The Republicans are Coming to Your Place Soon

 At last look there are a little more than 35 million registered republicans in the United States. In a recent CNN poll over 60% of them believe Joe Biden is an illegitimate president. There isn't a count of the number of those independents who believe the GOP is too liberal for their tastes who agree with that nonsense, but it is a safe bet the number is much higher. Then there are those out there who don't register at all because they think the entire government has been and remains a huge corrupt pain in the ass.

Another statistic shows that one out of every 10 of those actively participating in the January 6th coup attempt had ties, either past, or present, with the U.S. military. It is a number so alarmingly high two retired generals have written a paper recommending the Defense Department ban all membership in radical groups. In addition the generals think all the services should make contingency plans and begin exercises to counter large scale mutinies within the ranks.

University of California San Diego professor, Barbara F. Walter, who served on a CIA task force researching the possibility of civil war in other countries has found that if we applied the same parameters used by the task force on the United States, "...what you would find is that the United States, a democracy founded more than two centuries ago, has entered very dangerous territory." 

Sunday, former Clinton advisor and Lincoln biographer Sidney Blumenthal pointed out even the southern states who seceded in 1861 never claimed Lincoln's election was illegitimate. He went on to say, "The current situation is the opposite, Trump's questioning of the election, which was first rejected by republican leaders after the attack on the Capitol, has led to a crisis, a real crisis, of legitimacy." 

Finally, last month in a poll, an outfit called the Public Religion Research Institute asked voters if they agreed, or disagreed with this statement.. "Because things have gotten so off track true American patriots may have to resort to violence to save our country."

18% of everyone agreed with it. 30% of republicans did.

Yes, democracy is teetering on the edge in this nation. And all the evidence points to the Grand Old Party doing the pushing. 

Merry Christmas America. You might want to sleep with one eye open for now, It isn't Santa coming to your place--it's people like Don Trump, Marjorie Taylor Greene, and Jim Jordan.

sic vita est

12-23-21

Mark Meadows, the Power Point Memo, and Fear on January 6th

 Mark Meadows served as Donald Trump's chief of staff during the last crazed year of The Big Orange Guy's presidency. For the previous seven years he had been a congressman representing North Carolina's 11th House district. In short, he, at least in theory, knows how the House of Representatives works.

You wouldn't know that by the way he has acted lately. But then a lot of those who have been infected by the Trump virus exhibit strange, if not outright schizophrenic behavior. 

Before he decided any and every conversation he has ever had falls under the heading of executive privilege Brother Meadows gave the House Select Committee investigating the January 6th coup attempt scads of papers. Some of them included interesting text messages fired off during the storming of the capitol building.

Even a brief perusal of the texts and other evidence--you know, like the power point memo outlining how to pull off the coup with some seriously flawed legal theories--points to two awful conclusions.

First the republican poohbahs were all in on holding mass demonstrations in Washington on the 6th. Their purpose was io intimidate Vice President Mike Pence into invalidating the electoral votes from states that didn't go for Trump, plus terrorize the left so they wouldn't fight the power grab. 

Second, on the 6th, when the monster they created ran amok, many of them were even more terrified of the rioters than the democrats in the building.

Well, that's what happens when you invite the Hell's Angels to the party. They really won't differentiate between friend and foe. once the mayhem begins.

Indeed, panic ran through the right wing ranks, Mark Meadows began receiving texts from GOP lawmakers that read things like, "We are under siege here at the Capitol." Then, "Hey Mark, protesters are storming the Capitol. Breaking windows on doors. Rushing in. Is Trump going to say something?"

Others seemed even more aghast. Don Trump Jr. texted, "He's got to condemn this shit. Asap. The Capitol Police tweet is not enough." Moments later Meadows received this text from a shaken Jr. "We need an Oval address. He has to lead now. It has gone to far and gotten out of hand."

Fox personality, Sean Hannity texted Meadows saying, "Can he make a statement?...Ask people to leave the Capitol."

Hannity, being Hannity, now claims the entire sordid affair on the 6th was a false flag operation perpetrated by the left wing. Others who were so terrified now claim the entire event was no big deal and have compared it to protests by the left over the years. Like the ones that didn't assault Capitol Police officers, vandalize the Capitol building, and parade a Confederate flag through it.

The texts, besides proving the real fear GOP hotshots had for their movable beast, also makes clear there was no doubt in their minds who controlled it. Yes, Donald John Trump called forth the insurrection and only he could stop it. None of these fuckers, not even his son, could call him directly. They all had to go through his gatekeeper, Mark Meadows.

There are many other questions about the day American Democracy, for a moment anyway, circled the drain. The aforementioned power point memo proposed calling out the National Guard to protect the protesters--or perhaps aid them--and for there to be a declaration of a national emergency by the President. The Guard was slow to act an indication something was amiss either in the chain of command, or with the leadership. There has been no indication why Trump never declared the national emergency the memo recommended.

These questions and many others could be answered by Mark Meadows, but his leader has rumbled ominously, and it has become painfully obvious the former chief of staff is more afraid of Don Trump than he is of congress. More even than the republican punks were of their own mob that day last January.

sic vita est

12-14-21

Caveat Emptor Trojans and Tigers

 It was a scam worthy of a Hollywood movie., cloaked in secrecy, replete with mis-direction, and lies, and involving tens of millions of dollars. In this monumental con, however, the marks weren't amoral casino owners, or ruthless corporations, they were hundreds of thousands football fans in two different locales.

At the core to the plot were the agents representing Oklahoma coach, Lincoln Riley and Notre Dame head man, Brian Kelly--proving once and for all sports agents fall into the same ethical class as used car salesmen, politicians, and television evangelists. 

Also involved were two institutes of higher learning, the University of Southern California and Louisiana State University. They were two proud football programs which had fallen on hard times. They were and are also two places whose alumni have scads and scads of money they are willing to spend, not on, say, archeology departments, but their football teams.

On September 13th, 2021, after a loss to Stanford, USC fired head coach Clay Helton. Within three, or four weeks it became apparent to them their interim head coach, Donte Williams wasn't going to cut it. At about the same time, in the middle of October, LSU announced their coach, Ed Orgeron would be leaving at the end of the season. Orgeron's problems involved some felonious behavior by a player, plus his inability to repeat his previous success in 2019 when his team was undefeated and won the national championship.

Both schools obviously wanted experienced big time coaches, but they had a problem. NCAA rules prohibited them from calling up other teams coaches without asking for permission first. Once alerted the targeted school could then either say no, or make counter offers starting an expensive and lengthy bidding war. Enter Bob LaMonte and Trace Armstrong agents for Riley and Kelly. 

Because of them neither Riley, or Kelly had to speak directly to USC and LSU. They became the conduits through which both men could negotiate without technically breaking the rules , or alarming their schools, or fan bases. 

In late October, or early November someone, most likely LaMonte, leaked the rumor that LSU was actively pursuing Riley. It's unknown if LSU was working in collusion with LaMonte, or not. What we do know is LSU never denied it, because it provided them with the perfect cover as they negotiated with Armstrong. In addition it allowed Riley to deny he was interested in LSU while USC continued making a deal on the down low with LaMonte. 

In Norman, Riley's team had struggled all year against questionable competition. The crown prince of offensive minds had a unit which seemed to be falling apart and the defense which was supposed to be greatly improved looked suspiciously as leaky as it had been in past years. In retrospect it is now easy to think Riley and his defensive coordinator Alex Grinch had severe cases of short timer's disease. 

Indeed it is tough to concentrate, or give a shit when you are on the verge of a fabulous new contract worth $110 million and includes the purchase of not one, but three homes.

The insidious plot came to a head Saturday night after OU lost to Oklahoma State. In a post game interview Riley was asked point blank if he was going to LSU. He answered truthfully. He said, "I will not be the next head coach at LSU." 12 or so hours later, however, he would be the next coach at USC. One has to wonder what his response would have been if the question had been, "Will you be coaching at Oklahoma next year?"

Later, in an interview with ESPN's Scott Van Pelt, Riley swore the first and only time he had personally talked to USC  was Sunday morning after the OSU game. Knowing how oily the guy is now I believe him. He didn't have to, all he had to do was communicate his demands through his agent. 

Meanwhile in South Bend, IN, Brian Kelly informed his players he was leaving for LSU via Twitter before holding a 11 minute meeting with them. His contract is reportedly worth a mere $95 million. (It's probably a cost of living differential. After all, gas and food are cheaper in Baton Rouge than they are in LA.)

Both Oklahoma and Notre Dame have bowl games coming up. OU has dragged Bob Stoops out of retirement to be the interim coach. There isn't any word yet who Notre Dame will select. 

Lincoln Riley has recently tweeted, "We are going to make Southern California the Mecca of college football." In response Oklahoma defensive lineman, Isiah Thomas tweeted, "He told us the exact same thing a month ago."

Indeed, Lincoln Riley says many things, but, as Oklahoma now knows when it comes to believing him, you sometimes have to think about what he hasn't said to you, but what he says to Bob LaMonte.

Caveat Emptor, Trojans and Tigers.  If these two fuckers did it to Oklahoma and Notre Dame, they will do it to you just as soon as their agents sniff more money for themselves somewhere else.

  

12-1-21

Kyle Rittenhouse Roams Free Among Us

 The summer of 2020 was an ugly time. The nightmare began on May 25 when George Floyd was murdered, quite publicly, by a Minneapolis cop. The crime was committed by Officer Derek Chauvin who, on a video taken by a witness seemed  really proud of his work. 

Thanks to that video there was no denying the cold brutality of the killing. There was also no chance for the police to claim Floyd was violently resisting arrest, or doing anything else for the nine and one half minutes Chauvin's knee was pressing down on his neck, except dying.

Protests followed the murder, some turning violent. Other acts of violence were perpetrated by anarchists and white nationalists who had no interest in Floyd, but just  enjoyed the sights and sounds of glass breaking and buildings burning down. As the summer wore on the protests continued. Then President Donald Trump issued public threats of military intervention and in some cities sent in unidentified federal agents to break some heads and abscond with protesters in unmarked vans to destinations unknown.

To make matters worse, on August 23rd of that year, Jacob Blake, another African American was killed by the Kenosha, WI police who were answering a domestic disturbance call. Blake was shot multiple times in the back while leaning into the front seat of his parked SUV. Later his killing would be ruled justifiable.

More demonstrations and violence followed in Kenosha. It was into this chaos that 17 year old Kyle Rittenhouse inserted himself on August 25th. 

Young Mr. Rittenhouse wasn't a resident of Kenosha, in fact he didn't even live in Wisconsin, but rather across the border in Antioch, Il. Despite that and the lack of an invitation from anyone in Kenosha he and a pal packed up their AR-15s and hit the road to protect life, property, and The American Way.

Before the night was over he had killed two fellow human beings and wounded another. After the shootings he was thanked by Kenosha cops, given a bottle of water and sent on his way back to Antioch. Imagine his shock a few days later when he was arrested  on charges of murder. The right wing masses howled with anger and some of them shelled out enough cash that Rittenhouse was able to post a  $1 million bond. 

His plea was self defense, Never mind Kyle Rittenhouse chose to be there, armed with the preferred weapon of mass shooters everywhere, had no police training, and panicked when he was approached by the angry crowd. No matter that he had caused the very situation which put him in his precarious position,.

Today we found out it worked. Kyle Rittenhouse was found not guilty on five counts. He walks free among us, living proof the second amendment has been twisted and perverted beyond all its original intent.

Indeed, it would seem any sort of  vigilante action is now justified, or at least condoned in Wisconsin, if not all of America. 

My money says that isn't exactly what the founding fathers intended.

11-19-21

Armistice Day

 On November 11th, 1918 at a little after 5:30 in the morning the allied powers signed a cease fire with the German Empire. This armistice agreement, which was temporary, was scheduled to begin at 11 in the morning the same day. It wasn't completely successful because both sides continued to trade artillery fire until sundown that evening.

Despite the shaky start the armistice held, effectively ending the carnage of WWI. Or, at least providing the globe with a 21-year breather before everyone decided to have another go at each other.

Europe had seen plenty of other deadly wars, but between August of 1914 and that November day in 1918 there had been nothing comparable, at least in sheer numbers.

The British lost over 750,00 troops. The French  1,105,000, the Germans nearly 2,000,000, and the Austria-Hungarian Empire   over 1,000,000.  Accounts of  Russian casualties vary widely, but the lowest figure given is around 3 quarters of a million. The Americans, who got in late, lost 53,000 plus. That's nearly 5,000 fewer troops than the Brits lost on the first day alone during The Somme Offensive in 1916.

On November 11, 1919 the British held the first Armistice Day ceremony on the grounds of Buckingham Palace. The observation of the ending of the war spread across Europe and then to America and Canada and other locales. And, then as these things always do its name and meaning began to morph.

In the UK Armistice Day became Remembrance Day , a moment to honor their war dead, no matter which conflict , plus those who survived them. It is much the same in Canada. 

In the U.S it became Veterans Day, where we recognize everyone who has served, no matter while in battle, or some mess hall at Fort Sill, Okllahoma. If you wore a uniform it is your day. Here in the States we, in theory, honor our fallen on Memorial Day in May. The weather is more amenable to drinking beer and cooking out than it is in November.

The late Kurt Vonnegut, along with others, wanted the 11th, to be called Veterans for Peace Day. He once wrote something along the lines of, "Armistice Day is sacred, Veterans Day by itself isn't."  Of course Vonnegut also urged Presidential Candidate, George McGovern to use the campaign slogan, "Lonesome No More." McGovern refused, then lost to Richard Nixon. Veterans for Peace Day did about as well.

WWI has been done with over 100 years now. Its sequel was finished nearly 80 years ago.. One thing we can be sure of though, is there will be more wars and more veterans. And we'll trot out the flags and parades every year so we can honor them and feel better about ourselves.

Well, that and give the bankers and postal employees the day off.

11-11-21

 

Two Ghosts on Dia de los Muertos

It has been ten years since Carina Saunders and Alina Fitzpatrick were murdered in the Oklahoma City metro area. Saunders was 19 years old. Fitzpatrick was 17. There is no evidence the two knew each other, or that the killings were connected in any way. Well at least beyond  the fact they both were  dallying at the edge of an abyss most middle class Americans prefer not to think about, if not outright deny.

Saunders' dismembered body, or at least most of it, was found in a field behind what was s then a Homeland grocery store. She was so far out of control by then her family didn't even think to report her missing for two weeks. At the time it was reported she had no fixed address. Her family claimed she had a beautiful singing voice and that her high school ambition was to sing opera professionally. By the time of her death that bar had been lowered considerably. Friends told the media she was aspiring to be an actress in porn films.

Alina Fitzpatrick wanted to be a nurse and her dream might have still been alive in early November of 2001. She was in school, although it was the suburban Putnam City School District's virtual high school program She had stopped going to classes at PC North because of bullying. It is an allegation the district still denies.

Still young Ms. Fitzpatrick was flirting with darkness. She had changed cell phone numbers because she had started  getting, "suspicious," calls. On the evening she disappeared friends let her off near the intersection of NW 24th and Western, not a terrible neighborhood, but still not one a parent would want a 17 year old child roaming around alone at night. 

The Saunders' murder was handled by the Bethany Police. Their main talent turned out being leaking the name of every suspect, potential witness, and informant's name to any and all local media outlets. Even details of the gruesome killing were made public as well as its possible site, or sites.. An urban legend arose which said Saunders' torture and mutilation were filmed on a phone.. People who allegedly said they had seen all, or part of the horrid video immediately recanted then left for parts unknown. . Charges were filed and all of them eventually dropped. The case was finally handed over to the OSBI, but it was too late.  It is now highly doubtful anyone with connections to the case remains in the area.

Alina Fitzpatrick's remains were found in an empty lot in far eastern Oklahoma City. Her nude body was covered with bruises and abrasions and a gag was stuffed into her mouth.. The state medical examiner, Dr. Chai Choy declared none of her obvious wounds were enough to cause her death. He also found enough meth in her system that she might have overdosed., but he really couldn't say for sure. He ruled her death, not as a homicide,  but as suspicious.  The Oklahoma City Police seemingly lost all interest soon after the ME's report came out. 

Years ago an anonymous commenter on this blog claimed they knew who did it and that person was in jail on unrelated charges. Whether that assertion is true, or not remains un proven.

What we do know is Alina Fitzpatrick would be 27 years old now and perhaps a nurse if she hadn't been murdered. Carina Saunders would be 29, although she was so far off into that oil slick world of drugs and sex she might never have made it this far. It isn't a lifestyle known for its longevity.

Ten years in this nation is a long time. The media has moved on to new horrors and the old ones are forgotten by the teeming masses. Indeed, how can one dwell on the ghosts of Carina Saunders and Alina Fitzpatrick when more than a few of us  are debating the politics of disease, climate change, and gun control..

Memories, however,  are always with us, if we just dig deep enough. It is why many call this day, Novembe 1st, as Dia de los Muertos.

11-1-21.  

   

A Death in New Mexico Empties the Root Cellars

 Break out the rolls of aluminum foil. It's time to make some hats.

It would seem all those rabid Clinton haters never really went away, they had just gone back to their root cellars for a while waiting for a chance to re-emerge. This past week they got one, even if the circumstances are so tenuous, so far out there, it makes the whole  zombie apocalypse thing sound perfectly logical..

Here is how it goes: Russian born cinematographer Halyna Hutchins was working on a movie in New Mexico when she died in a terrible on set tragedy. A prop gun wielded by actor Alec Baldwin, through gross, and  most likely criminal incompetence, was loaded with a live round. It went off, killing Hutchins and wounding director Joel Souza, 

Then it turned  out Halyna Hutchins husband, Matthew worked for the law firm of Latham and Watkins at their home office in LA. It didn't matter that Latham and Watkins is a global firm with offices scattered from Los Angeles to places like Moscow. What did matter was Matt Hutchins is one of over 3,000 attorneys employed by an outfit defending Mike Sussmann, a lawyer who had worked for Hillary Clinton's 2020 campaign. Sussmann had been indicted by special counsel, John Durham for allegedly lying to the FBI.

To those dwelling in the murky waters of Clinton conspiracies the connection was clear. This was no coincidence, or accident. Baldwin, a known lefty, had done Billary a solid by offing the wife of a guy who may, or may or may not be connected to the Sussmann case.

Now some, particularly those of us not taking heavy doses of Thorazine wondered why the Clintons would put out a hit on the wife of a guy who might be defending their pal. Let's face it, the obvious target should have been the person pursing Sussmann's prosecution, John Durham.

Within a day or so we had an answer to that particular conundrum. A tweet from Halyna Hutchins', "verified," account appeared on right wing news sites. It was dated just days before her death. It claimed she had evidence that would guarantee Mrs. Clinton's incarceration. 

The tweet has since disappeared. Research into the account shows it was opened in April of this year and was rarely if ever used.. In fact Mrs. Hutchins thought so little of it she never even bothered to have Twitter issue her that little verification symbol. Her main social media outlet was Instagram where she was active to the end. Her last posts were centered around her work on the movie.. Not surprisingly Mrs. Clinton's name never came up.

In other words the damning tweet was a fake and not even a good one.

It is hard to pin down why huge numbers of Americans are willing to buy into any sort of lie, no matter how outlandishly stupid and cruel it is. They do though, especially when it involves politics and those they fear and oppose. 

Years ago it was thought technology and education would rid us of this vile scourge rather like it did witch trials and hangings.  

Tragically they both have simply made it worse.

sic vita est

10-26-21