We Hold These Truths To Be Self Evident....Sorta

David Corenswet

Sitting in a movie house, munching popcorn, and wearing 3-D glasses is a perfectly acceptable way to spend an afternoon. The weather was hot and muggy with lousy air quality due to wildfires in Canada so sub-zero temp air conditioning was a plus. SUPERMAN was okay. I really do think Christopher Reeve was the best Superman ever, although Henry Cavill is fun to look at. This new guy who everyone is so happy is Jewish, David Corenswet, may have a Jewish father, but his own admission, does not necessarily track as Jewish having stated:

If I had any religious upbringing, it was probably a Buddhist upbringing.... Not in a religious sense at all, basically just mindfulness meditation. My family went to a mindfulness retreat center every summer for a week.

Not that it matters. But his "Jewishness," like that of Spielberg's Fievel the Christmas Mouse, should only be regarded as a tangential curiosity, not as some claim to Jewish presence in a film, especially one that is somewhat regarded as anti-Israel, despite the refugee origins of the superhero. Never mind Shuster and Siegel gave Superman the Kryptonian name Kal El...which happens to mean Voice of G-d in Hebrew... let's all dump him in the spin-cycle and make him into whatever. He's fiction, people. 

Still, cultural appropriation is cultural appropriation.

As for the movie, the first half was painfully slow, but the second half moved like gangbusters and was pretty exciting. The absolute best line in the entire movie was about the garage door. I won't tell you what it is, but I'm still laughing at the thought. I had the exact same response in my head before the actor said it. 

So, in the twisted way my mind works, I thought a lot about the messages sent in Superman comics, tv shows, and films over the years. There were the anti-racism posters from the 50's, reissued multiple times with visual adjustments to keep it fresh. Superman himself was a refugee, in fact, an undocumented alien who arrived in a spaceship. Would the government at the time deport him? This one would. As American as Superman is, he is not. Does anyone take that into account? I'm guessing not.

And that got me thinking about national origins. There is a logical leap somewhere in there. Stick with me. I'll get to it. 

I was listening to a podcast about British colonialism and whether or not Israel was a colonial entity as a result of the partition. Unlike the Europeans who came to the "New World," we have tons of documentation tying us to Israel and the land itself. That fracture, in turn, got me thinking about the Declaration of Independence. I hadn't read it in a while, so I pulled it up. After the breath was sucked from my body, I realized what I was reading was not an updated version of public grievances against our government, it was the list submitted to King George III. Written by the "Committee of Five, John Adams of Massachusetts, Roger Sherman of Connecticut, Robert Livingston of New York, Benjamin Franklin of Pennsylvania, and Thomas Jefferson of Virginia, it is commonly believed Jefferson wrote the first draft. There are no surviving notes or documents that describe the actual process. 

Everyone knows how it starts:

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.--That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, --That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.

 

But when was the last time you read the list of grievances that led to the separation of the 13 Colonies from the Crown? Do that now.

He [King George III] has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.  

 

He has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his Assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them.

He has refused to pass other Laws for the accommodation of large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of Representation in the Legislature, a right inestimable to them and formidable to tyrants only.

He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their public Records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures.

He has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people.

He has refused for a long time, after such dissolutions, to cause others to be elected; whereby the Legislative powers, incapable of Annihilation, have returned to the People at large for their exercise; the State remaining in the meantime exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without, and convulsions within.

He has endeavoured to prevent the population of these States; for that purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migrations hither, and raising the conditions of new Appropriations of Lands.

He has obstructed the Administration of Justice, by refusing his Assent to Laws for establishing Judiciary powers.

He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone, for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries.

He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harass our people, and eat out their substance.

He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies without the Consent of our legislatures.

He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil power.

He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his Assent to their Acts of pretended Legislation:

For Quartering large bodies of armed troops among us:

For protecting them, by a mock Trial, from punishment for any Murders which they should commit on the Inhabitants of these States:

For cutting off our Trade with all parts of the world:

For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent:

For depriving us in many cases, of the benefits of Trial by Jury:

For transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended offences:

For abolishing the free System of English Laws in a neighbouring Province, establishing therein an Arbitrary government, and enlarging its Boundaries so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument for introducing the same absolute rule into these Colonies:

For taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable Laws, and altering fundamentally the Forms of our Governments:

For suspending our own Legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever.

He has abdicated Government here, by declaring us out of his Protection and waging War against us.

He has plundered our seas, ravaged our Coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people.

He is at this time transporting large Armies of foreign Mercenaries to compleat the works of death, desolation and tyranny, already begun with circumstances of Cruelty & perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the Head of a civilized nation.

He has constrained our fellow Citizens taken Captive on the high Seas to bear Arms against their Country, to become the executioners of their friends and Brethren, or to fall themselves by their Hands.

He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavoured to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian Savages, whose known rule of warfare, is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions.

In every stage of these Oppressions We have Petitioned for Redress in the most humble terms: Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A Prince, whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.

I had to double check that I wasn't reading some kind of revised version. I was not. Too many statements on that list just sounded too familiar. How do we break away from that which has become abhorrent ? Perhaps not now,  but when health care fails,  when crops rot in the fields, when classrooms no longer teach science and history but replace them with creationism and revisionism will the vox populi demand action? A change? A revolution?

As we all watch the dominos fall, and they are falling right now especially in agriculture, what action is the wisest course? Will the have-nots settle on a scapegoat like Jews or Mexicans to vent their collective spleen? Or will they finally demand the government respond to the needs of all the people? 

We, the People, broke away from England because the needs of the citizens were simply unmet, they were ignored and denied. Right now, we have a government that is actively working to deny food and healthcare to the lower strata of the population. Insurance companies, medical institutions, and universities all put profit ahead of outcome. I'm not suggesting socialism or, G-d forbid communism, I'm thinking the profit margins are much too deep. Yes, reinvest in research et al, but when is too much profit too much?

The fundamental issues of the 18th century have not changed. The economic pillage of our America now is no different from what King George III and Parliament did to us then. The only difference now is that the enemy is not across the sea....it is us...and it's not a good thing.

Meanwhile, back at Monticello, Thomas Jefferson made the most interesting observation about a paragraph that spoke ill of the English people and was subsequently removed.

The pusillanimous idea that we had friends in England worth keeping terms with still haunted the minds of many. For this reason, those passages which conveyed censures on the people of England were struck out, lest they should give them offense. 

That's a class act. As repugnant as the idea that we had any friends at all, the committee still chose not to piss them off unnecessarily. Our current leaders could learn from this. 

The Wifely Person's Tip o'the Week

Keep your eye on the availability 

of fresh produce in the coming weeks. 

It's likely to become scarcer and increasingly expensive.

There are no adequate words.

photo:Ronaldo Schemidt/AFP

I wrote a complete episode on the bull-hockey email I received from the Social Security Administration. It's no longer relevant. I cannot stop seeing the Camp Mystic signs in my head. I cannot wrap my head around what happened in Texas. Mostly I want to throw up. 

I spent a summer as a sleepaway camp counselor. I had a cabin full of Debs...the youngest campers. We had a week of torrential rains that summer, and even moved the kids to the dining hall one night because our roof was leaky, but never did a wall of water crash down on us. I cannot help but think of the counselors trying to save their kids. I want to retch thinking of the kids trying to save each other. 

And my heart stops when I think about my granddaughter who will leave for camp on Monday.

Did the National Weather Service fail to issue appropriate warnings to the area that floods were imminent? Were recent cuts responsible for their inefficiency? Over 600 NWS workers were removed from their posts, including senior meteorologists, and, as a result, field offices were closed, many were no longer operating 24 hours a day, and concerns about forecasting and dissemination of information were already at the forefront as the US heads into hurricane season. 

There will be lots of finger pointing. President Felon intimated his predecessor was responsible for the National Weather Service's shortcomings

I’ll tell you: You look at that water situation, that was really the Biden setup. That was not our setup. But I wouldn’t blame Biden for it either; I would just say this is a hundred-year catastrophe, and it’s just so horrible to watch.

But the truth is sadder than that. There were no sirens on the ground in Kerr County. Cell service was spotty. Unless you had a weather radio, you probably did not recognize the danger you were in. 

The NWS did issue warnings in a timely and detailed manner. But it was in the middle of the night with no human follow up as there might have been in a more populated area.

The first warning was sent on July 3rd to Bandera County only at 11:53 p.m. Kerr County, the location of Camp Mystic, was not included in that initial bulletin.

JULY 4Th

• 1:15 a.m: the first warnings issued for Kerr and Bandera Counties 
• 3:35 a.m., Bandera and Kerr Counties — NWS sends a repeat of its earlier warning to the two counties, but in the warning language it adds: "It is important to know where you are relative to streams, rivers, or creeks which can become killers in heavy rains. Campers and hikers should avoid streams or creeks."  
• 4:03 a.m., Bandera and Kerr Counties - This is a PARTICULARLY DANGEROUS SITUATION. SEEK HIGHER GROUND NOW!" and "Move to higher ground now! This is an extremely dangerous and life-threatening situation. Do not attempt to travel unless you are fleeing an area subject to flooding or under an evacuation order.

• 5:34 a.m., Kerr County — NWS sends a repeat of its earlier warning to Kerr County, which includes Camp Mystic. "This is a FLASH FLOOD EMERGENCY for the Guadalupe River from Hunt through Kerrvile and Center Point. This is a PARTICULARLY DANGEROUS SITUATION. SEEK HIGHER GROUND NOW!" and "Move to higher ground now! This is an extremely dangerous and life-threatening situation." 

• 6:06 a.m., Bandera and Kerr Counties — NWS sends a repeat of its earlier warning to both counties. It reads in part: "Local law enforcement reported numerous low water crossings flooded and major flooding occurring along the Guadalupe River with rescues taking place. Between 5 and 10 inches of rain have fallen. Additional rainfall amounts up to 2 inches are possible in the warned area. Flash flooding is already occurring. This is a FLASH FLOOD EMERGENCY for South-central Kerr County, including Hunt. This is a PARTICULARLY DANGEROUS SITUATION. SEEK HIGHER GROUND NOW!"  

• 6:27 a.m., Kerr County — NWS sends a repeat of its earlier warning to Kerr County, saying "This is a FLASH FLOOD EMERGENCY" and "SEEK HIGHER GROUND NOW!" 

All those notices are functionally in the middle of the night. If there are no sirens, no warning system, no modern way to get the information out, how is anyone going to respond to an emergency? WTF did they think was gonna happen? 

Obviously the NWS was ill prepared to think. You'd think they would've been trained about middle of the night emergencies with tornados. Apparently not. 

According to PBS News, there is no county flood warning system:

Kelly said the county considered a flood warning system along the river that would have functioned like a tornado warning siren about six or seven years ago, before he was elected, but that the idea never got off the ground because of the expense.

“We’ve looked into it before … The public reeled at the cost,” Kelly said.

He said he didn’t know what kind of safety and evacuation plans the camp may have had.

“What I do know is the flood hit the camp first, and it came in the middle of the night. I don’t know where the kids were,” he said. “I don’t know what kind of alarm systems they had. That will come out in time.”

The public reeled at the cost? Are we now to accept child sacrifice on the altar of public hubris? Are weather alert systems to go the way of vaccines? If you die, you die? Well, I guess it's okay since Senator Joni Ernst said, "We're all gonna die."

What kind of country has the technology to get the word  out, but doesn't do it? President Biden and others before him have consistently urged Congress to allocate funds for weather warning systems and other safety infrastructure programs. But does congress respond? No. They are too busy denying other attempts at repairing and restoring our infrastructure. Oh, yeah, wanna talk about Air Traffic Control? How about highway bridge safety? The list is endless.

Don't even get me started on the derailment of FEMA and how it's been turned into a political reward and punishment football in the last  6 months. Just ask anyone in Arkansas, North Carolina, West Virginia, or Washington State.

It's not enough to force people out of health care, food programs, and other safety nets one might think is the reasoning behind having governments in the first place. There are dozens of dead people in Texas because We, the People, do not insist our government serve We, the People who elected them in the first place. 

This should be but will not be a wake up call. That Muskrat wants a third party? Maybe he should find out what people expect from their government first, because his tenure at DOGE certainly didn't serve the people at all. Maybe someone, ANYONE, could think about what We, the People need, not what oligarchs and billionaires want. There is a bit of a disconnect between the two.

My cousins and their toddler went to Austin to the Hill Country last week for a bit of vacation fun. They left for home in Austin earlier than planned to get ahead of the storms. I can only think Baruch Ha'Shem ...thank G-d. 

The Wifely Person's Tip o'the Week

For G-d's sake, hug someone you love.

You may never know when they'll be ripped from your arms.

Optics and Perception

Not vice presidential
enough

Back in high school, like a gazillion years ago, my friend Billy told me "perception is 9/10 of the law." He was, at the time, consoling me over an election loss (mine) while trying to explain that girls hadn't caught up yet, that it didn't matter that my opponent was an idiot because he was a babe-magnet and I was just everyone's reliable, discreet, best friend. I might be the smarts on the board, but that didn't matter; I didn't look like a vice-president. To his defense, he drilled into me that this really sucked because I was totally qualified for the job. He was right and I knew it....so I did what I already knew how to do: I flew under the radar, instituted a massive change to how our organization prepared programming, and watched some asshole take credit for my work. Billy told me it didn't matter that the asshole took credit because the asshole would eventually fail when trying to make it function the way it should. And that they would call me to fix it. They did. And everyone knew who was behind the project's ultimate success. (50+ years later, it lives on in its own strange, inimitable way. (IYKYK) 

I learned a lot from Billy that year: how to be an existentialist (still am,) how to ignore stupid people (still working on that one,) and, obviously, the power of optics and perception. He had a great, innate understanding of how to manipulate all sorts of stuff. He was great at getting people to do things, he was an expert at shifting time frames to his advantage. But I always thought he was best at making me feel like I could control me. There were days I didn't quite live up to the tasks set before me, but Billy would always push back on my self-doubts to force me to confront the obvious: we are only victims of our failures if we allow ourselves to be victims. And our personal optics were a reflection of the stand that we should take. Our image, at least back in them olden days, should be carefully cultivate and maintained. 

We are what comes out of our mouths.

We live in a much different time now. The 60-second news cycle reduces everything to a sound byte. Between fake news, AI news, and just plain ol' bullshit, it's hard to tell what's real and what isn't. The ability to discern what is real from what isn't is becoming a lost art. My friends can all tell you I play internet police daily and call them out on bull-hockey posts. I provide links, information, and spend way too much time vetting this crap. I hate having to do it. But when I see garbage info on friends' sites, I can't NOT respond. And I constantly say, "DO YOUR OWN DAMN HOMEWORK!" 

So when Zohran Mamdani came on the scene with his non-statements about his earlier statements, I kept waiting for someone to ask the most important question of all. No one did. Instead, they kept hounding him on a statement he made in several places, including on FOX-News NY morning show.

On June 5th, Zohran Mamdani appeared on Fox's Good Day, New York and was asked whether or not he supported Israel's right to exist as Jewish state. He answered:I'm not comfortable supporting any state that has a hierarchy of citizenship on the basis of religion or anything else…. Equality should be enshrined in every country in the world. That's my belief.

If you are so inclined (as I am) to hear it for yourself, here's the link to the YouTube recording of the segment. The fun begins at minute 5:35. 

I thought that was possibly the most interesting statement he could have made regarding Israel. On the surface, it's a really cogent statement crafted to convince people he's for equal rights for all people in every country. He is subtly excoriating Israel for using Torah and Talmud as a basis for the legal system while stating that all citizens in Israel are not equal under the law. One might think that a guy born to Indian expats in Uganda might know a thing or two about religious freedom in both Muslim and non-Muslim countries.

Apparently, Mr. Mamdani is not uncomfortable with the 50 or so Muslim countries in the world that have varying realities regarding non-Muslims. His statement can be absolutely perceived that this is okay and those countries do not not need some kind of adjustment. 

Which makes me think about optics. 

How are people gonna interpret his statement? Will they examine it more closely, or will they draw the most simple of conclusions?  Mr. Mamdani refuses to address the issue of Hamas as a terrorist organization, and in the past, he has founded and supported pro-Palestinian groups that subscribe to the globalization of the intifada, one might easily draw the conclusion that, based on his speeches and recorded rhetoric, he is okay with attacks on college campuses that target Jews. At the same time, he rails against antisemitism and insists there is no place for it in New York City. 

On the other hand, he has been an ardent supporter of the DSA (Democratic Socialists of America) who support BDS (Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions) against the selling of all Israeli products in America. Both movements are not, as they claim to be, simply anti-zionist, they are against Israel's right to exist as Israel

So, which is the real Zohran Mamdani? What do his optics tell you about who he is?

Therein lies the real question no one is asking so far: as mayor of New York, would he tacitly give the shrug and a wink to the encampments and the vitriol? Would he tell them it's okay to take a stand without telling them they cannot exclude Jewish students from any campus? Will the the pro-Palestinian front take this as a license-to-behave-badly victory? 

Or will he actually take a stand against hate crimes directed against Jews? 

 

Do let me know if you know that answer to that.

Meanwhile, back at the capitol.....

As long as we're on the topic of optics, President Felon's response to the assassinations in Minnesota are the great optics of all. They just reinforce what We, the People, already know: he is a classless piece of human excrement. President Biden's presence at the Rotunda was low key, welcome, and appropriate to the moment. His presence at the funeral with Vice-President Harris was lovely.

The Wifely Person's Tip o'the Week

I'm afraid optics matter in our insta-world 

more than perception.

Wishful Thinking

Y'know, I'm not a big fan of snake oil hawkers, grifters, and tent revival holy rollers. I view all those folks with a jaundiced eye and a healthy measure of total disbelief in anything and everything they say. Their idea of truth is largely their idea only, and their sole intent it to separate fools from their money. And if President Felon's earning statement for 2024 is any indication, he had a very lucrative year. And now that his company is starting a new mobile phone service the sky's the limit. Of course, claims that the phone is totally American made are absurd. Currently, the only phone assembled in the US is the $1,999 Liberty phone  by Purism...and even that has parts from China and India. It is not $499 like the Sons of Swindle have promised. I cannot imagine the FCC going along with this...oh wait. Maybe I can, 

What it comes down to is yet another scam, another pile of streaming bullhockey issuing forth from President Felon's Fraud Central Factory. There is nothing that comes outta his mouth, outta the mouths of his henchfolk, or outta the mouths of his family members that can be trusted. Nothing can ever be fully vetted with these people. His hyperbole aside, he just plain lies about everything...from the size of his winkie to the size of the parade crowd. Art Of The Deal ...my ass; more that the Art of The Scam. 

Which should make you wonder about the ceasefire he claims Israel and Iran have signed onto. ...especially when Iran is continuing to lob missiles at Israel as of a few minutes ago. 

He posted this on Truth Social. And you know what we all say about believing everything you see on the internet....

But then, again, he posted something similar about India and Pakistan on May 10th:

According to Chatham House, a respected British think tank:

The ceasefire also does not address any of the underlying grievances in the bilateral relationship. In a social media post, Secretary of State Marco Rubio noted that both sides have agreed to ‘start talks on a broad set of issues at a neutral site’. Talks between both countries’ military personnel took place on 12 May, but it remains to be seen if this paves the way for meaningful political dialogue.

India has stated that talks can only discuss the issues of terrorism and Pakistan-administered Kashmir, while Pakistan will want to focus on the resumption of the IWT and the status of Indian-administered Kashmir. The last time both countries engaged in substantive peace talks was the Composite Dialogue process that came to a halt following the Mumbai terrorist attacks in 2008.  

In the absence of political dialogue, it is not a question of if but when hostilities resume. New Delhi has stated that it will consider another attack like Pahalgam an act of war, while Islamabad has said the same with respect to any violation of the IWT.

The phrase that pays here is: In the absence of political dialogue. The highlight is mine. Sending tweets about ceasefires you think you've secured is a lovely thought, but In the absence of political dialogue, it's not a real ceasefire. It's wishful thinking. 

Back to Israel and Iran. AT THIS MOMENT IN TIME: I have yet to see any news bulletin from either Israel or Iran stating they have accepted a ceasefire agreement from President Felon. That statement may be forthcoming, but right now, at this moment, it sounds like a con. He’s hoping he can bully them into some kind of discussion via social media. 

I just checked again. As of  8:58 PM E.T., no confirmation has been received from either government. 

Never mind the congressional or constitutional issues here. I already heard one Democrat congressman say that the US sortie into Iran was the fault of AIPC....loosely translated: it's the Jews' fault. Like a said a few episodes ago, all he is doing is putting a bigger target on our backs as he pretends to be our friend. And he is still vying for the Nobel Peace Prize. President Felon is nothing more than an oversized playground bully compensating for his lack of...well, you know...playground equipment by manipulating the games, the systems, and ultimately the players.  Enough about this troll of a human...for the moment anyway.

Meanwhile, whilst doing my research about the attacks and reprisals, I kept hearing the phrase surgical strike. It reminded me of a similar line my favorite movie, THE AMERICAN PRESIDENT. After an incident with Libya that requires a military response, President Shepard says:

Someday someone's going to have to explain to me the virtue of a proportional response.

That line reminded me of surgical strike, so I looked it up and found it's actually from a piece of satire by Richard Barnet, published in HARPER'S Magazine back in November of 1971  which happens to be during the Vietnam War. Lo and behold, Niall Ferguson and I clearly operate on the same check-it-out school of writing, because he wrote about that phrase just today in a piece for Free Press called What Comes After Trump's 'Surgical Strikes'?

Ironically, as Richard Nixon’s former speechwriter William Safire pointed out nearly 40 years ago, the term surgical strike originated as left-wing satire. The first use of the phrase, according to Safire, was in an article by Richard Barnet in Harper’s Magazine in November 1971. “Even [in] the language of the bureaucracy,” Barnet wrote, “the ‘surgical strike’ for chasing and mowing down peasants from the air by spraying them with 8,000 bullets a minute—takes the mystery, awe, and pain out of violence.”

Safire

You can read the whole article from the NY Times here: Safire on Language: Surgical Strike. I think it's worth reading. BTW, Safire's On Language was one of my favorite columns in the Times, and one I almost always talked about with my dad. I loved their love of language; it was simply grand.

Meanwhile, back on the tundra....

This assassin Vance Boelter guy was really prepared for the apocalypse, The cops picked up his wife with the kids, a sack of cash, passports, and other accouterments for blowing this pop stand. They called him a prepper: he was preparing for this for a long time. According to Minnesota Public Radio,  they found the following stuff on or near his Green Isle property:

•        4 dozen guns
•         5 body bags
•         Another Ford Explorer made to look like a police vehicle
•          3 AK-47 rifles
•         Dozens of boxes of ammunition
•         $17,940 in cash
•        Lots of spent cartridges and casings

And just for good measure: Investigators recovered a Beretta handgun from the backyard of a home on the west side of the golf course. In the woods between an adjacent home and the Shingle Creek Regional Trail, police found a partially-loaded magazine, the flesh-colored silicone mask that Boelter was allegedly seen wearing in surveillance video, as well as a wig. 

The feds are now running the show on the trial et al. I understand how that's gonna go down. But honestly, I am worried that if it's a federal conviction, President Felon will issue a pardon because Hortman and Hoffman are Democratic legislators. He's already called our governor vile names, and some of his cronies have intimated that Governor Walz set up the hit to "send a message." Really? . If you love conspiracies, you'll love this in the Minnesota Reformer. 

The Wifely Person's Tip o'the Week

Hydrate. 

I'm not kidding. 

That's a very serious tip.

There just wasn't anything to write about tonight. NOT.

Some weeks, I really have to scrape to find something to write about. This is not one of those weeks. As such, I must start with the assassination of Speaker Emerita Melissa Hortman and her husband, and the attempted assassination of State Senator John Hoffman, his wife, and daughter, and the other Minnesota state legislators who did not answer the door when Vance Boelter knocked. 

I'm not gonna write much about this assassin, but I will point you to a profile post on the Minnesota Public Radio website. One piece of that profile was worth posting here:

Friends told the AP that they knew Boelter was religious and conservative, but that he didn't talk about politics often and didn't seem extreme.  

 

"He was right-leaning politically but never fanatical, from what I saw, just strong beliefs,” said Paul Schroeder, who has known Boelter for years.

Every time there was a serial killer, Ziggy maintained the same thing was said about each one:

 He sure seemed like a nice guy. Always polite, always kept to himself.

This Boelter guy also served as a pastor while on a mission to Congo. Clearly, he was a man of deep rooted Christian faith who viewed it as some kind of mission to murder people. One might think that's the opposite of what Christians are supposed to do, but who am I to say what is and is not Christian values? I mean, if you listen to the MAGA right, adultery is also okay. Stiffing one's workers, jailing US citizens, and denying medical care to the poor and the marginalized (like women) is okay, too. Be that as it may, Boelter's actions are not all that strange; in fact, one might say that they are an offshoot of MAGA philosophy. 

One might also suspect if the decision is made to charge him with federal crimes, President Felon will simply wave his magic winkie and pardon the guy. This concern is not unfounded. For the record, this is from an interview on Sunday with ABC News reporter Rachel Scott asking if he called Governor Walz after the assassination s, the MAGGot-in-Chief replied:

Well, it's a terrible thing. I think he's a terrible governor. I think he's a grossly incompetent person. But I may, I may call him, I may call other people too," the president told Scott. 

And this is the leader of We, the People? I am disgusted to the max. 

To his credit, Vice President Bedbug called our Governor. 

So, here's the thing....I keep turning President Felon's statement over and over and I begin to wonder who on his staff knew this was in the works? The preparations Boelter made, the lists, the documentation, all point to a carefully constructed plan. Could he have done that without assistance? After he ran from the Hortman home, he texted his family, and then his wife around 6:20 a.m. According to the report on CBS News:

"Dad went to war last night ... I don't want to say more because I don't want to implicate anybody." He also allegedly sent a separate text to his wife: "Words are not gonna explain how sorry I am for this situation ... there's gonna be some people coming to the house armed and trigger-happy and I don't want you guys around."

She was apprehended with $10,000 in cash, passports, guns, ammo, and the kids. Did she know what was going down? Hard to tell from this. 

Is there a conspiracy theory in there someplace? Ja, sure, you betcha! GOP Senator Mike Lee of Utah posted: “This is what happens When Marxists don’t get their way,”  Really? How did someone that stupid get to be a Senator? [Don't answer that!]

If there are heroes in this story, it's Yvette Hoffman who shielded her daughter from the bullets with her own body, and the yet-unnamed police officer who decided to go to Hortmans' home. 

Minnesotans are in shock. No one can grok the idea that it happened here. Not in our purple, mild-mannered state. 

Remember all those Mickey Rooney/Judy Garland movies that basically said "Let's have a show in the barn!" and then it was like a Broadway production with sets, lights, and sparkly costumes. He claimed 250,000 people came, but them stands were awfully empty and there was lots of grassy space available for lawn chairs. Besides, everyone looked painfully bored. 

                                              What he imagined versus What he got                                                     

I would like to say I feel sorry for the guy, but I don't. Over the weekend, a financial disclosure for President Felon was released. In 2024, he reported over $600 million in income from his holdings, including the crypto sold prior to his taking office. You can read it in Reuter's report. I'm left wondering if he paid any tax on that income, or if it offset his usually monumental business losses. No matter how you look at it, the Grifter-in-Chief makes money off the presidency. When are the red states gonna understand their lives are burning while this asshole fiddles?

Despite a price tag upwards of $45 million,  the crowd size, like the size of his winkie, could not compare with the estimated 5 million protesters who marched in over 2000 planned...and spontaneous NO KINGS demonstrations across the nation. Even the fake news about riots in LA could not dampen the significance of the day. As a matter of fact, there were NO riots. In a strange twist of reality, President Felon attended an understudy performance of Les Mis, and thought they were singing about him...in a good way. 

Do you hear the people sing?

Singing a song of angry men?

It is the music of a people

Who will not be slaves again

Maybe he'll rethink that after this weekend...but I highly doubt it. It would not be the narcissistic thing to do.

Meanwhile, back in the Middle East.....

I won't write about the American friends and family who are in Israel for the foreseeable future because Ben Gurion is closed....or the friends who are stranded in the US, Greece, and other less than exotic locales while trying to get home to Israel. This is all stuff you already know happens. Nor will I write about bomb shelters, direct hits in Bat Yam or Tel Aviv because you already know about that, too. and there is nothing I can add that can comfort anyone. 

But I will write about what I think about Israel taking an active position on Iran. And as unpopular an opinion that it will be in some quarters....too bad. 

I think Israel did the one thing the rest of the world was afraid to do: take out Iran's nuclear capabilities. 

Here's the reality: Russia, China, Iran, and North Korea have a long history of proliferation. Russia's war with Ukraine is internationally viewed as illegal and without foundation. Iran, on the other hand, sits in its desert and utilized proxies to wage war against Israel. No one else. Just the Jews.  Iran is the established income source for Hezbollah in Lebanon, Hamas in Gaza, and the Houthis in Yemen. They serve as proxy armies for Iran's terror network. 

In the past, Iran has continued munitions development despite their insistence that they are not building nuclear warheads. Are the others members of the so-called Axis of Resistance aiding them in their quest? Possibly. This is pretty scary stuff. If Iran can finally produce a deliverable nuclear warhead, are they crazy enough to deploy it in battle?  

The FinCEN of the US Department of the Treasury issued this report a year ago...before President Felon took office while professionals were still running the departments:

For Immediate Release

May 08, 2024

WASHINGTON — Today, in light of intensified terrorist activity in the Middle East, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) issued an Advisory to assist financial institutions in detecting potentially illicit transactions related to Islamic Republic of Iran-backed terrorist organizations. The Advisory highlights the means by which certain terrorist organizations receive support from Iran and describes several typologies these terrorist organizations use to illicitly access or circumvent the international financial system to raise, move, and spend funds. It also provides red flags that may assist financial institutions in identifying related suspicious activity.

“Terrorist organizations and activity supported by and aligned with Iran should not benefit from access to the U.S. or international financial systems,” said FinCEN Director Andrea Gacki. “As we witness continuing instability and violence in the Middle East, we are issuing this Advisory to help financial institutions protect the financial system from abuse by terrorists and to encourage financial institutions to stay vigilant in identifying and reporting related suspicious activity.”

“Iran continues to explore new ways to fund its dangerous and destabilizing activities, including the proliferation of dangerous weapons, malicious cyber activities, and financing of terrorist proxies in the region,” said Under Secretary of the Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence Brian E. Nelson. “As the Office of Terrorism and Financial Intelligence marks its twentieth anniversary, we reaffirm our commitment to constrain the ability of Iran and its terrorist proxies to exploit the international financial system.”

Recent events have underscored Iran’s involvement in and financing of terrorist activity in the region. Iran seeks, among other goals, to project power by exporting terrorism throughout the Middle East and beyond by financing a range of regional armed groups, some of which are U.S.-designated Foreign Terrorist Organizations or Specially Designated Global Terrorist organizations. These terrorist organizations include Lebanese Hizballah, Hamas, the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, the Houthis, and several Iran-aligned militia groups in Iraq and Syria.

While everyone is running about dealing with the Three H's, Iran has not been idle. They are stocking up enriched uranium. Fodow, one of their most important facilities, is buried about 300' beneath a mountain near Qom. Israel doesn't have a bomb heavy enough to destroy it, but the US has a "bunker buster" that should do the job. Will they give it to Israel? Hard to say.

President Felon claims he's been negotiating with the Iranians, but I am skeptical. According to ABC News, he attempted to reach out to the Supreme Leader through the Japanese Prime Minister:

This isn't the first time Trump has sent a message to Khamenei. In 2019, with the help of former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, he sent a similar message, but the Iranian leader publicly rejected that offer to talk.

Khamenei reportedly said at the time, "I do not consider Trump as a person worth exchanging any message with."

I'm not certain anything has changed in anyone's perception of the felon's ability to negotiate a real deal on any level. If you really want to dig into understanding Iran's nuclear program, here's something you should read. IRAN WATCH: Tracking Iran's Unconventional Weapons Capabilities. If this doesn't scare you....

The other piece that should be required reading is from Atlantic Council, a non partisan American global think tank. They published a rather comprehensive group of divergent opinions of the Iran attack, and it's worth reading if you want to get a broader view. Two articles in particular were helpful: Twenty questions (and expert answers) on the Israel-Iran war and Experts react: Israel just attacked Iran’s military and nuclear sites. What’s next?

Touched by His Noodly Appendage,/ Niklas Jansson

Obviously, I am not a Middle East expert, nor do I play one on TV. What I am is in need of a good education on Iran and its intentions...even beyond nuclear proliferation. I am long skeptical of Shi'ite Islam since the fall of the American Embassy and the taking of hostages. I don't trust anyone who says there is only one path to G-d and it's theirs. That included Hasids, Evangelicals, Christians of many stripes, Muslims, Hindus, or Pastafarians. Doesn't matter. No one gets to tell anyone else what to believe....or even how.  Unless you're sacrificing children....that stops right away.

I am not making light of this. I am deadly serious when I say I need to understand in more depth what is happening, and I suspect most of us need to get away from the media bubble. I cannot stand listening to the half-baked opinions on CNN or MS-NBC. Near as I can tell, they know nothing of substance. 

The FREE PRESS's reporter Tanya Lukuanov did an interesting video asking people in Gaza, Syria, and Lebanon what they think of Israel's bombing of Iran. I'm sure it's cherry-picked, but it it's even a bit true, maybe there is a sliver of hope. Unfortunately, the video has a pay wall, but you can see the beginning. Below is a sample of what was said. 

In Gaza, where Iran’s terror proxy Hamas sparked the ongoing war with the October 7 attacks, the anger toward Tehran and its allies was visceral.

“Have you seen what has happened in Gaza?” one man asked bitterly. “All of it is because of Iran.”

Another put it simply: “I can’t feed my daughters. And why? Because of the Axis of Resistance.”

In Lebanon, still reeling from monthslong clashes between Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah, most residents we interviewed wanted nothing to do with further escalation. “At this point? No,” one man said, when asked if Hezbollah should reenter the war against Israel.

“We used to expect a much stronger response from them,” another man agreed. “Now, for sure, they’ve been weakened.”

The most forceful condemnation of Tehran, though, came from Syria, where Iran-backed forces helped prop up Bashar al-Assad and participated in the slaughter of hundreds of thousands of civilians during more than a decade of a brutal civil war.

“Praise be to God, we hope this gangster regime ends and disappears completely,” one Syrian told us. “We have suffered deeply at their hands.”

“All of Syria’s suffering stems from Iran,” another man agreed. “The entire Syrian people are happy—and I’m celebrating with them. If Israel wants to bomb Iran for another 100 years—we’ll cheer.”

Their mouths to G-d's ear. 

The Wifely Person's Tip o'the Week

Not sure who/what to believe anymore? 

Google can still be your best friend if you ignore AI reponses.

As Ziggy would admonish: 

Phrase your questions carefully,

then look at all sorts of results. 

Vet your sources.

Trust no one but your own research.