Tag: GOP / DEM

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America’s Fascism at its finest… In Texas? In Freakin Texas?

The San Marcos Daily Record published a very troubling article on Sunday July 17th.

The headline read, FBI Raids Retired San Marcos Couple’s Home

At first you might miss the significance. I thought to myself, “What could a retired couple possibly have done to warrant the FBI raiding their home.

The thoughts that went through my mind were, Human Trafficking, Drug manufacturing or sales? Were these folks involved in organized crime? Had the FBI found some fugitive who had escaped and managed to live quietly for years in an average community?

All of which would be good reason for the FBI to raid a place.

I was completely wrong.

The article is linked to the headline above. Click on it, I dare you!

This couple was raided for nothing other than having been part of a peaceful protest in Washington D.C. on Jan 6th 2020. They were not inside the capital, they were on the other side of the Capital from where the crowd, (was Invited in, Stormed the Capital Police, Broke into the Capitol Building,) that seems to depend on whose narrative you’re reading.

For my part, I tend to believe the eyewitness accounts of many of the protesters themselves. They all describe a very chaotic confusing scene. Each of them saw things slightly differently. But there are commonalities in their narratives. The doors were open, many saw people walking through the building, many thought it was okay. The Capital Police were talking with protestors on the steps. Then everything went to shit. (I suspect the trigger was the gunshot from the Capital Police Officer who killed Ashli Babbitt. I could be wrong…)

I believe the vast majority of the protestors really had no idea that they were doing anything “wrong” and that would be somewhat supported by the remarkable lack of destruction in the building. Compare Kenosha with The Capital Building.

Burning cars? Nope! Fires inside the building? Nope! There are pictures of people inside the building next to vases, portraits, and fabrics, mind you, all intact.

Pictures of protestors inside The House Chamber, and Nancy Pelosi’s office show that the room and indeed most of the furnishings were remarkably untouched. For there to have been such horrific violence you’d expect there to be a lot more damage. I’ve seen barroom brawls that did more damage than the so called Inserrection.

This is counter to what The Jan 6th Committee would have us believe.

Reviewing photographic evidence of the, “Mostly Peaceful Protests,” in cities across the nation reveals a rather stark difference.

Billions in damage, whole neighborhoods razed and yet we’re to believe that somehow The Capital riot was worse?

We’re to believe that The Capital riot was on par with Pearl Harbor, or 9/11?

I’ll quote Ilhan Omar, “Some people did some things…”

The troubling aspects of this FBI raid in Texas are many.

Unmarked cars?
No sirens, or lights?
The homeowner directly requesting to see a warrant in accordance with his Fourth Amendment right being responded to with flashbang grenades?
Drones & Planes circling overhead?
Excessive force, 20 to 30 vehicles, perhaps 100 agents, and an armored vehicle?
FBI, ATF, and SWAT?

What precisely did the FBI think was going on? All this to not arrest two retired law abiding citizens?

All of this to confiscate a couple of cell phones, and Trump memorabilia?

You’re probably thinking, “But the man was on his front porch with gasp an Assault Rifle!”

First, it’s Texas! Second, since the Biden Administration has opened the border. People rolling up on your home in Texas, unannounced and unmarked could just as easily be a bunch of Cartel Thugs looking to take your place over as a base of operation. Third, Texas has a stand your ground law that includes your property, (in this case all 7 acres). Fourth, an older man in his underwear greeting intruders on his property before dawn with a rifle isn’t at all surprising.

I’ve greeted police at my door late at night with a baseball bat. I’ve also greeted police banging on my door at 3 a.m. with a gun in my hand. Both times, there was a moment of tension.

With the baseball bat, I apologized and set the bat to the side of the door, then stepped back.

With the gun, (Not aimed at the officers,) I asked how we could extricate ourselves from this awkward situation. They were very polite and simply asked if I would place the gun on the table and step away. I did, and invited them in.

They legitimately were doing their duty, asking that we evacuate due to a fire. They didn’t ask for me to unload the weapon, nor did they touch it. One officer did discreetly place himself between me and the gun. I acknowledged his discretion with nothing more than a smile, he smiled back and nodded.

It’s amazing what a little civility and common sense can accomplish!

In either case, had an officer presented me with a Warrant, I’d have stood down in the same fashion. That’s called being a law abiding citizen.

What troubles me so much about this article is that it comes on the heels of high profile arrests such as James O’keefe with the FBI supposedly in search of Biden’s daughter’s diary.

O’keefe didn’t have Biden’s daughter’s diary. He’d said so publicly prior to his arrest and raid. Even if he did have it, he hadn’t stolen it. The diary was offered to, and reviewed by O’Keefe. But he chose to pass on it.

Jeffery Clark’s home was raided where the FBI seized electronics and held him outside in his pajamas until they’d finished tossing the place. Thus far, the only crime(s) Clark appears to have committed were questioning the election and working for former President Trump.

The tactics increasingly displayed by the FBI and the DOJ are nothing less than those of the KGB or Stassi.

My concern, beyond the obvious issues with our government stomping all over The Constitution, is that someone is going to get hurt. I’ll guarantee you that it’s not going to be an FBI agent. It’s going to be some local officer doing what he or she has been told to do by the FBI. Or it’ll be a innocent person or bystander

The FBI, ATF, or DOJ will call it collateral damage and use the situation as an excuse to execute someone.

These raids can only be seen as nothing other than intimidation.

I ask you. If these raids were happening at The Clinton Foundation, or Hunter Biden’s home, or Jim Biden’s home, or McCabe’s, Strozk’s, Page’s, Clinesmith’s, Sussmann’s, Elias’s, Omar, or Comey’s homes, what would you call it?

Would you say it was justice, or would you call it the weaponization of the DOJ against the players in the Democratic party?

Believe what you want. Just remember that once we’ve allowed this sort of behavior to become normal, once we’ve allowed the ruling party to forge this kind of weapon, then any ruling party can use it.

If the GOP seizes power and decides to pick up this weapon, using it against Democrats and their allies, don’t be surprised and don’t come whining to me about it.

What’s been allowed to happen at the DOJ is not much shy of a nuclear bomb dropped on The Constitution. It took a long time for us to crawl back from McCarthyism, this is far worse.

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Prime Time Hearings?

I’ll admit I completely missed it.

Further, I’ll admit I don’t give a shit.

I’ve come to the conclusion that the “Truth” about the Jan 6th Riots won’t come out in our lifetimes. I further believe that whatever “Truth” will be the sanitized carefully massaged version written by the victors.

As with all history… It becomes what those in power want it to be.

I’m to the point in all this where I agree with Ilhan Omar. “Some people did some things…”

I just threw up in my mouth a little typing that. Jesus! How can it be that I agree with Ilhan Omar about anything?

I am curious to see what the ratings were for the hearing. I wonder if I’m alone or if the majority of my fellow citizens are right there with me.

The people in power have spoken about the radicalization of citizens toward terrorism. I can’t think of a much better tool to radicalize average people than the tone deaf responses on real issues, that are coming out of Washington D.C.

So whatever happens from here on out is on them. All of them, regardless of party.

Reports about the guy from California who was arrested outside a Supreme Court Justices home. Armed, and with tools to enter the home has been squelched. Apparently, the man was threatening harm to a sitting justice over Roe v Wade and gun control. According to Bill Maher an article can be found in the New York Times, on page A20.

The irony of demanding more gun control was apparently lost on this individual, since he was carrying guns to harm a conservative Justice. The man is apparently a liberal, progressive, Democrat… This is probably why the story is buried on page 20. Had this moron been a Republican going after a liberal judge… The story would warrant 24/7 news coverage Front page across the planet.

Even Bill Maher called out the NYT on its bias. How biased do you have to be to have Bill Maher take offense?

At the same time a credible threat was being booked at the police station, Congress decided against providing additional security for the Justices. This while protests in front of the Justice’s homes are being permitted.

In violation of the law!

Here’s a question. How does anyone know where the Justices live in the first place? I’d imagine that bit of information would be somewhat protected, or there’d be threats all the time on a justice and their families.

There was a time when I was a boy that society taught us all a few basic things.

No matter how much you dislike or disagree with the President you will end up in jail if you threaten him or her.

You cannot threaten a member of Congress, or the Judiciary unless you want to end up in jail.

You should not attack someone physically over a difference of opinion, even if you think they’re so wrong as to be sitting to the right hand of Satan himself. That too was a quick ticket to jail.

Protests are fine, when it looks like things are getting out of hand it’s time to go home. Staying for a riot was a ticket to jail.

(As an aside, My parents told me they wouldn’t bail me out of jail for stupidity.)

These weren’t all laws… (Some of course are,) these were compromises that insured the society didn’t devolve into anarchy and the inevitable blood bath that accompanies anarchy.

We were taught that it was okay to express disagreement with the President, Congress, or the Judiciary, and that no-one could take that right from us. We were taught that the law would even protect us while legally, (Peacefully,) expressing our opinions.

My how things have changed!

I know that The Slippery Slope argument is a fallacious one. There is no way to predict all the possible outcomes of a given action or series of actions.

That being said, I would argue that The Slippery Slope argument has some merit in that it may help define a set of probabilities. One or more of those probabilities may prove false but they may also prove true.

An extreme example: If you release a known serial killer of women into a population of women and by some miracle the killer doesn’t kill. Releasing 10 serial killers of women into the same population based on a sample of one, is a slippery slope. The probability is that one or more of those killers will kill again.

In that example, no-one should be the least surprised when women start turning up dead.

When we allow people to make threats, and take no action on those threats, we shouldn’t be surprised that more threats are forthcoming. Nor should anyone be surprised when someone makes good on their threat.

When we allow months of rioting to happen and see police standing by, observing destruction, arson, and looting, and doing nothing about any of it. Should we be surprised when angry people protesting, turns into a riot? The place and reason for the riot are irrelevant (non-partisan if you will).

By allowing riots for other things without taking action, we have tacitly approved of riots, and therefore fallen down a slippery slope. Anyone could have seen what was going to happen on Jan 6th.

The onus is upon those who failed to take action based on easily predicted outcomes.

Regardless of what Then President Trump said or didn’t say, or when. Regardless of your (or Congressional leaders,) like or dislike of President Trump.

The Jan 6th riot was not only easily predictable, it was equally preventable.

President Trump himself reportedly offered to call up the National Guard to provide additional security for the Capital. He did this while encouraging people to come and express their opinions.

This implies the President Trump had made a logical prediction based on the numbers of people that were showing up. He knew he was on a slippery slope and that mitigation was warranted.

The speaker of the house Chose to put personal animus above security, and refused the National Guard presence.

Here, President Trump failed.

Regardless of The Speaker’s refusal. President Trump should have ordered The National Guard to take posts securing the Capital and the city anyway. Just in case.

By Jan 6th it was too fucking late. Had people coming into the city seen The National Guard positioned to take action, it’s probable the events of Jan 6th would have gone much differently.

Having hearings, subpoenas, contempt of congress, and all the surrounding bullshit, the Jan 6th committee is engaged in, is nothing more than trying to find someone to blame.

This all could have been resolved simply.

Realize that blame is useless. Accept what happened, and make sure that it doesn’t happen again.

President Biden was declared the winner of the election. It’s a done deal. Move the fuck on.

The members of the Jan 6th committee would have been better served returning to their offices and making sure that riots were no longer to be even tacitly approved. For any reason, at any time or place.

They could have served the people of this country by conveying that the full weight of the law would come down on anyone engaged in rioting after the events of Jan 6th, and the previous summer.

Give everyone a pass, with the proviso “Never Again!”

They could have admitted, without admitting, the blame lay with them and the permissive attitude of the previous Summer. They could have in a bi-partisan way, told the people of the country that this behavior would not be tolerated. Then actually started laying the groundwork for the much vaunted healing President Biden promised.

They needn’t have spent 8 million dollars destroying the perceived enemies of one political party. In doing so, to my eye, they have painted themselves in a not too different light than Stalin’s show trials.

I suspect they’ve offended a lot of Americans like myself who cannot believe what they’re seeing.

Congress is looking a lot more like they’re trying to usurp the Judiciary and a lot less like lawmakers. The questions raised about limits on Congressional power are very concerning to me personally.

From the transcripts I’ve skimmed, this is shaping up a lot like the Trump Impeachments.

Then, as now I was thinking… Big Deal, So WHAT?

Personally, I’d love it if one of the witnesses stood up and told the committee, “Sit Down! Shut Up! Now get to work on dealing with real issues you political hacks!”

That won’t happen. But I’d pay to see it!

I thought I’d skim more of the transcripts, Now… I don’t think I will.

I’m done. This country is lost, thankfully I won’t live long enough to see it flush itself down the shitter. 10-15 years tops and while this place will still be called America… What that once meant will be lost.

The day they come to take everyone’s guns. Make no mistake they will. Is the day that the US Constitution will finally be nothing more than toilet paper and this land will descend into a marxist totalitarian regime.

Nikita Khrushchev said the communist party would win. I think he was right.

“Is not this simpler? Is this not your natural state? It’s the unspoken truth of humanity that you crave subjugation. The bright lure of freedom diminishes your life’s joy in a mad scramble for power. For identity. You were made to be ruled. In the end, you will always kneel.” ― Loki of Asgard

This just in… Only 19 million viewers, across ABC, NBC, CBS, MSNBC, and CNN, watched the hearing. I guess I’m thinking just like the majority of American Citizens.

Apparently, most everyone had something better to do…

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Well, I watched the Biden Speech

I really don’t like The President.

However, I found that I leaned toward several of the points that he made.

I’m still processing on the points, Here’s a list of what I mostly agree with.

Shootings

The shootings must stop.

An animal that walks into a school or a store and just opens fire, is to my mind rabid. As such, they deserve nothing but to be put down as you would a rabid animal. No mercy, no negotiation.

Something that I have noticed is that these animals always seem to go for “soft” targets. Whether that is a school, a church, a bar, or a shopping center. One thing these venues have in common is that they are almost always a Gun Free Zone.

A notable exception was the church in TX where one of the parishioners dropped a shooter on a sunny Sunday morning.

More Gun Control Laws

I’m not sure that more gun control laws will prevent these kinds of shootings. The so-called “Expanded” background checks I think are toothless.

I can say from experience that the “Gun Show” loopholes are largely red herrings. I’ve never been to a gun show that was “Cash & Carry”. If you purchase a gun at a gun show, you still have to pass the background checks and the gun must be shipped to a licensed federal firearms dealer. The purchaser can pick it up after providing appropriate documentation, and paying a handling fee. The same is true of Online Sales.

Mental Health

Mental Health Care must be expanded. I honestly don’t care how that is done, but I believe it must be done.

Red Flag Laws

I’m ambivalent about red flag laws. I can see the point and their usefulness. Alternatively, I’ve read horror stories where an aggrieved party abused the law to settle a score.

There’s one story that pops to mind where in a bitter divorce, the wife activated the Red Flag law. Her husband’s collection of rare and antique guns was taken, then the guns “disappeared” from police custody. The collection was worth north of 100,000 dollars. The wife demanded her half of the cash even though the guns were gone and therefore couldn’t be sold for profit. Depending on the Red Flag law, it’s possible to misuse it in a way similar to “Swatting”.

Age Limits

I’m not sure about the age limits on gun purchases. I do applaud The President’s speechwriter for addressing the military versus non-military aspects of 18 year olds purchasing guns. Yes, we send 18 year olds to fight in wars and kill people. Then those young people come home and can’t buy a beer. I’ve always found that to be wrong. On the other hand if the drinking age is 21, then I can see the gun purchase age being 21 as well. It is for handguns in most places.

And yet, we still have the weekly Chicago teenage shooting fest. This tends to imply, that criminals will be criminals regardless of the law or their age.

I completely disagree with laws similar to the California law that proposed making it illegal to hand a weapon registered to you, to another person, or member of your family. That disrupts a father being able to take his sons hunting, or to a shooting range. It also creates a complication if, for example, you’re at a range with a buddy and would like to try out his new Glock to see if you’d like it. (I don’t know if that idiotic law passed or not in California. I’ll have to look it up.)

Gun Safety

The President mentioned trigger locks, and safe storage of weapons. I can see that. (Although trigger locks can be defeated fairly easily.) The problem I have with so called “safe storage” is that a gun locked in a safe is no damn good if someone kicks your door down in the middle of the night.

Now you know why I sleep with a baseball bat at hand and some kind of knife nearby as well. Just as with a gun, I hope I’ll never have to use either of them. (Then again, caving someone’s skull in or gutting them wouldn’t disturb the neighbors like a gunshot would.)

High Capacity Magazines

The President referenced High Capacity Magazines again. This time he defined what he meant by high capacity. I lean toward agreeing, that 30 or 40 round magazines are high capacity. I’m not sure why someone would want that kind of capacity. I don’t know enough about that particular subject to intelligently comment.

I’ve been looking a Henry Lever action rifles for hunting. Most of them, top out at 10 round capacities. Several of them top out at seven rounds. These seem like reasonable maximums if you’re hunting.

I remember being told once, (discussing the model 1911 pistol,) that if you couldn’t hit what you were aiming at with seven rounds, you probably couldn’t hit it with 70. In my family, we were taught it was a very bad thing to waste ammunition. So I might be biased about the number of rounds necessary.

Other things said

One thing I noticed in comments that popped up after The President’s speech was that a lot of people were just badmouthing The President based on some of his comments earlier in the week. He said things like he wanted to ban 9mm.

Because of his earlier statements, people heard what they wanted to hear in his address Thursday.

In this post, I’m trying to maintain focus on what he said in his speech.

If in fact some of the legislation his party is proposing contains bans on 9mm, or AR-15 rifle mechanisms then I’ll have to re-evaluate.

9mm is one of the most common calibers on the market today. Most law enforcement use them and honestly if The President did actually ban that caliber, it would create chaos.

Law enforcement goes through a lot of testing before they approve a particular gun and / or caliber for their use. Having to resupply every police force in the country would impose a large financial burden on police budgets nationwide. Including The President’s own security forces. I tend to think The President misspoke earlier in the week referencing 9mm.

Size wise, a 9mm slug isn’t terribly different from a .38 so I’m really not sure why The President spoke about 9mm at all.

Then again, time will tell.

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OH! For Gods Sake! Again with this?

Saturday at a commencement speech Our Chief Moron in charge once again outright lied!

Either that or he’s demonstrating that he’s not fit to hold office again.

During his speech he again referenced the Jan 6th riot as an insurrection. He said;

“A mob of insurrectionists stormed the Capitol, the very citadel of democracy. Imagine what you’d be thinking today if you had heard this morning before you got here that a group of a thousand people broke down the doors of the parliament of Great Britain, killed two police officers, smashed and ransacked the office of members of the British Parliament or any other, what would you think? What would you think?”

He said something similar back on March 3;

“Again, we’re not perfect — we’re not even close — but we never have walked away. And Vladimir Putin was counting on being able to split up the United States.

Look, how would you feel if you saw crowds storm and break down the doors of the British Parliament, kill five cops, injure 145 — or the German Bundestag, or the Italian Parliament? I think you’d wonder.

Well, that’s what the rest of the world saw. It’s not who we are. And now, we’re proving, under pressure, that we are not that country. We’re united.”

The problem is, no officers were killed during the riot. One U.S. Capitol Police Officer Brian Sicknick died the next day from a Stroke in his brainstem.

Several other officers committed suicide in the following weeks.

The people who died that day were Ashli Babbitt, there are reports of another woman being killed that day but some reports say she died in the vicinity of the Capitol riot due to a drug overdose and others say she was beaten to death.

The only confirmed death that day due to the Capitol riot was Babbitt’s and she was shot by a Capitol Police officer.

Can we just get him to stop spreading misinformation?

Oh and of course we had to hear about Beau dying of brain cancer again.

Yes Joe, we all know Beau died of brain cancer. You’ve repeated yourself on the matter again and again.

Biden said this according to Delaware Online;

“Biden recalled how after his son Beau died from brain cancer in 2015, he had no interest in running for president in 2016. He said the following year, when white supremacists marched through Charlottesville, Virginia, with torches, uttering Nazi phrases from decades earlier, he decided he needed to do something.”

Really? Does Biden or his handlers really expect anyone in America to swallow this line of horse shit?

He didn’t run in 2016 because Hillary was supposed to win. His handlers probably knew that against Trump and the mood of the country then he’d loose and split the Democratic ticket in the process.

America was tired of Biden and former President Obama. That is why he didn’t run in 2016. Hillary was supposed to win and give the country 12 years of loving Democratic Party rule.

Well Joe that’s not how it turned out.

Although had he run against Hillary and Trump, the odds are he wouldn’t be President now. Folks would have seen him for what he is then, and he’d be in a rest home eating pudding or ice cream.

Biden was in Uvalde, Texas, on Sunday. The claim is that he’s to be meeting with the families of the victims of the Robb Elementary School shooting.

I can hardly wait to read what he says to those grieving people.

I truly hope one or more of them verbally take Biden to task over the border, defunding police, and his attempt to make their tragedy, his political gain.

Since he’s going to be that close to the border, does anyone think he’ll actually see the disaster his policies have wrought?

Nah, I don’t think so either.

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If the GOP takes the House and Senate will it make any difference?

Unfortunately, I think it won’t.

I had hoped that it would put controls on the Biden Administration but now…

We’ve already seen what “accidentally releasing” a draft opinion on Roe v. Wade has done. I’ll grant you, the protests in the streets aren’t up to the par of our most recent “Summer of love,” but if the Democratic majority is tossed out on their collective asses as they well deserve, I expect the burning and looting to start all over again.

Republicans have been painted as sitting at the right hand of Satan. Conservatives are seen as racist minions of the Devil. Collectively, the two groups have been demonized as White supremacist domestic terrorists.

While to my knowledge, few if any of these assertions are true. There is a remarkably large group of people who believe it to be so.

Perception often becomes reality. Even when gravity doesn’t suddenly switch off on demand.

Those who believe Republicans and conservatives are terrorists, will require little to go back to rioting in the streets. I’ll not be surprised if we see people falling to their knees, rending their clothing, and crying as the election result are made known.

This poor individual. They’ve become the face of over dramatic stupidity.

I’ll be waiting for the tearful pronouncements, “Democracy is dead,” “NAZIS control Congress.”

I suspect that there will be a large number of saintly Democratic Candidates demanding recounts claiming that the demonic Republicans cheated at the ballot boxes or suppressed voters. Even in areas where the elections followed the same rules as the 2020 election.

They’ll trundle out the usual examples. People of Color, the poor, the sick, and you can bet there will be a trans person who won’t be able to vote “authentically as themselves” because their ID doesn’t match the name they give at the polling place.

I’m betting that first day with new members in Congress will be a circus. I haven’t figured out what kind of distraction the far left people within the Democratic Party will come up with, but I’m sure it will be amusingly transparent to everyone except the protestors.

There’s another problem though. Once all the protestors have gone home because it’s too cold to bother, the Republicans may choose not to take strong immediate action to curb the Biden Administration’s obvious screw-ups.

Why?

If I were running the Republican Party, I’d be inclined to let the current administration continue stepping on all the rakes they’ve left on the White House lawn.

They’ve pretty much looked like a bad combination of The Three Stooges, Laurel and Hardy, Abbot & Costello, and the Keystone Cops.

Were I thinking about maintaining Republican control for decades I’d let the administration continue to show just how incompetent they are. Let them destroy themselves, allow their policies and decisions to paint them as buffoons. Hey, I can be as much of a bastard as everyone else!

That would effectively gut any Democratic Party candidates for at least the next decade, possibly longer. Mothers who couldn’t feed their babies will have a very long memory. Truckers and commuters who lost their jobs due to gas prices will be unforgiving for a very long time.

Then at the last moment, preferably when Biden or Harris is on their knees before Congress begging for help. Only then does a Republican Congress roll out conservative, fiscally responsible, solutions to the Biden /Harris Administration’s self inflicted wounds.

The Biden / Harris Administration must be destroyed totally and shamed so throughly that none of the participants ever attempt to hold a political office again. The last thing I’d want (were I directing the Republican Party) is to allow the Biden / Harris Administration any room to say anything they did was a success.

Make sure that when the gas prices drop, The Country knows it’s the Conservative Republican Congress’s doing.

When the illegal border crossings stop, and the criminals who have used the open border to bring their crime, trafficking, drugs, and misery, are brought to justice. Make sure the Country knows who it was that took appropriate action.

When the shelves are stocked again, shipments are on time and under budget, driving cost of consumer goods down. Make sure there’s a (C) for Conservative visible on the shelf tags, to remind folks who actually does the job.

Then go after every single one of the former members of Congress who wrought this disaster. For those who lined their pockets from the misery of the American People regardless of their party affiliation… If the evidence supports incarceration, put them in the cells formerly occupied by the prisoners illegally held without due process or speedy trial in the Jan 6th riot.

To be clear, I don’t think the Republican Party or conservatives are saints. But I think they’d do a damn sight better than the current crop of morons running our country.

Sadly, it hinges on the newly elected officials in Congress putting the People first.

As I stated, I’m concerned that instead of taking action, they’ll choose vengeance. In their vengeance, the American People will still be pawns and suffer at the hands of power mad politicians.

I think, the only hope to rein in power mad politicians is the prospect of a very long prison sentence at hard labor, or hangman’s noose, if they’re caught.

When the presidential campaigns start up. I sincerely hope that Donald Trump has the good sense not to run. I don’t think he was a bad President. By comparison to Biden… He was awesome. Then again as Biden stands today, a psychotic monkey with a gun would be preferable.

Yeah I really don’t like Biden and haven’t liked him for as long as I can remember. I think maybe in the early days, he might have at least had his heart in the right place, but that faded very quickly.

I’d like to see pragmatic independent candidates who were unafraid to speak the truth. I’d like them to have a plan, and be willing to share their thoughts with the public during the campaign. Personally I eliminate candidates that appear to be pandering to specific groups.

I pay attention to candidates that have a consistent story, and those that say something like; “Oh, that’s an interesting point. I hadn’t considered that, you may have changed my approach,” to one of their competitors will have my full and undivided attention.

The last election, every candidate said something like, “We have to go totally green in energy production.” But few of them spoke about their vision for getting from where we are, to a green future.

I’d have asked, “Are you proposing using the advances we’ve made in nuclear reactors? Do you propose every roof of every home in America have solar panels? Is your proposal to create wind farms? Create more Hydroelectric power generation? What is your plan to achieve this goal?”

You don’t have to believe in climate change, to implicitly understand the less pollution we generate, the less we have to clean up. The less oil or coal we use, the longer those resources last. Everyone gets that. Even the most adamant Climate Change Denier won’t argue.

What they will argue with, is being told they’re going to have to use technology that isn’t adequate to their needs. For example, having to buy 2 pricey electric tractors to keep up their farm production where they only needed one 20 year old diesel tractor to do the job before.

Folks will balk at being told that fuel prices are going to be taxed into the stratosphere as an incentive to switch to inadequate technologies, by people who don’t have the sense to step around cow shit in a field. (No, Senator… That’s not a mud puddle! Those shoes weren’t expensive were they?)

Trust me, working folks will leap to demonstrably superior tools. Check out any construction site and you’ll find all the workers using battery powered tools all over the place. No cords, same capability, it’s a no brainer. Even nail guns are going battery. It’s nice to not have a compressor and a long assed pneumatic hose when you’re doing finish work.

A local handyman here, deploys solar panels across the hood of his truck to power battery chargers for his tools. He’s not high tech, he’s not a greenie, he’s just pragmatic. He works on vacation or rental homes that often have the power turned off.

The point is, instead of screwing with gas taxes and mandates, a politician should have a broad plan.

They should be able to say, “Yes, I want solar panels on every roof. During the day we should be able to direct excess power from the housing panels to power our schools or offices where we learn and work. Hopefully it would be enough that we could direct oil and coal generated power to industry during the day, increasing our GDP but overall reducing the fossil generated kilowatts those plants have to produce. At night, I’d like to have the ability to redirect oil and coal generated power to light and heat or cool our homes. We’ll use this system until we can bring new safer nuclear plants online. My plan is to transition in a logical, planned way. Along the way, I’m confident we will make new discoveries and those may make the transition faster, and more efficient. To that end, I propose that we fund as much energy research as possible. Not just power generation, but also power storage. I propose that we mine, refine, and produce the raw materials and finished products here in America. This provides jobs and potentially can increase our exports to other nations.“

Every politician should be able to lay out various plans to address the issues of the day.

You don’t have to agree with the plan. But someone who lays out the broad strokes at least has thought about it. They’re not just pandering to activists for votes. The harder step is holding them accountable and calling them out if they haven’t delivered on their plan(s).

I use the same approach when reviewing all candidates.

It’s a given that no one candidate is going to embody every cause of the day. What I’m looking for is a candidate or candidates that at least are bold enough to speak their minds, honest enough to admit they don’t know everything, and smart enough to have thought about the issues.

Sadly, we’ve created a world where one misstep or poorly chosen word can destroy a candidate who would otherwise be the best person for the job. This allows only the pretty, the pandering, the disingenuous, and those driven by greed for money or power to hold office.

I don’t think that’s likely to change anytime soon.

This is why I think the Republican “Red Wave” in the midterms is going to be a big nothing burger.

The new boss will be exactly the same as the old boss.