Howdy All, a few Interesting Items for your information. Enjoy –
In this issue:
- Iggles
- Paramedics
- Tongass
- Cake
- SPLC
- Pardons
- Cash
- Iggles. Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles got themselves disinvited from visiting the WH last week after scamming WH officials. The team received the traditional invitation to visit the WH following their Super Bowl victory early February. Travel invitations and reservations are normally made as a process with several checks on numbers until the event actually takes place. The initial response from the team was around 70 people, which would have included the active roster, coaches and perhaps the owner. Last check the weekend before they were going to show up was less than 10, which would include the starting QB and head coach. At this point, the WH withdrew the invitation and President Trump publicly blasted away at them via Twitter. As it turns out, this difference in number of attendees smells a lot like an intentional attempt to embarrass both President Trump and the WH. Sports media thought it was very cute and blasted away at Trump for withdrawing the invitation. Problem with this is that he is in the midst of preparation for a very public meeting with NORK dictator Kim Jong Un. Any weakness he shows will be fed directly into the planning for the meeting this week and any subsequent meetings by both the NORKs and the ChiComs. In other words, president Trump is playing for a wider audience than fans of self-aggrandizing fools of the Philadelphia Eagles (Iggles among some of us who are fans of other NFC East teams). This action echoes President Reagan’s firing of all PATCO air traffic controllers after they went on strike early in his administration. He issued a warning, waited a day or two, and pulled the trigger. This action was roundly celebrated by his supporters and it got the attention of the Soviets, who were trying to figure out what they were dealing with. Reagan’s action demonstrated that he was someone they best not screw around with. Trump is doing the same thing, though a bit more loudly. As to the players who are still trying to play the Black Lives Matter / anti-Trump routine, they are damaging their own industry, foolishly. There will not be a single more ticket sold for Eagles’ games because of their actions last week. But by intentionally turning their back on Trump and the WH, these players (who are simply entertainers) are also sticking their thumb in the collective eye of the 63+ millions of us who voted for Trump a year and a half ago. Not to be outdone, stars on both NBA finals teams announced they wouldn’t attend a ceremony at the WH if they won the championship. The WH promptly rescinded any invitation. Michael Jordan was a whole lot smarter than these football and basketball players. Someone once asked him why he wasn’t politically active. He responded that Republicans purchase basketball shoes too, meaning that he was not going to alienate half his fan base by getting political. And he didn’t. http://philadelphia.cbslocal.com/2018/06/04/eagles-uninvited-white-house-super-bowl/
- Paramedics. Latest out of the political cesspool democrats turned the Broward County Sheriff Department are reports that the deputies surrounding the Parkland high school would not allow paramedics to enter the building and tend to the wounded. This ban lasted until well after the shooter was arrested. One of the reasons the M-16 design was adopted (and the AR-15 is similar) with smaller caliber ammunition (.223) is that it is designed to disable rather than to kill. The smaller bullets make holes and tumble while in the body, causing damage. Problem is that the wounded tend to bleed out, and the longer they are denied emergency medical care, the more of them die, so speed of response by everyone vital. So, what do we have out of Sherriff Scott Israel? We have a guy who has used his position to employ family members. He has deputies who did not enter the building during the shooting. His On Scene Commander refused to send people into the building. His people refused to allow EMT paramedics into the building to tend to the wounded. And then he has the temerity to go on the gun grabbing road show less than a week after the event and blame the NRA for the deaths. Nicely done. Not. http://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/community/broward/article212296004.html
- Tongass. Not being content to roll back every single regulatory thing that the O’Bama regime put into place, President Trump’s people are reaching all the way back to the Clinton administration. The USFS is looking into writing an Alaska-specific “roadless rule” that should allow more logging in Southeast Alaska. Clinton’s Roadless Forest Rule was handed down in 2001 shortly before pair of grifters left the WH as a vehicle to help out pot growers masquerading as greens. It was a vehicle for shutting down logging in western US National Forests. The vehicle for that shutdown obstructed the ability of logging companies to build their own infrastructure (roads) to get product out of the forests and onto boats. The rule has been upheld in federal court (mostly the ninth Circus) since 2001. This rewrite will be most interesting as two of the five Alaska gubernatorial candidates are busily pandering to people who want logging in the Tongass shut down, along with the few jobs it still supports. To be fair, the way the USFS managed logging, logging companies were encouraged to clear cut trees, which infuriated the greens. While enjoyable, infuriated greens generally figure out how to turn public lands into wilderness areas. The Roadless Rule was one such vehicle. The reason USFS encouraged clear cutting was because it tended to maximize logging company payments and in turn revenue to the USFS. Free money in any bureaucracy is always a Good Thing to the bureaucracy, though not necessarily to any of the rest of us. https://www.adn.com/politics/2018/06/05/plan-emerging-from-forest-service-that-could-undo-tongass-logging-limits/
- Cake. From the land of Let Them Eat Cake, comes a 7-2 SCOTUS opinion on the Masterpiece Cakeshop vs Colorado. Rather than going for the gold and coming down on the side of religious freedom, the majority determined that the Colorado Human Rights Commission was overtly hostile to Christians, which it is, which it was. They sent the case back to Colorado for a re-hearing. The usual suspects on the left exulted in what they referred to as a very narrow ruling. They shouldn’t, as the majority came down strongly in support of the position of the shop owner. The Notorious RBG and the Wise Latina (Ginsberg and Sotomayor) strongly came down in support of religious discrimination against Christians. It is important to remember how this case came to be. The gay couple came looking for trouble, chose this particular bakery, and demanded a particular service that the owner was well known as not performing. In sports analogy, the gay couple committed the foul, functionally equivalent to a charging foul in basketball. As such, they should have had no standing in making the complaint. Reporting on this was fraudulent throughout the course of the case. The owner did not refuse to sell a cake. He offered to sell them anything in the store. He refused to decorate a cake with a pro-gay marriage message. The Colorado Civil Rights Commission used its power to compel him to do something he was obligated not to do due to his religious convictions. I expect the appointed vermin sitting on the Colorado Civil Rights Commission to cloak their anti-Christian bigotry a bit better next time around, find once again against the baker, and the entire mess be sent back to the SCOTUS for yet another bite of the apple. I expect them to lose next time around too. https://legalinsurrection.com/2018/06/supreme-court-ruled-in-favor-of-colorado-baker-who-refused-to-bake-wedding-cake-for-gay-couple/
- SPLC. Looks like Big Tech has turned over policing of their services to the SPLC. Last week, one of my more information rich blogs, Legal Insurrection, got kicked out of the Amazon Associates program. This program allows the blog to allow readers to click through the blog to Amazon for their purchases. In return, the blog gets a small stipend from each sale. That stopped last week for reasons unknown. Legal Insurrection did a story about the Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) being kicked out of another Amazon Program that Amazon customers can designate a charity to receive a percentage of whatever the customer spends. ADF has won a series of recent religious liberty cases, the most recent being the Masterpiece Cakeshop case last week, making them an obvious target for retribution. The SPLC got themselves into the act by designating ADF as a hate group. Normally, a hate group is any organization that is effective against the left. Over the years, the SPLC has turned itself into a primary tool to attack conservatives and stifle political speech. Looks like Big Tech – Amazon, Goolag, Fakebook, YouTube – are all using the SPLC as an excuse or vehicle to shut down right of center and libertarian groups. Note also that a large number of former O’Bama regime staffers and political appointees have gotten themselves hired in positions of importance in Big Tech, so expect payback. This is not going to stop. Rather it is only going to get worse. Looks like Amazon gives the SPLC the most direct voice policing their various charity programs of any of the Big Tech corporations. https://legalinsurrection.com/2018/06/this-is-my-shocked-face-amazon-turns-over-policing-of-its-charity-program-to-splc/
- Pardons. President Trump opened a new front on his war with the political left, with the use of Presidential Pardons. Historically these have typically been used in the lame duck time between a Presidential election and swearing in, with democrat presidents pardoning terrorists and druggies. Trump has aimed his pardons at what he describes as people unfairly treated by the justice system. One example is recently pardoned Dinesh D’Souza, whom the O’Bama (In)Justice Department sent to jail (halfway house) for campaign finance violations that would normally get a small fine. He is threatening to pardon Martha Stewart and former Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich. He pardoned completely Scooter Libby, mostly as a direct message sent to both former FIB Directors Comey and Mueller, who participated in his railroading. Trump is also using his pardons to make inroads in the black community, which is rightfully concerned about what they believe are wrongful and overly harsh prosecutions and convictions. He pardoned former Heavyweight Champion Jack Johnson who was convicted by an all-white jury in 1913 for traveling across state lines with his white girlfriend. The operative law was the Mann Act. He just pardoned a woman who was given life in prison for selling drugs (first offense). She came out singing his praises. Most interesting pardon being considered is Blagojevich, who was jailed for his knowledge of the inner workings of the democrat machine in Chicago. This one is aimed directly at O’Bama, Jarrett and Chicago Mayor Emanuel. We will hope Blagojevich does not have an accident while in jail. These pardons are being done entirely within the WH as the O’Bama holdovers in Justice are fighting these for all they’re worth. The left is highly upset and critical of this use of presidential power. They will be a lot more upset after Trump uses (In)Justice funding to pay legal bills for those he believes were unfairly treated. And I believe that is coming. https://www.lawfareblog.com/donald-trumps-pardon-power-and-state-exception
- Cash. One of the nasty little outcomes from the War on Drugs is that ability of law enforcement to seize property and cash from whom they believe are drug dealers. In my mind, property forfeiture is all by itself sufficient rationale to shut down the war on drugs completely, as it has corrupted law enforcement beyond the point where it can be repaired. Reason Hit & Run Blog ran a story of an American citizen on his way to Albania last October through Cleveland’s airport had his $58,000 life savings stolen by law enforcement. He was on his way to Albania and had the cash in his carry-on baggage. It was not hidden. TSA called Customs who seized the money. He complained and was escorted from the airport. A couple of months later he was notified that Customs took $57,330 from him ($770 less than he claims they took). He is now involved in legal proceedings to get the money returned. Note that the citizen was not charged with anything nor under suspicion of anything. Well after the fact, he was accused of having no verifiable source of the income and structuring cash withdrawals to avoid reporting requirements. None of these accusations were made at the time of asset seizure. This is evil incarnate and those who participate in it should be punished to the full extent of the law. After that, the asset forfeiture law must be repealed. https://reason.com/blog/2018/05/31/american-brazenly-robbed-of-58100-life-s
More later –
– AG