Posse Incitatus

Stand Back and Watch, Part II

Longtime readers of the Posse know that I have frequently pointed out how Democrats have an over-the-top tendency to overplay their hand. Emotion, imagery, arrogance and hopeless idealism absolutely run roughshod over substance, common sense, measured policy and any semblance of decorum.

After all, the Democrats are the party of the KKK, Jim Crow laws, lynchings, Tammany Hall, corrupt urban governments and police departments during Prohibition, the Irish mob, and FDR's internment of Americans of Japanese, German and Italian descent during World War II... Need I go on? Oh, but perhaps I shouldn't be so mean-spirited... All of that is in the past; just an annoyance for the selective memories -- or should I say, utter ignorance of history -- apparent among 2019 Democrats. One thing's for sure: Democrat lunacy will continue.

Consider the two Diversity Darlings elected to the U.S. House a few months ago, AOC (it's painful to even type out her entire name) and Ilhan Omar. Both are, shall we say, loose cannons on steroids. The Democrat obsession with skin color, ethnic background and gender trumps concern about ability, maturity, knowledge and legislative effectiveness. It's all about power and projecting that Rainbow Coalition. Next thing you know, Democrats will be electing cats and dogs to sit in Congress.

Ah, but there's a catch... Rep. Omar has pissed off many Jews (the majority of whom are Democrats) with her anti-Semetic statements and her past associations with scum like Lewis Farrakhan and terrorist front group CAIR. Her vitriol may well hinder Democrat financial and media support for the party. Once the campaign contributions start suffering and it's clear there's a direct link to the indiscreet Rep. Omar, the Dems will throw her under the bus in a heartbeat. There's already talk back in her home district (perhaps the largest concentration of useful idiots on the planet) of finding a solid candidate to oppose her in the 2020 primary. 

And then there's the Valley Girl AOC, whose experience as a bartender obviously didn't prepare her for the big stage and the bright lights. It would take all day to recite the inane statements she's made (here's a quick example: "Unemployment is low because everyone has two jobs.") or to recite her list of idiotic policy proposals (e.g., Green New Deal -- I call it the Emulate Venezuela Act).

But the truth is that AOC won't always spout stupidity in the company of sympathetic media sycophants throwing her softball questions and cooing as if she were a pet poodle. In fact, any member of Congress put into a position of responsibility -- i.e., sitting on the House Financial Services Committee -- needs to do her homework and be prepared to ask intelligent, informed questions when important figures are asked to testify. The cameras are on, and the social media critics are out with the long knives.

The other day, AOC embarrassed herself -- and by extension, her party and voters who elected her -- with some of the most ill-informed and foolish questioning I've ever heard. She asked Wells Fargo CEO Timothy Sloan if his company was involved in financing the "caging of children" at the border. She made a wild assumptions about Wells Fargo being liable for environmental damage in the event of a leak involving the Dakota Access pipeline, which was partially financed by Wells Fargo.

Wells Fargo was one of more than a dozen banks to finance the pipeline, but AOC didn't know that. She asked Sloan: "Hypothetically, if there was a leak from the Dakota Access Pipeline, why shouldn't Wells Fargo pay for the cleanup of it, since it paid for the construction of the pipeline itself?"

Sloan replied tersely, ‘Because we don’t operate the pipeline." By his facial expression, you could tell Sloan doesn't suffer fools gladly, but he's too disciplined and wise to launch into a belittling rant against the overmatched Bronx bartender. Had he lost his composure and given her a well-deserved dressing down, he may well have lost his job. And the Twitter mobs would have had a meltdown. He would have been demonized 24/7 for a long time.

But it's bad press for the Democrats when one of their precious young "rock stars" embarrasses herself by being ignorant, ill-prepared and not ready for prime time. Don't think AOC couldn't be thrown under the bus, too. Believe me, it's tempting to go on a Twitter rant and pummel these two, but then, why wallow in the muck? In recent months, I've cut way back on watching the news and political talk shows, and I'm loving it. I'm in a better mood, and enjoying more reading time. Now that the weather is finally improving, I intend to take more walks, and longer walks, AND get back into weight lifting, which I've put on the back burner the past few years. Life's short, and I've determined that the toxic stew of politics is a piss-poor way to spend much time.

MSU VS. MICHIGAN, PART III -- Today at 3:30 p.m., my beloved Michigan State Spartans will tip off against the archrival Michigan Wolverines in the Big Ten Tournament championship game at United Center in Chicago. The Spartans beat Michigan twice in the Big Ten season, and it's usually pretty tough to beat a good team three times in one season.

One reason I really love beating the Wolverines is because, for several years now, Michigan has had a number of cocky, arrogant players who rub me the wrong way with their antics. In 2014, Nick Stauskas (now in the NBA) torched the Spartans with his 3-point shooting at the Breslin Center, and, not being content to let his performance speak for itself,  blew kisses to the MSU fans. Last year, Morris Wagner (also now an NBA player) proved to be a thorn in the side against MSU at the Breslin Center, and as he ran down the court, he sushed the crowd with his index finger on his mouth. "Shhhhhhh." What an ass! This year, a clown by the name of Ignas Brazdeikis (from Canada, but his parents were from Lithuania) has an annoying habit of flexing his muscles when he makes a big play. He's a damned good player, and undoubtedly has the talent to play at the next level. But like so many Skunk Bears in the past, he's full of himself and an obnoxious showboat. And then there's the big mouth Jordan Poole, who said the Michigan State campus was "trash." Um, try not to let your ignorance show, buddy. MSU's campus is widely regarded as one of the most beautiful in the nation. (Look who's No. 15!)

In football, it's the Michigan fans I despise more than the players, although some of the players have been pretty cocky and arrogant (Remember Mike Hart and his "little brother" comments?). But in basketball, it's the players more than the fans that get on my nerves.

But on to the game... MSU's superstar point guard, Cassius Winston, already had tendinitis in his knees. Now he has a sprained ankle and sprained toe to boot. He's been overworked, and may be running on fumes. Forward Kyle Ahrens won't play because of a bad back, and forward Nick Ward, who just returned to the lineup Friday after nearly a month of absence as his injured hand recovered, looks to have put on weight and slowed down. He's not ready to resume at his previous level. Plus, Michigan's Charles Matthews, a forward who is good offensively and excellent defensively, has returned to the lineup after battling an ankle injury. Hate to do it, but I am predicting Michigan's fierce desire for revenge and MSU's beaten down state means the corn-n-blue come out on top today. Let's make it 75-65. (Boy, would I love to be wrong!)

Happy St. Paddy's Day, everyone! Now, don't overdo it with the green beer!

 

 

The strange drip drip drip of declassified documents in DC

As the Mueller investigation lurches to an uncertain ending, we're seeing a steady flow of hitherto restricted document coming from House Republicans.

The leftwing press isn't much interested in them because it hurts their cause, but they're out their availability will have a considerable impact on pending judicial action.

The facts likely don't come as a surprise to anyone involved.  We now know that the press was working hand-in-glove with the FBI to leak anti-Trump stories and further the deep state conspiracy against him.

Bob Mueller also has been exposed as exactly the partisan hack people thought he was.  He went after people for process crimes and used dawn raids to intimidate them all the while giving Democrats who did the exact same thing a pass. 

Again, all of this was already known in DC, though the politicians are pretending (as they always do) that each release is a total shock and surprise to them.

No, what's intriguing is the timing and the method of the release.

Donald Trump could have put all this information out and more well before the fall elections.  Yet he's still behaving like a onlooker, cheering each release but also remaining independent of it.

I've seen some conservatives berate him for this, but that too misses the point.  Trump wanted the information out, but didn't want to release it himself.  The reason is obvious: the Dems - and their Grand Inquisitor - would insist that the president using his lawful authority was somehow "obstructing justice."

Indeed, this whole shitshow has been an attempt to turn Trump's decision to fire the sanctimonious lying hack James Comey into a Constitutional crisis, despite the fact that Trump has both the right to do it and Comey absolutely deserved it.

All of which is to say:  things are coming out in a manner Trump desires and at a time of his choosing.  This leads me to believe that other things will progress in a similar manner.

It's going to be interesting to see what he has in mind.

Scandals in Academia

We've heard for decades about universities and their athletic boosters paying recruits and players -- either with cash, or perks like fancy cars and beautiful women. But what's less known is the extent to which academic and admissions fraud exist, and how commonly the wealthy and well-connected are full participants.

On Tuesday, the story broke wide open about how a number of the "beautiful people," including actresses Felicity Huffman and Lori Loughlin, have been busted by the FBI for paying bribes in a college entrance exam cheating scam. In some cases, payments were disguised as charitable contributions. So far, about 50 people have been charged, but the investigation is ongoing.

I suspect we haven't seen the tip of the iceberg. The FBI has not indicated how long the investigation will go on, or how many colleges are involved. I, for one, will relish seeing many, many people go down like dominos. Anything to expose the hypocrisy and sham of higher education.

At the risk of sounding like a whiny liberal, I'd say their frequent cry of "white privilege" may actually have some validity. However, the white skin pigmentation isn't so much the issue as wealth, power and connections are. It just so happens that a huge majority of those who have those connections happen to be Caucasian.

I have long been a harsh critic of the "holistic criteria" method used in college admissions, which I believe to be irrational and quite arbitrary. I'm sorry, but not everyone has the personality or opportunity to be on the student council, a cheerleader, member of a fraternity or volunteer in the local literacy program. Some kids are from single-parent homes and must babysit siblings; some live out in the stix and cannot get transportation to extracurricular activities; and some have part-time jobs to save for college or help support their families.

And then there are those ridiculous admission essays. You'd have to be naive and gullible not to realize that many students get major help from their parents, older siblings, friends or others in writing their essays. And, siding with the liberals once again, minority students whose parents and grandparents do not have college degrees are at a distinct disadvantage trying to be admitted to a prestigious university even if their grades and test results are excellent. Why? Because they don't have that legacy thing going for them -- a parent or grandparent who graduated from the university and contributed to its endowment.

But with all of that being said, there's also a problem of universities unfairly tilting the playing field toward less qualified minorities for the sake of filling diversity quotas. Again, the obsession is skin color, not socio-economic status. In other words, a middle class black, or one whose parents are doctors, would be admitted before a poor white with slightly better test scores. Just ask the University of Michigan, which in 2003 got slapped down by the U.S. Supreme Court in Gratz V. Bollinger. The court ruled that the university's rigid, point-based undergraduate admissions policy was essentially a quota system. 

I know I've strayed, ranting about the admissions process when I started out talking about the admissions test scandal. (But what better opportunity to rant?) The truth is, the context of the convoluted, rigged admissions process was definitely conducive to this latest scandal.

And while some conservatives are pointing gleefully at the fact that leftist Hollywood stars are among the first busted, I'm not going to bother keeping a scorecard of the political leanings of those who go down. (Chances are there will be more liberals than conservatives, if I had to guess.) The issue is the way the upper crust often plays by a different set of rules and has no qualms about it. The President's son-in-law, Jared Kushner, had mediocre grades and test scores but was admitted to Harvard because his father pledged $2.5 million to the university, according to a report in Pro Publica.

Let's face it: The wealthy can grease the skids across the ideological spectrum. Been that way for thousands of years, and probably will never change. (Not to say that all wealthy people are cheaters or immoral.)

It will be interesting to see how this unfolds in the coming weeks and months, and how the corrupt media twists itself into a pretzel trying to make conservatives and Donald Trump look bad. But perhaps the major underpinning here -- and it comes as no surprise whatsoever -- is that the Benjamins greatly supersede any semblance of integrity when it comes to the elitists of the academy. Shocking!

Traditionalists in the United Methodist Church hold firm

This story is a couple of weeks old, but bears further examination.

For the first time, the traditionalists in a mainline Protestant denomination have forced a halt to the watering down of their theology and a total embrace of political correctness.

The Atlantic describing this as "conservatives taking back the church," which appears to be yet another variation on the old "conservatives pounce!" but in fact all that happened is that the majority of delegates refused to cave in to their liberal win.

It wasn't a counterattack, just a spirited defense, but that now counts as aggression.

The article notes that a schism is still likely, but instead of traditionalists pulling out, it will likely be the progressives who leave.  They are so invested in their theology of sexual license that there can be no compromise.

A decisive factor in the vote was the unwillingness of traditional congregations outside the US to embrace dressing up Western decadence and depravity as Christian virtue.  Like many churches, the United Methodists have been sending missionaries around the world for a long time.  Those missions have born fruit and while the American core is falling into heresy, the periphery remains true to their doctrine.

A similar dynamic is at work in the Anglican communion.  The Church of England has gone all-in on progressivism, even coming up with liturgies to feed the delusions of the mentally ill.  The other provinces, however, are not willing to accommodate this and other depravities.  A split there seems inevitable.

The core problem is that progressivism makes for a lousy religion.  It is constantly evolving and changing based on political need and cultural impulse.  The compulsion to signal virtue by coming up with ever-newer fads is anathema to maintaining a timeless and eternal way of describing the universe.

Churches are supposed to provide rules for a lifetime - and beyond.  Progressivism can't even go a decade without repudiating core beliefs in favor of newer ones that are ever more "woke."

As I said, this isn't a counterattack so much as a desperate defense that succeeded after years of assault.  The next challenge will be to see how the UMC enforces its doctrine.  To this point, it hasn't, which is why there are a number of homosexual clergy who are quite happy to perform unauthorized ceremonies - and to do this with impunity.

The Methodists have halted the flooding on their ship.  What now remains to be seen is whether they can pump out all the water that's already aboard.

Oz Never Did Give Nothing to Nick Sandmann

A line from America's great tune "Tinman" popped into my head when I was thinking about Covington Catholic High School student Nick Sandmann's libel and defamation suits against the Washington Post and CNN. So why not tweak it a bit just for the fun of it?

In traditional libel law, a person who's not considered a public figure has a lower threshold to cross to win a claim of defamation: Proving that the publisher acted with reckless disregard for the truth and/or gross negligence. But public figures must prove the the publisher actually intended actual malice (Remember that great movie, "Absence of Malice," with Sally Field and Paul Newman?)

So, you say, Sandmann's case is a slam dunk. No one ever heard of him before the infamous Indian drum beater video went viral on Twitter and Facebook. But therein lies the rub: Maybe by virtue of having his countenance spread to millions of people worldwide via cyberspace, and the notoriety blown up by the typical Twitter mobs, Sandmann is a public figure.

I don't know enough about the law to have a feel for how this is going to go. But if I were to speculate, I suppose a lot depends on whether there's a trial, and if so, where it takes place. A jury from Covington may well side with Sandmann, but such a ruling would most likely be overruled by a higher court. It seems more likely that CNN especially, but also possibly the Post, will settle outside of court. They may want to avoid having their reputations dragged through the mud with public testimony dragging on for days.

This brings to mind a case that occurred when I lived in Atlanta back in the 1990s: The Centennial Olympic Park bomber. A local yokel security guard, Richard Jewell (may he R.I.P.) had his reputation besmirched and a boatload of people wanting to hang him before all of the facts were shorted out, thanks to the worthless rag the Atlanta Constitution, another one of many leftist papers that is ecstatic whenever they can dump on a conservative white guy from a small town who's an easy mark for smug progressive mocking. It turns out, Jewell sued, and the paper was forced to pay him a settlement (amount never revealed) because the Constitution scumbags knew their ass was grass.

I am neither a detective nor a lawyer, but when I heard WSB radio play the recording of the bomber calling 9-1-1 and stating, "There's a bomb in Centennial Olympic Park. You have 30 minutes," I knew there was no way it was Jewell. Rudolph, although a southerner (now serving a life prison sentence for a series of terror attacks), does not have a southern dialect. Jewell, on the other hand, sounded like he was part of the cast from The Andy Griffith Show. How in the world could those idiots at the paper continue to publish their bullshit with this blatantly obvious piece of evidence?  Sheer anger and hatred, I suppose.

My final observation is this: Computers, the Internet and social media sure have made things challenging for lawyers, judges and law enforcement. There's so much uncharted territory; so many ways to interpret cyber evidence based on precedents and previous rulings that date to long before the World Wide Web came into existence.

When my co-blogger and I first met in the late 1990s and worked as political hacks in the Michigan House of Representatives, one of the hot issues was Internet sales tax policies. Various states passed a tangle of laws and regulations pertaining to whether the sales tax had to be enforced for online purchases, and whether it was based on where the retailer, manufacturer or purchaser resided. It is still is a major morass, with 12,000 taxing jurisdiction, a patchwork taxing regime, and thousands of changes to sales taxes that must be taken into account.

Last I heard, there were some Supreme Court rulings dealing with it, and Congress still hasn't passed legislation to try bringing about uniformity. I don't have the time or interest to research it; only to point out that this is just one issue made more complicated by technology. Remote retail transactions, crossing multiple jurisdictional lines and involving multiple players. What a mess! Forensics, prosecutorial duties, defense strategies, judges' case particulars... It's all up in the air, and the Sandmann case may end up setting a major precedent in the realm of IT libel law.

GO SPARTANS -- Well, we're less than two hours from game time. About two weeks after the Michigan State Spartans defeated the Michigan Wolverines in Ann Arbor, the two squads face off in a nationally televised rematch at 8 p.m. in the Breslin Center in East Lansing. The winner will share a co-Big Ten championship with Purdue. As I mentioned last week, MSU is without starters Josh Langford and Nick Ward, and another regular contributor, Kyle Ahrens, has a bad back. Heck, even All-World point guard Cassius Winston has some tendinitis trouble in his overworked knees. They've been running on fumes, but thanks to great team chemistry, freshmen who have stepped up, and a couple of seniors who are playing far better than ever before -- not to mention Winston's leadership and tough defense -- MSU is a tough out.

Michigan has played well most of the season, but has struggled in some of its road games. The Wolverines may be without starter Charles Matthews, a solid offensive player and great defender. He sprained his ankle a few days ago, and may either not play or be less than 100 percent. It's Senior Night, and the home crowd will be going bonkers. I think MSU wins this one, but it will be hard-fought. I'll predict Spartans 80-79 in OT.

With their victory, Democrat anti-Semites will only become louder and more confident

There's a personality type that can't simply accept the win with dignity.  They have exult, preen and boast after every victory.

This can be a problem, however, when the victory is supposed to be downplayed.

For example, the Democrats have long pretended that anti-Semites only existed on the right (just as they pretended that the KKK all joined the GOP in 1968).

They were able to get away with this charade because the media steadfastly ignored examples of leftwing anti-Semitism and their own Jew-hating allies know how to keep their remarks on the downlow.

To be sure, there were provocations from time to time, but nothing that their media allies couldn't cover up.

That time is now past, and it is precisely because the new generation of Jew haters are actually proud of the distinction and want to world to know what they think. 

It is ironic that these people won't shut up because of another Democrat belief - that of the virtue of ignorant youth.  Alexandria Occaiso-Cortes and her fellow freshman believe that their youth and inexperience make them morally superior to the leaders of the caucus.  They believe that far from owing deference to their elders, their elders actually owe deference to them.

Nancy Pelosi was able to keep a lid on this, but Ilhan Omar was always a loose cannon, beholden to none.  She'd smear Jews, apologize, and then go do it again.  I'm sure she found this hokey-pokey style of discussion tedious and was willing to finally give it up so she could air her full-throated hatred of Zion and the hook-nosed blood-drinkers therein.

To their great discredit, the Democrat leadership caved.

Expect the statements to grow more strident as victorious anti-Semites consolidate their position.  I anticipate a plank in the 2020 platform endorsing both the Boycott Divest and Sanction movement as well as the "Zionism is Racism" United Nations resolution.

When that happens, the Trumpening will have yet another Great Reveal to its credit.  While alarming, this reckoning is also absolutely necessary.  Only after we know the full scope of the problem can we solve it.