Posse Incitatus

Corrections, Clarifications & Misc.

Sometimes when I realize I've made a mistake in a post, I'll go right in and change it -- or make note of the mistake in a response, while setting the record straight.

Several weeks ago, I listed a few companies I am boycotting because I'm disgusted by their spineless sellout to woke and Critical Race Theory garbage. I just went back in the archives and could not find the post (maybe I'm scanning too fast), but I think it was in the last 1-2 months.

So for the record, here's a correction: I am not boycotting Gatorade, as I stated. I'm boycotting Powerade, because it is produced and owned by Coca Cola, which is totally woke and was all in for pressuring Major League Baseball into pulling the All-Star game from Atlanta and moving it to Denver. So again, it's POWERADE I'm boycotting (along with Nike, Delta Airlines, Harry's Razors, and numerous other companies). 

When it comes to some woke companies, I've never bought their products anyway. These include the likes of Ben & Jerry's ice cream, IKEA furniture, Amazon products, and many others). I must admit, I have some qualms about my iPhone and MacBook Pro computer. Apple uses slave labor in China to assemble many of its products. I certainly cannot claim to be pure as the driven snow as far as avoiding the leftist and hypocritical companies. One thing I love doing, though, is supporting organizations and companies liberals despise, such as the NRA, Walmart, and Chick-fil-A, for example.

Now on to the Olympics. I mentioned that Simone Biles had pulled out due to her fragile psychological state. But I should have clarified: She withdrew from the events that require dangerous mid-air twists and flips -- maneuvers that could wreck you for life if you land wrong because your concentration and precise body coordination are not in holistic harmony.

It turns out, Simone did compete on the balance beam, and ended up winning a bronze medal. Congrats to her!

Finally, I felt that I failed to adequately explain something in my post about several New York State black attorneys' associations joining a Second Amendment-realted lawsuit against the state. Their amicus brief notes that “In 2020, while Black people made up 18% of New York’s population, they accounted for 78% of the state’s felony gun possession cases."

The brief makes note of several draconian gun laws that harm blacks. For example, a defendant could have an unloaded gun and separate ammunition, but the gun is considered "loaded." Also, possessing that “loaded” gun without a permit, even if it is not used, is a “violent felony” that carries a 3.5 to 15-year prison sentence. Check out this outrageous law (and the article's absurd headline).

As I stated in the post, the famous line of Oliver Twist is apropos: "The law is an ass."

A Few Thoughts on the Olympics

Admittedly, I haven't been paying that much attention to the Summer Olympics. As long as I can remember, I've been far more interested and entertained by the Winter Olympics.

Growing up in Michigan, I can relate to skiing, figure skating, hockey and bobsled races. I've done my share of ice skating and playing hockey with guys from the neighborhood, although I never played on an official hockey team. I've never been on a bobsled or attended a bobsled race, but I've ridden a toboggan on an ice track in a recreational area just outside my home town of Midland, Michigan.

I'm old enough to remember the U.S. hockey team upsetting the hated Soviet Union in 1980. This was perhaps the greatest upset in the history of sports. The Soviets had professional athletes who had been training and practicing hockey since they were 5 years old. They were the cream of the crop -- most of them good enough to play in the NHL if it had been permitted in those days.

The United States, by contrast, had amateur hockey players -- many of whom played for college teams. They were talented, and some, including goalie Jim Craig, eventually did play in the NHL. But on paper, the Soviets vs. U.S. in 1980 was like comparing today's Super Bowl champion Tampa Bay Buccaneers with a good but not great college football team -- say, the 2020 University of Florida Gators (8-4). No one in his right mind would pick the Gators to win.

As for the summer Olympics, three memories stand out in my mind: In 1972, when I was 12 years old, and the Palestinian terrorist organization Black September took several Israeli Olympics athletes hostage in Munich, West Germany. After all was said and done, six Israeli coaches, five Israeli athletes and one West German police officer were murdered, along with five Black September members.

This was one of my first realizations about how deadly Middle Eastern enmities were. Since I delivered papers and often read headlines and sometimes articles, I was aware of plane hijackings and that a bomb had exploded at the U.S. Capitol in March 1971 -- courtesy of the Weather Underground. But I just never considered that a sporting event would involve bloodshed. 

Also in 1972, the impressive Mark Spitz won an incredible seven gold medals, and his achievement lasted 36 years until Michael Phelps won eight gold medals in the 2008 Summer Olympics.

Four years later, in 1976, Bruce Jenner won the men's decathlon competition, which consists of 10 track and field events. As you are undoubtedly aware, Bruce underwent sex change surgery, and is now Caitlyn Jenner, a candidate for governor of California.

In light of the woke foolishness that has contaminated our culture, and in full acknowledgement of the bitter polarization from which we'll probably never break free, I'd like to comment on three U.S. Olympics athletes from two different eras: 1968, and today.

In 1968, Gold medalist Tommie Smith and bronze medalist John Carlos were harshly criticized for raising the black power fist during the U.S. national anthem.

Some of today's simple-minded "analysts" have attempted to equate this very justified form of protest with the shameful demonstrations started by former NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick in which NFL players take a knee during the anthem. Olympics women's soccer player Megan Rapinoe is another ingrate who loves to display her disdain for the flag and national anthem. But many of today's athletes end up being fabulously wealthy and have multiple opportunities to earn money, from commercial endorsements to book deals to acting opportunities. I don't begrudge them their wealth and success; they have all worked extremely hard and disciplined themselves. They ought to be rewarded.

But the contrast of 1968 vs. today couldn't be more stark. Smith and Carlos performed for a nation that still had de facto segregation in numerous states (compliance with the 1964 civil rights laws didn't automatically happen). Ours was a nation in which blacks were just beginning to be admitted to southern universities, and wouldn't be allowed to play on the varsity football teams for several years. I know from speaking with former coworkers who were black and grew up in Detroit that real police racism and brutality existed in those days. Not just in Detroit, but in many cities. Today's police are far better trained, of higher character, and usually comport themselves with professionalism.

Today's woke black athletes, by comparison, have been coddled in a world of opportunity, and they're playing in a nation that has elected and re-elected a black president, and now has a black vice president. Many blacks have worked hard to become doctors, lawyers, engineers, financiers, and CEOs, to name a few areas. The black middle class is larger and more prosperous than ever before. Police brutality is very much the exception, not the rule. But many pro athletes of all races -- and celebrities, too -- have been brainwashed to hate and disrespect our nation and its traditions.

Now, a word about gymnast Simone Biles. She has been unfairly criticized for withdrawing from the Olympics due to her fragile mental and psychological state. It's reprehensible that some people are calling her a quitter and narcissist who wants to make it "all about her." Unless you've walked in someone else's shoes, you don't know what he or she has endured. Simone was one of the hundreds of female athletes abused by the vile Dr. Larry Nassar, and that leaves lifetime scars.

What many people don't realize is that the extremely difficult and precision moves and performances in which a gymnast engages require a clean head, concentration, and a wholeness of mind and body. Doing those flips and twists, a person could easily end up in a wheelchair if severe depression or anxiety interfered with concentration.

It's similar to other challenging activities. A Major League Baseball hitter must be totally dialed in and have crisp timing to judge and hit 95-mph fastballs (not to mention curves, sinkers and sliders). Pro quarterbacks must be calculating and always thinking ahead, anticipating possibilities. They know they need to either get rid of the ball or run; that if they hold onto it too long, some behemoth defensive lineman could blast them into the next galaxy.

I feel badly for Simone Biles. Like all Olympic athletes, she's worked very hard for years, and disciplined herself to an extent far greather than most of us are capable of doing. I hope and pray she finds peace from her demons. On a selfish note, I wish I could have watched her perform more, AND win a gold medal. But her wellness is obviously far more important than any fans' wishes. Godspeed.

Another Splinter on the Left -- In Defense of the Second Amendment

The left is made up of many disparate factions -- a motley crew of special interests I've often referred to as a kaleidoscope. By their inherent nature, these separate "tribes" don't always get along.

In what now seems like a century ago but was really only 13 years ago, the late Michigan Congressman John Dingell was given the heave-ho as chair of the Energy and Commerce Committee by the Nancy Pelosi-led House Democrats. Former California Rep. Henry Waxman, a true believer in electric vehicles and the green new deal pipe dream, replaced him.

Dingell, you see, had been a long-time advocate of Detroit's Big Three auto producers, which at the time produced primarily internal combustion, gasoline-burning engines. This was in the early stages of the woke bullshit and the headlong leap into unproven, impractical and unrealistic technologies. This was also one of the early indicators that Democrats were abandoning the lunch bucket "Joe Six-pack" voter in favor of Wall Street, the coastal elites, oligarchs, green weenies and Hollywood celebrities.

In more recent years, we've seen militant LGBTQ activists demonize lesbians who are opposed to the lunatic policy of biological males competing against females in sports (See retired tennis star Martina Navritalova). Additionally, many Hispanic Democrats who reside in traditionally Democrat areas along the southern border are voting overwhelmingly for Republicans because they realize Democrats do not have their best interests at heart.

Allowing thousands of COVID-19-infected illegal immigrants -- some of them drug dealers, gang bangers and sex traffickers -- to run roughshod over neighborhoods and communities isn't exactly smart policy. Not if you want to win over and retain voters.

Recently, I was pleased to learn that several high profile black attorneys have joined the fight for Second Amendment rights in New York State. They realize, as this blog has noted for years, that gun control laws harm minorities the most. Too many minorities live in dangerous neighborhoods, and a handy "piece" is their best bet to survive a potential mugging or home invasion -- especially when moronic city councils vote to defund and hamstring the police.

A New York State chapter of the NRA is a plaintiff in challenging a state law that limits gun-carrying outside the home without a license. Such licenses are nearly impossible to obtain in leftist New York. The case, which has made its way to the U.S. Supreme Court, has a chance to set a national precedent.

On July 22, Black Attorneys of Legal Aid, the Bronx Defenders, and public defenders spread across the state filed an amicus brief in support of the challenge, claiming it unfairly affects their clients, most of whom are poor and black or Latino. The brief notes that “In 2020, while Black people made up 18% of New York’s population, they accounted for 78% of the state’s felony gun possession cases." This is definitely one of those areas where, in the case of black people's rights, "The law is an ass," as Dickens' Oliver Twist proclaimed.

More and more, minorities living in urban areas are realizing that Democrat policies have destroyed their cities, and that the strongest advocates for gun control are the elitists living in gated communities and/or or benefiting from armed security guards.

The simple-minded and blinkered "reasoning" of these limousine liberals is not unlike the naiveté of so many environmental extremists: They cannot grasp some simple facts: Fossil fuels are used to generate electricity that charges electric vehicle batteries; CO2 is emitted in large quantities by the equipment used to mine the minerals such as lithium, cobalt and nickel used to manufacture the batteries; and truck and train transportation of petroleum products represent a much greater threat to the environment than do pipelines.

But let's close down the Keystone pipeline. Can't miss out on a nationally broadcast virtue signaling opportunity. It's the 21st century version of the old ribbon-cutting ceremonies. What substitutes for intelligence on the left these days is often nothing more than cheap and superficial imagery.

Sheer Incompetency From the Feds (and the media)

If we had a news media with a shred of integrity, the Fourth Estate would be teeing off on the incompetent, stupid and criminally negligent Biden administration.

When it comes to COVID-19, vaccinations, masks and lockdowns, the White House and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) are the Keystone Kops on steroids. 

I am not even sure how to begin analyzing the administration's dizzying array of proclamations, policies, and actions regarding the need for mask wearing among the vaccinated, the super spreader meltdown at the southern border, and the subjugation of school children to the corrupt and evil teachers' unions. It's like jumping on a moving a merry-go-round -- you're not sure where you'll end up.

Meanwhile, the media vermin ignore the blatant double standards, e.g., Speaker Nancy Pelosi demanding that lawmakers wear masks, while tens of thousands of COVID-19-positive illegal immigrants flood into our country.

No, the garbage media is more concerned with demonizing the nearly 75 million people who voted for Donald Trump, and sensationalizing Jan. 6 as a cudgel to beat conservatives into submission.

 A few days ago, New York Times Department of Justice "reporter" Katie Benner tweeted that Trump supporters are "enemies of the state" and a national security threat. A little while later, she deleted three of her tweets, then tweeted a lame "clarification" (in actuality an attempt to save face and walk back her earlier reckless tweets).

Again, Ms. Benner is a so-called "reporter," not an op/ed writer. But then, there's really no line of demarcation between the two at shrill rags like the New York Times and Washington Post -- both tools of the Democrat Party whose main goal is feeding red meat to hateful Democrats.

So much absurdity and so many distortions have flooded the airwaves in recent days, it's time for the bullet point treatment:

• The media have tried mightily to portray most people who won't get the vaccine as mouth-breathing, knuckle-dragging, bible-toting Trumpsters. But the truth is, a significant percentage of those who won't get vaccinated are African-Americans.
• The CDC is now saying fully vaccinated Americans should wear masks indoors in high COVID-19 transmission areas. The CDC "guidance" recommends universal mask wearing for teachers, school staff, students and visitors inside K-12 schools. (How soon before "guidance" becomes mandates with threats of fines, jail time and loss of jobs?) In case you missed it, read how Johns Hopkins Prof. Dr. Marty Makary lambasted the "science" about children's susceptibility to COVID-19.
• The administration is likely to recommend today that all federal employees be vaccinated or lose their jobs, and that everyone else should wear masks, too.
• The CDC's veracity has been waning for years, and now it is basing its revised mask recommendations on a study that was A) not peer reviewed; B) not done in America; and C) based on a vaccine that is not approved in the United States.
• Here is an "inconvenient truth" for White House Press Secretary Jen Psssss-Saki: Some California counties with low vaccination rates have a lower incidence of COVID-19 cases than heavily vaccinated counties.
• The research clearly shows that children are less likely to contract Coronavirus, and if they get it, their symptoms will be mild or nonexistent. Forcing them to wear masks all day is cruel and dysfunctional.
• More than 800 U.S. Border Patrol agents and their support staff in the Rio Grande Valley Sector – nearly one-fourth of the sector's total workforce – have tested positive for the Coronavirus since the start of the pandemic, and two agents have died of COVID-19, according to USA Today.

Forgive me if I ask: If vaccinated people still need to wear masks, WTF is the point of being vaccinated? There is, at best, flimsy evidence that the vaccinated can transmit a large enough viral load to infect other people.

If I didn't know better, I'd think that maybe this disgraceful administration and its egregious press secretary are but another fairy tale written by the 19th century British author Lewis Carroll. But "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland" has nothing on this bunch of charlatans.

Life's Simple Pleasures

 

I've taken a few days off since last week, getting together with relatives on both sides of the family to socialize, relax, enjoy good food and visit some beautiful areas in my home state of Michigan. The photo is of the Holland State Park beach on Lake Michigan in the southwest part of the Lower Peninsula.

We visited the resort towns of Grand Haven, Saugatuck and Holland, and spent some quality time on the beach. My in-laws from Atlanta, Chesapeake, Va., and Miami discovered the pleasure of swimming in fresh water, sans sharks & jellyfish. Most of the Great Lakes feature soft sand underfoot -- not the sharp stones of the ocean beaches. The waves are moderate -- unlike the smackdown waves of the ocean. And when you're done swimming, there's no need to take a shower to wash the salt film off your body.

Thanks to God, the weather was perfect, and the water temperature as close to perfect as possible. Because we visited the beaches on weekdays rather than weekends, there were no long lines to enter the state parks. There was also the additional pleasure of dining at excellent mom-n-pop restaurants n these touristy towns.

We indulged in some Kilwin's ice cream (a brand founded in Petoskey, Michigan in 1947 and now boasting 147 locations in 25 states). Yes, I fell off the diet bandwagon -- and I absolutely LOVED IT!

We live in stressful, uncertain times. Many of us are stressed out by the political dysfunction and bitterness, and we face challenges in our personal lives -- on the job, with health setbacks, relationship problems, or perhaps financial struggles -- the list goes on. Enjoying and being grateful for the beauty of nature and the rejuvenating sustenance of family are essential. 

Don't miss out on these simple palliatives.

ATTN Republicans: Don't Be Dupes!

House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy ain't nobody's fool.

He dd the right thing when he decided to withdraw all Republican appointees to what is sure to be a politicized sham committee looking into the events of the Jan. 6 Capitol invasion. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and her fellow Democrats concocted this political stunt, undoubtedly to provide another cudgel against Republicans heading into the 2022 midterm elections.

Never mind that multiple other investigations into the incident are ongoing, including from the FBI, U.S. Senate, Department of Justice, Capitol Police, and multiple inspectors general from various federal agencies. Talk about a circus. Pelosi's committee is the equivalent of someone offering free shots and free beers to a bunch of people passed out or freaking out from heroin, LSD, methamphetamine and opioids. It is gilding the shit-show lilly on steroids.

It was a given there would be more Democrats than Republicans named to the committee, and it also came as no surprise when Pelosi supported RINO and never-Trump Republicans Liz Cheney of Wyoming and Adam Kinzinger of Illinois. When she asked McCarthy to name a few members, two of those he selected didn't sit well with Madame Speaker. She rejected the appointments of firebrand conservatives Jim Jordan of Ohio and Jim Banks of Indiana, claiming they would degrade the "integrity" of the panel. (Oops -- broke my own rule: Don't EVER use these two words in a sentence referring to Congress: integrity or ethics!)

The truth is, the Democrats will only accept "go along to get along" RINO Republicans -- milquetoasts whose "dissent," if there is any, would be minor and without consequence. Definitely not the type of people to ask the tough questions and challenge the corrupt narrative.

For example, why didn't the Speaker and Democrat mayor of Washington, D.C., accept recommendations that security be beefed up for the electoral certification proceedings? Intelligence agencies had plenty of evidence something was in the works. What of reports that Capitol Police officers were removing rope lines and encouraging protesters to enter the building? When will we be able to see the unreleased video evidence? What are the circumstances surrounding the fatal shooting of Air Force Veteran Ashli Babbit, why hasn't the Capitol Police officer who shot her been investigated, and why the secrecy? Usually when a police officer fatally shoots someone, his or her name is quickly released. Not so in this case.

And isn't it an outrage that hundreds of people who only committed misdemeanors must rot in the wretched D.C. jail -- many of them in solitary confinement -- for months with no bail, no information on what they're being charged with, and no indication of when they'll have their day in court?

As I've pointed out before, Democrats cared far more about foreigners from the Middle East -- many of them terrorists who murdered and maimed Americans -- imprisoned at Guantanamo Bay than they care about their fellow Americans being held as political prisoners inside the corrupt Beltway.

So kudos for McCarthy not to go along with this despicable charade. Pelosi will undoubtedly perform miserably with this committee, just as so many high profile Democrats have failed when they've had their opportunity to shine. Where shall I begin? Andrew Cuomo, Lori Lightfoot, Anthony Fauci, Kamala Harris, Joe Biden, Gavin Newsom... Ronald Reagan had more leadership in his pinky than all of these clowns combined.

So this leads me to my next point: As far as the obscene, often unconstitutional spending the Democrats are proposing (Never let a crisis go to waste!), dupes like Mitt Romney, Susan Collins and Lisa Murkowski ought not lend it any legitimacy. Don't let them pile another $4 or $5 trillion of debt onto the backs of our children and grandchildren, then call it "bipartisan" when perhaps two or three Republicans foolishly went along with 50 Democrats.

One of the alarming developments is the Democrats' flagrant abuse of the reconciliation process, which is supposed to be used for budgetary purposes, to ramrod their Marxist agenda down America's throat, thus bypassing the nettlesome filibuster. There is even talk of the Democrats attempting to offer amnesty to all illegal immigrants through reconciliation. (And trust me, it is not 10 or 11 million illegals, as has been reported for 30 years; it's probably closer to 25-30 million at least.) 

I've seen evidence in recent months that the judicial system still has a pulse, and it may well be our saving grace. Just as the Supreme Court slapped down Barack Obama's unconstitutional DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals) in 2014, and SCOTUS ruled against the corrupt practice of ballot harvesting earlier this summer (Brnovich v. DNC), the federal courts may play a crucial role in preventing the totalitarian Bidenites from turning the United States into Venezuela North. Fortunately, Donald Trump appointed hundreds of conservative federal judges during his one term, so there is hope.

But in the meantime, Republican U.S. senators and representatives need to get a clue. Don't be malleable puppets for the hard left. To borrow a Bob Seger song title, don't be a "Beautiful Loser." Lord knows, we've got far too many of them already.