17 Saturday Nov 2018
Posted in Legal/Political Columns
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It appears an indictment of Julian Assange is a near given.
The Justice Department is preparing to prosecute WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange and is increasingly optimistic it will be able to get him into a U.S. courtroom, according to people in Washington familiar with the matter.
For acts committed outside the US, by someone not subject to US jurisdiction.
15 Thursday Nov 2018
Posted in Legal/Political Columns, News and Notes
≈ Comments Off on Total Failure of Government
I find it amusing in a way that the US will immediately and without hesitation drop bombs in Syria for absolutely no reason at all. Yet, when it comes to defending our country from actual invasion, absolutely nothing is ever done.
Watch as the newest horde scrambles across the border.
And, they’re not sending us the very best.
I suppose we really might be out of serviceable A-10’s after all…
Good news! Opposite that last link, we have at least one Christian Pastor left in America still ready to stand up for Christianity. And he’s not backing down.
Compare and contrast that hard stand with what’s happened of late in Ireland. They legalized just about every form of depravity on the Emerald Isle. Now, some feign shock and outrage when rape suspects get off based on “what she was wearing.” One thing leads to another…
There, and here. Welcome the world, become the world.
14 Wednesday Nov 2018
Posted in Legal/Political Columns
≈ Comments Off on End of the Empire in Sight?
This doesn’t look good. But it does look natural and excepted. US military advantage has eroded, study says:
“There is a strong fear of complacency, that people have become so used to the United States achieving what it wants in the world, to include militarily, that it isn’t heeding the warning signs,” said Kathleen Hicks, a former top Pentagon official during the Obama administration and one of the commissioners. “It’s the flashing red that we are trying to relay.”
The picture of the national security landscape that the 12-person commission sketched is a bleak one, in which an American military that has enjoyed undisputed dominance for decades is failing to receive the resources, innovation and prioritization its leaders need to outmuscle China and Russia in a race for military might reminiscent of the Cold War.
The military balance has shifted adversely for the United States in Europe, Asia and the Middle East, undermining the confidence of American allies and increasing the likelihood of military conflict, the commission found, after reviewing classified documents, receiving Pentagon briefings and interviewing top defense officials.
“The U.S. military could suffer unacceptably high casualties and loss of major capital assets in its next conflict. It might struggle to win, or perhaps lose, a war against China or Russia,” the report said. “The United States is particularly at risk of being overwhelmed should its military be forced to fight on two or more fronts simultaneously.”
In its list of 32 recommendations, the commission urged the Pentagon to explain more clearly how it intends to defeat major-power rivals in competition and war. It assailed the strategy for relying at times on “questionable assumptions and weak analysis” and leaving “unanswered critical questions.”
Economic depression, this foreign defeat, and 2033. Are you a prepper??
On a not unrelated note, given the expected “unacceptably high casualties,” maybe we could use a little of the overseas adventurism budget to shore up some of these 1-star VA zombie factories.
I read somewhere – somewhere stupid like Facebook maybe – a while back about some fantasy scenario which pitted the mighty US military against the entire world. In the fantasy, the US won, cakewalk style, in about a day. Questionable assumptions and weak analysis, there. A touch of insanity too. This is going to be hard to accept if or when it happens. 460 AD. Rome.
12 Monday Nov 2018
Posted in Legal/Political Columns
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Debt, debt, and more debt:
The federal government is set to reinstate its borrowing limit, and a new analysis indicates that it will be a record-high $22 trillion — and then, it won’t provide enough money to fund the government past summer.
The shocking number, however, is only slightly higher than the current actual debt of some $21 trillion.
The ceiling has been in suspension and the debt has grown under President Trump. It is set to be reinstated on March 2, 2019.
A new Bipartisan Policy Center estimate suggests that the new limit will be $22 trillion, assuming no action is taken by lawmakers before that time.
The BPC analysis said: “Treasury will be able to fully fund the government until at least mid-summer 2019 by using extraordinary measures, cash-on-hand, and incoming cash flow. But costs to taxpayers will start earlier from factors associated with reaching the debt limit such as higher interest rates on U.S. Treasury securities.”
Through mid-Summer, 2019… That’s with the GOP at the helm, BTW. Dems, preparing to raid Congress, are calling for – wait for it – more gun control!!!
Democrats say they will pass the most aggressive gun-control legislation in decades when they become the House majority in January, plans they renewed this week in the aftermath of a mass killing in a California bar.
Their efforts will be spurred by an incoming class of pro-gun-control lawmakers who scored big in Tuesday’s midterm elections, although any measure would likely meet stiff resistance in the GOP-controlled Senate.
Democrats ousted at least 15 House Republicans with “A” National Rifle Association ratings, while the candidates elected to replace them all scored an “F” NRA rating.
“This new majority is not going to be afraid of our shadow,” said Mike Thompson, a California Democrat who is chairman of the House Gun Violence Prevention Task Force. “We know that we’ve been elected to do a job, and we’re going to do it.”
More like doing a number than a job, really. So, with all the money flying away and the thugs coming for your gat … just relax with some happy social media to beat the blues. Oh, wait.
The link between the two has been talked about for years, but a causal connection had never been proven. For the first time, University of Pennsylvania research based on experimental data connects Facebook, Snapchat, and Instagram use to decreased well-being. Psychologist Melissa G. Hunt published her findings in the December Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology.
Well, at least Big Social doesn’t spy on you. Oh, wait…
10 Saturday Nov 2018
Posted in Legal/Political Columns
I have a lot of nicknames for the Republicans – wimps, idiots, jellyfish, CONservatives, etc. – all well earned. Jim Jordan, who coulda, woulda, shoulda been Speaker, laments the lost opportunity.
Freedom Caucus co-founder Jim Jordan, who is running for minority leader, has a tough message for his colleagues: If House Republicans had done more to change Washington and deliver on their campaign promises, they would still be in the majority.
“This might be a tough pill to swallow, but I believe that if we’d handled the past two years differently, we would still be the majority party in the House of Representatives,” the Ohio Republican wrote in a dear colleague letter first obtained by Roll Call.
No sh!t, genius. Past two years, past 20, past 50… Maybe if they had had Trump’s back more. Tax cuts could have been deeper. Debt ceiling could have held or, imagine this, been lowered. Obamacare could have been repealed completely. The budget could have been cut or, at least, paused. The Fed could have been brought to bay. The Empire could have shrunk. The border could have been enforced. FOPA, NFA, GCA, etc. could have been weakened or repealed. Premium cigars could have been left alone.
Ah well. A minority position means bow tie preaching, invisible lines in the sand, and good-nature caving. Looks like more of the same. Maybe it was destined to be.
The GOP Senate majority suddenly seems jeopardized too. Hopefully, Trump understands the concept of the veto. It appears, now, that he’s uncomfortable with the enemy combatant approach to dealing with traitors.
The good news! We’re almost another year closer to 2033! Tick, tick, tick, tick.
09 Friday Nov 2018
Posted in Legal/Political Columns, News and Notes
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A Marine combat vet shot and killed 12 patrons at a California bar.
Terrified patrons hurled barstools through windows to escape or threw their bodies protectively on top of friends as a Marine combat veteran killed 12 people at a country music bar in an attack that added Thousand Oaks to the tragic roster of American cities traumatized by mass shootings.
Dressed all in black with his hood pulled up, the gunman apparently took his own life as scores of police converged on the Borderline Bar & Grill in Southern California.
The motive for the rampage late Wednesday night was under investigation.
The killer , Ian David Long, 28, was a former machine gunner and Afghanistan war veteran who was interviewed by police at his home last spring after an episode of agitated behavior that authorities were told might be post-traumatic stress disorder.
Kind number one: Constitutional gun control not applied. The Founders were rightly wary of a standing army. They were also adamantly against the idea of foreign adventures. When you have those things, then you have perpetual military conflict in far-flung places like Afghanistan. You get amped up young Marines with PTSD. When said men come home from war, they tend to bring bits of war home with them. If the Founders’s controls were allowed to work again, we’d see less of this.
Kind number two: predictable failure of positive gun control. The shooter used an extended magazine in his Glock 21, in violation of California law. If this sort of ban ever worked, then this shooting could not have happened.
Gavin Newsome, you dumbass, it’s not a gun culture; it’s a big government culture.
Lessons not learned.
07 Wednesday Nov 2018
Posted in Legal/Political Columns
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And already cucking…
On the same day (the day after election day) Jim Acosta was booted from the WH press corps (hmm, and opening…), Trump determined to rid himself of the Alabama Elf. Aaaand, the not-even-sworn-in Senator-elect from Massachusetts Utah, Mitt Romney, immediately bent over backward to show Utah voters the result of their poor decision making.
“I want to thank Jeff Sessions for his service to our country as attorney general,” Romney said in a statement and a tweet. “Under Acting Attorney General Matthew Whitaker, it is imperative that the important work of the Justice Department continues, and that the Mueller investigation proceeds to its conclusion unimpeded.”
“Cuck!” he cucked, cuckingly.
Seriously, Utah, this is your pet carpetbagger now. Enjoy.
07 Wednesday Nov 2018
Posted in Legal/Political Columns
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Congratulations, Socialists, you have the House (what a prize). We can now look forward to constant slow battles over spending programs (which isn’t a bad thing). Trump got what he needed, Senate-wise – assuming he’s ready to use what he got.
I watched three governors’ races, all of which appear to have ended in close victories for the GOP. GA and FL have held off the Bernie Sanders kooks by razor-thin margins. That seemed to be the thickness of the evening – thin. That thinness, demographic voting patterns, and the hideous performance of the people, nationwide, on ballot measures, is telling. Red Wall or Blue Wave, this is a country in serious trouble, assuming we still feign to call it a “country” still.
Me? I’m still sticking to my TPC recommendations from a week or two back. Tick, tick, tick, tick. Take a gander at this House map and see if it looks like Balkinization to you:
The coasts, cities, and pockets…
Given the trends, the data, I’ll give the final analysis to Vox:
06 Tuesday Nov 2018
Posted in Legal/Political Columns
≈ Comments Off on Poll: Mere Half of Americans Politically Blind, Illiterate
The horrors! Only half of you have faith in DEMOCRACY!
Just 51% of Americans said they have faith in the country’s democracy, and 37% say they have lost faith in democracy, according to a new Axios/SurveyMonkey poll conducted in late October.
Why it matters: It suggests that recent political turmoil has caused people to doubt the very foundation of American society, particularly leading up to election day.
Democracy is to the foundation of American society what concrete is to a hummingbird’s menu. That’s why “hummingbird” “democracy” appears exactly zero times in the Constitution or other Founding Documents. The Men of 1776 understood that democracy was quite likely to lead to the turmoil witnessed today.
Join the 9%. Sometimes all you need is no faith in something.
06 Tuesday Nov 2018
Posted in Legal/Political Columns
≈ Comments Off on Election Day, 2018
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That smell is in the air. Today’s the day!
Much was said the other week at TPC:
Now, with the final word, here’s Carlin (language!):
PS: No. No blue wave today.
PERRIN LOVETT 
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