THE CAPE CHARLES MIRROR OCTOBER 3, 2021 AT 4:06 PM
Paul Plante says:
Finally, Vice-Chair Luria expressed the interest of the Select Committee to Investigate the January 6 Attack on the U.S. Capitol, of which she is a member, to hear from General Milley in the coming weeks?
Oh, really?
First of all, we have an NBC News article entitled “Liz Cheney named vice chair of Jan. 6 select committee – In a statement announcing her leadership post, Chairman Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., said it’s important that the committee keep its probe bipartisan” by Rebecca Shabad on Sept. 2, 2021 that says it is Liz Cheney who is VICE CHAIR, not Elaine Luria, to wit:
WASHINGTON — Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., has been named vice chair of the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol, the panel’s Democratic chairman announced Thursday.
In a statement, Chairman Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., said it’s important that the committee keep the probe bipartisan.
“We are fortunate to have a partner of such strength and courage, and I look forward to continuing our work together as we uncover the facts, tell the American people the full story of January 6th, and ensure that nothing like that day ever happens again,” Thompson said.
Cheney said each member of the committee is “dedicated to conducting a non-partisan, professional, and thorough investigation of all the relevant facts.”
“We owe it to the American people to investigate everything that led up to, and transpired on, January 6th,” she said in a statement.
“We will not be deterred by threats or attempted obstruction and we will not rest until our task is complete.”
end quotes
And then we have a CNN article entitled “Liz Cheney named vice chair of the January 6 select committee” by Annie Grayer, Ryan Nobles, Zachary Cohen and Whitney Wild on September 2, 2021, that also states that it is Liz Cheney, not Elaine Luria, who is the VICE CHAIR of the Pelosi-ite WITCH HUNTERS and INQUISTIONERS, to wit:
(CNN) – Democratic Chairman of the January 6 Select Committee Bennie Thompson announced on Thursday that Republican Rep. Liz Cheney will become the panel’s vice chair, the latest sign that the Democrat-run committee is attempting to strike a bipartisan tone as it prepares to wade into politically contested waters.
Cheney, one of two Republicans to serve on the committee, has defied her party by joining the panel controlled by Democrats and even sacrificed her own position in leadership in order to remain vocal and outspoken about the need to investigate the January 6 insurrection at the US Capitol.
Now stepping into a more prominent role within the select committee, the Wyoming congresswoman will be even more at odds with her party as the panel begins to chart its investigation and directly target Republicans who could have been affiliated with the deadly attack or key to piecing together what then-President Donald Trump knew before and during it.
The behind-the-scenes moves the committee has made in recent days has already gotten a rise out of many Republicans.
Earlier this week, CNN reported that the select committee had requested a group of telecommunications companies preserve the phone records of a group of GOP members of Congress and Trump, as well as members of the Trump family, who played some role in the “Stop the Steal” rally that served as the prelude to the Capitol insurrection.
end quotes
Except there was NO INSURRECTION!
That charge is FALLACIOUS!
IF there had been an actual insurrection, which there wasn’t, then WE, THE AMERICAN PEOPLE who are LOYAL AMERICANS, NOT Democrats, would be seeing the JUSTICE DEPARTMENT prosecuting people for INSURRECTION, a serious federal crime, based on EVIDENCE of an INSURRECTION.
However, there have been no such prosecutions and just the other day, in an Associated Press news story entitled “Judge questions whether Jan. 6 rioters are treated unfairly” by Colleen Long and Michael Kunzelman on 2 October 2021, we had as follows with regard to the events of 6 January 2021, to wit:
WASHINGTON (AP) — Rejecting the recommendation of prosecutors, a federal judge sentenced a Jan. 6 rioter to probation on Friday and suggested that the Justice Department was being too hard on those who broke into the Capitol compared to the people arrested during anti-racism protests following George Floyd’s murder.
U.S. District Court Judge Trevor McFadden questioned why federal prosecutors had not brought more cases against those accused in 2020 summertime protests, reading out statistics on riot cases in the nation’s capital that were not prosecuted.
“I think the U.S. attorney would have more credibility if it was even-handed in its concern about riots and mobs in this city,” McFadden said during Danielle Doyle’s sentencing for entering the Capitol on Jan. 6 with a throng of other rioters.
Prosecutors recommended two months of home confinement for Doyle, who is from Oklahoma.
The statements by McFadden, an appointee of former President Donald Trump, were a major departure from the other federal judges overseeing insurrection cases so far, despite other Trump appointees on the court assigned to the hundreds of cases.
They have generally discussed seriousness of the crime and its unique place in American history – different from other violent free speech protests because it sought to disrupt the peaceful transition of power.
end quotes
AND THAT IS BULL****, PURE AND SIMPLE!
PURSUANT TO OUR CONSTUTION AS WRITTEN, NO TRANSFER OF POWER AT THE PRESIDENTIAL LEVEL IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA OCCURS ON 6 JANUARY!
THE TRANSFER OF POWER OCCURS AT NOON ON 20 JANUARY.
On 20 January, 2021, Trump PEACEFULLY LEFT the white house, and on 20 January 2021, Joe Biden PEACEFULLY ENTERED the white house, so why are we continually being fed this same IGNORANT BULL**** about disrupting a peaceful transfer of power on 6 January 2021?
Getting back to CNN saying that it is Liz Cheney and not Elaine Luria who is vice chair of the Pelosi-ite WITCH HUNTERS, we have:
The news sent shockwaves through the Republican conference, starting at the top with House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy who argued without evidence that any telecommunication company that complied with the committee’s request would be violating federal law.
Although McCarthy’s name was not included in the preservation of records request list, he notably spoke to the former President during the height of the riot, and the contents of that call have continued to be of great interest.
Thompson has repeatedly not ruled out calling McCarthy to testify in front of the committee if that is where the investigation leads.
Targeting individual GOP lawmakers came just days after the select committee requested a massive tranche of documents from several US government agencies with a broad list of targets including communications and records within the Trump White House and campaign on and before January 6.
The committee also recently sent letters to 15 social media companies, including Facebook, YouTube and Twitter, seeking to understand how misinformation and efforts to overturn the election by both foreign and domestic actors existed on their platforms.
“Representative Cheney has demonstrated again and again her commitment to getting answers about January 6th, ensuring accountability, and doing whatever it takes to protect democracy for the American people.”
“Her leadership and insights have shaped the early work of the Select Committee and this appointment underscores the bipartisan nature of this effort,” Thompson said of Cheney in a statement.
“We are fortunate to have a partner of such strength and courage, and I look forward to continuing our work together as we uncover the facts, tell the American people the full story of January 6th, and ensure that nothing like that day ever happens again,” the chairman added.
end quotes
So who really is the Vice Chair of the Pelosi-ite WITCH HUNTERS?
Is it really Elaine Luria, who claims she is?
Or is it Liz Cheney, as the main-stream media claims?
And now we take a break for station identification so you folks out there in our at-home viewing audience can get out there to the frig for some munchies without missing a shred of our regularly scheduled programming.
http://www.capecharlesmirror.com/news/v ... ent-437655
Just musings, is all
Re: Just musings, is all
THE CAPE CHARLES MIRROR OCTOBER 4, 2021 AT 9:06 PM
Paul Plante says:
Since the events herein have taken place within the memory of living men, this book may be regarded as contemporary history.
To some historians such a description in itself is sufficient reason to read no further; others, sensitive to the momentous character of these years of turmoil, believe it not only permissible but desirable to chronicle the present, and even to dub what they have written, “history.”
The writer, it is evident, is sympathetic to their point of view.
He is, of course, aware that much of what he has written is not definitive.
On the other hand the revolutionary tempo of this present hour and the bitter death of young men everywhere in this global maelstrom are facts which need recording by one who breathes the atmosphere of 1943.
end quotes
The above are words from the Preface of “World Wars And Revolutions” by Walter Phelps Hall, PhD, of Princeton, copyrighted 1943, while the world war to overthrow the rug-chewing madman shown in the video above here (no, not Joe Biden, the other one) was still raging and consuming lives in its inferno, which times people today in this country are largely unaware of, because they happened more than a few minutes ago, and anyway, the past is irrelevant, because it is the past, and everything that is happening is happening right now, so who cares about two minutes ago, and there we are.
I quote those above words from that Preface, especially about contemporary history, which is exactly what we are talking about in here, because they explain so well my personal motives for writing this piece and asking the Cape Charles Mirror, a traditional Grand Palladium of Liberty, to publish them, which brings me back in time to November 28, 1787 and the Philadelphiensis II political essay by Philadelphiensis, wherein he stated as follows, to wit:
Ah! my countrymen, our situation is critical indeed!
Let us make a solemn pause then!
The eyes of the world are upon us; the patriots and friends of America, in Europe, are now anxiously concerned, lest the whirlwind of tyranny should raze from its tender root the hallowed plant of Columbian liberty.
end quotes
Think about that, people – words from two hundred thirty-four (234) years ago and how apt they are again today where once again, patriots and friends of America are anxiously concerned lest the whirlwind of Democrat tyranny should raze from its tender root the hallowed plant of Columbian liberty.
At the conclusion of that essay, the author stated thusly, to wit:
I shall close this essay with one observation, viz. that should this despotic scheme of government be overthrown, (which God grant) to what cause then are we to attribute this glorious triumph?
The answer is obvious – to that palladium of liberty, that inestimable privilege of freemen, that scourge of tyranny, the freedom of the press.
end quotes
Enter the Cape Charles Mirror.
As to the despotic scheme of government those who love liberty would like to see “overthrown,” just as Donald J. Trump was effectively overthrown on 3 January 2021 when Democrat tyrant and despot Nancy Pelosi was quoted in an article in The Hill entitled “Pelosi sets up call on election challenge: ‘No situation matches Trump presidency’” by Joseph Choi on 01/03/21, where she said the result would end with President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris being “officially declared the next President and Vice President of the United States,” but acknowledged this declaration might have to take place in “the middle of the night,” let us go to 27 July 2021 and the January 6 House Select Committee Hearing Investigation Day 1 Full Transcript, where we have as follows:
Officer Hodges: I think Fanone hit the nail on the head there.
As patrol Officers, we can only deal with the crimes that happen on the streets, the misdemeanors, and occasionally the violent felonies, but you guys are the only ones we’ve got to deal with crimes that occur above us.
And I need you guys to address if anyone in power had a role in this, if anyone in power coordinated, were aided or abetted or tried to downplay, tried to prevent the investigation of this terrorist attack, because we can’t do it.
We’re not allowed to.
And I think a majority of Americans are really looking forward to that as well.
end quotes
And let’s focus in on this one sentence, to wit: As patrol Officers, we can only deal with the crimes that happen on the streets, the misdemeanors, and occasionally the violent felonies, but you guys are the only ones we’ve got to deal with crimes that occur above us.
end quotes
“You guys are the only ones we’ve got to deal with crimes that occur above us,” where “you guys” are the members of Nancy Pelosi’s WITCH HUNTERS COMMITTEE, including Virginia’s Elaine Luria?
Since when, people, and we’re back in seventh grade civics here, since when did the House of Representatives become a law enforcement agency?
And that thought takes us to the U.S. Supreme Court decision in Watkins v. United States, 354 U.S. 178 (1957), No. 261, argued March 7, 1957, decided June 17, 1957, where we had from the Court as follows, to wit:
There is no general authority to expose the private affairs of individuals without justification in terms of the functions of the Congress … nor is the Congress a law enforcement or trial agency.
These are functions of the executive and judicial departments of government.
No inquiry is an end in itself; it must be related to, and in furtherance of, a
legitimate task of the Congress.
end quotes
In that case, Petitioner was convicted of a violation of 2 U.S.C. § 192, which makes it a misdemeanor for any person summoned as a witness by either House of Congress or any committee thereof to refuse to answer any question “pertinent to the question under inquiry.”
Summoned to testify before a Subcommittee of the House of Representatives Committee on Un-American Activities, petitioner testified freely about his own activities and associations, but he refused to answer questions as to whether he had known certain other persons to have been members of the Communist Party.
He based his refusal on the ground that those questions were outside of the proper scope of the Committee’s activities, and not relevant to its work.
No clear understanding of the “question under inquiry” could be gleaned from the resolution authorizing the full Committee, the legislative history thereof, the Committee’s practices thereunder, the action authorizing the Subcommittee, the statement of the Chairman at the opening of the hearings or his statement in response to petitioner’s protest.
Held: Petitioner was not accorded a fair opportunity to determine whether he was within his rights in refusing to answer, and his conviction was invalid under the Due Process Clause of the Fifth Amendment.
So, people, if the Congress, and in this case, specifically, the Pelosi-ite “select committee,” are not a law enforcement or trial agency, which are functions of the executive and judicial departments of government, when did “you guys” on the select committee, including Elaine Luria, become the only ones we, the American people, have got to deal with crimes that occur above the patrol officers at the Capitol who can only deal with the crimes that happen on the streets, the misdemeanors, and occasionally the violent felonies?
Since Nancy Pelosi gave them the power to be a law enforcement or trial agency?
But if OUR Constitution does not give that law enforcement or trial agency power to Congress in the first place, then where did Nancy get the power from to give the WITCH HUNTERS the power to be a law enforcement and trial agency with respect to matters concerning 6 January 2021 and the riot Joe Biden provoked with his hate speech above here on 31 August 2020?
Going back to Watkins, Mr. Chief Justice WARREN delivered the opinion of the Court, stating as follows:.
This is a review by certiorari of a conviction under 2 U.S.C. § 192, 2 U.S.C.A. § 192 for ‘contempt of Congress.’
The misdemeanor is alleged to have been committed during a hearing before a congressional investigating committee.
It is not the case of a truculent or contumacious witness who refuses to answer all questions or who, by boisterous or discourteous conduct, disturbs the decorum of the committee room.
Petitioner was prosecuted for refusing to make certain disclosures which he asserted to be beyond the authority of the committee to demand.
The controversy thus rests upon fundamental principles of the power of the Congress and the limitations upon that power.
We approach the questions presented with conscious awareness of the far-reaching ramifications that can follow from a decision of this nature.
We start with several basic premises on which there is general agreement.
The power of the Congress to conduct investigations is inherent in the legislative process.
That power is broad.
It encompasses inquiries concerning the administration of existing laws as well as proposed or possibly needed statutes.
It includes surveys of defects in our social, economic or political system for the purpose of enabling the Congress to remedy them.
It comprehends probes into departments of the Federal Government to expose corruption, inefficiency or waste.
But, broad as is this power of inquiry, it is not unlimited.
Investigations conducted solely for the personal aggrandizement of the investigators or to ‘punish’ those investigated are indefensible.
Abuses of the investigative process may imperceptibly lead to abridgment of protected freedoms.
The mere summoning of a witness and compelling him to testify, against his will, about his beliefs, expressions or associations is a measure of governmental interference.
And when those forced revelations concern matters that are unorthodox, unpopular, or even hateful to the general public, the reaction in the life of the witness may be disastrous.
This effect is even more harsh when it is past beliefs, expressions or associations that are disclosed and judged by current standards rather than those contemporary with the matters exposed.
Nor does the witness alone suffer the consequences.
Those who are identified by witnesses and thereby placed in the same glare of publicity are equally subject to public stigma, scorn and obloquy.
Beyond that, there is the more subtle and immeasurable effect upon those who tend to adhere to the most orthodox and uncontroversial views and associations in order to avoid a similar fate at some future time.
That this impact is partly the result of non-governmental activity by private persons cannot relieve the investigators of their responsibility for initiating the reaction.
end quotes
So what game is really afoot here, people?
What legislative purpose is this WITCH HUNTER’s committee serving?
Clearly, the Democrats including Joe Biden and Nancy Pelosi had far more to gain politically from the 6 January 2021 “riots” at the Capitol than did Donald Trump and his Republican allies, just as Hitler had far more to gain from the Reichstag fire on February 27, 1933 than did the Communists who were accused of setting the fire, as we see in the Official Speech on the Enabling Act to the Reichstag in Berlin, March 23, 1933, where Hitler stated thusly:
Ladies and Gentlemen of the German Reichstag!
By agreement with the Reich Government, today the National Socialist German Workers’ Party and the German National People’s Party have presented to you for resolution a notice of motion concerning a “Law for Removing the Distress of Volk and Reich.”
end quotes
That “Law for Removing the Distress of Volk and Reich” suspended the Constitutional rights of the German people across the board, and let us not forget that at that time when those Constitutional rights in Germany were suspended, Germany was a DEMOCRACY!
So, Donald Trump has been overthrown and history has been made.
But what have we lost in the exchange?
An existential question for our times!
http://www.capecharlesmirror.com/news/o ... ent-438693
Paul Plante says:
Since the events herein have taken place within the memory of living men, this book may be regarded as contemporary history.
To some historians such a description in itself is sufficient reason to read no further; others, sensitive to the momentous character of these years of turmoil, believe it not only permissible but desirable to chronicle the present, and even to dub what they have written, “history.”
The writer, it is evident, is sympathetic to their point of view.
He is, of course, aware that much of what he has written is not definitive.
On the other hand the revolutionary tempo of this present hour and the bitter death of young men everywhere in this global maelstrom are facts which need recording by one who breathes the atmosphere of 1943.
end quotes
The above are words from the Preface of “World Wars And Revolutions” by Walter Phelps Hall, PhD, of Princeton, copyrighted 1943, while the world war to overthrow the rug-chewing madman shown in the video above here (no, not Joe Biden, the other one) was still raging and consuming lives in its inferno, which times people today in this country are largely unaware of, because they happened more than a few minutes ago, and anyway, the past is irrelevant, because it is the past, and everything that is happening is happening right now, so who cares about two minutes ago, and there we are.
I quote those above words from that Preface, especially about contemporary history, which is exactly what we are talking about in here, because they explain so well my personal motives for writing this piece and asking the Cape Charles Mirror, a traditional Grand Palladium of Liberty, to publish them, which brings me back in time to November 28, 1787 and the Philadelphiensis II political essay by Philadelphiensis, wherein he stated as follows, to wit:
Ah! my countrymen, our situation is critical indeed!
Let us make a solemn pause then!
The eyes of the world are upon us; the patriots and friends of America, in Europe, are now anxiously concerned, lest the whirlwind of tyranny should raze from its tender root the hallowed plant of Columbian liberty.
end quotes
Think about that, people – words from two hundred thirty-four (234) years ago and how apt they are again today where once again, patriots and friends of America are anxiously concerned lest the whirlwind of Democrat tyranny should raze from its tender root the hallowed plant of Columbian liberty.
At the conclusion of that essay, the author stated thusly, to wit:
I shall close this essay with one observation, viz. that should this despotic scheme of government be overthrown, (which God grant) to what cause then are we to attribute this glorious triumph?
The answer is obvious – to that palladium of liberty, that inestimable privilege of freemen, that scourge of tyranny, the freedom of the press.
end quotes
Enter the Cape Charles Mirror.
As to the despotic scheme of government those who love liberty would like to see “overthrown,” just as Donald J. Trump was effectively overthrown on 3 January 2021 when Democrat tyrant and despot Nancy Pelosi was quoted in an article in The Hill entitled “Pelosi sets up call on election challenge: ‘No situation matches Trump presidency’” by Joseph Choi on 01/03/21, where she said the result would end with President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris being “officially declared the next President and Vice President of the United States,” but acknowledged this declaration might have to take place in “the middle of the night,” let us go to 27 July 2021 and the January 6 House Select Committee Hearing Investigation Day 1 Full Transcript, where we have as follows:
Officer Hodges: I think Fanone hit the nail on the head there.
As patrol Officers, we can only deal with the crimes that happen on the streets, the misdemeanors, and occasionally the violent felonies, but you guys are the only ones we’ve got to deal with crimes that occur above us.
And I need you guys to address if anyone in power had a role in this, if anyone in power coordinated, were aided or abetted or tried to downplay, tried to prevent the investigation of this terrorist attack, because we can’t do it.
We’re not allowed to.
And I think a majority of Americans are really looking forward to that as well.
end quotes
And let’s focus in on this one sentence, to wit: As patrol Officers, we can only deal with the crimes that happen on the streets, the misdemeanors, and occasionally the violent felonies, but you guys are the only ones we’ve got to deal with crimes that occur above us.
end quotes
“You guys are the only ones we’ve got to deal with crimes that occur above us,” where “you guys” are the members of Nancy Pelosi’s WITCH HUNTERS COMMITTEE, including Virginia’s Elaine Luria?
Since when, people, and we’re back in seventh grade civics here, since when did the House of Representatives become a law enforcement agency?
And that thought takes us to the U.S. Supreme Court decision in Watkins v. United States, 354 U.S. 178 (1957), No. 261, argued March 7, 1957, decided June 17, 1957, where we had from the Court as follows, to wit:
There is no general authority to expose the private affairs of individuals without justification in terms of the functions of the Congress … nor is the Congress a law enforcement or trial agency.
These are functions of the executive and judicial departments of government.
No inquiry is an end in itself; it must be related to, and in furtherance of, a
legitimate task of the Congress.
end quotes
In that case, Petitioner was convicted of a violation of 2 U.S.C. § 192, which makes it a misdemeanor for any person summoned as a witness by either House of Congress or any committee thereof to refuse to answer any question “pertinent to the question under inquiry.”
Summoned to testify before a Subcommittee of the House of Representatives Committee on Un-American Activities, petitioner testified freely about his own activities and associations, but he refused to answer questions as to whether he had known certain other persons to have been members of the Communist Party.
He based his refusal on the ground that those questions were outside of the proper scope of the Committee’s activities, and not relevant to its work.
No clear understanding of the “question under inquiry” could be gleaned from the resolution authorizing the full Committee, the legislative history thereof, the Committee’s practices thereunder, the action authorizing the Subcommittee, the statement of the Chairman at the opening of the hearings or his statement in response to petitioner’s protest.
Held: Petitioner was not accorded a fair opportunity to determine whether he was within his rights in refusing to answer, and his conviction was invalid under the Due Process Clause of the Fifth Amendment.
So, people, if the Congress, and in this case, specifically, the Pelosi-ite “select committee,” are not a law enforcement or trial agency, which are functions of the executive and judicial departments of government, when did “you guys” on the select committee, including Elaine Luria, become the only ones we, the American people, have got to deal with crimes that occur above the patrol officers at the Capitol who can only deal with the crimes that happen on the streets, the misdemeanors, and occasionally the violent felonies?
Since Nancy Pelosi gave them the power to be a law enforcement or trial agency?
But if OUR Constitution does not give that law enforcement or trial agency power to Congress in the first place, then where did Nancy get the power from to give the WITCH HUNTERS the power to be a law enforcement and trial agency with respect to matters concerning 6 January 2021 and the riot Joe Biden provoked with his hate speech above here on 31 August 2020?
Going back to Watkins, Mr. Chief Justice WARREN delivered the opinion of the Court, stating as follows:.
This is a review by certiorari of a conviction under 2 U.S.C. § 192, 2 U.S.C.A. § 192 for ‘contempt of Congress.’
The misdemeanor is alleged to have been committed during a hearing before a congressional investigating committee.
It is not the case of a truculent or contumacious witness who refuses to answer all questions or who, by boisterous or discourteous conduct, disturbs the decorum of the committee room.
Petitioner was prosecuted for refusing to make certain disclosures which he asserted to be beyond the authority of the committee to demand.
The controversy thus rests upon fundamental principles of the power of the Congress and the limitations upon that power.
We approach the questions presented with conscious awareness of the far-reaching ramifications that can follow from a decision of this nature.
We start with several basic premises on which there is general agreement.
The power of the Congress to conduct investigations is inherent in the legislative process.
That power is broad.
It encompasses inquiries concerning the administration of existing laws as well as proposed or possibly needed statutes.
It includes surveys of defects in our social, economic or political system for the purpose of enabling the Congress to remedy them.
It comprehends probes into departments of the Federal Government to expose corruption, inefficiency or waste.
But, broad as is this power of inquiry, it is not unlimited.
Investigations conducted solely for the personal aggrandizement of the investigators or to ‘punish’ those investigated are indefensible.
Abuses of the investigative process may imperceptibly lead to abridgment of protected freedoms.
The mere summoning of a witness and compelling him to testify, against his will, about his beliefs, expressions or associations is a measure of governmental interference.
And when those forced revelations concern matters that are unorthodox, unpopular, or even hateful to the general public, the reaction in the life of the witness may be disastrous.
This effect is even more harsh when it is past beliefs, expressions or associations that are disclosed and judged by current standards rather than those contemporary with the matters exposed.
Nor does the witness alone suffer the consequences.
Those who are identified by witnesses and thereby placed in the same glare of publicity are equally subject to public stigma, scorn and obloquy.
Beyond that, there is the more subtle and immeasurable effect upon those who tend to adhere to the most orthodox and uncontroversial views and associations in order to avoid a similar fate at some future time.
That this impact is partly the result of non-governmental activity by private persons cannot relieve the investigators of their responsibility for initiating the reaction.
end quotes
So what game is really afoot here, people?
What legislative purpose is this WITCH HUNTER’s committee serving?
Clearly, the Democrats including Joe Biden and Nancy Pelosi had far more to gain politically from the 6 January 2021 “riots” at the Capitol than did Donald Trump and his Republican allies, just as Hitler had far more to gain from the Reichstag fire on February 27, 1933 than did the Communists who were accused of setting the fire, as we see in the Official Speech on the Enabling Act to the Reichstag in Berlin, March 23, 1933, where Hitler stated thusly:
Ladies and Gentlemen of the German Reichstag!
By agreement with the Reich Government, today the National Socialist German Workers’ Party and the German National People’s Party have presented to you for resolution a notice of motion concerning a “Law for Removing the Distress of Volk and Reich.”
end quotes
That “Law for Removing the Distress of Volk and Reich” suspended the Constitutional rights of the German people across the board, and let us not forget that at that time when those Constitutional rights in Germany were suspended, Germany was a DEMOCRACY!
So, Donald Trump has been overthrown and history has been made.
But what have we lost in the exchange?
An existential question for our times!
http://www.capecharlesmirror.com/news/o ... ent-438693
Re: Just musings, is all
THE CAPE CHARLES MIRROR OCTOBER 9, 2021 AT 6:38 PM
Paul Plante says:
So, is RULE OF LAW important in a modern civilized society?
Should it be?
Or has it become an obstacle, an impediment, a hindrance or obstruction in doing something good and necessary for the American people, ham-stringing those who would rule us for our own good in our HOUR OF DIRE NEED for law and order in America, as was stated so clearly and elegantly by Nancy Pelosi in House Resolution 503 – Establishing the Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol sponsored Nancy herself in the House of Representatives, on June 30, 2021, where Nancy spelled out our HOUR OF DIRE NEED for law and order in America in that history-making House Resolution, as follows:
Whereas January 6, 2021, was one of the darkest days of our democracy, during which insurrectionists attempted to impede Congress’s Constitutional mandate to validate the presidential election and launched an assault on the United States Capitol Complex that resulted in multiple deaths, physical harm to over 140 members of law enforcement, and terror and trauma among staff, institutional employees, press, and Members;
There is hereby established the Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol (hereinafter referred to as the “Select Committee”).
end quotes
Think about that for a moment, people – in the aftermath of one of the darkest days of our democracy, the last one being back in 1812, or something like that, when insurrectionists attempted to impede Congress’s Constitutional mandate to validate the presidential election and launched an assault on the United States Capitol Complex that resulted in terror and trauma among the press and Democrat Members of Congress, do we really want RULE OF LAW getting in the way of severe punishment of those who really need to be punished, and punished harshly for that insurrection?
In the aftermath of one of the darkest days of our democracy, during which insurrectionists attempted to impede Congress’s Constitutional mandate to validate the presidential election and launched an assault on the United States Capitol Complex that resulted terror and trauma among the press, and Democrat Members of Congress, isn’t it really necessary to set aside RULE OF LAW for the time being, lest those accused of insurrection and terrorism are able to use the law to evade punishment for their crimes?
Now, as we ponder that question in the light of the fact that Nancy Pelosi has already suspended RULE OF LAW, for our own good, think back to fifth grade civics, and these Essential Questions we were supposed to be able to answer when we were children, to wit:
What is justice?
In what ways does the Rule of Law apply to impartiality of the courts?
Are the processes in place in democracy designed to “level” individual bias in the court system effective?
Why or why not?
Should one’s “character” influence judicial decisions?
Why or why not?
Back then, and of course, this is pre-January 6th, which has changed everything forever, making everything before January 6th, including RULE OF LAW, obsolete, as pre-January 6th fifth grade students, we were all supposed to be able to analyze the impartial role of judges, and understand the purpose of the Rule of Law as evidenced by discussion of the following, to wit:
What does it mean to have an impartial judiciary?
What does the Rule of Law have to do with impartiality?
Give a specific example of how the Rule of Law and impartiality might have an effect on you if it were not in place.
end quotes
And that last question from our grade school days back when about of how the Rule of Law and impartiality might have an effect on all of us if they were not in place, brings us to today, where in fact, the Rule of Law and impartiality are no longer in place, for the good of society, afterall, given that on January 6th, more than likely the absolute darkest of all the previous darkest days of our democracy, during which insurrectionists attempted to impede Congress’s Constitutional mandate to validate the presidential election and launched an assault on the United States Capitol Complex that resulted terror and trauma among the press, and Democrat Members of Congress.
By suspending RULE OF LAW and impartiality, which everyone knows always favor the guilty criminals, and by transferring judicial authority to punish those it knows to be offenders to the Select Committee, aren’t we going to be able to build back better a lot sooner than if the courts were to get involved in trying to punish these insurrectionists who dared to attempt to impede Congress’s Constitutional mandate to validate the presidential election, so that by suspending RULE OF LAW, and giving Congress the power to punish the offenders, aren’t we really going to end up being safer sooner than what the alternatives would offer?
http://www.capecharlesmirror.com/news/o ... ent-442482
Paul Plante says:
So, is RULE OF LAW important in a modern civilized society?
Should it be?
Or has it become an obstacle, an impediment, a hindrance or obstruction in doing something good and necessary for the American people, ham-stringing those who would rule us for our own good in our HOUR OF DIRE NEED for law and order in America, as was stated so clearly and elegantly by Nancy Pelosi in House Resolution 503 – Establishing the Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol sponsored Nancy herself in the House of Representatives, on June 30, 2021, where Nancy spelled out our HOUR OF DIRE NEED for law and order in America in that history-making House Resolution, as follows:
Whereas January 6, 2021, was one of the darkest days of our democracy, during which insurrectionists attempted to impede Congress’s Constitutional mandate to validate the presidential election and launched an assault on the United States Capitol Complex that resulted in multiple deaths, physical harm to over 140 members of law enforcement, and terror and trauma among staff, institutional employees, press, and Members;
There is hereby established the Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol (hereinafter referred to as the “Select Committee”).
end quotes
Think about that for a moment, people – in the aftermath of one of the darkest days of our democracy, the last one being back in 1812, or something like that, when insurrectionists attempted to impede Congress’s Constitutional mandate to validate the presidential election and launched an assault on the United States Capitol Complex that resulted in terror and trauma among the press and Democrat Members of Congress, do we really want RULE OF LAW getting in the way of severe punishment of those who really need to be punished, and punished harshly for that insurrection?
In the aftermath of one of the darkest days of our democracy, during which insurrectionists attempted to impede Congress’s Constitutional mandate to validate the presidential election and launched an assault on the United States Capitol Complex that resulted terror and trauma among the press, and Democrat Members of Congress, isn’t it really necessary to set aside RULE OF LAW for the time being, lest those accused of insurrection and terrorism are able to use the law to evade punishment for their crimes?
Now, as we ponder that question in the light of the fact that Nancy Pelosi has already suspended RULE OF LAW, for our own good, think back to fifth grade civics, and these Essential Questions we were supposed to be able to answer when we were children, to wit:
What is justice?
In what ways does the Rule of Law apply to impartiality of the courts?
Are the processes in place in democracy designed to “level” individual bias in the court system effective?
Why or why not?
Should one’s “character” influence judicial decisions?
Why or why not?
Back then, and of course, this is pre-January 6th, which has changed everything forever, making everything before January 6th, including RULE OF LAW, obsolete, as pre-January 6th fifth grade students, we were all supposed to be able to analyze the impartial role of judges, and understand the purpose of the Rule of Law as evidenced by discussion of the following, to wit:
What does it mean to have an impartial judiciary?
What does the Rule of Law have to do with impartiality?
Give a specific example of how the Rule of Law and impartiality might have an effect on you if it were not in place.
end quotes
And that last question from our grade school days back when about of how the Rule of Law and impartiality might have an effect on all of us if they were not in place, brings us to today, where in fact, the Rule of Law and impartiality are no longer in place, for the good of society, afterall, given that on January 6th, more than likely the absolute darkest of all the previous darkest days of our democracy, during which insurrectionists attempted to impede Congress’s Constitutional mandate to validate the presidential election and launched an assault on the United States Capitol Complex that resulted terror and trauma among the press, and Democrat Members of Congress.
By suspending RULE OF LAW and impartiality, which everyone knows always favor the guilty criminals, and by transferring judicial authority to punish those it knows to be offenders to the Select Committee, aren’t we going to be able to build back better a lot sooner than if the courts were to get involved in trying to punish these insurrectionists who dared to attempt to impede Congress’s Constitutional mandate to validate the presidential election, so that by suspending RULE OF LAW, and giving Congress the power to punish the offenders, aren’t we really going to end up being safer sooner than what the alternatives would offer?
http://www.capecharlesmirror.com/news/o ... ent-442482
Re: Just musings, is all
THE CAPE CHARLES MIRROR OCTOBER 12, 2021 AT 6:32 PM
Paul Plante says:
If I were to ask my little granddaughter what made the 2020 presidential election unique in our history of presidential elections, and thus, a truly historical event like the contested presidential election of 1824, where on February 9, 1825, the House of Representatives elected John Quincy Adams as President following an inconclusive Electoral College result, where according to its own history of the event, the House performed the constitutionally prescribed role of deciding the 1824 presidential election, it would be that in this case, it was Democrat Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi ALONE who decided the 2020 presidential election, handing the position to Joseph Biden, citing special circumstances as her justification, as we clearly saw in an article in THE HILL entitled “Pelosi sets up call on election challenge: ‘No situation matches Trump presidency’” by Joseph Choi on 01/03/21, where we had as follows:
Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) in a Sunday letter told her Democratic colleagues they would discuss the process for expected challenges to the Electoral College results from House Republicans during a call on Monday.
“Over the years, we have experienced many challenges in the House, but no situation matches the Trump presidency and the Trump disrespect for the will of the people,” Pelosi wrote in her letter.
Pelosi outlined a plan for the Democratic lawmakers as they prepare to certify the Electoral College votes this week.
More than 100 House Republicans are expected to challenge the results of the election in various battleground states, and a dozen Senate Republicans have vowed to do so.
She said the result would end with President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris being “officially declared the next President and Vice President of the United States,” but acknowledged this declaration might have to take place in “the middle of the night.”
end quotes
And so we had the political overthrow of American president Donald J. Trump by the Speaker of the House of Representatives, something which has never before occurred in our history as a nation, that being the Speaker of the House taking into her own hands deciding the outcome of a presidential election in this nation because people, no situation matched the Trump presidency, and if that is not a reason to overthrow a sitting American president, then nothing will be, and where will our democracy be then?
And again, the word “overthrow” as used in here, when used as a noun, as I am using it, means “a removal from power; a defeat or downfall,” which is exactly what happened to Trump just months after Joe Biden made the highly toxic political speech in the original post denouncing Trump on 31 August 2020, which I aver is the direct cause of the violence at the Capitol on 6 January 2021 that Nancy Pelosi is calling an insurrection, violence clearly provoked by Joe Biden, which is now being blamed on the Republican party, just as the Communists were blamed en masse by Adolph Hitler for the Reichstag Fire and were placed in concentration camps as a result, which takes us to the question of does history really matter?
In this HOUR OF DIRE NEED in the United States of America today as a result of what Nancy Pelosi calls an insurrection at the Capitol on 6 January 2021, and if anyone should know what an insurrection is, it would be Nancy, because she is the one who makes the laws saying what an insurrection is, should we really be looking into our own national history, or world history, for that matter, for comparisons, like the Reichstag Fire in Germany that resulted in the end of DEMOCRACY in Germany, for the good of the nation, of course, as is the case again here in the United States of America, and its replacement by a dictatorship?
Shouldn’t we just trust Nancy?
Isn’t that why we have her in there as Speaker of the House in the first place – to protect us from presidents like Donald Trump?
And if the Constitution had to be set aside, just this once, of course, because no situation in our entire history as a nation has ever matched the Trump presidency, shouldn’t we just accept that as the way things really had to be, this time, which is different than all the other times?
And if it is necessary for Nancy Pelosi to suppress the Republican party the way Hitler suppressed the German Nationalist Party, along with the Communist Party and Social Democrats “who threaten the security of the state,” like Nancy says the Republicans threaten the security of the United States of America, and again, she would know these kinds of things, which is why she is the Speaker of the House of Representatives instead of somebody else, don’t we have a duty to believe her and support her, as GOOD AMERICANS?
If it is necessary to suspend our Constitutional rights for a time, and RULE OF LAW, while Nancy makes sure the insurrection of 6 January 2021 can never happen again, isn’t it our duty as GOOD AMERICANS to not question her, or to cast doubt on what her motives might be?
And in the meantime, if for the good of the nation, Nancy in her wisdom deems it necessary to create a Malicious Practices Act that makes it a crime to speak out against the new Biden government or criticize its leaders, and makes even the smallest expression of dissent a crime, so that those accused of “gossiping” or “making fun” of government officials like Nancy Pelosi and Joe Biden can be arrested and sent to prison or a concentration camp, shouldn’t we be happy and feel blessed that we have someone in power over us who loves us so much she would suspend our Constitutional rights to protect us until she can finally end the threat and menace the Republicans mean to our democracy?
http://www.capecharlesmirror.com/news/o ... ent-444349
Paul Plante says:
If I were to ask my little granddaughter what made the 2020 presidential election unique in our history of presidential elections, and thus, a truly historical event like the contested presidential election of 1824, where on February 9, 1825, the House of Representatives elected John Quincy Adams as President following an inconclusive Electoral College result, where according to its own history of the event, the House performed the constitutionally prescribed role of deciding the 1824 presidential election, it would be that in this case, it was Democrat Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi ALONE who decided the 2020 presidential election, handing the position to Joseph Biden, citing special circumstances as her justification, as we clearly saw in an article in THE HILL entitled “Pelosi sets up call on election challenge: ‘No situation matches Trump presidency’” by Joseph Choi on 01/03/21, where we had as follows:
Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) in a Sunday letter told her Democratic colleagues they would discuss the process for expected challenges to the Electoral College results from House Republicans during a call on Monday.
“Over the years, we have experienced many challenges in the House, but no situation matches the Trump presidency and the Trump disrespect for the will of the people,” Pelosi wrote in her letter.
Pelosi outlined a plan for the Democratic lawmakers as they prepare to certify the Electoral College votes this week.
More than 100 House Republicans are expected to challenge the results of the election in various battleground states, and a dozen Senate Republicans have vowed to do so.
She said the result would end with President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris being “officially declared the next President and Vice President of the United States,” but acknowledged this declaration might have to take place in “the middle of the night.”
end quotes
And so we had the political overthrow of American president Donald J. Trump by the Speaker of the House of Representatives, something which has never before occurred in our history as a nation, that being the Speaker of the House taking into her own hands deciding the outcome of a presidential election in this nation because people, no situation matched the Trump presidency, and if that is not a reason to overthrow a sitting American president, then nothing will be, and where will our democracy be then?
And again, the word “overthrow” as used in here, when used as a noun, as I am using it, means “a removal from power; a defeat or downfall,” which is exactly what happened to Trump just months after Joe Biden made the highly toxic political speech in the original post denouncing Trump on 31 August 2020, which I aver is the direct cause of the violence at the Capitol on 6 January 2021 that Nancy Pelosi is calling an insurrection, violence clearly provoked by Joe Biden, which is now being blamed on the Republican party, just as the Communists were blamed en masse by Adolph Hitler for the Reichstag Fire and were placed in concentration camps as a result, which takes us to the question of does history really matter?
In this HOUR OF DIRE NEED in the United States of America today as a result of what Nancy Pelosi calls an insurrection at the Capitol on 6 January 2021, and if anyone should know what an insurrection is, it would be Nancy, because she is the one who makes the laws saying what an insurrection is, should we really be looking into our own national history, or world history, for that matter, for comparisons, like the Reichstag Fire in Germany that resulted in the end of DEMOCRACY in Germany, for the good of the nation, of course, as is the case again here in the United States of America, and its replacement by a dictatorship?
Shouldn’t we just trust Nancy?
Isn’t that why we have her in there as Speaker of the House in the first place – to protect us from presidents like Donald Trump?
And if the Constitution had to be set aside, just this once, of course, because no situation in our entire history as a nation has ever matched the Trump presidency, shouldn’t we just accept that as the way things really had to be, this time, which is different than all the other times?
And if it is necessary for Nancy Pelosi to suppress the Republican party the way Hitler suppressed the German Nationalist Party, along with the Communist Party and Social Democrats “who threaten the security of the state,” like Nancy says the Republicans threaten the security of the United States of America, and again, she would know these kinds of things, which is why she is the Speaker of the House of Representatives instead of somebody else, don’t we have a duty to believe her and support her, as GOOD AMERICANS?
If it is necessary to suspend our Constitutional rights for a time, and RULE OF LAW, while Nancy makes sure the insurrection of 6 January 2021 can never happen again, isn’t it our duty as GOOD AMERICANS to not question her, or to cast doubt on what her motives might be?
And in the meantime, if for the good of the nation, Nancy in her wisdom deems it necessary to create a Malicious Practices Act that makes it a crime to speak out against the new Biden government or criticize its leaders, and makes even the smallest expression of dissent a crime, so that those accused of “gossiping” or “making fun” of government officials like Nancy Pelosi and Joe Biden can be arrested and sent to prison or a concentration camp, shouldn’t we be happy and feel blessed that we have someone in power over us who loves us so much she would suspend our Constitutional rights to protect us until she can finally end the threat and menace the Republicans mean to our democracy?
http://www.capecharlesmirror.com/news/o ... ent-444349
Re: Just musings, is all
THE CAPE CHARLES MIRROR OCTOBER 13, 2021 AT 8:49 PM
Paul Plante says:
And stop the presses here, people, because as we can clearly see from a CNN article entitled “Analysis: Pressure on January 6 panel ratchets up amid new explosion of Trump election lies” billed as “Analysis” by Stephen Collinson on 12 October 2021, we are having a CHANGE OF NARRATIVE here by the Pelosi-ite WITCH HUNTERS including the Virginia’s own very tough-talking Elaine Luria, who is looking to roll some heads herself, to wit:
The House’s US Capitol insurrection probe is fast turning into a race against time, up against Republican efforts to delay an accounting on ex-President Donald Trump’s coup attempt after losing the 2020 election even as he preemptively begins undermining the next one.
end quotes
Is everyone catching that?
The official line now coming out of DEMOCRAT CENTRAL is that what took place on 6 January 2021 was not only an insurrection, which is bad enough, but a coup attempt, as well, which makes it even worse, and consequently gives the Democrats a much better narrative to destroy Trump and the Republicans with as the Democrats seek to firm up their one-party rule here in the United States of America, now that they control not only the Congress, but the administration, as well, which takes us back to that story, as follows:
It’s hardly a shock that members of Trump’s orbit are seeking to evade accountability and the rule of law.
end quotes
Evade accountability and the rule of law?
That is what the Pelosi-ite WITCH HUNTERS are doing here as they trample RULE OF LAW as established by several United States Supreme Court decisions on limitations of congressional power into the sludge and muck of the swamp that is Washington, D.C., which some wag termed a waste of really good swampland in what used to be a part of Virginia.
SEVENTH GRADE CIVICS QUESTION: Can the United States House of Representatives act in a judicial capacity?
For an answer, let’s go to United States v. Icardi, 140 F. Supp. 383 (D.D.C. 1956), U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia (D.D.C. 1956), April 19, 1956, where we have as follows:
There is a question as to the propriety of the report’s Conclusions, which state there is “probable cause” for charging Icardi and LoDolce with murder and embezzlement, but that they are not subject to prosecution under existing civil law or under the Uniform Code of Military Justice.
The use of this language indicates the functioning of the subcommittee as a committing magistrate.
As to the report’s final Recommendations, which suggest that legislative amendments to the Federal Criminal Code be recommended to the Judiciary Committee, the court finds this portion of the subcommittee’s report was an exercise of a bona fide legislative function.
The validity of this latter recommendation, however, cannot cure the invalidity of the subcommittee’s adjudication of crime contained in the report’s Statement of Facts.
end quotes
The Pelosi-ite WITCH HUNTERS, however, as we can clearly see from the CNN article, are in fact serving in the capacity of committing magistrates to adjudicate the serious federal crime of insurrection, and according to the Supreme Court, as if that matters anymore, by doing so, they are way off the reservation and firmly over into UNCONSTITUTIONAL TERRITORY, which takes us back to Icardi as follows:
Although the subcommittee’s report was made after Icardi’s testimony, its contents are relevant to show that body’s conception and exercise of its authority and functions.
Chairman Cole testified that the subcommittee already had in its possession sufficient information on which to base its report to the Congress, including Icardi’s prior statements on many occasions, and that the purpose of asking Icardi’s appearance before the subcommittee was to give him an opportunity to tell his side of the story.
Chairman Cole further testified that, to the best of his recollection, before asking Icardi to testify, he discussed with his colleague and counsel for the subcommittee the calling of Icardi, putting him under oath, and the possibility of a perjury indictment as the result of Icardi’s testimony.
It is unnecessary for the court to determine for which purpose Icardi’s testimony was sought or obtained, since neither affording an individual a forum in which to protest his innocence nor extracting testimony with a view to a perjury prosecution, is a valid legislative purpose.
end quotes
Does the WITCH HUNTERS special committee have a valid legislative purpose as it must to be held to be a CONSTITUTIONAL EXERCISE OF CONGRESSIONAL AUTHORITY?
According to the Supreme Court, again, if that matters any more now that the DEMOCRATS have tossed RULE OF LAW into the toilet, no they clearly do not, since they have been UNCONSTUTIONALLY CONSTITUTED to investigate crimes, which is not their function, given they are not a court of law, which again takes us back to Icardi:
While a committee or subcommittee of the Congress has the right to inquire whether there is a likelihood that a crime has been committed touching upon a field within its general jurisdiction and also to ascertain whether an executive department charged with the prosecution of such crime has acted properly, this authority cannot be extended to sanction a legislative trial and conviction of the individual toward whom the evidence points the finger of suspicion.
On the basis of all the evidence before it, the court therefore finds, as a matter of law, that at the time the subcommittee questioned the defendant Icardi it was not functioning as a competent tribunal.
There are, however, limitations upon the investigative power of the legislature which must be considered in any determination of materiality.
The investigation must be to aid in legislation. McGrain v. Daugherty, supra, 273 U.S. at *389 page 178, 47 S. Ct. 319.
“Similarly, the power to investigate must not be confused with any of the powers of law enforcement; those powers are assigned under our Constitution to the Executive and the Judiciary.” Quinn v. United States, 349 U.S. 155, 161, 75 S. Ct. 668, 672, 99 L. Ed. 964.
end quotes
Well, they used to be anyway.
Stay tuned!
http://www.capecharlesmirror.com/news/r ... ent-445034
Paul Plante says:
And stop the presses here, people, because as we can clearly see from a CNN article entitled “Analysis: Pressure on January 6 panel ratchets up amid new explosion of Trump election lies” billed as “Analysis” by Stephen Collinson on 12 October 2021, we are having a CHANGE OF NARRATIVE here by the Pelosi-ite WITCH HUNTERS including the Virginia’s own very tough-talking Elaine Luria, who is looking to roll some heads herself, to wit:
The House’s US Capitol insurrection probe is fast turning into a race against time, up against Republican efforts to delay an accounting on ex-President Donald Trump’s coup attempt after losing the 2020 election even as he preemptively begins undermining the next one.
end quotes
Is everyone catching that?
The official line now coming out of DEMOCRAT CENTRAL is that what took place on 6 January 2021 was not only an insurrection, which is bad enough, but a coup attempt, as well, which makes it even worse, and consequently gives the Democrats a much better narrative to destroy Trump and the Republicans with as the Democrats seek to firm up their one-party rule here in the United States of America, now that they control not only the Congress, but the administration, as well, which takes us back to that story, as follows:
It’s hardly a shock that members of Trump’s orbit are seeking to evade accountability and the rule of law.
end quotes
Evade accountability and the rule of law?
That is what the Pelosi-ite WITCH HUNTERS are doing here as they trample RULE OF LAW as established by several United States Supreme Court decisions on limitations of congressional power into the sludge and muck of the swamp that is Washington, D.C., which some wag termed a waste of really good swampland in what used to be a part of Virginia.
SEVENTH GRADE CIVICS QUESTION: Can the United States House of Representatives act in a judicial capacity?
For an answer, let’s go to United States v. Icardi, 140 F. Supp. 383 (D.D.C. 1956), U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia (D.D.C. 1956), April 19, 1956, where we have as follows:
There is a question as to the propriety of the report’s Conclusions, which state there is “probable cause” for charging Icardi and LoDolce with murder and embezzlement, but that they are not subject to prosecution under existing civil law or under the Uniform Code of Military Justice.
The use of this language indicates the functioning of the subcommittee as a committing magistrate.
As to the report’s final Recommendations, which suggest that legislative amendments to the Federal Criminal Code be recommended to the Judiciary Committee, the court finds this portion of the subcommittee’s report was an exercise of a bona fide legislative function.
The validity of this latter recommendation, however, cannot cure the invalidity of the subcommittee’s adjudication of crime contained in the report’s Statement of Facts.
end quotes
The Pelosi-ite WITCH HUNTERS, however, as we can clearly see from the CNN article, are in fact serving in the capacity of committing magistrates to adjudicate the serious federal crime of insurrection, and according to the Supreme Court, as if that matters anymore, by doing so, they are way off the reservation and firmly over into UNCONSTITUTIONAL TERRITORY, which takes us back to Icardi as follows:
Although the subcommittee’s report was made after Icardi’s testimony, its contents are relevant to show that body’s conception and exercise of its authority and functions.
Chairman Cole testified that the subcommittee already had in its possession sufficient information on which to base its report to the Congress, including Icardi’s prior statements on many occasions, and that the purpose of asking Icardi’s appearance before the subcommittee was to give him an opportunity to tell his side of the story.
Chairman Cole further testified that, to the best of his recollection, before asking Icardi to testify, he discussed with his colleague and counsel for the subcommittee the calling of Icardi, putting him under oath, and the possibility of a perjury indictment as the result of Icardi’s testimony.
It is unnecessary for the court to determine for which purpose Icardi’s testimony was sought or obtained, since neither affording an individual a forum in which to protest his innocence nor extracting testimony with a view to a perjury prosecution, is a valid legislative purpose.
end quotes
Does the WITCH HUNTERS special committee have a valid legislative purpose as it must to be held to be a CONSTITUTIONAL EXERCISE OF CONGRESSIONAL AUTHORITY?
According to the Supreme Court, again, if that matters any more now that the DEMOCRATS have tossed RULE OF LAW into the toilet, no they clearly do not, since they have been UNCONSTUTIONALLY CONSTITUTED to investigate crimes, which is not their function, given they are not a court of law, which again takes us back to Icardi:
While a committee or subcommittee of the Congress has the right to inquire whether there is a likelihood that a crime has been committed touching upon a field within its general jurisdiction and also to ascertain whether an executive department charged with the prosecution of such crime has acted properly, this authority cannot be extended to sanction a legislative trial and conviction of the individual toward whom the evidence points the finger of suspicion.
On the basis of all the evidence before it, the court therefore finds, as a matter of law, that at the time the subcommittee questioned the defendant Icardi it was not functioning as a competent tribunal.
There are, however, limitations upon the investigative power of the legislature which must be considered in any determination of materiality.
The investigation must be to aid in legislation. McGrain v. Daugherty, supra, 273 U.S. at *389 page 178, 47 S. Ct. 319.
“Similarly, the power to investigate must not be confused with any of the powers of law enforcement; those powers are assigned under our Constitution to the Executive and the Judiciary.” Quinn v. United States, 349 U.S. 155, 161, 75 S. Ct. 668, 672, 99 L. Ed. 964.
end quotes
Well, they used to be anyway.
Stay tuned!
http://www.capecharlesmirror.com/news/r ... ent-445034
Re: Just musings, is all
THE CAPE CHARLES MIRROR OCTOBER 14, 2021 AT 8:47 PM
Paul Plante says:
And once again, to be clear in here, when I use the term “contemporary history,” regardless of what the academics might try to call it, I am referring to documented events that have taken place within the memory of living men, and women, of course, as the author used the term in the Preface of World Wars And Revolutions by Walter Phelps Hall, PhD, of Princeton, copyrighted 1943, which contemporary history in that case was that period of time between June 28, 1914, when Austrian Archduke Francis Ferdinand was shot at Sarajevo in the Balkans and 1943, when WWII was raging in Europe, detailing the events which occurred between those two dates as an explanation of how WWII came to be, despite a belief at the end of WWI that there would never be another world war, to wit:
WHY WAR WAS THOUGHT OUTMODED
On June 28, 1914, an Austrian archduke was shot at Sarajevo in the Balkans and within five weeks the greater part of Europe was at war.
Four years later, the German Reich, hampered by impotent allies, lamed by empty stomachs, hammered by Foch’s armies, ceased to be.
The German High Command had lost their war; and many, blinded by victory and confused by rejoicing well-nigh universal, believed all war banished from the world.
Instead, within one generation, in a short twenty years, a murkier and more murderous hurricane than that of 1914 came roaring out of Central Europe, to sweep every ocean, to engulf continents.
The war of 1914-18, the first World War, burst on a relatively unsuspecting world.
Few even of the statesmen of that day were convinced of its coming.
True, in 1911, 1912, and in 1913 there had been little wars involving European countries.
That trifling and semi-comic conflict between Italians and Turks in 1911, involving Libyan oases, did not really threaten Europe’s peace; and the two Balkan wars of 1912 and 1913, though bloody enough to satisfy Tamerlane, seemed far away from the main currents of European civilization.
Certain savants held that these might even be considered harbingers of coming world peace, since in less enlightened times such frontier wars might well have involved one or more of the great powers, all of whom were now too sagacious to draw the sword.
end quotes
But obviously as we can see from our perspective many years later, the so-called “great powers” were not sagacious, at all, and so we had another world war, which brings us up to the beginning of the contemporary American history I am going to rely on here, a history which begins with Martin Dies Jr. (November 5, 1900 – November 14, 1972), like Nancy Pelosi and the majority of her WITCH HUNTERS including Virginia’s own tough-talking Elaine Luria, a Democratic member of the United States House of Representatives, who served as the first chairman of the Special Committee to Investigate Un-American Activities (HUAC) from 1937 through 1944 (Seventy-fifth through Seventy-eighth Congresses), and the United States Supreme Court case of John T. WATKINS, Petitioner, v. UNITED STATES of America, 354 U.S. 178, which is especially relevant today as it was just announced on the news that Nancy’s WITCH HUNTERS are going to hold Steve Bannon, a common American citizen, not a member of the Trump administration, in CONTEMPT, a serious misdemeanor, to demonstrate exactly how far off the reservation Nancy Pelosi and her WITCH HUNTERS are now straying, as they take RULE OF LAW in this country and stuff it down the toilet to replace it with RULE OF NANCY, instead.
By way of background, Dies and Samuel Dickstein created the House Committee Investigating Un-American Activities, initially nicknamed the Dies Committee, later becoming HUAC in 1946.
Dies was its first chairman, serving for seven years from 1938 to 1944, and like Nancy Pelosi and her WITCH HUNTERS are doing again today, he declared a crusade against what he termed “right-wing subversives” in the government, and other organizations nationwide.
As to Samuel Dickstein (February 5, 1885 – April 22, 1954), like Adam Schiff and Jamie Raskin and Elaine Luria, as good a Democrat as they come, he was a Democratic Congressional Representative from New York (22-year tenure), a New York State Supreme Court Justice, and a Soviet spy (isn’t history just great) who played a key role in establishing the committee that would become the House Committee on Un-American Activities, which he used to attack fascists.
Dickstein was named in the 1990s as a Soviet agent in the Venona project materials and in 1999, authors Allen Weinstein and Alexander Vassiliev learned that Soviet files indicate that Dickstein was a paid agent of the NKVD, but a good Democrat through and through, nonetheless.
And here is where we have a great story from out of the annals of Democrat history involving Shirley Temple and Hollywood to show just how far out of control these rabid Democrat WITCH HUNTERS like Nancy Pelosi’s crew can go.
Now, while there had been earlier Congressional hearings on communist and Nazi activity, such as by Hamilton Fish in 1932 and McCormack and Dickstein in 1934, the Dies Committee hearings captured greater public attention and scrutiny and in 1938, the Committee was criticized for including Shirley Temple, who was 10 years old at the time, on a list of Hollywood figures who sent greetings to the leftist Communist-owned French newspaper, Ce Soir.
The Roosevelt Administration mentioned the attacks when Harold Ickes, Secretary of the Interior, stated: “They have found dangerous radicals there led by little Shirley Temple.”
Secretary of Labor Frances Perkins added that Shirley Temple was born an American Citizen and should not have to debate such “preposterous revelations”.
To bring this to a close before it gets overlong, the Supreme Court case of Watkins is directly relevant to what is occurring today in the United States of America with these Pelosi-ite WITCH HUNTERS running amuck and trampling the rights of each and every one of us, because this isn’t just about Trump, into the muck and slime of the Washington, D.C. swamp, for this following language, to wit:
In the decade following World War II, there appeared a new kind of congressional inquiry unknown in prior periods of American history.
Principally this was the result of the various investigations into the threat of subversion of the United States Government, but other subjects of congressional interest also contributed to the changed scene.
This new phase of legislative inquiry involved a broad-scale intrusion into the lives and affairs of private citizens.
It brought before the courts novel questions of the appropriate limits of congressional inquiry.
Abuses of the investigative process may imperceptibly lead to abridgment of protected freedoms.
Kilbourn v. Thompson teaches that such an investigation into individual affairs is invalid if unrelated to any legislative purpose.
That is beyond the powers conferred upon the Congress in the Constitution.
United States v. Rumely makes it plain that the mere semblance of legislative purpose would not justify an inquiry in the face of the Bill of Rights.
The critical element is the existence of, and the weight to be ascribed to, the interest of the Congress in demanding disclosures from an unwilling witness.
We cannot simply assume, however, that every congressional investigation is justified by a public need that overbalances any private rights affected.
To do so would be to abdicate the responsibility placed by the Constitution upon the judiciary to insure that the Congress does not unjustifiably encroach upon an individual’s right to privacy nor abridge his liberty of speech, press, religion or assembly.
We have no doubt that there is no congressional power to expose for the sake of exposure.
The public is, of entitled to be informed concerning the workings of its government.
That cannot be inflated into a general power to expose where the predominant result can only be an invasion of the private rights of individuals.
end quotes
And yet, especially in the case of Bannon, that is exactly what these Pelosi-ite WITCH HUNTERS are doing, and as reviled as Bannon may be by some, the fact is that he is an American citizen, not a member of the executive branch of our government, and what these Pelosi-ite WITCH HUNTERS can get away with doing to him can in turn be done to any of us, and that should be a matter of concern to every LOYAL AMERICAN out there regardless of political affiliation, so please, stay tuned.
http://www.capecharlesmirror.com/news/o ... ent-445642
Paul Plante says:
And once again, to be clear in here, when I use the term “contemporary history,” regardless of what the academics might try to call it, I am referring to documented events that have taken place within the memory of living men, and women, of course, as the author used the term in the Preface of World Wars And Revolutions by Walter Phelps Hall, PhD, of Princeton, copyrighted 1943, which contemporary history in that case was that period of time between June 28, 1914, when Austrian Archduke Francis Ferdinand was shot at Sarajevo in the Balkans and 1943, when WWII was raging in Europe, detailing the events which occurred between those two dates as an explanation of how WWII came to be, despite a belief at the end of WWI that there would never be another world war, to wit:
WHY WAR WAS THOUGHT OUTMODED
On June 28, 1914, an Austrian archduke was shot at Sarajevo in the Balkans and within five weeks the greater part of Europe was at war.
Four years later, the German Reich, hampered by impotent allies, lamed by empty stomachs, hammered by Foch’s armies, ceased to be.
The German High Command had lost their war; and many, blinded by victory and confused by rejoicing well-nigh universal, believed all war banished from the world.
Instead, within one generation, in a short twenty years, a murkier and more murderous hurricane than that of 1914 came roaring out of Central Europe, to sweep every ocean, to engulf continents.
The war of 1914-18, the first World War, burst on a relatively unsuspecting world.
Few even of the statesmen of that day were convinced of its coming.
True, in 1911, 1912, and in 1913 there had been little wars involving European countries.
That trifling and semi-comic conflict between Italians and Turks in 1911, involving Libyan oases, did not really threaten Europe’s peace; and the two Balkan wars of 1912 and 1913, though bloody enough to satisfy Tamerlane, seemed far away from the main currents of European civilization.
Certain savants held that these might even be considered harbingers of coming world peace, since in less enlightened times such frontier wars might well have involved one or more of the great powers, all of whom were now too sagacious to draw the sword.
end quotes
But obviously as we can see from our perspective many years later, the so-called “great powers” were not sagacious, at all, and so we had another world war, which brings us up to the beginning of the contemporary American history I am going to rely on here, a history which begins with Martin Dies Jr. (November 5, 1900 – November 14, 1972), like Nancy Pelosi and the majority of her WITCH HUNTERS including Virginia’s own tough-talking Elaine Luria, a Democratic member of the United States House of Representatives, who served as the first chairman of the Special Committee to Investigate Un-American Activities (HUAC) from 1937 through 1944 (Seventy-fifth through Seventy-eighth Congresses), and the United States Supreme Court case of John T. WATKINS, Petitioner, v. UNITED STATES of America, 354 U.S. 178, which is especially relevant today as it was just announced on the news that Nancy’s WITCH HUNTERS are going to hold Steve Bannon, a common American citizen, not a member of the Trump administration, in CONTEMPT, a serious misdemeanor, to demonstrate exactly how far off the reservation Nancy Pelosi and her WITCH HUNTERS are now straying, as they take RULE OF LAW in this country and stuff it down the toilet to replace it with RULE OF NANCY, instead.
By way of background, Dies and Samuel Dickstein created the House Committee Investigating Un-American Activities, initially nicknamed the Dies Committee, later becoming HUAC in 1946.
Dies was its first chairman, serving for seven years from 1938 to 1944, and like Nancy Pelosi and her WITCH HUNTERS are doing again today, he declared a crusade against what he termed “right-wing subversives” in the government, and other organizations nationwide.
As to Samuel Dickstein (February 5, 1885 – April 22, 1954), like Adam Schiff and Jamie Raskin and Elaine Luria, as good a Democrat as they come, he was a Democratic Congressional Representative from New York (22-year tenure), a New York State Supreme Court Justice, and a Soviet spy (isn’t history just great) who played a key role in establishing the committee that would become the House Committee on Un-American Activities, which he used to attack fascists.
Dickstein was named in the 1990s as a Soviet agent in the Venona project materials and in 1999, authors Allen Weinstein and Alexander Vassiliev learned that Soviet files indicate that Dickstein was a paid agent of the NKVD, but a good Democrat through and through, nonetheless.
And here is where we have a great story from out of the annals of Democrat history involving Shirley Temple and Hollywood to show just how far out of control these rabid Democrat WITCH HUNTERS like Nancy Pelosi’s crew can go.
Now, while there had been earlier Congressional hearings on communist and Nazi activity, such as by Hamilton Fish in 1932 and McCormack and Dickstein in 1934, the Dies Committee hearings captured greater public attention and scrutiny and in 1938, the Committee was criticized for including Shirley Temple, who was 10 years old at the time, on a list of Hollywood figures who sent greetings to the leftist Communist-owned French newspaper, Ce Soir.
The Roosevelt Administration mentioned the attacks when Harold Ickes, Secretary of the Interior, stated: “They have found dangerous radicals there led by little Shirley Temple.”
Secretary of Labor Frances Perkins added that Shirley Temple was born an American Citizen and should not have to debate such “preposterous revelations”.
To bring this to a close before it gets overlong, the Supreme Court case of Watkins is directly relevant to what is occurring today in the United States of America with these Pelosi-ite WITCH HUNTERS running amuck and trampling the rights of each and every one of us, because this isn’t just about Trump, into the muck and slime of the Washington, D.C. swamp, for this following language, to wit:
In the decade following World War II, there appeared a new kind of congressional inquiry unknown in prior periods of American history.
Principally this was the result of the various investigations into the threat of subversion of the United States Government, but other subjects of congressional interest also contributed to the changed scene.
This new phase of legislative inquiry involved a broad-scale intrusion into the lives and affairs of private citizens.
It brought before the courts novel questions of the appropriate limits of congressional inquiry.
Abuses of the investigative process may imperceptibly lead to abridgment of protected freedoms.
Kilbourn v. Thompson teaches that such an investigation into individual affairs is invalid if unrelated to any legislative purpose.
That is beyond the powers conferred upon the Congress in the Constitution.
United States v. Rumely makes it plain that the mere semblance of legislative purpose would not justify an inquiry in the face of the Bill of Rights.
The critical element is the existence of, and the weight to be ascribed to, the interest of the Congress in demanding disclosures from an unwilling witness.
We cannot simply assume, however, that every congressional investigation is justified by a public need that overbalances any private rights affected.
To do so would be to abdicate the responsibility placed by the Constitution upon the judiciary to insure that the Congress does not unjustifiably encroach upon an individual’s right to privacy nor abridge his liberty of speech, press, religion or assembly.
We have no doubt that there is no congressional power to expose for the sake of exposure.
The public is, of entitled to be informed concerning the workings of its government.
That cannot be inflated into a general power to expose where the predominant result can only be an invasion of the private rights of individuals.
end quotes
And yet, especially in the case of Bannon, that is exactly what these Pelosi-ite WITCH HUNTERS are doing, and as reviled as Bannon may be by some, the fact is that he is an American citizen, not a member of the executive branch of our government, and what these Pelosi-ite WITCH HUNTERS can get away with doing to him can in turn be done to any of us, and that should be a matter of concern to every LOYAL AMERICAN out there regardless of political affiliation, so please, stay tuned.
http://www.capecharlesmirror.com/news/o ... ent-445642
Re: Just musings, is all
THE CAPE CHARLES MIRROR OCTOBER 14, 2021 AT 9:55 PM
Paul Plante says:
So, yes, people, inflation!
According to the RIGZONE story “Oil Futures Down In Steady Trading On OPEC Demand Concerns” by Julia Fanzeres and Devika Krishna Kumar on October 13, 2021, Americans making less than $400,000 are going to get raped but good by inflation this winter as they try to heat their houses, to wit:
The Energy Information Administration boosted its forecast for annual average WTI and Brent prices in 2022 by $5.87 to $68.24/bbl and $71.91 a barrel, respectively, according to the agency’s monthly Short-Term Energy Outlook on Wednesday.
The agency also warned that spending on energy for those households primarily using heating oil will rise 43% compared with last winter, according to its Winter Fuels Outlook report.
end quotes
Makes me glad I heat with wood or I would be freezing this winter for sure, and many older Americans on a fixed income may well be!
And then we had the CNBC story “10-year Treasury yield falls after inflation data, Fed minutes” by Hannah Miao and Vicky McKeever on October 13, 2021, as follows:
Consumer prices increased slightly more than expected in September with the consumer price index for all items rising 0.4% for the month, compared to the 0.3% Dow Jones estimate, the Labor Department reported Wednesday.
On a year-over-year basis, prices increased 5.4% vs. the estimate for 5.3%.
“The print reflected that while transitory factors continue to roll-off, stickier more persistent factors are becoming more prevalent, which the Fed is more likely to respond to,” Bank of America analysts said in a note.
end quotes
Again, that inflation is a tax on people in the United States of America making less than $400,000.
And then we go to the CNBC article “Fed says it could begin ‘gradual tapering process’ by mid-November” by on 13 October 2021, as follows:
The committee also released the summary of its economic expectations, including projections for GDP growth, inflation and unemployment.
Members scaled back their GDP estimates for this year but upped their outlook for inflation, and indicated they expect unemployment to be lower than earlier estimates.
end quotes
Hey, kids, look at that – the Federal Reserve is talking again about STAGFLATION in our futures!
And CNBC again with the story “Consumer prices rise more than expected as energy costs surge” by Jeff Cox on 13 October 2021, as follows:
On a year-over-year basis, prices increased 5.4% versus the estimate for 5.3% and the highest since January 1991.
Gasoline prices rose another 1.2% for the month, bringing the annual increase to 42.1%.
Fuel oil shot up 3.9%, for a 42.6% year over year surge.
Federal Reserve officials have called the current inflation run “transitory,” and attribute it largely to supply chain and demand issues that they expect to subside in the months ahead.
However, that view has been receiving substantial pushback lately.
“This is one more data point to say, ‘Fed, your trying to convince us that inflation is transitory is just not believable,’” Doll said.
“If you know anybody who doesn’t have to live somewhere, doesn’t eat any food and doesn’t use energy, then inflation is maybe not a particular problem.”
“But come on.”
Also on Tuesday, Atlanta Fed President Raphael Bostic said the factors that have pushed inflation higher “will not be brief.”
end quotes
And of course, that implicates the lack of credibility of Joe Biden himself on the subject of inflation, which takes us the Reuters article “Fed lays out plan to reduce bond purchases, flags inflation worries” by Ann Saphir, Jonnelle Marte and Lindsay Dunsmuir on October 13, 2021, as follows:
In a change from readouts of Fed meetings over the summer, policymakers were no longer described as “generally” expecting inflation pressures to ease as transitory factors “dissipated.”
Instead, the minutes suggested there were intensifying worries within the Fed over inflation, with “most” policymakers now seeing upside risks, and “some” concerned about elevated inflation feeding through to inflation expectations or more broadly into prices.
end quotes
Which takes us to another Reuters article entitled “Higher inflation squeezing U.S. consumers as food prices, rents accelerate” by Lucia Mutikani on October 13, 2021, to wit:
WASHINGTON, Oct 13 (Reuters) – U.S. consumer prices increased solidly in September as Americans paid more for food, rent and a range of other goods, putting pressure on the Biden administration to urgently resolve strained supply chains, which are hampering economic growth.
“Inflation is no longer ‘transitory,'” said Sung Won Sohn, professor of finance and economics at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles.
“Supply-chain bottlenecks are getting worse.”
“The logjam is unlikely to ease anytime soon despite the latest intervention by the White House.”
end quotes
WHOA!
Hey, wait a minute!
I thought Joe Biden and Peter Buttigieg had that all worked out and fixed!
Which takes us to a Reuters story entitled “White House asks U.S. oil-and-gas companies to help lower fuel costs -sources” by Jarrett Renshaw on October 13, 2021, as follows:
(Reuters) -The White House has been speaking with U.S. oil and gas producers in recent days about helping to bring down rising fuel costs, according to two sources familiar with the matter.
“We are closely monitoring the cost of oil and the cost of gas Americans are paying at the pump.”
“And we are using every tool at our disposal to address anti-competitive practices in U.S. and global energy markets to ensure reliable and stable energy markets,” a White House official said.
The U.S. Energy Department said on Wednesday that household heating costs are expected to rise dramatically this winter for all fuels, but particularly for heating oil and propane.
Any call by the White House for an increase in U.S. production is likely to fall on deaf ears, according to one oil executive, who did not want to be identified criticizing the approach.
The industry has also been unhappy with some of President Joe Biden’s earlier actions, including a temporary drilling halt on federal lands, that they see as an attack on the industry.
“By pursuing policies that restrict supply and make it harder to produce oil and natural gas here in America, Americans will have to pay more for their energy,” said Anne Bradbury, chief executive officer at the American Exploration and Production Council, which lobbies for independent oil-and-gas producers.
end quotes
And as they say in the media biz, that’s the news, folks!
MORAL OF THE STORY: buy that loaf of bread now while you can still afford it!
http://www.capecharlesmirror.com/news/w ... ent-445667
Paul Plante says:
So, yes, people, inflation!
According to the RIGZONE story “Oil Futures Down In Steady Trading On OPEC Demand Concerns” by Julia Fanzeres and Devika Krishna Kumar on October 13, 2021, Americans making less than $400,000 are going to get raped but good by inflation this winter as they try to heat their houses, to wit:
The Energy Information Administration boosted its forecast for annual average WTI and Brent prices in 2022 by $5.87 to $68.24/bbl and $71.91 a barrel, respectively, according to the agency’s monthly Short-Term Energy Outlook on Wednesday.
The agency also warned that spending on energy for those households primarily using heating oil will rise 43% compared with last winter, according to its Winter Fuels Outlook report.
end quotes
Makes me glad I heat with wood or I would be freezing this winter for sure, and many older Americans on a fixed income may well be!
And then we had the CNBC story “10-year Treasury yield falls after inflation data, Fed minutes” by Hannah Miao and Vicky McKeever on October 13, 2021, as follows:
Consumer prices increased slightly more than expected in September with the consumer price index for all items rising 0.4% for the month, compared to the 0.3% Dow Jones estimate, the Labor Department reported Wednesday.
On a year-over-year basis, prices increased 5.4% vs. the estimate for 5.3%.
“The print reflected that while transitory factors continue to roll-off, stickier more persistent factors are becoming more prevalent, which the Fed is more likely to respond to,” Bank of America analysts said in a note.
end quotes
Again, that inflation is a tax on people in the United States of America making less than $400,000.
And then we go to the CNBC article “Fed says it could begin ‘gradual tapering process’ by mid-November” by on 13 October 2021, as follows:
The committee also released the summary of its economic expectations, including projections for GDP growth, inflation and unemployment.
Members scaled back their GDP estimates for this year but upped their outlook for inflation, and indicated they expect unemployment to be lower than earlier estimates.
end quotes
Hey, kids, look at that – the Federal Reserve is talking again about STAGFLATION in our futures!
And CNBC again with the story “Consumer prices rise more than expected as energy costs surge” by Jeff Cox on 13 October 2021, as follows:
On a year-over-year basis, prices increased 5.4% versus the estimate for 5.3% and the highest since January 1991.
Gasoline prices rose another 1.2% for the month, bringing the annual increase to 42.1%.
Fuel oil shot up 3.9%, for a 42.6% year over year surge.
Federal Reserve officials have called the current inflation run “transitory,” and attribute it largely to supply chain and demand issues that they expect to subside in the months ahead.
However, that view has been receiving substantial pushback lately.
“This is one more data point to say, ‘Fed, your trying to convince us that inflation is transitory is just not believable,’” Doll said.
“If you know anybody who doesn’t have to live somewhere, doesn’t eat any food and doesn’t use energy, then inflation is maybe not a particular problem.”
“But come on.”
Also on Tuesday, Atlanta Fed President Raphael Bostic said the factors that have pushed inflation higher “will not be brief.”
end quotes
And of course, that implicates the lack of credibility of Joe Biden himself on the subject of inflation, which takes us the Reuters article “Fed lays out plan to reduce bond purchases, flags inflation worries” by Ann Saphir, Jonnelle Marte and Lindsay Dunsmuir on October 13, 2021, as follows:
In a change from readouts of Fed meetings over the summer, policymakers were no longer described as “generally” expecting inflation pressures to ease as transitory factors “dissipated.”
Instead, the minutes suggested there were intensifying worries within the Fed over inflation, with “most” policymakers now seeing upside risks, and “some” concerned about elevated inflation feeding through to inflation expectations or more broadly into prices.
end quotes
Which takes us to another Reuters article entitled “Higher inflation squeezing U.S. consumers as food prices, rents accelerate” by Lucia Mutikani on October 13, 2021, to wit:
WASHINGTON, Oct 13 (Reuters) – U.S. consumer prices increased solidly in September as Americans paid more for food, rent and a range of other goods, putting pressure on the Biden administration to urgently resolve strained supply chains, which are hampering economic growth.
“Inflation is no longer ‘transitory,'” said Sung Won Sohn, professor of finance and economics at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles.
“Supply-chain bottlenecks are getting worse.”
“The logjam is unlikely to ease anytime soon despite the latest intervention by the White House.”
end quotes
WHOA!
Hey, wait a minute!
I thought Joe Biden and Peter Buttigieg had that all worked out and fixed!
Which takes us to a Reuters story entitled “White House asks U.S. oil-and-gas companies to help lower fuel costs -sources” by Jarrett Renshaw on October 13, 2021, as follows:
(Reuters) -The White House has been speaking with U.S. oil and gas producers in recent days about helping to bring down rising fuel costs, according to two sources familiar with the matter.
“We are closely monitoring the cost of oil and the cost of gas Americans are paying at the pump.”
“And we are using every tool at our disposal to address anti-competitive practices in U.S. and global energy markets to ensure reliable and stable energy markets,” a White House official said.
The U.S. Energy Department said on Wednesday that household heating costs are expected to rise dramatically this winter for all fuels, but particularly for heating oil and propane.
Any call by the White House for an increase in U.S. production is likely to fall on deaf ears, according to one oil executive, who did not want to be identified criticizing the approach.
The industry has also been unhappy with some of President Joe Biden’s earlier actions, including a temporary drilling halt on federal lands, that they see as an attack on the industry.
“By pursuing policies that restrict supply and make it harder to produce oil and natural gas here in America, Americans will have to pay more for their energy,” said Anne Bradbury, chief executive officer at the American Exploration and Production Council, which lobbies for independent oil-and-gas producers.
end quotes
And as they say in the media biz, that’s the news, folks!
MORAL OF THE STORY: buy that loaf of bread now while you can still afford it!
http://www.capecharlesmirror.com/news/w ... ent-445667
Re: Just musings, is all
THE CAPE CHARLES MIRROR OCTOBER 15, 2021 AT 8:05 PM
Paul Plante says:
And to see the slippery slope we are now on, as the Democrats seek to cement and solidify their tyrannical one-party rule on us, to our detriment as a FREE PEOPLE under RULE OF LAW, which has to be abolished if the Democrats hope to keep their grip on us, let us go back to the CNN article entitled “Analysis: Pressure on January 6 panel ratchets up amid new explosion of Trump election lies” billed as “Analysis” by Stephen Collinson on 12 October 2021, where we have as follows:
But it (RULE OF LAW) represents a problem for the committee nonetheless, as potential witnesses seek to drag out the process as long as possible.
end quotes
And let us be very clear here, people – ANYONE hauled before Congress does not automatically lose their CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHTS to defend themselves from CONGRESSIONAL OVERREACH and CONGRESSIONAL DESPOTISM by some kind of decree of the Democrats in charge of the House of Representatives, and as we see from any number of United States Supreme Court cases on the subject, they have every right to challenge the process, even if that (BOO HOO HOO) “drags out the process” as long as it takes to seek the justice they will not find before the rabid Pelosi-ite WITCH HUNTERS committee in the House of Representatives, where the majority of us have no representation, at all.
Consider, for example, the case of John T. WATKINS, Petitioner, v. UNITED STATES of America, Supreme Court, 354 U.S. 178, No. 261, argued March 7, 1957, decided June 17, 1957, Mr. Chief Justice WARREN delivering the opinion of the Court, to wit:
This is a review by certiorari of a conviction under 2 U.S.C. § 192, 2 U.S.C.A. § 192 for ‘contempt of Congress.’
The misdemeanor is alleged to have been committed during a hearing before a congressional investigating committee.
It is not the case of a truculent or contumacious witness who refuses to answer all questions or who, by boisterous or discourteous conduct, disturbs the decorum of the committee room.
Petitioner was prosecuted for refusing to make certain disclosures which he asserted to be beyond the authority of the committee to demand.
The controversy thus rests upon fundamental principles of the power of the Congress and the limitations upon that power.
end quotes
Ah, but how that phrase “limitations upon that power” chaffs and galls these rabid Pelosi-ite WITCH HUNTERS who see themselves as having a license to now trample on the CIVIL RIGHTS of American citizens as was the case in Watkins, supra, because of the violence unleashed at the Capitol on 6 January 2021, that was stoked by and as a result of a HATE SPEECH by Democrat presidential contender Joe Biden on 31 August 2020.
Getting back to that toxic narrative CNN is peddling under the guise of “analysis,” we have:
They do so in the knowledge that Republicans who have high hopes in the midterm elections would almost certainly shut down probes into January 6 if they reclaim the House.
end quotes
Oh, really!
So CNN is now able to read people’s minds so it can ascribe nefarious motives to their actions to try them and convict them in the COURT OF PUBLIC OPINION?
How about they are challenging the Pelosi-ite WITCH HUNTERS because they live in a FREE COUNTRY, not yet the FASCIST TYRANNY the Democrats are trying to impose on us through one-party rule, where they still have that right!
Getting back to the “analysis,” which is analysis from the perspective of the RULING DEMOCRATS, we have:
The select committee’s members are showing fresh urgency, warning that Trump acolytes who diss subpoenas face criminal referrals, a move that would put the Biden administration’s Justice Department in the hot seat.
end quotes
And why is it, people, that this “fresh urgency” we are hearing about in here is now being shown by the Pelosi-ite WITCH HUNTERS?
Ah, yes, people, you nailed it – the 2022 CONGRESSIONAL ELECTIONS!
The Democrats hoped to have these Republicans tried, convicted and hung by early 2022, in order to influence the 2022 CONGRESSIONAL ELECTIONS in their favor, by essentially outlawing the opposition, as Adolph Hitler did in 1933 in Germany, when thanks to the Reichstag Fire, he was able to end DEMOCRACY in the Weimar Republic along with the Weimar Republic itself, to replace it with a dictatorship with him in charge, which is essential history EVERY high school student here in the United States of America should be cognizant of, which takes us back to some real tough talk from these WITCH HUNYERS, to wit:
“We’re not messing around,” Rep. Adam Schiff of California, a Democratic member of the committee, told CNN’s Ryan Nobles on Tuesday, emphasizing that the Department of Justice would be put in a position to make a critical choice on criminal referrals against Trump’s associates because “unlike the last administration, no one is above the law.”
“And so we intend to move quickly.”
end quotes
Except that is so not true, people – Adam Schiff himself is above the law, as are his fellow WITCH HUNTERS, and that is what makes them so dangerous to civilized society here in the United States of America, keeping in mind that the smarmy little pencil neck congressman from Disneyland had his chance to hang Trump high in his first impeachment by the Democrats, and Adam FAILED to do it, because his case was nothing but cobwebs and smoke, but being above the law, here is Adam back for another bite at the apple, which takes us to Virginia’s own Elaine Luria who is making a cameo appearance here and getting some good press or herself in the process to impress the voters back home in Virginia with all congresswoman Elaine is doing for the cause of liberty and justice for all, er, well, okay, not everybody, because that wouldn’t be fair to the Democrats who want to look up and see the soles of Trump’s shoes as he swings from the DEMOCRAT LYNCHING TREE, to wit:
Another Democratic member of the committee, Rep. Elaine Luria of Virginia, said, “You will see the committee moving quickly” on CNN’s “Erin Burnett OutFront” on Tuesday.
end quotes
Let’s get those hands in the air and together for Elaine!
Getting back to the tough talk, the story continues, as follows:
And the committee’s Republican vice chair, Rep. Liz Cheney of Wyoming, told CNN the panel “is completely in solidarity” on moving fast to pursue criminal contempt charges for those who evade subpoena deadlines.
“Every single person on the committee recognizes how important it is for us to make sure that we enforce our subpoenas and that we do so expeditiously,” Cheney said.
The sense that time is finite reflects the fact that the committee — the final manifestation of a formal accounting process that pro-Trump Republicans tried to strangle — is the last chance to provide an official historic record and to find the truth about January 6 before Americans next vote in a national election next year.
Leaders of the Democrat-heavy panel previously pledged to complete the probe by early next spring, before the midterm campaign consumes Washington.
end quotes
And there, people, is what this whole MEDIA CIRCUS is all about, right there in those two sentences – it is about influencing the 2022 congressional elections in their favor by any means possible!
http://www.capecharlesmirror.com/news/r ... ent-446166
Paul Plante says:
And to see the slippery slope we are now on, as the Democrats seek to cement and solidify their tyrannical one-party rule on us, to our detriment as a FREE PEOPLE under RULE OF LAW, which has to be abolished if the Democrats hope to keep their grip on us, let us go back to the CNN article entitled “Analysis: Pressure on January 6 panel ratchets up amid new explosion of Trump election lies” billed as “Analysis” by Stephen Collinson on 12 October 2021, where we have as follows:
But it (RULE OF LAW) represents a problem for the committee nonetheless, as potential witnesses seek to drag out the process as long as possible.
end quotes
And let us be very clear here, people – ANYONE hauled before Congress does not automatically lose their CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHTS to defend themselves from CONGRESSIONAL OVERREACH and CONGRESSIONAL DESPOTISM by some kind of decree of the Democrats in charge of the House of Representatives, and as we see from any number of United States Supreme Court cases on the subject, they have every right to challenge the process, even if that (BOO HOO HOO) “drags out the process” as long as it takes to seek the justice they will not find before the rabid Pelosi-ite WITCH HUNTERS committee in the House of Representatives, where the majority of us have no representation, at all.
Consider, for example, the case of John T. WATKINS, Petitioner, v. UNITED STATES of America, Supreme Court, 354 U.S. 178, No. 261, argued March 7, 1957, decided June 17, 1957, Mr. Chief Justice WARREN delivering the opinion of the Court, to wit:
This is a review by certiorari of a conviction under 2 U.S.C. § 192, 2 U.S.C.A. § 192 for ‘contempt of Congress.’
The misdemeanor is alleged to have been committed during a hearing before a congressional investigating committee.
It is not the case of a truculent or contumacious witness who refuses to answer all questions or who, by boisterous or discourteous conduct, disturbs the decorum of the committee room.
Petitioner was prosecuted for refusing to make certain disclosures which he asserted to be beyond the authority of the committee to demand.
The controversy thus rests upon fundamental principles of the power of the Congress and the limitations upon that power.
end quotes
Ah, but how that phrase “limitations upon that power” chaffs and galls these rabid Pelosi-ite WITCH HUNTERS who see themselves as having a license to now trample on the CIVIL RIGHTS of American citizens as was the case in Watkins, supra, because of the violence unleashed at the Capitol on 6 January 2021, that was stoked by and as a result of a HATE SPEECH by Democrat presidential contender Joe Biden on 31 August 2020.
Getting back to that toxic narrative CNN is peddling under the guise of “analysis,” we have:
They do so in the knowledge that Republicans who have high hopes in the midterm elections would almost certainly shut down probes into January 6 if they reclaim the House.
end quotes
Oh, really!
So CNN is now able to read people’s minds so it can ascribe nefarious motives to their actions to try them and convict them in the COURT OF PUBLIC OPINION?
How about they are challenging the Pelosi-ite WITCH HUNTERS because they live in a FREE COUNTRY, not yet the FASCIST TYRANNY the Democrats are trying to impose on us through one-party rule, where they still have that right!
Getting back to the “analysis,” which is analysis from the perspective of the RULING DEMOCRATS, we have:
The select committee’s members are showing fresh urgency, warning that Trump acolytes who diss subpoenas face criminal referrals, a move that would put the Biden administration’s Justice Department in the hot seat.
end quotes
And why is it, people, that this “fresh urgency” we are hearing about in here is now being shown by the Pelosi-ite WITCH HUNTERS?
Ah, yes, people, you nailed it – the 2022 CONGRESSIONAL ELECTIONS!
The Democrats hoped to have these Republicans tried, convicted and hung by early 2022, in order to influence the 2022 CONGRESSIONAL ELECTIONS in their favor, by essentially outlawing the opposition, as Adolph Hitler did in 1933 in Germany, when thanks to the Reichstag Fire, he was able to end DEMOCRACY in the Weimar Republic along with the Weimar Republic itself, to replace it with a dictatorship with him in charge, which is essential history EVERY high school student here in the United States of America should be cognizant of, which takes us back to some real tough talk from these WITCH HUNYERS, to wit:
“We’re not messing around,” Rep. Adam Schiff of California, a Democratic member of the committee, told CNN’s Ryan Nobles on Tuesday, emphasizing that the Department of Justice would be put in a position to make a critical choice on criminal referrals against Trump’s associates because “unlike the last administration, no one is above the law.”
“And so we intend to move quickly.”
end quotes
Except that is so not true, people – Adam Schiff himself is above the law, as are his fellow WITCH HUNTERS, and that is what makes them so dangerous to civilized society here in the United States of America, keeping in mind that the smarmy little pencil neck congressman from Disneyland had his chance to hang Trump high in his first impeachment by the Democrats, and Adam FAILED to do it, because his case was nothing but cobwebs and smoke, but being above the law, here is Adam back for another bite at the apple, which takes us to Virginia’s own Elaine Luria who is making a cameo appearance here and getting some good press or herself in the process to impress the voters back home in Virginia with all congresswoman Elaine is doing for the cause of liberty and justice for all, er, well, okay, not everybody, because that wouldn’t be fair to the Democrats who want to look up and see the soles of Trump’s shoes as he swings from the DEMOCRAT LYNCHING TREE, to wit:
Another Democratic member of the committee, Rep. Elaine Luria of Virginia, said, “You will see the committee moving quickly” on CNN’s “Erin Burnett OutFront” on Tuesday.
end quotes
Let’s get those hands in the air and together for Elaine!
Getting back to the tough talk, the story continues, as follows:
And the committee’s Republican vice chair, Rep. Liz Cheney of Wyoming, told CNN the panel “is completely in solidarity” on moving fast to pursue criminal contempt charges for those who evade subpoena deadlines.
“Every single person on the committee recognizes how important it is for us to make sure that we enforce our subpoenas and that we do so expeditiously,” Cheney said.
The sense that time is finite reflects the fact that the committee — the final manifestation of a formal accounting process that pro-Trump Republicans tried to strangle — is the last chance to provide an official historic record and to find the truth about January 6 before Americans next vote in a national election next year.
Leaders of the Democrat-heavy panel previously pledged to complete the probe by early next spring, before the midterm campaign consumes Washington.
end quotes
And there, people, is what this whole MEDIA CIRCUS is all about, right there in those two sentences – it is about influencing the 2022 congressional elections in their favor by any means possible!
http://www.capecharlesmirror.com/news/r ... ent-446166
Re: Just musings, is all
THE CAPE CHARLES MIRROR
Opinion: On Electoral Bribery in America
Special Opinion by Paul Plante
AUGUST 22, 2021
As to electoral bribery in America today, which I posit is how Joe Biden managed to win the white house, by bribing the electorate with all sorts of extravagant and grandiose free government give-aways that Joe would provide them if only they would put him in the white house to save the soul of America, in an academic article entitled “Electoral Bribery in The Roman Republic” by Andrew Lintott published online by Cambridge University Press on 24 September 2012, we learn about the term “electoral bribery” in the political context as follows:
In Western Europe to-day we tend to assume automatically that electoral bribery is pernicious, in that it distorts the democratic process, the selection by the people of their own representatives, by shifting whatever power lies in the generality of the electorate back into the hands of the people who seek office, so that a democratic procedure becomes in effect oligarchic.
We even term bribery the presentation of attractive policies to the electorate by a person or party, which we believe will not be in the people’s long-term interest or will be rapidly discarded in favour of policies which suit those in power.
end quotes
That, of course, is precisely what we observed regarding the Biden/Harris campaign in the run-up to the 2020 presidential elections in this country, and it well can be said, and should be said, as I stated above, that Joe Biden is the president because of successful electoral bribery made possible today because of the impact of “social media” as a propaganda tool for politicians, where electoral bribery is considered to be bribery of masses of people, as opposed to the old tried-and-true Democrat Party tactic of buying individual votes.
For a good example of electoral bribery by the presentation of attractive policies to the electorate by a person, Joe Biden, and party, the Democrats, which have not been shown to be in the people’s long-term interest, nor can such a demonstration be made, let’s go to Joe Biden’s Infrastructure Speech Transcript from Crystal Lake, Illinois on July 7, 2021, to wit:
Those of you who have children under the of seven, you’re going to get three and depending on your income and your income taxes, you’re going to get a cash payment back up to now.
And guess what?
You get $2,000 is declared a dependent.
If you have two children you get $4,000 off a $10,000 tax bill, it’s important.
But if you don’t make enough money to be able to owe that kind of tax you don’t get a tax credit, you don’t get anything.
While under this proposal guess what?
You’re in a situation where if you have a child under the age of seven, you get back $3600 in cash.
In addition to that those of you are in that situation are going to start to see that coming in by the end of this month on a monthly basis.
It can change the lives of people.
Starting next week families will begin to receive one of the largest ever single year tax cuts aimed at families and children.
And every child under the age of six is $3,600.
Every child between six and 17 is 3000.
And not as a credit against your taxes, but as a direct payment.
You’ll get cash.
Cash that’s what we’ll get.
For example middle-class family with two children – … cash, that’s what you’ll get.
For example, a middle-class family with two children can expect to receive $7,200.
You get the first half, the $3,600 paid out at $600 a month between July and December.
And you get the rest between January and tax day.
end quotes
And of course, we will be told in response that that is simply how American politics works – people are going to vote for who makes the most outlandish and extravagant promises if they believe that it will result in free money in their pocket, regardless of the true costs to the nation of what is in reality a huge welfare scheme, like the Corn Dole in Rome, to buy votes.
For another example of electoral bribery as a political strategy, let us go to the political document “Resistance Rising: Socialist Strategy in the Age of Political Revolution – A summary of Democratic Socialists of America’s Strategy Document – June 2016” from June 25, 2016, where we have as follows:
Free public higher education is a key example of what we might call a “transformative” reform that helps to popularize the idea of socialism and to make further, more dramatic reforms possible in the future.
Free public higher education would mean taking what should be a universal public good out of the marketplace, putting it under democratic control and guaranteeing it as a right to all citizens — and funding it by a truly progressive tax system that makes the wealthy and corporations pay their fair share of government revenue.
Beyond its inherent benefits, such a campaign would also show people that socialist policies are both desirable and achievable.
Gaining free public higher education could serve as a crucial step in making democratic socialist politics more attractive to a wider cross-section of the U.S. public.
end quotes
There is electoral bribery as political strategy, and guess what, people, it works, as we can see from the Washington Examiner article entitled “More Democratic voters favor socialism than capitalism in major shift: Poll” by Zachary Halaschak on 13 August 2021, to wit:
Democrats have grown considerably more accepting of socialism since the coronavirus pandemic began, according to a new poll.
A survey by Fox News conducted this week found that 59% of Democratic voters hold a favorable opinion of socialism, compared to 49% who said the same of capitalism.
Furthermore, 44% of Democrats hold an unfavorable view of capitalism, compared to 31% who view socialism negatively.
The new results are a marked shift from February 2020, when 40% of Democratic voters said they held a favorable view of socialism, compared to half who said the same about capitalism.
The poll comes as the House has become imbued with a vocal contingent of socialists and those who support socialist priorities.
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York was elected in 2018 after a shocking primary upset and has since championed policies such as “Medicare for All” and the Green New Deal.
Ocasio-Cortez and Reps. Ilhan Omar of Minnesota, Rashida Tlaib of Michigan, and Ayanna Pressley of Massachusetts made waves after entering office, with the self-proclaimed “Squad” having outsize influence within the party and attracting much media attention, at times to the chagrin of party leadership.
Reps. Jamaal Bowman of New York and Cori Bush of Missouri, both members of the Democratic Socialists of America, were sworn into Congress after last year’s election.
end quotes
Yes, indeed, promise them the sun, moon and stars for free and you win their hearts and minds every time, and if the result is destroying the economy, hey, that’s the cost of doing business in politics today, where what you gave them the last time is now not enough, which takes us to the academic work “Electoral Bribery and the Challenge to the Authority of the Senate: Two Aspects of Dio’s View of the Late Roman Republic (Books 36–40)” by Marianne Coudry, where we are told that electoral bribery or ambitus, was a fatal weakness of the Late Roman Republic, and so it turned out to be, given the Roman civil war after Dio.
As to ambitus, Lexico defines it as the action of seeking to obtain an office or position through underhand means; especially the use of bribery to gain electoral support, which takes us to Wikipedia, as follows:
In ancient Roman law, ambitus was a crime of political corruption, mainly a candidate’s attempt to influence the outcome (or direction) of an election through bribery or other forms of soft power.
The Latin word ambitus is the origin of the English word “ambition” which is another of its original meanings; ambitus was the process of “going around and commending oneself or one’s protégés to the people,” an activity liable to unethical excesses.
The Lex Baebia was the first law criminalizing electoral bribery, instituted by M. Baebius Tamphilus during his consulship in 181 BC.
The lex Tullia was passed in the consulship of Cicero (63 BC) for the purpose of adding to the penalties of the Acilia Calpurnia.
The penalty under this lex was ten years’ exile.
This law forbade any person to exhibit public shows for two years before he was a candidate.
It also forbade candidates hiring persons to attend them and be about their persons.
end quotes
Which brings us back to present time and a Wall Street Journal article entitled “Pelosi Braces for Showdown With Moderates Over Infrastructure Vote” by Andrew Duehren and Eliza Collins on 18 August 2021, where we have yet another clear-cut case of electoral bribery by the Democrats in the making right here in America, to wit:
WASHINGTON—Top House Democrats said the chamber would move forward with voting on the budget blueprint for a $3.5 trillion healthcare, education and climate package next week, rebuffing demands from a group of centrist Democrats to first vote on a $1 trillion infrastructure bill and urging their caucus to stay unified around President Biden’s agenda.
“I would hope that none of us, that none of us, would do or say anything that would jeopardize passing these bills.”
“These bills are critical for us maintaining our majority, and that must reign supreme,” Democratic Whip James Clyburn (D., S.C.) told members on a Tuesday telephone call, according to a person listening to it.
end quotes
Translation: if the Democrats aren’t able to loot our treasury with which to gain the money they need to buy off enough voters to keep them in power, they will lose the majority.
So they are not doing anything for America.
To the contrary, all their efforts are aimed at solidifying their grasp on power in America, and what better way to do that than to lavish free gifts on the electorate?
Promise them the sun, the moon, the stars, free education, and guaranteed money in their pocket each month, even of they don’t work and refuse to work, and you own their vote!
That is what electoral bribery is – buying votes through policies that are attractive to the voters, but not good for the nation in the long term, as the Romans found out to their detriment.
So what will the future bring us?
Stay tuned!
http://www.capecharlesmirror.com/news/o ... ent-447331
Opinion: On Electoral Bribery in America
Special Opinion by Paul Plante
AUGUST 22, 2021
As to electoral bribery in America today, which I posit is how Joe Biden managed to win the white house, by bribing the electorate with all sorts of extravagant and grandiose free government give-aways that Joe would provide them if only they would put him in the white house to save the soul of America, in an academic article entitled “Electoral Bribery in The Roman Republic” by Andrew Lintott published online by Cambridge University Press on 24 September 2012, we learn about the term “electoral bribery” in the political context as follows:
In Western Europe to-day we tend to assume automatically that electoral bribery is pernicious, in that it distorts the democratic process, the selection by the people of their own representatives, by shifting whatever power lies in the generality of the electorate back into the hands of the people who seek office, so that a democratic procedure becomes in effect oligarchic.
We even term bribery the presentation of attractive policies to the electorate by a person or party, which we believe will not be in the people’s long-term interest or will be rapidly discarded in favour of policies which suit those in power.
end quotes
That, of course, is precisely what we observed regarding the Biden/Harris campaign in the run-up to the 2020 presidential elections in this country, and it well can be said, and should be said, as I stated above, that Joe Biden is the president because of successful electoral bribery made possible today because of the impact of “social media” as a propaganda tool for politicians, where electoral bribery is considered to be bribery of masses of people, as opposed to the old tried-and-true Democrat Party tactic of buying individual votes.
For a good example of electoral bribery by the presentation of attractive policies to the electorate by a person, Joe Biden, and party, the Democrats, which have not been shown to be in the people’s long-term interest, nor can such a demonstration be made, let’s go to Joe Biden’s Infrastructure Speech Transcript from Crystal Lake, Illinois on July 7, 2021, to wit:
Those of you who have children under the of seven, you’re going to get three and depending on your income and your income taxes, you’re going to get a cash payment back up to now.
And guess what?
You get $2,000 is declared a dependent.
If you have two children you get $4,000 off a $10,000 tax bill, it’s important.
But if you don’t make enough money to be able to owe that kind of tax you don’t get a tax credit, you don’t get anything.
While under this proposal guess what?
You’re in a situation where if you have a child under the age of seven, you get back $3600 in cash.
In addition to that those of you are in that situation are going to start to see that coming in by the end of this month on a monthly basis.
It can change the lives of people.
Starting next week families will begin to receive one of the largest ever single year tax cuts aimed at families and children.
And every child under the age of six is $3,600.
Every child between six and 17 is 3000.
And not as a credit against your taxes, but as a direct payment.
You’ll get cash.
Cash that’s what we’ll get.
For example middle-class family with two children – … cash, that’s what you’ll get.
For example, a middle-class family with two children can expect to receive $7,200.
You get the first half, the $3,600 paid out at $600 a month between July and December.
And you get the rest between January and tax day.
end quotes
And of course, we will be told in response that that is simply how American politics works – people are going to vote for who makes the most outlandish and extravagant promises if they believe that it will result in free money in their pocket, regardless of the true costs to the nation of what is in reality a huge welfare scheme, like the Corn Dole in Rome, to buy votes.
For another example of electoral bribery as a political strategy, let us go to the political document “Resistance Rising: Socialist Strategy in the Age of Political Revolution – A summary of Democratic Socialists of America’s Strategy Document – June 2016” from June 25, 2016, where we have as follows:
Free public higher education is a key example of what we might call a “transformative” reform that helps to popularize the idea of socialism and to make further, more dramatic reforms possible in the future.
Free public higher education would mean taking what should be a universal public good out of the marketplace, putting it under democratic control and guaranteeing it as a right to all citizens — and funding it by a truly progressive tax system that makes the wealthy and corporations pay their fair share of government revenue.
Beyond its inherent benefits, such a campaign would also show people that socialist policies are both desirable and achievable.
Gaining free public higher education could serve as a crucial step in making democratic socialist politics more attractive to a wider cross-section of the U.S. public.
end quotes
There is electoral bribery as political strategy, and guess what, people, it works, as we can see from the Washington Examiner article entitled “More Democratic voters favor socialism than capitalism in major shift: Poll” by Zachary Halaschak on 13 August 2021, to wit:
Democrats have grown considerably more accepting of socialism since the coronavirus pandemic began, according to a new poll.
A survey by Fox News conducted this week found that 59% of Democratic voters hold a favorable opinion of socialism, compared to 49% who said the same of capitalism.
Furthermore, 44% of Democrats hold an unfavorable view of capitalism, compared to 31% who view socialism negatively.
The new results are a marked shift from February 2020, when 40% of Democratic voters said they held a favorable view of socialism, compared to half who said the same about capitalism.
The poll comes as the House has become imbued with a vocal contingent of socialists and those who support socialist priorities.
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York was elected in 2018 after a shocking primary upset and has since championed policies such as “Medicare for All” and the Green New Deal.
Ocasio-Cortez and Reps. Ilhan Omar of Minnesota, Rashida Tlaib of Michigan, and Ayanna Pressley of Massachusetts made waves after entering office, with the self-proclaimed “Squad” having outsize influence within the party and attracting much media attention, at times to the chagrin of party leadership.
Reps. Jamaal Bowman of New York and Cori Bush of Missouri, both members of the Democratic Socialists of America, were sworn into Congress after last year’s election.
end quotes
Yes, indeed, promise them the sun, moon and stars for free and you win their hearts and minds every time, and if the result is destroying the economy, hey, that’s the cost of doing business in politics today, where what you gave them the last time is now not enough, which takes us to the academic work “Electoral Bribery and the Challenge to the Authority of the Senate: Two Aspects of Dio’s View of the Late Roman Republic (Books 36–40)” by Marianne Coudry, where we are told that electoral bribery or ambitus, was a fatal weakness of the Late Roman Republic, and so it turned out to be, given the Roman civil war after Dio.
As to ambitus, Lexico defines it as the action of seeking to obtain an office or position through underhand means; especially the use of bribery to gain electoral support, which takes us to Wikipedia, as follows:
In ancient Roman law, ambitus was a crime of political corruption, mainly a candidate’s attempt to influence the outcome (or direction) of an election through bribery or other forms of soft power.
The Latin word ambitus is the origin of the English word “ambition” which is another of its original meanings; ambitus was the process of “going around and commending oneself or one’s protégés to the people,” an activity liable to unethical excesses.
The Lex Baebia was the first law criminalizing electoral bribery, instituted by M. Baebius Tamphilus during his consulship in 181 BC.
The lex Tullia was passed in the consulship of Cicero (63 BC) for the purpose of adding to the penalties of the Acilia Calpurnia.
The penalty under this lex was ten years’ exile.
This law forbade any person to exhibit public shows for two years before he was a candidate.
It also forbade candidates hiring persons to attend them and be about their persons.
end quotes
Which brings us back to present time and a Wall Street Journal article entitled “Pelosi Braces for Showdown With Moderates Over Infrastructure Vote” by Andrew Duehren and Eliza Collins on 18 August 2021, where we have yet another clear-cut case of electoral bribery by the Democrats in the making right here in America, to wit:
WASHINGTON—Top House Democrats said the chamber would move forward with voting on the budget blueprint for a $3.5 trillion healthcare, education and climate package next week, rebuffing demands from a group of centrist Democrats to first vote on a $1 trillion infrastructure bill and urging their caucus to stay unified around President Biden’s agenda.
“I would hope that none of us, that none of us, would do or say anything that would jeopardize passing these bills.”
“These bills are critical for us maintaining our majority, and that must reign supreme,” Democratic Whip James Clyburn (D., S.C.) told members on a Tuesday telephone call, according to a person listening to it.
end quotes
Translation: if the Democrats aren’t able to loot our treasury with which to gain the money they need to buy off enough voters to keep them in power, they will lose the majority.
So they are not doing anything for America.
To the contrary, all their efforts are aimed at solidifying their grasp on power in America, and what better way to do that than to lavish free gifts on the electorate?
Promise them the sun, the moon, the stars, free education, and guaranteed money in their pocket each month, even of they don’t work and refuse to work, and you own their vote!
That is what electoral bribery is – buying votes through policies that are attractive to the voters, but not good for the nation in the long term, as the Romans found out to their detriment.
So what will the future bring us?
Stay tuned!
http://www.capecharlesmirror.com/news/o ... ent-447331
Re: Just musings, is all
THE CAPE CHARLES MIRROR OCTOBER 17, 2021 AT 10:12 PM
Paul Plante says:
So, yes, people – electoral bribery as a sure-fire means of winning elections here in the United States of America, and as we can clearly see in an article in The Hill entitled “Progressives say go big and make life hard for GOP” by Scott Wong and Mike Lillis on 16 October 2021, the Democrats are making no secret whatsoever of their plans to bribe the electorate once more with taxpayer dollars in order to win the 2022 congressional elections to further cement their hold on government here in the United States to our collective detriment, to wit:
Progressives have a new argument for why their push for a broad array of social benefit programs is the right approach for President Biden and Democrats: It will put Republicans in a prickly spot if they fight to end the benefits down the road.
Liberals maintain that once voters receive federal perks like expanded child tax credits and Medicare, family leave and free college tuition, they will demand that Congress extend those benefits when it comes time for them to sunset.
end quotes
And my goodness, of course they will, and who wouldn’t?
Just think of it – every time you turn around, there will be the PROGRESSIVES with something else that is free, and why would anyone want that gravy train to come to an end?
Getting back to that story, we have:
These progressives, many of whom represent solidly blue districts, also argue the embrace of those policies is the best way to win elections.
end quotes
And historically, people, bribing the electorate with taxpayer money has always been a sure-fire way to win elections!
Just ask the Romans, and if you can find them, they will tell you it is so!
Afterall, look what the corn dole did for them back when – people loved it so much they quit working and moved to Rome to get in the line for their own free corn, and as a result, Rome isn’t in existence any more, but hey, it was great while it lasted, which takes us back to the story of modern day blatant electoral bribery in America, to wit:
“Many of us believe that once families have access to child care, once employees have access to paid family leave, once we begin certain programs, that it will be very challenging for Republicans to cut them off – just as it was challenging for them to end the ACA,” progressive Rep. Veronica Escobar (D-Texas) told The Hill.
end quotes
Just as once Rome started the corn dole, that was it – there was no way to cut it off without risking riots, which again takes us back to that story of reckless and irresponsible public spending by these PROGRESSIVES in order to buy the 2022 congressional elections, to wit:
Party leaders intend to move the social benefits package by a special budget process, known as reconciliation, which empowers them to sidestep the Senate filibuster and move the legislation without any Republican support.
But with the slimmest of majorities in both the House and Senate, they’ll need virtual unanimity behind the policy prescriptions to get the package – along with a less contentious infrastructure proposal – to Biden’s desk.
As mediator between the feuding factions, Pelosi is taking pains to resolve the differences and win an agreement that can pass through both chambers.
In a letter to Democrats on Monday, the Speaker seemed to side with the “less-is-more” camp, suggesting that some of the programs in Biden’s initial $3.5 trillion package might be eliminated altogether.
In doing so, she advanced the idea of prioritizing child benefits and efforts to tackle climate change.
“Overwhelmingly, the guidance I am receiving from Members is to do fewer things well,” she wrote.
The next morning, however, Pelosi appeared to change her tune, saying her first cost-cutting strategy will be not to prune benefit programs, but to scale back their longevity.
In explaining her reasoning, she cited pushback from liberal lawmakers who want to go broad in scope.
“Some members have written back to me and said, ‘I want to do everything.'”
“So we’ll have that discussion,” Pelosi said.
“The timing would be reduced in many cases to make the cost lower.”
Leaders of the Congressional Progressive Caucus (CPC) are pressing the Speaker to follow through with that design.
In a letter sent to Pelosi on Wednesday, more than two dozen CPC members urged her to keep the broad contours of the reconciliation package, even if it means squeezing the benefit timelines.
“If given a choice between legislating narrowly or broadly, we strongly encourage you to choose the latter, and make robust investments over a shorter window,” wrote the liberals, led by CPC Chairwoman Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.).
“It would be very hard for people to take things away, and that’s part of our goal,” said Rep. Mark Pocan (D-Wis.), another leading progressive.
“Once people see how popular these things are … many of these debates are the same debates we had when you created Social Security and other programs.”
“And once people got them, you saw how wildly popular [they were].”
“We think some of these are going to be in that wildly popular category.”
“That’s why we want to keep them out there, even if it’s for a little bit of shortened time, because once people start to see it,” they will support it, Pocan continued.
“The child tax credit is a classic example.”
“I mean [look] how popular it is right now; it’s a lot easier for us to extend that out.”
end quotes
And isn’t social security today facing some “issues” with funding?
Do we want to see these PROGRESSIVES run America into the ground as they try to use federal taxpayer dollars to bribe the electorate with come November of 2022?
If so, vote Democrat, get all the free stuff you can from them, and you will be there sooner than you think!
http://www.capecharlesmirror.com/news/o ... ent-447331
Paul Plante says:
So, yes, people – electoral bribery as a sure-fire means of winning elections here in the United States of America, and as we can clearly see in an article in The Hill entitled “Progressives say go big and make life hard for GOP” by Scott Wong and Mike Lillis on 16 October 2021, the Democrats are making no secret whatsoever of their plans to bribe the electorate once more with taxpayer dollars in order to win the 2022 congressional elections to further cement their hold on government here in the United States to our collective detriment, to wit:
Progressives have a new argument for why their push for a broad array of social benefit programs is the right approach for President Biden and Democrats: It will put Republicans in a prickly spot if they fight to end the benefits down the road.
Liberals maintain that once voters receive federal perks like expanded child tax credits and Medicare, family leave and free college tuition, they will demand that Congress extend those benefits when it comes time for them to sunset.
end quotes
And my goodness, of course they will, and who wouldn’t?
Just think of it – every time you turn around, there will be the PROGRESSIVES with something else that is free, and why would anyone want that gravy train to come to an end?
Getting back to that story, we have:
These progressives, many of whom represent solidly blue districts, also argue the embrace of those policies is the best way to win elections.
end quotes
And historically, people, bribing the electorate with taxpayer money has always been a sure-fire way to win elections!
Just ask the Romans, and if you can find them, they will tell you it is so!
Afterall, look what the corn dole did for them back when – people loved it so much they quit working and moved to Rome to get in the line for their own free corn, and as a result, Rome isn’t in existence any more, but hey, it was great while it lasted, which takes us back to the story of modern day blatant electoral bribery in America, to wit:
“Many of us believe that once families have access to child care, once employees have access to paid family leave, once we begin certain programs, that it will be very challenging for Republicans to cut them off – just as it was challenging for them to end the ACA,” progressive Rep. Veronica Escobar (D-Texas) told The Hill.
end quotes
Just as once Rome started the corn dole, that was it – there was no way to cut it off without risking riots, which again takes us back to that story of reckless and irresponsible public spending by these PROGRESSIVES in order to buy the 2022 congressional elections, to wit:
Party leaders intend to move the social benefits package by a special budget process, known as reconciliation, which empowers them to sidestep the Senate filibuster and move the legislation without any Republican support.
But with the slimmest of majorities in both the House and Senate, they’ll need virtual unanimity behind the policy prescriptions to get the package – along with a less contentious infrastructure proposal – to Biden’s desk.
As mediator between the feuding factions, Pelosi is taking pains to resolve the differences and win an agreement that can pass through both chambers.
In a letter to Democrats on Monday, the Speaker seemed to side with the “less-is-more” camp, suggesting that some of the programs in Biden’s initial $3.5 trillion package might be eliminated altogether.
In doing so, she advanced the idea of prioritizing child benefits and efforts to tackle climate change.
“Overwhelmingly, the guidance I am receiving from Members is to do fewer things well,” she wrote.
The next morning, however, Pelosi appeared to change her tune, saying her first cost-cutting strategy will be not to prune benefit programs, but to scale back their longevity.
In explaining her reasoning, she cited pushback from liberal lawmakers who want to go broad in scope.
“Some members have written back to me and said, ‘I want to do everything.'”
“So we’ll have that discussion,” Pelosi said.
“The timing would be reduced in many cases to make the cost lower.”
Leaders of the Congressional Progressive Caucus (CPC) are pressing the Speaker to follow through with that design.
In a letter sent to Pelosi on Wednesday, more than two dozen CPC members urged her to keep the broad contours of the reconciliation package, even if it means squeezing the benefit timelines.
“If given a choice between legislating narrowly or broadly, we strongly encourage you to choose the latter, and make robust investments over a shorter window,” wrote the liberals, led by CPC Chairwoman Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.).
“It would be very hard for people to take things away, and that’s part of our goal,” said Rep. Mark Pocan (D-Wis.), another leading progressive.
“Once people see how popular these things are … many of these debates are the same debates we had when you created Social Security and other programs.”
“And once people got them, you saw how wildly popular [they were].”
“We think some of these are going to be in that wildly popular category.”
“That’s why we want to keep them out there, even if it’s for a little bit of shortened time, because once people start to see it,” they will support it, Pocan continued.
“The child tax credit is a classic example.”
“I mean [look] how popular it is right now; it’s a lot easier for us to extend that out.”
end quotes
And isn’t social security today facing some “issues” with funding?
Do we want to see these PROGRESSIVES run America into the ground as they try to use federal taxpayer dollars to bribe the electorate with come November of 2022?
If so, vote Democrat, get all the free stuff you can from them, and you will be there sooner than you think!
http://www.capecharlesmirror.com/news/o ... ent-447331