January 6th, 2021

 

I want to start by apologizing to you for waiting a couple of weeks to write this blog.  I was waiting for a news commentator to raise this question.  “Why were the rioters who overran The Capital not armed?  And, how much control from above would it take to accomplish this?

The Trump Heroes were not armed for their attack on the Capital.  The cause was to disrupt the authority of Congress to verify the results of the Electoral College, the same College that handed Trump the presidency despite his loss in the people’s popular vote of 2016.

Some would claim that the Trump Monkeys were a pure grass roots movement of the Proud Boys, “Q”anon and other misguided simpletons arriving on the Trump Train, but no, they were obviously under strict control from above (or below).  Folks, they were unarmed!  These are 2^nd amendment, right to bear arms folks.  You see them in your supermarket.  They wear a gun to shop for apples.  Did you see any assault rifles or semiautomatic pistols during the insurrection, being carried by the rioters?  I know I didn’t.  Those orders not to go in armed were issued and absolutely followed.  And why was this in their marching orders?  Why do they not follow the same rules when marching on a state capital? 

One, this was not designed as a peaceful march to the Capital.  It was an insurrection and riot.  It could be argued that they could have been armed for a peaceful march.  Again, a peaceful march was not their intention.  Their intention was to stop our democracy from functioning by entering and taking control of our capital.

Two, a gun battle would have ended ultimately in their defeat.  Trump Monkeys do not yet control our military.  If armed, one of the Monkeys would have fired his weapon in that riot and Hell would have been released.  This was a public relations stunt and only a fool (Trump) would think that it would delay the Biden administration.  This nation has not been softened enough for a successful armed insurrection.  At this time, a gun battle would have been bad public relations. So yes, January 6^th was under very rigid control.  Please let me know if any of my assumptions or observations are incorrect.

Cheers, Old Buz     1/22/21

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Trump Monkeys on Reality TV

 

Yesterday, January 6^th, 2021, I was treated to my first entire viewing of a reality TV show.  It featured the Trump Monkeys vs. the Keystone Cops.  It was priceless.  A great show.  The narrators moaned, “The end of democracy” but in fact, democracy had ended years before.  The scam of legislation continued that very evening with the House/Senate confirming the Electoral College vote of all 50 states.  The trashing of the legislative building had a small, short term effect on its operation.  Actually its operation came to a close years ago when Mitch McConnell stated that he would no longer bring any bill to the floor for debate or a vote, unless he had first determined if the President would sign it.  This placed the actions of the legislature under the direct control of The President.  We no longer had a functioning legislative branch of the government, since no law could go into effect without the approval of both houses.  Hundreds of pieces of legislation stopped on The Majority Leader of The Senate’s desk.  Nancy Pelosi has the same power in The House of Representatives.  These are draconian rules of procedure in the legislature, but I don’t hear any screaming from the representatives you sent to Washington.  Your representatives fight like hell to get a bill placed indefinitely, on a majority leader’s desk.  You even send them donations to get these meaningless bills passed.

I have to pause for a moment and apologize for using the term, “Trump Monkeys,” It is an insult to monkeys.  Some monkeys show great intelligence.  On the other hand, when a candidate for office tells you that he “grabs any woman’s pussy he wants to and they can’t say anything because he is a star”  he is telling you that he is either a rapist or a liar and in our president’s case we later learned that he was both.  In his four years as President, he did not grow in character.  Some of you voted for him. 

The question has been raised, “Were the Trump Monkeys treated better by the Keystone Cops than they would have been had they been black?”  What’s the question?  The monkeys were treated like friends.  Police shoot unarmed black men in the back when they are offering no threat.  We see that on the news often.  The least the Keystones could have done was turn some fire hoses on those marauding monkeys.  It was cold in DC.  Perhaps even arrested a few more.

Will any action be taken by the government against The Golden Ass for instigating this riot in the next couple of weeks, before he leaves office?  Probably not.  Ho hum.  God Bless America.

Cheers, Old Buz 1/7/2021

Iambloggerbuz.blogspot.com

Who is vaccinated first?

 

Who is vaccinated first?

This is America, so it is obvious that the first Covid-19 vaccinations will be administered to the wealthiest 1% of the population.  After that the order will possibly be based on contribution to society or perhaps voting influence.  The Biden future White House is now dealing with the order of disbursement.  I would see contribution to the society be the prime determinant, so it probably won’t be, but if it were, it would look like this:

The medical personnel working to fight the pandemic along with the technicians that support their efforts would be number one.  Then those involved in the logistics of getting food and shelter to the population.  Next would be educators  and first responders.  Then, those who maintain and repair machinery and appliances.

Many of you are now saying, “You have forgotten those in assisted living.”  I haven’t forgotten them.  I have not yet gotten down to them in my suggested list.  A doctor might have already listed them because they would, from a health standpoint, benefit most from the vaccine.  This is a valid goal that is easily defended.  Those in assisted living are the most frail and most likely to die from the virus.  By being in assisted living, they have started down the slippery slide toward death.  If one of our goals is to save the US economy, they shift to low on the list.  I, myself, am one year into my eighth decade, retired, not physically or mentally as strong as I once was (society has retired me).  So my question is, do you, for the sake of the nation, want to give me the vaccine first, or give it to an eighteen year-old?  The eighteen year old is yet to produce their family or contribute their strength and education to the nation.  I would give the vaccination first to the young and productive, last to the retired.  I would tend to give it first to those who shower after work, then to those who shower before work.  I am not designing a death panel here, I am choosing a logical map to distribute a lifesaving vaccine, that is temporarily in short supply.  I am looking to benefit the nation, not individuals, because it will be a nationally designed and implemented program, funded by the nation.  Individual decisions are heavily weighted by self-preservation, not the good of the whole.  This includes political decisions. 

So, who goes last?   Those who harm the nation (the greedy).  In other words, first to those who benefit the nation, next those who have a neutral effect and last those who do the nation harm.  A simple and logical road map, but not one to likely be followed.  We will see.

Cheers, Old Buz     11/29/2020

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Law vs. Justice

 

   What is the correlation between law and justice?  I suspect that depends on the particular law being considered.  Law results from the wishes of the political party in power when the law is made.  An example of this would be The US Senate deciding not to hear from witnesses or read documents when acting as jurors in an impeachment trial.  This would be “Blind Justice” taken to an extreme.  Justice is probably a point of view of an individual or a like-minded group.  In its purest form it would be decided by listening to one’s own internal moral rudder.  Lower sources of justice would be: religion, political party, parents, local law, friends or TV news casters.  Here are some of the examples that cause me to ask the question.

   When I was in college, I served tables at a fraternity house.  One of the young men I served was a hero to his brothers partly because he would often get very drunk then get into his Corvette and knock over trash cans or other inanimate objects.  It was laughed about and encouraged by the group.  On one unfortunate weekend the objects were two young college women and they were killed.  His brothers no longer knew him or encouraged his frequent drunk driving.  The law suddenly got very serious and imprisoned him for much of the balance of his natural life.  That’s the law!  Is it justice?  I realize that each time the young man chose to drive drunk, he chose to do something very wrong.  However, he no more intended to kill the young women than he intended to knock over the trash cans.  Would you cage him for life because he killed the young women or because he chose to drunken drive?  Would you cage any of his fraternity brothers for egging him on?  Try to access your moral rudder for the answers to these questions.

  Imagine in a moment of temporary rage I picked up a handgun and fired it at another human being; let’s look at law and justice.  If I hit the other person right between the eyes and ended their life, I would be imprisoned for a long time.  If I missed and smashed up a lamp, it would be a different issue.  If it was a first offence, for the miss, I would probably get my hand slapped by the law and have to replace the lamp.  The difference here is not my intent or my actions.  It is my skill with the weapon that would determine my punishment.  Is that moral justice or is it “the law”?

   Assuming that I am a violent person (I’m not.  I’m a pacifist.) and I’m at a bar and get into an argument, then throw a punch landing on my advisory’s jaw, the man could perhaps become unconscious for a moment or two, or could strike his head on a table corner and die.  What now?  Same punch, same intent.  We are talking about the luck of the fall that determines the rest of my life.  Is that justice?  Our law is often based on random outcome not intent or action taken.

   A young single mom is driving at 10 over the speed limit in Seattle.  She gets a citation for $235.  Bill Gates gets the same ticket an hour later on the same street.  His ticket is also $235.  For the young woman the fine is two weeks of groceries for her and her child.  For Bill, it is hardly an inconvenience.  His secretary would probably write the check and mail it.  Is that equal punishment under the law?  I don’t suspect even Mr. Gates would say it was.  So wouldn’t you say that in a just society annual income would be a factor in determining the amount of a fine?  Bill would be getting multi-million dollar traffic fines (and I am OK with that).

  I had the opportunity to pose these questions to a retired federal judge.  I was interested in her perceived correlation between law and justice.  Her final, irritated, answer to these questions was, “Well, it’s the law!!”

   It would be very difficult in some cases to administer justice based on intent, not outcome, but it would be nice to try.

Cheers, Old Buz  10/11/20

Iambloggerbuz.blogspot.com

A Prayer for Trump

      

   When I first heard that President Trump had coved 19, I thought, “Perhaps there is a God.”  Now that Donald Trump has contacted the Corona Virus, I pray for him.  I go into a closet and pray for a quick and painful death in order to start his eternal journey into Hell.  I go into a closet as per the instructions of The Half-Breed* in The Holy Bible, King James, Matthew, Chapter 6: 5,6 &7 Sermon on the Mount.  If you wish to pray for his speedy recovery, please stand with others in your chosen house of worship.

   I have never before wished such an end to anyone, but this is a very special man.  As President, he advises America that Corona is a hoax (as is climate change) and not to wear a mask or socially distance.  If you want to wash your hands, go ahead, he will feel better about shaking it.  His leadership has made him personally responsible for at least half of the Corona Virus deaths in the US.  If we were to elect him for another four years he will probably be responsible for more American deaths than Hitler murdered Jews in Germany.  He is the engineer of The Trump Train, with a passenger load of Thundering Dummies and “Q”anon.

   It has never ceased to amaze me how folks like the guests and hosts of MSNBC will insult The Golden Ass from morning till night, but if he falls ill, pray for his speedy recovery.  Is hypocrisy the way of the politically correct world?  When President Bone Spur calls Senator John McCain a coward, is that OK?  Hell, I didn’t even like it when AWOL Bush called John Kerry a coward (actually it was “Turd Blossom” that sponsored that rumor, but he was W’s mouthpiece).  If you are going to pray for the future of Donald Trump, do it honestly, dammit!

   *The Half-Breed: a mythological character fathered by The Lord of Israel (creator of the universe) and mothered by a married Jewish virgin.

Cheers, Old Buz

10/05/2020

Iambloggerbuz.blogspot.com

Presidential Nightmare - RBG Replacement

 

Before her death, Ruth Bader Ginsburg was the light of the Supreme Court, and had led the Court in seeing each citizen of our country as entitled to equal justice and representation, under law.  This concept was once the foundation of our democracy.  Last night, after hearing that, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, had died, I had a terrible nightmare, caused by her death. 

In the nightmare President Trump had thought through a Supreme Court appointment, and then said, “My fondest desire is to appoint the next Supreme Court justice … during my second term in office.”  In my nightmare, this one sentence led to his reelection in 2020.  What was I thinking?

1.   1.  In her death, Ginsburg inflated the Democrat’s balloon.  Democrats would like RBG replaced by a liberal justice.  A late first term appointment of a Supreme Court Justice by Trump will stir up a hornet’s nest of Democrats to vote and demoralize fair minded Republicans perhaps not to.

2.    2. With Trump’s above statement, he would let some of the air out of that balloon.

3.    3. The Never Trump Republicans and conservative independents would be given an excuse to reevaluate Trump in 2020, giving him a slight chance for a majority win.

4.    4. Lindsay Graham and other hypocritical Republican senators would not be forced to eat their words of 2016, right before the 2020 election and might not lose their coming elections and the Republican senate majority.

5.    5. Conservative voters would be given a piece of ground, however small, to stand on.

The nightmare switched to a dream after Trump was elected.  On his first day of his second term in office, he nominated Merrick  Garland to the vacancy in the Supreme Court.  His next act was to fire Bill Barr and appoint Sally Yates to the office of Attorney General.  Dr. Fauci was placed in charge (without interference) of fighting the Corona Pandemic in America.  Trump put on a mask.  The dream, of course, is impossible and the nightmare described would require our president to be a thinking human being.  No such luck in either case.  Not to worry.

The nightmare scenario would give Trump a much better chance at a second term.  This is his primary goal and he really doesn’t like to lose.  It is McConnell who truly wants the Supreme Court under control of The Republican Party.  It would be OK with Trump too, but thus far his appointments to the Court haven’t marched lock step to his wishes.  Even conservative judges can have a moral rudder.  It is rare, but it is there.

Cheers, Old Buz the Dreamer              9/19/2020

Iambloggerbuz.blogspot.com

"Vote Smart"

I suspect that when each of us votes, we assume that we are voting smart, but our vote is only as smart as the information we base it on is true. One of the basic requirements of political information is that it is unbiased. This rules out primary sources such as Fox News or MSNBC. Fun to watch, but each of these sources gives you a single view point and it is certainly biased. I have found a reliable, unbiased source of information and have been doing my research on political candidates there for many years. I also rely on it for data used in my blog. The source is votesmart.org. The site is free, but relies on its support through voluntary user donations. Information is organized into six categories.

Bio: This section is a biography of the candidate you have chosen to search. It is a very complete history of: education, family, work history, positions held, birth place, religion, political experience, favorite entertainment, favorite quote.

Votes: This is the candidate's voting history in reverse chronological order. This of course is valuable information on how well they will represent your positions. It is a laborious review, so regulate your time wisely on this section.

Positions: This section is an effort toward consolidating the positions of the candidate by offering them a series of questions to respond to. It has been my experience, in using the site, that most of the major candidates do not care to respond to this effort. I'm not sure that a candidate's positions are necessarily the major determinant of how they will vote. Their vote is heavily effected by their political party (the “rubber stamp” directive of both parties) and by their funding sources (follow the dollar). I see their positions as the weakest of the three determinants of their vote.

Ratings: Ratings are very indicative of who the candidate is. It is the opinions of various special interest groups of the candidate. They score them on a percentage scale, the higher the score, the better the group rates the candidate the better they like their voting record and position statements. This also relates to candidate funding.

Speeches: This area also contains letters and articles by the candidate. It gives you a much more nuanced position than a voting history on any given issue. However, as you have seen in watching the news, a representative may vote neither their opinion or their wisdom.

Funding: Funding should be first, but you choose the order of your search. Most candidates elected have the larger bank roll. So, they pay a lot of attention to the wishes of their major donors. The donors expect a return on their investment. This section features: The Campaign's Financial Summary, their Top Contributors, Top Industries and Top Sectors. If you think the money pulls the strings, pay attention to this area.

I can not emphasize enough how reliable and unbiased this information source is. To me, as an independent, it is essential. It is fast and easy to use, not at all complicated. The “I SPY”, first section of the site that I have just described is a pleasure to use. The creator of the organization and president is Richard Kimball, a man who stepped away from politics to bring truth to it. Such a rare and valuable thing. votesmart.org Try it, you will be glad you did. The smartest vote possible is based on truth and wisdom.

Cheers, Old Buz 8/22/2020

iambloggerbuz.blogspot.com