“The legacy of Mitch McConnell’s obdurate and unwavering positions will haunt us for many decades.”
U.S. District Judge Kathryn Kimball Mizelle struck down the federal mask mandate for airplanes and other modes of public transportation on April 18, 2022, writing that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention had exceeded its authority and failed to follow proper rulemaking procedures.
Her decision led to U.S. airlines and other transportation hubs to promptly drop their mask mandates.
Judge Mizelle sits on the Federal District Court for the Middle District of Florida. She was nominated by former President Donald Trump in September 2020 at age 33, and confirmed by a 49-to-41 Senate vote later that year.
She graduated from the University of Florida Levin College of Law in 2012; worked at the U.S. Department of Justice and in private practice, and served as a law clerk for several federal judges as well as Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas. She belongs to the conservative Federalist Society, which advocates for an originalist interpretation of the U.S. Constitution.
Following her nomination as a Federal Judge, the ABA Standing Committee on the Federal Judiciary said that a majority of the group had deemed that Mizelle did “not meet the requisite minimum standard of experience necessary to perform the responsibilities required by the high office of a federal trial judge.”
Despite the ABA’s recommendation to McConnell and the Senate to reject Mizelle’s nomination, the U.S. Senate confirmed her nomination in November 2020 along partisan lines.
Return of the Dixiecrats
April 4, 2022
The lock-step renouncement today of Supreme Court nominee Ketanji Brown Jackson by all 11 Republican members of the Senate Judiciary Committee shows us that Dixiecrats still are a major factor in American politics.
Back in the day, they were called “Dixiecrats” – a tribute to their roots as southern Democrats elected to represent the lingering base of southern confederate-centric white voters, still visibly angry that the North had claimed victory in the Civil War.
Whatever political party they associated with, Dixiecrats were White Segregationists, pure and simple.
The term “Dixiecrat” dates to the 1948 States’ Rights Democratic Party, when a breakaway group of Southern Democrats objected to a civil rights agenda in the Democratic platform at the party’s national convention.
Immediately following the national Democratic convention in 1948, the Dixiecrats organized and held their own convention. They garnered significant support from 13 Southern states, hell-bent on gaining control over 127 electoral votes, thus potentially throwing the election to the House where they could use their power to force the major parties to abandon any civil rights intentions.
Back then, Dixiecrats were powerful men — frequently featured in prominent media stories and widely quoted. Most of them ruthlessly used their offices and esteemed titles to spread racial fear and thwart the aspirations of black Americans.
Strom Thurmond, then governor of South Carolina, was the leader of the 1948 Dixiecrats. Thurmond was elected to the Senate in 1954, and he became a Republican in 1964 reflecting a metamorphosis in political party platforms across the U.S.
Today in 2022, the party affiliation of current Dixiecrats remains consistent with Strom Thurmond’s conversion almost 60 years ago. Each of them identifies and runs as a Republican.
Although they are no longer called ‘Dixiecrats’, their staunch commitment to Confederate values, particularly focused on White Supremacy, has never been stronger.
History does repeat itself, and not necessarily verbatim. One time, it may be blue, another time red, or maybe green.
The most important lesson we can learn from history centers on the theme, “Those who are unable or unwilling to study and learn from history are most likely to become victims of a new iteration of horrible outcomes orchestrated by bad actors who adapt and/or emulate bad behaviors from the past.”
Congressional Wing Nuts & Wombats
April 2, 2022
We currently have an excess supply of Wombats, Obstructionists, and probable Seditionists serving in Congress.
Some of these characters include: Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia; Jim Jordan of Ohio; Lauren Boebert of Colorado; Matt Gaetz of Florida; Madison Cawthorne of North Carolina; Louie Gohmert of Texas; Paul Gosar of Arizona; and several more.
These are folks who were nominated by their Party and encouraged to run for public office; and who were then elected to represent their constituents in Congress.
These also are the same folks who live large in public media, seemingly hell-bent on destroying the foundations of the American political system and American political values.
We recently learned of the death of Don Young of Alaska, a highly respected and the longest-serving Republican in the history of the U.S. House of Representatives.
A special election to fill his vacant seat will be held August 16, and the winner of the special election will finish the remainder of Young’s term, which ends in January 2023.
Former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin has announced her intention to run for Congress to replace Don Young.
In her announcement, Palin said our nation “is at a tipping point,” and she spoke of the need to address “out-of-control inflation, empty shelves, and gas prices that are among the highest in the world.”
“I’m in this race to win it and join the fight for freedom alongside other patriots willing to sacrifice all to save our country,” Palin said.
Sarah certainly knows the right words to say; she only lacks the knowledge and abilities to deliver on whatever promises she intends to make.
We’ve seen enough of Sarah Palin’s wisdom, experience and character from her run as the VP candidate under John McCain in the 2008 presidential election.
We certainly don’t need Sarah Palin in Congress to further degrade and destroy the foundations of our American political system and political values.
Josh Hawley, an Elected Obstructionist?
March 23, 2022
Is Sen. Hawley a danger to our democracy?
Josh Hawley, the junior senator from Missouri, was mostly unknown until he joined a few other newsworthy seditionists to attempt to deny certification of Joe Biden’s election on January 6, 2021.
Hawley became a poster boy for the cause, caught on camera fist-pumping outside the Capitol just prior to the insurrection.
His re-election campaign now uses this photo to embellish a number of trinkets available on his website – for example, a coffee mug is available for just $20.00.
Hawley graduated from a private Jesuit high school where he was valedictorian; is a graduate of Stanford; and of Yale Law School where he was an editor of the Yale Law Journal and also served as president of the Yale Federalist Society chapter. Prior to his election to the Senate in 2018, he held a number of positions, including a stint as an associate professor at the University of Missouri Law School, where he taught constitutional law.
But, please don’t be fooled by his pedigree, boyish good looks or his melodious baritone delivery.
Hawley clearly has a penchant for disloyalty and rebellious activities focused on undermining the workings of the United States government.
And, his recent performance interrogating Supreme Court nominee Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson has given new meaning to the phrase “badgering the witness.”
A new look at the Republican Party
January 13, 2022
During my college years, I was introduced to the writings of Franz Kafka; that may help explain my rather bizarre sense of humor.
Fact-based Research?
August 8, 2019
When I was in school, there was zero tolerance for opinion-based research.
You either backed up your work with validated facts from reliable sources, or you didn’t pass the class.
In 1996, under extraordinary pressure from the NRA and other pro-gun rights factions, Congress essentially shut down support for CDC-supported-research into the causes of gun violence.
Why is this important?
The commonly accepted proactive method to solve difficult problems is known as “Root Cause Analysis”. It relies on a rigorous independent methodology to identify the Root Cause of an intractable situation; that is, zeroing in on the primary factor that is the foundational cause of the dilemma.
Removing the Root Cause of a problem prevents the problem from recurring. Removing a causal factor (one that may affect an event’s problematic outcome) certainly can improve an outcome, but it does not prevent its recurrence with certainty.
More than 2 decades after the Congressional ban on gun violence research, the paucity of research leaves some of our elected officials and media pundits to conjecture that ‘violent video games’, ‘mental illness and hatred’, ‘soft targets’ and plenty of other ingredients contribute toward increasing occurrences of domestic gun violence events.
A surprising number of elected officials have recently emerged, seemingly unable or unwilling to consider that access to military-style weapons could be the Root Cause of our gun violence problem.
Instead, we read or hear assertions that…‘racism, bigotry and white supremacy is the trigger. It’s not the gun’.
Research provides fact-based evidence.
There is no research which supports any notions that video games, mental illness or racism play a primary role in domestic gun violence incidents.
Despite the arbitrary Congressional moratorium on public funding toward the causes of gun violence, we have seen some compelling research from small private colleges and universities.
One research paper from an independent private college published in 2015 asserted that, “Men commit over 85% of all homicides, 91% of all same-sex homicides and 97% of all same-sex homicides in which the victim and killer aren’t related to each other.”
Many studies on human brain development have provided a rich array of data which strongly supports the fact that female brain development occurs at a more rapid pace than males of a similar age.
Specifically, the frontal cortex — the area of the brain that controls reasoning and helps us think before we act — develops later in males than in females. The majority of research tells us that females tend to reach maturity toward the end of adolescence; where in males, the frontal cortex is still changing and maturing well into adulthood.
If we know that:
(1) Over 85% of U.S. homicides are committed by males;
(2) Significant scientific research supports the theory that male brain development is delayed to early adulthood;
(3) The vast majority of mass homicides in the U.S. over the past decade have been committed by American males under 30 using a military-style assault weapon with high-capacity magazine(s);
Lacking any specific research, what should we do right now to put a halt to these massacres?
Institute an immediate ban on the production, sale or civilian possession of military-style assault weapons, military-style ammunition and high-capacity magazines in the U.S.
AR-15 (AK-47, and similar weapons) have no place in a civil society, except perhaps for military and limited law enforcement use.
Removing assault weapons from civilian access on a temporary – say 5 year time-frame – will provide a window of opportunity to conduct meaningful contemporary research.
Is there a precedent to this “call to action” at the federal level?
Yes, there is. The Public Safety Recreational Firearms Use Protection Act (1994) prohibited the manufacture, transfer, or possession of “semiautomatic assault weapons” as well as “large capacity ammunition feeding devices” — defined as “any magazine, belt, drum, feed strip, or similar device” which had “the capacity of, or that can be readily restored or converted to accept, more than 10 rounds of ammunition”.
That legislation passed in September 1994 with a sunset provision for the assault weapon ban section. The law expired on September 13, 2004, and nothing has occurred at the federal level over the past 15 years to reign in the proliferation of civilian ownership of assault weapons, military grade ammunition and high capacity magazines.
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As a nation, we have everything to lose – and nothing to gain – by refusing to face the facts we have at hand, and to engage in proper research to help guide our future policy.
Another American Massacre?
August 3, 2019
Today’s massacre in El Paso contains some common elements to dozens of similar occurrences.
Who are these killers?
The statistics tell us that they are most likely to be U.S. born while males, generally under 30 years of age.
A number of studies have shown that the male brain reaches maturity significantly later than females. The key brain region believed to be primarily responsible for reasoning and helping us to ‘think before we act’ is the pre-frontal cortex, which develops later in males, and is generally still changing and maturing well into adulthood.
What sort of weapons do these mass killers prefer?
Military-style assault weapons with high-capacity magazines.
What should we do right now to put a halt to these massacres?
Institute an immediate ban on the production, sale or civilian possession of military-style assault weapons in the U.S.
AR-15 (AK-47 and similar weapons) have no place in a civil society, except perhaps for military and limited law enforcement use.
Is there a precedent to this “call to action” at the federal level?
Yes, there is. The Public Safety Recreational Firearms Use Protection Act (1994) prohibited the manufacture, transfer, or possession of “semiautomatic assault weapons” as well as “large capacity ammunition feeding devices” — defined as “any magazine, belt, drum, feed strip, or similar device” which had “the capacity of, or that can be readily restored or converted to accept, more than 10 rounds of ammunition”.
That legislation passed in September 1994 with a sunset provision for the assault weapon ban section. The law expired on September 13, 2004, and nothing has occurred at the federal level over the past 15 years to reign in the proliferation of civilian ownership of assault weapons, military grade ammunition and high capacity magazines.
I refuse to stand by and wait for someone to go hunting with an AR-15 at the school which my grandchildren attend, at the mall where my family shops, or at the house of worship in my neighborhood.
Please join me: Step up and demand common sense gun regulations from your elected officials.
Now!
An Economic Genius: Part 2
August 1, 2019
A few weeks ago, I shared some thoughts about our current President and his economic credentials.
Donald John Trump was one of 366 student members of the class of 1968 who was awarded a Bachelor of Science degree in Economics from the Wharton School of Finance and Commerce at the University of Pennsylvania.
Other than his bachelor’s degree and some experience working in the family real estate business, there is no evidence that Mr. Trump has pursued additional education, credentials or capabilities in the field of economics.
Trump’s paucity of bona fides in the world of economic theory and practice has not deterred him from taking an active role in testing new economic theories and concepts.
Below, I introduce a new chapter in my observations on Donald Trump’s economic strategy:
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July 31, 2019 (Wednesday): Federal Reserve Chairman Powell reluctantly announced a 25bp cut in the federal funds rate, the first rate cut in over a decade (December 2008). In his announcement, Chairman Powell cited, “implications of global developments for the economic outlook as well as muted inflation pressures”. The Fed also referenced an apparent global economic slowdown; uncertainty around U.S.-China trade negotiations; and ‘stubbornly low inflation’.
August 1, 2019 (Thursday): Donald Trump announced (in a series of tweets) that the U.S. would impose a new 10 percent tariff on certain goods from China beginning on September 1, 2019, following the news that trade talks with the China have failed to make sufficient progress.
These new tariffs will apply to the $300 Billion of Chinese goods which had not before faced a tariff. Another $250 Billion of Chinese goods will continue to be tariffed at a 25 percent rate.
This abrupt and unusual move roiled the equity markets, creating a major sell-off.
Since late 2018, the U.S. economy has been showing signs of slowing — bond markets are flaccid; GDP has slowed; new home sales are generally flat; and business investment is anemic, at best.
Virtually every main-stream economist agrees that Trump’s trade war is contributing to the domestic economic malaise, although it’s too early to determine by how much, and if the damage is permanent.
The Fed rate cut on Wednesday was accompanied by a caveat that one purpose was to help create a barrier to prevent Trump’s trade wars from toppling our domestic economy.
Thursday’s surprise announcement by Trump reveals a new, arbitrary, capricious and unilateral decision by the White House which will result in higher taxes to Americans on imports; and further expand uncertainty for businesses which need significant time to manage their supply chains.
The agricultural sector in the U.S. – farms and ancillary industries, suppliers, manufacturers, etc – are already fighting the unexpected impacts of climate and weather on production. Then, they were handed a potential death sentence by a White House which is guided not by strategy and planning, but by impetuous and arbitrary policy changes driven by Trump’s narcissistic compulsions.
If Trump’s Trade War battle plans were conceived within a coordinated environment (i.e. in concert with the Fed and the Congress) perhaps we would be able to see a pathway toward successful outcomes.
Trump is consistent in his bravado that he – and he alone – has the vision, wisdom and solutions to create equilibrium in the trade accounts between the U.S. and China.
According to a BBC analysis from May 2019, “Trump’s decision to take on China could lead to adverse effects for consumers in the US and in China, but also worldwide. An economic showdown between the world’s biggest economies doesn’t look good for anyone.”
Article I of the US Constitution vests the power to set tariffs in Congress, thus Congress has the power to stop this President from continuing his arbitrary and impetuous trade war. The question remains: Will elected officials in Congress wake up, do their job and use that power, or will they continue to abdicate legislative responsibilities to this President?
Emerging GOP Leadership?
July 28, 2019
The week of July 22, 2019 encouraged a new lineage of evil to emerge from the Republican dugout.
Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R, CA) has long been the lead mealy-mouthed obsequious patsy for Trump and his acolytes; Reps. Devin Nunes, Matt Gaetz and Jim Jordan are consistently reliable venomous vassals who worship at the alter of Trump, and who can be counted on to viciously attack anyone who dares to question the rapidly evolving, confusing and often contradictory Trump doctrine.
One of the emerging subservient scumbags — based on his memorable performance at the Robert Mueller inquisition on July 24 — is Rep. Louie Gohmert (R, Texas) who distinguished himself as both a dubious orator and an accomplished reprobate as he admonished Mueller for never before imagined fantasy behaviors.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g8g1Ynhiyag
The inability to remain calm, cool and collected in a stressful situation is not an attribute worthy of an elected official at any level.
In closing, Mueller presented the world with a new and quite smart response to a Kellyanne Conway-worthy soliloquy: “I take your question.”
Yes, thank you Congressman Gohmert for emerging from the shadows and sharing your serious psychological impairments with the world.
Let us hope you are able to find suitable help and intervention before your GOP colleagues manage to entirely repeal the ACA.
Meanwhile, we extend our sincere thoughts and prayers to your constituents in the First Congressional District of Texas who are relegated to represention by you in Congress.
The Grim Reaper?
June 18, 2019
The U.S. Senate consists of 100 members – 2 elected from each state — independent of population. Under the Constitution, our elected Vice President serves as the President of the Senate, and presides over the Senate’s daily proceedings, and only the Vice President has the authority to cast a tie-breaking vote.
Over the past 2 decades, I’ve become more and more befuddled, baffled and bewildered by the apparently bad behaviors of some of those elected to represent us in the U.S. Senate.
Currently, it seems that one of the 2 Senators elected from Kentucky – Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell – has acquired extraordinary power over the operation and functionality of this key part of the legislative branch of our federal government!
While it is perfectly clear that McConnell has usurped extraordinary power over the functionality of the Senate, he could have only acquired this power from the spineless reptiles who worship at his feet.
How can it be possible that one person – elected from the great state of Kentucky – has the arbitrary and singular power to schedule — or not schedule – votes on bills by the Senate?
How can it be possible that one person – in this case, the Senate Majority Leader – has obtained the power to fully obstruct a government of the people, by the people and for the people?
The arbitrary and unilateral power of the Senate Majority Leader is not derived from the Constitution, from any law, or from formal rules of the Senate.
Instead, it is entirely based on informal, colloquial and unwritten rules established over time by a collection of precedents, beginning with an informal ruling by then-Vice President John Garner in 1937 which created a “right of preferential recognition”.
Vice President Garner – serving in his Constitutional role as Senate President – may have been trying to create order within a body of highly assertive and opinionated elected officials from very diverse geographic and economic backgrounds.
Regardless of intent or motivation, the Garner precedent continues to serve as the foundation upon which Majority Leader power is based in the Senate today.
Today, there is one person — elected by some voters in Kentucky — who has the power to obstruct a government of the people, by the people and for the people.
Very recently, Mitch McConnell proclaimed that no issues which he objects to would be voted on in the Senate. He said, “So think of me as the Grim Reaper” — the guy who is going to make sure that we fully support the agenda of our current President.
Is this what the American people really want?
walrus51 