America faces big changes, but not the changes our conventional political grid might assume. Public trust in cloud platforms like Amazon, Facebook, and Twitter failed with the massive censorship surrounding the 2020 election. This week, a new cloud provider, Digital Ocean, went public. The Times has used Digital Ocean for nearly seven years.
Digital commerce shifts while the global supply chain faces more disruptions. Not only do we still lack supplies that were made in factories that are closed. Not only is the cruise ship industry floundering. The Suez Canal is blocked.
What is Democrat-controlled Washington doing?—Business as usual. Binden wants to focus on infrastructure—a digression from the Obama years. Republicans have always been good at spending money while appearing not to, while Democrats appear to spend money when they tighten the purse strings. Marketing is one of the best-kept secret ingredients in American politics.
The one thing unusual about this Democratic Washington is its dedication to a strong military. Russia surfaced three subs in the Arctic this week and, now all of a sudden, Democrats want to do military the same way Trump did. Just how the Bush-Obama years held a contiguous policy progression, the Trump-Biden years seem to reflect the competence, military, and infrastructure of FDR. In many ways, it is as if Trump is still in office. We did get Trump’s $2,000 checks, after all.
Democrats push forward as if a 50-50 Senate proves a national mandate. In some sense it does. Even with suspicion of a stolen election, Republican voters allowed that by winning arguments rather than winning friends. But, as the well-earned Democratic agenda moves forward, Roe v Wade does too.
Arkansas just passed a law directly challenging Roe v Wade and with a a 6-3 Republican-appointed Supreme Court, an overturn is not unlikely.
While courts take what they take, Democrats are setting up danger in the Senate. Removing the filibuster won’t even give Democrats two years to work before a routine mid-term flip in 2022. With the unresolved suspicions of election stealing, the “incumbent” rules won’t apply the same either. We are set for a Republican takeover in 2024, without a filibuster-curbed Senate, made possible by Democrats, who were give power by unsympathetic Republicans, and only stoppable by a third party. Whether we see that third party before or after 2024 has yet to be seen. We just don’t know how many people have woken up to the nation’s deeper problems.
The Court always rules in favor of the Court. When Chief Justice Roberts dissented against the other eight, he ruled against the court to preserve order in the Court. In this case, the students suing over free speech censorship probably don’t want to allow a private settlement to enable it to happen again. The concern at stake was whether the court can decide a real lawsuit after the basis is settled, but the injured party files suit for $1 anyway. Thomas thinks that $1 makes it real. Roberts doesn’t want judges giving opinions on problems that don’t exist—a judicial practice called “advisory opinion” that expired over 200 years ago. The problem is that this case is real, but it was privately resolved, thus the basis disappeared before the court had opportunity to rule.
The result is that anyone can sue anyone for $1 and SCOTUS could hear the case. That certainly favors the Court’s expanded abilities. The Court always rules in favor of the Court.
Europe isn’t happy about COVID-19 vaccines or the predicted third wave. Americans aren’t happy about how Democratic Governors Whitmer and Cuomo handled the pandemic. If nothing else, someone could sue them each for $1 and a Republican-appointed SCOTUS would get to decide their fates.
The GOP is in a season of soul-searching. The party that’s all too happy to offer financial support to its candidates wants to use the name of the president some of its members voted against. It’s like the Little Red Hen, only if the rat had been fighting her the whole story. Maybe they should be called “rats” instead of “RINOs”.
Whether voters support or oppose Trump, we should all fear a party that allows its members to be so blatantly fork-tongued. Then again, purifying that party with new blood might not solve the problem. It just might make things worse.
Democrats are getting along a whole lot better than Republicans ever did, especially recently. The COVID-19 porkulous bill is sailing through Congress faster than lies from a used car salesman. Yet, the bigger topic of Capitol discussion is the sixty-vote requirement for non-budget bills. That’s part of the Senate’s current “Standing Rules” named after the late Democratic Senator Robert Byrd. So, they call it the “Byrd” rule. They made it, now they want to end it. That would look like a power grab.
You know how midterms go. Democrats ending their own “Byrd” rule might backfire. They seem bent on getting Trump elected in just four years. Obama took eight, so their efficiency is improving. If people can trust elections again, Biden may have to join Carter and HW in the great hall of one-term presidents. Maybe Biden will get lucky and have a dam named after him like Hoover, or maybe a vacuum cleaner.
Trump is back in favor with the party that stabbed him in the back, and Washington is back to business as usual. I only took a month.
The latest porkulous bill, proposed at $1.9T, is being delayed. Democrats in Congress want to use budget reconciliation to double minimum wage across the nation. Rules of the Senate say “probably not”, though the vice president has the final say on rules, but two Democrats in the Senate also disagree, giving them the last say that matters. Without this theater on minimum wage, the porkulus lawmaking process would go more quickly, Americans would get their measly $1,400 more quickly, and other people would get bigger checks more quickly.
The Senate’s requirement of 60 votes to pass a bill is meant to protect the minority. Now, Democrats in Congress call this tyranny from the minority. Since when did Democrats side against minorities?
And, since when did Republicans in Congress support Trump? Why would Conservative voters trust the party that ignored their wishes at state legislatures?
America is past the point of insanity. Conservative and Liberal voters agree on so many things. But, they only use petty differences to scorn whoever sits opposite the fence. They never try to win peace or persuasion to overcome the many problems on which they agree. Now that the RNC has an enemy to complain about, and now that they can pretend to support the president they wouldn’t defend from dubious election stations, Republicans on Capitol Hill are as happy as pigs in their own poop. But, some Americans are waking up to what’s going on. Some are awake.
Drama and theater! The veil is lifting. Tech giants are useful, but they seem driven by parasites. The same can be said of legislative bodies, entertainment giants, and prosecutors going after the January 6 Capitol Insurrection.
Jessica Watkins has an interesting story to tell. Her defense of January 6 could convince the public that the prosecution is over-stating its case, looking to hang anyone and everyone possible as payback for the Capitol being breached. In acquitting those who occupied their legislative floor in 2014, Taiwan’s dignity far outshines that of America’s. To the US Supreme Court: You have a higher bar to reach, so to speak.
Social media takes a bumpy turn for the better. Australia’s social media law is somewhat vague, but mainly forces dialog. As understood by the Times, the Aussie law, along with the infamous ‘Articles 11’ of the EU law, aren’t aimed at the normal guy nor the pundit. Instead, they aim at huge tech giants who use AI to aggregate enormous numbers of new stories as one more added feature of their already behemoth-sized tech services. The infamous EU ‘Article 13’ law banning memes is another story. While Europe wants to tax links on Apple and Google, then ban memes for nearly everyone, Australia just wants Facebook and Google to have a conversation when they re-post part of a news story.
While the giants fight, originality steps up. In the approaching shadow of it becoming illegal to use any old music on YouTube, the need for original music spikes. Such laws were lobbied for by big entertainment companies; ironically it is big entertainment that now faces its fiercest competition from billions of ‘little guys’—who used to be their customers.
So, to the tech giants, tech-phobic lawmakers, copyright mongers, and prosecutors: Keep overreaching. Just keep overreaching.
We are in a new world of politics. Trump actually stands a chance of being a 2024 contender. Even with the irreparable damage the Republican Party did itself, even with the march Trump invited to Washington going its own way, even with lost trust in the election systems—Trump actually stands a chance of being a 2024 contender. A new party or three will likely rise. Party coalitions may become necessary. Something severe will be required of the election system. But, Trump actually stands a chance of being a 2024 contender.
Biden will only embolden Conservative voters, as Democrats always do. Trump overstepped and lost some enthusiasm from his base. Though he didn’t lose much, to stand a chance he will need some diversity in his platform and a Conservative rejected by Republicans. Palin could make it a winning Republican ticket, if any third parties got behind hit. But, Trump actually stands a chance of being a 2024 contender.
Trump is not Jesus Christ. That’s a lesson his base learned the hard way. He can’t stop the problems that are bigger than America itself. He won’t stop the push for a police state nor will he regain trust in law enforcement. Biden may take care of that anyway, which could completely change the issue by 2024. But, the fact that Trump even stands a chance of being a 2024 contender tells us about the state of America itself.
Biden and Trump are both heavily disliked for their own reasons, but things haven’t completely fallen apart yet. The road ahead looks much bumpier than the road behind, but at least the road continues.
To win a defamation case, the plaintiff must establish five things: 1. that a defamatory statement was made, 2. that the statement was about the plaintiff, 3. that the statement was a matter of fact and not opinion, 4. that the statement was false, and 5. malice, the intention to do harm. The farther we get to the end of that list, the more difficult it may prove to prove.
News agencies don’t claim facts; they report what other people claim as facts. Defamation usually doesn’t become a problem for a news agency unless the agency knows a statement to be false and reports it as truth anyway. Usually, defamation cases should target the false witness, not the news agency or the attorney. But, in the case of the 2020 election machines, targeting Giuliani, Powell, and Fox News looks more like a theatrical stage of a failed sting. Pathological liars don’t give up on the lie when caught, but often dismiss and even accuse whistleblowers of conspiracy. The voting machine companies would seem more credible if they were suing attorneys and news agencies for access to the whistleblowers.
Speaking of whistleblowers, didn’t Democrats establish with the Russianewsgategate scandal that whistle-blowers should be protected?
Trump will live at Mar-a-Lago as an employee, which hosts the first ever “Office of the Former President”. Obama holds such a titular office. Trump is the first president to be impeached twice. His post-presidential trial will be held on Tuesday, February 16, only eight days away. Senate Republicans fear convicting him, lest they do even more irreparable damage than their insolvent party has already sustained.
Whew! That was an intense week. We have no idea how close we came to martial law, which Trump did not declare because he is not the monster some think him to be. In the future, we may discover just how close we came, but those facts will hide from the history books for a little while longer.
Now, we see things much more important.
For all his flaws, Trump saved the world, and America itself, from America’s messiah complex, which compels us to “help” the rest of the world—even before helping ourselves survive—even when our so-called “help” only injures. Thanks to Trump alone, we stopped wasting so much money on so much uninvited meddling. But, Republicans and Democrats throughout government could not allow Trump to continue because saving the world meant saving the world from them.
Now, Trump faces a Senate trial to remove him from an office he no longer holds, as a shepherd brought before before a judge and jury of wolves.
So much for Washington hating witch hunts! His opposition criticized him for his tone—something they regard as more important than being the first president to get out of other countries’ business. But, when the so-called “moderates” don’t get their way, they become more angry than they blame Trump and everyone else of being. Frank Luntz gave us a perfect demonstration when he harshly scolded his own focus group. What would Luntz have said if Trump even once used half the critical tone Luntz did? These self-appointed ambassadors of bipartisanship can no longer lecture the nation about how to create peace which they themselves sabotage.
America is spiraling toward a long-awaited chaos. It’s well-deserved. Even if Trump had tried to handle the pneumonia virus as Taiwan did, his own base would have revolted. Everyone either over-reacted or acted like there was no outbreak at all. The Taiwanese did neither, yet Americans blame Trump for riding a pendulum Americans themselves won’t get off of.
Ending wars was nice while it lasted. But, just enough people found their excuse to get back to nasty business as usual.
No less than five state legislatures held all-day hearings, receiving evidence and testimony of voter fraud like we have never seen before. Elections don’t need to be proven fraudulent; they need to be proven trustworthy, and this one can’t be. Nonetheless, those same legislatures approved a more-than-reasonably doubtful election of their opposition, as did the US Senate. They constitutionally and lawfully ignored the people and according to rules installed a president statistically proven to be against the will of the people. We saw further evidence of this in the overwhelming dislikes on White House YouTube videos. Though he is the legitimate president under the Constitution, such a president cannot govern. And, such a feckless opposition party cannot remain solvent.
While martial law came close during Trump’s final days, it is a certainty under Biden. That is the only way he could remain in an office he legally and allowably stole with the aid of a treacherous Republican Party. While Republican loyalists would have tolerated martial law in Trump’s situation, Democratic loyalists already doubt both parties and refuse to vote, which is probably why Biden needed the election fraud network he boasted about on TV. The Democratic base quietly left their party before this election. The Republican base loudly left their party after.
If things go as planned—which they won’t—the shadow running the Democratic machine won’t seek to remove Biden until his third year. That way Obama’s vicar Harris can enjoy ten years as president through a political machine of future fake elections. Others may speculate an attempt to remove Biden within weeks. Either way, Biden may have to declare martial law sooner than planned. Then, both parties will have loudly lost solvency. Third party, here we come.
America is primed for a dictatorship. Trust in the legislature is at an all-time low. The proven-larger voter bloc feels disenfranchised. The proven-larger voter bloc has an undue, almost cult-like respect for the executive. In the minds of that voter bloc, once one election is allowed to be stolen, there will be no future elections. To the proven-larger voter bloc, this is a crisis.
The inauguration this week is set to be surrounded by a military under control of a disenfranchised president who will not be there. That’s not exactly a recipe for safety. The president made a major document dump, severely discrediting his opposition. Now, come reports of martial law in the planning. That may be necessary to undo a stolen election, but it is never best and is always dangerous.
Some of the demonstrators who broke into the Capitol now ask for a pardon from Trump—truly believing they were following what he wanted. They stand no chance of receiving a pardon. They allowed themselves to be led like sheep to the slaughter, merely used for political grandstanding. And, that president who won’t pardon them calls for more respect toward police, something else in a recipe for martial law. It would be surprising if we don’t end up there, and it will be dangerous either way.
Democratic voters have been set up for shock if Trump remained in office, no matter how it could happen. They have been told by the media that the election is finished merely on the basis of saying so—despite half of the country not being convinced. Conservatives recognize this recipe for danger; Liberals do not.
The blame for America’s situation falls on all of us. We failed to convince our neighbors that we can listen. If Trump is in the midst of any conspiracy, then both parties in Congress were in on it, along with the media. His own son-in-law doesn’t want him talking to his own supporters on Gab. If anyone is conspiring anything nefarious, it isn’t Trump, but someone close to him. If Biden could get into power, it would take a political miracle. Most importantly, this was all made possible by we, the American people—those of us who respected a fallible man too much, those of us who hated a mere man too much, those of us who thought rules could be broken without backlash, and those of us who failed to teach otherwise. We’ll start to figure it out in the days and months ahead.
The treachery of American political parties runs much deeper than any of us thought. There is nothing wrong with the Constitution, the problem lies within political parties that ignore their voters. Biden is the rightly-elected president because voters do not actually chose the president; they indicate their will to Congress, which is allowed to ignore the will of voters, which Congress just did. The Republican Party is finished; the Democratic Party is soon to be.
Trump was an outsider who actually took easy and necessary steps to stop the global breakdown caused by a selfish political class made of fake Republicans and fake Democrats. For this good he did, that political class attacked his unrelated character flaws. The system determined on its own self-destruction could not resist its neediness to attack anyone trying to save it. When push came to shove and the Capitol chamber was breached, the Washington worms retreated to their old belief that nice talk without right action calmes angry citizens. That’s what the Republicans did to their voters. Then again Republican voters have done the same to Democratic voters on police violence and racism for centuries.
Peter Drucker said, “Management is doing things right; leadership is doing the right things.” Republicans have been good managers, doing things right without doing right things. Democrats pretend to do the right things, but always do things wrongly. Trump was loved for America’s brief moment of finally doing a few things right. Not one war started for the first time in decades. Allies cut the umbilical cord from dependence on American soldiers. Many troops were called home. Many jobs returned. But, Trump didn’t redress grievances, so in mainstream media he was criticized for his tone instead of grievances neglected.
The treachery is not in the Constitution, which rightly gave Democratic voters the stolen election they wanted. Republicans voters lost because they would not exit their complacency to create a third party and because they would not win the hearts of their Democrat-voting neighbors. Instead, they grew lazy and angry in their religious fallacy that Trump was some kind of heavenly savior, chosen by God to create a godly government within a system that rejects godliness.
Trump did not insight the Washington protestors to illegally enter the Capitol; Republican state legislators provoked them by not heeding the countless peaceful assemblies and petitions. The blood spilled and yet to be spilled is on their hands. Now, only Trump can reduce the rage that those Republican legislators certified when they certified an election they had a mandate not to.
Unless Trump has other plans, which he probably does, the next ordinary step would be for him to resign so Pence could pardon him from the politically-motivated assault he is under, then further his political movement to evict the establishment that rejected the majority of voters along with him. That would give his raging supporters a constructive way to direct their rage. The Washington worms would be wise to leave him alone if he does, lest things get even worse than Washington’s overuse of Delphi technique has already made them. However, that presumes we are in ordinary times, which we are not. Likelihood of “politics as usual” decreases with each news headline. Remember, Trump is full of surprises.
Our times are unprecedented. Banning millions of Twitter and Facebook users from following a president—even in his lame duck days—is like trying to stop the Mississippi River with a paper mache dam. It only creates a new and unpredictable river. Newsmax and Gab sure are making money, perhaps they are the real conspirators. This unabashed censorship and the Republican disdain for its own base indicates power mongers who fear something the public doesn’t know yet, but are convinced the public will soon learn anyway. Likelihood is high for martial law, followed by a new political party to rise, along with the return of another public figure betrayed by the RNC—Sara Palin.
We’ve seen angry Democrat-voter protests. Now, we will see what happens when the Republican base is enraged—something the political class undermined more than we thought. We don’t need to prove an election was fraudulent; we need to prove that each election wasn’t. In this election, proving fraud would be easier than proving accuracy. The Republican Party had a mandate to undo doubtful election results from its voters. They Constitutionally and legally ignored those voters, not knowing they ended their political futures when they did.
So, the greatest danger Trump posed from the beginning is no longer a threat: The Republican Party will not gain trust from Trump’s work done too well. The new danger is that treachery of the legislature often gives rise for the executive to declare martial law. If Trump is conspiring instead of merely salvaging, then the RNC and DNC are in on it too. If not, then those parties are the conspiracy. If Trump is bad, neither party is the solution. At least people are now awake to the depth of American treachery. The problem lies within political parties, locked in a charade like Chris and Ian pretending to be Saruman and Gandalf in a wizard dual. The DNC and RNC are not enemies; they are friends playing enemies on stage. Now, the Republican voters know. The Democratic voters will figure it out in a few years. The third party is on its way.
Trump does not display the attitude of a man who intends to lose. Biden does not display the behavior of someone who can win. The equation to predicting a Trump victory is elementary: one candidate works for what will happen after the victory he takes as already guaranteed; the other works to attain that victory. Victory goes to the one who works for it.
For some reason, the need to work for victory sails past the thinking of too many people, not the least of which include members of the media.
Not only are election news articles conclusive when reporting events—in a sweeping trend yet unseen in the West—, now they use the same terms. Republican senators and representatives are reported as making a “last-ditch” effort (hyphenated across news platforms). This leads Pacific Daily Times to develop the “morning news memo” (MNM) theorem—that reporters, anchors, newswriters, and other such wordsmiths across the news industry receive some kind of [actual or theoretical] memorandum in the morning on which identical words to copy so that their content is less original from one news outlet to another. This may not actually happen, but the theorem merely states that news content can be better understood as if it happens. Accordingly, the PDT MNM theorem suggests that the MNM word for the day was “last-ditch”, (hyphenated).
Senators and representatives, headed by posy leader apparent Ted Cruz, propose an “Electoral Commission” to investigate the legality of all electoral votes in an emergency 10-day review. That would return results by January 16, which could then allow the electoral college to be certified before the January 18 deadline. If House Democrats and the Senate agreed, Biden could win. But, Democrats don’t want such a win, suggesting that they fear the results if an “Electoral Commission” were created as a “last-ditch” (hyphenated).
Without said commission, the posy will dispute the electoral college as not “regularly given” or not “lawfully certified”. Having neglected the need to gain the confidence of his own election, and with a clear and likely path to victory for Trump, it seems as if this entire election dispute was doctored from the get go. Biden may have already found himself in a ditch—the “last-ditch” (hyphenated).
Trump signed the $600 stimulus bill, but with a “rescission” order. In other words, he is forcing Congress to discuss and deliberate on spending certain items or else the bill won’t become law for another 45 days.
Trump’s method is ingenious, though many worms in Washington wrongly project their own motives of immaturity or ego. After all the squawk Trump gave about $2,000 checks, the people expect more money and Congress has an easy way to give more money. Either way, many Democratic voters will thank Trump. If the bill is not revised to give Americans more money, Congress will become very unpopular. Violence only increases; consider Nashville. At a time when Congress may need to choose the president due to a failed electoral college, Congress needs popularity anywhere it can get it.
Yes, Congress may indeed end up choosing the president. Senators and representatives from any of 18 likely states could easily dispute the electoral college. Then the Senate, led by the man running for Vice President, would oversee the discussion. If discussion delays, the electoral college fails and is no longer relevant. Senators and state delegates in the House, both dominant Republicans, would then have to choose Trump and Pence to avoid political suicide. With Trump having played his recent popularity game over the economic stimulus, things seem to trend in that direction.
Thanks to Trump, Congress has the power to increase spending and choose Trump as the next president, and Congress has such a mandate from the people. But, historically, consider the factor of surprise. History is always full of surprises and unexpected victories. By the expectations of conventional wisdom, which usually leads people to be surprised by reality, Biden’s victory seems too non-surprising not to not happen.
Trump has a realistic path to the presidency. Rules for the electoral college allow for discussion and dispute which could delay finalization of the vote past January 18. If Congress has not approved the electoral college vote by then, the electoral college fails and the election defaults to Congress. Then, the Senate chooses the vice president and the House chooses the president by state delegates—of which there are more Republican. At that point, it would be political suicide for even Romney to vote against Trump. All that has to happen is delay in the Senate—something the Senate is very good at when it wants to be. With 18 states having filed a suit with the Supreme Court, such a delay is quite likely.
Far more interesting are the public narratives. All mainstream news, including Fox News, continue to push finality—the idea that the election is over and decided, when it is in fact in dispute and when it has not yet been finalized. The Trump team responds by pushing evidence—strangely changed rules, flagrantly broken rules, and endless testimonies. As a result, Biden voters are being conditioned to believe the election is over while Trump voters are being conditioned to believe it should not be over. The only assurance is limbo.
If Trump wins, the Democratic base is preconditioned for nation-wide meltdown while the Republican base is preconditioned for the in-your-face exhilaration worthy of a Rocky movie ending. That leads to the greatest danger: an overly-trusted Republican Party. That was Trump’s danger from the onset.
The suspicious part is how well the Democrats in Washington played along to make it all possible. Sooner or later, people will figure it out. Some are already starting to.
