Bondi Moves to Ensure Luigi's Martyrdom

 

by Pa Rock

Citizen Journalist

Luigi Mangione, the 26-year-old young man from Baltimore who allegedly shot and killed 50-year-old Brian Thompson, the CEO of UnitedHealthcare, on the streets of New York City last December 4th, appears destined to be tried by the state of New York as well as the federal government - and the feds will be seeking to end his life.

The eleven charges filed against Luigi Mangione by a New York grand jury include one count of first-degree murder, two counts of second-degree murder - one of which speaks to terrorism, as well as other charges related to weapon possession and forgery.   The maximum sentence that Mangione can receive from the state of New York, which has no death penalty, is life in prison without the possibility of parole - a significant punishment for a man who is only twenty-six.  Mangione has pleaded "not guilty" to the state charges.

The feds have yet to convene a grand jury to issue formal charges against the young man from Baltimore, and he has therefore yet to enter a plea in the federal case.  The government plans on charging Luigi Mangione with "murder through the use of a firearm," a charge which carries the possibility of the death penalty.  Donald Trump oversaw a record 13 executions of federal inmates during his first administration.  Biden placed a moratorium of federal executions while he was President and commuted the death sentences of 37 of 40 federal inmates on death row to "life in prison."  Trump has lifted that moratorium and seems anxious to resume executions. Luigi Mangione's case will be the first federal murder trial under the second Trump administration.

This week the United States Attorney General, Pam Bondi, a former Fox News talker and Florida politician, announced that she will direct the US prosecutors assigned to the Mangione case to seek the death penalty.  In making that announcement, Ms. Bondi chose to use hot-button words like "assassin" and "terrorist" to describe the former high school valedictorian and graduate of an Ivy League university who is quickly becoming a folk hero.

Pam, be careful what you wish for with the extermination of Luigi Mangione.  There is a word for people who put their lives on the line to call attention to evils in society, and are then are removed from the social conflict by dark and sinister forces - like a despot or a despotic government.  That word isn't "terrorist," it's "martyr."

Luigi Mangione helped to shine a light on the sordid machinations of the American insurance industry, and his impact is still growing.   At this point, his death at the hands of a government that has long been an ally of the insurance industry will only serve to make Luigi's light shine brighter.

They can extinguish the man, but his stubborn light will shine on.

Not the Time to Quit Paying Attention

 

by Pa Rock

Retiree

Donald Trump unveiled his massive tariffs on foreign imports Wednesday after the US stock markets had closed for the day, and on Thursday the markets suffered their worst day of trading in five years with the Dow closing down nearly 1,700 points, or almost 4%, the S&P off nearly 5%, and the Nasdaq down six percent.   Yesterday was essentially a rout, and stock futures for today indicate that a second day of market upheaval is likely.

From a historical perspective, this would probably be a good time for investors to begin sniffing around for bargains because after the market adjusts, it generally begins to climb again.   But given today's volatility and this government's general lack of predictability, this adjustment might not be normal.   The stock market "crash" of 1929 was a prolonged affair that ultimately took years of government intervention in order to get it and the national economy back on their feet.

There may be bargains to be had this morning, but buyer beware.

I am dug into the stock market as a mainstay of my retirement, and right now I will sit in that hole and hope for the best.  The earth could rise again leaving me in the full sunlight of satisfactory interest, stock splits, and regular dividends, or the hole could fill with water and I would drown.  This morning it's raining - I think that's a sign.  Regardless, I have set my shovel aside and have quit digging, at least for the time being.

What our nation needs is an actual stable genius, and what we have is an angry old man with a vendetta.  We could be on the brink of the big one, like 1929, without a competent leader to get us through it.  Stay focused and alert, America - this is not the time to quit paying attention - but it may be the right time to stop digging, at least until the rain lets up.

Vandalism Versus Terrorism

 

by Pa Rock

Citizen Journalist

Lately the word "terrorist" is being splashed around faster than a bottle of Trump Cologne in a busy kennel.  The use of the word is expanding to include all manner of indignities aimed at those who regard themselves as being superior to the rest of us.   

A terrorist used to be someone acting on behalf of a foreign government or movement whose aim was to cause serious harm to, or bring down, our national government, but now the same term has devolved into a quick description of anyone who pisses off someone who is in a position of authority and influence.  Domestic terrorists were people from within our own country who committed heinous and often deadly acts against their fellow citizens - mass shooters, people who blow up buildings, plane hijackers, etc., but that now definition is being stretched to include common vandals who unwisely target the wrong people.

US Attorney General and former Fox News talker, Pam Bondi, seems to have developed a particular penchant for use of the word "terrorist," which she employees to describe people who commit acts of violence against a particular brand of automobile, one manufactured by Elon Musk, a known Trump supporter and the world's richest human.   Bondi's boss, Don Trump, also used the emotionally-loaded term of "terrorist"  to vent his rage at vandals who did some digging damage and freelance graffiti-painting at his Turnberry golf course in Scotland a couple of weeks ago.

A portion of the graffiti reportedly said "Gaza is not 4 sale,"  a reference to Trump's stated desire for the US to buy Gaza and turn it into a seaside resort on the Mediterranean.

Trump said in a social media post on March 31st that Prime Minister Keir Starmer of the United Kingdom had informed him that the "terrorists" had been captured and were in prison, and that he (Trump) hoped they would be treated "very harshly."

The trio of "terrorists" included a 33-year-old man, a 66-year-old woman, and a 75-year-old man.  According to news reports, only the younger man was under arrest and authorities were still trying to figure out what to do with the older two.  It is unclear at this point whether any of them had tattoos or not.

People who damage property connected to the oligarch, Elon Musk, and property belonging to the President of the United States should be treated "very harshly," but people who wantonly damage and desecrate the US Capitol Building, which belongs to all of us, and people whose actions brought about the deaths of individuals charged with protecting that building and those who serve there, those vandals, and dare I say it, terrorists, are somehow victims of a corrupt political system who deserve to be free and perhaps even collect compensation for the indignity of having been formally charged, tried, convicted, sentenced, and jailed.

That just does not smell right.

Elon's property and Trump's property are somehow more important than our property, the Capitol Building of the United States of America, and the democracy for which it stands?

To me that sounds like a serious case of misplaced values, not to mention a flagrant overuse of hyperbole.

Get a grip Pam, and Elon, and Don.  While intentional damage to government property and beloved public landmarks could be classified as terrorism, especially if it involves violence and the institution of government itself is imperiled, damage to cars and private property clearly does not meet that bar.  

Just because people succeed in pissing you off, does not make them terrorists - and neither does skin color, body art, gender, where they pray, or with whom they crawl into bed!

Cory Booker has his Say

 

by Pa Rock

Citizen Journalist

I have been an ardent fan of Senator Cory Booker of New Jersey even since the evening thirteen years ago this month when, while serving as Mayor of Newark, Booker and two of his security guards rushed into the burning home of a neighbor and rescued a woman who had been trapped in the fire.  As a big city mayor, Cory Booker was known for rolling up his sleeves and being active in the community, often at street level.  And as a US senator he is  known for still being active and close to the center of things.

Senator Cory Booker earned a dubious distinction yesterday by becoming the longest-winded speaker in the history of the United States Senate.

Senator Booker had taken the floor the previous evening in an effort to bring attention the outrages being perpetrated against the American public by the Trump administration, a list of affronts whose enumeration and illumination took the senator twenty-five hours and five minutes to fully disclose and discuss.

The Herculean endeavor from the New Jersey senator was intended to inspire public resistance to what the Trump administration is doing to America, and in that effort, Senator Booker was highly successful.  The marathon speech was livestreamed on TikTok where some reports say that it received over 350 million "likes" from the international audience.

The record for the second-longest floor speech in the history of the US Senate is now held by the late Senator Storm Thurmond of South Carolina whom Booker knocked from the top spot.   Senator Thurmond, an old hardline segregationist, spoke for twenty-four hours and eighteen minutes in 1957 as he attempted to filibuster civil rights legislation.  Senator Strom Thurmond, his times, and his record are gone now, and it was a black man who brought some of that to an end.

In preparing for yesterday's ordeal, Senator Booker revealed that he had not eaten or drank anything for several hours prior to the speech.  He intentionally dehydrated himself so that he would not have to worry about bathroom breaks.  He said that he suffered stomach cramps for a while during the protracted oration, but persisted in speaking and ultimately prevailed in delivering his message and setting a record while he was at it.

The message was the core of Senator Booker's speech, and he stayed on that message throughout more than a complete day at the microphone.  He had prepared remarks and supplemented those by reading letters of concern about Trump policies from Democrats and Republicans across the nation.  His colleagues also stood to ask relevant questions at various points throughout the speech, small mercies which helped to keep the speaker focused and to give his voice an occasional bit of respite.

Senator Booker spoke for an exceedingly long time, but he spoke with purpose - and people heard him.  He helped to single out and shine a light on the daily crap that Donald Trump has been slinging against the wall for over two months - and he showed the world that in America we are not all dispirited victims content to quietly take what life throws at us.

Cory Booker stood up - for a long damned time - and he made some noise, or as the late Rep. John Lewis might have termed it - some good trouble.

Thank you, Senator Booker.  Salute!

Proper and Improper Ideologies

by Pa Rock

Citizen Journalist

 

In his never-ending quest to re-invigorate American society with infusions of racism and class division, Donald Trump last week put a target on the Smithsonian Institution with claims that the venerable museum organization has an "improper ideology."   Trump signed an executive order last Thursday which directs Vice President JD Vance to work with Congress to rid the Smithsonian Museum and the National Zoo of "improper ideology" that is "inconsistent with federal law."  

Vice President Vance has a seat on the Smithsonian Institute's Board of Directors.

Trump's expansive order seems to specifically target a couple of the Smithsonian Institution's museums:  the American Women's History Museum and the National Museum of African American History.  Trump's order seeks to slash funding for exhibits or programs that promote ideologies which are deemed (presumably by Trump and Vance) inconsistent with federal law or policies.  Currently much federal "policy" seems to be coming from the dark recesses of the aging mind of Donald John Trump and from the extreme right-wing "Project 2025" handbook for lazy politicians with fascist tendencies.

According to news reports Vance and his museum cleaning team are to be on the lookout for anything which recognizes trans people, degrades shared American values (presumably those values shared by the cultural and ethnic majorities of Americans), and which divide Americans based on race.

The Trump team seems to regard the teaching of black history, including slavery and racial discrimination, as being particularly divisive in that it can tend to show white Americans in an unfavorable light based on their ancestry.   Conservatives, including Vance, have decried the Smithsonian as well some schools of higher learning as being "woke" and destroying patriotism with their realistic and historically accurate portrayals of American history through the perspectives of racial and ethnic minorities.

Accurate history would appear to be an "improper" ideology.

While Donald Trump wants to put limits on the Smithsonian's ability to tell certain key aspects of American history, he also used that same executive order to openly promote another seriously divisive measure.  Not only does he want to tone down or perhaps eliminate key portions of Black history, Trump is also calling on the Secretary of the Interior to reinstate national monuments and statues within his jurisdiction that were "removed or changed to perpetuate a false reconstruction of American history."  And by that he is pushing for bring back the Confederate statues and monuments that were taken down during the 2020 racial justice protests.

That action dovetails nicely with Trump's efforts to bring back the Confederate names of US military installations that were changed during the Biden administration.

Worshipping false idols of dangerous bigots from out nation's past would appear to be an example of "proper" ideology.

If it's all just a plot by the administration to "dumb down"America, as Trump's election itself proves, there's not further they can go!