice chair of Hillary Clinton’s 2016 campaign. She later interrupted a Shakespeare performance in Central Park claiming it was all part of an attack on Trump. She does outrageous, it seems, to get the attention she so desperately craves. Those are just a couple of examples of her “stunts” but she has gained access to the President.
With that background, her latest actions has her opening an extraordinary new line of attack on the Pentagon, sharply criticizing Army Secretary Dan Driscoll for allowing the service to acknowledge the battlefield valor of Medal of Honor recipient Florent Groberg, who suffered catastrophic injuries saving the lives of fellow soldiers targeted by a suicide bomber in Afghanistan. Why is she so outraged? Well, she suggested that he was undeserving of such recognition because he delivered remarks, as a private citizen, at the 2016 Democratic National Convention and was not “US born.” Since when did a winner of our Nation’s highest military honor have to belong to any political party, or be native born?!
An Army official, speaking on the condition of anonymity citing the issue’s sensitivity, said Groberg is a “national hero” and one in a long series of soldiers who will be featured online by the service this year as it celebrates its 250th birthday. Loomer’s attack, the official said, is “despicable.” This is a great response, but why won’t folks stand up and cast off the anonymity thing? Oh, that’s right, it is the Army and Pete Hegseth is the boss.
Beside being one of the most unqualified Secretary’s of Defense ever, and having a checkered past with respect to sexual harassment claims and what can kindly be referred to as drunken behavior, he somehow survived the use of an unsecured messaging app, including on the chain the editor of the Atlantic, that detailed highly classified military plans. I guess since he also disclosed that to friends and family in another chain, then it was a no harm no foul case. And together we say, WTF?! But last Thursday, he reposted a video in which Christian nationalist pastors express their opposition to the idea of women voting. “I would like to see this nation being a Christian nation, and I would like this world to be a Christian world,” said Christian nationalist Doug Wilson. In his repost of the video, Hegseth wrote “All of Christ for All of Life.” That line comes from a Christian worldview emphasizing that Jesus should be the central focus and Lord of every aspect of a believer's life, not just Sunday worship or specific religious activities. Again, one of our greatest freedoms is that we each can believe in whatever we want, Adonai, Jesus, Allah and so on, but the divide between church and state is key to our Republic.
The material he reposted was taken from an interview that Pamela Brown of CNN did and that I urge you to watch. These people, who Hegseth clearly supports, want an end to the 19th Amendment. One of the interviewees said there should only be a vote per household, and guess who makes the call; of course, the human with a penis. As part of her interviews we even get to see a wife who acknowledges that it is her role to submit, yes, submit, to the will of her husband. The beauty of our country is that we have the right to speak about what we think, and so long it does not lead to action we are free to express ourselves. That said, Hegseth was way out of line
One of the battles that has grown during this administration is claiming on the one hand to respect all religions, but having a growing Christian Nationalism bent. I believe that the government of the United States of America is not, and never has been, based solely in Christianity. In 1785, James Madison, one of the key authors of our form of government explained that what was at stake in the separation of church and state was not just religion, but also representative government itself. He noted that the establishment of one religion over others attacked a fundamental, unalienable human right, that of conscience. His theory went that if lawmakers could destroy the right of freedom of conscience, they could destroy all other unalienable rights. Those in charge of government could throw representative government out the window and make themselves tyrants.
I keep trying to figure out the disconnect between these supposed Christians who don’t seem to have an issue with the immigration policies of this reign of terror under the Felon. My understanding about Jesus's teachings on helping the poor, which are academic, are not just about charity but about justice, compassion, and recognizing the inherent worth and dignity of every human being, regardless of their socio-economic status. That may be a very broad brushstroke, but how can one call oneself a follower of these teaching and support the tearing apart of families, the deportation of innocents to countries to which they have no connection, and the abduction of people because of the color of their skin.
As I have reported often, what was promised on the campaign trail and what is happening with this administration concerning immigration, are at odds. The promise to rid our country of murderers, rapists, and drug and human traffickers, while many people did not believe that there were, as the Liar in Chief kept claiming, millions of these bad actors, nobody could argue with making a nation safer. Unfortunately, given that the administration has moved forward without ever having read the Constitution, absent any due process, we have no idea what kind of crimes are delivering the abductees to camps, gulags, prisons, all around the world. When someone shows up to a regularly scheduled immigration hearing, they now fear being abducted. I guess that Trump and his fascist pals, also don’t believe in the equal protections afforded, not simply citizens, but all people. File for asylum, play by the rules, show up for hearings, sometimes wear ankle monitors, in short, do everything that is asked of you in order to stay legally in the US, and without being told why or having an opportunity to be heard, that is, to make your case to a judicial officer, off you go. The New York Times have run some very troubling stories about these ICE officers (we have to guess who these masked men are to be perfectly honest) hanging out in court hallways, fully armed, which is against court SOP.
One of the Felon’s newest law and order gambits is his threats to take over DC for many reasons, but chief among them is the crime, which he won’t admit is in decline. Recent statistics show just how wrong Trump is about DC and the crime rate. First of all, there was a time when it was a majority black city, but currently, while a significant percentage of the population is black, it is no longer a majority demographic group. Since, our, gulp, President, refuses to study or do any research, other than what he hears on tv news, he simply believes that crime is rampant because it once was, and in his worldview if he attacks crime his followers will shout and cheer. What its the takeover of DC about, other than a first step at martial law? In my opinion, it is another racist move.
As he moves to fulfill the goals of establishing a supreme executive, the Felon has allegedly secretly signed a directive to the Pentagon to begin using military force against certain Latin American drug cartels that his administration has deemed terrorist organizations, according to people familiar with the matter. Sure, call anything a terrorist organization and that opens up a pandora’s box of unhinged options. Chief among these are legal issues regarding a military crack down on the illicit trade, including whether it would count as “murder” if U.S. forces acting outside of a congressionally authorized armed conflict were to kill civilians who pose no imminent threat. While we have no clear idea what government lawyers have said about this directive, we don’t even know if anyone at the DOJ has issued an opinion on such proposed action.
President George H.W. Bush, you may recall, sent troops into Panama to arrest its strongman leader, Manuel Noriega, who had been indicted in the United States on charges of drug trafficking. There seems to have been a memo written by William Barr (a Trump 45 AG, who actually acknowledged Trump’s various breaches), saying it was within Mr. Bush’s authority to direct law-enforcement arrests of fugitives overseas without the consent of foreign states. The United Nations General Assembly condemned this action calling it a “flagrant violation of international law.”
Of the many ridiculous things Trump claimed he could do if elected was vow that he could stop Russia’s war on Ukraine with a single phone call; offering that he might be able to do it even before he took office. BBC reports that Russian attacks on Ukraine have doubled since Trump took office. Finally, we learn late last week that while threatening to heap further sanctions on Russia he called for Russian Ukraine cease fire. Somehow, in the midst of his economic sabre rattling, we get the announcement that he would be meeting Putin on August 15 in Alaska. This raises some very interesting questions, not the least of which is that Putin generally cannot travel outside Russia because he has been indicted by the International Criminal Court for war crimes, including the theft of Ukrainian children. Notwithstanding this, the Felon is welcoming him to the United States of America (coincidence that the meeting is in Alaska, that we bought from Russia?!).
It goes without saying, but why is Zelensky not part of this process? Two nations are at war, with one violating all sorts of norms, not to mention violating treaties. Notably, the invasion directly contravenes the UN Charter, specifically Article 2(4), which prohibits the use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any state. Furthermore, Russia's actions in Ukraine are seen by many as a violation of the Budapest Memorandum, which provided security assurances to Ukraine in exchange for giving up its nuclear weapons. Rumors started up this weekend that Zelensky may be getting an invite, but the arrogance of allegedly trying to bring peace to end a war without all the combatants engaged is the kind of arrogance that a psychopathic narcissist would evidence.
One continuing story worth mentioning is tariffs. Let’s first begin with an overview: to understand US trade law, there is one basic thing to know, the Constitution vests Congress with the power to apply tariffs. The nation's founders were very clear on this point: "The Congress shall have Power To lay and collect … Duties. . . . To regulate Commerce with foreign Nations." There is no mention in the Constitution of the president having any role over tariffs. The role of the president is to administer the laws that Congress passes. The president exercises delegated authorities governing international trade under whatever terms Congress lays out. With respect to what the Felon has done, simply stated, most, if not all of the tariffs of are clearly illegal. The Court of International Trade, which is supposed to have jurisdiction over these issues, ruled the tariffs illegal on May 28. However, the ruling was stayed while the administration appealed the decision to the Federal Circuit Court. Assuming that this court will uphold the trade court’s ruling, something most court watchers believe will be the case, the case will go to the Supreme Court, where recent written decisions, not to mention shadow docket rulings, lead to an expectation that the Supremes to rule that Trump can do whatever he wants.
Even with all that is going on, the Republicans still love to look back on the 2016 election and the issue of Russian interference. The Muller report made clear what happened, yet good old Tulsi Gabbard is helping to advance a version of history that says the real story of the 2016 campaign was not Russian support for the Trump campaign, but rather a Democratic conspiracy to push the story of the Trump campaign’s connections to Russia. Seems to me this another red meat issue to the Felon’s ravenous MAGA supporters to take their attention away from all of the Epstein nonsense.
There is so much over which we have no control. We can help to regain control by making sure rules are followed. Even if you know that your elected representative is fighting the fight, let them know that you are in it with them. As we near elections, make sure to be registered, know what may now be required, and call out the folks that realized they got conned by the Felon, or those that didn’t believe their vote mattered. We can have a revolution at the polls and take back the power that Republican legislators have ceded to the executive.
Get up. Stand up.