Heroes Walk Next To Us

Today, more than ever, we all need a dose of "courage" to overcome the challenges that confront us. But where do we find it?

We need to understand that in the past everyday people, like us, have somehow manifested and embodied that essential courage. 

People have gathered unbelievable strength and courage to confront the challenges that confronted them. They transformed into heroes and performed unbelievable acts of courage without which all would have been lost. 

That terrible, fateful day, Vice President Mike Pence became a hero. That day, he transformed into an essential, courageous defender. He put aside loyalty to an out-of-control psychopath and stood solidly, fulfilling his oath to the Constitution of the United States.

Caroline Kennedy: We can no longer take our democracy for granted #profileincourage

https://youtube.com/shorts/0D3zhHUg7hI?si=DT9tzTv5UUGcoDfy

“We can no longer take our democracy for granted.”

Ambassador Caroline Kennedy says today’s moment in America requires more public officials and other institutions to have the same kind of courage Vice President Mike Pence had when he put his life and career on the line to ensure the constitutional transfer of presidential power on January 6, 2021.

Watch the full speech: https://youtu.be/1BDiu7od7dQ

2025 Profile in Courage Award Ceremony: Vice President Mike Pence Full Speech
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-nlQqIj5CF0

Oath of Office & The Bible

What does it portend when the president-elect does not put his hand on the Bible when he recites: “I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my Ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States”?

Trump does not swear on Bible during inauguration, no impact on oath, Reuters, 20 Jan 2025.

https://www.reuters.com/world/us/trump-stirs-curiosity-online-after-not-placing-hand-bible-during-oath-2025-01-20/

Are you a follower of the teachings of the Sermon on the Mount?

I am. 

My guess is that majority of us are. No matter our religious upbringing, we still follow and believe in the teachings of the Sermon on the Mount. Matthew, chapters 5, 6, and 7.

In the spirit of the teachings of the Sermon on the Mount, Right Rev Mariann Budde, Episcopal bishop of Washington, “…appealed directly to Donald Trump to “have mercy upon” communities across the country targeted by the new administration’s immigration and LGBTQ+ policies.”  (Courtesy of Guardian News & Media Ltd)

WATCH: Episcopal bishop asks Trump 'to have mercy' on LGBTQ+ communities and immigrants, PBS NewsHour

Mr. Trump made these comments following the prayer service:

Trump criticizes church service after bishop makes plea for immigrants, CNN, OutFront, Erin Burnett

No Longer in the Shadow

 

Six observations: 

1. With his call to overturn the U.S. Constitution, Mr. Trump has without a doubt transformed himself into a seditious vampire, indiscriminately sucking the life blood out of the American people. On the treason scale, he rates higher than Benedict Arnold and no longer is in Arnold's shadow.
2. By invading Ukraine, killing, or wounding hundreds of thousands of innocent people, both Ukrainian and Russian, Mr. Putin, has secured his place in history next to Joseph Stalin.
3. By supporting Mr. Trump, the majority of serving Republicans in the U.S. House are insurrectionists and therefore they must be removed from office and forbidden from holding future public office.
4. Supreme Court Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito, Jr. have now crossed into unethical territory as defined under the Code of Conduct for U.S. Judges and now must voluntarily either recuse themselves or resign. (Unfortunately, the Supreme Court has no Code of Conduct.)
5. After his Twitter takeover, Elon Musk has now earned his rating as No. 1 on the scale of the worst CEOs of history.
6. The Hunter Biden laptop story really is a "nothing burger".

If Not Our Military... Who?

 

Photo credit: Tigerland, the movie about Ft. Polk.

Back in the 1970s, I never doubted the loyalty of the U.S. Army. I knew I could count on our troops because they shared a common desire: survive, go home, and live their lives. Everyone wanted the same thing. So, people worked together and supported each other. No one worried about whether fellow Americans, or our leaders, were working against our common welfare.

Today, things seem to have changed and that shared “common good” appears to be disappearing.

Who will pay the price of Mr. Trump’s insurrection, misinformation, “alternative facts”, and endless lying? What will the resurgence of white supremacy and white nationalism in our military cost you and me?

If not our military, who will defend our Constitution the next time the white terrorists are breaking down the doors, threatening to hang their political opponents?

“Nearly one in five people facing charges related to the January 6 insurrection at the Capitol had some connection to the military, including at least two active-duty troops, prompting Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin to order a 60-day stand-down across the services to address extremism.”

How Louis XVI Will Save America Again

Travel with me in Mr. Peabody’s WABAC machine to visit with Louis XVI, King of France, as he gives Ben Franklin a really cool snuffbox. At the time, Ben was our ambassador to France and everybody really liked him. They called him Dr. Franklin because he was smart, witty, fun, a bon vivant and a famous scientist.

Still, that cool snuffbox caused a kerfuffle back home with the Congress people debating whether or not it was O.K. for our person in France to accept it. Did it amount to “corruption and foreign influence”? That was a big question back then.

Because of that snuffbox, in 1786, Congress got around to adding what’s called the Emoluments Clause to the Constitution (Article I, Section 9) which “bars any ‘person holding any office of profit or trust under’ the United States from accepting any present, Emolument, Office, or Title, of any kind whatever, from any King, Price, or foreign state’ ‘without the consent of the Congress.’ The word ‘emolument’ comes from the Latin emolumentum, meaning profit or gain.”*

Translation: all this emolument stuff means that Mr. Trump must “clean up his act” by somehow separating himself from his web of foreign entanglements, i.e. business interests, or be in violation of the Constitution and thereby subject to impeachment.

So, no more fillin’ up your hotel rooms with foreign dignitaries, Mr. President-Elect. It looks like you really must deal yourself out of your mega-winner businesses or lose the really big prize.

Once again, we owe the people of France and Louis XVI a major Thank You for savin’ our bacon!

* Why Trump Would Almost Certainly Be Violating the Constitution If He Continues to Own His Businesses, Richard Tofel, ProPublica, 2 Dec 2016.

Vets at Standing Rock 4 Dec 2016

Today's post is about much more than a statement about our failed political system. It is about our way of life... a life worth living. Those of us who have served in the military took an oath of honor to defend our Constitution against all enemies, foreign and domestic. We worked together to achieve our missions and learned that our personal survival was in the hands of our brothers and sisters. Today, just as our ancestors answered their call to defend their freedoms in their time, we are answering our call (4 Dec 2016) to stand with our brothers sisters at Standing Rock to help them defend their freedoms... our freedoms. We are all partners in this life. First, we agree to help each other. - RB* (Please see Here & Now interview of former Marine, Dakota Blue Serna, below.)

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE**
November 28, 2016

Water Protector Legal Collective Files Suit for Excessive Force against Peaceful Protesters

Contact:
Tasha Moro, NLG Communications Director: Email address | 212-679-5100, ext. 15

CANNON BALL, ND --Today, the Water Protector Legal Collective (WPLC-formerly Red Owl), an initiative of the National Lawyers Guild (NLG), filed suit in US District Court against Morton County, Morton County Sheriff Kyle Kirschmeier, and other law enforcement agencies for using excessive force against peaceful Water Protectors on the night of November 20, 2016.

The class action suit, filed on behalf of persons who were injured on the night of November 20 and early morning of November 21, seeks an immediate injunction preventing the Morton County Sheriff's Department and other law enforcement from using impact munitions such as rubber bullets and lead-filled "beanbags," water cannons and hoses, explosive teargas grenades and other chemical agents against protesters.

Beginning on the evening of November 20, officers from the Morton County Sheriff's Department and assisting agencies confronted peaceful Water Protectors at a bridge near the Standing Rock protest camp and within the boundaries of Oceti Sakowin (Seven Council Fires, or Great Sioux Nation) treaty lands. Without giving any warnings or opportunity to disperse, officers fired on them with highly dangerous munitions, chemical agents, a water cannon and hoses in freezing weather. More than 200 Water Protectors were injured.

"The Morton County Sheriff's office not only violates the constitutional rights of peaceful protesters, but their actions highlight the long history of abuse against Indigenous peoples," said Brandy Toelupe, WPLC lawyer. "From the beginning, governments have used their latest technologies to take land and resources from Native nations and oppress Indigenous peoples. Sheriff Kirchmeier's actions make it clear that nothing has changed," she added.

The complaint describes the excessive force with which the nine class representatives were met while peacefully protesting. Five are Native, including two members of the Lakota Nation. Vanessa Dundon of the Navajo Nation was hit in the eye with a tear gas canister that was shot by police directly at the crowd of Water Protectors. Jade Kalikolehuaokakalani Wool had two grenades blow up near her head, knocking her down, burning her face and sending shrapnel into it, and causing her to be hospitalized. Crystal Wilson was shot with a water cannon, tear gassed and shot with a munition. David Demo was filming police when, without warning, they shot him with a water cannon and then in the hand with a munition. He was hospitalized with broken bones and was told he would need reconstructive surgery.

Gary Dullknife III saw a Water Protector knocked to the ground by a water cannon. As police sprayed her on the ground, he tried to move her away. He was shot in the chest, stomach and leg by impact munitions. Mariah Marie Bruce was peacefully protesting when police sprayed her with water cannons. She was then hit in the genitals with a grenade, and was hospitalized. Frank Finan was taking pictures when he was shot in the abdomen and knocked to the ground by a rubber bullet. Israel Hoagland--Lynn tried to help two people who had been shot with water cannons and rubber bullets and was shot in the back of his head by an impact munition. He lost consciousness, was hospitalized, and needed 17 staples for a head wound. Noah Michael Treanor, while praying, was shot by the water hoses or cannon. Once on the ground, he was shot in the head by an impact munition. Bleeding badly, he was hospitalized.

"The civil rights violations that night were deliberate and punitive," said Rachel Lederman, WPLC lawyer. "The Morton County Sheriff's Department's illegal use of force against the Water Protectors has been escalating. It is only a matter of luck that no one has been killed. This must stop."

Those concerned are urged to call local and federal agencies below to demand (1) immediate end to construction of the $3.8 billion Dakota Access Pipeline, (2) the immediate cessation and a full investigation into law enforcement abuses, (3) dropping felony charges against water protectors from the October 27 police raid, and (4) permitting the Water Protectors to stay at their current encampment until the DAPL's application to drill under Lake Oahe and the Missouri River is permanently denied.

White House: 202-456-1414 or sign the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe's White House petition standwithstandingrock.net/take-action
White House Situation Room, 202-456-9431
North Dakota Governor's Office: 701-328-2200
Morton County Sheriff's Office: 701-667-3330
Morton County State's Attorney's Office: 701-667-3330
Army Corps of Engineers-Bismarck 701-255-0015

The Water Protector Legal Collective is the National Lawyers Guild legal support team for those engaged in resistance to the Dakota Access Pipeline. It maintains a 24/7 presence on-site at the Oceti Sakowin camp near Cannon Ball, North Dakota.

"This weekend, a group of veterans are heading to the site to act as "human shields" for the protesters. Thousands have registered to go. Here & Now's Robin Young speaks with one of those vets, Dakota Blue Serna (@dakotabusmc), a former Marine."

* 2,000 Vets to Head to Standing Rock as North Dakota Cuts Off Emergency Services to Camps, Democracy Now!, 29 Nov 2016.

** National Lawyers Guild Files First Standing Rock Class Action Suit!,
Stephen Fox, OpEdNews, 30 Nov 2016.

*** Native Gallery MIX of JLuJan – Native American Photographer, American Indian Photography, Tribal Ceremony Images, Photographs of American Indians

Wet & Smelly

Mitch has been peeing on us for so long he's forgotten where the bathroom is...

NOTE - 11 Mar 2016 - I discovered this article today and thought it might give my enraged friends some comforting rationale for my "outrageous art" of Sen. McConnell:
Shun a President’s Supreme Court Nominee? Alexander Hamilton Would Not Be Pleased,
Dorothy Samuels and Alicia Bannon, 9 Mar 2016, Moyers & Co.

"Alexander Hamilton, that visionary Founding Father and hip-hop phenomenon, thanks to Hamilton, the musical, has been celebrated of late on Broadway and at the Grammys. His face adorns the $10 bill. If only his thoughts about choosing Supreme Court justices were getting remotely as much respect from Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, Judiciary Committee Chairman Charles Grassley and most other GOP senators."

"We can discern from Hamilton’s owns words what he probably would have thought of Senate Republicans’ vow not to consider any Supreme Court nomination President Obama puts forward for Justice Antonin Scalia’s successor. The best guess, based on the historical evidence, is that Hamilton and other of the Constitution’s Framers would have been appalled by the confirmation antics of McConnell & Co."
...

"To be sure, much has changed since the Founding era. But the Founders’ basic belief in an American government carefully designed to actually work remains a bulwark of the nation’s democracy. In Alexander Hamilton’s words, “the true test of a good government is its aptitude and tendency to produce a good administration.” Keeping a Supreme Court seat vacant for a needlessly extended period, as Republican leaders favor, would do the exact opposite, provoking 4-4 ties and damaging legal uncertainty while badly undermining the Constitution."

"Our constitutional system only works if the institutional players adhere in good faith to the Constitution’s basic rules. Our strong hunch is Hamilton and other Framers, were they alive today, would not hesitate to call out Republican leaders for their pre-announced departure."

Please go here for the complete article.