Our pick is in the running for “irritating person of the century” status

Who Do You Nominate?

An interesting and fun column by Dennis Lund (see below). He lists what must be on the preliminary list of very irritating people inflicted on many of us, especially conservatives, in 2019:

A twofer

– Jussie Smollett

– Greta Thunberg

– Ocasio-Cortez

– Nancy Pelosi

– Adam Schiff

– Jerrold Nadler

Mr. Lund wound up being unable to pick his MOST  “irritating”. However, I believe while his list was formidable and fairly comprehensive, I believe it incomplete, probably by dozens of deserving ‘irritators’, but certainly, in my view, Ilhan Omar is deserving of the list.

There is one other which I would have had on the list…in fact would probably have been my choice as “most irritating”. His name on the list, however, would surely cause controversy and no doubt, vehement disagreement.

That would be, in my view only, Pope Francis!

To me, His Holiness is at the top of my list for a ‘host’ of reasons:

– Yes, he is spiritual leader of 1.2 billion Catholics worldwide, and is presumed to be “The Vicar Of Christ on Earth”…and thus, deserves deference.

– However, even the Catholic Church acknowledges there have been ‘bad’ popes in its 2000 year plus history.

– And perhaps Francis is not, by any means, the ‘worst’…and “bad” is probably not the most appropriate term.

– I believe, though, that the former Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio of Argentina is not what he wishes to be perceived as by his flock and by all of contemporary mankind…a “humble” man, maybe the ‘most’ humble man.

Pope Francis became a “rock star” for many Catholics and non-Catholics alike, around the world…partly by dint of shrewd self-promotion, a ‘biting wit’, always coming from the left and thus sure to become a progressive favorite of the Associated Press, the liberal media in general, and left-wing politicians in the US and throughout the west, and an obvious embrace of leftist ideology.

Francis does not seek to hide a profound dislike for either the United States or its current elected president, or its capitalist system. He seldom hesitates to blame the US for the evils which have befallen some countries in Latin America.

A product of Latin America’s decades old embrace of “liberation theology”, a political/religious ideology steeped in Marxism, Il Papa is a great promoter of wealth redistribution and the use of the “climate change mythology” to facilitate its implementation.

The Pontiff is one of the most vociferous popes in modern history with opinions on everything, whether in his area of expertise or not. He is known for his ‘sarcastic wit’, directed exclusively at ideological opponents or whomever he might seem to see as something of a rival.

The Pope seems intent on pressing his own priorities at the expense of his Church’s fundamental tenets. He has done putdowns of large segments of the Catholic faithful whom he accuses of “obsessing over” such out of fashion ‘anti-abortion’ and opposition to gay marriage sentiments. Borders and the concept of national sovereignty also find no place of importance in Francis’s  ‘to do’ list.

He would be known for an otherwise admirable concern for the poor and oppressed throughout the world but his ‘solutions’ seem always to come down on the side of radical leftwing theory…solutions that throughout history have proven to be far worse than the problems.

For these and other characteristics he has exhibited since his 5th ballot election in March, 2013 as the 266th pontiff in the Roman Catholic Church’s 2000 year history, Pope Francis is our choice for “The Most Irritating Person of 2019”!

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The Most Irritating person of 2019 is.…  (bold our emphasis)

We are now looking at 2019 in our rear view mirrors, since it is time for those irritating “The Best/Worst of the year” lists.

This past year was full of irritations, on many levels, from the shallow and superficial, to the rarest of rare political actions taken by the most irritating Congress in history.

Let’s start with some of the candidates:

Speaking of shallow and superficial, there is that previously little-known actor Jussie Smollett. His claim to fame was as a character in the FOX TV show “Empire.” Smollett, a gay black man, became a hero portraying, you guessed it: a gay black man. He became irritating by falsely accusing MAGA hat-wearing white supremacists of mugging him. It was all proved to be a lie as the story gained more steam than an all-male bathhouse.  But shallow and superficial does not rate high on this list and Smollett, like a lanced boil, has mostly disappeared from the scene.

A second candidate, who we all wish would disappear from the scene, is the most irritating thing to come out of Scandinavia since Ragnar Lothbrok: Greta Thunberg. This young Swede rose to fame despite her boorish appearances at numerous gatherings of global warming alarmists. The best word to sum up this child is, well; irritating. From her high degree of angst, to her snarling delivery, to her hectoring catchphrase: how dare you!! Young globetrotting Greta has achieved a high level of fame that could only be attained (and financed) by strong backing from radical millionaire left-wing climate activists. Certainly Thunberg is on anybody’s short list as a high level source of irritation.

Since the list is wide open to irritating women, how could Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez not make the list? (No, I am not going to call her AOC). If Hollywood wants to do an alternative version of Mr. Smith goes to Washington they could use her as a role model. They could call it: Ms. Alexi Goes to Moscow. But at least Jefferson Smith had the brains to make something of his opportunity, while Cortez is baffled by the functioning of garbage disposals. Hopefully Ms. Alexi will be a flash in the pan and thrown out next November by the embarrassed voters in her district.

Next in D.C., resembling Laurel and Hardy, we have two mismatched tinhorns named Adam Schiff and Gerald Nadler. But unlike the lovable Stan and Ollie, the Adam and Gerry show was, simply put, a source of constant irritation sans the comic relief. Adam had previously demonstrated himself to be void of facts, unable to support his allegations, or to hide from a camera. The conduction of his inquisition was reminiscent of the Grand Inquisitor Tomas de Torquemada.

Yes, they did vote in his committee and The Eyes won.

Jerrold Nadler, who never met a conservative he liked or meal he didn’t, was brought in as comic relief after the failure of the Schiff Show in the catacombs of the capitol. Nadler’s goose was cooked when he brought in three “expert witnesses,” each of whom deserve at least an honorable mention.

But, Adam and Gerry were never doing anything more than responding to strings pulled by Nancy Pelosi. As such Adam and Gerry are removed from further consideration, only to be surpassed by megamillionairess: Nancy Pelosi. Certainly Congresswoman Pelosi’s moments in the spotlight were welcomed by her acolytes, while reviled by those possessing common sense, morals and respect for the Constitution.

Before naming the winner we need to define the qualifications. Clearly “irritating” can be seen from two levels: “Source of” and “Reactions to”. Those mentioned above all can be lumped into the category of being the source of irritation to millions of Americans. Those Americans would be the ‘Deplorable’ and bitter ones who ‘cling to guns or religion’ and in general are detested by the self-proclaimed superiors to we, the general rabble and unwashed masses of the hoi polloi.

The last three mentioned though are all commonly linked, due to their reaction to the real winner, who is undoubtedly the biggest cause of their combined irritation: President Donald Trump.

We have seen in the past year an unparalleled visceral reaction to President Trump. This reaction could be seen from day one in ‘the screamer,’ a clip worth a repeated viewing simply for the schadenfreude of the moment. But the irritation, caused by the Trump Presidency, led to the lies of ‘Russian Collusion,’ the failures of the ‘Mueller Report” and the Adam and Gerry show. It has now culminated in a vote favoring impeachment, now sitting on Pelosi’s desk waiting for her to “react now or be derelict in our duty.”

As irritating as all of the above have been, Donald Trump excels in the “reaction to” factor. Yet it is in part the reactive irritation of those infected with TDS that serves to unite the 63 million of us that voted for him. To those irritated by the President, nothing will sooth their pain. Not the lowest unemployment in decades, not the return of the manufacturing jobs we were told would never return, not the continued rise in the Dow, the S&P, and the Nasdaq and not the increase in tax revenue generated, as promised, from the tax cuts.

The only thing that will end their pain is the elimination of the Trump Presidency. The powers that be in D.C. fear it will not happen in November, thus they resort to the shenanigans and illegal actions now undertaken, in doing so they are unwittingly further uniting, while simultaneously creating, Trump supporters.

Given the above, there has been no person in the year just passed that has caused more irritation to so many deserving people than Donald Trump. And for that I thank him, while also looking forward to four more years.

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Red China to impose a rewrite of the Bible, similar to Pope’s rewrite of doctrine?

Remember when the Pope bowed to China on selection of Bishops? — How’s that working’ out for you, Il Papa?

We think we’d rather have Donald Trump negotiating for us than Pope Francis

But then again maybe China is simply being more definitive rather than the Popes approach of  clouding issues through re-interpretation — working toward contradiction of accepted tenets.

Re-writing the Bible a bit blatant of Xi so the Pope will be forced to voice his strenuous objection and express how he is shocked, nay, SHOCKED!

Darn it — Il Papa will do the interpreting his way — on his time-table! Too much too soon is counterrevolutionary

Rewriting the Bible admits it is anti-communist — best not to have a communist nation do so — better it just be reinterpreted for the minions in discrete increments, by His Holiness.

Sometimes the revolution must be soft –  as pointed out below — and with an oblique angle – undermine and discredit tradition first, denigrate “taboos” and the people that hold to them.

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China Orders Pro-Communist Bible-revision   Admits Bible Is Anti-Communist Church forced to change name to “Follow the Party, Obey the Party, and Be Grateful to the Party”

– After failed attempts to force Christian churches and faithful to abide by its standards, the Chinese Communist Party leaders have determined to re-write the Bible to better reflect their own agenda

– The order to re-write the Bible to be less “radical” comes shortly after an order in late September to local officials in Ji’an, a southeastern province of Jiangxi, to demand the congregation of a Catholic church named “The True and Original Source of the Universe,” to replace a painting of the Virgin Mary with a portrait of Xi Jinping, and to paint over the sign on the front of the church and replace the Church’s original name with “Follow the Party, Obey the Party, and Be Grateful to the Party.”

– “Local priests reported to “Tang Zhe” that the move to force Catholic churches into the Chinese Patriotic Catholic Association is disastrous…”     Read More Here

Pope Francis To Bow To China With Concession On Bishops   Wall Street Journal, 2/1/18  (pay wall)

– Pope Francis has decided to accept the legitimacy of seven Catholic bishops appointed by the Chinese government, a concession that the Holy See hopes will lead Beijing to recognize his authority as head of the Catholic Church in China…

– “Winston Churchill said, ‘How can we deal with a totalitarian regime? How can we trust a totalitarian regime?’ They are simply not trustworthy…”

———————— The stories below:

China Orders Pro-Communist Bible-revision; Admits Bible is Anti-Communist?

https://nationalfile.com/china-orders-pro-communist-bible-revision-admits-bible-is-anti-communist/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=china-orders-pro-communist-bible-revision-admits-bible-is-anti-communist

dlh


The Pope will do the rewriting

We believe the content of the first two articles below portend the Pope doing what the Bible’s words and two millennia of interpretation will not allow.  The articles are somewhat internecine but very understandable. Francis is a revolutionary Pope and not in a good way.

Rigid Catholics who won’t change are imbalanced, says Pope Francis in Christmas address 

Pope Francis: Catholics shouldn’t be afraid to change everything about the Church 


In reading the above articles we were reminded of this comment of the Pope:

Pope Francis: It’s better to be ‘atheist’ than attend daily mass as hypocrite

Now his outburst seems to use “atheist” as an epithet – but we believe this same pope has also implied that atheists can be good people (we think they are incredibly ignorant and or self-centered and potentially more dangerous in positions of power, but that’s just us).  The tinge the Pope applies seems to be reserved for non-Marxists but in a cartoonish way.  No daily communicants we are aware of live or act the hypocritical way the Pope relates other than the occasional Democrat office holder and some priests, etc.  But then they are hypocrites about other church tenets.

Such hypocrites are allowed to present themselves for Holy Communion for all the world to see them as loyal Catholics (this writer does not present himself for Communion and does not attend Catholic church regularly). Giving notorious people Communion according to the Pope and many Bishops and Cardinals  is justified as useful in bringing such (us) sinners closer to Christ and His church — that’s the theory. Excommunication is somehow to be self-enforcing ( it can be with non-hypocrites), but that leaves the likes of Pelosis, Kennedys, Bidens, Durbins to continue obstinately, corruptingly, adding insult to injury.

The theory is a lame response to the scandal, confusion, false teaching, bad example that allowing such imparts due to the “practitioners” notorious apostasy on fundamental matters. Indeed is that not what excommunication is fundamentally meant to prevent?  Lack of formal use of excommunication as regards notorious individuals on matters the church has identified as crimes against humanity encourages the belligerent apostates and discourages others belief in the sincerity of the teachers and teaching.

The theory mentioned above, endorsed by the Pope and many Bishops and priests is  ironic in light of the Pope’s stated disgust with hypocrite capitalists even being in church. Now Holy Communion is normally presented inside a church as part of the Mass.  So the cartoonish capitalist people the Pope imagines attending mass are hypocrites and to be shamed as such but the real scandal mongers who support legal abortion on demand are just simple people in search of  Christ’s blessing for their everyday lives. Better an abortion promoter in church receiving communion than a capitalist even in the building is the implication from this Pope.     R Mall

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Retrospectives, predictions, pleadings

It is that time of year. Below we convey to you some retrospectives, predictions and pleadings from various commentators.

RETROSPECTIVES

These achievements in 2019 were made possible by consistent work of conservative operatives and organizations, President Trump’s administration, and judicial appointments — Heritage Foundation highlights these (while also highlighting their own  involvement)

In 2019 … (Via Heritage Foundation e-mail The Agenda 12/30/19)

Immigration Loopholes Were Closed. The Trump administration replaced “catch and release” with “catch and return,” sending asylum seekers back to Mexico to await their court date. It started denying asylum claims of those who pass through another country but don’t seek asylum there. And it superseded the Flores settlement, which led to the separation of parents and children at the border. Heritage argued for all of them.

The Courts Shifted Further Right. Heritage educated Americans on constitutional originalism and on the qualifications of specific judicial nominees. Heritage’s online judicial tracker shows that more than 156 of Trump’s federal judicial appointees have been confirmed.

New Abortion Restrictions Saved Lives. The administration stripped tens of millions of taxpayer dollars from Planned Parenthood via the Title X program and worked with Heritage experts to craft new restrictions on federal funding for research that uses fetal tissue from elective abortions.

A Pro-Brexit Prime Minister Stepped In. In the United Kingdom in July, Boris Johnson replaced Theresa May as prime minister and announced his intent to push hard for Brexit. Heritage is a friend of Johnson and the first U.S. think tank to call for Brexit and for a U.S.-U.K. free trade agreement.

U.S. Withdrew from the U.N. Arms Trade Treaty. This Obama-era treaty was meant to control arms exports, but would, over time, threaten Americans’ Second Amendment rights. Heritage was the only think tank to recommend “unsigning” it.

Free Speech Protected on Campus. Heritage helped create model legislation that five states (Alabama, Arizona, Georgia, North Carolina, and Wisconsin) used to protect free speech on campus.

School Choice Marched On. Six states now have Education Savings Account programs, and we are closer than ever to achieving a federal military ESA program – an idea pioneered at Heritage.

Congress Said “No” to the Green New Deal. Heritage did more than any other think tank to expose the unfeasibility and socialist aims of the failed Green New Deal.

The Administration Withdrew from the INF Treaty. Heritage was the only think tank in Washington urging the U.S. to leave the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty, which the Russians had violated.

Military Rebuilding Continued. The Senate’s 2020 National Defense Authorization Act adopted many of Heritage’s recommendations for defense budgeting, modernization, and more. Meanwhile, the Marine Corps Commandant and Army Chief of Staff shared two of Heritage’s Rebuilding America’s Military Project reports on the future of the Army and the Marine Corps.

Bipartisan Agreement Reached on the United States–Mexico–Canada Agreement. This trade deal strengthens protections for intellectual property rights and opens up new markets, while continuing the tariff-free treatment of many goods and services. Heritage experts played a major role in fine-tuning early drafts of the deal.

The Federalist contributor Brad Slager set forth a Hollywood retrospective that includes provision for plenty of schadenfreude for what emanates from that sector of our culture.  The one item we thought most notable was his number one:

The 12 Biggest Hollywood Losers In 2019  
1. Netflix

While operationally everything is sound with the revolutionary streaming giant, this year was full of foreboding news. Subscribership plateaued for the first time in company history, and significant competition has reared up.

In November both Disney and Apple debuted competitive streaming services, and more are on the horizon, with NBC/Universal starting one in the spring and WarnerBrothers-HBO also joining the fray. Not only is this a threat competitively, but also to content.

Disney has pulled much of its own library from Netflix, and that of 20th Century Fox. Netflix is losing the “Friends” catalogue in a matter of days, and it paid a massive $100 million to retain the rights to “The Office,” its most popular show, for just one more year.

The biggest challenge is that of the top ten most popular items for streaming on its platform, eight have the rights with other competitors. Up ahead is a crowded marketplace and a diminished vault of programming.

We are glad to see competition work its wonders. We are gratified because we don’t wish success for a company that produces Gay Jesus programming and other atrocious assaults on believers. That, and that Netflix pays Barack Obama to produce content is something we don’t need to subsidize with a subscription.

PREDICTIONS

This group of ten, most of which we would be pleased to live with, indeed cherish. They are from Kurt Schlichter writing at TownHall with this introduction in his classic style:

Here’s What Is What’s Going To Happen In 2020

If you thought you can’t top the stupidity we experienced in 2019, brace yourself for 2020 because it’s going to be a pronoun-fueled weather cult pinko freakshow. But it won’t be all amusing antics – the left hates us and its ugly mask is coming off, revealing the even uglier fascist visage lurking beneath. If you listen to them, and if you aren’t an insufferable goo goo wimp who refuses to hear them, you will know that they intend to silence you, even imprison you, and deprive you of the ability to participate in your own governance. So, if you want to live as a free man or woman – if they have their way, they’ll destroy you for recognizing that unalterable binary – best be ready. 
Be motivated to engage in the cultural melee.  Vote. 

10. Trump Will Be Impeached…Yawn: (by this he means that the House Speaker Pelosi will send the articles to the Senate and conservatives need not be concerned about the outcome in the Senate(
9. The Economy Will Stay Strong, Disappointing Democrats:
8. Virginia Will Declare War on Its Citizens:
7. Replacing Justice Ginsburg:
6. Trans Fascism Backlash:
5. Pardon This:
4. Durham’s Indictments:
3. Foreign Policy Success:
2. Democrats Will Lose the House:
1. Trump Will Get Reelected:

PLEADINGS
Republicans should adopt a reform agenda for 2020  (our comments follow these)

By Richard McCarty writing at Americans for Limited government

Republicans have long struggled in urban areas; and, more recently, the GOP has lost ground in suburban areas. To win back swing voters, Republicans should adopt a reform agenda that shows that they understand the challenges faced by average citizens everyday. In particular, Republicans should offer solutions to address the student debt crisis, housing unaffordability, and the fundamental unfairness in criminal law.

Student Debt Crisis

Republicans need to propose a meaningful solution to the student debt crisis. To begin with, they need recognize that there is a student debt crisis and that much of the debt was incurred by young, naïve students. Consequently, lives — marriages, children, homebuying, etc. — are being put on hold as young adults struggle with college debt. Two of the best policies to deal with this problem would be to reprivatize college loans and bring back bankruptcy for college debt. If a college alum cannot find a decent job a decade after leaving college, then they should be able to discharge that debt just as a consumer can discharge ill-considered credit card debt or the owner of a failed business can discharge business debt. Furthermore, the college that admitted the student should be required to pay back half of the bad debt.

Housing Unaffordability

Republicans should work to solve the problem of housing unaffordability. According to one 2018 estimate, the US needs 7.2 million more affordable homes on the rental market. One of the factors contributing to housing unaffordability is illegal immigration so Republicans should continue to fight to ensure that our laws be enforced. Some estimates put the number of illegal immigrants around 10.5-12 million. Many illegal immigrants live in places where housing affordability is particularly bad, including Boston, New York, DC, Seattle, San Francisco, Los Angeles, and San Diego.

Republicans should also work locally — emphasis on local — to remove as many hurdles to home construction as reasonably possible. These barriers are numerous, including slow and costly permits, lengthy environmental reviews, and unnecessary energy efficiency standards. Rather than requiring the construction of unaffordable homes that suit the tastes of bureaucrats, policies should generally allow the market to decide what homes are built, where they are built, and how they are built. The faster homes are built, the sooner market forces are likely to bring down prices and allow young adults to rent or buy homes of their own.

The Credit Reporting Industry

Republicans should support reform of the credit reporting industry. The huge credit bureaus — Experian, Equifax, and TransUnion —have a lot of power, and yet they continually fail at some of the most basic tasks, including making sure that information about consumers with similar names or Social Security numbers winds up in the correct file. Although the credit bureaus have repeatedly promised to improve their processes to reduce these mistakes, they have utterly failed — if they have even tried. Even worse, credit bureaus currently enjoy broad immunity from lawsuits even when they harm consumers. Credit bureaus do not deserve this immunity and should lose it. Also, more competition should be encouraged in the credit reporting industry; perhaps a new competitor would do a better job.

Mens Rea Reform

Republicans should advocate for mens rea (which means “guilty mind”) reform which would help protect the innocent from being imprisoned for doing things that they did not realize were illegal. Although some laws require that an offender be aware that their actions are wrong in order to be found guilty, many laws do not when in certain circumstances it would be appropriate. There are literally thousands of federal laws and hundreds of thousands of federal regulations with criminal penalties and countless more state laws and regulations. It is impossible for anyone — whether a veteran legislator, career bureaucrat, or experienced lawyer —to possibly know all of the crimes that they might be committing.

If doing the right thing is insufficient reason for legislators to support mens rea reform in certain circumstances, they should remember that there are partisan prosecutors who would not hesitate to use the law to bankrupt and ruin their political opponents.

By pursuing a reform agenda, Republicans can locally help right wrongs while likely winning back some swing voters. For some unknown reason, Democrats choose to focus on catering to special interest groups leaving the general public to fend for itself. Republicans should take full advantage of this opening and demonstrate that they are the party of the people, by the people, and for the people. If Republicans need an additional reason to support reform, they should remember that they probably will not like the “solutions” that Democrats offer to deal with these problems.

Richard McCarty is the Director of Research at Americans for Limited Government.

We support elements of all of these as subject matter Republicans can properly address touting conservative principles. There are other important matters for the agenda as well. For example the mens rhea reform can come in part from elimination and simplification of  regulatory statutes and taking a look at limiting the judiciary. Too often a judge can make you guilty of something unsupported by statute by expanding the statutes meaning.

The mens rhea reform concept also speaks to what our illustrious Senior Editor has pointed out about totalitarian regimes: They always have a violation in their back pocket that ordinary citizens can be charged with, not even knowing it existed, or if they did, was so encompassing.  The state doesn’t pull it out unless they want to pull in an anti-state malcontent. Another matter that should be addressed along with mens rhea reform is the concept of hate crime as an aggravating circumstance regarding other offenses or, as it is used in some cases, a crime on its own.

V’PAC

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The Beaton will go on

An Excellent Conservative Columnist Fired for Failing to Reflect the “Values” of a Liberal Newspaper

Since he was fired from the Aspen Times by email at Christmas time, conservative columnist Glenn Beaton is continuing to write his column at his own website (https://theaspenbeat.com).

We recommend Beaton to readers because he is not only a conservative, a Trump supporter, but also a clever and insightful political observer and writer.

And, the fact that after 7 years as the most popular columnist at the liberal Aspen Times, he was fired because “his “values” conflict with those of the newspaper…”

Wow! What could commend Mr. Beaton to the affection of conservatives everywhere more than such an “endorsement”! You GO, Glenn Beaton!  (Incidentally, another favorite website of ours, The PowerLine, see below, also strongly recommends Beaton’s column).  dlh

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POSTED ON POWERLINE, DECEMBER 26, 2019 BY SCOTT JOHNSON  AND THE BEATON GOES ON

The Aspen Times deposited the metaphorical lump of coal in conservative columnist Glenn Beaton’s Christmas stocking this year. After a seven-year run as the paper’s one and only conservative columnist as well as its most widely read columnist, period, the editors terminated him. 

The reason given for Glenn’s abrupt firing was that his “values” conflict with those of the newspaper. Glenn is a Trump supporter and has been critical of the Democratic candidates for president, as in this November 17 column. As it turns out, Glenn’s Christmas column was his last for the newspaper.    . . .

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=72&v=bS3O5zg290k&feature=emb_logo

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Impeachment now to be a “feature” of political opposition?

Unsurprising, Kimberly Strassel has an excellent column in Friday’s Wall Street Journal.

The points she makes are ‘right on’ and more than we will try to present here.

The main point, however, is that Nancy Pelosi is conducting a ‘rolling impeachment’…which is to say, if it never ends, it’s OK with the wicked witch of San Francisco Bay’.

To us, it underscores why we find most career politicians a disgusting, unprincipled, uncivil breed of lowlifes who have little more than total contempt for their own voters. There are exceptions to be sure, but as examples, Nancy and Chuckie Schumer are paramount. And let’s not forget people like “Mittens” Romney, Lisa ‘Murky’ Murkowski’, and former senator, “Mr. Unlikeable”, Jeff Flake.

The latter three find it easy to agree with the unctuous Pelosi and Schumer that Mc Connell is “jeopardizing the likelihood of a “fair” proceeding in the ‘anticipated’ Senate impeachment trial.

Hold that ‘LOL’!!

That might seem ‘laughable’ but anyone who even suggests it is anything but absurd should be employable only by CNN or MSNBC, or most of today’s ‘news’papers.

Honestly now, how can a ‘normal, sentient’ human being even have a conversation with, or even want to be around, someone as incredibly phony and dishonest (she “prays” for President Trump, and is a ‘devout Catholic who embraces late term abortion’) as, say Nancy Pelosi…or , say, Chuckie Schumer.)

Pelosi’s Rolling Impeachment  (bold our emphasis)                                Republicans dismiss her tactic. But why would they assume she wants a trial?

Republicans dismiss Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s refusal to transmit the impeachment articles to the Senate as a weak stunt. They do so at the peril of both the Constitution and President Trump. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell may be a master tactician, but Mrs. Pelosi is no slouch.

It’s now been more than a week since the House impeached Mr. Trump, and Mrs. Pelosi has yet to name impeachment managers or formally send over the paperwork. Democrats claim they are delaying in the name of “fairness,” withholding the articles until Mr. McConnell agrees to new witnesses and evidence in a Senate trial. Republicans are ridiculing the tactic, pointing out that Mrs. Pelosi has no authority to dictate the form of a Senate trial and no leverage over Mr. McConnell.

Both points are true but irrelevant. Republicans err in thinking Mrs. Pelosi’s goal is to craft a Senate trial to her liking—and even in presuming Mrs. Pelosi wants a trial at all.

How would it benefit Democrats for the Senate to conduct an efficient and solemn proceeding? The House inquiry was a farce, riddled with procedural gamesmanship and shifting definitions of “high crimes.” A serious Senate trial would only further highlight the weakness of the House case. It would also require Democratic presidential contenders including Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren and Amy Klobuchar to abandon the stump and return to Washington for most of January, on the eve of the crucial Iowa caucuses—or else shirk their senatorial duty.

Mrs. Pelosi has understood from the start that the inevitable outcome was acquittal. There won’t be 20 Republican votes to remove Mr. Trump from office. So why hasten the president’s vindication? If the goal of this exercise all along was to damage Mr. Trump’s prospects for re-election, why wouldn’t Democrats want to hold an unconsummated impeachment over his head for as long as politically possible?

Think of it as “rolling” impeachment. Every day the Senate doesn’t hold a trial, Mrs. Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer are free to argue that the process is rigged. They are already claiming that the Senate’s Republican “jurors” have abandoned impartiality, are actively working with Mr. Trump to cover up his crimes, and are afraid to hold a trial.

This bears no relation to reality and is the height of cheek given the House circus. But it’s fodder for the press corps and it may resonate with some voters. More important, it puts daily pressure on Senate Republican moderates to break with Mr. McConnell. Only this week, Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski—solid as a bowl of jelly—said she was “disturbed” by Mr. McConnell’s discussions with the White House over the impeachment process.

As long as the Senate doesn’t hold a trial, Democrats have time to find yet more “evidence” that Mr. Trump is guilty of abusing his power. Witness Mr. Schumer on Monday, highlighting new emails that purport to show military aid was suspended not long after Mr. Trump’s now famous July call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. The emails add nothing of substance to the broader case, but they prompted the media to produce another round of dark headlines about Mr. Trump.

And as long as the Senate doesn’t hold a trial, Democrats can add additional “crimes” to their case against the president. House lawyers this week argued in federal court that former White House counsel Don McGahn must be forced to testify to the House. They told the court the House may “recommend new articles of impeachment” if Mr. McGahn’s testimony included evidence that the president obstructed special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation.

How long will this charade go on? As long as Democrats can get away with it. Given their impeachment irregularities to date, it’s not hard to imagine Mrs. Pelosi sitting on her impeachment articles through next fall’s election campaign. That would deny Mr. Trump the ability to say he’d been acquitted, even as it assured a constant stream of negative, ever-evolving impeachment coverage.

The risk to Democrats is that the public loses tolerance for a cynical partisan ploy that makes a mockery of Congress’s constitutional duty. But Ms. Pelosi knows the press will dutifully peddle her “fairness” line, and at least for now she can use the delay to energize her base and further damage the president. If the public tide shifts, she can always change course.

Senate Republicans should schedule a trial immediately. Mr. McConnell has a majority to set the rules, and he has history, the Constitution and fairness on his side. Republicans also have a duty to spare the nation from the damaging precedent Mrs. Pelosi is setting. They can end the farce of endless, rolling, partisan impeachment.

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Lucky for him he didn’t run over a gay-pride flag

UNLICENSED DRIVER WHO KILLED WOMAN IN HIT-AND-RUN ARRESTED AND RELEASED WITHOUT BAIL

This is New York Style Criminal justice Coming Soon To All Our Neighborhoods…Progressives, Enjoy!!
Facing a felony charge for fleeing a fatal accident
At arraignment on Christmas Day, the town justice released him without bail!
Here’s the ‘clincher’: “bail reform”
“Stony Point Supervisor Jim Monaghan blames Albany lawmakers.
“Logistically, it made sense to release the defendant at this time based on the new laws that go into effect Jan. 1,” he said.”

IT MADE SENSE?!

A week before the law became effective, “IT MADE SENSE TO RELEASE THE DEFENDANT”??? HUH?

Unanswered in the story is the question, “If it made sense to comply with a law not yet in effect, will all defendants arrested in the past and bailed out be able to get their bail money refunded?

Only makes sense to me.       dlh

(Lucky for the perp it was not a gay-pride flag he ran over)

Via CBSNewYork

There is grief and concern following a Christmas Eve crime.
A woman was struck and killed by an unlicensed driver who left the scene. He was arrested, and immediately released back on the street, under the terms of New York state’s new bail reform law.

Those close to the victim are struggling to understand why, CBS2’s Tony Aiello reported Thursday.

“I feel fortunate to have met her and have had her in my life,” friend Irene Secone said.

Friends and family are distraught following the death of 35-year-old Marie “Rosie” Osai.

The immigrant from Haiti, a mother of three, was run over on Christmas Eve while crossing route 9W in Stony Point.

Facing a felony charge for fleeing a fatal accident is 27-year-old Jorge Flores-Villalba. According to court records, Flores-Villalba told an investigator, “I was driving and I did strike a person. I didn’t call the police. I was afraid because I don’t have a license.”

When the suspect was arraigned Christmas Day, the town justice released him without bail.

“We’re all here devastated. Her family is devastated, and this man on Christmas Day goes home and spends it with his family,” Secone said.

Stony Point Supervisor Jim Monaghan blames Albany lawmakers.

“Logistically, it made sense to release the defendant at this time based on the new laws that go into effect Jan. 1,” Monaghan said.

Monaghan said bail reform would have mandated release of the suspect next week, anyway.

The reform pushed by Albany Democrats eliminates bail for all misdemeanors and most non-violent felonies.

“To walk into a courtroom the next day and walk out with no bail and I’ll see you in another week, it just isn’t right,” Secone said.

“Everybody I’ve spoken to, once they’re aware what took place with this bail, they’re outraged,” Monaghan added.

Bail reform advocates say the law allows judges to impose electronic monitoring, and claim critics are fear mongering.

The unlicensed driver accused of killing Osai is free, on just a promise to return to court on Jan. 9.

Several lawmakers want to change or delay implementation of bail reform and other criminal justice revisions. Albany Democrats have said they will monitor how the reforms work before considering any changes.

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Holy Family was not homeless, were not immigrants, were not refugees,

Pope Francis, Cardinal Timothy Dolan, Mayor Pete Buttigieg along with any number of SJWs who rarely set foot in a church, open a Bible, much less engage in Bible study, are sure as heck that what the Bible says about the Holy Family’s journey from Nazareth (Jesus not born yet) to Bethlehem (where He was born) and then to Egypt, was to convey that they were homeless refugees or immigrants with no intention of going back to their home of Nazareth.

Their intent of course is political — to imply that Christian ethics requires open borders and a right to welfare and homestead for anyone who happens to be present in a territory.  Their characterization is not only a corrupted Biblical exegesis, hermeneutics, epistemology, what have you, it is unscrupulous secular history, employs a ridiculous practicality and would result in the destruction of Christian culture.  At best it is better understood as soft-headedness than soft-heartedness.

While it is a recurring theme of ours, this Cheryl K. Chumley essay in the Washington Times effectively elucidates the hypocrisy at play as regards Pope Francis and by inference any liberal personage who lives in am exclusive area, behind locked doors or surrounded by an entourage or guards. (excerpt below)

Pope Francis, secure in his Vatican, scolds ‘stony’ hearts toward migrants 

Pope Francis delivered a Christmas speech that called on the people of the world to soften “stony and self-centered hearts” and help those fleeing conflicts in their countries — to basically drop the border walls and let these people in; to stop all this border first, people second stuff and nonsense. And so forth and so on.

His remarks may have packed more punch if he didn’t deliver them from the heavily fortified St. Peter’s Basilica, while gazing from a secure Vatican City balcony, a couple hundred feet or so above the assembled fray. With armed guards standing and patrolling near by.

It’s not that those fleeing injustice and inhumanity don’t deserve better lives.

It’s just that the pope’s finger-wagging, from inside the bubble of Vatican City, strikes a big ol’ cup of hypocrisy that’s hard to swallow.

He spoke of migrants seeking the “hope of a secure life,” only to find, at the end of their journeys, “inhumane detention camps” and “walls of indifference.”

. . .

But let’s remember: Vatican City is sovereign, secure and well-protected, surrounded — mostly — by high walls.

From Crux — in a piece, weirdly enough, that was trying to argue the Vatican is “not a walled city” — comes this: “To gain access to St. Peter’s Basilica as well as the Vatican Museums — which includes the Sistine Chapel — requires waiting in a long security line and going through a metal detector. Access to other parts of the Vatican — including the gardens, the Vatican Bank and Casa Santa Marta, where Pope Francis lives — is a bit more difficult. It requires having the proper credentials, such as a press pass or an academic affiliation, and a short conversation with a member of the Swiss Guard, which protects most entrances. Unlike the walls, the Guard are not anachronisms. They carry guns, and their protection is supplemented with assistance from Italian police.”

Walled city.

Metal detectors.

Papers and credentials.

Armed guards.

What’s good for the pope should be good for America. What’s good for the securing of Vatican City should be good for the securing of American citizens. Human injustice is not — nor should it be — the trigger that causes an automatic drop of all border controls.

As Regards The Gospel According to Cardinal Dolan

“A Christmas lesson on housing the poor,” according to Cardinal Timothy Dolan: “The Son of God was homeless; his earthly parents were immigrants and refugees.”

Really?! Not the way the Church taught it when I was a ‘yute’…that is before Marx replaced Mathew, Mark, Luke, and John…and most everything else in this Faith.

Scott Johnson writing at PowerLine:  Fake religion from Timothy Cardinal Dolan

Even more surprising than fake religion from Pete Buttigieg is fake religion from the formidable Timothy Cardinal Dolan. In his Christmas Eve New York Post column “A Christmas lesson on housing the poor,” Cardinal Dolan writes: “The Son of God was homeless; his earthly parents were immigrants and refugees.”

I’m not Christian and mean no disrespect. For the reasons set forth in Paul’s post, however, I doubt Cardinal Dolan has this right and Cardinal Dolan doesn’t set forth an argument on these points.

Cardinal Dolan himself twists Jewish tradition to suit his purposes a bit further along in the column. After discussing Abraham’s hospitality to strangers, Cardinal Dolan writes: “No wonder, as I’m told, Jewish families still set a place at the table for an unexpected guest who might show up for a meal on one of their holy days.”

Here is a good discussion of Jewish hospitality. Consider this related teaching: “Traditional mandates extend to the guest as well. Guests should avoid causing hosts extra work. They should accede to their host’s or hostess’s requests. A guest should not bring along another, uninvited guest. If guest and host are entering the home together, the guest should defer to the host. Leaving together, a guest should exit before the host.”

Anyone who reads the Hebrew Bible will be impressed by the recurring injunction not to oppress a stranger, for we were strangers in the land of Egypt. We want to get that commandment right, to be sure, but it is the teaching that most frequently gets the sort of treatment from liberal Jews that Cardinal Dolan gives to the gospel story of Mary and Joseph’s travel to Bethlehem.

There is also The Gospel According to Pete Buttigieg:  From a Christmas greeting he tweeted to the world:

“Today I join millions around the world in celebrating the arrival of divinity on earth, who came into this world not in riches but in poverty, not as a citizen but as a refugee. No matter where or how we celebrate, Merry Christmas.”

Alex Parker writing at RedState responds:

Advice to Pete Buttigieg: Don’t Use the Christmas Story to Promote Your Politics if You Can’t Get the Story Right

Was he a refugee? Is that the situation? The message?

Was Bethlehem a sanctuary city? Were things just like they are now, 2000 years ago? Was Donald Trump President of Judea?

Comments responding to Buttigeigs tweet as appearing on the RedState article :

“OMG — Joseph and mary were traveling to register as required by a totalitarian Roma occupation for a census so Rome could tax the region more efficiently — do @TheDemocrats choose to be stupid or are they incapable of speaking the truth?”

National Review Online’s Dan McLaughlin got in on it, too:

“You were doing okay until ‘refugee.’ Joseph & Mary were in Bethlehem because the government commanded them there to pay taxes. A Christian would know this.”

User John Hayward made a special Christmas wish:

“All I want for Christmas is for left-wing totalitarians to stop misrepresenting Jesus as a ‘migrant’ or ‘refugee’ in clumsy efforts to trick Christians into giving up on protecting their borders.”

“Who came into this world not in riches, but in poverty, not as a citizen, but as a refugee”? When did you come up with THAT load of crap? Joseph was NOT a poor man, and Jesus did NOT come into this world as a refugee from heaven. Please stop.

— Dr.Darrell Scott (@PastorDScott) December 26, 2019

Dipstick: Jesus was NOT a “refugee.” He was a victim of big gubment taxation policies that forced a pregnant woman to travel 90 mi. to make sure her family paid their taxes.

 Also from RedState (this by Streif)

No, Jesus Was Not a Refugee and He Was Not Homeless

Every Christmas, we hear the same tired refrain from the same charlatans. Jesus, they claim, was a refugee. The implication is that if you are a Christian that you are obligated to welcome refugees because they are pretty much like Jesus.

This is patent nonsense.

First, at no point in Scripture, or, if you are Catholic, in Sacred Tradition is there any intimation that Jesus was born in poverty. Tradition holds that Saint Joseph was a carpenter. Lately there has been a debate among lefty theologians over his occupation, rendered by Matthew as “tektori,” and whether than meant “carpenter.” Tektori can mean any skilled artisan. There is a hint, based on the procedures laid out for a census in 1st Century Egypt, that Joseph might have had some property interest in Bethlehem that would have required him to register for the census there. The upshot is that Joseph was a skilled craftsman and while probably not affluent, he most likely provided a home for his family that was a bit above the poverty line for Judea in the 1st Century AD.

Jesus was not homeless. He was born in a manger because his parents arrived in a Bethlehem in the midst of an influx of people there to register for the census. There were no rooms to be had. It was the manager or nothing. The Holy Family had a home in Nazareth.

Finally, Jesus was not a refugee.

Joseph and Mary and Jesus were citizens of a province of the Roman Empire. When the Massacre of Innocents took place, they fled to Egypt and stayed, we think, in the rather sizable Jewish community there. Egypt was also part of the Roman Empire . . .

A birth cohort is not “membership in a particular social group.” They Holy Family was a refugee in exactly the same way that anyone today on the run from state authorities would be called a refugee. The move from one region of the Roman Empire to another is not even remotely similar to that of a modern refugee. At a stretch, He could be classed as an internally displaced person, with an emphasis on the singular form of “person” because there were no others similarly situated. The period of time in which the Holy Family was away from Nazareth was fairly short. Herod the Great died no more than a year or two after the birth of Christ and then the family returned home. By age 12, we know the Holy Family was traveling openly to Jerusalem for Passover pilgrimage (again, not a mark of a family in poverty).

Related reading:

Buttigieg Politicizes Christmas  

Ask A Franciscan: The Holy Family’s Arrival in Nazareth

Don’t Be Fooled By This Viral Liberal Meme About Christmas

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Another late “statesman” who cannot be criticized

Maybe McCain Is With John Dingell, Gazing at us from their ~~ vantage point . . .

IG Report Reveals Steele Funneled Claims Through John McCain After FBI Dropped Him 

Late Senator John McCain provided disgraced former FBI chief James Comey with five separate reports from Christopher Steele that the FBI didn’t previously possess related to unsubstantiated allegations of collusion between Russia and President Trump’s 2016 campaign, the Justice Department’s recent Inspector General report revealed.

There have long been questions about why it was necessary for McCain to pass Steele’s anti-Trump dossier to Comey on December 9, 2016, several weeks after the November 2016 presidential election. By then, Steele had already met numerous times with FBI agents to provide them with his controversial reports. Steele, however, was terminated as an FBI source in the fall of 2016 because he spoke to the news media.   . . .

Prior to his death, McCain admitted to personally handing the dossier to Comey but he refused repeated requests for comment about whether he had a role in providing the dossier to BuzzFeed, including numerous inquiries sent to his office by this reporter.

In his book published last year, McCain maintained he had an “obligation” to pass the dossier charges against Trump to Comey and he would even do it again. “Anyone who doesn’t like it can go to hell,” McCain exclaimed.

 

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Punishment fit the crime? — not by Judge Van Marel in Story County Iowa

Destroying a 5′ X 8′ banner gets much stiffer sentence than instances of physical assaults against persons

Below are links to news reports last week regarding the offense, arrest, trial, conviction (by jury) and sentencing of Adolfo Martinez. Judge Steven Van Marel sentenced Martinez to 15+ years in prison for reaching up, tearing down and then burning outdoors a $125 to $200 gay pride banner pictured.  He admitted to doing it apparently out of  personal, cultural or religious conviction about homosexuality. Accordingly he was found guilty of a hate crime. The sentence was largely what was advocated by the Story County Attorney office.

Please read the linked articles then ponder the implications, our points and other commentary about the matter.

Iowa man sentenced to 16 years for setting LGBTQ flag on fire  

Ames man to spend nearly 2 decades behind bars for LGBTQ flag burning

He burned a church’s LGBTQ flag and got 16 years. They responded by advocating for him. 

Key points, questions and implications:

  • This was vandalism, not a meaningful physical assault against a person



  • Why is the judge not mentioned by name in media reports (we have an idea)  — we had to dig it out from court records?

  • The biggest assault on justice in this matter is from the aforementioned grand-standing legal jerks abusing their power

  • How is it that a gay banner (representing an idea) has more protected significance than the American flag?

  • Conservative social justice warriors (SJW) can join with liberal SJWs to condemn this prosecutoral and judicial atrocity along with the very thought of thought crime persecutions — will it happen?

  • While the liberal leadership of the church that had its property vandalized is playing this to the hilt, they have apparently criticized the sentence and offered aid to the arguably mentally ill vandal

  • How does this matter compare to treatment by dominant liberal media of vandalism against pro-life display objects, not to mention assaults on pro-life persons?

  • If there is to be enhanced punishment for so called hate crimes (do not most crimes arguably involve “acting out” or animus at some level?) shouldn’t that kind of punishment be reserved for assaults against persons?

  • Some conservative reaction disappointing

By inference of the dominant media treatment of the matter, tearing down a gay-pride banner is a direct assault against gay people and that is all you need to know.  The act was so hugely intimidating even though no gay people were involved, or injured, or probably even witnessed the incident, maybe never even owned the damn banner! (Gadzooks did I just commit a hate crime by referring to a gay rights symbol in a pejorative way?)

One more time. A sixteen-year prison sentence for ripping a cheap banner down and taking it to a parking lot across the street and burning it, seriously endangering no one.  Let that sink in. Now it was a stupid antic by someone who on video seems mentally off-balance, or perhaps under the influence, but clearly wasn’t much concerned about getting caught or getting away with something.

We are told the vandal, Adolfo Martinez, had priors including a felony or two (not recounted in specific number or severity in the reports we read). However the persecution and draconian sentencing supposedly had something to do with his rap sheet and  “three (felony) strikes” sentencing guide lines and allowances. Does anyone else wonder how many multiple offenders never get such treatment?

We also wonder why the property theft and destruction was classified a felony in the first place when the banner or flag, which appears to be maybe 5’X8′ is readily available at a cost of from $125 to $175 at “Rainbow Depot.” . Throw in maybe a few bucks for the printing overlay and we see maybe an offense of simple misdemeanor theft or at most a serious misdemeanor theft, the latter punishable by up to a year in jail and a scheduled fine. But oh no, Mr Martinez thinks ill of the gay lifestyle which that banner arguably represents.

Desecrating it is a hate crime

So what about that? We thought hate crime laws were designed to punish direct crimes against persons not theft of objects that are easily replaceable, of no inherent consequence or value, do not deprive anyone of the ability to make a living. If attacks on symbols are a felonious crime regardless of the cost of the item then protestors who desecrate the American flag in this country should be charged with felonies – except that desecrating the American flag has been ruled protected speech.

Desecrating it is protected speech

So now in Story County Iowa we have a gay rights banner, a symbol,  having more protection than the American flag, a symbol of nothing?! The desecration of that is something no one can take actionable offense at?

Mr. Martinez was also charged with some specie of arson.  SERIOUSLY – ARSON! He lit a banner on fire in a parking lot! A burning without a permit citation maybe, but ARSON?!  Back to the people who desecrate the US flag — are they not hate criminals, and if they burn it, now arsonists as well by the lights of Judge Phantly Roy Bean Steven Van Marel, “The Law East of the Skunk River.”?

The prosecutor persecutor on the case who various journals identify as the Assistant County Attorney Jessica Reynolds, is actually THE County Attorney  as the Story County Board of Supervisors appointed her to the position in 2016 rather than hold an election after the position was vacated due to the retirement of the elected County Attorney. At this writing we also now see that, effective February 7th, Attorney Reynolds has resigned to take a job with the Iowa Attorney General’s office held by vacant liberal Democrat Tom Miller, and get this, as training coordinator for County Attorney’s in Iowa.  By the way state prosecutors are one of the special projects of the George Soros machine to undermine the Constitution.

There maybe was a time when the ACLU would have jumped on the charges against Martinez, the verdict and sentencing inflicted on him as a desecration of the Constitution and right reason. But probably conservative legal outfits will need to go it alone because for the left, disrespect of the US flag is speech, even honorable speech, but disrespect of the rainbow flag “Gay Glory” is a hate crime. If Anton Scalia could accept that flag burning was protected speech then you would think the ACLU would see that hating a rainbow flag is also protected speech and not deserving of special aggravated treatment in prosecutions and sentencing.  But we doubt it.  We actually see a difference between the rainbow flag and desecration of Old Glory but we will hold that discussion for another day.

We are curious what Attorney Reynolds and Judge Van Marle would do about a malcontent purchasing a rainbow flag himself (herself) and then parading in front of that church or some other identifiable leftist political venue, perhaps on the public sidewalk, no, better, in rather risque fashion on the street without a permit outside such venue, and then lit said emotionally loaded property and waved it around in protest?

Now there might rightly be a minor charge or two possible (not in our book) but by Reynolds’ and Van Marel’s lights such a horrible person should be looking at ARSON charges along with obstructing traffic (however minimally as it is just one person but remember the good liberals are trying to send a message), maybe incitement to riot, littering perhaps?

But ADD to or amplify all such charges if the malcontent has ever evidenced the temerity to say something equivalent to “hate” for the gay lifestyle or special rights for gays, the charge enhancement HATE CRIME. They would probably do that out of the feeling that more messaging is needed (that is what this is all about – put all those deplorables on notice, NOT individual justice). If said malcontent has any criminal record, really throw the book at them as such a thought criminal needs to be put away. Indeed, make room in prison by accelerating the release of offenders one can have more  sympathy for, hit and run perps, domestic abusers,  (having handed them lesser sentences to begin with).

Speaking of which — as is pointed out by way of some of the conservative links regarding this story, serious bodily injury crimes are frequently met with lesser penalties in Iowa. We noticed some in the court reporting blotters mentioning Reynolds and Van Marel (web-search their full names, dig deep and you will find some). We have no idea how they would explain their double standards. For example regarding assaulting a police officer – four days in jail.  Frankly we are not questioning leniency in individual cases, we are challenging extremely harsh political sentencing to send a message.

As regards comparing treatment of vandals of  icons associated with the left with those icons associated with conservatism, all too many examples emerge when one looks at charges and punishments meted out for damage to pro-life displays. Of the hundreds of instances  over the years how many of the perps apprehended have the book thrown at them as has Adolfo Martinez?  Of those in Iowa, how many have been treated as hate crimes rather than simple vandalism?

Short of evidence of a pattern by a person or group, we believe that restitution, jail and fines as ordinarily appropriate, and any civil recourse are enough for any single incidence.  And government should not be the thought police and get into the business of picking which “hate” to be afforded enhanced punishment.

One more thing — why did none of the media stories we viewed regarding this matter  not mention the name of the judge involved?  Strangely, even conservative outlets did not.

Could it be because liberal outlets realize state judges sit for retention. While such retention votes in Iowa are typically free rides it is because people do not know the records of the judges unless something sensational happens. Iowa threw out a couple of state Supreme Court justices ten years ago hot on their vote after their constitutionally imaginative gay marriage decision.

The charges and sentence for Martinez are so out of kilter that one wonders — is this judge trying to politically martyr himself or is he relying on typical retention vote indifference, or maybe he is retiring. He was just retained by the typical wide margin for judges in 2016 and has four years left before the next retention vote for his position.  If he intends to stay he probably figures that he can rely on get-out-the-vote efforts by the usual suspects in campus town to save him.  By the way, he was first appointed in 1987 by Republican Terry Branstad.

Related reading:  (various reports list the Martinez sentence as 15, 16 or 17 years)

At RedState: Man Sentenced to 17 Years in Prison for Burning a Gay Pride Flag   You will be made to care

Reason: A 15-Year Sentence for Burning a Stolen Gay Pride Flag Is Not Justice 
Hate crime enhancements meet three-strikes laws, and the consequences are terrible.

Caffeinated Thoughts: An Unjust Sentence: 16 Years for Burning an LGBT Pride Flag?

BBC: Fifteen years in Iowa jail for burning pride flag

Queerty.com: Iowa man sentenced to 15 years after stealing and burning Pride flag

This article at American Greatness is an example of the lesson conservatives should not take from the Martinez sentencing – roll over, be overly careful of creating dissidence in favor of separatism.

*Overzealous Prosecution Law and Legal Definition  USlegal.com

Overzealous prosecution refers to someone instituting legal proceedings against a defendant for criminal behavior with the intention to support an excessive enthusiasm for some cause,rather than with any genuine basics for the suit. Prosecution is the act of commencing and carrying out or pursing a lawsuit or criminal trial.

More later

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All in all because of the antics of Democrats it’s been a good couple of weeks

  • They exposed themselves to a lot more people as the insufferable tyrants they are
  • Now, just to rub it in a little:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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