That’s the title of the lead article in the latest edition of Foreign Affairs magazine. The author is Paul Scharre, who served in the DOD in the George W. Bush and Obama administrations. The article points out that our weaponry is not geared to future wars and it contains some rather sobering examples.
In the meantime our Commander-in-Chief, Private Bonespurs, is still harping about the need for Greenland.
We aren’t drifting into tyranny or slow-walking into tyranny. We are hurtling down that highway. Here are a few headlines I gathered from the New York Times on July 7. There were more, but here is a sampling.
“Trump Remaking Judiciary System” [Trump personal attorney Emil Joseph Bove III was appointed to the appeals court of the middle Atlantic states. Approximately 1/3 of appellate court justices now are Trump appointees.]
“U.S. Defends Move to Drop Bribery Case of Billionaire” [The accused agreed to invest billions in the U.S. to get the case dropped.]
“Lawsuit Alleges a Threat to Free Speech by Agents” [That would be ICE agents. I posted about that yesterday.]
“White House Accuses Smithsonian of Negative Portrayal of U.S.”
“Court Allows The Removal Of Exhibits At U.S. Parks”
“Trump Reverses Dozens of Gun Rules, Alarming Public Safety Advocates”
Since then Trump’s been weakening NATO, making noises about seizing Greenland, and bashing Spain. I can’t keep up. Tomorrow I plan to post about making currant jelly and the birds at my feeder and trying to chase away the deer eating the soybeans in our fields.
Our friend Anne from Brussels sent us a message that she was so happy the Belgium team beat the U.S., but she knew we must be sad. Actually, we are not sad at all. Once Trump bullied the head of FIFA into overturning an official’s call, a victory by the U.S. would have been tainted in any case.
Sportswriter Rick Reilly published a book in 2019 explaining how Trump cheated in golf and how that said everything you need to know about his lack of integrity. Overturning an official’s call is just the kind of behavior one should expect from a liar and a cheat. He cheats his investors, his wives, and the American voters who actually believed his bullshit.
So, no, I was not sad that the U.S. lost. Once Trump got involved, I had a feeling the U.S. team would lose. Every thing he touches turns to–I think you can fill in the rest.
ICE is now sending agents around to people who write critical letters about ICE, warning them it is criminal offense to threaten federal officials when all those letter writers did was complain about ICE tactics. I thought Mark-Wayne ought to know about this, so I mailed the following letter today:
Mark-Wayne Mullen, Secretary
Department of Homeland Security
500 12th St., SW
Washington, D.C. 20536
Dear Secretary Mullen:
I have heard accounts of ICE agents confronting people who have contacted that agency and criticized some of its policies. I am sure that as a Cabinet Secretary you are familiar with the words of the First Amendment of the Bill of Rights. Congress shall make no law abridging the right of the people “...to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.”
Evidently your ICE agents need a refresher course on our Constitutional rights. It seems evident to me that many of these agents are poorly trained or not trained at all.
Prior to your appointment you had the honor of representing Oklahoma in the U.S. Senate. You took an oath to uphold the Constitution then and as a Cabinet member. You need to take that oath seriously. Your agents are supposed to obey the law, not ignore it. You need to do better.
My return address was clear. I’ll let you know if an ICE agent shows up in the next few weeks.
BTW, I also helped a small snapping turtle to cross Pohopoco Drive, so at least I did one useful thing today.
In a church service I attended this morning the congregation sang “A Song of Peace.” The tune was from “Finlandia” by Jean Sibelius. I told everyone it was the national anthem of Finland, but I learned tonight on Wikipedia that it was proposed as Finland’s national anthem but not adopted.
In any case, it should be a national anthem for somebody. No bombs bursting, no rockets’ red glare. Here are the words
This is my song, O God of all the nations,
A song of peace for lands afar and mine;
This is my home, the country where my heart is,
This is my hope, my dream, my shrine;
But other hearts in other lands are beating
With hopes and dreams the same as mine.
My country’s skies are bluer than the ocean,
And sunlight beams on clover leaf and pine.
But other lands have sunlight too and clover,
And skies are sometimes blue as mine.
Oh here my song Thou God of all the nations,
A song of peace for their land and mine.
We had a nice dinner with friends, the day was pleasant, I did some work in the garden, and yet I didn’t feel like celebrating.
ICE is now arresting on average over 1000 immigrants each day. These are not the “worst of the worst” but everyday people who clean toilets, work construction, help people in “memory care” facilities, do farm work, cook our food. The quotas have recently been increased.
A few days ago we had a decision on the 14th Amendment which showed that a good portion of our Supreme Court justices put ideology ahead of the Constitution. Early in World War II when a case was brought to the Court to deny citizenship to Japanese, the Court didn’t even need to hear the case. It was dismissed out of hand–the meaning of the 14th Amendment was that self-evident.
And the Blowhard-in-Chief was going to give a 4th of July speech, although I understand he wimped out because of a “threat” of a storm, the pussy.
I’m not celebrating. I’m doing what the patriots did in 1776. I’m fighting against tyranny.
I somehow on a mailing list for right wing causes. I get all kinds of appeals from “Judicial Watch,” “Turning Point,” and various Republican candidates. I never answer them unless they include a prepaid postage envelope. Those I answer with sarcastic comments, since the sender must pay the return postage.
This week I received one from Trump There was a box you could mark yes and send a contribution from $35 to $2026. The money would supposedly go to the Republican National Committee “to aid in the election of leaders who will work with you [Trump] to bring lasting change and reform to our nation.”
Or I could check the box that said NO. If I checked the NO box and didn’t send any money, that meant:
I am turning my back on you President Trump, and also deserting the Republican Party. You and Republican candidates are on your own to face the vicious Democrats, well-funded liberal special interests, and the hateful, bitter biased media who desperately want to elect Democratic Majorities in Congress, cut your term in half, and start impeachment hearings against you. I long for a return of Joe Biden’s failed, inflationary economic and jobs-killing green energy polices. I want open borders. I want endless government growth and higher taxes. I believe America should apologize for our strength and success. And I want liberal Democrats to restrict my Constitutional rights and censor the political speech of my friends and neighbors.
The letter was not accompanied by a prepaid postage envelope, so I didn’t mail it back.
