Incongruity in Book Six: Trying to Hold On 2019
- July 24, 2019, 2:08 p.m.
- |
- Public
Some interesting observations for today:
(1) Action vs. Emotion
Last night, Wife actually spent time in the basement! Apparently, she spent large parts of the day down there with Nala because Nala enjoys running on carpet more than hardwood (duh). When I got home, we took Nala for a walk and did some house chore stuff but then we ended the day in the basement together for about an hour. GOOD because she shouldn’t completely ignore a level of the house for no reason… especially a level that was personally designed to be more welcoming, comfortable, and entertaining. That being said my heart isn’t exactly celebrating yesterday. Yes, it started with her being snugly and ended with her actually being in the freaking basement. But the timing certainly seems suspect. If I were pressed to state my feelings… it seems that she is aware that I’m more sure than usual that our marriage may not be salvageable. So she’s doing what she can to show me that “maybe there’s hope.” And the thing is… legitimate, substantial, genuine hope would be great. But coming to me when she’s had a bad dream or spending time in her own basement just… feel like hollow attempts. I’m not looking for an expansion on the “we’re room mates but maybe more” perspective. The only acceptable hope would be “we’re spouses and I’m working towards being more consistent with that.”
(2) Twitter vs Testimony
Today is a long awaited testimony session for Robert Mueller. Mr. Mueller stated earlier that he would keep his testimony confined to what was in his report. Legally and diplomatically, I’d say that was an excellent burn. Traditionally, Mr. Mueller would not and should not have had to testify. His testimony is written, printed, published. The Department of Justice which is supposed to be non-partisan is to accurately and fairly communicate that testimony to Congress; thus not requiring further testimony. Barr did not do that. In fact, Barr has been one step (of many) in entirely dismantling the way in which the United States Government is supposed to work. Therefore, Mr. Mueller has been required to come before Congress so that he can answer stupid as shit questions that have already been answered. Some nice early examples already of this.... and of Republicans using their TV appearance to continue to Praise Trump as opposed to Do Justice? (written at 8:36 central time)
EX 1: In his report, Mr. Mueller stated “Russian government interfered in our election in sweeping and systematic fashion.” This is supported by findings from NSA, the CIA, the FBI, Interpol, and various other international sources. Mr. Mueller was required to state this again clearly as it is something the President has often denied or qualified.
EX 2: Despite literally writing this all out, Mr. Mueller had to again state that his findings DID NOT exonerate the President and that a key portion of the reason why the President was not indicted was the DOJ’s policy that a sitting president CAN NOT be indicted. Mr. Mueller was required to state this again clearly as it is something that the President has often spoken to saying the report “Completely exonerated him”. Further, he was required to state this again as Democrats are angry that he did not clearly state “Prosecute Him”… because he can’t!
EX 3: Mr. Mueller has repeatedly stated that the President did not “fully comply” with the investigation. NOW, it is true that an individual need not provide testimony against their own interests. That is true. But that does NOT allow for “the refusal to comply.” Mr. Mueller sought the President’s testimony for 1 year. The President refused to cooperate for that entire time until he decided to answer, on paper and with assistance, “some” of the questions. LEGALLY if this were a court of law, his silence could not be construed as an admission of guilt. HOWEVER in a court of law, active refusal to cooperate with the investigation CAN be used to construe “guilty conscience” or an attempt to obfuscate the truth.
EX 4: Republicans, doing their best to satisfy the Republican Trump base by pretending that “intelligence and legal knowledge is elitist” attempted to ask a stupid question ignoring Mr. Mueller’s report. They attempted to say that Mr. Mueller could not even hint at collusion between Trump’s Organization and the Russians because Mr. Mueller said there was no conspiracy. Mr. Mueller (needing to act as Legal Dictionary for one of America’s LAW MAKERS) attempted to intelligently and diplomatically explain that Collusion is not a criminal charge by the United States Statutes and that, as far as legal language goes, Collusion is most often synonymous with Conspiracy. However, collusion (in action) may not rise to the criminal level of conspiracy; but nevertheless be collusion. Or in layman’s terms: there’s a reason why they are two different legally distinct words, you fuckin’ cock knuckle! Trump’s people can cooperate, aid, assist, and collude WITHOUT all of it rising to the level of Criminal Conspiracy.
EX 5: Despite it being written in several places in the report and having already stated it in his testimony today, Mr. Mueller once again stated that he did not recommend prosecution of the President due to DOJ policy that he could not recommend that. Mr. Mueller did state that the President could be prosecuted when he leaves office; but did not state whether he should be prosecuted. This is entirely in-line with Mr. Mueller’s character and professionalism as he is not in a position to dictate prosecution in the hypothetical. However, this DOES make the 2020 election far more important in that should the President win… he’ll never face justice… should the President lose… he may actually be prosecuted.
EX 6: Rep. John Ratcliffe, who just used his five minutes to argue that the President was held to a different standard than anyone else would be, has been under consideration for a job in the administration, sources say, including an intelligence or national security role. He argued that the President was being held to “harsher scrutiny” which I think we all know is bullshit. If ANY ONE OF US refused to cooperate with investigators, harassed the police to get an investigation dropped, and then specifically told SUBPOENAED WITNESSES not to testify… we’d be in jail! So… his argument was pure bullshit but much like Barr himself… this isn’t about truth, justice, OR the American way… this is about making Trump like him so he can get a promotion.
I’ll end with this as, unlike many of my colleagues in the Law today, I cannot watch this hearing all morning. Mr. Mueller was asked further about items in his report. Namely, after Jeff Sessions recused himself due to conflicts of interest… did the President attempt to get Mr. Sessions to unrecuse himself. The answer is yes. The answer is several times. Fuck, even if you own a television or computer and have never read the report; you should know that Trump often bitched about Jeff Sessions recusing himself and is likely a large reason why Trump sought the removal of Sessions.
HERE IS WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT THAT
Republicans, both in Congress and in the Public, have often stated “Trump’s position makes sense to me. You hire a guy, you want to know he’s going to do his job.” That is bullshit and ignorant and while the public may not need to know better, Congress sure as shit does. Here’s the background:
Jeff Sessions was considered TOO OPENLY RACIST to become a Judge. This is factual and part of the public record. This was not an impediment to Trump hiring him to become the head of the DOJ. Some would argue, especially after the last few weeks, that it is something that made Jeff Sessions particularly attractive to the President for the head of the DOJ. During Jeff Sessions confirmation hearing and after, he was discovered to be one of the dozens of Trump Allies who met with Russian agents AND DID NOT DISCLOSE those meetings when he was legally required to do so. Therefore, a professional attorney who was actually doing their job would not be allowed to lead an investigation into Russian Meetings That May Not Have Been Disclosed. Anyone with an ounce of sense should understand that. If a police officer has JUST come out and stated that he was accepting bribes, the Public would not be thrilled if he immediately thereafter stated he was leading an investigation into Police Bribery. Hell, the public wouldn’t even be accepting if that officer kept his job! SO… already we’re dealing with a different set of rules that are bullshit. EVERY time one of Trump’s allies was seen to be breaking ethical or professional rules; they faced no punishment or retribution UNTIL MUELLER STARTED DIGGING. Trump routinely attempted to get Jeff Sessions to “unring” a bell that could not be unrung; and then attempted to get other people to “shut down” the Mueller report. EVEN IF HE WAS INNOCENT OF ANY WRONG DOING PRIOR TO THAT ACTION an active attempt to interfere with an ongoing investigation IS CRIMINAL. So, all of these Republicans saying, “He was just an innocent man frustrated at the process”… fine, okay. But these are the same Republicans that say it is okay to shoot and kill a black teenager for being “unarmed, innocent, but suspected of a crime.” SOOoo… black teenager who is SUSPECTED of a crime… kill him. White President who “was so frustrated at an investigation that he committed a crime”… should be exonerated? That doesn’t sound fucked up to you?
Oh, and just for good measure… lets say you don’t think the Mueller thing is worth thinking about. It isn’t like we don’t have dozens of other criminal and suspect things for this President. Aside from illegally giving Russian Agents confidential information about Israeli Troop Operations; this President has instructed his Treasury Secretary to never release the Tax Returns requested by Congress… even though he is required to by law. Not to mention the campaign finance and FBI involvement in his laundry list of hush money payments… or his illegal use of Inauguration Proceeds to peddle influence… or his illegal ACCEPTANCE of foreign donations for his Presidency/Inauguration. Remember how (rightfully) pissed off Republicans were for Bill Clinton accepting Chinese money? Apparently, when it is significantly more money coming from Russian Oligarchs, it’s totally okay! (Pro Tip: It isn’t).
I hear it ALL THE TIME that “you can’t fault American Capitalism because even though the rich get richer, the poorer get richer. Yes, they’re still poor; but American Poor, not Somalia poor!” Kay. So what about inflation and resource management? The poor in America have severe trouble with food, water, and shelter… even if they are making $5 an hour as opposed to $2.
In the “information age” do your research. NEVER accept a statistic without reading the science behind it and NEVER simply accept what “your preferred media outlet” is pushing.
Case in point.
So, kind of sharing this as a pat on my own back. When this article came out, I covered it here in Prosebox. Largely to point to the fact that guns ARE deadly (and anyone arguing that is an idiot because THE POINT of a gun is to be deadly) but that statistically… most gun deaths are suicides and the gun violence (while gun control should be investigated) does also have strong mental health ties that should ALSO be investigated and dealt with.
Yep. I’ve seen a number of things like this. Corporation attempts to do something ethical for PR; stock takes dip; Fox discusses how Corporations are becoming SJWs and losing money because of Strong Conservative Values. It’s bullshit, btw. Almost EVERY time that story hits you can look at similar competitor companies and note similar fluctuations which would NOT be related to so-called SJW policies.
This fact along with the Number of People working 2 or more jobs (which is NOT part of labor or labor participation) really shows the economy in trouble. While Trump discusses “greatest economy ever!” We’re… not there. We arguably had a better economy under every single one of our last 4 presidents. The only reason this economy looks “so cheery” right now is Stock Markets… which is pretty much what me and Republicans were saying when Obama was talking about The Recovery after the Recession. When the only real growth and wealth creation happens to the people that already have a majority of the wealth… that isn’t sustainable or appropriate economic growth.
One of the reasons to ALWAYS check your sources. Now, if you’re actively ON a White Supremacist site… you know and don’t care. But if you saw this statistic somewhere and thought, “Well, I’ll be damned”.... it is important to know where the information comes from.
This song just popped in my head (as it often does). I love David Bowie Music and really actually liked the Earthling album even though many did not. People thought it was a bit too Bowie/NIN in sound and… it’s not an unfair estimation as he definitely worked with Trent Reznor for at least one of the songs. But still… I liked it! :) :p
Drat. I’ve caught up on Prosebox and have done all the legal work that I can do at this point. Though, truth told, I’ll have more for the next few days than I normally would on a Thursday or Friday. Which leaves me to the following:
(1) Finish Thank You Letters
(2) Clean my Office
(3) Bother the VWC for the fourth time about stuff that we’re supposed to have but don’t which may mean I simply file lesser charges instead of filing the ACTUAL honest charge
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Last updated July 24, 2019
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