Scrutiny and the Courts

Thousands of U.S. judges who broke laws or oaths remained on the bench

In a research article published by Reuters: (https://www.reuters.com/investigates/special-report/usa-judges-misconduct/) They report on how too many judges at state and local level have been given immunity, impunity and passes to commit crimes themselves. Worse their victims have found it nearly impossible to get compensation or accountability when they've been clearly harmed by the behavior of the judges. The article sums itself as follows:

Reuters Report

He Didn't want to die

He did not want to die
He did not want to be a martyr
He wanted to see his neices & nephews grow old.
To sit by their beds
And tell them stories at night.
The kind of scary stories
With a safe kind of fright...

Good night.
Sleep well.
Hope your dreams are not as disturbing as mine.
For I see prophesies & visions;
Warnings of what is coming
Unless we do the right thing.
A Dragon emerges from my heart
soars above a scorched plain.
Will humans listen?
Or plunge the world in darkness again?

There is no cure
For what ails you.
You can torture thousands.
Drink their blood.
Bathe in it.
It is all the same.
An empty, hollow game.
Your soul is already in hell.
The suffering you inflict,
The pain & conflict
You will feel.
From your own vile judgement
There is no appeal.

I've reached the nadir of my despair.
It is not that I no longer care.
But I say a serenity prayer.
I focus on what I can change
And let go of what I can't.
These times of dysfunction
Only illustrate what is proper function.
We need a revolution
In our communities & hearts.

Reform Emergency Response to get Community Policing & Communities

Reform Emergency Response.

I've been listening to people talk about reforming the police and they all have good ideas. Some want to simply defund the police – even eliminate them – One twitter friend says [same as me].

"We need REAL police reform:

• no outta town cops
• no guns unless SWAT
• no shooting suspects in the back
• no military assault gear
• no qualified immunity"

Black Lives in DC Matter!

I agree entirely with the following:

"The senseless murder of George Floyd and other people of color, is a shame and an injustice. The violence generated by white supremacist   and systematic racist prevents the building of a more perfect union. The consequences of the lack of corrective action by churches, corporations, civic and social organizations are a part of what must change. GABIDDC will not stand on the sidelines and be a part of silence that is deadly. We will soon asking you to attend our vitual meeting to create a plan of action for implementing chang. GABIDDC is a representative organization and public opinion directs our work. Stay tuned and continue for healing and positive change."

Black lives in DC matter.

 

GABIDDC

Truman E Carpenter

Truman E Carpenter, was my Grandfather. I never met him. He died January 5 1938, approximately. My mother [See: Sally Ann Holte/Mom] was orphaned at the beginning of 1938 when his plane went down. She was barely 2 years old when he died. Doing research on him, I thought some of it was interesting stuff and wanted to share it somewhere along with URLS to other places there is info on him.

Some of Those URLs are here:

• US Navy Memorial Page
• Registry of Warrant Officers

Misusing the Law

In 1932, thousands of WW1 vets camped with their families in Washington DC, petitioning the Federal Government to payout bonuses early so they could survive. The Hoover Admin sent in the Army with bayonets under McArthur to suppress & drive them out. This heartless & authoritarian action led to FDR winning election.

Trump Plots Takeover

Yesterday Trump attacked a peaceful protest. He has deliberately labeled peaceful protests riots and accused "antifa" of engaging in lawless rioting. It is obvious the rioting has largely been instigated by Trump allies, the so called "boogaloo Bois", proud boys, rw media, all have gotten in on the act. It was even alleged that "umbrellaman" who broke windows at a store to entice people to loot it, was a cop. This has been going on a long time. Back in the 60s Charlie Manson justified his murders claiming he was trying to start a race war. 

Tump thinks he can start a holocaust and use that to win reelection or dictatorial powers. I think it will fail.

Not to say it isn't possible.

That is not to say he won't try.  That little stunt of attacking peaceful protesters and then holding up a bible. Isn't designed to get majority support. He has disregarded the law, misappropriating funds for his border wall, and gotten away with it. So far just ignoring laws has worked for him. People are calling on congress to cut off funds. They have done it on other issues. He ignores them.

Who will stop him? The courts!

Will he succeed in avoiding and rigging elections? I hope not.

Its going to be a long hot summer.

Federal Powers to Intervene in States

“To Enforce Federal Law Section 252 of Title 10 (previously section 332 of Title 10) delegates Congress’s power under the Constitution to call forth the militia279 to the President, authorizing him to determine that “unlawful obstructions, combinations, or assemblages, or rebellion against the authority of the United States make it impracticable to enforce the laws of the United States” and to use the Armed Forces as he considers necessary to enforce the law or to suppress the rebellion.”

Civil Rights Protection 

Section 253 of Title 10 (previously section 333 of Title 10) permits the President to use the Armed Forces to suppress any “insurrection, domestic violence, unlawful combination, or conspiracy” if law enforcement is hindered within a state, and local law enforcement is unable to protect individuals, or if the unlawful action “obstructs the execution of the laws of the United States or impedes the course of justice under those laws.”

This section was passed to implement the Fourteenth Amendment guarantee for equal protection. It does not require the request or even the permission of the governor of the affected state. It would be ironic if the President used a section of law intended to enforce civil rights, to suppress demonstrations in response to Federal tyranny.

TV Handmaids vs Trumpist & Taliban reality

There are real parallels between the Evangelicals depicted in the Handmaids tale, Trumpism and the Taliban.  Both the evangelical RW & Taliban are religious groups who reject the separation of Church and State, women's rights, & much of liberal democracy. But, while the Handmaids tale is fiction, the "Sons of Jacob" are plausible. The Taliban resemble them.  The story was written in the 60s. Updated for TV & the present it is even more terrifying.

Parallels to the Taliban

Parallels:

1. Commanders

The Talliban decentralized their movement in the face of arrests & imprisonments after losing electorally.  The treasonous revolutionaries who overthrew the USA &  created Gilead called themselves Commanders & their movement "Sons of Jacob" and used this structure to operate as both a movement and a terrorist army.  The Taliban have done the same.

The structure is ideal for a tneocratic autocracy, because a paramilitary organization with commanders can be both decentralized and under oligarchic control. They could employ almost unlimited resources of men and material and seemlessly take over government & business orgs & resources.

2. Oppression of women

Both Taliban and Gilead are all about Oppression of women. Gilead justified enslaving women on cherry picked biblical passages. The Taliban cherry pick Hadith & Koran.  The Taliban behave in a manner similar to the fictional rulers of Gilead. Destroy schools, Forbid literacy in children, force conservative dress, kill or enslave the rebellious. The world of Afghanistan resembles the fictional Gilead.

People forget that Iran and Afghanistan once had women doctors & were not that different from our country before revolutionaries took it over. People also forget that similar ideas are taught as dogma by dogmatic RW Christians & Catholics. In Gilead & Afghanistan reading is criminalized or punished.

Gilead and EMAD Trumpism

Thank God it didn't happen here! Yet.  But Trump draws his base [in Arabic alqaeda] from Fundamentalists with similar ideas to the Sons or Jacob.  It could happen here. And as the experts warn you, and as illustrated by both the "Handmaid's tale" and the Taliban, The rank and file may be true believers, but the leaders are Exploitive, Manipulative, Amoral & Dishonest [EMAD], or to use the clinical terms, at best Narcissistic, but with folks like Trump Psychotic, Sociopathic, ruthless & criminal people.  The taliban finances itself smuggling drugs & running extortion schemes.

What this means is that when people like Lawrence Tribe, tell you he will do anything he can to stay in power. And his wannabe Commanders talk up "There is no good Democrat but a Dead Democrat" there is good reason to be alarmed enough to make sure you get involved!!!

Our water supply is not yet polluted enough for handmaids. But the story is more plausible than it seems.

It could happen here!