Trump - Winner of the 2021 Lincoln Award

Relax, I'm not elevating Trump to Lincoln stature by giving him this award. 

But . . .

though the dissimilarities between DT and AL are certainly even great, there are some similarities. Both are/were Republicans that came from another party (Lincoln was a Whig, Trump was originally a Democrat). Both were hated not just by their opponents, but by many in their own party. Lincoln was held in contempt, not only by the Confederacy, but by many of the radicals in his own party who wanted the South utterly destroyed (so much for union - sounds like the Squad today). Lincoln, who wanted to "let 'em up easy," was often pilloried and mocked by his own allies. The magnificent political and communication skills he employed to win two elections and run the gamut from the Confederacy in the south to the radicals and Copperheads in the north is now legendary and so far past Trump's political abilities, as to be on a completely different plane. But, they also both believed deeply in the continued existence and prevailing of America, and in resisting those who would tear it apart.

The main reason I am giving Trump the 2021 Lincoln Award (and yes, I do know the award is a figment of my imagination) is that Trump has been attacked more viciously than any president since Lincoln (give me a rational argument otherwise and I'll amend my statement), not just by his natural opponents, the Democrats, but the media and the never Trumpers on the right, some of whom were Bush family devotees. Trump had no political abilities absent the one single quality of playing the Trump caricature we know so well, with which to contend with it. 

In my opinion, Trump was helped to the presidency in 2016 by multiple a lot of factors. 

One, was the despair of so many at the incessant bungling of the Obama administration in domestic and foreign policy. I've written years ago a number of pieces on I why I thought Obama was the worst president in modern times and won't repeat myself on that topic (Biden is on a path, if he hasn't already succeeded in surpassing him). Two, was the very common occurrence in the last thirty years of Americans shifting back and forth from R party to D party and back after one or two terms of a president. Three, was the overkill of the anti-American and very anti-Trump media to destroy him, which let him run a campaign without the usual need for a candidate to make an effort to put  himself in the limelight - they made everything about Trump. Four, was his bombastic personality, which while hard to like, for many people it was entertaining and made them believers. Fifth was the awful campaigning of his adversary, Clinton, who, though protected by the FBI from prosecution, just irritated people with what seemed like a very phony personality. And, of course, the bungling of that modern day evil twin of Jacques Clouseau, Comey, who probably unintentionally played a role too. I'm not saying there weren't other factors, or that some aren't more important than others. Who can ever really know. Those seemed to me the largest. If I had to pick one to be the biggest factor, I would say it was the media's constant attack on him. 

Once he became president, and partly because of the behavior of his adversaries, including the media, you'd think they might change. Those who made fools of themselves laughingly declaring he wouldn't run (oh ho ho ho), then wouldn't win the nomination (oh ho ho ho) and finally, couldn't win the presidency (oh ho ho ho), were not just disappointed, they were devastated and enraged. There seemed, initially, to be some internal recognition by some of them, probably not remorse, for their behavior, but it was brief. They doubled and tripled down, perhaps more than that, on their attacks on him, the lack of fair reporting and outright lies. The behavior of the Ds in congress was probably the worst behavior I've personally ever seen in politics (it seems I must mention the Kavanaugh hearings every post or so, but RussiaGate, the two ridiculous impeachments, Nancy Pelosi's own personal insurrection in trying to interfere with the nuclear chain of command, to name just a few). 

I like to refer to the statement of some anonymous person I read in the comment section of an article in the New York Times (back when I'd bother to read them) as defining part of the left's attitude with Trump. When some commenter dared suggest that Trump be given credit for some small thing, another commenter replied - "No credit for Trump ever." 

I am not suggesting that comment had any effect on the world at all. For all I know, only I read it, but more likely just a few thousand people at most. But, it sums up for me half of what the left determined to do, perhaps intuitively, without the need for a grand plan that 100 million people needed to sign onto. They sensed that they had their  perfect "villain" that every political party desires. They would not give him credit for any of the good work he did. In the unlikely event you are a Trump hater reading this - I recognize you do not accept anything he did was good. But that was only half of it. The other half was to attack him relentlessly, pretend every stupid remark was a declaration of war on minorities, act as if a phone conversation of which many listened in, was a crime (they did pretend it was, and when that didn't work, they pretended other things leading to the first impeachment). In fact, everything he had to do was a crime for them - it didn't matter what it was, it was enough that Trump did it. As way too many people acknowledged to me during that time - they wanted him assassinated or, at least, they wouldn't mind so much.

And that was what happened. Virtually no credit would be given to him no matter what he did. As a perfect example, when Trump's team, in particular, his son-in-law and his adviser, a 33 year old lawyer named Avi Berkowitz, was able to craft the first peace agreements between Israel and Arab countries known as the Abraham Accords, it was met with staggering silence by the press and the supposedly pro-Israeli Democrats. No credit for him, plus non-stop attacks and insults. No Nobel Prize either, which they had already actually rendered completely irrelevant by giving it to Obama before he did anything (Obama's words). Trump's incredible work under vicious and hypocritical attack getting Mexico and El Salvador to police their borders (now undone by you know who), his holding China, Russia, Iran and N. Korea at bay (our foreign enemies are almost as relentless as our domestic ones), his forcing China to the economic table and getting concessions they know they don't have to live up to and no consequences for not doing so, under Biden), his literally keeping a decades' old promise to Israel to move our embassy to Jerusalem (met with shouts of horror - end of the world!), his allowing our armed forces to defeat ISIS, his managing of the economy, including modern record low unemployment for minorities (which, of course, we are told by the left, was really Obama's doing), and his quick recognition of Covid-19 coming from China and Operation Warp Speed, for which the press and Biden have immediately tried to take credit. He talked to N. Korea even stepped over the border with its - it's the end of the world, the left said. He left the Iran deal - the one which did not close off Iran making a nuclear weapon and which used - RUSSIA - as Iran's guarantor of good behavior, and the left said - it's the end of the world. It wasn't. He left the Paris Accords which allows China, our deadliest enemy, to out-carbon footprint the whole world. He stopped modern fascism from being taught to the employees and agents of the federal government (don't worry - no details this time). Horrible public figures cut the heads of effigies or called him "Scumbag" or fantasized about his death.

Despite his own boneheaded statements, the media (and his political opponents) simply lied or exaggerated almost everything about him. They lied about Russia (including, as we know, the FBI) and what his supporters did, they lied about Ukraine, reducing the impeachment clause in the constitution to the equivalent of a kangaroo court, they lied about Jan. 6th incident - the allegedly Trump driven armed insurrection which turned out to be neither armed (no  firearms), nor an insurrection (maybe a few idiots had wild ideas) nor driven by Trump (who expressly asked for peaceful protests) and lied about Trump supporters murdering Brian Sicknick. The attacks were relentless, every single day. They tried to stop him from forming a cabinet, they tried to stop the Kavanaugh hearing. They even claimed he was responsible for 400,000 Covid deaths, which is up there with the dumbest things I've ever heard.

Though Trump lost, every day under Biden reminds me of how lucky we were to have Trump. I don't think I will ever be able to like him personally. He's not someone I can imagine having dinner with. But so what?  I have a lot more respect for him than I did 4 years earlier (I did not vote then; I did vote for him this time). The left cannot give him credit for anything, but I give him credit. A lot. 

He accomplished many things and in the face of the most ferocious attacks since Lincoln, earning him the 2021 Lincoln Award. 

Congratulations, Mr. President.

So, you don't think we live in a fascist state II?

THE HEART OF FASCISM IS RACISM. 

THE HEART OF RACISM IS THE BELIEF THAT DNA IS DESTINY. 

THE HEART OF THE NEW LEFT IS THAT DNA IS DESTINY.

GET IT?

I've written numerous times here about what is called Critical Race Theory and the BLM/Antifa movement. Actually, for the last few years what used to be my blog about history, science, philosophy, etc., is mostly now dedicated to fighting the fascism that we are facing, something most people either don't know about, as their media sources are all about protecting it. Some know, but refuse to see or concern themselves with it.  I don't really blame them for burying their head in the sands, because it's scary when huge institutions with power over you like government, the media, education and big business buy into it.  

The first mention of the actual words in this blog about CRT weren't until September, 2020 soon after it was reported that Trump was putting a stop to its teaching in the federal government (now reversed by Biden). CRT is basically black supremacy fascism sweeping the blue states like a plague. Fascist is just my chosen word and you could use others. It is undoubtedly Marxist and racist. It has been successful in NYC, Seattle, California and other areas for a few years. Journalist Christopher Rufo, who I recently learned about from a friend has a database (I have not found that database online - I don't know if he shares it or if you have to pay a premium for it). I won't even try to cover all he has on this topic (it be my longest post ever) but here are his articles. Read and literally weep for our country. Articles (christopherrufo.com). But because I think his recording of this history is so important I am going to just print one set of facts from a recent article entitled "Critical Race Theory in Education" (but go to his website):

• Seattle Public Schools tells teachers that the education system is guilty of “spirit murder” against black children and that white teachers must “bankrupt [their] privilege in acknowledgement of [their] thieved inheritance.” 
• San Diego Public Schools accuses white teachers of being colonizers on stolen Native American land and tells them “you are racist” and “you are upholding racist ideas, structures, and policies.” They recommend that the teachers undergo “antiracist therapy.” 
• A Cupertino, California, elementary school forces third-graders to deconstruct their racial and sexual identities, then rank themselves according to their “power and privilege.” They separate the eight-year-old children into oppressors and oppressed. Link
• A middle school in Springfield, Missouri, forces teachers to locate themselves on an “oppression matrix,” claiming that white heterosexual Protestant males are inherently oppressors and must atone for their “covert white supremacy.” 
• A Philadelphia elementary school forces fifth-graders to celebrate “Black communism” and simulate a Black Power rally to “free Angela Davis” from prison. At this school, 87 percent of students will fail to achieve basic literacy by graduation. 
• Buffalo Public Schools teaches students that “all white people” perpetuate systemic racism and forces kindergarteners to watch a video of dead black children warning them about “racist police and state-sanctioned violence” who might kill them at any time. 
• The Arizona Department of Education created an “equity” toolkit claiming that babies show the first signs of racism at three months old and that white children become full racists—”strongly biased in favor of whiteness”—by age five. 
• The California Department of Education passed an “ethnic studies” curriculum that calls for the “decolonization” of American society and has students chant to the Aztec god of human sacrifice. The solution, according to one author, is “countergenocide.” 
• North Carolina’s largest school district launches a campaign against “whiteness in educational spaces”—and encourages teachers to subvert families and push the ideology of “antiracism” directly onto students without parental consent. 
• Santa Clara County Office of Education denounces the United States as a “parasitic system” based on the “invasion” of “white male settlers” and encourages teachers to “cash in on kids’ inherent empathy” in order to recruit them into political activism.

Even Rufo can only just touch upon what is happening in this country. These are not just people with opinions. These are governments in action. Not just governments. He recently reported on the bizzare events at one of the government's largest defense contractors, Lockheed Martin, where poor schmucks in leadership guilty of whiteness, were forced to attend a Zoom meeting where (from the NYPost article on it):

"The participants from Lockheed Martin engaged in activities over Zoom that included a “free association” exercise in which the term 'white men' was equated to 'old,' 'racist,' 'privileged,; 'anti-women,' 'angry,' 'Aryan Nation' and 'KKK' . . . . ."

That session reportedly led to conclusions that white men 'don’t care about diversity,' 'have a classical perspective on history and colonialism,' and 'don’t want to give away our power.'

In another exercise, referred to as 'hearts and minds' training, the Lockheed executives were given 156 various “privilege statements” to read and discuss . . . .   

The statements reportedly included, 'My culture teaches me to minimize the perspectives and powers of people of other races,' 'I can commit acts of terrorism, violence or crime and not have it attributed to my race,' 'My earning potential is 15-33% higher than a woman’s' and 'My reproductive organs are not seen as the property of other men, the government, and/or even strangers because of my gender.'"

Perhaps the two most disturbing recent news stories about racism in America are as follows:  

1. Lt Col. Matthew Lohmeier, a ten year veteran of the air force and then a commander of 11th Space Warning Squadron in Colorado, was relieved from his post because of, allegedly, a question of his ability to lead. Why? Well, obviously, because it turns out he is a communist. Right? Wrong? You would think that would be a disqualification in our military, but I doubt it is now. But, in reality world, he self-published a book about Marxism's invasion into our military. 

I understand that he was just removed from his command and hasn't been demoted. But, that's bad enough. When criticizing Marxism becomes grounds to be thrown out of a command, we have a serious problem.

2. The American Medical Association has ended meritocracy. Imagine. The AMA, which has tremendous power and control over medicine in America, has decided, it has had enough of merit. Now, it's all about diversity. 

Here's from their new policy statement:

"Land and Labor Acknowledgement: We acknowledge that we are all living off the taken ancestral lands of Indigenous peoples for thousands of years. We acknowledge the extraction of brilliance, energy and life for labor forced upon people of African descent for more than 400 years. We celebrate the resilience and strength that all Indigenous people and descendants of Africa have shown in this country and worldwide. We carry our ancestors in us, and we are continually called to be better as we lead this work."

What? Who acknowledges? Us? My family were serfs in Russia and the like until early in the 20th century. Yours? Betting they weren't slave owners. Owe the AMA leaders and policy maker's are "us." I have a feeling there family weren't KKK leaders either.

But, leave that aside. Maybe the policy makers were all rabid fascists who until last week kept pictures of Adolf Hitler smiling at them on their PCs. Here's my favorite part (i.e., the worst part) of the statement:

"The resulting differences in outcomes among historically marginalized and minoritized populations have been explained away through the myth of meritocracy."

So, you think they are saying that Barack Obama wasn't elected to be president twice because of merit? I doubt they mean that because that wouldn't feed the narrative. Anyway, great to hear that now the AMA is dedicated to the end of meritocracy in our medical system. Good God. Good f'g God (perhaps I need to rethink my self-imposed ban on cursing on this blogpost. Some things just call for swear words).

I am not going to go into depth here, but I hope that my dear readers recognize that the "myth of meritocracy" mantra is one of the attacks on capitalism made by the left and socialists. And if you don't understand that BLM is all about socialism, you don't read their websites or books like How to be an Anti-Racist." 

You still don't think we live in a fascist country? Keep reading.

5/4/21     A New Jersey town, Hopewell Township, fired (by a unanimous vote) Officer Sara Erwin and demoted/suspended Sgt. Mandy Gray because of a June 2020 post that went up during the George Floyd riots.  Each had over 20 years time in on the job, but, apparently, but fascists don't permit seniority to get in the way of a good firing. Here's the horrible stuff Erwin wrote that got them fired:

“Last night as I left for work I had my two kids crying for me not to go to work. I don’t think I’ve ever felt the way I did last night. And then I watched people I know and others I care about going into harms way. I love my police family like my own. So when you share posts and things on Facebook I’d really appreciate if you’d THINK before doing so. I’ve seen so many black lives matter hashtags in these posts. Just to let you know — they are terrorists. They hate me. They hate my uniform. They don’t care if I die.”

Was she wrong? I don't think so. For years the BLM movement has been successfully selling a almost completely false narrative, especially demonizing police.  Sometimes they chant "death to cops" at rallies and they have tried to burn down precinct houses with the cops inside.  I bet she could have said anything negative she wanted about the Proud Boys or anyone named Trump without consequence.

*

James Boasberg, the presiding judge of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, last November issued a report just declassified by the Director of National Intelligence showing that the FBI “has been seriously and systematically abusing its warrantless electronic surveillance authority.”  ​

The FBI?!?!  I'm shocked. Shocked, that there is abusive behavior going on at the FBI. In reality, this is hardly news. The FBI has a long history of doing this and the directors and congress usually just shrug at it. What has been done about their behavior over attempting to destroy Trump (I'm not going through that all here, but, if you don't know, you really are watching the wrong news shows)? Nothing really, not systemically. A token arrest and conviction of one agent, some firings during the Trump administration, but buoyed up by media and even the Biden administration (who hired, e.g., Peter Strzock's wife. Strzok himself is teaching at Georgetown). 

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5/3/21    I've spent a lot of time recently discussing the Chauvin case as an example of how the justice process is being destroyed by BLM and its supporters. This report is fairly new though. A juror on the Chauvin case was exposed as having worn a BLM, anti-police t-shirt during a rally in Washington, D.C. He wasn't exactly asked those questions during his questioning, and he did say he was very positive about BLM, but neutral about Blue Lives Matter. He could have volunteered this. Ask yourself, if you think its no big deal, what if they had acquitted and you learned he had worn an "George Floyd deserved it" tee-shirt?

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5/1/21   A teacher berates student for calling police "heroes" in a Zoom class at Cypress College. She said she wouldn't call the police because she feels more endangered by them. Frankly, I don't even believe her. I bet she has 911 on speed dial. The young student was incredibly brave to hold his ground against her and remained calm. Happy ending maybe? She, an adjunct, who responded to this student as if she was arguing with a frenemy on facebook rather than as a calm college professor discussing a subject, took a leave of absence from the class for the rest of the semester.

But, are there happy endings anymore? The faculty union at the Cypress blamed the administration for not defending the professor, who was increasingly nasty to a young student in a SPEECH CLASS - NOT EVEN A POLITICAL CLASS, while he tried to argue that police were generally speaking, heroes. His poise was remarkable for a kid his age.

Worse, the union for the community colleges in the district said the school failed to be ANTI-RACIST. Can you imagine if she had pulled this with a kid arguing that all cops were racist monsters. She'd probably be stoned. Really, what hope do these kids today have?

Because the zoom video went viral, there were allegedly threats made (they don't say who made them?) and they had to cancel classes. Because if they don't say precisely who the threats were made to, I presume they were not right-wing threats (does it mean you are right-wing if you appreciate cops?) but the usual BLM/Antifa threats with which we all should be familiar absent the media black out.

*  

The Biden administration is seeking to end single family home zoning in America. Call it the American Dream or what have you, but my hope my good friends who voted for Biden are paying attention. Betsy McCaughey former Lt. Governor of NY writes (5/19/21, Biden's War on Single-Family Homeowners) :

That $213 billion is nearly twice the spending on roads and bridges. It will change towns everywhere and torpedo the American dream of a house with a patch of lawn.

Biden’s plan should be called “hypocrisy housing.” Its backers are hypocrites. Biden himself owns a four-acre lakefront home in upscale Greenville, Delaware, where there is absolutely no public housing, affordable housing, or rentals that accept housing vouchers. And don’t expect any to be built next door to the Bidens.

Biden has always had a passion for stately homes and swanky addresses, even buying a 10,000 square foot mansion that once belonged to the DuPont family. Not exactly the image of “Middle-Class Joe.”

Vice President Kamala Harris and her husband own a $5 million gated home on a street of expensive single-family homes in Brentwood, California. That reeks of privilege.

President Barack Obama launched his Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing program in 2015 to ensure that every neighborhood includes housing for low-income buyers and renters and public transportation.

Yet, for their own family, the Obamas bought an $11.75 million Martha’s Vineyard mansion on 29 waterfront acres. Martha’s Vineyard is critically short of affordable housing, according to a public report, but that didn’t stop them.

These politicians love single-family zoning and exclusivity for themselves, but not for the rest of us. The poster person for this hypocrisy is avowed Marxist Patrisse Khan-Cullors, the Black Lives Matter activist who purchased a home in exclusive Topanga Canyon, part of Los Angeles.

It's been pointed out for a long time, nothing energizes cronyism and elitism like Marxism and Fascism. The Commissars and Nazi Party officials didn't share in their people's sufferings for their idealistic causes. These people will not either. It was only reported that Khan-Cullors is stepping down from leadership of BLM. I guess she figures it will help her keep the houses. I'm sure Hollywood will embrace her.

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I'm guessing you aren't aware of this. On his very first day in office, in his run of executive orders that dwarfs any other modern day presidents, Biden ordered federal agencies to reinterpret Title VII of the '64 Civil Rights Act based on the Supreme Court (I know, which you think leans conservative) decision in Bostock v. Clayton County. All prohibitions on sexual discrimination must include gender identity and sexual orientation (I read the decision by Justice Gorsuch, cherry-picking nonsense as pointed out in dissent by Justice Alito - the idea that any text written in '64 even considered the following is virtually insane). According to HUD now, that bars from federal funds (in other words, schools, among many other things) segregation by sex of bathrooms, showers or living quarters based on gender. You read correctly. 

A lawsuit by a religious school, College of the Ozarks, requesting a stay, was rejected (May 19th) by an Obama appointed trial court judge who said it wasn't judiciable (meaning, the court's can't decide something like this - don't worry, it makes no sense). Frankly, this is an assault on our entire culture which distinguishes men and women in domestic situations. Not in college any more. 

Personally, I don't think it is just outrageous to force religious institutions to do this. They shouldn't force any colleges to make the kids share bathrooms, showers and dorms. You could argue, this is just crazy, but not fascism. It is when they are forcing people to share living bathrooms with the opposite sex. At least in our culture.

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A friend sent me a link today which has to go into the file of WHY ARE JEWS STILL DEMOCRATS? Ami Horowitz (obviously Jewish) a conservative film maker, stopped college students in Portland (which, obviously, given that the "Antifa candidate" got 43% of the mayoral vote, is going fascist faster than the rest of us) and pretending to be raising money for Hamas, got students to donate to it making statements like:

“We just want to get rid of Israel — it’s for the Palestinians,” “We’re looking to destroy Israel,” “We don’t want just Gaza, we want to have all of Israel,” “We want to fund operations against Israel and the type of attacks we’re talking about are cafes and schools, and, you know, soft targets,” “Hospitals, shopping malls and schools and places of worship. This is the kind of stuff we’re talking about.” 

You don't believe it. Here's a link. Ami Horowitz on Twitter: "Think the woke are not antisemitic? Think again. Watch me raise money for Hamas to kill Jews from students in Portland! https://t.co/osIVUKNk80" / Twitter

Thanks in part to support like from the pro-terrorist "Squad" in congress anti-Semitic violence in America (and elsewhere) is surging.  What does team Biden think? Here's recent advice from Aaron Keyak, the Jewish Engagement Director at Biden for President:  

“if you fear for your life or physical safety take off your kippah (head covering) and hide your magen david (star of David).” 

Can you imagine if  he was a Trump campaign leader? Or if it was said about Muslims? Mr. Keyak would be toast.

Still don't think we are living in a fascist country? Why? Because no one has beaten you up personally? Because they aren't destroying your neighborhood? 

BUT, WHAT ABOUT THE VIOLENCE? ISN'T THAT PART OF FASCISM?

Of course it is. Fascists are violent. The 500-600 violent BLM rallies in 2020 alone (counted by a think tank), each of course being constituted by many acts of violence, alone tells us that. The media has had a general blackout on what has happened in Portland the last year (actually, much longer, but it spiked after the Floyd affair) where not only does Antifa, with a lot of support, try to burn police to death and the like, but thanks to the anti-police sentiment and rhetoric from so many on the left, murder rates have skyrocketed since then. In fact, it is beyond out of control if you live in an urban area. Here are just some cities (percent more murders in 2020 than in 2019):  

Seattle - 74.1%  New Orleans -67.1  Atlanta - 72.6 (Fulton County)  Chicago - 55.5  Boston - 54.1

Portland - 51.5  Houston - 42.7  NYC - 39.2  San Francisco - 32.4  LA - 30.4 

The statistics are from Jeff Asher, a crime analyst, of select states. Asher reports that "Murder up 36.7% in 57 agencies with data through at least September (though most have data through November). Murder up in 51 of 57, 37 of 58 agencies reporting murder up more than 30%."

I'm sure I've said here before, the BLM movement and the Ferguson effect in its wake has killed minorities off in a far faster rate than the KKK did in their whole history (using NAACP statistics). If any group doesn't care about black lives, it is BLM.

You want to believe it's because of the pandemic, go ahead. That's the narrative from the media. There may be some truth to it, but I seriously doubt a lot. Isn't this what happens when police stop policing, known as the Ferguson effect? There's real evidence of that. In fact, a 2020 study from Harvard (as is often said - hardly a liberal bastion) showed that in five cities where a shooting went viral and there was an investigation into the police, the violent crime rate dramatically increased.   

As in previous posts, I can write all day about this stuff and not scratch the surface. You either recognize what is happening or you don't and probably won't until it affects you or your loved ones personally.. I'm trying in my tiny way to make up for the fact that the media is generally on the side of the fascists. When we see people like Kyle Rittenhouse prosecuted for murder when the video and other evidence seems clear he was defending his life, but the shooting of Ashli Babbett goes without prosecution or the shooter even being named, when we see NYS and City take political prisoners like Paul Manafort (NYS has tried to find charges against Trump people since 2017. The charges against Manafort were dismissed by a court, and the appeal went against the State too - now, as we know, NYC is trying to find away to prosecute Trump), when we see . . . . 

Okay, I'll stop. It is depressing. I am happy to say that this past week for the first time since May, 2020, I've seen a little evidence that at least red states are starting to wake up and are fighting back. Let's see if the federal government will try and crush their efforts.

And for those who want to think this is a white supremacy site - can't stop you, but, in reality, not at all. Sometimes in videos of a BLM violent confrontation, you can't find black people in it. This is as much about young white idiots, socialism and capitalism, as it is about blacks. And I'm convinced as well that the movement to ignore education and to eschew merit will ultimately harm blacks even more. Their leadership is among the worst aspects of our society. No less so than the KKK with whom I'd compare them. I'm still a believer, perhaps an overly hopeful one, that absent peer pressure, most blacks would reject what is going on in their name. I'll stick with MLK Jr.'s dream. I hope others do too.

Even if he was guilty, how could the Chauvin trial possibly be fair?

"The First step in a fascist movement is the combination under an energetic leader of a number of men who possess more than the average share of leisure, brutality, and stupidity. The next step is to fascinate fools and muzzle the intelligent, by emotional excitement on the one hand and terrorism on the other."

            Bertrand Russell, Freedom and Government (1940)

I've already posted on my thoughts about the summations in the Chauvin case and touched upon some other matters concerning the case, particularly its relationship to the growing fascism in our country. I'm not going to repeat everything I already wrote (pause for applause from the studio audience). Mostly, I've reflected that the defense counsel just wasn't up to the job and missed a lot of stuff. And, I know I've touched on the fact that this could not be a fair trial - and I am going to go over that, because first, more has come out about the trial and second, I think this has to be emphasized. 

You already know if you read some of this blog the last couple of years, not just the last post which was directly about it, that I believe we are already living in a country that has become fascist. It may not be the fascism of Hitler or Mussolini, or the terror of the French Revolution or Stalin, but it is always different. And, as I pointed out in the last two posts, this Chauvin case is a pretty good example of how it is working here. 

Consider this in determining whether this could be a fair trial or not:

• Chauvin was arrested in 4 days of the event, with scarce time for all the investigation the expert witnesses would testify to as to Chauvin's use of force to restrain Floyd. As I pointed out in the last post, they took 3 1/2 months to determine, against all evidence I can see in the video of Ashli Babbitt's slaying, that the officer killing her was justified (it's a lie, of course; for goodness sakes, they are prosecuting Kyle Rittenhouse in Wisconsin just for saving his own life - here's an officer who is not in anymore danger than officers surrounding Ashli and her friends with guns).
• 
  
• Immediately after his death, Minneapolis was subject to a reign of terror lasting days including 150 fires, 1300 vandalizations and resulting in 2 deaths. 
• 
  
• For 10 months after the death of Floyd, there have been riots and protests across America before the trial. That included attempts to intimidate politicians and the police union leader.
• 
  
• Right before the trial the protests started up again. During the jury selection, it was pointed out that the jurors realized they were in an armed camp so that they could feel safe.
• 
  
• Right during jury selection it was announced by Minneapolis that they had settled with Floyd's family for $27,000,000, a number that was remarkably high for any similar case, let alone death case considering that Floyd didn't earn a lot of money (that is the main consideration in these cases), that he had a long criminal record, was a chronic drug user and had a bad heart. It was an astonishing, unrealistic amount. Of course, I can't read minds and say that the powers that be were trying to influence the jury, but it couldn't but help have that effect. If I had to guess, more than influence the jury, the municipality was trying to appease the rioters that could tear apart their city again. It was an appeasement that had as much chance of working if there wasn't a conviction as giving Hitler Czechoslovakia did to stop WWII.
• 
  
• The National Guard in Minneapolis was called out as protesters gathered in Minneapolis in record numbers since WWII.
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• Two national guardsmen were injured when shot in a drive by.
• 
  
• Maxine Waters made her famous statement in a neighboring city that they needed a conviction or they would have to fight harder (More fires? Deaths?)

All that happened prior to the jury being sequestered. They were not told they could not use computers. The judge thought about granting a motion to stay and move the trial just because of the revelation about the civil case being settled and said that Maxine Waters' statement about the case might get it overturned on appeal (then why didn't he do it).

Although I personally thought Chauvin was guilty of manslaughter II (not murder II or III), he was and we all are entitled to his having a fair trial. Arguably, in light just of the announcement of the civil case settlement, or in light just of Maxine Water's Goebbel's like speech, or in light just of the riots, or just the need for the national guard and the security measures the jury had to live under, and the promise of so much more violence and destruction, if the jury did not do as demanded and convict, was enough to get this case thrown out. It wasn't. Personally, I do not think the judge's on the appellate courts of Minnesota will have the courage to do so on appeal. I hope I'm wrong. Not because punishment would not be just, but because BLM and the fascist movement can't get away with frightening jurors into not fairly and impartially weighing the evidence before they make a determination.

And, it looks like, they did not do it fairly. As the first juror to reveal himself has stated, 11 of the 12 did not even want to go over the evidence in light of the charges. They only did so because the other juror demanded it.

And, we now know that at least one juror seems to have lied or at least been deceptive about his participation in George Floyd protests. When asked on the form if he had been to any George Floyd rallies in Minnesota, he said "no" and otherwise did he or those close to him participate in protests about police use of force or police brutality (the picture that came out was of him in D.C. wearing a tee-shirt saying "Get your knee off our necks" on one side and "BLM" on the other). 

The fact that they found Chauvin guilty of Murder III as well, where it doesn't even make sense in this case, makes me think that the jury acted irrationally.

If you tell yourself, well, I hear what you are saying, but it was okay, ask yourself this -

What if the person being tried was a black cop who had killed a member of the KKK.

Now, imagine, after that happens and before the jury deliberates:

Thousands of members of the KKK rioted through the city, burning buildings, looting stores, destroying homes and assaulting cops, threatening members of the government, rioting throughout the country. Then consider if during jury selection the city settled with the Klan member's family for an unheard of sum of money, that the National Guard had to be called out for the trial in unheard of numbers since WWII and that the KKK was shooting at them. And then imagine some Republican you can't tolerate because you think they are evil - say Donald Trump - makes a speech which incites further violence just before the jury goes into deliberations? And then the jury very quickly finds the defendant guilty?

Or imagine if you find out that one of the jurors who had worn a "white supremacy" tee-shirt at a rally had answered a jury questionnaire at least indicating he hadn't?

Do you think you might find justice hadn't been done then?

I believe you would. You can believe you wouldn't. Until you do face up to what happened in this trial and what we are doing to ourselves in this country, the fascism will continue.

So, you don't think we live in a fascist state?

I know. You think I'm being hysterical or overly dramatic. What fascism, right? There are no concentration camps. No one is being marched? Well, that's true. But, people are being killed, people are being intimidated, people are rioting and street fighting, are trying to kill cops and to defund the police (as I've pointed out before, only gangs and other criminals want that) and are trying to make us base policy, law and even personal decisions on ethnicity. 

There are definitely reasons many of you - I would say the overwhelming number of people - don't think we are headed towards fascism. Or autocracy, totalitarianism, etc. It doesn't matter what form it will take, how it happens or what you call it. What matters is that the degree of freedom you have as a private citizen, if there is such thing, has already decreased remarkably in a few years. Remarkably. And the Democrat's are doing everything they can to make this a one party country and to further racism and fascism. 

And, they, the fascists, are winning. Many people haven't recognized or refuse to do so because they can't stop reading/watching our version of Pravda (e.g., CNN, MSNBC, NYTIMES, WAPO, Bloomberg, etc.) and their continuous misrepresentations and propaganda. Or they are immersed in a community - their career, friends, family, neighbors, where it is all one side - the left. Of course, some Trump hating Democrats are very politically knowledgeable, but they are still caught up in what even Rose McGowan (though a Trump hating nut, if you ask me) calls a "cult." Some people just don't want to believe it is possible in the U.S. I get it. I was one of those people and didn't want to, until the evidence became overwhelming. We must fight fascism even if others laugh at or hate us. Even if we should be scared.

I couldn't decide whether to make this post about the extra-ordinary hypocrisy of the Biden administration or the fascism inherent in what I call the "great leap left," that is, when the left started to not continue to drift further left, but to take giant steps in that direction, culminating in the hate and hysteria-fest accompanying Trump's election. I decided to go with fascism. The examples of hypocrisy will take care of themselves.

So, you don't think we are becoming a fascist country? Perhaps it is because you haven't studied how the Nazis came to power (you can read my 9/16/20 post - The Nazi's Playbook, which focuses on the likeness between the left's radicals and the Nazis). Perhaps its because you have always been a Democrat or liberal (or at least identified with them) and it is painful to recognize when your side is wrong. I went through that too many years ago when emerging from the strident liberalism I was raised into and became a moderate. Perhaps you just want to bury your head in the sand and not think about it, and certainly not react to it. I'd like to, but fascism is too dangerous and must be fought.  Perhaps you are fearful for yourself or your family. Who wouldn't be? These are dangerous and violent people or they support those who are. I mean, I can't think of a Republican or conservative that supports the KKK or neo-Nazis, but there are many on the left, most of them, who support BLM, or Antifa or even Maxine Waters. 

One problem I have in doing these posts is that the acts of fascism are happening so frequently and so fast, it is literally impossible to keep up with, probably even on a daily business. So, here I give just some examples of it (though you probably will find it lengthy). Regrettably, I write almost exclusively about fascism now and will likely give more examples soon.

I have no intent to prove anything here. If you open your eyes to the possibility of it and don't just say nyet or bury your head, you can verify everything yourself - easily. You know it just from your own life. If you work in most places, not just for the government, you have probably felt the crush of the cancel culture and fascist pressure. You are forced to listen to lectures on sexual harassment or racism even if you never harassed or discriminated against anyone, or maybe you've even been pro-active helping women or minorities, and you know if you voice an opinion contrary to the speaker you might get fired. You already are judged by your ethnicity, one of the hall marks of fascism. Worse, if you are honest, depending on where you work, you must admit you have to pretend you agree with radical thought or someone will say they don't feel "safe" with you around. 

Certainly, some number of people have told me that they are afraid to make any joke at all in an office anymore in fear of getting reported or just fired. Here's a study showing 62% are afraid to share their political views. Poll: 62% of Americans Say They Have Political Views They’re Afraid to Share | Cato Institute. Not as many, but some men have told me they try not to talk to women alone at work or go to lunch with them. No, not because they can't keep their hands to themselves, but because even innocuous acts or statements can be seen as harassment or discrimination just because someone feels offended, no matter how ridiculous - as with the ridiculous claims against Cuomo right now. Worse, some people who can hire no longer want to hire women or minorities, the opposite of what the left is seeking. I wouldn't recommend that myself, but I get it. They are scared - just like you. 

I can generally state these cancel culture problems in a paragraph or two, but they are countrywide (and other countries too) and and growing. But, you might say, it's not fascism, it's just a culture change. I don't think so. Culture is always changing. With this level of violence, intimidation and personal destruction, fascism applies. Feel free to bone up on the fear of being reported in Nazi Germany or Soviet Russia. You can look at how I define fascism in my October, 26, 2020 post, What is fascism?

Of course, if you live in a place where BLM or Antifa can't or won't likely get to you, or where the violence stemming from under-policing won't affect you, you might just shrug and say, oh well, it doesn't seem so bad. That's what Portland's idiot mayor, Ted Wheeler thought until Antifa showed up at his house. That's what people often do until its them. You know the famous poem by German Pastor Martin Niemöller that begun, "First they came for the Jews, and I said nothing. . . ." You know what? I wasn't going to, but let me print some of the translation of what he originally wrote in prose, prior to the poem (I pulled this right off Wikipedia, but you can check it out yourself in many sources; there is no doubt it is Niemöller's words and thoughts, but, exactly when he wrote it, in exactly what form, when it became a poem, etc., is really not certain at all. But, that doesn't detract from his message):

["T]he people who were put in the camps then were Communists. Who cared about them? We knew it, it was printed in the newspapers. Who raised their voice, maybe the Confessing Church? We thought: Communists, those opponents of religion, those enemies of Christians—"should I be my brother's keeper?"

Then they got rid of the sick, the so-called incurables. I remember a conversation I had with a person who claimed to be a Christian. He said: Perhaps it's right, these incurably sick people just cost the state money, they are just a burden to themselves and to others. Isn't it best for all concerned if they are taken out of the middle [of society]? Only then did the church as such take note.

Then we started talking, until our voices were again silenced in public. Can we say, we aren't guilty/responsible?

The persecution of the Jews, the way we treated the occupied countries, or the things in Greece, in Poland, in Czechoslovakia or in Holland, that were written in the newspapers. … I believe, we Confessing-Church-Christians have every reason to say: mea culpa, mea culpa! We can talk ourselves out of it with the excuse that it would have cost me my head if I had spoken out.

We preferred to keep silent. We are certainly not without guilt/fault, and I ask myself again and again, what would have happened, if in the year 1933 or 1934—there must have been a possibility—14,000 Protestant pastors and all Protestant communities in Germany had defended the truth until their deaths? If we had said back then, it is not right when Hermann Göring simply puts 100,000 Communists in the concentration camps, in order to let them die. I can imagine that perhaps 30,000 to 40,000 Protestant Christians would have had their heads cut off, but I can also imagine that we would have rescued 30–40,000 million [sic] people, because that is what it is costing us now."

Remember, fascism is not going to happen the same way it did in Germany or Italy, or any other country which self-destructed by authoritarianism of some sort. Each time it happens it is new, although usually, maybe always, lying and coercion play substantial roles. 

You really don't see the fascism? Are you one of those who says I don't think the media is one-sided or that Big Tech is trying to cancel the right's expression? Really? After reading the open letters of Bari Weiss of the New York Times and the similar letter from Ariana Pekary of MSNBC detailing what the news channels do? After seeing Bloomberg News decide it was not going to investigate any wrongdoing by a Democrat during the last campaign? Are you one of those who thinks our justice system works the same for liberal pols as it does conservative ones? After seeing Hillary Clinton not get prosecuted (after the FBI's director described what she did fitting all the elements of a crime and then making up a new element for it that doesn't even make sense) but watching now as NYC desperately goes through Trump's tax returns hoping to find something it can prosecute on (when did it happen it became okay to investigate a person for political purposes?) New York actually holds political prisoners as it did with Trump's former campaign manager Paul Manafort, after he was given a lengthy sentence by the feds. After watching the judge on Trump supporter Michael Flynn, who the FBI absolutely set up, try to hold him after he was pardoned, you can think this? After watching the FBI investigate Trump's campaign based on information they new was phony supplied indirectly through the Clinton Campaign? After watching the two years of RussiaGate, after the phony over-dramatized impeachment over Ukraine (which Biden looks like he is showing how little the Democrats care about, while during the hearings they wrung their hands over it)? After watching the second phony impeachment, done for no purpose except to get Trump and tar Republicans? After watching the Big Tech companies try to paralyze the conservatives by defunding or de-platforming them? After watching the lies about what was deemed the Capitol Armed Insurrection where there turned out not to be no firearms and only a few idiot insurrectionists. You don't see it? Nothing I can do about it. You either don't know because or won't believe. 

You don't have to believe it. Of course, one day they will come for you unless you totally succumb. Even if you think you are one of them, you can fall out of favor and be crushed, because radicals eat their own. The Nazis did. The French Revolutionists did. The communists did. All murdered many of their own.

The Difference between the Chauvin prosecution and the Capitol prosecution - fascism.

One of the best examples of both the oncoming fascism and hypocrisy stems from some the way different investigations/prosecutions are treated. For example, Derek Chauvin was named and charged with murder in 3 days. Kimberly Potter, an officer with a 26 year career, accidentally shot a young black man who was running from her execution of his warrant, thinking she was tasing him. She warned him and screamed "Taser" more than once, before absent-mindedly grabbing her pistol and shooting him. She was named and charged with Manslaughter II and arraigned in 4 days. Who could have fully investigated them by then. Why did they rush to judgment? To stop rioting, of course. Not protests. Riots. When fear of ethnic or other group riots leads to prosecutions or rushes to judgment - that's fascism. And fascism often works until people, realizing appeasement just encourages fascists, make the sacrifices necessary to stop it.

What's my point? Well, the D.C. officer (I believe a woman, but could be wrong) who shot and killed Ashli Babbitt during the Capitol riot hasn't ever been even named, never mind prosecuted. Not slower than Chauvin and Potter - she was never named or prosecuted ever!  She was never arrested. But, you can watch on video Ashli, among a group of people who had broken into the Capitol Building and were trying to penetrate further, was surrounded by cops with guns, being gunned down by her.  She wasn't warned, or given a chance, just shot. The police don't even shoot Antifa when they are trying to burn cops alive. Are cops now allowed to fire upon trespassers? Do all those rules and cases we heard about in the Chauvin case about using force - mean nothing if you are a white Trump supporter? Of course they don't. And you wonder why they rioted. They've watched the success BLM and Antifa has had with it.

Is there a difference between the the events in Minnesota and the Capitol "insurrection?" Well, hmmm, Potter and Chauvin killed black men. That fits the narrative being perpetrated by BLM, our media and now the federal government - that cops are singling out blacks to shoot (even though every year they kill more whites and everyone kills more cops). George Floyd, whose neck Chauvin kneeled upon, had a record of home invasion and spent 4 years in prison. Daunte Wright, who Potter accidentally killed, was wanted for not showing up in court and fleeing arrest for possessing weapons. Floyd was resisting arrest (I think only he wasn't obeying instructions). Wright also wouldn't listen to the officer and was fleeing. I'm not justifying what happened to them as a result of their history or behavior. It doesn't mean they deserved to die. I'm just saying, these probably weren't good people, even if they are now being lionized and transformed by the media and BLM as saints. 

Ashli was a decorated veteran. Didn't matter. You see, Ashli was a white girl and thereby obviously had the Mark of Cain. She gets little more consideration than a voiceless unborn baby. Ashli was surrounded by armed cops and unarmed herself.  She was not only white but obviously a Trump supporter. No one was going to burn D.C. because she was shot for no reason. No one even tried to arrest her before she was murdered. Not one of the trespassers/rioters brought a firearm into the building. 

It would be hard to be more hypocritical than the left is about the late Officer Brian Sicknick, who died soon after the riot. I have nothing to criticize him about at all. I'm sorry he's dead, but I care about cops. But, the left exploited his death and had a State Funeral while castigating the cops in general, and trying to defund the police. I can't tell you what any individuals might think about that, but one thing the defund the police movement on the left doesn't care about in general is cops. Despite the lies we've been told about Brian Sicknick, he wasn't murdered by rioters, as first reported. He apparently died of a stroke. That is, after they refused to tell us how he died, the truth came out. Even his own family said it wasn't true. Lies that fit the narrative are permitted. And, just as tv personalities will still call George Zimmerman a murderer, I assume they will keep saying he was a hero killed by Trump supporters. My guess, but since I don't watch tv, someone will have to tell me.

The capitol rioters didn't kill anyone. Four of them died. It was not an armed insurrection (no firearms anyway) and it looks like very few of them were actually intending an insurrection at all. The other three than Ashli supposedly died of natural causes - but, given the enormous lies coming from the government about this, can we believe it? I sincerely doubted that Sicknick was murdered for the same reason. I didn't have a pre-cognitive event? I simply recognize we are living in a fascist state and they will lie to further their narrative. No cops died at the hands of the trespassers. 

Narrative, narrative, narrative. Not only do we not know the name of the officer who shot Ashli, but the feds took 3 1/2 months to investigate what was clearly seen on video. Then, they apparently decided shooting a white Trump supporter, even a veteran, in cold blood, because she is trespassing, was not a crime. You know BLM wants to lynch the officer who shot a knife wielding teenager about to end the life of another girl, but, that too is part of the narrative. Ma'khia Bryant was black (as was her intended victim), but that furthers the BLM narrative. They don't care she was going to kill a black person (as they don't care that most murders are black on black or that their nationwide riots and demand for less policing has sent the murder rate skyrocketing - they accept as many victims as necessary to further their aims) but they sure appreciate the fact that a cop shot her because it fits their narrative.  

But, the Capitol Building shooting of Ashli and the lies over the death of Brian Sicknick were not the only hypocrisy about the event. Our President, the "Great Uniter" has further divided our country by another ridiculous lie that follows the narrative the left is perpetrating. After the riot, he said we should imagine how much harder they would have been fought if black. Seriously? They probably would have been given keys and a hall pass. I am only slightly exaggerating. Pelosi and Schumer have already dishonored their country by taking knees in support of BLM. They might have said they understand, just like they understand Antifa and the rioting.

BLM or its supporters, like Antifa, get treated with kid gloves. Though the idiot mayor of Portland, Ted Wheeler, has learned his lesson about Antifa, he used to lead "Black Lives Matter" chants. Now Wheeler begs for help to take back his city. Good luck to him. Trump tried with federal troops and Wheeler and others complained - called them something like storm troopers (not sure of the exact words). Now, I doubt the feds are coming to the rescue because the DOJ doesn't even consider the cop-murdering Antifa a terrorist group. In the meantime, supposed protesters (why I believe are trying to destroy Portland, if they can't take it over) have won court battles to make the cops be nicer to them. The cops don't kill the rioters even when they are trying to kill cops.

The difference between the way the feds are treating those who rioted at the Capitol and the way rioters on the left are treated is extraordinarily different. I believe the federal government has arrested about 450 or so of them, everyone they can find, making great efforts to locate them and at great expense.  What other riots have any such effort been made. They hold some in solitary confinement without bail. Solitary confinement! The FBI, the media, the pols all ganged up on the Capitol rioters (and, of course, Trump) as the worst rioters ever. 

It was much different in Minnesota than it was for Ashli. But, the narrative of only blacks lives mattering was the same, the narrative is that only the right constitutes a civil threat. There, soon after Floyd died, BLM and its allies went to work trying to intimidate people with threats and violence - their hallmark, despite all the nonsense about their "protests" being mostly peaceful. Hundreds, 500-600 so-called protests across the country were violent in 2020 (recorded by a non-profit organization that counts these things). In Minnesota, because of the death of Floyd, who after all, even if wrongfully killed, is one man, BLM and their allies tried to set Minneapolis afire. Literally. They did set numerous fires - 150 of them. Do we forget how serious even one fire is? If the Nazis set 150 buildings on fire, would we not say - would you not say - those horrible fascists?

The Floyd rioters damaged, according to a local paper, 1300 properties, including - 267 restaurants, 207 retail stores, 114 Service businesses, 85 grocery stores, 63 auto stores, 53 residences, 52 barber shops and 47 health care businesses. What did those people do to them? They looted and assaulted people, doing an estimated $500 million - 2 billion in damage.  They set fire to a police precinct, trying to murder the cops. The largest contingent of Minnesota's National Guard was called out since WWII. This unlawful violence doesn't just destroy the livelihood or lives of the owners of these buildings, but anyone who worked there. If you disagree that you are supporting fascists by sticking with the left's narrative or supporting them, answer this for me - what did those people do to George Floyd? Even Joe Biden had to say that looting wasn't protest at some point before the election (I don't think anymore, but I could be wrong). It's not protest. It's extortion. It's violent. It's fascist. Regrettably, it works. 

And, 2 deaths. What were their names? I didn't know because the media could care less about them. We should know their names. I learned them and I'll tell you - one was Calvin Horton, Jr.  He was in a pawnshop while it was being ransacked and came within a few feet of the owner, who shot him. The mob prevented the EMTs from getting through to him until the police, being pelted with rocks, were finally able to move him. Though the owner was briefly arrested, he was released and never charged. The other to die was Oscar Lee Stewart, Jr., also in a pawn shop. He told his family he was going to watch the "protests." He died of thermal injuries. A 25 year old has been charged for setting that fire. 

I don't know if either of these people were good guys or bad guys, but I know they are dead and not talked about, because they don't fit the narrative. I guess their lives don't matter. Actually, people died during riots all over the country. And many more died as a result of being easily murdered do to the lack of policing. A one year old and a five year old died in NY. Not directly because of BLM, but indirectly. What if it was your child, your spouse or friend who was killed as a result of the rioting or under-policing? Do you think you'd be more likely to call it fascism then? This was Minneapolis's Kristallnacht and BLM is responsible. But, it wasn't just one night. It was many. And it spread all over the country. 

Of course, that wasn't all. They "protested" (hah!) at local authorities houses. They didn't go to hold hands and sing Kumbaya! A mob went last August to the home of an important state senator, Warren Limmer, and banged on his door, demanding he come out (his wife and he had already escaped). Is that protest? They, banged on a drum, screamed through a loud speaker, cursed at little children and frightened the neighbors. In fact, apparently the police who showed up thought better of it and were chased off - probably afraid of being accused of racism and using excessive force. These people aren't fascists? They sound like Nazis to me. You think this is the way Martin Luther King, Jr. or Gandhi conducted actual peaceful protests? 

The same month protesters went to the home of Bob Kroll, the head of the police union and demanded he be fired. Was it peaceful? They hung piñatas up and struck them with bats. Not just a likeness of him, but his wife, who is a reporter and therefore doesn't report on the police. Why did they pick on her too? That's what fascists do. They try and destroy everything in your life if you get in their way. That's what terrorists do. Let you know if they can, and you don't do what they want, you will be beaten like a pinata? Imagine the targets here weren't whites, but a black family and the piñata smashers were the KKK. I do think you'd see it then and call them fascists. 

And what of the trial of Chauvin? How was it possibly fair? A state of emergency was called before the verdict. The State sure wasn't worried about right wingers rioting if there was a conviction (and they certainly didn't). Yet, it was quite clear to everyone if Chauvin was not convicted, possibly of murder, then the city would burn again. Guardsmen were even shot at in a drive by shooting, injuring two of them.

How was that possibly a fair trial? The jury, who wasn't sequestered until they deliberated, was aware of the State of Emergency, aware of the demands that Kim Potters be charged not with manslaughter, even if it was an accident, but murder. They had to be aware of the ends the courts were having to go to to protect their lives (and their own lives) if they made a decision of which BLM didn't approve. Yet the judge wouldn't change the locale or delay the trial.

So, who steps in just before deliberation? One of the leading fascists in the federal government, in my view, Maxine Waters, who has nothing to do with Minnesota, goes to Brooklyn Center, bordering Minneapolis, and makes a speech, even knowing about the arson and deaths and damage after the Floyd killings, and knowing that there were more riots even recently after Kim Potters accidentally shot Daunte Wright, and that the National Guard is called in to prevent further disaster and are being shot at. What does she say? Certainly not, "peacefully march." She says, among other things:

“Well, we’ve got to stay on the street. And we’ve got to get more active. We’ve got to get more confrontational. We’ve got to make sure that they know that we mean business.”

More active? Mean business? More confrontational? Does she mean not enough people died? Not enough livelihoods were destroyed, buildings burned, children and families terrified? Sorry Minnesota, if he's not convicted you pay the price. Didn't the Nazis murder many innocent victims when the underground assassinated one of them? They were going to get their way. No why? BECAUSE THEY ARE FASCISTS! So is she.

She also said she disapproved of the curfew and that SHE wasn't hanging around. Why would she? She just lit a fire.

So, what happens in response to Water's instigation of murder, arson and mayhem (that's what it was)? Pretty much nothing. Yes, the judge in the Chauvin case was miffed at her, said it might cause the case to be overturned on appeal. But, despite the jurors having to know what will happen to the city, perhaps themselves, if they acquit - the judge doesn't do that himself. When's the last time that you heard a Democrat demand her resignation? Never, maybe? Educate me if I'm wrong (but a resolution in the House to condemn her for it was defeated on party lines). I can't even find anything showing Joe Manchin condemns it.

The silence from the left on her remarks is deafening or approving. And it is no surprise. Threats and violence has been the hallmark of the left the last few years and they haven't criticized it. The Democratic Socialists of America and other radical groups, all left wing, have threatened and assaulted politicians in restaurants and on the streets. Waters was one of the pols who encouraged it. Rand Paul literally thought he was going to be killed as a mob attacked. Unlike AOC, he was in the middle of it. For years Antifa and radicalized students have been attacking conservative speakers on college campuses. And Antifa, if you know anything about them, is simply a fascist group (going by an ironic name) that our wonderful DOJ likes to look the other way about, which literally emulates Nazi street fighters or brown shirts. In fact, Democrat politicians on many occasions have either ignored or supported them. One of the candidates during the campaign, when asked about them, pretended (I think - how could he not know) and then virtually ran away.

Of course, most run-of-the mill Ds do not engage in street fighting or even wish anyone harm, at least not out loud (some will admit they hope the opposition dies, but that describes many Rs too). And what do the regular - let's call them normal - Democrats do or say about their militant brothers and sisters? Almost nothing. Rarely anything. At least publicly. If they say it is wrong, they say it to those who already know it. But, they don't risk their jobs over it. Frankly, neither do most people on the right.

Biden, of course, now an electoral hostage of BLM and Antifa after black people literally saved his campaign, made matters worse after the Chauvin trial. He, the self-proclaimed Uniter. He indicated that yes, cops are killing blacks, by stating the conviction "ripped the blinders off for the whole world to see [systemic racism]." So, basically, not only is he backing up our national enemies like China, Russia and Iran when they say that, but he's indicating to police all over the country, we are not on your side. 

What's the difference with how Waters, who faces no consequences (it means nothing that the out of power GOP thinks she did something wrong) to Trump? Trump was vehemently attacked by the Ds, and the press, accused of fomenting insurrection. Here's the truth. He was not speaking to people who had rioted dozens of times, nor hundreds for that matter, burned buildings, tried to murder cops and destroy a city. He told the group that came to here him that they should  "[march] over to the Capitol building to peacefully and patriotically make your voices heard." He also tweeted that it should be peaceful. It wasn't, at least for a small portion of the crowd, but clearly, he asked for the opposite - and again, there was no history of violence by his supporters (unless you want to count when they are attacked by the left such as at Charlottesville and many other places). 

And, of course, those who did invade the capitol didn't kill people, didn't burn down the building, didn't kidnap congresspersons (perhaps some intended that - but they didn't get close, so hard to say). They didn't bring guns or shoot at the officers defending the building. It was wrong, of course, even criminal. But, immediately a friend texted me that this proved the right wing is the more dangerous side. One instance as opposed to hundreds in the same past year by the left. How is that more dangerous?

What does the shamelessly hypocritical left do? They impeached Trump a second time - tried him for impeachment even after he was no longer president, which makes no sense (sadly, the large majority of Ds do not care about the law - they simply want what they want, regardless of how far it need be misshaped). I don't believe Nancy Pelosi is stupid. It just fits the narrative that only white supremacists (for them, almost all Republicans and conservatives) are dangerous. It supports their attempt to take assert a one party government (at least one party with power), much the way the Nazis did. And, even those Ds (or anti-Trump Rs) who do not approve of bad behavior, simply shrug at it. It's not so bad. Nothing is going on. Well, again, if they are not at your door, I guess not.

The damage groups like The Proud Boys, Oath Keepers and others did to the Capitol building is a tiny, tiny, tiny fraction of what has been done to this country by BLM and their movement, including Antifa. It's a fraction of what has been done in either Portland or Minnesota alone. Still, hundreds of the Capitol street rioters have been arrested, and great effort has been made to scoop up as many as they can. Some are kept in solitary confinement (while even some accused murderers across the country walk out on bail). Even as vicious a democrat as Elizabeth Warren, one of the most duplicitous and nastiest of the Democratic Party, and Dick Durbin (who at least is somewhat civil) said that this was not right. Of course, it's not right. But, these are political prisoners. Why? Because that is what fascists do - take political prisoners.

Now, what do you think will happen to the defendants? Will they be convicted? Of course. The first has already pled guilty. Query this? What happened to the 500 or so rioters, burners, looters at the Trump inauguration who were charged? Nothing. The first two hundred or so were acquitted by the extremely liberal D.C. jurors and they let the rest go because it is obvious nothing resembling justice could be done there. Do you think the same will happen this time. The scales are tipped so far against the right in this country at this time, it is astonishing.

Of course, I am just using what happened in Minnesota and at the Capitol as examples of the fascism and hypocrisy that is now ubiquitous in this country. Anyone could write an entire book about what has happened in this country the last decade, but especially the last 4 years. Even about these two issues I could go on far longer. Here's just one more item:

Dr. David Fowler was Maryland’s chief medical examiner from 2002 to 2019. Someone must have liked him as he was appointed for so long through various administrations and health commissions. 

But, then he did something seen as beyond the pale. He testified for Chauvin. I thought he was a lousy witness. But, that's besides the point. What do fascists do when they disapprove of you? Well, in more developed fascist state where they can ruthlessly exercise power without dissent, they might beat up, arrest or kill you. In our country, where total power has not been attained yet, they will simply try to find some way to arrest you or destroy your career - to cancel you (hence, the cancel culture).*

*E.g., if the administration doesn't like you they might, for example, have the FBI raid your dwelling looking for evidence (probably like NYC with Trump, anything they can call a crime). I hope Giuliani - - by the way, someone I don't like and think is a little deranged - is smart enough not to answer questions for them, because they will take any mistake of fact he makes and claim it is a lie about a material fact to federal agents and therefore a crime.

In Fowler's case, the State of Maryland is on the job, right away. They are investigating Fowler, looking back at 17 or so years of examinations by him. Why? Those people are long dead. There's no indication he would have any motive to give false reports, just because they didn't like his opinion here. They say they must do this, but really, this is what fascists do. They want to intimidate anyone who might testify for a party in an action in a way not favored by the keepers of the narrative. Actually, it is a little reminiscent of an early Nazi law almost immediately after Hitler came to power, a law purging the civil service of Jews, followed by other laws barring them from many professions and parts of German life. Remember, folks, once fascism starts, it tends to get worse.

In our day, conservatives, white men and especially Trump could be compared to the Reich's Jewish victims. By that I mean, they are groups singled out for persecution. Unfortunately for actual Jewish people in America, most who now support the party of fascism (not one thinks he or she is), they will find that they are already in that group too. They should know it already if they are paying attention to 70 percent of the D party voting against including anti-Semitism in a discrimination bill, to BLM more than once rejecting Jews as supporters, to the Biden administration funding an vehemently anti-Israeli group long cut off.  

If you don't think this is happening, explain to me what is happening with the companies My Pillow and Goya. Explain to me all of the companies and people de-monetized or de-platformed from social media. Explain to me Fowler. Explain to me AOC trying to halt free-speech and suggesting that the names of Trump supporters need to be archived. Explain to me the calls for no police or incarceration (though a huge majority of blacks have said on a Gallup poll that they want the same or more police.)

Perhaps this has happened in America before - an expert witness rendering an opinion being persecuted by his own state government for it. Lucky for him, he retired several years ago and they can't fire him. If anyone has an example of this in any country, not just America, please comment and increase my knowledge. Of course, if it has happened before, it is exceedingly rare in our country. 

I'll end like I started. I'm not a natural firebrand. I hate to say bad things about people, even public figures. When I write these posts, I can't help but think of my relative, one of nicest people I know, who stopped speaking with me for a few months because it hurt his feelings that I said he was supporting fascists (though he routinely suggested I was doing the same and had no problem with that). I think of the many extremely intelligent and pleasant people I know today who are Ds or even Rs who hated Trump so much they voted for Biden and other Ds and all they represent. I know you don't want to think you are supporting a fascist party. Trust me, I hate to say it, but, you are, no matter how smart you are, no matter how nice. I write this "stuff," rather than about the art and science and history and top ten lists I used to, because it's really important. And, if I can influence a tiny, tiny, tiny fraction of people who read it, that is important enough to deal with close friends and family being angry with me. 

This isn't an advertisement for Rs or conservatives, as I've never been one of them either (though I once was certainly very liberal), and I have had plenty to complain about them. But, they aren't acting like fascists. The D party, which for so many years was the party of slavery, the party of Jim Crow and the KKK, has returned to its root. This time, they are not attacking blacks, who are the most important base in the party. But, they have their victims. 

So, you don't think we live in a fascist state? I bet I've upset some of you.

Chauvin trial summations and the fascism of Maxine Waters

I like Peter Cahill. If you aren't watching the trial, and most people aren't, he is the judge on the trial. He seems not only to have the temperament we want in a judge. I do not know if he has done his job well though, because there were a number of issues that he didn't resolve and it seems like didn't address. But, I don't blame him most. The prosecutors did their job and I believe they feel justified in the actions they took, even if I didn't appreciate all of them. It's the defense attorney who I think has blown this trial. I say that, even thinking that Chauvin is most likely guilty of manslaughter. I write this during the instructions and summations (I can do both) and that's why I say most likely.

What did the defense attorney not do well? Lots. The foremost problem was not getting the action stayed and moved. I heard his motion. It was not robust or heart-felt enough. It was not passionate. It can't be told by me if he even believed it himself. But, this trial needed to be moved. It was too emotional, too dangerous, too frightening in Minneapolis to try this. The judge should have granted it on his own, so some blame lies with him too. During the jury selection itself the City of Minneapolis settled the civil case for $27 million, an unheard of number, in what looks like an act of appeasement and payoff to the rioters not to do it again. Whoever you were, your death would have been offered a a fraction of that amount. The problem grew greater over the trial. Another black person was shot, this one pretty clearly by accident, and almost immediately, the officer had to resign and was charged with manslaughter. 

More violence and rioting occurred. It was during this trial. The National Guard is in the street and has been shot at during this trial.  A curfew has been called during this trial. A fascists (and I don't apologize for using the word - that's what she is), Congressperson Maxine Waters, came to Minnesota and urged, if there is not a conviction, harder confrontation (there was violence, fires and over a billion dollars in damage to Minneapolis after the Floyd death - what's harder?). The city is girding itself to protect itself from riots if there is an acquittal. Many think that there will be riots regardless. I don't know. I do know they will happen and worse if there is an acquittal. 

The jurors seemed to feel protected (during jury selection) being in what was essentially an armed camp for the trial. So, they know they are in one, and they have to know what is outside leading to that situation. They have to be afraid of what will happen to the city and possibly to themselves if there is an acquittal. If there is acquittal (and I'm not suggesting there should be) then the jury is remarkably courageous in a way we do not expect from people. They already knew of the dangers as they were not sequestered through the summations, had been questioned during jury selection as to their fears, and Maxine Waters made sure of it, if anyone thought it had passed. Only after the jury had the case did we learn that defense counsel did ask for a mistrial and put it on the record. Like everything he does, there was no anger, no indignation, just a congenial statement of the facts. He should have made an impassioned plea and mentioned the national guard being shot at. He should have given her exact quote (the prosecution response was correct in that) and explained that since people died after Floyd's death because of rioting and because over a billion dollars in damage was done to the city, she obviously wants more.

The motion should have been granted, even if I think Chauvin is guilty of manslaughter -  I don't see any intent to cause grievous bodily harm - Chauvin most likely thought the ambulance would be there in 3 minutes, not 9. He should have moved him onto his side. This is my opinion, but I think Floyd would be alive if he was moved to his side when he had long ceased struggling. Obviously it should have been done when he stopped moving, more obviously when one officer couldn't find a pulse and more obviously when the same officer suggested they turn him over and Chauvin said, not yet.

Maxine Waters is a criminal in my view. If anyone dies as a result of rioting or under-policing, the death is on her (and now Pelosi, who said no apology was necessary) and anyone egging them on. And no, Donald Trump did not do that - he urged "peaceful "protest with no history of rioting by the Proud Boys or Oath Keepers except to fight back against Antifa and other fascist groups. They haven't tried to kill police in Portland (or anywhere) and haven't burned down buildings.  I already thought Waters was a fascist. She just keeps doubling down because in our sick country, she gets a pass. 

That Chauvin was merely following policy defense was a non-starter. I think it hindered the defense. It wasn't improved much in the summation because it did not explain the last four minutes (no pulse, etc.) The defense needed - had to - work on the basis that Floyd started dying in his car; that's why his friends couldn't wake him. When the police came, because of his history, adrenaline shot through him and he struggled with them (not maliciously in my view and certainly not with an intent to hurt or threaten anyone) until he died of the overdose. I am not saying I think that is what happened, but what the defense attorney's job was. To raise a reasonable doubt of that was the only hope Chauvin had. And that's his attorney's job.

Throughout, I was shocked by the lack of passion by the defense counsel in objecting to the leading questions by the prosecution that were unrelenting (the judge ordered them to with the teenagers - I disagree with that, but it's not what I mean here). He sat silently while more than one non-professional witness testified as an expert - e.g., the MMA fighter. He pleasantly cross-examined witnesses, even made jokes, and showed he was a nice guy to everyone. At the end of the case, he said to one prosecution as his walk-away line - "Fair enough." FAIR ENOUGH? This was one of the main expert witnesses. How does "fair enough" help his client? It means, well, that's fair. 

I have no personal animus to Mr. Nelson, the defense counsel. To the contrary, the prosecution ran with the ball until someone tackled them, leading every witness to an embarrassing degree, and only rarely was there an objection from the defense. The prosecutor who cross-examined the defense witnesses knew to roll his eyes, say "Really?" when he didn't like an answer. It seemed to me the prosecutors were just better attorneys.

I also can't understand how in the world, especially in a murder trial, the prosecution could put on George's girlfriend on the stand to testify as to their first kiss and how wonderful he was, and his brother to testify about their mother - when Derek can't get into evidence George's criminal record showing that he wasn't so wonderful. From Wikipedia: "Between 1997 and 2005, he was convicted of eight crimes. He served four years in prison after accepting a plea bargain for a 2007 aggravated assault in a home invasion." 

Now, I am not suggesting that George's record, which neither Derek nor the other officers seem to know, had anything to do with the case. But, neither did George snuggling with his mother and neither did his first kiss with his girlfriend. The court had already ruled that most of the complaints against Derek shouldnot come in but also that George's record shouldn't come in. What's the difference? Well, for me, whenthe prosecution started putting in evidence of how wonderful George was, it opened the door to what a jerk he could be - highly dangerous and with little regard for human life. I did not see a motion to allowwhat had previously been ruled inadmissible should now be? Did I miss it? I don't think so. 

I tried to give defense counsel the benefit of the doubt during the case. Maybe, I thought, he is waiting for his own witnesses, who would be wonderful. They weren't. There was no excuse.

The Murder 3 charge also continues to baffle me. This is what the law says:

"Whoever, without intent to effect the death of any person, causes the death of another by perpetrating an act eminently dangerous to others and evincing a depraved mind, without regard for human life, is guilty of murder in the third degree and may be sentenced . . . ."

The judge initially said that it didn't apply to this case. But the higher court came back with a ruling that he should apply a previous case of theirs according to the facts in this case. The defense attorney did argue that well. He explained that the use of a gun and car in the other cases could have damaged other people and didn't exist in this case. It was a knee to a body. No one else was endangered. The judge did not explain away his point, but acted as if the higher court had ordered him to reinstate the charge. The judge has been fair in this case and I don't accuse him of wrongdoing, just being wrong.

I didn't get it then and I don't know. In summation, the prosecutor said that they had proved danger to others as if he had just explained it all. He hadn't. That kind of behavior by a prosecutor I will never appreciate. They have duties to make sure the trial is fair that a defense attorney does not have. 

I do not see intent to cause bodily harm here necessary to find Murder 2. There is no evidence of it and the prosecutor is relying on hyperbole, for example, claiming that Derek mocked George's complaints. They have shown me no possible motive to explain why Derek would want to do it. The prosecutor's suggestion that it was because he was angry at the crowd can't be found - for me - just because he says so. I need proof beyond a reasonable doubt. If he can imagine that Derek was mad at the crowd, jurors can reasonably imagine he wasn't.

I do easily see negligence that led to George's death. Nothing that the defendant's witnesses offered us made a reasonable doubt as to the prosecutor's case that by his negligence, George Floyd died. 

What about the drugs in George's system? I think the prosecutors witnesses did a very good job of explaining why he died and that it wasn't drugs, certainly not the only reason. Though no one denies that he had fentanyl and methamphetamines in his system, defense could not touch the fact that it was quite little, dangerous as those drugs were. 

But, what of my scenario that George started dying in his car from drug use - certainly possible - and that after the burst of adrenaline from the cops showing up - and then returned to dying? Well, in order for me to find that a reasonable doubt as to his death, I would need to hear the defendant's experts tell me that. I didn't hear it. I just heard some questionable opinions that were child's play for the prosecution to cross. I didn't hear it in the summation either.

I thought the summation was defense counsel's best work. He continued to be the same person he was throughout the trial. He slowly went through the case. But, did he raise a reasonable doubt? Not as to the last few minutes of the case, in my view, not as to why Floyd died. It just isn't possible, without at least passably convincing testimony from witnesses to the contrary, conclude that it was reasonable to continue keeping George prone with weight on his neck or back with 4 minutes to go up until the time he died. I can't help but believe firmly that he would be alive if he had been rolled on his side. We know what we saw. Oddly, he left out some very common sense attacks on the inconsistencies of the prosecutor's own experts, the rush to judgment (they arrested his client in three days before almost any of these experts had done almost any work). Frankly, the whole case should have been about that from defendant's point of view.

The rebuttal for the prosecution was handled by Jerry Blackwell, who opened for them. He is a special prosecutor, a private attorney, who signed on for this case. He's the most effective of the prosecution team, my opinion I think, but probably the consensus. However, I didn't think he did much with it. I would have showed the last 4 minutes again.

These are my thoughts as deliberation starts. I can't predict what will happen. I hope justice is done, and I also hope that still more people don't die as a result of Floyd's death because of people like Maxine Waters. 

As always, apologies for the font and highlighting issues above. I have no control over it as far as I can tell.