Was the Theft of Classified Files an Act of Espionage or Something Else?

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According to an article at Politico.com, "The Justice Department’s top counterintelligence official, Jay Bratt, repeatedly emphasized that the investigation into the former president’s handling of classified White House records 'is in its early stages.'"

Publicly traded MEME

Many people are wondering what there is left to investigate.  We know, according to reporting appearing in the September 6th edition of The Washington Post, "...more than 300 classified documents from Mar-a-Lago this year: 184 in a set of 15 boxes sent to the National Archives and Records Administration in January, 38 more handed over by a Trump lawyer to investigators in June, and more than 100 additional documents unearthed in a court-approved search on Aug. 8."

We also know, according to multiple reports at time, that in May of 2017, then-President Trump divulged highly classified secrets, which had been entrusted to the United States of America by a middle eastern ally, to Sergey V. Lavrov, the Russian foreign minister, and Sergey I. Kislyak, the Russian ambassador to the United States during a meeting in the Oval Office. 

Admittedly, it's more than a little tempting to make a cognitive connection between the two events and say, "Ah-ha!  He stole the files for the Russians!  Lock him up!"  Now, I'm not going suggest he doesn't belong in prison.  Of course, he belongs in prison for multiple crimes Trump committed while he was in office.  But what if the purloined papers in question are the product of something other than espionage or criminal intent? 

Until now, I've believed that Donald Trump knows he lost the 2020 election and has been claiming otherwise in order to keep his base fired up.  After all, it's all about the base. 

What if I've been wrong though?  What if Donald Trump is, in fact, delusional enough believe he actually won 2020's election for president?  If that's the case, then keeping the papers becomes less of an act of espionage and more of a sign of mental illness.  Taking the papers may have been a way for him to hold on to his delusion of victory. 

• Only the president can see these files.
• I have these files.
• Therefore, I must be the president. 

If that's the case, then it's still a crime maybe an understandable one.  Keep in mind though, understanding what motivates a criminal act isn't the same as excusing the criminal act in question, nor does it excuse any other criminal act he may have committed.  I'm merely suggesting a possible context for, rather than a justification of, his action.  In fact, if Trump is prone to such delusions, it becomes even more imperative he be kept out of the Oval Office in 2024, assuming, of course, he's not in prison by then. 

Good Cop Bad Cop

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• On May 25, 2020, Derek Chauvin, a white Minneapolis police officer, knelt on George Floyd's neck for 8 minutes and 46 seconds; 2 minutes and 53 seconds of which occurred after Floyd became unresponsive with no pulse.
• On June 12, 2020, Rayshard Brooks was fatally shot by police after stealing a taser from an officer while resisting arrest.
• Last August, Elijah McClain was fatally shot by police on his way home from a convenience store while wearing a ski mask. 

| Subject - "Thin blue line," pro-police flag representing the police standing between order & chaos |

These, and other avoidably tragic events lead to a series of protests calling for the police to be "defunded," as if such a thing could be accomplished with the stroke of a pen, without compromising public safety.  That was eight weeks ago.  Portlanders are still protesting. 

In response to these extended protests, President Trump has mobilized a federal paramilitary task force to subdue protesters.  Utilizing tear gas, pepper spray, abduction, and other Gestapo-esc tactics the agents have only succeeded in increasing the level of violence during the protests. 

Uuugh..., where do I begin? 

OK, first of all, POLICE ARE NOT THE BAD GUYS!  Yes, the actions of, apparently, racist officers have resulted in the wrongful deaths of American citizens.  Yet, defunding law enforcement, reducing their ability to respond to legitimate emergencies, will do nothing to discourage the presence of racism within law enforcement.  Sadly, there will always be racist law enforcement officers just a there will always be racist soldiers, lawyers, grocers, doctors, fire fighters, etc...

Racism isn't a law enforcement problem, it's a societal problem.  I believe a minority of Americans are racists, but said minority permeates all walks of life. 

At this point I must confess to a bit of bias on my part.  During the late 90s and early 2000s I did volunteer work for the Sheriff's Department of Washington County in Oregon.  I was, admittedly pro-police when I started, and my time only made me more pro-police. 

Every officer I got to know struck me as someone who wanted to help people and make their community a better place.  

Are there outliers who want to wear a badge so they can bash ni##&%$?  Of course there are.  And when these idiots let their machismo call the shots, and they hurt, or worse yet kill, a citizen of color, are their crimes too often swept under the rug?  No question. 

Yet, the answer isn't to vilify the police as a whole.  The answer lies in giving personality tests to cadets to weed out possible racists before they're given a badge.  It also makes sense to create an independent civilian agency which  can investigate crimes committed by police and hold bad actors accountable. 

As for the Portland protests themselves, at this point they have nothing to do with George Floyd.  Protesters are determined not to back down from federal soldiers, and the paramilitary agents aren't going to capitulate to ultra liberal trouble makers.  The situation has devolved into a game of, "Who's Man Part Is Bigger."

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I was in the middle of writing this piece when Oregon's Governor, Kate Brown, negotiated a withdrawal of Federal troops from Portland in exchange for a promise to deploy state police to protect the Mark Hatfield Federal Courthouse. 

On a personal level, I was a tiny bit annoyed by the news of the agreed upon withdrawal since it meant I had to rewrite the end of this blog.  My blogging schedule aside though, the agreement may be a sign that tensions are on the verge of easing. 

I have no idea if the agreement will be honored, or for how long the protests will last.  If the protesters are waiting for police to be defunded before calling an end to their activities, I fear the protests will drag on for a while. 

America Is On Fire

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On May 25, 2020, Derek Chauvin, a white Minneapolis police officer, knelt on George Floyd's neck for 8 minutes and 46 seconds; 2 minutes and 53 seconds of which occurred after Floyd became unresponsive with no pulse.  As seen on videos, taken from multiple angles,  Floyd was handcuffed and lying face down on the road, while Chauvin had his knee on his neck. The three other arresting officers have been identified as Thomas K. Lane, Tou Thao, and J. Alexander Kueng.  Officer Kueng held Floyd’s back while Lane held his legs, and Thao stood nearby and looked on.  The four officers were fired the next day, but charges were only brought against Chauvin on the 29th.

 

| A man stands on a burned out car on Thursday morning as fires burn behind him
in the Lake St area of Minneapolis, Minnesota. | Date: 05/28/2020 | Photographer: Lori Shaull
| This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic license. |

When charges weren't immediately brought against the officers, a series of protests morphed into a series of fiery riots.  I kind of vagueness understood when rioters burned the 3rd police precinct, in Minneapolis, as a symbol of police brutality.  I didn't like it, but I got it. 

The destruction didn't stop there though. The past few nights have seen property burned, looted, and destroyed in multiple cities across the United States of America.

It's been horrific.  Small businesses, already struggling because of the Corona crisis, have been mercilessly obliterated.  Millions of people have been subjected to curfews and martial law.  Countless lives have been thrown into chaos.  And lets not forget, people aren't staying six feet apart with masks on during these demonstrations. 

It's the year 2020, and African Americans are still being killed by law enforcement personnel whom aren't being held accountable for the murderers they've committed. Eric Garner, Terry Price, and Tyree Crawford are among the multitude of unarmed African Americans who've been slain by law enforcement since 2015.

It's hard to condemn people for fighting back against a system which has failed them so completely.  Yet, they're not attacking "the system," as much as they're destroying their own communities.  Burning cars and businesses does nothing but create unwarranted hardship for people who depend upon those cars and businesses for their livelihood.  

Before you say, "They're sticking it to the fat cats."  The "fat cats" who own the Target store are going to be able to absorb the loss a hell of a lot easier than the employees of the Target store who depend on those jobs to feed their families.

Do you want to know the real bitch of it?  Do you want to know the part that makes this story so monumentally stupid?  This farce ends shortly after the other three officers are brought up on, appropriate, charges.  The Minneapolis prosecutor says he needs more evidence to indict.  Yet, he has the murder on video from multiple angles.  African American singer Archie Williams spent 36 years in prison for a crime he didn't commit based on less evidence. 

This debacle isn't about evidence, it's about skin color. 

These are three organizations supporting meaningful change:

Black Lives Matter

American Civil Liberties Union

Campaign Zero

The Sale of GOP's Soul Costs Us All

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Historically, the GOP has stood for a fundamentalist Christian view of morality. They put a high value on chastity, honesty, individual liberty, and rule of law. I’ve often disagreed with them on policy, but respected their Joe Friday-esc adherence to law & order. I can’t anymore.

| Subject: Senator Mitch McConnell | Date: 01/23/2009 |
| Photographer: United States Senate Employee |
| This photograph was taken by an employee of the
United States Senate and therefore is in the public domain. |
| Altered by me with Devil horns and beard |

Since he was inaugurated in 2016, Republican lawmakers have bent over backwards to support and defend a president known for lying, showing flagrant disrespect to minorities, and grabbing women by the hoohaw. Under the leadership of Mitch McConnel, the Republican controlled Senate has voted to end President Trump's trial without the inclusion of any evidence from witnesses and/or documents. So, why have they abandoned, even the pretense, of valuing the law?

Party loyalty doesn't explain their decision to crumple up the constitution like a used candy wrapper and chuck it into the wastepaper basket. While John McCain was still alive, Trump verbally beat the man like a rented mule, making fun of; his cancer, his war record as a POW in Vietnam, and his voting record in the United States Senate. Party loyalty didn't enter into it.

Trump delivered a package of tax cuts. Households making more than $480,050 will pay 2.6% less in income tax, while corporations will enjoy a 14% dip in their tax rate (21% down from 35%). In exchange for these cuts, and naming conservative Justice Brett Kavanaugh to the bench, Senator McConnell and company have pledged unconditional loyalty to Donald Trump.

I wouldn't mind if the stain was only on the Republican Party, but it's not. For well over two centuries, the United States of America has been a shining example of a working democracy. The sale of the GOP’s soul has cost us all our reputation around the world.

A Stain on America's Soul

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This entry will appear on my political and Christian blogs.

Publicly Traded MEME

Pundits are trying to hang America’s penchant for hate and killing on one political party or the other. Granted, having our fearless leader joke about shooting Mexicans in the panhandle in front of an eager crowd doesn't set an example of patriotic unity. Nor, does it help to have the same leader stand silent for 13 seconds as hundreds of his supporters chant, “send her back,” as if Minneapolis Representative Ilhan Omar isn’t an American citizen.

Surely, President Trump has contributed to racial tensions across the country. Many progressive thinkers have cited this fact to lay the rash of recent mass shootings at his feet.

Others blame Mitch McConnell and the NRA for preventing the passage of gun regulations.  While universal background checks would probably prevent a few people from buying guns, there's no evidence to suggest that such legislation wouldn't prevented any of the recent massacres.

By my way of thinking, the problem lies with us.  Say what you will about the powers that be, they're only personifications of an America which doesn't value life.  Yes, the president created the zero tolerance policy for our southern border, but it was ICE officers who detained am American teenager for three weeks for the color of his skin.  Trump may have been at the podium, but it was hundreds of “normal citizens” who were chanting for a member of congress to be deported for the color of her skin.

At this point, I know what you’re thinking.  What does the behavior of ICE agents have to do with racism at political rallies and gunmen shooting innocent people at garlic festivals and entertainment districts.  They're all symptoms of the same stain on America's soul.

Put simply, we’ve become a country of people who can view certain portions of society as beings less than human.  Think about it.  People who value people don’t shout, “send her back,” simply because her skin has more pigment than theirs.  People who value people don’t separate families, trying to escape oppression, and confine them to standing-room-only pens of squalor.  People who value people don’t kill random innocents in order to relieve stress or make a point.

People who value people embrace people and accept, even celebrate, their differences.  People who value people welcome asylum seekers with food and blankets instead of guns and handcuffs.  People who value people find a mugging victim along the side the road and pay the innkeeper to see to his/her needs.

The Gospel of Mueller

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Last Thursday Attorney General William Barr released a redacted version of the Mueller Report.  While everyone knew much of the report would be blacked out, each camp hoped that what was left would definitively support their point of view.  Liberal pundits & lawmakers licked their chops in eager anticipation of that one “GOTCHA” paragraph which would make an indictment of the president inevitable, while Trump loyalists hoped that the document would completely exonerate him.  Oddly enough, both sides got what they wanted.

| Photo Courtesy of Amazon's Affiliate Program. |
| Click here to purchase a copy of the Mueller Report. |

Representative Jim Jordan (R - Ohio) and White House spokesperson Kellyanne Conway point to passages such as, “The investigation did not establish that members of the Trump Campaign conspired or coordinated with the Russian government in its election interference activities.”  For them, this a-ha moment is only strengthened by the statement, “the evidence does not establish that the President was involved in an underlying crime related to Russian election interference.”

Meanwhile, Senator Chuck Schumer (D - New York) and progressively leaning newscaster Rachel Maddow cite the following quotes as if Paul Drake had just entered the court room and handed Perry Mason the key piece of evidence which would blow the case wide open.

“While this report does not conclude that the President committed a crime, it also does not exonerate him.”

“You gotta do this. You gotta call Rod ...,” Trump told former White House Counsel Donald McGahn during a June 17, 2017, phone call.  “Call Rod, tell Rod that Mueller has conflicts and can’t be the Special Counsel, Mueller has to go. ... Call me back when you do it.”

Personally, I believe we have a crime boss in the White House.  I only have to point to the following snippet to support this belief.

“According to notes written by Hunt, when Sessions told the President that a Special Counsel had been appointed, the President slumped back in his chair and said, ‘Oh my God. This is terrible. This is the end of my Presidency. I'm fucked.’"

I can't speak for anybody else, but I read that and think, “If he had nothing to hide, why did the prospect of an investigation frighten him?”

According to PolitiFact.com, Mueller's investigation, "...netted indictments against 34 people and three entities on nearly 200 separate criminal charges. Five associates of Trump have been convicted, and another, Roger Stone, is awaiting trial."  In my opinion, saying they busted James Cohen, Paul Manafort, & Roger Stone, but Donald Trump is clean is like saying Silvio Dante, Paulie Gualtieri, & Big Pussy are dirty, but Tony Soprano is a choir boy.

Of course, I believe Trump to be a criminal, so I’m going to gravitate toward excerpts which reinforce such a belief.  In the end, nothing has been settled by this report.  To paraphrase William Shakespeare, the Mueller Report may prove to be much ado about nothing.

We don't know what kind of picture is painted by the full report.  However, the redacted version reads like the Bible; it can be used to support whatever the reader already believes.  Staunch conservatives aren't going to come away from this report convinced of Donald Trump’s guilt.  Likewise, determined liberals aren't going to read the report and say, “Oh, he didn't do it.  Well, what do you know?”  We're each going to continue to believe what we believe regarding the guilt, or innocence of President Donald J. Trump.
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The Christchurch Question - How Culpable Is Our President?

According to MSNBC, the man who allegedly killed 50 people last week at two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand, described President Donald Trump as, "a symbol of renewed white identity and common purpose."

Subject: President Trump at White House garden podium | Photographer: White House Photographic Office |As a work of the U.S. federal government, the image is in the public domain.

Liberal pundits have been quick to point to this quote to lay partial blame for the tragedy at Trump’s feet. As much as I dislike Trump, I wrestled with this idea for a few days.

On March 30, 1981, President Ronald Reagan and three others were shot and wounded by John Hinckley Jr. Hinckley had shot the president in order to impress actress Jodie Foster. My initial reaction was that it’s as unfair to blame the president for the Christchurch massacre as it would be to blame Jodie Foster for Hinckley’s actions.

Yet, upon reflection, I realized there was a flaw to my comparison. Jodie Foster made no statement, gave no indication, and wrote no essay stating she would be impressed by the assassination of President Ronald Reagan. On the other hand, President Donald Trump has made several statements condoning racist attitudes and behavior toward Muslims.

*March 9, 2016: On CNN, Trump said: “I think Islam hates us. There’s something there that — there’s a tremendous hatred there. There’s a tremendous hatred. We have to get to the bottom of it. There’s an unbelievable hatred of us.”

*Aug. 18, 2016: During a rally in North Carolina, Trump said that “all applicants for immigration will be vetted for ties to radical ideology, and we will screen out anyone who doesn't share our values and love our people.”

*Sept. 19, 2016: At a rally in Florida, Trump reacted to explosions over the weekend in New York and New Jersey and said: “There have been Islamic terrorist attacks in Minnesota and New York City and in New Jersey. These attacks and many others were made possible because of our extremely open immigration system, which fails to properly vet and screen the individuals and families coming into our country. Got to be careful.”

*Jan. 27, 2017: Within a week of becoming president, Trump signed an executive order blocking Syrian refugees and banning citizens of seven predominantly Muslim countries from entering the United States for 90 days. This order went into effect immediately, prompting mass chaos at airports, protests and legal challenges.

There are numerous other examples of President Donald Trump making racist anti-Muslim statements (click the footnote below for a more comprehensive list). Did President Trump tell Brenton Tarrant to kill 50 Muslims in Christchurch, New Zealand and film himself doing it? No, of course not.

Yet, like it or lump it, Donald Trump is a world leader. His words and deeds set a tone for people to follow. That’s what it means to be “a leader.” Yes, in the end Mr. Tarrant was 100% responsible for his actions; we all are. But, we’ll never know to what degree Trump's words may have set the stage for the brutal act.

*The Washington Post - May 06, 2017

Who's Really To Blame?

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According to The Washington Post, on Friday, authorities arrested Cesar Sayoc Jr, alleging in a criminal complaint that he was responsible for sending at least 15 potential explosive devices to prominent Democratic and media figures across the country in recent days.   Among the recipients of defunct bombs were George Soros, Barack Obama, the Clintons, Joe Biden, former CIA Director John Brennan, former national intelligence chief James Clapper, former Attorney General Eric Holder, Sen. Cory Booker, Rep. Maxine Waters, and Robert De Niro.

Just as the dust began to settle on the country wide bombing scare, Robert Bowers, age 46, stormed into the Tree of Life Congregation Synagogue in the affluent Squirrel Hill neighborhood shouting hate for Jews and killing eleven worshipers in a 20-minute attack.

Society has has always had its share of disturbed citizens who, for one reason or another, were willing to hurt and kill other people.  However, I can't remember a time when such actions were sanctioned with a wink and a nod from the powers that be.

Granted, our president never published a hit list for Sayoc to follow.  And yes, he has read public statements condemning these crimes.  Yet, when the president reads something off a teleprompter, then makes fun of the fact that that he's supposed to "tone down the rhetoric," it becomes clear where his sympathies lay.

Publicly commanding a US Representative for body slamming a reporter, saying that there are "good people" in a pro-Nazi demonstration, and promising to pay the legal fees for anyone who assaults demonstrators are all ways of condoning violence, bigotry, and intolerance.

It's perfectly possible, even likely, that Cesar Sayoc Jr. and Robert Bowers had emotional problems long before Donald Trump moved into the White House.  Yet, it's a fact that these men acted within a divisive atmosphere created by the president.

It's true that there will always be a portion of the population that doesn't like the president, no matter who holds the office.  Nevertheless I can't think of another president who worked hard to pit citizens against each other.

When Sgt James Crowley mistakenly arrested Professor Henry Louis Gates Jr for burglary outside Gates' own Cambridge home, President Obama invited both parties to the White House for a beer in order to ease racial tensions.  When you compare such an act of diplomacy to a president tweeting a video of himself tackling a man with a CNN logo superimposed across his face,  the difference in leadership styles becomes apparent.

He didn't make Cesar Sayoc Jr and Robert Bowers commit their crimes, but his example didn't discourage them either.

It's Technically Illegal, But...

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There are laws which are on the books, but are seldomly, if ever, enforced.  Such laws include:

In Salt Lake County Utah it is illegal to carry a violin in a paper bag.

In Florida it is illegal to fart in public after six o'clock in the evening on Sundays.

In Massachusetts it is illegal to go to bed without bathing, however, in the same state, law prohibits bathing on Sundays.

In New York when a person jumps off a building it is against the law and they are sentenced to death.

In Alabama it is illegal to wear a fake mustache to make people laugh in church.

In Alabama it illegal to throw salt on railroad tracks, and death is the penalty.

In Los Angeles courts it is illegal to cry on the stand.

In California it is illegal to bath two babies in the same bath at the same time.

No alcoholic beverage is allowed within five hundred feet of a cash register in a store that sells both alcohol and gasoline in California.

In Saratoga, Florida no citizen can sing and wear a swimsuit at the same time.

In all 50 states it's illegal to sexually assault someone.

Title: US Supreme Court building, front elevation, steps and portico. | Date: 12/2004 | Photographer: Duncan Lock | This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license.

Think that last item doesn't belong on the list? Think again.

RAINN (Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network) is the nation's largest anti-sexual violence organization. According to RAINN's Criminal Justice System Statistics, for every 1,000 rapes which occur in the United States 310 are reported.  Out of those, 57 result in an arrest, 11 of those cases are referred to prosecuting attorneys.  7 of the prosecutions result in guilty verdicts, 6 of which are incarcerated.  That's right boys and girls, only 6 out of 1,000 rapes lead to prison time.  Does that sound like a law that we enforce?

I know what you're thinking.  Why do 69% of rapes go unreported?   Could it be that many people still don't see sexual assault as a "real crime?"  Think about it.  On October 7th, 2016, America heard a recording of Donald Trump bragging about grabbing women by their hoohaws and getting away with it because he's rich.  Four weeks later, we elected him president.  GRABBING WOMEN BY THEIR LADY PARTS WASN'T A DEAL BREAKER!

Recently, Supreme Court nominee, Brett Kavanaugh, was accused of assaulting three women.  After one of the women was allowed to testify before a Senate committee, and the FBI conducted a perfunctory investigation, Kavanaugh was made a Supreme Court justice.

While a suspected sexual predator was being considered for a job with the highest court in the land, Dr. Christine Biasey Ford, Kavanaugh's first accuser, was receiving death threats and being made fun of by the president at  a rally in Mississippi.

When asked about their vote to confirm the new justice, several Republican Senators said Ford's testimony was credible because they still weren't convinced to vote no.  In other words, they believed her, but IT WASN'T A DEAL BREAKER!

Is it any wonder that victims of sexual assault don't come forward?  The few brave souls who do speak up are accused of "asking for it," ostracized, and put through Hell.  Then, their case probably won't result in jail time for their attacker.

How can we expect young girls to respect themselves when our leaders are making the clear it's OK to treat them as sexual objects?

I Find Myself Torn

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Subject: Mr Donald Trump New Hampshire Town Hall | Date: 08/19/2015 | Photographer: Michael Vadon |This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic license.

Like all good liberals I've been watching Mueller's investigation into the Trump campaign for over a year. I've been cheering Mueller along, "Get him! Lock Trump up." However, I've come to wonder when is enough enough.

So far, the investigation has resulted in twenty indictments and five guilty pleas. Most recently, Paul Manafort had his bail revoked for asking witnesses to lie.

The actions of Donald Trump and those around him are actions of guilty people trying to avoid the law. The liberal in me wants them to be held accountable. The liberal in me wants Mueller to uncover every little secret so Russia can never again influence our election.

The realist in me has a different take on things. Like it or not, 30 states cast their electoral votes for Donald Trump. Donald Trump won the election. Ever since the results came in, people have been trying to analyze the election. Multiple books have been written trying to explain why Trump won. A large portion of America is in a state of denial, unable to believe that a non-politician won the election for our country's highest office.

We could analyze until the cows come home, but like it or lump it, the man won. He won. Do I like it? No. I think he is a selfish, heartless brute with no understanding about how the government works. But he's our president.

I keep having flashbacks to the Obama administration. During those eight years, the GOP did almost nothing but try to nail Obama with some kind of charge. They tried to claim he was not born in America, therefore he was ineligible to hold the office of President.  Then there was the claim he was working with al-Queda to overthrow our country. I remember thinking how un-American they were for going after Obama instead of trying to compromise with him to get actual work done.

OK, the charges against Trump's campaign hold a bit more water than the conspiracy theories involving Obama, but I'm not sure the actions of today's Democrats are any more American than the actions of yesterday's Republicans.

Some people argue that if we can make a charge stick against Donald Trump, that he'll lose the next election. While that may be true, I believe he'll lose on his job performance alone.

Forget the fact that he practically tripped over himself in a mad rush to boot millions of people off Obamacare. Forget the fact that Donald gravitates toward dictators such as Vladimir Putin and Kim Jong-un,  while simultaneously alienating democratically elected leaders of traditional allies. Forget all that. Well don't forget it, but put it aside for a moment.

This man, this bastion of morality, has succeeded in institutionalizing child abuse. Under Trump, the federal government is taking children for parents seeking asylum. The children are being housed in a series of mass housing facilities. One such facility is an outdoor tent city, which can be found in Tornillo, Texas where the temperature routinely reaches 100 degrees or more. If the living conditions weren't spartan enough, staff members at these Gulags aren't allowed to hug or comfort the, already scared and confused children.

If this inhumane treatment of children isn't enough, all by itself, to defeat Trump in 2020, then America deserves what it gets. No joke. If the Democrats can't nominate Mickey Mouse and win in a landslide, people aren't paying attention.

Do I think The Donald broke the law?  Yes I do.  Do I think we should keep the investigation going in the hope of nailing the President?  I'm just not sure.  I don't want him to skate, but Mueller could investigate for another year and only ever make cases against Trump's capos.  Sometimes the top dog evades formal charges and dies of old age while spraying insecticide on his grape vines with his grandson.

School Buses And Lemons

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Americans gasped Sunday as they watched reports, from CNN and other sources, of an American-born man, who gunned down 49 people early Sunday at a gay nightclub in Orlando, after pledging himself to ISIS.

Subject: Lemon | Date: 02/13/2005 | Photographer: André Karwath |This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.5 Generic license.
Subject: School Bus | Date: 12/07/2013 | Photographer: Echtner |This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license.

This blog is being posted four days after the fact, simply because I've had trouble writing the thing.  I had a whole thing planned regarding the fact that school buses and lemons are different colors, yet they're both same color as well.

One's a very bright sunny color, while the other offers a darker richer hue, but they have equal claim to the label "yellow."

I was going to use it as an analogy for Americans by pointing out we're all different from one another, but we're all Americans.  We may be liberal, conservative, gay, lesbian, bi, straight, Christian, Muslim, Jewish, agnostic, atheist, other, or any combination thereof, but we're all Americans.

I was going to point out that hundreds of Orlando's citizens dropped what they were doing and lined up for blocks to donate blood.  Based on their compassion, I was going to make the observation that there are more good people than bad people in the world.  I'd planned to finish by stating that we're all brothers & sisters under one flag.

I couldn't write the piece though.  Try as I might, I can't put any kind of a hopeful spin on the slaughter of innocent people.  WE'RE KILLING EACH OTHER FOR BEING DIFFERENT!!!

The Enemy Of My Enemy Isn't Necessarily My Friend

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A few weeks ago I wrote about a series of Donald Trump quotes in order to define my opinion of the candidate.  This isn't that.  Today I'm much more disturbed by recent trend which has arisen in response to Trump's campaign.

Subject: Mr Donald Trump New Hampshire Town Hall | Date: 08/19/2015 | Photographer: Michael Vadon |This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic license.

This Thursday, protesters, outside a Donald Trump rally in San Jose, attacked the candidate’s supporters. Perpetrators jumped on cars, pelted Trump supporters with eggs and water balloons, and snatched signs.

If this had been an isolated incident I'd shrug it off as the reaction of a few immature hot heads.  However, over the last several weeks, similar riots have occurred across the country.

Bottles were thrown in San Diego.

Protesters in Kansas City had to be pepper sprayed to stop them from blocking traffic.

31 people were charged with disturbing the peace, and one was charged with third-degree assault in St. Louis.

2 police officers were injured by protesters in Chicago.

Hundreds of demonstrators were seen stomping on cars and hurling rocks at motorists in Los Angeles.

I'm not saying I like Donald Trump's ideas; I don't.  I think his policy stances are foolish to the point of being dangerous.  That being said, nobody has the right to commit acts of violence and damage property because they don't like somebody's ideas.

Say what you will about the candidate, he's speaking to the public to gain favor for his ideas.  The things he's saying are rude and stupid, but he gets to say them.  The second his opposition resorts to violence to silence him, they forfeit the moral high ground.  The minute we allow fists to determine who can speak, we join the league of ordinary nations*.

* = Aaron Sorkin "Posse Comitatus" (The West Wing season 3, episode 21)

Explain This To Me As If I'm A Two Year Old

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In the movie Philadelphia, Denzel Washington played a lawyer named Joe Miller.  When someone began to explain a case to him, he'd hold up his hand and say, "Wait, explain this to me as if I'm a two year old," in order to make the speaker state their position in simplest term.  Right now I need someone to explain the Bundy occupation to me as if I'm a two year old.

Subject: This USGS satellite image of the MNWR headquarters complex is 
labeled to show key locations referenced in news reports of the militia 
occupation: (1) fire lookout used by militants as watch tower, (2) MNWR 
offices used as headquarters building, (3) residential buildings used by 
militants as barracks and canteen. | Date: 01/11/2016 | This work is in the 
public domain in the United States because it is a work of the United States 
Federal Government under the terms of Title 17, Chapter 1, Section 105 of 
the US Code.

Last week I rushed to post my thoughts about it, thinking the whole thing would be over a day or two later.  A week later it's still going on.  On advice from the FBI, occupiers are allowed to receive shipments of food and supplies, they can come & go from building to building within the hijacked federal facility, and water & power have been left on.  Now, a self proclaimed "judge" is being allowed in to hold a makeshift trial accusing the Sheriff of treason.

None of this makes sense to me.  By my way of thinking, law enforcement could accelerate an end to the situation by turning power and water off, blocking outside deliveries and supporters from coming in, and generally making things uncomfortable for the criminals.

OK, I understand wanting to avoid blood shed.  Yet, law enforcement needs to not only be thinking about this incident, but future incidents as well.  Once a precedent of cooperation with such criminals is set, it's going to be harder to dissuade future incidents from occurring.

On Friday, Ammon Bundy is scheduled to propose an "exit strategy."  The only exit strategy which should even be considered, is for the militia members to come out with their hands up.

Criminals Take Refuge In Burns

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In a nutshell, Dwight & Steve Hammond burned federal land, once to conceal poaching, and again to protect their own ranch from wild fires.  The two men were convicted of arson, but were sentenced below minimum guidelines.  After they served their time, the courts corrected the error and resentenced the Hammonds.

In response to the new sentence, members of the Bundy family lead a militant takeover of a federal wildlife refuge.  During the resulting standoff, the Hammonds distanced themselves from the Bundy's actions and surrendered to authorities to accept their sentence.  Now the Bundy militia is refusing to leave the refuge building until the government turns thousands of acres of federal land over to private ranchers.

I get the whole double jeopardy thing.  It's actually not double jeopardy.  Since the first judge made a legal error, jeopardy never attached, but I get why it looks like double jeopardy to some people. Yet, I think the Bundies pounced on the situation to push their own agenda.

The whole thing reminds me of the "Occupy [your city here] Movement" of a few years ago.  A protest over student debt became a movement about adopting a four day work week, erasing ALL consumer debt, and campaign finance reform.  The same thing's happened in Burns.  What began as a protest over a perceived judicial snafu has turned into a land grab by criminals.

Whether, or not, the Hammonds serve additional prison time has nothing to do with who owns refuge land.   If it ever truly was about helping the Hammonds, the occupation ceased to be about that the moment other demands were levied.  There's nothing heroic or noble in the militia's actions.  These are simply criminals who are putting their agenda above the law,

Governor Kate Brown released the following public statement Thursday afternoon, "To members of the Burns-Paiute Tribe and residents of Harney County who seek a return to normal life: I hear you, and I agree that what started as a peaceful and legal protest has become unlawful. It was instigated by outsiders whose tactics we Oregonians don't agree with. Those individuals illegally occupying the Malheur Wildlife Refuge need to decamp immediately and be held accountable."

Ammon Bundy responded by telling the press his militia will only leave the refuge as "free men."  He has to know that's impossible.  He has to know they'll be arrested the moment they come out.  If the government meets even one of their demands and/or fails to prosecute them, the government will be encouraging future criminal acts by those with an ax to grind.

Why The Kim Davis Case Isn't About Religion

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Kim Davis, the Clerk of Kentucky's Rowan County, was jailed last week for defying a court’s order to comply with the law by refusing to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples. As she spent the holiday weekend behind bars, her supporters claimed Davis' incarceration was an example of religious persecution.

POPPYCOCK!

The First Amendment says, "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances."

That means the government can't dictate what church we go to (if we indeed go to a church), who/what we call God, how we pray, or what religious symbols we display on our property and person. The Amendment was never intended to give citizens carte blanche to pick and choose which laws we'll follow based on our religious beliefs.

No matter what religion Americans belong to, we can't:

• smoke peyote,
• marry more than one person at a time,
• sacrifice children and/or virgins,
• or avoid doing our job.

Think of it this way.  Mormons are opposed to drinking alcohol.  However, if a Mormon got a job waiting tables, they would still have to serve the drinks ordered by the patrons.  On a personal level, they wouldn't have condone drinking, or drink themselves.  They'd simply have to perform the duties they're payed to perform.

It's the same with Kim Davis.  No court in the land could order Davis to approve of gay marriage, or attend a gay wedding.  Yet, they can compel her to perform the duties she's legally payed to perform.

Kim Davis was released from jail today. The release order, issued by Judge Bunning, directs Davis not to, “interfere in any way, directly or indirectly, with the efforts of her deputy clerks to issue marriage licenses to all legally eligible couples.”  Whether, or not, she stays out of jail is COMPLETELY up to her.
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