Month: August 2019

After this weekend I have little faith in the U.S.’ go-forward ability to blindly administer the Rule of Law.

I’ll spare the details of the Epstein story as they’ve been trickling out over the weekend, but based on those details, it’s clear the fix is blatantly in, with astonishing hubris.  Common sense would signal that powerful people assessed the risk of Epstein dumping the goods on them vs. the risk of taking him out — in blatant public view — and opted for the latter.  It’s as if the Corleone family and the Matrix calling the shots in the Bourne Trilogy have come to life.  

Malfeasance within our Justice system kicked into a new gear, commencing with the two-year Mueller investigation.  It’s irrelevant whether or not you’re a Trump supporter;  that “windmill chase” shone the spotlight on a U.S. legal system that pivoted to the premise of an individual having a position of guilt — in initiating and carrying out an investigation, without a proper legal process/gathering of evidence to properly justify the criminal accusation(s) from the onset.  Reminder:  a backfill and temporary head of the DoJ, Rod Rosenstein, was able to solely trigger that action.  After two years, with nothing of substance to report on, that investigation has largely disappeared from press coverage and is no longer discussed among Trump’s (serious and reasoned) foes.  Is this the America we want going forward:  allowing a politically-driven process like this, against any American, let alone a sitting President, regardless where that individual sits on the Left-to-Right spectrum?

As I review Monday morning’s press headlines (such as the NY Times’ and LA Times’ headlines), one would expect a headline to the effect of “How could Epstein have committed suicide?”  It’s clear the media will lose its curiosity in digging into the cause of death of “America’s highest profile inmate” and accept the findings from law enforcement, attorneys and expert witnesses at face value.  Heck, the only coverage in the LA Times is an op-ed, and it’s arguing the case he committed suicide!  It would appear both outlets received the talking points to focus elsewhere…

We should all be disturbed that our federal and local law enforcement agencies, coupled with the power players impacted, can coordinate and execute (pun intended) an event like this — and get away with it.  This clear corruption is Exhibit A why the Founders created the 2nd Amendment — so the citizens could defend themselves from tyranny within, as well as outside of this country.  That amendment is not about hunting rights, and the Founders surely felt the citizenry should be armed equally with the threatening tyranny.  They believed human nature, especially of those in control, was prone to corruption — even with the checks and balances they created in the Constitution and the governing model of federalism.  After observing the events of the Epstein episode these past several weeks, the threat to the Rule of Law is reaching new heights.  As such, we should never agree to allow our law enforcement agencies to define, monitor and enforce these proposed Red Flag laws that are currently in vogue.  

This country is sailing into uncharted and rough waters.  When the populace loses its faith in the rule of law, tyranny always backfills the void.

After this weekend I have little faith in the U.S.’ go-forward ability to blindly administer the Rule of Law.

I’ll spare the details of the Epstein story as they’ve been trickling out over the weekend, but based on those details, it’s clear the fix is blatantly in, with astonishing hubris.  Common sense would signal that powerful people assessed the risk of Epstein dumping the goods on them vs. the risk of taking him out — in blatant public view — and opted for the latter.  It’s as if the Corleone family and the Matrix calling the shots in the Bourne Trilogy have come to life.  

Malfeasance within our Justice system kicked into a new gear, commencing with the two-year Mueller investigation.  It’s irrelevant whether or not you’re a Trump supporter;  that “windmill chase” shone the spotlight on a U.S. legal system that pivoted to the premise of an individual having a position of guilt — in initiating and carrying out an investigation, without a proper legal process/gathering of evidence to properly justify the criminal accusation(s) from the onset.  Reminder:  a backfill and temporary head of the DoJ, Rod Rosenstein, was able to solely trigger that action.  After two years, with nothing of substance to report on, that investigation has largely disappeared from press coverage and is no longer discussed among Trump’s (serious and reasoned) foes.  Is this the America we want going forward:  allowing a politically-driven process like this, against any American, let alone a sitting President, regardless where that individual sits on the Left-to-Right spectrum?

As I review Monday morning’s press headlines (such as the NY Times’ and LA Times’ headlines), one would expect a headline to the effect of “How could Epstein have committed suicide?”  It’s clear the media will lose its curiosity in digging into the cause of death of “America’s highest profile inmate” and accept the findings from law enforcement, attorneys and expert witnesses at face value.  Heck, the only coverage in the LA Times is an op-ed, and it’s arguing the case he committed suicide!  It would appear both outlets received the talking points to focus elsewhere…

We should all be disturbed that our federal and local law enforcement agencies, coupled with the power players impacted, can coordinate and execute (pun intended) an event like this — and get away with it.  This clear corruption is Exhibit A why the Founders created the 2nd Amendment — so the citizens could defend themselves from tyranny within, as well as outside of this country.  That amendment is not about hunting rights, and the Founders surely felt the citizenry should be armed equally with the threatening tyranny.  They believed human nature, especially of those in control, was prone to corruption — even with the checks and balances they created in the Constitution and the governing model of federalism.  After observing the events of the Epstein episode these past several weeks, the threat to the Rule of Law is reaching new heights.  As such, we should never agree to allow our law enforcement agencies to define, monitor and enforce these proposed Red Flag laws that are currently in vogue.  

This country is sailing into uncharted and rough waters.  When the populace loses its faith in the rule of law, tyranny always backfills the void.

Apparently gratitude is as obsolete as the truth on a network newscast. We have another example from the 2019 Pan American Games in Lima, Peru, where U.S. fencer Race Imboden took a knee while the “Star Spangled Banner” played for the gold medals won by Imboden and teammates Gerek Meinhardt and Nick Itkin (who both stood for the anthem).

“Every athlete competing at the 2019 Pan American Games commits to terms of eligibility, including to refrain from demonstrations that are political in nature. In this case, Race didn’t adhere to the commitment he made to the organizing committee and the USOPC,” Mark Jones, Vice President of Communications, USOPC (United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee) said in a statement on Saturday.  Although Jones’ statement appears that the team leadership are not pleased with Imboden’s actions, it remains to be seen what, if any, action will be taken.

After the incident Imboden, released a typically leftist statement decrying racism in America, along with his dislike for Donald Trump, and mistreatment of immigrants. Apparently free health care and in-state tuition constitute “mistreatment” in his mind. His statement conveniently ignores the fact that the immigrants to whom he refers break our laws by coming uninvited across our border, and that in the vast majority of countries around the world such lawbreakers are summarily jailed until they are returned home.

Athletes should realize the difference between representing their country and representing themselves. Standing on the medal podium in uniform while the national anthem plays is not the time or place. By protesting in the way he did, Imboden presumes to speak for the whole country. He does not speak for this writer and, I believe, not for the majority of Americans. Instead, he could write a blog, a letter to the editor, go on a sympathetic television or radio station, call a press conference, create your own web page, etc.  No one in America would deny him the right to do any of those things.

Western, that is to say Judeo-Christian, civilization teaches that one should be grateful for what one has. Leftism can’t abide this because when one is grateful, one is generally happy. Leftists require constant turmoil and never-ending crisis, manufactured if necessary, so they can come to our rescue. That their “fixes” would also strip all of our freedoms and take all our hard-earned money in the process is just collateral damage to them. I offer three words as an example: “Green New Deal.”

Imboden is a classic example of a person who should be grateful, not angry. According to US Fencing, he was educated in private schools – The Dwight School in New York, base tuition $48,620 a year for grades 1-12, and St. John’s University, base undergrad tuition $41,900. Add in the thousands of dollars for training and fencing coaches and we have a portrait of what many would call a privileged young man.

Like Colin Kaepernick before him, who made millions of dollars for throwing and running with a football, not exactly up there with curing cancer on the value-to-society scale, Imboden has no gratitude. In a way Imboden is a victim. But he isn’t a victim of oppression or some mythical “man,” or any of the leftist boogeymen that he might name. He is a victim of a coordinated effort by the left to indoctrinate, to make America the villain at every turn, to literally rewrite history.

Acknowledging the value of freedom and supporting our rights under the Constitution used to be the norm in America. Kids in elementary school held Flag Day celebrations and we learned that our rights come from God and are to be protected by our government, they are not granted by government and therefore subject to repeal on a whim. It seems as if patriotism is not allowed in higher education anymore. That’s remarkable since universities have traditionally been places where unpopular speech was welcomed if not encouraged. Apparently it depends on who is speaking.

It’s been going on for at least a half century now and it’s amazing that it hasn’t consumed more of the population. Conservatives should be grateful for the rise of the Internet and conservative media, especially talk radio. No one knew how far left Walter Cronkite was when there was no one to compare him to. Today you would have to be blind not to recognize the insanity that comes from leftists in the media. Think “insanity” is too strong? Who knew that if the president raised flags from half-staff on the eighth of August he was actually saying “Heil Hitler?”

The truth about the United States, its history, and its president is out there if one is willing to look past the New York Times and the network news. Imboden is therefore a willing victim, and that makes a person a fool. “Useful Idiot” is another term that would apply.  As W.S. Gilbert put it in The Mikado: “the idiot who praises, with enthusiastic tone, All centuries but this, and every country but his own.”

Image credit: Twitter screen shot

Bruce Buckfelder has been writing on a variety of topics since 1993. He writes from the Atlanta, GA area. 

Apparently gratitude is as obsolete as the truth on a network newscast. We have another example from the 2019 Pan American Games in Lima, Peru, where U.S. fencer Race Imboden took a knee while the “Star Spangled Banner” played for the gold medals won by Imboden and teammates Gerek Meinhardt and Nick Itkin (who both stood for the anthem).

“Every athlete competing at the 2019 Pan American Games commits to terms of eligibility, including to refrain from demonstrations that are political in nature. In this case, Race didn’t adhere to the commitment he made to the organizing committee and the USOPC,” Mark Jones, Vice President of Communications, USOPC (United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee) said in a statement on Saturday.  Although Jones’ statement appears that the team leadership are not pleased with Imboden’s actions, it remains to be seen what, if any, action will be taken.

After the incident Imboden, released a typically leftist statement decrying racism in America, along with his dislike for Donald Trump, and mistreatment of immigrants. Apparently free health care and in-state tuition constitute “mistreatment” in his mind. His statement conveniently ignores the fact that the immigrants to whom he refers break our laws by coming uninvited across our border, and that in the vast majority of countries around the world such lawbreakers are summarily jailed until they are returned home.

Athletes should realize the difference between representing their country and representing themselves. Standing on the medal podium in uniform while the national anthem plays is not the time or place. By protesting in the way he did, Imboden presumes to speak for the whole country. He does not speak for this writer and, I believe, not for the majority of Americans. Instead, he could write a blog, a letter to the editor, go on a sympathetic television or radio station, call a press conference, create your own web page, etc.  No one in America would deny him the right to do any of those things.

Western, that is to say Judeo-Christian, civilization teaches that one should be grateful for what one has. Leftism can’t abide this because when one is grateful, one is generally happy. Leftists require constant turmoil and never-ending crisis, manufactured if necessary, so they can come to our rescue. That their “fixes” would also strip all of our freedoms and take all our hard-earned money in the process is just collateral damage to them. I offer three words as an example: “Green New Deal.”

Imboden is a classic example of a person who should be grateful, not angry. According to US Fencing, he was educated in private schools – The Dwight School in New York, base tuition $48,620 a year for grades 1-12, and St. John’s University, base undergrad tuition $41,900. Add in the thousands of dollars for training and fencing coaches and we have a portrait of what many would call a privileged young man.

Like Colin Kaepernick before him, who made millions of dollars for throwing and running with a football, not exactly up there with curing cancer on the value-to-society scale, Imboden has no gratitude. In a way Imboden is a victim. But he isn’t a victim of oppression or some mythical “man,” or any of the leftist boogeymen that he might name. He is a victim of a coordinated effort by the left to indoctrinate, to make America the villain at every turn, to literally rewrite history.

Acknowledging the value of freedom and supporting our rights under the Constitution used to be the norm in America. Kids in elementary school held Flag Day celebrations and we learned that our rights come from God and are to be protected by our government, they are not granted by government and therefore subject to repeal on a whim. It seems as if patriotism is not allowed in higher education anymore. That’s remarkable since universities have traditionally been places where unpopular speech was welcomed if not encouraged. Apparently it depends on who is speaking.

It’s been going on for at least a half century now and it’s amazing that it hasn’t consumed more of the population. Conservatives should be grateful for the rise of the Internet and conservative media, especially talk radio. No one knew how far left Walter Cronkite was when there was no one to compare him to. Today you would have to be blind not to recognize the insanity that comes from leftists in the media. Think “insanity” is too strong? Who knew that if the president raised flags from half-staff on the eighth of August he was actually saying “Heil Hitler?”

The truth about the United States, its history, and its president is out there if one is willing to look past the New York Times and the network news. Imboden is therefore a willing victim, and that makes a person a fool. “Useful Idiot” is another term that would apply.  As W.S. Gilbert put it in The Mikado: “the idiot who praises, with enthusiastic tone, All centuries but this, and every country but his own.”

Image credit: Twitter screen shot

Bruce Buckfelder has been writing on a variety of topics since 1993. He writes from the Atlanta, GA area.