Judge Luttig's Counsel

 On January 6, 2021, just as he was about to supervise the counting of Electoral votes, our Vice President Mike Pence had to flee the Senate suddenly. He had to flee for his life. As donald trump’s attackers were threatening to hang him, Pence’s secret service protectors ushered him to a secure location where he remained, steadfast in his duty, until the danger had passed. 

During those fateful January 6 hours of peril and uncertainty, our Vice President sought counsel from friends whose opinions he knew he could trust. 

He called former Vice President Day Quayle for advice. He also called another good friend, one of our country’s most esteemed conservative jurists, Judge J. Michael Luttig. Both of them urged Vice President Pence to stay the course, which had already been Constitutionally set: the course of counting Electoral votes that had already been delivered to Congress by the fifty state legislatures. 

Last year, the U.S. House of Representatives’ Select Committee, investigating the January6 insurrection, questioned former Judge Michael Luttig about the events surrounding that fateful day.

I remember, vividly, watching Judge Luttig’s testimony on that day. Among his many statements, was this one:

“  Today, almost two years after that fateful  day in January 2021, still, donald trump and his allies and supporters are a clear and present danger to American democracy.”

Now, just this week, Washington Post editor David Shipley interviewed Judge Luttig. I watched and listened on Youtube.

   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ecjvi8XtM00

Here are few notable words of experienced judicial  wisdom from Judge Luttig:

“ The former president forced this indictment, this prosecution, this trial, on the nation for his own personal and political ambitions.”

“ Had Jack Smith charged  the former president with . . . insurrection against the United States, he would have been met with a President defense under the first amendment. As it was, Jack Smith scrupulously wrote the indictment around any possible 1st amendment  defence that the former President  could have. In the language of the Law, . . . the former President now stands charged only with conduct that offends federal criminal statutes.  The indictment makes crystal clear in its opening paragraph that the President was not being charged in any way whatsoever with regard to his 1st amendment rights  to speak.”

(I added the bold type for emphasis.)

Sure enough, if you read  the Introduction in the indictment document, you will read  that  paragraph 3 states:”

     3. The Defendant had a right, like every American, to speak publicly about the election and even to claim, falsely, that there had been outcome-determinative fraud during the election and that he had won. He was also entitled to formally challenge the results of the election through lawful and appropriate means.” 

Furthermore, we see  in  the Justice Department’s indictment: donald trump’s speeches and public announcements are not the basis for his criminality. Rather, trump’s rebellious criminality will be exposed by prosecutors presenting evidence of his criminal actions, not his rebellion-inciting public speeches.

It's plain to see,  donald trump acted rebelliously. He instigated a criminal conspiracy against us, the  voters of  the United States. This treason will be proven, even without presenting all the evidence of his verbal poison. 

Furthermore, in the big picture, looking ahead, we read in our US Constitution, Amendment XIV, Section 3:

"No person shall . . .hold any office, civil or military, under the United States, who . . . having previously taken an oath, shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion . . ."

donald's lawyers won't be calling in an insurrection, but that's what it was. People died at our Capitol on that day. Even so,  Vice President Pence was able to complete his Constitutional duty in spite of being issued a death sentence by the trumpian mob. 

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A Kinzinger Moment

 Hearing Rep. Adam Kinzinger talk to Karen Friedman Agnifilo about the Jan6 insurrection  was an ear-opening moment for this American. 

Curious about what Adam was thinking and feeling as the mob was assaulting our  US House of Representatives, where Adam was serving as Rep from Indiana, Karen asked him:  “When you were in your office . . .was  there any part of you—as a combat veteran— who wanted  to go out and physically defend the Capitol?"

Their conversation on the MeidasTouch network—the Legal AF program—revealed Adam’s answer:

 “Yeah, there was a sense of that . . . anger, and I wanna go fight these guys. There’s also a sense of  . . .   I’ve gotta just survive! “

As one of only two Republicans on the  US House Select Committee to investigate the Jan6 attack, Adam’s comments here reveal a profoundly dangerous mob assault that, since then, has changed the very definition of what it means to serve in our US House of Representatives, because it was suddenly and unexpectedly being attacked by an angry mob  whose rage had been amped up by an angry loser with a big mouth and not much respect for our Constitution and our Capitol.

As I recommend you to watch and listen to this MeidasTouch  interview, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AZKRQmo4IWs ,

I’ll show you a few of Adam’s comments:

On why he joined the committee:  His early thoughts were: 

“Do I want to do this? No. But could I not do it? The answer is No."

I’m a big believer in: your legacy matters. When you’re given an opportunity to serve in any capacity, but particularly in this capacity. . . you want to be able, at the end of your life, to know that you did everything you could with that moment. I knew I couldn’t say no.”

“Ive been all over the world as a Foreign Affairs Committee member, and as a military (US Air Force pilot) member, and what I recognize is: Democracy is the hardest form of government, because it requires a basic level of trust among different parties . . . Democrats, Republicans. What we have to agree on is w’ere gonna play by the rules of democracy—how elections are done. . . 

Democracies are not defined by bad days’; we’re defined by how we came back from bad days. . . and I knew . . . if we couldn’t restore a  basic level of trust and understanding in democracy, we are in real trouble. . . I (we) had just had a new kid—18 months now—and I know that he’s got 70, 80, 90 from here that he’s gotta live in this country. . .”

“BTW, I think there’s a lot of people who are gonna have . . . deep regrets. . . I had been very outspoken against trump, pretty much the whole time I’d been in Congress."

"When that election happened and he tweeted something about stop the votes being stolen. . . that shatters the basic compact (upon which democracy is founded). . . that’s when I went completely off the (trump) train.”

So. . . y'all, having caught a bit of Adam's testimony here, I'll leave it with you, my fellow citizens. That’s about all the space this blogger has room for here. On YouTube,  go to  the MeidasTouch Network interview to hear the rest of their conversation. Adam's experience and his testimony may give you some helpful direction in trying to figure out what the hell is happening to this nation and what we need to do about it. Adam is a wise man, with an amazing array of experience under his belt. The people of Illinois did well in electing him.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AZKRQmo4IWs 

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Words from an Old Book

 Words found in old Book:

A poor man pleads for mercy, but a rich man answers harshly.

The tongue is a fire, the very world of iniquity.

Doing wickedness is like sport to a fool.

 A fool’s mouth is his undoing.

A truthful witness saves lives, but he who utters lies is treacherous.

Better is a poor man who walks in his integrity than he who is perverse in speech and is a fool.

A fool finds no pleasure in understanding, but delights in airing his own opinions.  

Some men will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, revilers, disobedient, ungrateful, unholy, unloving, irreconcilable, malicious gossips, without self-control, brutal, haters of good, treacherous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, holding to a form of godliness, although they have denied its power; Avoid such men as these.

Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice.

“I never knew you; depart from me—you who practice lawlessness.” 

Before his downfall, a man’s heart is proud, but humility comes before honor.

Let no one deceive you with empty words . . .

Be careful how you walk, not as unwise people, but as wise, making the most of your time, because the days are evil.

Every person is to be in subjection to government authorities. . .

. . .  it is necessary to be in subjection, not only because of wrath, but also for conscience’ sake. . . Render to all authorities what is due: tax to whom tax is due; custom to whom custom; fear to whom fear, honor to whom honor is due (Judges).

And words from our old anthem, revised version: "Oh, say can you see? in the 2021 light, what we so proudly retained, after a riotous fight, whose broad dome and white steps. . ." (See link below for the revised anthem.)

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The Self-obsessed Self

 In this life, it does not pay to to be too obsessed with one’s own self. 

Oh, such vanity and self-confidence may win you a few battles; but the long game of Life will, in the long run, put a bull’s-eye on that vanity and you’ll get shot down, your throne toppled.

This proverbial truth is illustrated in real events that are happening as we speak.

Just yesterday, August 3, 2023, We the People of the United States summoned donald trump to a Court of Law to be tried for his crimes against US. 

The indictment clearly lays out the string of events that led donald trump and his band of treasonists to a privileged oval office place where he was ultimately found unworthy to be the occupant of that esteemed Office. 

Point 92, on page 34 of yesterday's indictment, recalls a meeting between Vice President and donald trump in the presence of their lawyers and a few staffers, along with co-conspirator #2, which took place two days before our Vice President was scheduled to convene Congress to perform the Constitutional task of counting, officially, the Electoral College votes that would determine the legitimate result of the 2020 election.

In the meeting, trump was trying to convince VP Mike Pence to break the law so that they could win a second term. Our former Vice President Pence is a man of conscience, unlike his boss who was trying to persuade him to do the wrong thing instead of the right thing. 

I recommend to any citizen that you read the indictment, which lays out clearly, everything that happened before, and leading up to, the terrible events of Jan6.

But hey, long story short, Vice President Pence told donald trump:

“Did you hear that? Even your own counsel is not saying I have the authority”

. . . (to count fake electoral votes instead of the Electoral votes that had been sent to Congress, for counting, by the 50 state Legislatures).

But donald trump would not allow legality and common sense to dissuade him from forcing his own self-destructive plan through the Congress. He said, “That’s okay; I prefer the other suggestion.” (the illegally concocted one that his co-conspirators had dreamed up).

Consequently, all hell broke loose on Jan6 and we had (still have) a clusterfud of trouble in this nation today.

Fortunately however, since the long of arm of the law is, at last, grabbing hold of donald and his band of insurrectionists, the truth is being told. 

donald trump’s maga-ego ultimately became his downfall. 

Truth be told, we caught a glimpse of that fatal ego during the early hours of Jan6. On that morning, Trump was preparing to give a speech to his supporters as they were (peacefully, at that moment) gathering at the Ellipse.

The Secret Service guys informed trump that some of his devotees could not get into that gathering event, because they were armed with lethal weapons. and the metal detectors wouldn’t let them. 

But trump, clueless, said he wanted them in anyway (He knew why they were carrying lethal weapons) He assured his protectors that those thugs were not here to harm him.

Right, donald, they’re not here to hurt YOU. 

It did not even occur to donald that those thugs—the proudbuoys, the oathpeepers, the threeperplexers or whoever they were—might use their weapons to hurt members of Congress?

Or maybe it did occur to him?   

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An Honorable Man

The Presidential election of 2000 was very close. Voting totals were disputed in some states. Our nation had a immediate need to resolve electoral disputes in several states.

Sound familiar?

You betcha.

As I vaguely remember, the two states with the closest close ballot-counts were Ohio and Florida. However the Ohio dispute was resolved I do not remember. But the final moments of the Florida vote-counts were a matter of intense controversy.

Long story short . . . the Florida counts were so close that the our US Supreme Court was called in to resolve the matter. It was not a clear-cut situation.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2000_United_States_presidential_election_in_Florida

 Local and State officials had been trying to interpret vote-count, even on a miniscule level . . . down to the point of calling (as a baseball umpire would call “strike” or “ball”) whether the “hanging chad” on a paper ballot was a legitimate vote or some kind of mistake by the voter. And Florida’s Secretary of State was having trouble sorting all the questions being raised by both parties.

Our Supreme Court was recruited to sort out the mess. My only memory of that situation was that Justice Antonin Scalia decided to resolve the cluster-mess by clarifying, for his fellow-Justices (and for our nation as a whole nation)  some coin-toss judgements that would, in the end, resolve the issue.

The result was that George Bush Jr. was later sworn in as our President. 

So be it, sayeth our Supreme Court.

Consequently, Al Gore accepted the Supreme’s Court’s ruling. He stepped aside, making way for George Bush to occupy the white house.

Al Gore was an honorable man.  He understood that our national peace and security was far more important than his own hopes for higher office.

Twenty years later, our Presidential election of 2000 was very close. Voting totals were disputed in some states. Our nation had a immediate need to resolve electoral disputes in several states.

Sound familiar?

You betcha.

But in 2020, our national election was not even as close as the 2000 election was. And yet, and yet . . . the Loser refused to take his ball and go home.

Instead of doing the honorable thing, donald trump chose to start a treasonous obstruction of Congressional vote-count, by drumming up a mob to interrupt and terrorize our official Electoral vote-count in Congress, January 6, 2021. However this present Jack Smith prosection of trump turns out, donald is obviously the chief insurrectionist.

The election of 2020 was not evan as close as the 2000 was. 

And yet, and yet . . .  the Loser drums up a riotous mob to do his dirty work for him—possibly even provoking a civil war— only because he refuses to take his ball and go home.

Donald Trump is not an honorable man; he is a sore Loser. He chooses to tear our nation apart for the sake of his own ego.

Al Gore was an honorable man. Al took his high hopes and went home in 2000 to Tennessee. From there he supported a cooperative, international effort at saving planet earth.

I am a registered Republican. But in the next election, I will not be voting for the chief traitor and insurrectionist trump if he is the GOP nominee.  I will vote for Mike Pence or Chris Christie if either of them is nominated, or even some other law-abiding Republican. I will not, however, vote for donald trump.  And guess what--there are many, many other Republicans who feel the same way.

If necessary I will vote for Joe Biden again. The man knows what he is doing. He has been governing  in Congress and the Constitutionally-defined Executive branch since 1972.

I merely wish that the Dems would quit catering to the transies who want to surgically rearrange God-given bodily equipment.

Glass half-Full 

Slow Train Babblin'

 Yesterday while gliding along on an ole slow train,

I caught this profound phrase that Brotha Bob had tossed up as he was a-singin’:

 “. . . fools glorify themselves, tryin’ to  manipulate satan.”

This is so true. Recent events in the slow train of our history have confirmed the truth of this sad dynamic. 

Why, just a coupla years ago, January 6, 2021, the Chief-Fool-in-Charge was trying, through a series of nefarious events, to convince us that he was still the Chief when. . . when in fact, the baton had passed— democratically and legally— to another man who was biden his time, waiting for the defeated fool to get the hell outa the way so the new Chief could step into the oval and do the job that we had elected him to do.

Meanwhile, back at the MarLardo ranch, the Chief-Fool was roundin’ up a big slew of scalawags and proud buoys and oath-knippers and 3-peckers and nearby rabble to  manipulate the ChiefFool  back into the oval instead of steppin’ down.

Well as push came to shove, ‘ventually the whole fiasco kinda settled down and the troublemakers were rounded up, kinda slow-like— slow train of Justice comin’ , ya know.

You see,  after the dust settled, the Loser Chief-fool wouldn’t take his ball and go home. Meanwhile, back at the GOP, a herd of Chief-fool-wannabees started crankin up their engines, a-hopin’ to pick up enough steam to roll them right into that big white house. 

There was one fella in particular who had actually played a pivotal role in the big turnaround brouhaha that happened on Capitol hill on Jan6, 2021. I mean, this fella actually turned the whole dam mess around and put a stop to the insurrection. And he did it very simply—simply by doing the RIGHT THing, at the right time, when it mattered most. 

Good ole Mike, God bless him, turned that whole damn runaway train around and saved the country. 

But when the dust settled, and we started sorting the whole mess out, Mike couldn’t bring himself to, again, do the right thing. He just kept playin’ the politics game, trying to manipulate satan.

I mean, he coulda just called out his former boss and condemned that vain, insurrectionary attempt to steal the election in the name of, of all things, “stop the steal.”

Very confusing, I know, but I been extremely disappointed in Mike since he refused to just do the right thing but instead chose to join the ranks of the other GOPpy fools who think they can manipulate satan. 

It’s almost enough to force a fella into becomin’ a democrat. Oh, wait a dam minute. Here comes Chris from Jersey. Great! Countin’ the cars on the New Jersey train-pike. Give us the scoop, Chris, about all these GOPpers chief-wannabees runnin’ around the country like they think they can manipulate satan.

It's really very simple just to do the right thing.

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The Hammer of Justice

 Somebody please tell Kevin McCarthy and all the other magas that this present array of trump prosecutions are not “weaponization.”

What has been happening in plain sight is this:

The Hammer of Justice is coming down hard on the chief insurrectionist  and his rebel gang. 

Our Justice Department—the one that acts on behalf of Us the People—is initiating Lawful prosecutions to bring donald’s crew of rebels to a court of Law to answer for their crimes against US and our Constitutional .gov.

 The hammer is not a weapon. The hammer is a symbol of an implement that is used  for repairing the damage that was inflicted upon our Capitol, our Congress and our Constitutional government on January 6, 2021. 

The magas have been in a fairyland of delusion. They’ve drummed up this idea that the Rule of Law which governs our people, our government and our peaceful transition is some kind of weapon.

While y’all been lollygaggin’ in maga land, We the People have been taking Lawful steps toward clearing out the criminal elements who were, and still are, attempting to take our Republic away from us.

Justice is not a weapon. And the use of it is not weaponization.

 It is a tool; we compare it to a hammer because it seems to come down hard on those who resist it. 

In elections past, Presidential candidates who were lawfully defeated in a narrow election—they proved to be law-abiding leaders. John Adams and Al Gore are two who come to mind. They stepped aside in a demonstrated defeat, in the wake of very close elections—much closer than the 2020 election— rather than attempting an insurrection for extending their own power and vanity at the expense of our Rule of Law.

In stepping aside, John Adams and Al Gore retained their personal integrity while preserving the collective dignity of the American people

donald trump is the only president who has refused to honor our Constitution—our Rule of Law—by choosing to whip up a widespread treason instead of doing the noble thing, stepping aside.

Therefore, the hammer of Justice now falls heavily upon his delusions of grandeur—his wishful thinking and devious lieing, claiming that his authority and power is more legitimate than our Constitutional Hammer of Justice compels him the courts where Justice is adminstered.

This Justice process has been developing for 247 years. We are not going to dispose of it now for the sake of one stubborn lawbreaker. You magas are now shocked shitless because you haven’t been paying attention to the events in our Courts of Law. Instead, you’ve been lollygaggin’ in trumpian lala land ever since the fox snuck into the henhouse and our Capitol got trashed.

Bottom line: it’s not weaponization; its the hammer of Justice coming down on donald's treason.

Hate to break it to ya. 

I don’t care what the friggin polls say. There is only one poll that matters; that is the one that is conducted by our public officials in official elections. The next one that counts will be conducted by lawful authorities —not pollsters nor political hackers—in November of 2024.

By that time, I fully expect that donald trump will be in prison for his crimes. His treasonous acts in December 2019 and January 6 2021  will be laid out bare, in a DC courtroom and an Atlanta courtroom. 

The legal proceedings in both of those courts will make the MarALardo documents case look like a walk in a prison park. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JD-pyWALro4

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