Back in August of 2018 I posted that Donald Trump would win the 2020 election. I was wrong. But I was correct in the drama he creates. Historians may have a lot to say about the Trump era, the rigged election, fake electors the storming of the Capitol. But one thing is for sure, the man knows how to create a reality show.
It is not my intention of rehashing what has been the reality of the last eight years or so. Who really wants to live life from the “golden escalator” ride to the presidency to the January 6th slide into the dark side of democracy and all the side shows in-between. As an aside, one of my favorite news clips from that January 6th day is when the crowd is trying to break through a police line in a tunneled passageway into the Capitol. I image the 300 Spartans defending that narrow coastal pass of Thermopylae against the massive Persian Army trying to break through. In the midst of the mob thronging the tunnel you can see some guy throwing a crutch at the police. I imagine if they had a kitchen sink that would have been tossed in, too. But only in America would there be a handicap accessible Beer Hall Putsch. You just cannot make this stuff up.
The one thing that Trump has given us, and this is undisputed, is riveting television. In the midst of a writers’ strike we still have those zany antics of Trump and Associates. There just does not seem to be Trump fatigue or point where the Trump reality show has jumped the shark. In many ways it just keeps getting better. It’s like CSI, it creates its own spin offs. The Trump Saga continues with the two Congressional Jameses. These two apostolic Trump followers are zealots, part of the Sadducees and Pharisees of the MAGA doctrine.
While The Trump Show has moved from the White House it is now in the GOP controlled House of Representatives. We now have The Jim Jordan Judiciary Show: Justice is Out There on Somebody’s Laptop; and Oversight is Over Right staring James Comer as the Chairman of the House Oversight Committee. Both are hot on the tail of the “Biden Crime Family” but Comer in particular. He has taken up the role of cleaning the White House of all sorts of criminal activity both foreign and domestic. It is a tough nut to crack with the investigation digging deep into secret and nefarious Biden Family deals from Ukraine to China.
This is right out of Mario Puzo’s The Godfather. The only difference is that this story centers around the Irish Mob led by the level headed, even-tempered Don, “Slow Joe” Biden. Don Joe started running his crime family in the shadows of the famous mob families in New York, Philadelphia and Boston–in Delaware, home to some of the most corrupt families in the world: US Bankers.
Don Joe saw a chance to take his family global when he was elected to the Senate in 1972. His dream was to become the ultimate boss of bosses: President. He took several runs but never had the muscle. But he never gave up hope. All the while he was grooming his sons to take over the “family business.”
His hopes in 2016 were dashed. And then the Trump Family struck first, hard and fast. Led by Don Don Trump they took the Democrats to the mattresses using outside muscle from the Russian mafia. Another blow to Old Slow Joe’s hopes of becoming the Boss of Bosses. Or so we thought. The Biden Family regrouped and eventually out fought the Trump family in the high desert of Arizona, in the streets of Milwaukee and woods of Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. But it was a rainy night in Georgia that killed Don Don ‘s hope. He could not find the foot soldiers to flip the Georgia election. When the sky cleared it was the Biden Family that won the day.
However, the story is not over. With these new GOP backed Congressional shows the possibilities are endless. Don Don may be in the hot seat, his legal woes mounting; but his allies are striking back. So far the ratings are down but there is hope that GOP script writers, no match for the striking Hollywood writers, will come up with thrilling plot lines featuring Hunter Biden as their Breaking Bad‘s Gustavo Fring. Maybe they will garner a Network primetime slot or possibly streaming on Hulu.
But these Congressional spectacles are just the teasers for next season, which will be more like the The Valachi Papers. This will center around the trial of Trump’s chief Lieutenant, Mark Meadows, his consigliere Rudy Giuliani, and 17 other low ranking “Buttonmen” of the Trump Family that will leave Atlanta burning for ratings.
We have not had a national trial since the 1995 OJ Simpson Trial. As a country that is addicted to crime shows we have had to be content with 20 plus years of Law and Order and its spin offs: Organized Crime (and Trump’s favorite: Special Victims Unit). The OJ Trial took nearly 10 months to reach a verdict. Can we imagine how long all of the various Trump and Associates’ trials may last. And with an election in there it should make for high drama viewing. Or what TV (and news) producers would call: “Must See TV.”
Former President Donald Trump made the trip to Miami to be indicted for not giving back the classified documents he took to Mar-a-Lago from the White House. According to him, the government’s charges are just the continuation of the communist/socialist deep state witch hunt he has been subjected to for the last eight years. Many of his followers have rationalized that the current administration is unjustly “weaponizing” the Justice Department against their political opponents.
In my mind, our country, “we the people,” deserve everything we are getting from the former President. We had more than enough time before the 2016 Presidential election to witness Donald Trump’s global shenanigans. We have had plenty of time to observe his character as a Presidential candidate and as President.
Since then, we have had plenty of time to witness his influence on the character of others who came into contact with him. Today we live in a tainted apple barrel where the bad bad apple has seeped into and spoiled all the barrels of our government. From the Executive Branch to the Legislative Branch and now the Judicial Branch we can see and smell the festering rancid apple’s contamination on our entire federalist form of government.
According to Merriam-Webster: “We define bad apple as ‘someone who creates problems or causes trouble for others; specifically, a member of a group whose behavior negatively affects the remainder of the group.’ This term is often misunderstood to mean that a troublemaker’s behavior is not representative of the whole group, but the proverb this term originally comes from is “one bad apple spoils the whole barrel.” We are at the point where Johnny Rotten-seed is propagating noxious orchards everywhere.
“…every good tree bears good fruit but, a bad tree bears bad fruit.”
Matthew 7:17
I am not one given to proselytize but Matthew Chapter 7 covers a lot of moral and philosophical ground to live our lives by. Whether you are a Christian or not; or if you don’t even believe in God, it is about building your life on a strong foundation, knowing people for who they are; and not judging.
“Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly they are ferocious wolves.”
Matthew 7: 15
The interesting thing about judging is everybody has an opinion on how “things ought to be.” The concordance of any Bible has numerous citations on judgement, judging etc. For instance, John 7:24 Jesus says, “Stop judging by mere appearance, and make a right judgment.” So how do we tell which four-legged beast on the hillside are wolves and which ones are the sheep—making the assumption that there are always more sheep than wolves. Normally sheep run from wolves but today the sheep are running with the wolves.
It seems like Matthew 7 has us metaphorically bouncing back and forth between animal and plant. Jesus says “By their fruit you will recognize them.” He was so emphatic about rotten fruit that he repeats that sentence twice. Once in verse 16 and again in verse 20. And therein lies the dilemma, which tree is bearing all that bad fruit we are dealing with and which ones are just producing sour fruit. And then who determines if it is bad fruit or fruit that is just fermenting.
Rotting is an uncontrolled act of a food decomposing. Dangerous bacteria take over the food in question, breaking it down to a dangerous and foul state. Rotting kills the food.
Fermenting is just the opposite Fermentation is a controlled process that creates an environment in which the food is placed (jar, crock…); when done correctly, beneficial bacteria are produced that discourage the growth of harmful bacteria allowing you to eat it well past its usual shelf life.
fermentationkitichen.com
Some people claim that those who wrote the Constitution where the equivalent of today’s Evangelical movement. Without a doubt the foundation of our country is build upon the Judeo-Christian foundation–“values”–and not sand. But one must remember that in the late 1600s and early 1700s Quakers in Pennsylvania didn’t mix to well with Congregationalists in Massachusetts. Anglicans in Virginia had their qualms with Baptists and most colonists kept a suspicious eye on the Papists in Maryland–and later nobody cared for Latter Day Saints, who got chased right on across the Mississippi River and out to Utah. I am going to go out on limb but I would think that all of the various religions could agree on what tree gives off good fruit and which trees should be hewn down. And I would also go farther out on that limb that those who wrote the Constitution put together a document based on secular beliefs of the time with the idea that they would reflect the diverse views Judeo-Christian ethics. Granted, there are exceptions to every rule (of law).
I think the world honestly would be a much healthier place if instead of trying to find rationalizations for our bad behavior we would just say, “I was an asshole. Sure, there were reasons behind it, but that doesn’t matter.”
Colin Quinn
In the last year we have witnessed some surreal and absurd public behavior that has people rationalizing what kind of fruit is coming out of the apple barrel. Debating public policy is one. There is no Good Shepherd protecting and guiding the flock. We have shamans and one-eyed pirates roaming the hillsides beguiling the herd. What we are experiencing is the active and open deception of wolves and sheep commingling under the spell of a deal maker. We the people somehow voted him in; but as Carl Sagan once said: “Once you give a charlatan power over you, you almost never get it back.”
Pete: The Preacher said it absolved us.
Ulysses Everett McGill: For him, not for the law. I’m surprised at you, Pete, I gave you credit for more brains than Delmar.
Delmar O’Donnell: But they was witnesses that seen us redeemed.
Ulysses Everett McGill: That’s not the issue Delmar. Even if that did put you square with the Lord, the State of Mississippi’s a little more hard-nosed.
After watching a few minutes of Donald Trump’s CNN New Hampshire town hall with fellow Republicans and undecided voters, I thought to myself: why am I watching a rehash of the last two or three years?
First of all, there was no “news” coming from this town hall. So we can take the “News” out of Cable News Network and replace it with Nitwit. Trump was recycling old reruns or the 2016/2020 elections. I particularly got a kick out of Trump saying he got 12 million more votes in 2020 than he got in 2016. It was more like 11.2 million votes. But who’s counting. Surely not Trump–at least not accurately.
Trump’s 2016 and 2020 election results are similar to two Dallas Cowboys Super Bowl appearances. In 1978 the Cowboys beat the Denver Broncos 27-10. However, in the following Super Bowl they scored 31 points, four more; but lost to the Steelers by four points. Sure they scored more points against the Steelers than they did against the Broncos; but they still lost.
The CNN town hall reminded me of what my Dad would say after a somewhat racus, animated business meeting. When the discussion came to an end and bummed-out people were leaving he would say: Don’t go away mad. Just go away. This is my question: When is Donald Trump going to go away.–mad or otherwise? It is obvious that to make America anything this guy has got to get off center stage. And CNN is not helping by giving him another 15 minutes to pedal his self-concocted version of reality TV.
How is it possible to report on Trump and not speak of the big lie, or say they’ve broken norms if not laws?
Robert Reich LAProgessive
Our political situation has us doubling down on everything. We have a couple of octogenarians running for president. The nearest GOP challenger to Trump as of now is the governor of Florida, Ron DeSantis. And he has not even announced if he is running. At 44 he is a little more than half the age of the Joe Biden and Trump. DeSantis, however does not want to make America great, he wants to take America on Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride at Disneyland. He seems more interested fighting “woke windmills” and running against Mickey Mouse (who will turn 95 in November). Two of Trump’s other challengers come from South Carolina. This could be a political comedy: “Guess Who’s Coming to the Chicken Plate Fundraiser.”
Biden’s only announced rival is a reboot of the ’60s with Robert Kennedy, Jr. He says his “mission over the next 18 months of this campaign and throughout my presidency will be to end the corrupt merger of state and corporate power that is threatening… to impose a new kind of corporate feudalism in our country.” It sounds good but I think most Americans could not tell the difference between a feudalistic economy and a socialist economy let alone describe corporate feudalism. As a nation we have not yet come to grips that this country based its economy on slave labor for its first 200 years of its existence. Nobody today remembers when “cotton was king” and made up nearly 60 percent of America’s exports in 1860.
Our political parties have us backed into a corner in a room without windows to even jump out of. Despite being under criminal investigation the GOP is clinging to Trump like the last piece of flotsam from a sinking ship. The Democrats, on the other hand, will ride Biden and the Old Gray Mare to wherever the old horse will go. It use to be a politician could leave office out the front door. Walter Mondale and Al Gore come to mind. Some, however, slither out the back door or jump out of the side window. Presidential aspirants like Gary Hart and John Edwards come to mind. I don’t think a criminal conviction would convince Trump and his followers it’s time to turn out the lights the party’s over. And it could be for the GOP. As for Biden, the pasture might be a pleasant place to graze away the days.
Turn out the lights The party’s over They say that all Good things must end Call it a night The party’s over And tomorrow starts The same old thing again
Willie Nelson
Andy Warhol is credited with saying “In the future, everyone will be world-famous for 15 minutes.” The statement assumes that after your 15 minutes you would step off the stage. But that was said in a time before social media and cable news. People like Donald Trump have managed to turn their “world-famous” 15 minutes into years. It really is about time we brought the curtain down on Trump and shove him off center stage because as we saw on CNN it was the same old thing again.
Fox Broadcasting Company, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
The recently settled defamation dispute between Fox News and Dominion Voting Systems for almost $800 million brings up a lot more about Fox than money. First off, who has close to a billion dollars laying around to buy themselves out of lawsuit and not miss a meal? It says something about Fox News‘ cash flow and their current business model.
From what I can garner Fox News‘ net worth is somewhere north of $16 billion. In comparison, CNN‘s net worth is around $6 billion and MSNBC ‘s just under $60 million. An $800 million loss of any sort would have put a serious hitch in CNN‘s giddy-up and would have wiped out MSNBC. Fox News seems to shake it off like a wet dog drying off.
The Fox News‘ settlement brings up what really is the “News” aspect of Fox News. It begs the question what kind of news gathering company is Fox News. I can’t get the image of Groucho Marx responding to an indignant Blonde, who feels she had been insulted, demanding an apology by asking, stupidly, “What kind of woman do you think I am?” To which Grocho says, “We have already established that. Now we are haggling over the price.”
The secret of life is honesty and fair dealing. If you can fake that, you’ve got it made.
photo flickr
To be honest I gave up on Fox News as a news source long time ago. The last couple of years or so it seems that Fox News is more of an entertainment company writing the news (and making the news) instead of reporting it. The veracity of their storyline, in my mind, is suspect; or it is your lie but I can tell it anyway that makes me money. Pushing an alleged false narrative on your viewing public seems to pay off handsomely. Just look at tobacco and pharmaceutical companies that have made billions pushing addictive products on an unsuspecting consumer. So why not News.
Fox News has found the right business/news model that treats the news as a running soap opera. It brings people back to the set every night for another episode of As the Country Burns, One Lib to Own and The Guiding Right. Throw in some fantasy and the soap opera model pays out handsome dividends. It is the $500 slot machine that keeps paying out. However, it is not American Exceptionalism but American Extravagance. As long as you are making bucketfuls of money its okay until its not. And then we wonder why.
Since its fraternity with Donald Trump, Fox News has played fast and loose with the facts. They have taken up the Trump administration’s view that “alternative facts” like the “Demon Cat” that haunts the halls of the White House is a real feline that can expand itself to the size of an elephant. News at times can go beyond believable especially when it involves a “Florida man allegedly throw(ing) an alligator into Wendy’s.” And Florida men are playing prominently in the news of late since Trump moved to Palm Beach.
And let’s throw in another element to the news: fantasy. Fantasy takes us into riding unicorns or dealing with dragons and dungeons. And I guess that is why it is so easy to peddle stories that can go beyond imagination to the domain of fantastic, alternative facts. Once it’s spoken on prime time it becomes reality. Take for instance the growing interest in unidentified ariel observations; UFOs to those born before 1980. The “little green men” from outer space have become Jews with orbiting space lasers. Just as believable as ET calling an Uber for a ride home. Anything is possible in the realm of fantasies.
Fantasy sells. Take the movie Avatar: The Way of the Water. The movie took in $2 billion. It is estimated that the production costs where $250 million. Some sources think it was more like $350-to-$400 million. However you slice it there is a nice chunk of profit investing in one of the top grossing movies of all time.
As I said, making money is okay until it is not. Take Dominion Voting Systems, a company that took umbrage to being the unpaid-credited main star of Fox News‘ fantasy-reality shows, decided the fantasy of stolen election had gone on long enough. The fabrications being spewed by some should have been a mini X-File series. There may have been more truth watching Fox Mulder and Dana Scully investigating The Untold Truth of 2020 Election then the stories peddled by anchor-heads at Fox News. At least any “untruths” would have been protected under literary license and disclaimers. In the end the those pushing the stolen election theory on the News could find themselves with a ticket in their spaceship headed back to their home world. So far Tucker Carlson is the only one to leave the planet.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events, locales, and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.
The Book Designer
The truly sad state of affairs is the irreparable harm Fox News‘ business model has done to the news gathering process in general. It appears that the extreme ends of the political spectrum drive the storylines; and profits. It has forced me to look at news in a completely different light. It is always good to question what you think you believe. But I look at the news the way Olympic judges evaluate figure skating. Olympic judging throws out the high and low scores and then averages the middle scores. I throw out the far right hysteria and the far left agitation and look for something in the middle. This concept only works some of the time.
It has been said that Alan Barth coined the phrase in 1943 that “News is only the first rough draft of history.” If that is so, when historians reach back into the news archives for that first rough draft of the year 2023 what will historians or anybody think when they view Fox News from this era: The X Files: History is out there somewhere–but not here.
John Trumbull, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
It seems like everytime I look at a news there is some sort of proposed bill to give parents more say in the classroom or to curb the continued march of “wokism” in schools throughout the nation. One state in particularly is leading the way: Florida. And one possible presidential candidate is the white knight leading this charge: Florida’s governor Ron DeSantis, who boldly proclaims Florida is where woke goes to die.
DeSantis has gained political traction with a sprawling “anti-woke agendathat includes preventing the teaching of AP African American Studies and what legislators deem critical race theory in Florida public school classrooms. A bill currently before the Florida Legislature would prevent the state’s colleges and universities from teaching “American history contrary to the creation of a new nation based on universal principles stated in the Declaration of Independence.”
Sheryll Cashin Politico
I was employed in 2005 in the Palm Beach School District. Later, I worked in the Alachua County School District. For almost 15 years in both school districts I was either a substitute teacher, a paraprofessional or middle school social studies teacher. I spent a lot of time in my own classroom and in others. I cannot ever recall teaching or witnessing some of the topics that some are trying to legislate today. I never had to shoo a kid out of a class because they were some sort of domesticated animal. I did see some kids come dressed to the hilt in Gothic attire. I will say my “gaydar” pinged loudly with some kids. But the attitude was more President Clinton’s don’t ask. We never discussed sex changes or what bathroom someone wanted to use or what sports teams someone wanted to play on. But maybe times have drastically turned upside down in the last three or so years since I have been out of a classroom.
Granted, there are some weird concepts and theories on gender identity floating around today that don’t make a lot of sense. We need a gender guidebook just to know what pronoun to use. It seems logical that some of these ideas would manifest themselves in schools and need to be addressed. Ideas in a school of 1,000 can go viral like the flu. I, on the other hand, went to a Catholic elementary school where stepping out of line, or thought, was dealt with quickly with stinging results. So yes, times have changed and they will continue to.
My guess to all of these changes were simmering well before I stepped out of the classroom. This call to wokism and cultural wars was jump started in 2008 with the election of Barack Obama as president. America’s first non-white president. His election is historically on par with the British army furling their flags, laying down their arms and marching out of Yorktown to the tune The World Turned Upside Down. (This may have started a British tradition. When the end is near, let the band strike up an appropriate dirge. It is believed the band onboard the Titanic “played on” ending their final set with Nearer, My God to Thee as the mighty boat slipped under to its watery resting place.)
Obama’s election brought out what James Madison writes in Federalist Number 10 the “latent causes of faction(s)…and we see them everywhere brought forth into different degrees of activity.” (Culminating with the storming of the Capitol.) The Federalist Papers were written to convince a skeptical 1787 public that a new United States Constitution was needed to replace the old loose association of states under the Articles of Confederation.
To many Obama’s election was as if the Earth’s poles swapped places and the core’s iron-nickel alloys started to melt. Madison continued, “human passions, have, in turn, divided mankind into parties, inflamed them with mutual animosity, and rendered them much more disposed to vex and oppress each other than to co-operate for their common good.” Just catch a few minutes of FoxNews or MSNBC. The only thing the two media outlets cooperate on is twisting news stories either to the right or to the left with the middle completely rung out. Sometimes it makes me wonder if the two networks are broadcasting from the same planet.
If a faction consists of less than a majority, relief is supplied by the republican principle, which enables the majority to defeat its sinister views by regular vote: It may clog the administration, it may convulse the society; but it will be unable to execute and mask its violence under the forms of the constitution.
James Madison Federalist Papers Number 10
If Obama’s election intensified smoldering discontent among a certain portion of the population, it was Donald Trump’s election that brought in the oxygen needed to create a public blast furnace. Madison hit human nature on the head when he wrote, “we see them (factions) everywhere (to the right and to the left) brought into different degrees of activity…A zeal for different opinions concerning religion, concerning government and many other points.” Today’s other points like wokism, culture wars and gender identification bring discontent to the forefront. No matter how irrelevant these points can be, thrown into the furnace they keep everybody liberal, conservative, woke or sleeping in flames. Or as Charlie Daniels once sang that people are running around “like their heads were on fire and their asses was catchin’.”
The instability, injustice, and confusion introduced into the public councils, have, in truth, been the mortal diseases under which popular governments have everywhere perished; as they continue to be the favorite and fruitful topics from which the adversaries to liberty derive their most specious declamations.
James Madison Federalist Papers Number 10
What Trump turned loose, among other things, is a belief in populist democracy. This has created a lot of faulty understanding about government and motivated people to believe in their opinion as fact, alternate or not. All of this was aggravated by lack of substantive leadership. As Madison writes, “It is in vain to say, that enlightened statesmen will be able to adjust these clashing interests, and render them all subservient to the public good. Enlightened statesmen will not always be at the helm.” Today it is hard to determine who is running the looney bin, the mobocracy or mutton-headed elected officials.
While our government derives its powers from the people the country needs a steady hand at the helm. The preamble of the Constitution is explicit on just what our government is set up to do. However, our government is not a democracy. It is a representative form of government. For instance, at the local level some parents attest that they know best how and what to teach their children. This form of populism on first glance seems equitable. However, it is more likely to do more harm to education. The education system needs community and parental input. With that said it would be impossible to run a classroom with 20-to-30 co-teachers. Airlines do not fly their planes based on popular opinion or untried aviation concepts and theories. Nobody wants to crash and burn.
We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.
Preamble to the Constitution
This populist belief has created a “mutual animosity” which has exploded into targeted violence in church shootings, demonstrations that turn into riots and a former president preaching that without him sinister forces will destroy the country. In most cases it is plain simple stupid-ass theories that have disrupted government. It has turned village idiots lose everywhere. Their suppositional beliefs have turned the common wall-sitting simpletons into shamans. Their prophecies have created “instability, injustice, and confusion introduced into public councils.” Creating what Madison called “a mortal diseased under which popular governments have perished.” County commissions and local school boards are inundated with populists cultural tenets and beliefs. Usually by those using bully tactics to get their way.
Trying to pin down what “woke ideology”is can turn into a bootless errand. According to Mother Jones, during a reinstatement trail for suspended Democratic Florida State Attorney Andrew Warren, fired by DeSantis for Warren’s contrary beliefs on abortion, “Taryn Fenske, DeSantis’ Communications Director said, ‘woke’ was a ‘slang term for activism…progressive activism’ and a general belief in systemic injustices in the country.”
Desantis’ General Counsel Ryan Newman said, “it would be the belief there are systemic injustices in American society and the need to address them.” Newman added that “DeSantis doesn’t believe there are systemic injustices in the U.S.” Using that logic it could be believed that everybody is just making shit up as they go along.
Using DeSantis’ base line for education based on universal principles stated in the Declaration of Independence can be tricky. For instance, could the Civil War be considered an act of “progressive activism” or an attempt at correcting a “systemic injustice?” Afterall it did upend the status quo socially and economically, particularly in the South. Old conservative concepts on race relations had to be rethought. A 155 years later we are still rethinking possible progressive activism like voting, Plessy v Ferguson, and Brown v Board of Education of Topeka.
Florida’s forgotten past–flickr
I lived in Florida most of my life. I went to junior high and high school in Florida, graduated from the University of Florida and first learned about the Rosewood Massacre in Florida from a historical road sign along State Road 24 while driving to Cedar Key. The Rosewood story is a Zombie Apocalypse compared To Kill a Mockingbird. I am not trying to make light of destroying an entire town when rampaging whites, backed up by 500 hundred Klansmen, took apart a small town of 200 people, mostly African Americans. Six black and two white people were killed but some believe the death toll was much higher. How does the Rosewood story fit in with universal principles of the Declaration of Independence? Could it euphemistically be overlooked because it could be construed as “conservative activism” or was it just sustaining a systemic socio-economic system that was overlooked and just not taught in Florida’s history classrooms?
What people assume is that history is a dead subject chiseled in stone. And in some ways that is true. It is more than just memorizing dates and names. What people tend to overlook is that history is the road from the past that leads to the present. It is how we got to where we are. Interpreting history gives meaning to the present. And sometimes history does not lend itself to principles stated in the Declaration of Independence.
America has a fascination for some reason with the English monarchy. One possible reason is that the Father of our country, George Washington, had no children of his own to pass the presidency down to. Even before he became president some framers of the Constitution advocated for some sort of monarchy. The concept never got any real traction and lost out to the republican faction that believed elected executive was much more democratic. Besides, the main cause of the Revolution was King George III’s intransigent position on Colonial taxation and rights.
This love-hate relationship with the King and his rule was knocked around by various colonials from time-to-time. But it was not until Thomas Jefferson explicitly laid out 27 specific grievances in the Declaration of Independence that the Continental Congress expressed its true feelings and dissatisfaction with the King’s rule. At least 16 of those grievances were directed at King George III. Any of which could have been determined treasonous. Ben Franklin must have certainly understood the ramifications of sending the King a nasty document when he said,” We must, indeed, all hang together or, most assuredly, we shall all hang separately. ”
At one time the relationship between England and her colonies was described as paternal. England was the “Mother Country” and the colonies her loving children. An interesting concept. However, from a psychological point of view, if England was the Mother Country, then the King was the father. I am not sure where Parliament fits into this analogy; but the argument could be made that the colonies had real “daddy issues” with George III.
It is estimated that at anywhere from 15 to 20 percent of the colonial population, some say closer to a third, were loyalist. It is believed that anywhere from 60,000 to 80,000 loyalists split the scene during the war and headed for jolly ole England or Canada rather than live under patriot or rebel rule.
And here, almost 250 years later, despite Jefferson’s “long train of abuses and usurpations” against the monarchy, we find ourselves still obsessed with the the trials and tribulations of English royalty. In March of 2021 we (the Colonists) opened our hearts to a prince with real daddy issues: Prince Harry, who claims his daddy, King Charles III, referred to him as a “spare.” There is a lot going on between Harry, his wife Megan and the Royal Family. Anybody who has watched The Crown on Netflix can tell you Buckingham Palace could double for some sort of halfway therapy house for dysfunctional family members–a place with real mommy and daddy issues.
I guess Harry had had enough and decided to leave the looney bin and live in LaLa land instead. In a loyalist turned rebel move he washed up here in the USA, a royal now a colonist. In a recent interview with NBC News’ TODAY co-anchor, Hoda Kotb, the now defrocked prince said: “You know, home – home for me, now, is you know, for the time being, is in the States.”
The British, however, did not take kindly to his bolting for the Colonies. The Daily Mail called Harry “the Duke of Delusion.” Some called for the His Royal Highness and wife “to be thrown over the balcony”–more of a Putin move and not fitting in with English tradition. With all the ill will coming at Harry, you cannot really blame him for skedaddling across the pond. I am sure Harry is not the Frankenstein monster some in the British press are making him out to be. But in reality it seems like he has made a good choice considering some of the monarchs’ antics of the past.
King Charles I Follower of Anthony van Dyck, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
Americans trying to keep track of the English monarchy have to wade through various houses of royalty like Tudors, Yorks, Stuarts and Windsors. And in those houses there is a subset of Henrys, Georges, Jameses, Charleses and Elizabeths. There are so many of them it takes a score card and numbers to figure out which Charles was beheaded and which one went into exile. For the record Charles I was beheaded January 30, 1649 forcing the future King Charles (II) to flee to France. And, now we have Charles III on the throne with one of his sons basically in self exile.
For centuries people have been trying to keep track of the six wives of Henry the VIII and their fate. Whether you need to know this for a test or just want to become familiar with a historically significant bit of information, there are several well-known tricks to keeping Henry’s queens straight in your head: Divorced, Beheaded, Died, Divorced, Beheaded, Survived. (Are we starting to see a pattern)*
wikiHow
Oliver Cromwell bids the beheaded King Charles I a fond farewell into the afterlife.
Bridgmanart (Public Domain)
There is a lot to historically unpack in England at this time. But to keep it simple Charles I believed in the divine right of kings. He had his clashes with Parliament and religious Puritans, namely Oliver Cromwell. Ironically, some of Jefferson’s “long train of abuses and usurpations” hurled at George III 130 years or so later were levied against Charles I causing an English civil war. The ensuing civil war found Charles and his Royalists on the losing side.
After his defeat, the Puritans took the radical and unprecedented approach that a sitting King could be put on trial. Cromwell’s New Model Army purged Parliament of members who supported Charles. A new Parliament, derisively referred to as the “Rump Parliament,” was ushered in to try the King for treason. Cromwell and his “Rumpers” found the king guilty. They made quick work of the verdict and three days later they had Charles beheaded. Even Lord Haw-Haw, the Englishman turned German propagandist during WWII, was given a longer shrift in his treason conviction in 1946. Despite being hung, he was able to keep his head on his shoulders and off a pike. After Charles’ execution Cromwell becomes Lord Protectorate of England, a fancy title for head Protestant-in-charge. This opened up a whole new can of conflict for English monarchy.
Oliver Cromwell is an interesting case in history. In 1658 he falls ill from malaria, and maybe comorbidities. He becomes what we would call today an anti-vaxer. Being a staunch Protestant and Puritan he refuses the only known treatment at the time, quinine. Because it was discovered by Catholic Jesuit missionaries, he decides not to partake of the holy water. According to the National Library of Medicine, quinine “was referred to as the ‘Jesuits’ bark,’ ‘cardinal’s bark,’ or ‘sacred bark.’ These names stem from its use in 1630 by Jesuit missionaries in South America, though a legend suggests earlier use by the native population.”
As I mentioned earlier, there is a lot to unpack with English history and it is not for the faint of heart. When Cromwell died he was given a fine state funeral and was buried in Westminster Abbey. But not for long. Like the the French Revolution, when the French mob turned in on itself it ended up guillotining 10,000 people. Once hailed as conquering hero, Cromwell’s image was popped like a Chinese weather balloon over the Atlantic. The mobs hit the bricks.
When the Rumpers lost power, Parliament brought back the monarchy with Charles II. According to historycollection.com, after Charles II was restored to power he “pardoned everyone except those who had played a direct role in the execution of his father.” English public opinion, or mob mentality, turned on the deceased Cromwell. Like dogs looking for a lost bone in the backyard, the a mob, armed with pickaxes and shovels dug up Cromwell’s remains. He was then treated to a treasonous posthumus execution: hung and later decapitated. I am not sure if beheading is just for the living. According to wikidiff.com, the difference “is that beheaded is to have had your head cut off while decapitated is with the head removed.”
In any case, the end result was that Cromwell’s head was placed on a pike and hung atop Westminster Hall. But it wouldn’t stay there forever. And what would be a good story like this if there were not some juicy conspiracy, theories like the remains were not actually Cromwell’s. Some believe the remains could have been Charles’ I. A 17th Century version of where is JFK’s brain.
On 30 January (the date being chosen to coincide with the anniversary of the execution of Charles I) the bodies (Cromwell and two associates) were symbolically hanged at Tyburn, and, for good measure, then decapitated. This was insufficient to sate the desire of the mob for vengeance: the heads were subsequently displayed on poles outside Parliament and the bodies deposited without ceremony in an unmarked grave.
The Exhumation and Posthumous Execution of Oliver Cromwell: worldhistory.us
Cromwell’s skull remained on Westminster Hall until the late 1680s when the English equivalent of a Nor’easter snapped the pike and brought Cromwell’s’ head back down earth. It was picked up by a guard who stashed the head inside his chimney. For some reason the government was “eager to see the head returned to its pike.”
A drawing of Oliver Cromwell’s head from the late 18th century. author unknown, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons The Wilkinson Head of Oliver Cromwell and Its Relationship to Busts, Masks and Painted Portraits, Biometrika
The head, however, bounced around from hand-to-hand. A French collector once put it on display; two brothers bought the head for what in today’s money would be close seven thousand pounds; and in 1815 it ended up hands of the Wilkinson family. According to historycollection.com, “The Wilkinson family kept the skull in their home and were happy to show it as a curiosity to any prominent guests who came to visit. The skull remained in their possession for over a century, stored inside a simple oak box and passed down through the generations. Finally, in 1960, Horace Wilkinson decided that his rather grim family heirloom deserved a proper burial and contacted Sidney Sussex College, which agreed to bury the head on the campus. And in 1962, a few of the living Wilkinsons gathered with representatives of the college for a small ceremony where the head was finally laid to rest.”
We have become more civilized today. This is not 1594 Shakespeare’s Richard III when Lord Hastings finds out he is sentenced to be beheaded and told: “Make a short Shrift, as he longs to see your Head.” It is obvious that citizen Harry does not have to worry about losing his head today over marriage vows, family squabbles and “daddy issues.” Today’s monarchical antics are mere slap fights compared to the political head rolling and religious affairs of the past.
*Also joining this headless list is Thomas More, Lord Chancellor, “a devout Catholic, he refused to acknowledge the divorce of King Henry VIII from Queen Catherine, (of Aragon Henry’s first wife) thereby refusing to acknowledge the King’s religious supremacy. He was charged with treason, found guilty and beheaded in 1535, with his head then displayed from Tower Bridge.”
Brooklyn Museum – The Magi Journeying – James Tissot wikimedia commons
T’is the season to be jolly, unless one perceives that there is a war on Christmas. In today’s times, and maybe true of all times, people have been at war with someone or something. It could be a real hot war with bombs or a cold war of words. We have had a war on poverty, drugs, and terror. But just maybe, there is some truth to the belief that there is a “war on Christmas.” A war that goes beyond one of symbols and simply saying “Happy Holidays” as if it were a question about Happy Hour at the corner bar. Maybe it goes beyond putting up a Nativity scene in the public square or classroom.
When you think about it, we really have to go back at least two centuries when Jesus was born in Bethlehem to determine if there could be a War on Christmas. Most of us are familiar with the birth of Christ. The Scriptures prophesied the coming of a messiah in the Old Testament Isaiah 60:1-6. The arrival of the Magi in Jerusalem gets prophecies going and only re-enforces the mysticism of Christmas. The Bible also makes a reference to the Magi, or as in Psalms 72:11 “May all Kings fall down before him.” And hence a 2,000 year tradition is started.
The Bible, however is vague on details when it comes to the Magi. The first verse of Matthew Chapter 2 says: “Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judaea in the days of Herod the king, behold, there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem.” No names are given and we are not sure how many wise men there actually were. Some say that there were just three because the Bible only mentions three gifts given to the babe in swaddling. Others think there could be as many as 12. For having a big part in the Christmas culture, they do not get any cast crediting.
One clue that Biblical scholars can use to decipher where the Magi came from is by the gifts that they brought. This may indicate where they came from. Take frankincense for instance. Frankincense grew and was widely traded on the Horn of Africa for 5,000 years, making its way as far as the Silk Road. The ancient Egyptians used frankincense in their mummification process. Myrrh, a herb also grown throughout the region in countries like Somalia, Oman, Yemen, and Eritrea could give an indication where the wise men started out from. Even knowing where these aromatic herbs were grown is no sure bet. These herbs had to be long-established trading items that could be picked up at the local herb shop for the right price–more if pre-rolled. And of course gold, the currency of the realm.
So the Magi could have come from anywhere. Some speculation believes they could have come from modern day Iraq or Iran. Maybe Turkey or as far away as Saudi Arabia. We are not sure if they met on the road or came collectively. If they had to travel several months, no doubt by camel and donkey, it might be safe to say these saddle sore Orientals were looking for a place to stay when they hit the outskirts of Jerusalem. And considering that all of Roman-controlled Galilee was on the move because of Caesar Augustus’ census, an obvious stop was King Herod’s palace for a kingly stop over.
We also have to applaud the Magi’s navigational skills in finding the Christ child. According to the historyofthecompass.com the Chinese were fidgeting around with the compass around the Second Century BCE. It is probably safe to say that the Magi did not have a hand-held compass. There is the possibility that they had some early form of an astrolabe. As as far we know their only GPS was the bright star in the east. This also brings up a host of questions. Astronomers have tried to back track the skies to determine what astronomical phenomenon could have lead the Magi to that manger off the beaten path.
In 12 BCE Halley’s comet made its appearance. However, the timing of Jesus’ birth and the comet is off by a couple of years. But surely learned persons of the times could tell the difference between a comet and a star. Speculation from ancient manuscripts dating back to 6 BCE indicate that there could have been a conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn. This would not have formed a single point of light in the sky, but could have been used as a navigational aid.
The Bible does tell us that when Magi got to Jerusalem they stopped off and sought out Herod for directions. In Matthew they are pretty specific about the star when they tell Herod “For we have seen His star in the East and have come to worship Him.” The Bible does not go into great detail but it could be safe to assume that if a king was being born the locals would have an idea as to where. Traveling from afar they had to be excited and curious when they asked Herod, “Where is the one who has been born King of the Jews?”
Herod’s scholars had to be familiar with the prophecies and would have seen this new-born king as a threat. In Matthew 2:13 King Herod, sucking up to the Magi, tells them he is not sure, but that he too wants to meet the baby Jesus. Maybe it was the look of insincerity on Herod’s face that puzzled the Magi. We are not sure what information the Magi shared with Herod. Email, Twitter and Instagram were several centuries away. So Herod had to cool his jets waiting for the return of the Magi to Jerusalem.
While the Bible has some great stories it can be vague on the politics of the times. After all, it is a religious tome and not The Times of Israel or The Jerusalem Post. There was no headline proclaiming, Messiah Born in Bethlehem. What makes Herod interesting is that he is like a modern day strong man propped up by a foreign super power. He could be put in with the Shah of Iran or East German president Erich Honecker around the time the Berlin Wall came down. History has a recurring theme in which lesser powers, for the lack of a better term, get swallowed up in the business of the prevailing super powers of the times. Herod was caught in the geopolitics of the times. He faced the Romans to the west, the Parthians (the old Persian Empire) to the east and a highly suspicious and disgruntled Jewish population at home. This messiah stuff could be bad news.
Erich Honecker, General Secretary of the Socialist Unity Party of (East) Germany. Honecker found himself on the wrong side of reform after the collapse of the Soviet Union. Anti communist government protests forced him to flee Germany to Russia in 1990. The Russians didn’t want anything to do with him and sent him back to Germany to stand trial for crimes against humanity. He eventually was exiled to Chile where he died in the custody of his family in 1994.
In the Hellenic World the Greeks had mixed it up several times with the Persians. Once Rome conquered Greece around 150 BCE it was now their turn with Persians–now the Parthians and the neo-Persian Empire. The Romans never did subdue the Parthians. Julius Caesar planned an invasion to avenge the death of his friend and fellow ruler, Marcus Licinius Crassus, but the Roman Senate had other plans for Julius, plans that makes an impeachment look like a picnic with plastic dinnerware. Crassus, at the time, was one of the richest men in Rome. However, his Parthian invasion didn’t go off so well for him–the Roman version of rich guy biting off too much–like Elon Musk buying Twitter. The Parthians defeated Crassus at the battle of Carrhae in 53 BCE. Roman and Parthian lore has it that the Parthians poured liquid gold down Crassus’s mouth to mock his riches. They also made sport of his decapitated head using it as a prop in Greek plays. No doubt a tragedy for him but comic relief for the Parthians.
It was around this time that Rome proclaimed Herod King of the Jews. The problem however, was there was already a king in Judea, Antigonus. Herod had managed to overthrow Antigonus around 34 BCE. And to make a long complicated story short, it was around this time the Parthians were making a run on the Roman province of Syria. Antigonus, looking over the possibilities, decided this might be a good time to cut a deal with the Parthians to regain his kingdom. A little cash in the right pocket and Antigonus was back on the throne. The Parthians chased Herod out of Jerusalem and Antigonus was riding high again. The Romans, however, had other ideas. Marc Antony, who stepped in for assassinated Julius Caesar, sends an army to Judea. The Romans shove the Parthians out of what would become the Holy Land, and Antigonus, unfortunately finds himself on the wrong side of Herod and Rome.
Once the Parthians were gone, Herod turned Antigonus over to the Romans. Some ancient historians say that Antigonus was either beheaded or crucified. In either situation Herod was left in control of Galilee under the watchful eyes of Rome. It is in this geopolitical landscape that Jesus is born–and would die. This is when the Christmas story begins, with Herod’s malignant fear of being overthrown. His Jewish minions were never really pleased with his rule. He had to keep the peace and Rome happy at the same time. And now the possibility of another king put Herod on high alert.
According to the Bible both the Magi and Joseph had forewarning dreams. The Magi were told not to tell Herod about the Christ child. They headed back East avoiding Herod. Joseph’s dream told him he needed to head for Egypt and set up shop there until it was safe to return.
Herod, in his frustration for being duped the by the Magi, retaliates. In Matthew 2: 16 Herod was furious, he gave orders “to kill all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity who were two years old and under, in accordance with the time he had learned from the Magi.” This was the “Massacre of the Innocents” or the “Slaughter of the Innocents.”
Since that time we have had all sorts of religious wars, none specifically fought over Christmas. There was an Easter Uprising in 1916 in Ireland. Irish Republicans (no affiliation to Republicans who stormed the US Capitol on January 6th) decide that they had enough of British rule. The rebellion was crushed in English fashion–unconditional surrender and execution.
Today, if there is a war on Christmas it is a fear of heretics, secular progressives and plain old liberals storming the cultural gates, an attack on perceived cultural norms. We can trace this phobia to 1959. A geopolitical time of Communism and atheism when the UN was seen as the boogie man or men. The John Birch Society believed the “assault on Christmas” was being carried out by “UN fanatics.” The battle was being waged in department stores throughout the country utilizing “UN symbols as Christmas decorations.” They may be giving the UN way too much credit as an organization that can get anything done.
As Christmas became more commercialized the only battles being fought were consumer skirmishes, department store fist fights over who gets the last Cabbage Patch Doll; people getting trampled on Black Friday when Walmart stores opened their doors to the hoards of shoppers. And parades with more secular floats featuring modern day cartoon characters. Hardly a war. And where do flying reindeers come into all of this?
In the midst of a national disaster Florida Governor Ron DeSantis had to take a shot at the news media when he told Florida’s Voice, “You have national regime media, that they wanted to see Tampa [get hit], because they thought that would be worse for Florida.”
First off the word “they” is almost always vague and all encompassing. It can be specific in the sense of pointing out a certain group. What “they” does, is takes the individuality out of the group and assumes that all of “they” or them think the same. Or, have the same agenda. But a red flag should always be waved when anybody uses the word “they,” particularly in what follows.
The group identity can be variously based–on skin color, on religion, on ethnic origin. But it is always contrasted with a perceived other against whom the nation is to be defined. Fascist nationalism creates a dangerous “them” to guard against…”
Jason Stanley “How Fascism Works The Politics of Us and Them”
Pronouns are useful little words but they can be dangerous little mines in today’s grammar. For instance Seventeen.com says beware of third person pronouns. “These words carry meaning and impact, and are a crucial marker of one’s identity, especially for nonbinary, gender non-conforming, and transgender folks.”
Having a vague idea of nonbinary political affairs in Florida, I doubt seriously if that was where DeSantis was going with “they.” According to Newsweek, DeSantis continued by professing his deeper understanding of the national media, and not their sexual identification, by saying, “That’s how these (again they) people think. I mean, they don’t care about the people of this state. They don’t care about the people of this community. They want to use storms and destruction from storms as a way to advance their agenda.”
“Were it left to me to decide if we should have a government without newspapers or newspapers without a government, I should not hesitate a moment to prefer the latter.”
Thomas Jefferson
This says a lot, particularly about DeSantis and his perception of a national news media agenda concerning an impending national disaster. What is interesting is how DeSantis takes the national media, as “they,” a group, which is really a mass media conglomeration of individual news organizations. He then boils them down into a singular group with a single agenda, sort of groupthink.
Groupthink refers to the tendency for certain types of groups to reach decisions that are extreme and which tend to be unwise or unrealistic. Groupthink occurs when individuals in cohesive groups fail to consider alternative perspectives because they are motivated to reach a consensus which typically results in making less than desirable decisions.
By Derek Schaedig, SimplyPsychology.org published March 25, 2022
DeSantis is making the assumption that the “national regime media” is a monolithic block. It could be argued, within any industry, news gathers included, that there are best business practices to be followed. Individual political ideology may be different, though. Let’s get realistic newspapers and politicians are symbiotic creatures that always have had an agenda. From the very beginning the two have swam in the same ink barrel. Some newspapers may have been started to push a particular political agenda, politician or business. One of the first real political papers with an agenda was the Gazette of the United States. Talk about regime media. The name drips with all inclusiveness and one-sidedness. John Fenno founded the Alexander Hamilton backed-paper in April of 1789 with a motto: “he that is not for us, is against us.”
Whoever would overthrow the liberty of a nation must begin by subduing the freeness of speech.
Benjamin Franklin
Of course the main target of this gazette was Thomas Jefferson and his Democratic Republican Party, which clashed with the Hamilton backed Federalists–on the agenda for the new country. As the political animosity between Hamilton and Jefferson grew, Jefferson felt the need to respond in like. He oversaw the founding of a rival paper in October of 1791. And not to be outdone he named it The National Gazette.
Before long, Jefferson’s affair with, and fathering children, with Sally Hemings was exposed. Hamilton’s political-career ending affair with Maria Reynolds came under public scrutiny, too. The whole Hamilton/Jefferson print war is an agenda onto itself.
Caught in the cross hairs of these agendas was the thin-skinned President John Adams. Adams found himself in clashing foreign affairs agendas between France and Britain, which ended up with the United States in a Quasi War with France. This time there was no Washington around to keep America out of the foreign fray and tamp down domestic differences.
Federalist took a pro British position while the Democratic Republicans backed France. In fact, Hamilton wrote in the Gazette of the United States that Jeffersonians were “more ‘Frenchman than American’ and claimed that they were prepared ‘to immolate the independence and welfare of their country at the shrine of France.’” Today we hear the same sort of claims concerning the U.S. being rolled over with socialism, fascism, critical race theory and wokeism.
But a lot has happened since those founding days. The evening news paper is a thing of the past and many local newspapers have folded–an agenda just to stay in business. The press, like a lot of industries, has gone from private ownership to corporate control through the decades. Just look at the airline industry. It has gone through all sorts of mergers. American Airlines has merged with Eastern Airlines, Trans World Airlines and US Airways–which operated Trump Shuttle. Banking and investments companies have gone through several iterations of bankruptcies and mergers to where the corner bank has had multiple signs coming down and going up. Take the recent 2008 real estate meltdown, I am sure most every real estate, construction and finance company prior to the bubble bursting had an agenda: cash in now while the market is hot. Some were able to get in and get out. Others, not so quick, it has given us the economic concept of “too big to fail.”
The news gathering industry, like all other businesses, is not immune from economic downturns, corporate buyouts and consolidations. Take the media company Comcast for instance. According to Investopidia, Comcast is a $200 billion dollar company that owns NBC and “controls the news media outlets NBC News, MSNBC, CNBC, and UK’s SkyNews.”
Then there is News Corp, a $10 billion market company which includes famous brands such as “The Times, Dow Jones, The Wall Street Journal, The Sun, Herald Sun, and HarperCollins Publishers. News Corp formerly owned FOX News properties before they were spun off.”
The list goes on with Disney owning ABC; Paramount owning CBS; and IAC/Interactive Corp which owns The Daily Beast. IAC/Interactive Corp owns “online news and information providers such as People Magazine, The Balance, Entertainment Weekly, Better Homes & Gardens, Food + Wine,” –and Investopdia.
And then there are companies, like Sinclair Broadcasting which operates in multiple markets. As of December 31, 2019 Sinclair “operated and/or provided services to 191 stations in 89 markets.”
Governor DeSantis should be a little more specific in “they.” If the national regime media has an agenda against Florida and DeSantis, it has to be a corporate agenda. And that agenda, like all businesses, is to make a profit. Take Air America, the progressive talk radio network launched in March of 2004. Its agenda was to counter conservative talking heads like Rush Limbaugh. It went through several bouts of economic upheaval before it finally crashed and burned. What seemed as a winning format (agenda) was a financial bust, going off the air in January of 2010. An agenda is great but if there is no bucks there is no agenda.
If anything can be true about “they” or “them” it can be said about politicians. “They,” politicians, all have an agenda. And if it is one thing they know, it is how easily they can spread their agenda through the “national regime media.” Framed in an “us versus them agenda” it can merge right into any event or news cycle. Best of all, it’s the “free” press. There is no economic cost to spouting off an agenda. Just a political cost.
Russia has denied allegations from the US State Department that they have covertly spent more than $300 million influencing United States elections since 2014. The Russian denial was issued from an Iranian source with close connections to Russian leader Vladimir Putin.
The Iranian source said that there is no truth that Russia is trying to influence infidels, politicians, government officials or even Saudi-backed golf course moguls in an effort to destabilize Western democracies and the PGA Tour. He said Southern governors need little urging in undermining elections and are capable of doing it with very little foreign aid. He did say that he had it on good authority from information garnered from recently leaked (semi)classified US government documents that Russia was using the money to assist Special Counsel John Durham’s dying FBI Russian hoax investigation. Durham’s investigation is looking into the FBI and “Deep State” efforts to harass, subvert and upend conservative actions to make America great again, and to ensure fair elections from clandestine but legal foreign input and influence.
An oligarch, who wished to remain anonymous because of his close ties to Putin was asked about Russian meddling in and funding US elections. Speaking from the comfort of his Gulfstream G650 jet parked at Palm Beach International Airport, he said that the Soviet Union has not funded Communist candidates or any candidates in foreign elections since the closing of the Cominform (Communist Information Bureau) during the De-Stalinization era under Nikita Khrushchev. When asked if such funding could have come from the Council for Mutual Economic Assistance he said, “No, I doubt it. Maybe Gus Hall a couple of times. We did fund a Miss Universe pageant in Moscow in 2013 that had promising results. Besides, there are many Russian banks more than capable of funding foreign aid projects in America than a defunct inept Soviet era organization.”
Gus Hall, born Arvo Kustaa Halberg, was four-time Communist Party presidential candidate running in 1972, 1976, 1980 and 1984. The Communist party never received more than 60,000 votes in any election.
When asked about Russian efforts to hack into political party computers to disrupt elections he said the use of “intense advanced technical information gathering is more of an economic investment than disruption. There is no such thing as a free election.” He said, “It is similar to no free lunch. You get what you pay for and we did not pay for Joe Biden. Therefore there was no Russian interference.”
He vehemently denied any close ties to any former presidents. And he specifically pointed out that reports of his Fincantieri yacht being boarded and seized by FBI agents while docked at the Town of Palm Beach Marina because it was believed to be a floating archive for pilfered US government documents is totally fake news. He added any such documents would be declassified. Although he has not met Hunter Biden, he did say he once was at a party with Hunter Biden in Kiev. At first he thought he was a Russian saying, “Man, that guy can drink. If he is not careful somebody is going to spike his Vodka with polonium-210.”
During the recent Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit meeting in Uzbekistan this month, Vladimir Putin refused to comment on what he called the wildly absurd accusations that the Russian government was actively involved in American or European elections. Individual Russians are free to spend their money and computer time any way they choose. If they wish to invest in overseas elections there is no Russian law to stop them. He did say that Russia would resist all forms of Clinton Fascism and extreme Nazism where ever it existed and that that NATO represented the war mongering spirit of Western Democracies that threatens the legitimate rule of legitimate autocratic rule throughout the world.
Xi Jinping, agreed saying that China would cut the head off of American hegemony and Japanese aggression in their efforts to recreate the Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere. This aggression in the Pacific Rim is just a continuation of Japan’s efforts prior to World War II control Asian resources. It is now under the domination of the imperialistic stooge Joe Biden and his Taiwanese lackeys.
Both leaders expressed regrets that former President Donald Trump could not join them in their plans to create economic stability that could not only make America great again but could be the backbone of peace and progress around the world. A trimunative for the future is how one spokesman for Xi described the possibilities.
The news the last couple of months of what I am going to call “The Trump Papers” is moving from reality TV to a comedy show being playing out in the News and Social Media. The dilemma is the News is playing it out as a crime story. This is what makes it so confusing. It is a political/dramatic comedy that falls into being a farce at times. The News and Social Media should turn it over to Warner Bros, the Coen Brothers or Netflix as an episodic show that streams weekly.
The problem is there needs to be a comic hero. I am not sure in this political dramedy, who the comic hero is. A comic hero is a prerequisite for a dramatic comedy. The obvious choice is Donald Trump. However, I do not see him experiencing any sort of change. A catharsis in character is not in his disposition to make current matters better, a condition required in a dramedy. It can’t be Joe Biden–there is just no drama there and very little humor. Robert De Niro already did War with Grandpa.
Although I have never been involved in any sort of theatrical production–I did see Oliver! at a community theater–I am going to take a stab at pitching a series. It is a series that writes itself but with a team of good writers and literary license this could be a Game of Thrones without dragons. The new show begins at the end of January, the last days of the Trump Administration. Boxed up documents are being loaded up for Trump’s Palm Beach estate, Mar-a-Lago. For dramatic effect the first episode, A Box Full of Docs, opens with boxes being carted out the back door of the White House onto a UHaul under the watchful eyes of two Russians guards. Meanwhile, in the Rose Garden, staffers are burning documents in 50 gallon drums, as if the Red Army was descending on gates of Berlin in 1945. The fire lights up the night sending embers out over the National Mall and the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool. Insided, others are flushing documents down toilets as quickly as they can unclog the drains. The episode ends with the credits rolling over water swirling down the drain.
Episode Two follows the activities of the National Archives and Records Administration. The NARA is tipped off to 15 missing boxes stashed in the basement of Mar-a-Lago. A possible mole in the Trump Organization? (A teaser for future episodes.) J.K. Simmons plays the role of the chief of the NARA, a role similar to the one he played in the Coen Brothers’ movie Burn After Reading. His lead inspector on the case is Tom Hanks channeling Detective Columbo. When given the assignment to check out the basement of Mar-a-Lago he tells the chief he is not sure there is a basement. Most houses in South Florida do not have basements because of a high water table. Plus Mar-a-Lago sits between the Lake Worth Lagoon and the Atlantic Ocean. Digging deep is not really an option. But for theatrical effect, picture a damp dungeon with wet-glazed walls oozing with the moldy smell of damp underwear. A place where heretics were tortured during the Inquisition.
The dedicated men and women of the NARA are not Tom Cruise in Mission Impossible or Clint Eastwood as Dirty Harry. But they are just as tenacious when it comes to government documents. They may have the appearances of mild mannered librarians and archivists but deep down they are like terriers, Jack Russells or Rat Terriers. Small but fierce. They will track down, and go underground if need be to hunt down vermin. Soon, they have their nose on Trump’s stashed cache of documents. Episode Three is, as Sherlock Holmes would say to Watson: The Game is Afoot.
By Episode Four however, the NARA terriers are getting frisky. They send Detective Columbo to Florida in Fishing for the Great White. Columbo knocks on the gilded gates of Mar-a-Lago and is stiff-armed by security guards who hustle him from one supervisor to another. But the terrier he is, despite being told several times to vacate the premises, is undaunted. Columbo is telling them, “I know. That’s what the other three guards told me, but I’d like to look around.”
Finally, Trump, played by John Malkovich, comes down. He gives Columbo a brief tour of the grounds as they make their way to the room where the documents are stored. The light flicks on and cockroaches race around the room like kids playing musical chairs. A rat scurries into crevice to god knows where. Columbo inspects the room.
When they are finished Trump escorts Columbo to the Gate and the conversation turns away from the documents to the estate itself. “This is a lovely place my wife would love to spend a day at that spa I saw.” To which Trump replies, “That is no problem. It is $2,000 a night. But for you detective I’ll wave the $200,000 initiation fee and the $15,000 annual dues.” Columbo stops and rubs his forehead. “Whew. And I thought the $260 we spent at the Grand Hotel Ocean City using Bookings. com last year was expensive. With what you charge here I think you can afford a dehumidifier for the storage room. Oh, and a couple boxes of Roach Motels. And another thing. I couldn’t help but notice those boxes are marked Top Secret.”
But Trump is not your ordinary suspect. His disposition is like a Great White needing a root canal. So prying the boxes away from him is like taking a pair of pliers to a highly agitated Carcharodon Carcharias–Carcharodon from the Greek word karcharos which means sharp, and odous which means tooth. And like in the movie Jaws, the NARA needs a bigger boat.
The NARA calls for the big dogs to get off the front porch and help in the hunt. Enter the Justice Department and Episode Five: “Got a tip they’re gonna kick the door in again…But if you got a warrant, I guess you’re gonna come in.” The dazed and somewhat confused looking Attorney General, Merrick Garland played by David Strathairn (League of the Own, We are Marsharshall) sends in the FBI. Under the command of Denzel Washington. Agents force their way through the front gate while the Rock leads a group of agents landing by helicopter on the croquet court. To cut off any possible removal of the documents via the Lake Worth Lagoon, Chris Pratt storms ashore in Rigid Hull Inflatable Boats with more agents.
Finally, the NARA gets the boxes. Julia Louis-Dreyfus is the stressed-out overworked archivist in charge of the team going through the boxes. The Justice Department is breathing down her neck. This is when the subpoenas started flying around like blood sucking mosquitoes on a hot, humid Florida night. News organizations the MAGA universe want to know what is in those boxes. Rumors have it that there is definitive proof that the Moon landings were faked and that aliens abducted Jimmy Hoffa.
Episode 6: The Feeding Frenzy. There is blood in the water and the sharks begin to circle. Soon the water is a froth. Christopher Lloyd makes a brief appearance as the totally befuddled Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley. At a press conference with Senator Ron Johnson, played by Chevy Chase they describe how the FBI raid on Mar-a-Lago was similar to the US Navy Seal Team 6 assault on Bin Laden’s Pakistani compound. All that was lacking where the stealth, black-painted Blackhawk helicopters.
The media chimes in. Pundits and experts are pouring out of cars like clowns to give their expert opinons at FOX News, MSNBC and CNN. Steve Carell as Hannity forcefully proclaims the President has a legal right to the documents–as well as all of NASA’s electronic communications with Aliens outside our galaxy. Amy Schumer is the frustrated and unbelieving Lora Ingram on how stupid the President’s lawyers are. Did they go to the same law school as Saul Goodman? Jack Black is the unbelieving confused Tucker Carlson expressing the belief that these documents could be anything, maybe documents from 1917 declassified 10 years ago. Bill Burr, goes on a Morning Joe rant about the lies–how many? A dozen already. But tune in because the count is going up and so are the ratings.
Because this is a TV show we have literary license to skew the story line a bit. The season’s finale is Tina Fey totally immersed portraying Fresh Air’s Terry Gross. She interviews Lewis Black, Bill O’Reilly, who says that Trump needs the documents for a new book. Together, with the former president, they are writing a book: Killing NATO. The interview quickly turns sour. O’Reilly has had enough of Terry’s badgering questions and lunges for her. Mike Tyson, the show’s floor manager, steps in to restrain the enraged O’Reilly.
Season Two: Is Forty-Five being fitted for an orange jumpsuit or does the defunded FBI fall under the control of the Fifth Service, Russia’s FSB? Stay tuned to the never ending Trump Saga. The show that writes itself and cannot be canceled.
Meanwhile, from the Arconia in New York, Steve Martin, Martin Short and Selena Gomez are broadcasting their new podcast: Only Documents in the Basement.
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