Kash Patel's Deep State List

 

by Pa Rock

Citizen Journalist

Kash Patel, a former federal prosecutor and government official, will appear before the Senate Judiciary Committee today for his second day of questioning regarding his nomination to be the next Director of the FBI.  Patel, who has been accused of promoting conspiracy theories, seems to have a clear path forward with Republican members of the committee and will likely end up being confirmed a the nation's 9th Director of the FBI.

Regardless, however, of the final disposition of his nomination, Patel is facing tough questioning from Democratic members of the Judiciary Committee, and yesterday's session was contentious.  At one point in yesterday's hearing he insisted that he did not have an "enemies list," and while that technically may be true, he does have a list of people whom he regards as members of an "Executive Branch Deep State" and who seem to give him great concern.  (He recently said that if he became Director of the FBI, he would have the agency vacate it's current headquarters in Washington, DC, and turn the building into a "deep state" museum.

Kash Patel, in the appendix of his 2022 book entitled "Government Gangsters," published a list of people whom he considered to be members of the "Executive Branch Deep State."  The list is easy to find on the internet today, and I am also including it in today's blog posting as a way of memorializing it in "Pa Rock's Ramble," my long-winded chronicle of the times.

Here are the top sixty individuals in the national government who seem to have been giving Kash Patel the most personal angst - or at least they were three years ago.  But, according to the potential next Director of the FBI, they are not "enemies."

Kash Patel's "Executive Branch Deep State" List:

1. Michael Anderson:  Former inspector general of the intelligence community
2. Lloyd Austin:  Secretary of Defense under Biden
3. Brian Auten:  Supervisory intelligence analyst, FBI
4. James Baker:  Former general counsel for the FBI and Twitter executive
5. Bill Barr:  Former attorney general under Trump
6. John Bolton:  Former national security adviser under Trump
7. Stephen Boyd:  Former chief of legislative affairs, FBI
8. Joe Biden:  Former President of the United States
9. John Brennan:  Former CIA director under Obama
10. John Carlin:  Former DOJ national security division head under Trump
11. Eric Ciaramella:  Former National Security Council staffer
12. Pat Cipollone:  Former White House counsel under Trump
13. James Clapper:  Former director of national intelligence under Obama
14.  Hillary Clinton:  Former Secretary of State and presidential candidate
15. James Comey:  Former FBI director 
16. Elizabeth Dibble:  Former chief of mission, US embassy, London
17. Mark Esper:  Former Secretary of Defense under Trump
18. Alyssa Farah:  Former strategic communications director under Trump
19. Evelyn Farkas:  Former Pentagon official under Obama
20. Sarah Isgur Flores:  Former DOJ communications head under Trump
21. Merrick Garland:  Attorney General under Biden
22. Stephanie Grisham:  Former White House Press Secretary under Trump
23. Kamala Harris:  Former Vice President and presidential candidate
24. Gina Haspel:  Former CIA director under Trump
25. Fiona Hill:  Former National Security Council staffer
26. Curtis Heide:  FBI agent
27. Eric Holder:  Former Attorney General under Obama
28. Robert Hur:  Special counsel for Biden document investigation
29. Cassidy Hutchinson:  Former assistant to Trump Chief of Staff, Mark Meadows
30. Nina Jankowicz:  Former head of Biden's Disinformation Governance Board
31. Lois Lerner:  Former IRS official under Obama
32. Loretta Lynch:  Former US Attorney General under Obama
33. Charles Kupperman:  Former deputy national security adviser under Trump
34. Gen. Kenneth McKenzie (Ret.):  Former CENTCOM commander
35. Andrew McCabe:  Former FBI director
36. Ryan McCarthy:  Former Secretary of the Army under Trump
37. Mary McCord:  Former DOJ national security division head
38. Denis McDonough:  Former Obama chief of staff, former VA Secretary
39. Gen. Mark Milley (Ret.):  Former chairman of ther Joint Chiefs of Staff
40. Lisa Monaco:  Deputy attorney general under Biden
41. Robert Mueller:  Former FBI director and Russiagate special counsel
42. Bruce Ohr:  Former DOJ official under Obama and Trump
43. Nellie Ohr:  Former CIA employee
44. Lisa Page:  Former FBI counsel
45. Pat Philbin:  Former Deputy White House Counsel under Trump
46. John Podesta:  Former Obama adviser, former Biden climate adviser
47. Samantha Power:  Former US Ambassador under Obama, former USAID Administrator
48. Bill Priestap:  Former FBI counterintelligence chief
49. Susan Rice:  Former Obama National Security Adviser
50. Rod Rosenstein:  Former deputy attorney general under Trump
51. Peter Strzok:  Former FBI counterintelligence agent
52. Jake Sullivan:  National Security Adviser under Biden
53. Michael Sussman:  Former DNC lawyer
54. Miles Taylor::  Former DHS official under Trump
55. Timothy Thibault: Former FBI agent
56. Andrew  Weissman: Mueller's Russiagate deputy
57. Alexander Vindman:  Former National Security Council official
58. Christopher Wray:  Former FBI director under Trump and Biden
59. Sally Yates:  Former deputy attorney general under Obama
60. Adam Schiff:  US Senator and former House Intelligence Committee chairman

Kash Patel's list may not be his "enemies," but it does serve to flesh out the imaginary "deep state"  that Donald Trump and his allies all want us to believe in and fear.

It is interesting that quite a few on Patel's list seem to have connections with some investigation of Donald Trump, including Christopher Wray, the man appointed by Trump to head the FBI after he fired James Comey, and the man who will have been Patel's direct predecessor in that job if Patel is confirmed.

It is also interesting that of the three Democratic candidates who ran against Trump for President, all made Patel's list as members of the "Executive Branch Deep State," yet Trump did not.

It almost seems as if perhaps the list is of Trump's perceived enemies - and might have been drafted as a way for its creator to ingratiate himself to Donald Trump and perhaps open the door for a cushy government job.

And finally, Adam Schiff is on the list.  Kash Patel probably should not count on Senator Schiff's vote for his confirmation to that cushy government job.

My Head Is Hurting Again

 

by Pa Rock

Rural American

There are many nice people in the rural neighborhood where I live.  Most keep to themselves when they aren't working, but when they do mingle they are the pleasant and helpful sort who would do anything for a neighbor. They stop by and plow your driveway on wintry days or bring veggies from their gardens in the summer.  Nice folks, good neighbors.

But when the subject of politics comes up, and particularly talk of Donald Trump, the niceness evaporates and the toxicity levels surge.  My county always votes at least eighty percent for Trump.

A decade ago I was a member of a large pinochle group which played one night a week at the Senior Center, an activity I loved.   I was in my mid-sixties, and most of the group was older than me.  There were a few times when minor fusses would erupt over trivial things, but for the most part the players were congenial and got along very well together.

Then Donald Trump happened and the tone of the activity changed.  Conversations at the card tables took on a sharper edge and things got noticeably louder.  It wasn't necessarily political differences that brought about the sudden change in atmosphere because most of the old people in the room were ardent Trump supporters - and those few of us who weren't just kept quiet and concentrated on our cards when politics were being discussed.

But suddenly people whole lived in an almost entirely white community were railing about immigrants coming in to take their jobs - never mind that most of the group was already retired and anyone who wanted a job had one.   They were also being fired up with promises of sudden empowerment under Trump.  They were absorbing the Fox News garbage at home, letting it fester, and then bringing it to the pinochle games and spitting it on one another.

I maintained my membership in the weekly card group for as long as I could stand it, but finally quit going.  It was no longer fun, and my head was starting to hurt.

About that same time I was also in cardiac rehab (a cardio fitness class with a heart-monitoring component), again with a big contingent of old people.  There was a large television mounted to the wall, and the group watched and listened to it while they exercised.  Unfortunately, it was permanently turned to Fox News - as are the televisions in many doctor's clinics and other venues across the US.  Fox got crazier as the election of 2016 drew nearer, and the people in the cardiac rehab group grew louder and angrier.   It got to the point where I felt like whatever heart benefits I was receiving from the exercise were being negated by the damage to my mental health from the discourse in the room.   One morning the river of bullshit got so wide and deep that I pulled off my monitors and left - figuring that unless something changed quickly, a risk of stroke was greater than the risk of a heart attack.  When the nurse who was monitoring the group telephoned me later in the day to find out whay I had walked out, I told her.

Last year I was back in the same cardiac rehab program and it was a much more pleasant experience.  The television was still there, but now it was turned to TV Land, and we watched reruns of Wagon Train  and Gunsmoke while we exercised.

This year I have once more been routed into cardiac rehab.  The television has been turned to a channel that runs nature and humorous videos - with the sound off.  But this year we have just come off of a long and very contentious presidential campaign, and the country is back to dealing with the vagaries and political antics of Donald Trump.

The television may be silent, but the members of the group are not, and they are quick to repeat and embellish every lie that they have heard on Fox News.   Yesterday a couple used stories about the US government giving $50 million in condoms to the Palestinians in Gaza - and Barack Obama and Michelle Obama's impending divorce - neither of which is true - to stir angry remarks and conversations in the group.

It's called "flooding the zone," and it involves generating "news" faster than the public can possibly evaluate and digest it.  Presidential pronouncements, outrageous political stunts, crazy tweets from the President or his staff, and all manner of distractions designed to keep people stirred-up and off-balance.  Keep the rubes focused on the crackpot stuff so they don't have the time or energy to zero-in on your long game and the ways in which you are destroying their future.

My head is once again hurting as a result of having to function in an insane bubble of Trumpism, but this time I really think that for the sake of my heart health, I need to stay in the group.

Today I will be shopping for headphones.

Caroline Kennedy has Plenty to Say About RFK, Jr

 

by Pa Rock

Citizen Journalist

The children of Camelot are all grown now and many have, like their famous parents and aunts and uncles, gone on to make their own significant marks in the world, and two of the more prominent scions of the Kennedy Democratic political dynasty have been featured in the news this week.

Robert F. Kennedy, Jr, is a 71-year-old professional falconer who was addicted to heroin for fourteen years during his teens and twenties, who says that a parasitic worm has eaten part of his brain, and who is said to occasionally dine on roadkill.  Bobby ran for President as a Democrat last year before dropping out of that primary and re-entering the race as an  Independent - and later partially abandoning his Independent candidacy to back the Republican candidate, Donald Trump.  Kennedy, the son of the late US Attorney General and US Senator from New York, Robert F. Kennedy, is currently Donald Trump's nominee for Secretary of Health and Human Services, and his Senate confirmation hearings start today.

One of Kennedy's more famous cousins is Caroline Kennedy Schlossberg, who goes by "Caroline Kennedy."   She is the daughter of the late President John F. Kennedy.  Caroline, who is sixty-seven, was US Ambassador to Japan during the Obama administration and Ambassador to Australia for President Biden.  Yesterday she released a blistering letter to select members of the Senate who will be questioning RFK, Jr, over the next two days.   Caroline Kennedy's letter to the senarors stands in opposition to the appointment of her cousin to be Secretary of Health and Human Services.

As a part of that letter as well as in a posting to "X," Caroline Kennedy said of her cousin:

"I have known Bobby my whole life;  we grew up together.   It's no surprise he keeps birds of prey as pets because he himself is a predator."

She added that he now "preys on the desperation of parents of sick children," and she noted that while even though he had his own children vaccinated, the HHS nominee now encourages other parents not to vaccinate theirs.  

Expanding on RFK's character and history, Caroline Kennedy said in her letter:

"I watched his younger brothers and cousins follow him down the path of drug addiction.  His basement, his garage, his dorm room were the centers where drugs were available, and he enjoyed showing off how he put baby chickens and mice in the blender to feed his hawks.  It was often a perverse sense of despair and violence."

This tired typist has not yet seen a response from RFK, Jr, to his cousin's letter, so perhaps he feels it is something best left ignored, but presidential daughter-in-law (and former Republican Party hack) Lara Trump, referred to the letter as "disgusting."

Would that be more disgusting or less disgusting than putting baby chicks and mice in a blender, Laura, or eating roadkill, or having a parasitic worm eat part of your brain?  Enquiring minds want to know.

Deadly Pettiness

 

by Pa Rock

Citizen Journalist

Donald Trump, a politician who has elevated petty retaliation to an art form, used part of his first week in office to settle old scores.   Just yesterday, for example, Trump's acting attorney general fired more than a dozen professional prosecutors who had been involved in helping Special Counsel Jack Smith build a criminal case against Trump.  But those guys are all lawyers and have had time to begin building their defense against Trump's certain retribution, so some will probably take their dismissals to court where they could take months or years to resolve.

However, others who have been targeted by Trump could face more consequential dangers than just the loss of a regular paycheck.

This week Trump ordered the termination of security details for three prominent former government officials, all of whom were involved discussions and planning of the deadly drone attack that killed an important Iranian general in 2020.  The three have also been marked for death by Iran.

Trump's former National Security Adviser John Bolton, an Iran hawk,  has received death threats from Iran.  When Trump fired Bolton in 2019, he lost his protection detail, but President Biden reinstated it.  Last week Trump again eliminated Bolton's security detail even though Bolton still remains targeted for assassination by Iran over matters resulting from his service to America and to the presidency of Donald Trump.

Former US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and his top aide, Brian Hook, both of whom worked in the first Trump administration, were told Wednesday evening that they were losing their security details.  Both of those individuals, like Bolton, are under active threat from Iran for actions they took while in the service of the United States of America.  Pompeo and Hook had fallen out of favor with Trump since the end of his first term in office, and Trump announced several weeks ago that Pompeo would have no role in his new administration.  Last week Trump also fired Hook from his presidentially appointed position on the board of the Wilson Center, a national security think tank.

It has also been falsely reported that Trump cancelled the security detail of Dr. Anthony Fauci, the former head of the nation's COVID response effort and a man vilified by Trump.  Dr. Fauci's security detail ended in September of 2024 under a "Memo of Understanding" with the Biden administration, and he has since employed his own security team   As the stories spread in the press this week that Trump had ended Fauci's security detail, there were no denials from Trump - and he seemed more than happy to take credit for it.

Trump said in North Carolina last week that he would feel no personal responsibility if harm befell any of the men who have lost their security details.  His own government-funded security detail will remain in effect for the rest of his life.

Arkansas Republican Senator Tom Cotton and a few other members of Congress have risen to the defense of Bolton, Pompeo, and Hook, and urged Trump to rethink his position on the elimination of the security details for the three men.  Cotton said on a television interview with Fox this past weekend that "Iran is committed to vengeance against all of these people."

Apparently Donald Trump is too.

The Not-So-Gentle Lady from Colorado

 

by Pa Rock

Citizen Journalist

Congresswoman Lauren Boebert, a Republican (of course) from Colorado, has been in the news twice this week, neither time for doing the job she was elected to do.  Boebert, a former pistol-packin' waitress whose voters back home soured on her antics to the point that she had to shop around last year to find a different district in Colorado that would send her back to Congress, is still playing to the cameras, despite her political liabilities.  

On Tuesday of last week, just after Trump pardoned the trespassers, rioters, public defecators, and people who had physically attacked members of the Capitol Police on January 6, 2021, Boebert went before the press to once again decry what she saw as the mistreatment of those criminals - and to say that she would offer guided tours of the Capitol to the felons upon their release from confinement.  To her credit, Congresswoman Boebert at least stood by her her tragically mistaken belief that the people arrested had been little more than innocent tourists who were swept up in some covert government operation designed to embarrass MAGA bravehearts like herself.  Most Republicans - and especially Republican Senators - tried valiantly to not talk about the release of the people who injured and even brought about the deaths of members of the Capitol Police.   But Lauren likes to talk - plenty.

Two days later, on Thursday, Rep. Boebert had expanded her job duties from providing tours of the Capitol for criminals to monitoring the women's restrooms to make sure that Representative Sarah McBride, a Democrat from Delaware, did not avail herself of those facilities.  Boebert was on potty patrol when she thought she saw the transgendered Ms. McBride enter a ladies' restroom in the Capitol, something which would have gone against a decree from the diminutive Speaker Johnson (a.k.a. "Trump's Little Johnson"), a new House Rule written solely to keep Congresswoman McBride from using the bathroom of the gender with which she identifies.  Boebert reported incident to Capitol Security, only to find out later that she had misidentified the supposed rule-breaker.   Again to her credit, Boebert apologized to the person she had ratted out.

There are undoubtedly at least a few people in Colorado who voted to send Boebert to Congress so she could busy herself with legislating.  Perhaps by the end of this session, they, too, will have had enough of Rep. Boebert's political stunts, and poor Lauren will have to go in search of another district from which to stage her show.

Lauren, get yourself a record, something related to proposing and passing legislation in Congress (and not on vaping and groping at a public event), and do your job.  But if that is too much work, maybe you should call Ringling Brothers and see if they have any openings.

And while you're at it, don't forget to "Back the Blue!"

Andy Ogles Serves Up a Nothing-Burger on a Paper Plate

 

by Pa Rock

Citizen Journalist

Andy Ogles, a Republican member of Congress from Tennessee, has apparently decided that Congress has too much time on its hands, and to help eat up some of that time, he has proposed an amendment to the 22nd Amendment of the US Constitution.  (The 22nd Amendment is the one that limits a President to just two terms in office.)  Ogles, or more likely his staff, has carefully crafted the new proposed amendment so that it applies to only one individual - Donald Trump.

The text of the bill that Rep. Ogles introduced in the House reads as follows:

"No person shall be elected to the office of President more than three times, nor be elected to any additional term after being elected to two consecutive terms, and no person who has held the office of President, or acted as President, for more than two years of a term to which some other person was elected President shall be elected to the office of President more than twice."

In other words, nothing would change except in the case of a President who was elected to two non-consecutive terms, something that has only happened twice in the entire history of this nation, and that lucky person could run for a third term.  Grover Cleveland has been dead 116 years, so Rep. Ogles must be talking about America's self-proclaimed and whiniest victim, Donald John Trump.

The United States currently has three former US Presidents who have served two consecutive terms:  Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, and Barack Obama.  All three are younger than Trump - and Barack Obama is fifteen years younger!  Yet, Grandpa Don is the one Ogles wants to empower to remain in office.

There is really no point in getting worked up about Andy Ogles and his silly bill.   Every Republican leader worth his salt seems to be knocking each other out of the way to be the next in line to kiss Dear Leader's ring - or whatever.  The good news is that the proposed amendment stands almost no chance of passage and enactment.  It takes a two-thirds vote in the House and the Senate to send a proposed amendment to the states for ratification, and right now neither chamber has anywhere near that level of GOP membership, and three-quarters of the states would have to vote to ratify the new amendment, something that is also unlikely to happen.

So the Ogles' amendment is just a loud show of fealty to Trump, a nothing-burger served up on a paper plate.  More lip balm, please!

Andy, there was a deadly school shooting at a high school in Nashville this week.  Perhaps your time would be better spent focusing on the killing of innocent school children.  

Snitching and Snatching for Fun and Profit

 

by Pa Rock

Citizen Journalist

For those who would like to possess the feel and trappings of authority, yet who somehow failed to land a job in their small town police department, opportunity may be about to knock at your door.

A state representative and a district attorney in Mississippi have hatched a plan and written a piece of legislation which would  create a program to reward certain private individuals with cash from the Mississippi state treasury for assisting in the capture and deportation of illegal aliens.  According to an article by Illan Ireland and Nick Judin in yesterday's on-line edition of the Mississippi Free Press:

"Mississippi House Bill 1484 has garnered local and national headlines since its filing on Jan. 22.   Drafted by Mississippi House Rep. Justin Keen, R-Byhalia, and backed by DeSoto County District Attorney Matthew Barton, the legislation would award residents $1,000 for information leading to the arrest and eventual deportation of people living in the state without authorization.  It also directs the Mississippi Department of Public Safety to establish a "bounty hunter" certification program in the state, empowering eligible residents to find and detain undocumented migrants for a $1,000 reward."

A thousand dollars for snitching, and a thousand dollars for snatching.  It sure beats the hell out of working for a living - like most of the immigrants are doing.  What could possibly go wrong?  

According to the article in the Mississippi Free Press, the bill is constitutionally questionable and unlikely to pass - even in the conservative Mississippi State Legislature.

A very similar bill was pre-filed in the Missouri Legislature for consideration during the upcoming legislative session.

Costco and Others Stand Tall

 

by Pa Rock

Citizen Journalist

As American institutions and corporations rush to bend a knee to the racism and other exclusionary practices of the Trump administration by quickly eliminating programs designed to give every individual a shot at the American dream, regardless of gender, sexual orientation, ethnicity, and even skin color, Costco, a major American retailer, has thrown a flag on the play and refused to go along with the reach back into the bad old days of overt bigotry and homophobia.  The board of directors of Costco has said "not so fast" to the push to eliminate DEI (diversity, equity, and inclusion) programs and stated its resolve to continuing offering employment and advancement opportunities to everyone, regardless of their race, creed, religion, or who they happen to love.

Donald John Trump, a man who is likely to have never set foot in a Costco Warehouse or a Sam's Club - and certainly never a Walmart - is sure to be displeased with Costco's bold action, nonetheless.

An "activist" shareholder had proposed a measure for the most recent board of directors meeting whereby the company would rescind its current DEI measures out of concern that not to do so would invite discrimination lawsuits from employees who are white, Asian, male, or straight.  The board encouraged the company's shareholders to vote the measure down, and they did so by a 98% percent majority vote.

Activist shareholders pushing the same proposal have found success with many other American corporations - Walmart, Amazon, and Meta being three major examples - but a few others have stood firm in their support of DEI initiatives like Costco did.  Three others who continue to support human dignity and rights are Microsoft, JP Morgan Chase, and Apple, among others.

Many DEI initiatives are rooted in the Civil Rights struggles of the 1950's and 1960's and now have an historic foothold in American society and the national economy, yet the Trump administration seems hellbent on pulling those advances out by their roots.  The reinstitution of social ills is a bad and ugly business.

Congratulations to the brave corporations and their shareholders who are standing tall in their resolve to give all Americans an opportunity to achieve the American dream!  You have this tired old typist's support and admiration!

The Bishop and the Bully

 

by Pa Rock

Citizen Journalist

Tuesday morning at a prayer service in Washington's National Cathedral, an inauguration-related event which featured Donald Trump and JD Vance and their wives sitting in the front pew, the officiating minister cut loose with a plea for basic humanity, something the honored guests were not eager to hear.

Rt. Rev. Mariann Edgar Budde, the Episcopal Bishop of Washington, DC, locked eyes with the newly inaugurated President, and made a plea in behalf of literally millions of US residents.  Bishop Budde, in part, said:

"In the name of our God, I ask you to have mercy on the people in our country who are scared now.  There are gay, lesbian, and transgender children in Democratic, Republican, and independent families who fear for their lives."  

The Bishop also made an appeal for the humane treatment of immigrants, saying:

"The people who pick our crops and clean our office buildings;  who labor in poultry farms and meat-packing plants;  who wash the dishes after we eat in restaurants and work the night shifts in hospitals, they - they may not be citizens or have the proper documentation.  But the vast majority of immigrants are not criminals.  They pay taxes and are good neighbors."

None of Bishop Budde's sentiments were apparently one's which Trump or Vance wanted to hear, and both looked extremely uncomfortable during the fifteen-minute sermon.

The thin-skinned President with the fragile ego wasted almost no time in attacking the minister over her truth-to-power sermon.  Late that evening in one of his post-midnight Truth Social rants, he referred to her as a "so-called Bishop" and "nasty," a Trump go-to line for any woman in a position of power, and he also described the woman of God as a "Radical Left hard line Trump hater."   Trump demanded an apology from Bishop Budde and her church.  

The Bishop has declined to apologize for her sermon.    

There is no word yet on when her IRS tax audit will begin.

Monitor and Post

 

by Pa Rock

Citizen Journalist

I had a call from an old friend last night who wanted to know my reaction to all of the bullshit currently being spewed by the new administration in Washington,   When I told her that I was trying to ignore it, she seemed less than thrilled with my response.  My friend, who is slightly younger than me, is an activist and has been since she was an undergrad in college in the 1960's, and passiveness is not a factor in her genetic makeup.

My friend said she has joined a ladies' resistance group that meets for open discussion about the current abysmal state of affairs in our nation's capital.  She described the women of the group as all having gray hair except for four, so they obviously have a lot of experience and history from which to draw their opinions of the mess in DC.

Apparently this group of senior ladies from the St. Louis area are going to do more than just meet and talk.  They plan on being active in their communities, and one of their first projects is to begin monitoring and recording grocery prices, with individual members keeping track of certain foodstuffs (milk, eggs, bread, peanut butter, etc) on a weekly basis and then create social media posts as the prices inevitably rise. 

Republicans, and particularly the incoming President, talked about bringing down the price of some groceries (such as eggs) during the campaign, but now that they are actually trying to govern, groceries seem to have been pushed to the back of the legislative shelf and the focus has turned to harassing immigrants, wrecking American health care, and invading Greenland.  Eggs are no longer a priority.

Well, at some point people will need to be reminded of how things were in this country when the new guys took over - and how they have changed over time.  What better way to do that than to monitor local grocery prices and then report the situation in local social media posts.

Here's another way that could be accomplished:  buy the same assortment of staples weekly and monitor their costs.    For instance, every Friday evening after work, go to the same grocery store and buy the same bag of foodstuffs, perhaps a gallon of milk, a loaf of bread, a dozen eggs, and two pounds of hamburger.  Keep and date receipts and make tallies per item and per bag monthly.  That would be a far more telling statistic regarding the local economy than anything the government puts out, and far easier for most of us to understand.  The monthly price for a gallon of gas at one particular gas station would also be very reflective of the local economy.

Politicians are always quick to talk the talk, but community price watchdogs would also be a strong encouragement for them to walk the walk.

Each of us should commit to doing something to bring about positive change during these awful times, and we should all work at mastering social media because that is where the people who need to be educated are lurking.

Resist and persist.

Monitor and post.

And Pa Rock should pull his head out of the sand and reconnect with the world around him.  It may no longer be about him, but it sure as hell is still about the health, happiness, and futures of his children and grandchildren!

Johnny Tats

 

by Pa Rock

Art Appreciator

I have several interesting works of art in on display in my home, none of which have much monetary value and all of which either have a personal connection to family members or friends - or just appeal to me personally.

My kitchen table harbors its own art collection, or perhaps taken in its entirety, it is itself a work of art.  The table is a heavy, wooden, rectangular piece of furniture  that I put together from a kit many years ago.  It is surrounded by four heavy chairs that match each other but not the table, chairs that I found in an import store and have long since forgotten the country from which they were imported.

No one in our family of two bachelors and two dogs eats at the table, though Rosie often eats beneath it.  The table sits just inside of the back door, so it tends to "catch" items as they are being carried into the house:  the mail, bags of groceries, my hat, etc.  There are also a few fairly permanent items on the kitchen table including a sad looking spider plant in an oversized container, my blood pressure machine along with a stack of blood pressure readings dating back to last January, and the nearly constant case or two of water waiting patiently to be shelved in the refrigerator a few bottles at a time.  And, as mentioned above, the table also now has its own art collection, at least for the time being.

The table's art collection presently stands at two items.  One is a framed and matted, black-and-white print of a pen-and-ink drawing of country singing legend Johnny Cash.  It was a Christmas gift from my daughter, and it has landed on the table until I can figure out where I want to hang it.  While I am a fan of "the man in black," I would not have gone out looking for a drawing of him to display on the walls of my home, but this one is so unique that I do want to show it off in just the right location, and I am currently mulling the best place to do that - so it has remained on the kitchen table for the past month.

This drawing of Johnny Cash is unlike any other depiction of him that I have ever come across.  He looks older, smaller, and more wizened than any photographs of the star show him to have been.   Even though his skin shows plenty of age, his hair is jet black.    He is wearing a black suit with the jacket and white shirt both open and revealing a large flaming heart with a banner reading  "Walk the Line" tattooed across his bare chest.  There is a rumpled, silk handkerchief square in the front pocket of the jacket.  The singer's face is haggard to the point that he looks both sinister and old, and he has an unlit cigarette hanging out of the corner of his mouth.  At a distance, and through the tired eyes of a septuagenarian, he looks almost as much like Humphrey Bogart as he does Johnny Cash.  

The singer's hands, which are raised toward his chest, look as though they are covered in prison tattoos.  The left hand features a pistol just below the thumb, with the index finger displaying a large "C," the middle finger an "A," the next a "$," and the little finger an "H."  The right hand has a flying dove below the thumb , something indistinguishable (at least to me) on the index finger, and a crusader's shield bearing a crucifix on the middle finger.

He gives the impression of a television evangelist who is just getting home from a hard night of carousing.

I don't really like receiving art as a gift because I feel like I should put it on display whether it appeals to me or not, but I found this gift to be compelling.  It is hard to walk by it without stopping to stare.  I guess my daughter knows her old man fairly well.  If anyone comes across a black-and-white print of a tattooed June Carter, please let me know.  I would like to have the set!

The other piece of art currently residing on my kitchen table is a weather-beaten, cast iron garden gnome, but I will discuss him in some other posting.  He is part of a squad of gnomes that I plan to repaint and send on a mission.

I'll get around to the gnome after I hang Johnny.

A Special Day

 

by Pa Rock

Citizen Journalist

Today is Monday, January 20th, 2025, a day on which we officially celebrate the life of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr, a man who devoted his life to the advancement of peace and equal rights for all.  Dr. King was a Baptist minister who not only talked the talk, eloquently, but also stood tall and proud and joined hands with Americans of all ethnicities and social strata as he walked the walk.

Dr. King's day is the first federal holiday of the year, and it provides our nation's federal employees with a much needed day off, and that is particularly important to the ones who whose work takes them outside during the frigid days of January.   (It was 4 degrees F in West Plains this morning!) 

One of those hearty souls is the lady who faithfully carries the mail to my mailbox throughout the year on every day but Sundays and federal holidays.  Not only does she deliver the mail and pick up correspondence that I leave in the mailbox out by the road, but on days when I receive a package that is too large for the mailbox or something that requires a signature, she brings those items to my front door for a personal handoff - and when she does she always has a sweet word or two for Rosie, who barks at her like she is a home invader nonetheless.  The same woman has been running my route for years and is a true jewel in the crown of the US Postal Service.  Shame on me for not even knowing her name.

So I wish postal service workers everywhere across the nation a wonderful day off!

(I carried the mail briefly, on a part-time basis, back in the 1970's.  Those were the bad old days when Sears, Roebuck and Company and Montgomery Ward still sent out their massive catalogues, and the nation's primary phone company mailed enormous telephone directories that could double as doorstops to millions of households each year!  We earned our government salary on the days catalogues and telephone directories arrived - you betcha we did!)

But I know from experience that my mail carrier will roll up her sleeves and carry whatever oddball thing I order over the internet - straight to my door - with a smile on her face and some cheery words for Rosie!  I hope that she has a wonderful day off today!

And my same good wishes go to government workers everywhere, a much-maligned group of individuals who put themselves and their families at risk for providing basic essential government services to Americans everywhere while suffering the rampaging demagoguery of fools and charlatans.  Thank you for paying my medical bills, getting my social security retirement check to the bank, maintaining the highways that I travel on to visit my grandchildren, Amtrak, the flight controllers who keep the planes in the air, enforcing environmental regulations to keep us safe, public broadcasting, educating my grandchildren, police and military protection, and so much more.

I will miss not getting any mail today, but it is a small sacrifice compared to all that government workers do for me and for the rest of the country.

And thank you, Dr. King, for striving to show us our better selves.

Deja Vu All Over Again, Only Worse

 

by Pa Rock

Citizen Journalist

Tomorrow the iron heel of Donald John Trump will once again come crashing down on the United States of America, bringing with it more of the angst, fear, trauma, and drama like that which we suffered through during his first administration.  The difference apparently will be that although he stumbled through a job whose many facets and intricacies he and his underlings did not completely master in their first stab at running the government, now they are coming back with a full knowledge of the power of the presidency and how to use it.

As a good friend of mine put it, "It's going to be a nightmare."

Trump was washed back into office on a tidal wave of political ignorance and hate through a campaign funded by a cabal of extremely rich, powerful and highly toxic white men who openly bought their seats at the government money trough - no doubt with some of the money that they have been relentlessly sucking from the government treasury since the first Trump administration.  The two richest men in the world will be standing close by when Trump is sworn into office tomorrow - Elon Musk of SpaceX, Tesla, and X - the world's largest social media platform, and Jeff Bezos of Blue Origin and Amazon.com - the world's alrgest retailer - and several others will be in attendance, no doubt including those from the billionaire class who have been chosen to work in the new administration.

The late journalist, Molly Ivins, famously said, "You've got to dance with them what brung you," and Trump appears to have his dancing shoes on and is ready to feed and dance with his billionaires while they feed and dance with his ego - all night long, every night, until the landscaper is barren and the treasury is empty.

What horrors await?  No one can know for certain, but the new leader's mind is a cesspool of greed, corruption, and revenge.  Trump policy adviser, Stephen Miller, has reportedly been hidden away in his rathole throughout the interregnum writing executive orders for his boss to begin issuing on the dreaded "day one."  Apparently, disregarding all of the previous bluster and bullshit, the big immigration sweep will not begin until "day two," and it will be inflicted on Chicago, a Democratic city in a Democratic state that is sure to offer some news-worthy resistance, and Private Citizen Musk, himself an immigrant, is already threatening jail time for public officials who resist the sweeps.

As soon as the public bloodlust for photos of immigrant families being torn apart begins to fade, it can be ginned back up with stories about outrage in Canada and China over new tariffs - and when those tariffs start to sow outrage as they cause prices go up at Walmart, the public's attention can be diverted with the invasion of Greenland.   God only knows what the world will like like by the time we get to years two, three, and four.  Perhaps Elon will be totally in charge by then, or Stephen.

I plan to ignore the carnival of carnage for as long as I can.   That's my survival tactic.  Besides, I've seen this film once already, and I know the plot line, who the bad guys are, and how it ends.   Buckle up, buttercup, because we are headed into deja vu all over again, only worse.

Equal Rights Amendment: Law of the Land?

 

by. Pa Rock

Citizen Journalist

The Equal Rights Amendment to the United States Constitution was passed by Congress in 1972 and sent to the states for ratification, a process in which three-quarters of the state legislatures (38 of 50 states) had to vote to approve the measure before it could become an official Amendment to the the Constitutions.

The Equal Rights Amendment is a simple measure  designed to prevent discrimination based sex.  It reads:

Section 1:  Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of sex.   Section 2:  The Congress shall have the power to enforce, by appropriate legislation, the provisions of this article.

That is the text of the Amendment, and it is fairly simple and straightforward.   But Congress muddled the ratification process by attaching a preamble to the the proposed Amendment stating that it had to be ratified in seven years - by 1979.  Later Congress extended that deadline to 1982.

When 1982 rolled around only 35 legislatures of the 50 states had ratified the measure, and five legislatures (Nebraska, Tennessee, Idaho, Kentucky, and South Dakota) voted to rescind their ratification votes. Opposition was being stirred by people like Phyllis Schlafly and others who launched fear campaigns with claims that the Amendment would lead to things such as women being drafted and the establishment of unisex bathrooms.

The legislature of North Dakota rescinded its ratification of the Amendment in 2021.

But two arguments gradually developed that kept the Equal Rights Amendment on life-support.  First, some legal scholars opined that since the deadline was not part of the actual text of the Amendment, it had no legal force.   And some of those scholars, as well as others, argued that nothing in the Constitution gives a state power to rescind a ratification vote - once an Amendment is ratified by a state, it stays ratified by that state.

But the matter was little more than legal and intellectual yoga until January 27, 2020, when Virginia became the 38th state to ratify the Equal Rights Amendment.  At that point the Trump Department of Justice issued a quick legal opinion that the deadline for ratification of the Amendment did, in deed, have legal force and that the deadline had passed.  Two years later, in 2022, the Office of Legal Counsel released an opinion affirming the decision by Trump's Justice Department.

For an Amendment to officially become part of the US Constitution, it must be published by the National Archivist, a largely perfunctory duty, but the current Archivist, Colleen Shogan says that she cannot act because of the the opinion of the Office of Legal Counsel.

The matter has sat around collecting dust for more than two years until yesterday when it was again trotted out for more discussion.  President Joe Biden, who had been silent on the issue throughout his term in office, decided to revive it during his last week in office.  In a formal statement released by the White House, President Biden said:

"I have supported the Equal Rights Amendment for more than 50 years, and I have long been clear that no one should be discriminated against based on their sex.   We as a nation must affirm and protect women's full equality once and for all.

"On January 27, 2020, the Commonwealth of Virginia became the 38th state to ratify the Equal Rights Amendment.  The American Bar Asslciation (ABA) has recognized that the Equal Rights Amendment has cleared all necessary hurdles to be formally added to the Constitution as the 28th Amendment.  I agree with the ABA and with leading constitutional scholars that the Equal Rights Amendment has become part of our Constitution.  

"It is long past time to recognize the will of the American people.  In keeping with my oath and duty to the Constitution and country, I affirm what I believe and what three-fourths of the states have ratified:  the 28th Amendment is the law of the land, guaranteeing all Americans equal rights and protections under the law regardless of their sex."

Good work, Joe.  Better late than never.

A presidential endorsement is not part of the ratification process, but there is some thought that it could help to goose the entire matter into the courts for a final resolution.

For the time being, at least, there is still reason to be hopeful that the United States Constitution will finally be expanded to secure and protect the rights of all Americans regardless of their sex - a guarantee that is long, long overdue.

Biden Appears Set to Ignore Leonard Peltier

 

by Pa Rock

Citizen Journalist

Leonard Peltier is an eighty-year-old Native American who is in frail health and has spent most of his life under lock and key.  As a youth he suffered three years in a government boarding school, and he was arrested in 1976 in connection with the shooting of two FBI agents and has been in prison ever since.  Peltier was the only person convicted in the June 26th, 1975, shooting on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota, and he was sentenced to two life terms.  He has admitted being involved in the shooting but denies killing the agents.

Many felt that Mr. Peltier's conviction was based in large part on social and cultural biases of the times and a strong government deterrmination that someone had to be held accountable.  After his two co-defendants were found not guilty in a separate trial on grounds of self-defense, that left Peltier as literally the only Indian still standing, and he was found guilty - even though there was no evidence showing that he shot the two agents.  The case also became more muddled later when it was learned that the prosecution had withheld evidence that would have benefitted Peltier's defense.

Many notable individuals have come forward over the years asking for clemency for Peltier, or a least a new trial.  A few of those include Mother Teresa, Nelson Mandela, the Dalai Lama, and Pope Francis.  Actor Robert Redford made a documentary film which raised serious questions about the government's case against Peltier.  But all of the appeals have fallen on deaf ears of US Presidents who possess the power to pardon him or commute his sentence.

Joe Biden is probably Peltier's last hope.  Today it was announced that President Biden is pardoning an additional 2,500 drug offenders making him the President who has pardoned or commuted the most sentences.  And while Biden may make a few more pardons or commutations during his final few days in office, Leonard Peltier's name does not seem to have made the list.

It's truly a case of now or never.   The eighty-year-old Peltier suffers from kidney disease, a heart condition, and Type 2 diabetes.  He also contracted and managed to survive COVID, is nearly blind in one eye, and requires a walker to move around.  Donald Trump, who pardons people like Joe Arpaio, has no interest in righting social wrongs, so if Biden doesn't act it is probably "game over" for the old man who wants nothing more out of life than to spend some time with his family and grandchildren.

Leonard Peltier's conviction was dubious at best and his continued incarceration is shameful.

In 2022 the Democratic National Committee drafted a "Resolution to Consider an Award of Executive Clemency for Leonard Peltier."  I printed it in this space more than two years ago - and am closing with it again today

Damn it, Joe, get off the dime and let that old man out of prison!

Resolution to Consider an Award of Executive Clemency for Leonard Peltier:

WHEREAS, Democrats have sought to use clemency powers to secure the release of those serving unduly long or unjust prison sentences; and

WHEREAS, the Obama administration commuted the sentences of more than 1,700 people serving unjust sentences after a thorough review of their individual cases and the Biden

administration has so far used clemency powers for more than 75 individuals serving unjust sentences as part of a broader strategy to make the criminal justice system more fair; and

WHEREAS, the Biden administration, under the direction of Secretary Deb Haaland, is leading a historic investigation into the lasting social impacts — such as, historical and intergenerational trauma — of the federal Indian boarding school system that separated Mr. Peltier from his family at a young age; and

WHEREAS, Mr. Peltier is 77 years old, and has served more than 45 years in federal prison – at least five years solitary confinement – in numerous prisons across the United States; and 

 

WHEREAS, Leonard Peltier is Native American, elderly and suffers from severe health conditions, including diabetes and a lethal abdominal aortic aneurysm; life ending if ruptured;

and

WHEREAS, The Department of Justice (DOJ) has issued a national response to the COVID-19 pandemic authorizing the Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) to release elderly inmates and those with underlying health conditions from federal prisons; Mr. Peltier is imprisoned at the Coleman Federal Correctional Complex in Florida and qualifies for early release under BOP guidelines; and

WHEREAS, Mr. Peltier was convicted and sentenced to two consecutive life sentences in 1977 for the murders of Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) agents Ronald Williams and Jack Coler, killed on June 26, 1975, during a confrontation with members of the American Indian Movement (AIM) on the Pine Ridge Indian reservation; Joseph Stuntz, a 23-year-old member of the Coeur d’Alene Tribe, was also killed that day, and his death was never investigated; and

WHEREAS, Mr. Peltier was extradited from Canada based on false statements of an alleged eye witness who later retracted her testimony; and

WHEREAS, many evidentiary and procedural irregularities arose during Mr. Peltier’s prosecution, such as alleged key eyewitness to the shootings later retracting testimony disclosing threats against the eyewitness and family by the FBI; and

WHEREAS, a 1980 Freedom of Information Act ruling revealed to Mr. Peltier’s lawyers the prosecution withheld evidence that might have impacted Mr. Peltier’s case; and

WHEREAS, although legal experts have criticized the trial for its failed due process, appeals for presidential consideration of clemency by distinguished Americans and justice organizations have had no success; and

WHEREAS, this further diminishes American Indians’ faith in the criminal justice system throughout the country; and

WHEREAS, hundreds of tribal nations have supported early release and clemency Mr. Peltier’s throughout the years, and the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa, of which Mr. Peltier is a member, has offered housing, elderly support, and reintegration services upon Mr. Peltier’s release; and

WHEREAS, petitions for Mr. Peltier’s release are widespread and urgent, including those who once were part of the 1977 criminal prosecution and former U.S. Attorney James H. Reynolds, having garnered over 275,000 signatures on a petition requesting President Biden grant Mr. Peltier clemency; and

WHEREAS, Amnesty International, a global human rights organization with over 10 million members, supporters, and activists worldwide, continues the call for Mr. Peltier's release to this day; and

WHEREAS, Mr. Peltier has overwhelming support from internationally respected champions of human rights, including the late Nelson Mandela, His Holiness the Dalai Lama, Mikhail Gorbachev, Mary Robinson, former President of Ireland and United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, the European Parliament, the Belgian Parliament, the Italian Parliament, the Kennedy Memorial Center for Human Rights, the Rev. Jesse Jackson, Rigoberta Menchu, seven Nobel Peace Prize Laureates (including Archbishop Desmond Tutu and Shirin Ebadi), Rage Against the Machine, Pete Seeger, Carlos Santana, Harry Belafonte, Gloria Steinem, and Robert Redford, representing but a fraction of those who recognize the injustice imposed upon Mr.Peltier; and

WHEREAS, the National Caucus of Native American State Legislators, tribal nation leaders, and the National Congress of American Indians, within our representative states and beyond, have demanded Mr. Peltier’s clemency and release;

THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that the DNC platform states that the President should use clemency powers “to secure the release of those serving unduly long sentences;” and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that given the overwhelming support for clemency, the constitutional due process issues underlying Mr. Peltier’s prosecution, his status as an elderly

inmate, and that he is an American Indian, who suffer from greater rates of health disparities and severe underlying health conditions, Mr. Peltier is a good candidate to be granted mercy and leniency; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that it is highly appropriate that consideration of clemency for Mr. Peltier be prioritized and expedited, so that Mr. Peltier can return to his family and live his final years among his people.

Amen! 

The Doctor's Visit

 

by Pa Rock

Senior Citizen Journalist

I am an older American which means that when I leave the house it is generally to go one of three places:  the grocery store, the pharmacy, or a doctor's office.  I could find a pharmacy located in a grocery store and save gas, but I would rather maintain some variety in my travels as long as I can afford it.  My medical providers, a team that I have carefully put together over the past decade, do provide an excuse to occasionally get beyond West Plains and expand my horizons.

I have my primary doctor and one specialist in West Plains, but two very important specialists that I see a couple of times a year are in Mountain Home, Arkansas, fifty miles away and on the other side of a nice stretch of Lake Norfolk - so it is an extremely scenic drive.   Two others, also critical to my care, are in Springfield, Missouri - a hundred miles away on a road that I could navigate in my sleep - a most boring drive.  The Springfield trips, however, provide me with an opportunity to visit Costco, one of my favorite retailers.

Ths past week I had an early morning appointment with a medical provider in Mountain Home.   That particular physician likes to travel, as do I, and we often share travel tales while he examines or treats me.  That day I had on a sweatshirt with writing on the front that said "Proud to be a Macy."  He asked if it was from a reunion, and I told him that I had bought it to wear to a family gathering in Nantucket which had been planned for March of 2020.  Then, as long as I was talking anyway, I mentioned that after the trip was cancelled due to the pandemic, the Delta Airlines had pocketed the price of my prepaid round-trip ticket from KC to Boston and back.

The experienced traveler who was treating me picked it up from there.  "Yes," he said.  "They probably gave you a voucher good for a year and when you didn't use it in a year it went away."  (Which was exactly what had happened. ) "The airlines did the same thing to me on a trip that I had planned to Florida when the pandemic hit."   As we both were building a full head of steam telling airline stories, he topped one of mine with his tale of going someplace by air and being routed through the "hub" of Atlanta where he had to change planes in order to go onto his destination.  But when he got to Atlanta the flight for the second leg of his trip had been cancelled and there were no other flights available to where he needed to be.  He was forced to rent a car and drive nine hours.  The airline offered him an $83 reimbursement for his trouble.  He told them keep the $83 dollars and also provided some colorful thoughts on the matter.

After we had worn out the topic of air travel and he still hadn't completed two minor procedures which he was performing on me, I switched the topic to my other favorite villain, insurance companies, and opined as to my unhappiness with insurance companies dictating what treatments and medicines I could have when I much preferred that people who had been to medical school make those decisions.   The nurse who was assisting him began nodding her head so vigorously that I was afraid her eyeglasses might fly off of her face.  The doctor explained that the nurse who was with him was responsible for preparing and mailing all of the prior-authorization letters to the insurance companies, and that neither of them appreciated insurance companies inserting themselves into the treatment process and second-guessing medical professionals.

As the doctor was getting heated about the abuses of the insurance industry, he suddenly shifted gears and said, "Before long the federal government is going to completely run the medical profession."

It was at that point that this Medicare patient decided it would probably be prudent to quit instigating the man who held serious sway over my health and well-being and who had an array of deadly instruments within his reach.

"Do you think it will snow?" I said.

Boys and their Toys

 

by Pa Rock

Citizen Journalist

Stories about giant rockets rattling the Earth and destroying ecosystems as they roar off to the heavens are becoming more commonplace, and today two are in the news - and both are projects funded and operated by private companies which are under the control of two of America's richest oligarchs.  

Billionaire Elon Musk, the owner of SpaceX, is hopeful that his enormous (403-foot) SpaceX Starship will take flight from his launch facility on the Texas coast at 5:00 p.m. today for what will be its seventh flight since 2023.  It won't be in space long and today's flight is simply one more trial run.   Starship, currently the biggest rocket ever built, is an integral part of Elon's master plan of reaching Mars within the next couple of years with human passengers.

It is unlikely that Elon will be one of those passengers.

Billionaire Jeff Bezos, the owner of spaceflight company Blue Origin, has been into space aboard one of his rockets, a brief sojourn into the heavens in which his brother and a couple of paying tourists joined him for a joyride.    Bezos now has a new giant rocket which he tried to launch two days ago, but the mission was delayed because of ice on some of the wiring.  There will be another attempt to launch the New Glenn tomorrow.   At  a mere 320 feet in height the New Glenn appears less potent than Musk's Starship, but a more accurate comparison will certainly be made if and when Bezos gets it up.

For anyone interested in space flight to the degree that they would like to have their own rocket, a 13.77-inch (1/375) Diecast Model of Musk's SpaceX Starship is available through Amazon.com, a Bezos company, for just $47.99.  What a deal!  Get yours today before the mail-order gang at Mar-a-Lago begins selling them with a presidential seal for a "slightly" higher amount!

Occupy Mars, one billionaire at a time - and then leave them there!

Flag Wars

 

by Pa Rock

Citizen Journalist

Even though our nation's President and the Governor of Florida have both ordered that the national flag be flown at half-staff over their respective fedderal and state buildings for a period of thirty days following the death of former President Carter, a period which will not end until January 28th, private citizen Donald Trump has chosen, apparently yesterday, to begin flying Old Glory at full-staff on his home/business in Palm Beach, Florida.   The practice of flying the flag at half-staff for thirty days following the death of a US President dates back to the passing of Abraham Lincoln in 1865 - a period of almost 160 years.

President-Elect,Trump has already beeen complaining publicly about the flags being at half-staff on his inauguration day, but as a current private citizen living in a private residence which doubles as a paid-membership country club, he can undoubtedly do as he pleases with regard to the flags on his own property, no matter how petty and small-minded such actions appear to be.

One must wonder if the national mourning period for President Carter will be brought to a sudden end when the country's next President is sworn into office next Monday - eight days shy of the date it was to have ended under the Biden order.  The incoming President has spoken negatively of Carter and his presidency at various times in the past, and he is known for his petulance.

Texas Governor Greg Abbott announced yesterday that he is ordering flags at all state buildings in Texas to be flown at full-staff on Inauguration Day.  There is, of course, a strong possibility that other GOP governors will issue similar orders as they rush to prostrate themselves for another lick of the presidential loafers.

An incoming President of the United States should have a certain amount of respect, if not reverence, for our nation's proud history and its traditions, as well as for the presidency itself.    Anything less sullies the office and the person who is its temporary occupant.

Those who sow disrespect should expect to find it taking over their fields at harvest time.

A Damned Long Four Years!

 

by Pa Rock

Citizen Journalist

Steve Bannon is a seventy-one-year-old political operative and blogger who served as the chief strategist at the White House during the first Trump administration until the boss ingloriously removed him from that role after only seven months on the job.  But they kept in touch and Bannon reportedly continues to act as an unofficial adviser to the ex-and-future-President to this very day.

Four years after he left the White House Bannon was subpoenaed by the congressional committee investigating the January 6th, 2021, riots at the Capitol.  They wanted him to testify about Trump's activities on that day, but he refused saying that to testify would violate his former boss's executive privilege.    Bannon was later charged with contempt of Congress for his refusal to come before the committee and testify, and a jury found him guilty of that charge.  Last summer he entered a minimum security (aka "country club") prison where he served four months for his crime.

But Steve Bannon is out now, having completed his incarceration in late October, and he is back to casting his pod and trying to hold sway over the MAGA movement.  He has lately managed to single out Trump's new right hand, Elon Musk, as a target of his rage.  Musk, Bannon says, is involved in the MAGA movement solely to benefit himself as he rushes to become the world's first trillionaire.  Bannon and Musk are at odds over the H-1B visas which allow highly skilled immigrants into the country to work in American industries - primarily tech companies.  Musk and America's oligarchs support the programs saying it allows the best and brightest in to help our industries grow, while some ultra-conservatives like Bannon argue that the special visas are simply a tool that corporations use to bring in cheap labor, and that the visas work against the interests of American workers.

Bannon reportedly harped last week that South Africa, the birthplace and boyhood home of Elon Musk, is the most racist country on Earth and that Musk should go back there.  He has vowed that he will have Musk removed from his perch of influence next to the incoming-President's ear prior to Inauguration Day.  There are other Republicans who also regard Elon Musk with disdain, particularly due to his stance favoring the special visas.

Bannon has his detractors in the GOP fold as well, people who do not hold fond views of Bannon's time working in the White House and would like to see him kept away from the new President.

Donald is going to have a real mess on his hands as he tries to keep the family fuss from impacting his golf game - and it couldn't be happening among a more deserving group of people!

The knives are out, the corn is popping, and there is beer in the cooler!  Might as well sit back and try to relax because it's going to be a damned long four years!

Gypsy Running Barefoot in the Snow

 

by Pa Rock

Of Ages

I get slower with each passing year, and it shows.

This year I was again late in getting the bird feeders up, and my son, in fact, wound up doing all of the work.  He went to town, bought the grains and seed for my special secret mixture (two parts hen scratch to one part sunflower seeds) along with a new plastic garbage can to hold the bird food and protect it from marauding squirrels, mice, and other varmints.  Being a true hillbilly, I have the garbage can on my front porch, a covered area with easy access to the feeders.   Nick did all of that last weekend, and the poor little birds were so hungry that many discovered the feeders the first day they were up. 

Later in the week, on Thursday night, we had our first snowfall of the year.  It was six or eight inches deep when I awoke before dawn on Friday, and a light snow continued for most of the day.  It was the most snow that we have received in the ten years that I have been retired and back in the Ozarks.  Most of it is still on the ground today and will be for at least a few more days.  

The newly installed bird feeders are, of course, doing a booming business.  My winter favorites, the Cardinals, were early arrivals and several other smaller birds that are also seasonal regulars quickly joined them.  But after the snow hit, we were also invaded by large flocks of black birds, about half the size of crows, who ravage the feeders and keep my regulars at bay.  The black birds are timid, however, when it comes to humans, and when I stand at the window and simply wave a hand, they take flight en masse, a large black cloud ascending to the uppermost branches of the tallest pines.

The roads have been plowed and are in good shape, and one of my son's friends came by and cleared our drive before my friend, Good Neighbor Rex, had the opportunity to get to it.  (I doubt that hurt Rex's feelings because he gets on his tractor and clears most of the drives in this area just on his own initiative.  When there is no snow, Rex can also be found bush-hogging much of the local road right-of-ways in order to make driving safer.  Rex is a fine human being - tireless - and a year older than me! )

The snow should clear this week, but with the climate changing as fast as it has recently, I'm guessing we could get more.   Snow ice cream was popular during my youth and my father was a master at making it, but with the nuclear testing of the early 1960's there were warnings issued to stop eating the snow because of the dangers of radiation.  Is it safe now?   Does anyone have a good recipe for snow ice cream that they would like to share?  (I'm old and worn out enough that I might just try it -  and manmade dangers like radiation and other deadly pollutants can just be damned!)

It's beautiful outside, but speaking as somebody who has a history of falling, I'm ready to plant my feet on dry ground again!

Rosie, who gets swallowed up by eight inches of snow, is not a fan of the white stuff and is very irritated when I scoop her up and take her outside to do her business.  Gypsy, however, is a different story.  She romps and plays in the snow and does not want to come back in the house.  She has been outside this morning for more than an hour-and-a-half, and every time I spot her and go to the door to call her in, she runs and hides.  One would think that having short hair and being constantly barefoot would make a warm home appealing, but Gypsy likes the freedom offered by the great outdoors.

Update:  Gypsy just relented and came in-doors, a little more that two hours after she had gone out.   She's had her fill of running barefoot in the snow - at least for this morning!   

(And speaking of snow, happy birthday to one of my very favorite American authors, Jack London, who was born on this date in 1876 - 149 years ago!  Who among us can ever forget the snow in the tree branches of his classicc short story "To Build a Fire"?  That was part of our American Literature class when I was in high school - and I hope that it still is.)

Political Tensions at a Funeral

 

by Pa Rock

Citizen Journalist

Yesterday in this space I discussed the State Funeral of former President Jimmy Carter which occurred two days ago on Thursday, January 9th, at the National Cathedral in Washington, DC.  It was quite a dignified and memorable affair with the current President of the United States delivering the primary eulogy and all five living US Presidents in attendance.  The large church was packed with mourners who came to pay their respects to a truly great individual who actually had spent the entirety of his very long life in being of service to others - a man who will forever be remembered for his uncommon decency and good works.

What I didn't discuss in yesterday's posting were the political tensions which seemed to be on display during the funeral service, especially in the first couple of rows of the VIP section where the Presidents and Vice Presidents and their ladies were seated.  There was an inordinate amount of discussion on social media regarding photographs and video clips of those individuals at the funeral service and what their expressions and body language seemed to be implying.  I am choosing to detail some of that speculation in this forum as a way of preserving a more complete picture of President Carter's funeral service and of the times in which we are living.

Here are some of those observations:

The first pew contained just two couples:  President Biden and his wife, Jill, with the President sitting next to the aisle, and Vice President Harris and her husband, Doug Emhoff, with the Vice President sitting next to the First Lady.  One commentator referred to the mood between the two couples as "frosty," and that is certainly how it appeared to this observer, both in photos as well as in videos.   All four individuals looked straight ahead in stony silence without any overt evidence of cordiality,  something that would normally be expected, even at a funeral, among people who worked together on a daily basis.

Part of that apparent coldness between the two couples may have been related to President Biden's recent public musings that he feels he could have won the race against Trump this past November.  That probably didn't sit too well with Harris or Emhoff who both gave the effort their all while standing by the President and his programs when showing some separation from him would have undoubtedly been a better campaign strategy.  And Biden, for his part, may be starting to blame some of the "betrayal" that he believes he suffered from Democratic Party leaders (as they led him to the sidelines) on Harris - thinking that she may have had a hand in showing him the door.

Whatever was at play, there definitely seemed to be a chilly chasm between the First Couple and the Second Couple, something far more revealing than standard funeral faces.

But the tensions didn't end with them:

The second pew had been reserved for former US Presidents and their wives, and seating was from the aisle by seniority with Bill and Hillary Clinton sitting closest to the aisle, followed by George W. and Laura Bush, Barack Obama (Michelle had other commitments), and Donald and Melania Trump who were seated farthest from the aisle.  One of the more interesting interactions on the second pew was the friendly chatter which seemed to be occurring between Barack Obama and Donald Trump who were seated next to each other due to Michelle Obama's absence from the occasion.  If ever a former President had reason to not be social with a fellow member of that club, it would be Obama after Trump spent much of his one term in office trying to erase the advances made by the Obama administration - but that's not who Barack Obama is.  Obama was open and friendly to the man who is generally regarded as a pariah by the past leaders from both parties.

Trump could learn a lot from a man like Barack Obama, in fact we all could.  Jimmy Carter would have been pleased.

The third pew had been set aside for former Vice Presidents, and three were in attendance:  Dan Quayle, the senior member of that club, next to the aisle - and out the range of several of the photographers, Al Gore, and Mike Pence along with his wife, Karen.   (Dick Cheney, George W. Bush's Vice-President, was noticeably absent - perhaps not wanting to interact with  Donald Trump who has "suggested" the Cheney's daughter, former Congresswoman Liz Cheney, should be jailed for her participation in the January 6th congressional inquiry.)

The drama on the third pew occurred when Donald and Melania Trump were walking along the front of the second pew toward their seats at the far end of the pew.  Trump was reaching across and shaking hands with the former Vice Presidents, and when the awkward moment came that he faced Mike Pence, his own Vice President and the person he declined to support after Pence did his Constitutional duty on January 6th, 2021, both men reached across the pew and shook hands.  Karen Pence, however, was not nearly so magnanimous.  She remained seated while Trump and her hustand greeted each other, and made no move to staned or extend her own hand in greeting.   Karen, by her actions and the disgusted look on her face, has not forgiven Trump for his betrayal of her husband - nor did her countenance indicate that she is ever likely to forgive and forget.

The absence of Dick and Lynn Cheney (Republicans), and anger of Karen Pence (Republican) and the absence of Michelle Obama (Democrat) who may have just not wanted to sit next to Trump, would all seem to indicate that long-standing norms of our nation's highest office holders may be fracturing, an indicator that the age of civility may be on the wane.

And I suspect we all know who's to blame.   

The Gathering for a Life Well-Lived

 

by Pa Rock

Citizen Journalist

A great human being was honored, eulogized, and laid to rest yesterday during a national day of mourning.   Jimmy Carter, a man who dedicated his entire life to the service of others, has set aside his hammer and nails and gone on to reside in the peace and comfort that are rightfully his after a century of good works aimed at making all of our lives better.

The State Funeral was held in the morning Washington's National Cathedral.

President Carter's eulogy was given by current President Joe Biden, a man with whom he had been friends since the 1970's, and eulogies from two other close friends who predeceased him were also read at the service:  one by Carter's Vice President, Walter Mondale, which was read by Mondale's son, and the other by Carter's predecessor in the White House, Gerald Ford, which was read by Ford's son, Steven.   Carter had defeated Ford, the incumbent, for the presidency in 1976, but after each had left office they went on to become close friends.  Ford, in the eulogy that he left behind, compared the friendship that he had with Carter, his one-time rival, to the one between John Adams and Thomas Jefferson which developed during their post-presidencies.  Adams and Jefferson had been fierce rivals earlier on.  

In addition to President and Mrs. Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris and her husband, Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff, were in attendance and sitting on the front pew next to the Bidens.   All four living former Presidents, one of whom is now President-Elect, and three of their First Ladies were in attendance, on the second pew, and sitting in the pew behind the former Presidents were three of their Vice Presidents and one Second Lady.

The only top echelon surviving members of the Executive Branch who were not in attendance were former First Lady Michelle Obama who had other commitments, and former Vice President Dick Cheney and his wife, Lynn.

The Cathedral was packed, and the people who gathered there represented a significant portion of our nation's and our world's power and history.  It was a very fitting tribute for a man who did so much for so many - for so long.

Rest well, President Carter.  As Steven Ford told your children yesterday, "When God made your dad, He did good work."

Bless you for a life well-lived.