The End…or a New Beginning

Misanthropic Boomer

In ten days the fate of our Grand Experiment in governance will be decided. It is, in historical fact, an idea initially put forth some eight hundred seven years ago on the fields of Runnymede in Great Britain where King John issued the proclamation known as the Magna Carta. The Magna Carta is the antecedent to every democratic constitution drafted and based upon the rule of law. It, in very clear, unambiguous language posits that no one, not even the King himself is above the law.

The Great Charter, its English sobriquet, was written by a group of English Barons as a counter to the tyranny of the crown and to protect the rights of landholders and tradespeople from the abuses suffered under the English feudal system. It was accepted and subsequently issued by King John, June 15, 1215, in order to avoid a civil war. And, has been revised half dozen times over that eight hundred year period.

The reason I am bringing up the Great Charter is that I am hoping that by putting our democracy in its proper historical perspective “We the People,” will fight to save our nation from the very same human failures that forced the drafters of the Magna Carta and its subsequent posterities, the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution of the United States to face down the tyranny which has again risen and threatens to devour our democracy.

Since the election of Donald John Trump to the Presidency of the United States there has been an ever widening chasm dividing believers in our democratic form of governance so carefully built upon that original foundation provided by the “Great Charter,” and those who would, for personal benefit install an authoritarian, Fascist government. The rule of law upon which our governance relies has been made a mockery by those on the Right seeking power at the expense of the majority of the electorate. They have stolen, lied, cheated, supported violent, murderous insurrection in their selfish attempt at destroying our nation and the democracy: her heart. The egregious acts committed by the likes of Trump, Bannon, McConnell, McCarthy, Stone, Flynn , et al are too legion to detail. But consider their biggest common crime, “The Big Lie;” their denial against overwhelming proof that the 2020 elections were fair and free and consider the absurd fact that the deniers claim the Democrats rigged the Presidential outcome but weren’t clever enough to rig the votes securing the House and Senate.

Sixty times Federal judges and the former Attorney General of the United States have categorically denied that there was any election fraud that contributed to Donal Trump’s sound defeat by the largest margin in United States electoral history. In reality, the only documented voter fraud perpetrated in the 2020 Presidential election was effected by Republicans…both during the vote and after the fact when they tried to use forged documents carried by fake electors to overturn the results of the election.

Consider too that these same people would initiate state processes that would deny the voters their right to choose. Instead they would have state legislatures overturn elections of which they did not approve. These are not the actions of those who believe in freedom or justice.

As you go to the polls to cast your midterm vote ask yourself is this the legacy you would bestow upon your posterity? Does the past eight hundred seven years mean nothing? Are you comfortable having two judicial systems…one for the wealthy and powerful and another for everyone else? Does it seem reasonable that if you ignore a subpoena you will spend two years in prison, while Steve Bannon receives only four months., and is allowed to walk free while he appeals his conviction and openly mocks the system from which he has benefitted more than the average American citizen?

I ask that you seriously consider that these same people do not respect the rule of law. Donald Trump has violated a number of laws and Constitutional provisions for which most of us would be immediately prosecuted yet he continues to be free of any justice. America’s voters must decide who will win the House and/or the Senate: will this be the end…or, a new beginning. We will sl know by November 9th.

Misanthropic Boomer

A WORD (or two) TO THE WISE

As everyone in this nation is aware the mid-term elections are a mere one hundred days away. This election cycle may be the most important in the history of the Republic. There is no doubt it will be the most important event in the history of humankind’s attempt at establishing and maintaining a lasting democratic paradigm. Therefore what happens this November will not only effect the United States, but will either give, or take away hope for the rest of the world. With the criticality of the mid-term elections in mind I believe I must bring up two issues which I am certain will be fundamental to democracy’s survival. The two issues are the Second Amendment to the Constitution of the United States, and the composition of the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS). I shall speak to the second issue first because it is SCOTUS who is the ultimate arbiter of the use of the Constitution as the playbook for the brand of democracy under which we are governed.

Since the Republicans, through the auspices of Donald Trump and Mitch McConnell, successfully stacked SCOTUS with Right Leaning justices it has become evident that SCOTUS, as much as the Democrats and the Republicans, is a political body, and as such in its present composition, is willing to skew all interpretations of the Constitution in the direction of Right Wing Religious Conservatism. In the reversal of the precedent of Roe v. Wade Samual Alito, writing the majority opinion uses what can only be considered intentionally misinterpreted historical citations to justify denying half the population the right to control their own bodies. That this fundamental change in how the Constitution is viewed will obviously continue for at least a generation since the six Right leaning Justices (with exception of Clarence Thomas) can be expected to occupy the bench for at least twenty years. We can, therefore, expect the continued erosion of our rights. Expansion of the Court has been been discussed as a remedy: a way to rebalance the Court as it were.

I believe the court will absolutely be expanded if the Democrats lose control of the House and Senate in the November mid-term elections. If the Trump Republicans regain control of Congress there is every indication that they will attempt to solidify Oligarchic control over the government in perpetuity. The easiest way to achieve their goal is to take a page from Augusto Pinochet’s playbook and to expand the Court and stack it with even more politically Right leaning justices just was done in Chile following the coup in 1973. Interestingly, this was the brainchild of James McGill Buchanan, an American Political Economist. This will especially be made possible if the American electorate puts a Republican in the White House in 2024. Now consider the fact that if the Right can pull off such a political coup they will no longer be dependent upon the voters who so foolishly, against their own best self interest, gave the Republicans the “Keys to the Kingdom,” so to speak. This is where and when the Second Amendment comes into play.

Support for the misinterpretation of the Second Amendment has been necessary in order to keep firearms manufacturers and Right Wing gun owners happy. Ever paranoid, yet happy Right Wing gun owners vote Republican out of fear the Democrats will seize their firearms. Happy firearms manufacturers can be depended upon to contribute an inordinate amount of money to their supporters in Congress. The convergence of these two conditions are what made the January 6, 2021 insurrection possible. Once again, this event could only have occurred because the Second Amendment has been purposely misinterpreted.

The Second Amendment simply states, “A well regulated militia being necessary to the Security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.” This has been used to justify private gun ownership, and especially to allow the possession and ownership of military style weapons by private citizens; to maintain a well regulated militia. However this is not what the Constitution says. The definition of what is meant by “a well regulated militia,” and how it is to be maintained and used is clearly stated in:

Article 1, Section 8 of the U.S. Constitution…

Powers of Congress.

It is as follows:

To provide for calling forth the militia to execute the laws of the Union, suppress insurrection and repel invasions.

To provide for organizing, arming, and disciplining the Militia and for governing  such Part of them as may be employed in the service of the United States,  reserving to the States respectively the Appointment of the Officers, and the Authority  of training the Militia according to the discipline prescribed by Congress.

This clearly states that the Militia is to be controlled by the United States government up to, and including the provision of firearms. Nowhere in the Constitution is there any reference to the Militia being necessary to assure the government does what the people want over and above what has been approved through the electoral and legislative processes. Therefore the right to bear arms is really the right to do the government’s bidding and not an individual right.

This leads me to my next prediction; something I have been saying for years. Gun owners have nothing to fear from the Democrats. The Democrats merely want the same level of control of gun ownership that the government has over flying an aircraft or driving an automobile: testing to ensure ability, registration to ensure legality and licensing to ensure compliance. One cannot drive a Formula One race car through the city streets because “we the people” recognize the inherent danger in doing so. Why, therefore, should it be legal to carry around an automatic weapon specifically designed as an instrument of war for killing the enemy (human beings)?

As I said, gun owners needn’t worry about Democrats taking their firearms, it’s the Republicans who will not merely want a greater level of control they will want to eliminate private gun ownership completely. Once the Republicans successfully ensure their desired Oligarchy has been established they will need to protect it by eliminating any and all threats to the feudal style system of governance. At that point their expanded, stacked SCOTUS will suddenly interpret the Second Amendment as it was originally intended. Private gun ownership will become a threat and therefore will be eliminated.

I realize most of you won’t believe what I have posited herein, however, my prognostications have been unerringly accurate over the last thirty odd years. If you don’t believe me vote Republican…take a chance. Don’t say I didn’t try to raise your awareness. Good luck.

It’s Time to Grow a Pair

Misanthropic Boomer

It is time (past time?) to implement a no-fly zone over the Ukrainian corridor. NATO must immediately stop cowering in a corner every time that sociopath Putin brings up nuclear weapons.

The key is that Putin is a sociopath, and as such is only concerned with his own safety. He knows that if he pushes the button he will surely, personally suffer the consequences of nuclear war. He knows that in the event of such a war there will be no place of safety for him; not with the nuclear retaliation that would befall him.

Putin wants to be King…not dead. He is not going to initiate a nuclear engagement knowing the outcome would most likely be his death: at the very least he would be president of a decimated country.

If nothing is done Putin will continue on his present course, and when he done with the Ukraine he will move on to the next nation that has Russian speaking citizens…his current excuse for invasion. The longer this is allowed to continue the bolder he will become.

Stop Putin now, or you will never stop him.

Open Letter to Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin

Misanthropic Boomer

Moscow, Russia

The Kremlin

President

Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin,

President Putin:

As you are by now aware the entire world is more than just a bit upset by your actions toward the Ukrainian nation over the last seven days, as well they should be. Your only allies in your despicable undertaking are China, Eritrea, North Korea, and Belarus; none of whom are known for their benevolent position toward their own people, or anyone else for that matter.

I am aware that you have long desired to restore your nation to the glory days of the Soviet Union. First, let me state unequivocally that there is nothing glorious about a nation who feels the need to extend its’ reach by usurping the sovereignty of its’ neighbors: that is merely the action of a common bully…a thug. Additionally, a desire to restore the Soviet Union seems to be a waste of time and energy since everything about the Soviet Union was a lie.

I will grant you that the October Revolution took place for the right reasons. Most of the revolutionaries were sincere in their desire to replace the failed Imperial system with one that represented and fulfilled the needs of a long oppressed people. However, there were among the revolutionaries, those who felt the need to take advantage of their newly acquired power, and almost immediately took draconian measures to secure their positions. They would brook no dissenting opinions. The assassination of Leon Trotsky was, if not the first, certainly the most significant of many deaths “required” to establish command and control of the newly formed government and thereby setting a course that was closer to the rule of the recently murdered czar than the wished for socialist paradise

Mother Russia, soon to become Soviet Russia on its’ way to becoming the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics quickly forgot the abusive result of nearly eleven hundred years of Imperial rule. Also forgotten, or if remembered, certainly ignored, were the several hundred years of abuse by the Tatars, who continually laid waste to every village and town as they were developed and populated, thus preventing Russia from attaining the growth required to develop as a nation. Yet knowing that, and the demoralizing effect those devastating raids had on the people never prevented your nation from doing the same thing to its’ neighbors…a national tradition you continue to this day

Let’s be very honest, the promise of the revolution was never fulfilled. Russia has never embraced Communism. In all fairness there have been no successful Marxist states. That is perhaps because Marx envisioned his philosophy being brought to fruition not in an agrarian society such as Russia, but in an industrialized nation such as Great Britain or the United States.

A nation like Russia whose economy is so completely based upon agriculture cannot easily develop the economic backbone required to create the equal distribution of wealth needed to support the “greatest good for the greatest number.” The result was that shrewd players like Lenin, Stalin, et al, each in his turn manipulated the system through the use of fear…just the same as their predecessors, the Czars. Your nation is one of open dictatorship operating under the aegis of Communism. You, again just like your predecessors, could care less about the nation and its’ people.

So, we have come to the point of my diatribe, why did you attack the sovereign nation of Ukraine? No need for you to answer. The question is strictly rhetorical. Everyone knows you would like to be the one that begins Russia on the road to reacquiring the the satellites lost when the Berlin Wall came down. Consider this, none of those nations were yours prior to the revolution…since they weren’t yours initially, you had no right to them when you invaded them…you still have no legal or moral justification to support your actions.

The Russian people deserve better than you;  just as they have always deserved better than your power hungry predecessors gave them. The Russian people never deserved Stalin’s Black Mariahs and the death quotas that accompanied them. The Russian Jews never deserved the treatment they received at the hands of Stalin and his bullies.

The Russian people fought valiantly against Hitler’s war machine when his army attempted to do to Russia what your are engaged in doing to the Ukraine. The people’s reward for their sacrifice, their bravery, was more of Stalin’s oppression. And, you, like Crazy Josef, are treating your loyal constituency with contempt and cruelty.

It is obvious from both your past and current actions that you are a megalomaniacal sociopath. Your continued preening and posturing point to your own feelings of inadequacy, and the need to  continually demonstrate your power, your virility, to the world. Showing pictures of yourself riding, bare-chested, killing big game, and defeating younger, larger men with your Judo impresses no one. Perhaps your realization of that fact has driven you to threaten the world with Russia’s nuclear arsenal: an action only a small, weak completely inadequate person would consider.

It is obvious that you desire to be remembered as the one who restored Russia’s greatness: the man who brought the West to its’ knees. That will most certainly not be your legacy. You will forever be remembered as a cruel and mendacious dictator who cared nothing for his people, and even less for the rest of the world.

The only hope you have for salvaging your reputation is to withdraw from the Ukraine immediately and to apologize to President Zelenskyy and the Ukrainian people. You can blame the whole thing on your Intelligence machine. Say that they gave you seriously bad information: execute a few top Intelligence officers (that shouldn’t be a problem for you as you have sanctioned the deaths of innocent people in the past).

So, there you have it. The entire world is wise to you machinations, which is why they have united in opposition. The only way you can save face now is to throw some of your colleagues under the bus as was suggested. You must have non-elected bureaucrats against whom you hold a grudge and would like to get rid of. Blame them for the poor intelligence that caused you to initiate the incursion. Have them executed. Apologize to Zelenskyy and the rest of the world and withdraw your troops. It’s either that or destroy yourself and your nation.

Respectfully,

Vance Daddi   

Misanthropic Boomer

The following is something I posted in July of 2021. At the time it didn’t seem to resonate with any Progressives on Facebook. I am reposting it becsuse SCOTUS just fulfilled the second part of the Right’s crusade to deny voting rights to citizens of color. On Monday they reversed a lower Federal  Court’s decision regarding Alabama’s very prejudicial Gerrymandered redistricting of Black voters: insuring the denial of fair Congressional representation by one quarter of the state’s electorate.

Please take into account that while SCOTUS is legislating from the bench, using what is known as the “Shadow Docket” (in essence it means doing their dirtywork in the dark…no oral arguments), the GOP is rallying around the January 6th insurrectionists. They are now describing the events of that day not as sedition, but rather as “Legitimate Political Discourse.” The goal is to “legitimately” challenge any race the GOP loses in the 2022 mid-terms.

July 2021

In what may be the ultimate political irony the United States Supreme Court has upheld Arizona’s new restrictive voting rights laws just as Chile is about to rewrite its Constitution. The irony comes from the fact that Chile’s Constitution was altered by the Pinochet dictatorship in order to restrict voting rights and to prevent the people from any meaningful redress. So as Chile, once one of the harshest dictatorships in modern history is moving toward a free, democratic society, the nation that began modern democracy is moving toward societal feudalism based upon the desires of the propertied few.

In writing for the Supreme Court majority position Samuel Alito, no friend of minorities or the People in general (a true elitist), leans upon the tired and still unsubstantiated Republican complaint of voter fraud. The only fraud being perpetrated here is that by the six Conservative justices. In addition the Conservative dominated court has made it clear that they will support restrictive voting rights laws as well as politically motivated gerrymandering in the future: further weakening our democracy. At this point SCOTUS is as guilty of seditious activity as are the insurrectionists of January 6th.

The bottom line is that it appears that as the sun is rising on a new democratic era in Chile, it is simultaneously setting in America. This is in large part due to the efforts of James McGill Buchanan, Political Economist and architect of Chile’s “Pinochet Constitution.” Buchanan was able to accomplish much of his mischief in large part thanks to the financial support of Charles Koch, billionaire Libertarian: no friend of Democracy. Thank you gentlemen for killing the dreams of freedom, equality, and opportunity for the majority of the citizens of our disintegrating democratic nation. 

Now that I have laid out the irony of the situation I feel it only fair to say that it’s only this way because no one is doing anything about it.