Claims And Issues

I RESPECT PEOPLE WHO …

• go the extra mile.
• give to anyone who begs from you.
• do not turn their back on anyone who wishes to borrow from you.

(See MT 5:41-42)

I try to do these things.  I want to do them more often.  I respect people who do, not just talk.

Please read the disclaimer. This blog article  ©2022 Dennis J. Wall.  All rights reserved.

I'M AN AMERICAN. NOW I'M AN AMERICAN IN A HURRICANE.

Hurricane Seen From Space (NASA)

 

I Am An American.

My name is Wall.

My name is Cortez.

My name is Murphy.

My name is D'Angelo.

My name is Floyd.

My name is Korematsu.

My name is America.

We do not have one name.  We have many names.  We do not have one skin color.  We do not have one religion.  We have many.

We are America.  We are many and we are one.

Now I Am An American in a Hurricane.

I have been an American in a metaphorical Hurricane for a long time.  Bright times are ahead.

By the time you read this, I will be an American in a real Hurricane and we may have been without power for a couple of days.  Bright times are ahead. 

Pray for me anyway.

Thanks.

Please read the disclaimer.  ©2022 Dennis J. Wall.  All rights reserved.

Book Review: "AMERICAN PSYCHOSIS" by DAVID CORN.

                Capitol Hill Coup (Manuel Balce Ceneta / Associated Press)

With this book's 355 pages of text and more pages of notes on sources plus a bibliography, David Corn has made a great contribution to understanding how the events of January 6, 2021 are not a one-off.  The Republican Party leadership has been building to this end for a long time by welcoming the forebears of insurrection and by refusing to chastise the kooks, for the most part.

The author's theme is so focused on the Republican Party leaders encouraging the increasingly loud and violent people to seek safety and approval in its ranks, that he does not mention that The Grievance Boy lost the 2016 election by 3 Million votes.  (He does mention the failure in the 2020 election, losing that one by 7 Million votes.)

If you are looking for an explanation of whether the recent takeover of the Republican Party by violent extremists is a new phenomenon (it's not), or if you are trying to understand whether the Party leaders actually encouraged these yahoos (they did), then you should read this book.

After reading this well-written and thoroughly researched book, I am left with a new question, a very different inquiry perhaps:  What were the responses of the victims of the political fight club (as the author calls it) to the attacks of the vigilantes (as the author calls them)?  And however the victims may have responded, did it have the effect of encouraging the gangs (again, as the author calls them) ultimately to commit January 6th?

Please read the disclaimer.  ©2022 Dennis J. Wall.  All rights reserved.

P.S. to " MEET THE JUDGES WHO RESTORED THE REPUBLIC FOR NOW."

United States Supreme Court (AP / Jacquelyn Martin)

If (some say when) they ask for an emergency blockade of the Eleventh Circuit's decision to allow the United States to continue to investigate criminal violations involving the confidential documents found under a Court-authorized search warrant to investigate criminal violations, and also that part of the Eleventh Circuit's decision to allow the United States to continue to evaluate the damage done to our national security, then it might be worth knowing who the U.S. Supreme Court Justice is who handles emergency applications for a stay of Eleventh Circuit Orders:

U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas.

Think they'll ask for an emergency blockade of the Eleventh Circuit's decision?

Please read the disclaimer.  © 2022 Dennis J. Wall.  All rights reserved.

MEET THE JUDGES WHO SAVED THE REPUBLIC FOR NOW.

Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals, Atlanta, Georgia (Image Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals Website)

On September 21, 2022, a federal appellate court ruled that while its appeal is pending, the United States can use the classified materials it confiscated from the beach resort in South Florida under an authorized search warrant, to investigate whatever crimes may have been committed and to review whatever damage was done to national security.  They also ruled that the United States does not have to submit the classified documents to a special master to review in the meantime.

With their unanimous order, they restored the Republic, at least for now.  Meet the Judges.

JUDGE ROBIN S.  ROSENBAUM is the senior judge among the three judges on this panel.  She has been on the Eleventh Circuit since 2014.  Having turned 56 this year, she is also the oldest of the three judges on this panel.  Judge Rosenbaum is familiar with the inner workings of most of the parties in this case, having worked as a Trial Attorney in the Department of Justice, as an Assistant U.S. Attorney in the Southern District of Florida, as a U.S. Magistrate Judge in the Southern District of Florida, and as a U.S. District Judge in the Southern District of Florida.

A graduate of the University of Miami Law School, she was nominated by President Obama and she was confirmed to the Eleventh Circuit by a vote of 91 to 0.

JUDGE BRITT GRANT was a Justice of the Georgia Supreme Court before she went to the Eleventh Circuit in 2018.  A graduate of Stanford Law School, Judge Grant was confirmed by a vote of 52-46.  She is 44 years old and a Republican by party.

JUDGE ANDREW L. BRASHER rounds out this panel of three Judges.  Judge Brasher turned 41 this year and has been on the Eleventh Circuit since June 2020.  Previously he was appointed a U.S. District Judge in Alabama where he served for about a year before going to the Eleventh Circuit.  A graduate of Harvard Law School, he too is a Republican by party.

Contrary to Mainstream Media and Alternate Media headlines, this decision did not resolve the appeal in favor of the United States, although that is the likely outcome after this ruling.  Also, this panel which decided the motion (called a "motions panel") may not be the same panel of Judges who will decide the entire appeal.  So it's on with the appeal and let's win there!

Please read the disclaimer.  ©2022 Dennis J. Wall.  All rights reserved.

BOOK REVIEW: "HOLDING THE LINE" by GEOFFREY BERMAN.

Gettysburg 2022 (Mark McClain / Washington Post)

The author mentions one time in 316 pages that Rudy Giuliani was his law partner.

He also mentions one time that he applied for a different job but took this one as the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York when it was offered to him after the previous occupant was forced out. 

The title of this book describes the author's view that, like others, he would not confront Bill Barr or Mr. Barr's boss, if he could help it (at least until he himself was forced out by Mr. Barr under false pretenses), because it was better for us and for him that no-one else was in his position in the government.  The thinking went that if people like him were there, things would not be as bad.

The author is convinced that this path he is pushing was the right way for him to go, that of all possible options, he took the high ground.  As a reader, I was not convinced.

Please read the disclaimer.  ©2022 Dennis J. Wall.  All rights reserved.

HERE'S EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW, AMERICA. YOU TOO, OHIO.

John F. Kennedy, President of the United States, receiving Notre Dame's Laetare Medal from Rev. Theodore Hesburgh, President of the University of Notre Dame (Notre Dame Archives)

On stage at a rally in Ohio, with J.D. Vance standing near him, here's what he had to say, as quoted by The Los Angeles Times:

 

J.D. is kissing my ass.  Of course, he wants my support.

 

What kind of character does a person have?  I am speaking here about J.D. Vance, of course.

And there is a message here for America too:  Is this something that the greatest president in history would say and do, is that what you think, America?

Please read the disclaimer.  ©2022 Dennis J. Wall.  All rights reserved.

HERE'S EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW, OHIO. YOU TOO, AMERICA.

President Reagan presents Mother Teresa with the Medal of Freedom (Wikipedia)

On stage at a rally in Ohio, with J.D. Vance standing near him, here's what he had to say, as quoted by The Los Angeles Times:

 

J.D. is kissing my ass.  Of course, he wants my support.

 

What kind of character does a person have?  I am speaking here about J.D. Vance, of course.

And there is a message here for America too:  Is this something that the greatest president in history would say and do, is that what you think, America?

Please read the disclaimer.  ©2022 Dennis J. Wall.  All rights reserved.

WHY IS FLORIDA PAYING TO FLY PEOPLE OUT OF TEXAS?

This is a postscript to another article published here earlier today.

Governor Ronald DeSantis has taken responsibility for flying people out of Texas to Martha's Vineyard:

DeSantis claimed credit for the planes leaving Texas. He told NPR and other outlets that it was part of the state’s program to relocate migrants to a “sanctuary destination.” It’s unclear whether the migrants in the planes had any connection to Florida. The Florida Legislature set aside $12 million for the state’s migrant relocation program.

Stephen Neukam, Fight over border security escalates after governors send migrants to Kamala Harris’ home, Martha’s Vineyard /  The latest moves by Gov. Greg Abbott and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis this week have triggered outrage among immigration rights’ groups and Democrats who have accused the Republicans of engaging in human trafficking and treating migrants like “human cargo” to score political points, TEXAS TRIBUNE, Sept. 15, 2022.   Mr. DeSantis apparently gets publicity out of it.

What does Florida get out of it?  Why are these flights being paid for by Florida taxpayers?  Is Texas going to reimburse Florida?  Is DeSantis going to pay for these flights?  Is his publicist?  Is his campaign going to pay?

I ask again, why are Florida taxpayers paying for these flights of people out of Texas to Martha's Vineyard?

Please read the disclaimer.  ©2022 Dennis J. Wall.  All rights reserved.

IT'S CERTAIN TEXAS, FLA GOV'S SPENDING $24 MILLION. HUMAN TRAFFICKING TOO?

The Faces of Compassion (Ted S. Warren / AP)

Texas Governor Gregory Abbott publicly took responsibility for sending busloads of people to Vice President Kamala Harris's house.  He was "relocating migrants" at taxpayers' expense, and so far he has spent $12 Million of their money to do it.  See Stephen Neukam, Fight over border security escalates after governors send migrants to Kamala Harris’ home, Martha’s Vineyard /  The latest moves by Gov. Greg Abbott and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis this week have triggered outrage among immigration rights’ groups and Democrats who have accused the Republicans of engaging in human trafficking and treating migrants like “human cargo” to score political points,  TEXAS TRIBUNE, Sept. 15, 2022.

 

Florida Governor Ronald DeSantis has publicly taken responsibility for sending airplane flights full of people to Martha's Vineyard.  The Florida Legislature has appropriated $12 Million to fund such things.  See Stephen Neukam, Fight over border security escalates after governors send migrants to Kamala Harris’ home, Martha’s Vineyard / The latest moves by Gov. Greg Abbott and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis this week have triggered outrage among immigration rights’ groups and Democrats who have accused the Republicans of engaging in human trafficking and treating migrants like “human cargo” to score political points,  TEXAS TRIBUNE, Sept. 15, 2022.

Just like a politician.  They only do anything when somebody else pays for it.

Come to think of it, aren't these really campaign expenditures paid for by taxpayers?  Strange as well that these two governors have the same amount of money to play with.  Do you think they will contribute any of their own money or any of their campaign's money?

As if the money wasn't a big enough issue, then there's the human trafficking thing.  Let's start by following the money, see where it leads, and keep our options open.

Please read the disclaimer.  ©2022 Dennis J. Wall.  All rights reserved.

IT'S UN-AMERICAN. IT WILL ALWAYS BE UN-AMERICAN.

 

82nd Airborne (Chris Seward/Associated Press)

Labelling a whole group of persons "rapists" and "criminals."

Ripping small children from the arms of their mothers and fathers.

This is not any kind of "normal."  It was and is Un-American.

Converting the U.S. Department of Justice into an organization to harass people you don't like.

Ordering underlings to invent "special counsels" to write a report for propaganda media without any desire for evidence.

This is not "normal."  It's Un-American.  It will always be Un-American.

Please read the disclaimer.  ©2022 Dennis J. Wall.  All rights reserved.

"You Say It's Your Birthday"*

 

"You Say It's Your Birthday"*

by

Dennis Wall

A Villanelle in Honor of the Beatles, Birthdays, and (Writer's) Block.

Saturday, September 10, 2022

*Reflecting the suggestions of the Writer's Block Group Zoom,

 Monday, September 12, 2022

 

It's Birthday Week in my life

I heard the song of joy

Saw the slice from a cake knife.

 

Good songs sung from a  cake knife

My child's a girl, not boy.

It's birthday week in my life.

 

Oft I saw the birthday life

I miss the sound of joy,

Saw the slice from a cake knife.

 

Harming none, it fed, that knife.

When mind recalls the joy

It's birthday week in my life.

 

Then we celebrated life

Every girl and boy

Saw the slice from a cake knife.

 

Make time in American life

Important in days of strife

Birthday week lived to  enjoy

Saw the slice from a cake knife.

©2022 Dennis J. Wall  All rights reserved.

-30- The End.

By What Right Challenges Their Right to Hold Office. Ever.

(The famous photograph of Abraham Lincoln where the glass broke along the line a bullet would soon travel)

New Mexico and its citizens and its State Courts have all shown the way to challenge the right of insurrectionists to hold -- and run for -- office:  Ask courts to declare by what right those people hold -- or seek -- office under the Fourteenth Amendment, Section 3 of the United States Constitution.  (In courts, to ask "by what right" usually means quo warranto or something similar.)

As you may already know, Section 3 of the Fourteenth Amendment was written to bar people engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the United States to ever hold office.  Then, it meant former Confederates.

Now, it means office holders (and office seekers) even though they did not engage in violence so long as the proof in court shows that they did engage in insurrection, as in the case of Download State of New Mexico ex rel. White v. Griffin Findings of Fact Conclusions of Law and Judgment filed Sept. 6 2022 (N.M. Dist. Ct. 1st Dist. Santa Fe County No. D-101-CV-2022-00473).

Please read the disclaimer.  ©2022 Dennis J. Wall.  All rights reserved. 

'The Constitution represents popular opinion.'

(Sun Sentinel Handout)

In Download State of New Mexico ex rel. White v. Griffin Findings of Fact Conclusions of Law and Judgment filed Sept. 6 2022 (N.M. Dist. Ct. 1st Dist. Santa Fe County No. D-101-CV-2022-00473), New Mexico District Judge Francis Mathew ruled that because the defendant violated the Fourteenth Amendment, Section 3,  "effective January 6, 2021" the defendant is no longer entitled to hold public office and shall not hold state or federal office in the future.

"Mr. Griffin disregards that the Constitution itself  reflects the will of the people and is 'the supreme Law of the Land.'"  Id., ¶ 67, p. 44.

The Judge who wrote this opinion graduated from Notre Dame the year after I did.  He went on to the University of Notre Dame Law School.  Back in the day, he would have been called "a Double Domer."

Today, he is rightfully called Your Honor.

 Please read the disclaimer.  ©2022 Dennis J. Wall.  All rights reserved.

"The Court denied their request to be friends of court."

(Peter Ringenberg / University of Notre Dame)

On August 30, 2022, seven "former federal prosecutors and state and federal governmental officials who served in Republican administrations," including former Massachusetts and New Jersey Governors William F. Weld and Christine Todd Whitman, filed their motion to appear as friends of the court and brief the unique issues in that case:  Download Trump v. United States Doc. No. 41 Motion to File Amicus Brief filed August 30 2022 (S.D. Fla. No. 9.22-cv-81294-AMC).

As required, they contacted both parties before they filed their motion:  "Defendant consents to the Motion and Plaintiff opposes the Motion."

On September 6, 2022 in an unwritten order the Court denied their request to appear as friends of the court.

Please read the disclaimer.  ©2022 Dennis J. Wall.  All rights reserved.

JOURNALISTS HAVE AN ETHICAL DUTY TO REPORT SOLUTIONS, TOO.

 

(FreePhotos)

COVID precautions seem to have ended for the most part.  COVID has not ended.  COVID precautions seem to have ended.

It is as if declaring an end to COVID precautions means the same thing to many people as ending COVID. 

Ending protections against COVID means ending protections for the most vulnerable, not just the healthiest alone, not just for the people who are the most resistant to COVID but also for the people who are the least resistant to COVID.  The best example is probably wearing face masks.

The majority of the population has found wearing masks too inconvenient to continue.  The majority does not include the people most vulnerable to COVID.   And so the COVID spreads.

And so the elderly in particular, but also the very young along with everyone else whose immune systems are vulnerable to COVID because, say, they are undergoing cancer treatments, continue to die at much greater rates when they do contract COVID.  Did I mention that some 77% of COVID deaths so far in 2022 are people over the age of 65?

Journalists have reported these events and these statistics.  If journalists report a problem, their reporting is incomplete if they do not report that a solution or solutions also exist, are also facts, are also in fact part of the story.  Reporting only the problem is not enough.

"It is usually going to be cathartic for me to think about the possible positive ripple effect for another human being in that room who possibly might be immunocompromised."  Dr. Erica Birkley, Assistant Professor at the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine, quoted in Eric Berger, Coronavirus / As Americans Ditch Covid Measures, Pandemic Worsens for the Vulnerable,  THE GUARDIAN Tues., Aug. 30, 2022.  Doctor Birkley was talking about wearing a mask.  The reporter, Eric Berger, wrote about the problem caused by most people not wearing a mask, and he also reported a solution to that problem offered by Dr. Birkley.

It's not hard for journalists to do:  When you report on a problem, reporting on the solution or solutions is an essential part of the story.

Please read the disclaimer.  ©2022 Dennis J. Wall.  All rights reserved.

WHY ARE RICH PAYING TO ASSAULT IRS? FOLLOW THE MONEY.

(Bank Run 1933)

Rich people are paying for "ads" and false info so that you and I will assault the IRS.  Reportedly billionaires want to run "aggressive TV ads" and "hard-hitting kind of spots" that the IRS is "coming after" you and me, but not mentioning what they get out of it.  See Greg Sargent and Paul Waldman, Leaked Audio of a Billionaire GOP Donor Hands Democrats a Weapon, WASHINGTON POST online Thursday, Aug. 25, 2022 at 5:33 PM EDT.

But don't take someone else's opinion for it.  Look it up.

The United States Government Accountability Office (GAO) reported to Congress in May, 2022 about IRS Audit Rates and Results for Individual Taxpayers.  Take a look at what they found.

22,636 tax returns of people who made between $50,000 and $75,000 were audited by the IRS in 2019.

22,851 tax returns of people making between $100,000 and $200,000 were audited in 2019.

However, the rich got audited much less.  639 returns were audited in 2019 which showed that the people filing those returns made from $1 Million to $10 Million or more.

The chances of being audited if you are in the first group (making $50,000 to $75,000) are more than 35 times the chances of the millionaires being audited, while the chances of being audited if you are in the second group ($100,000 to $200,000) are about the same, closer to 36 times greater than the chances of a millionaire being audited.  Clearly the millionaires want it to stay that way.   

Check it out. 

No-one wants to be audited, that's true.  The millionaires know that in paying for the propaganda they are spreading.  The louder the complaints about IRS audits, the more money the millionaires are spending.

But it's not  the millionaires complaining about being audited in the past because they haven't been.  Instead it's the millionaires complaining about not wanting to be audited now.

And the millionaires are certainly not complaining about you and me being audited.

Please read the disclaimer.  ©2022 Dennis J. Wall.  All rights reserved.

IT'S NOT HARD. COMPLIANCE IS NOT OPTIONAL FOR EVERYONE. ELSE?

When any new lawsuit is filed and the party filing it claims relief, lawyers and their clients are bound to follow the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure.  Compliance is not optional.

This includes The Former Guy and his new lawsuit that were discussed here the day after that new lawsuit was filed.  So that as many people as possible can understand all this, let me try to explain it here (and hopefully  without sounding too much like a lawyer, if I can).

The Rules of Civil Procedure that lawyers and their clients are bound to follow in federal court, whether they like it or not, include Rule 8(a):

(a) Claim for Relief. A pleading that states a claim for relief must contain:

(1) a short and plain statement of the grounds for the court's jurisdiction, unless the court already has jurisdiction and the claim needs no new jurisdictional support;

(2) a short and plain statement of the claim showing that the pleader is entitled to relief; and

(3) a demand for the relief sought, which may include relief in the alternative or different types of relief.

To break it down into digestible pieces, this Rule applies to every party who states a claim for relief from a federal court, as TFG tried to do in his new case, Southern District of Florida No. 22-cv-81294-AM.  The first thing they have to do is write "a short and plain statement of the grounds for the court's jurisdiction," which the "motion" that was filed in the new lawsuit just did not do. 

The first thing the judge ordered, two days after the motion was filed, was to state why the Court has jurisdiction.

The second thing that they all have to write is "a short and plain statement of the claim showing that the pleader is entitled to relief[.]"  In this new lawsuit, there are plenty of statements but not one of them is short and none of them is plain.

It is a press release that was filed in the Court file.

It does not show that the pleader is entitled to relief.  It misses by a mile.

Another thing that the judge ordered two days after the motion was filed was to state why the alleged owner of the searched premises is entitled to relief – and what relief is it, exactly, that he is requesting from her.

So, to say once again, it's on to Friday, August 26, 2022.

Please read the disclaimer.  ©2022 Dennis J. Wall.  All rights reserved.

SEARCHING FOR JUDGES IN SOUTHERN FLORIDA, SEARCH WARRANT NO CONTEST.

Lindsey Halligan, Esquire has probably gotten a lot of unfair press in the past week.  On August 22, 2022, she filed a new civil lawsuit and called the complaint a motion. The case is listed by the Clerk as Trump v. United States, Case No. 22-cv-81294-AMC.   (Every new civil lawsuit starts off with a complaint.  There are no motions until a complaint is filed.)  

The motion Ms. Halligan signed says it is "In the Matter of the Search," and it is titled Motion for Judicial Oversight and Additional Relief from the orders entered by the Magistrate Judge on the now-famous search warrant in the criminal case.  That's another case entirely, of course, Southern District of Florida Criminal Case No. 22-mj-8332-BER.  And it's a criminal case, not a civil case.   But wait.  There's a method to this seeming madness.

Reportedly Ms. Halligan has no experience in federal court, and other reports identify her as "an insurance lawyer" at the Ft. Lauderdale office of Cole Scott & Kissane.  That is an insurance defense firm among many other practice areas.

She was however present when the search warrant was executed.  It is now reported that the alleged owner of the search premises actually had two attorneys present at that time and she was one of them.  (Ms. Halligan has apparently said so on TV.)

The electronic docket of the new lawsuit in federal court identifies Ms. Halligan's involvement in the new lawsuit as an appearance by Cole Scott & Kissane.  Every civil case needs a Civil Cover Sheet, and the Civil Cover Sheet in the new civil case indeed identifies Ms. Halligan with Cole Scott & Kissane.

However, the motion she herself signed does not give her law firm address at Cole.  She gives a different address in Ft. Lauderdale.  She also lists only her personal EMail address at gmail, not her EMail address at the law firm.

In the meantime, there has been no contest of the search warrant in the already-pending criminal case.  There have been motions and requests to unseal the search warrant, the inventory, and the affidavit, but these requests to unseal have not been filed by the alleged owner of the searched premises.  The owner has not made an appearance in the criminal case, yet.  No, the requests to unseal have come from newspapers and organizations who want to publish whatever documents may be unsealed.

The first request to unseal came early, on August 10, 2022.  To say again, the alleged owner has never made a request to unseal.

In fact, the alleged owner has never made an appearance in the criminal case.

So why file a new lawsuit if it was not a mistake?  Well, for one thing, they got a new judge.  The judge assigned to the new lawsuit is the Honorable Aileen M. Cannon.  She was appointed effective November 13, 2020 by the alleged owner of the searched premises.

The attorney whose signature appears on the Civil Cover Sheet filed in the new lawsuit – back to the Civil Cover Sheet, who knew? – looks to be the signature of Evan Corcoran, Esquire.  Mr. Corcoran, from a large law firm with offices in Maryland and D.C., represented Mr.  Steve Bannon at one of Mr. Bannon's criminal hearings not too long ago.  Mr. Corcoran is listed on the motion in the civil case as one of the lawyers representing the owner of the searched premises.

So, it may be unfair to criticize Lindsey Halligan for all this.  Maybe the motion was intended to be filed in the criminal case; the Certificate of Service lists electronic service on the lawyers appearing for the United States in the criminal case, after all.  (It would be odd if not impossible to put a Certificate of Service on the initial complaint in a civil case in federal court, since there's no lawyer yet for the other party or parties in that case at that time.)

On the other hand, the new lawsuit may be the brain-child of someone else entirely.

And now the reasons for filing a new lawsuit may be a little more transparent.

In the meantime, the alleged owner of the search premises still has not appeared in the criminal case.

Please read the disclaimer.  ©2022 Dennis J. Wall.  All rights reserved.

VOTE!

If you want the freedom to love and marry whomever you wish—vote!

If you want the freedom to decide when you want to bear your children—vote!

If you want the freedom to decide how to raise your children—vote!

If you want the freedom to keep your children safe from gun violence and from insane persons with weapons—vote!

If you want a government that will commit itself to cool the rising temperatures that otherwise lie ahead of us all—vote!

If you want to count on your voice being heard in choosing who leads you and where they lead you—vote!

 

Ideas slightly restated and arranged here that were first surfaced so well  by Mark Danner, We're in an Emergency—Act Like It!, 69 New York Review of Books 6 (written July 21, 2022, published August 18, 2022).

No claim to copyright in these ideas.  This blog article ©2022 Dennis J. Wall.  All rights reserved.

THERE'S STILL A PANDEMIC, YOU KNOW. PEOPLE ARE STILL DYING.

But maybe it's not your people, you think.

You may belong to the majority of people in America who are not at risk of dying from COVID.  The majority, even if you belong to it, does not mean everyone in America.

Other people are at risk.  You may know some of them:  the aged, the victims of cancer and other devastating illnesses, the disabled.  In short, the vulnerable people, the people who are most at risk even if the majority are not at risk.

The vulnerable people may include your Grandma.  But maybe you lost the feeling to care deeply, or at all,  once you stopped paying attention to her.  Maybe you kind of forgot to care.  Or maybe it became inconvenient to care as much. For whatever reason, to the aged, the victims, and the disabled it looks like you stopped caring.

How else to explain the majority not just resuming their daily activities, but making no allowance for the risks faced by the minority as if the minority faced no risks at all?  Risks that can actually be cut down to manageable size, just by wearing masks or getting vaccinated?  Okay, maybe getting vaccinated is too much for the squeamish, but wearing masks?  This is not hard.  On the other hand, for the most part, it is not done.

Not enough to save  your Grandma.

Please read the disclaimer.  ©2022 Dennis J. Wall.  All rights reserved.

STAND BY OUR FBI AGENTS (AND OUR JUDGES) TODAY.

Here's a blowback to the noise attacking the FBI and Federal Judges after the search warrant was executed at Mar-A-Lago:   Senators and Representatives go and have your picture taken with FBI Agents to show your support.  To show that you have their backs.

You probably will have a tougher time doing this with judges, so as for judges, say supportive things.  Things like it is madness and evil to threaten federal judges, any judges.  Any time, for anything, anywhere.

You say there are no Members of Congress in Washington, D.C., they are all on August Recess right now?  They can still get the media attention they so clearly crave.  Then have them go to their local FBI Office and stand in the doorway and have their picture taken with FBI Agents to show that they have the back of FBI Agents.

You say that very few Republicans who hold office in Washington, D.C. will stand with FBI Agents right now?  Liz Cheney might; Adam Kinzinger might, others might as well.  Then tell Democrats to stand with FBI Agents and have their pictures taken showing that they support our FBI Agents right now.

Do something positive.  Make a contribution to our country.  Do good.  Now that's what I call pushback against the madness and the evil.

Please read the disclaimer.  ©2022 Dennis J. Wall.  All rights reserved.

FAITH, HOPE, AND LOVE; NOTRE DAME, VATICAN II, UNIVERSAL APPEAL.

This is a personal footnote to FAITH, HOPE AND CHARITY WERE IN KANSAS THIS WEEK, an article I published here last Saturday.

I was born and raised a Catholic when Vatican II came of age.  The Church grew then.  It added more than numbers, although it certainly did that.  The Church also added inclusivity, the quality of reaching out to include one's neighbors.  Faith, Hope, and Charity.  The last virtue is often called "Love."  That is what Vatican II is responsible for, what it inspired people seeking God to do as well as to say.

I went to Notre Dame when the Reverend Theodore Hesburgh was the President of the University.  We called him "Ted the Head."  Father Hesburgh was also the Chair of the U.S. Civil Rights Commission, until he resigned to protest the activities of President Richard Nixon.

During my time as a student at Notre Dame, there were was a lot of discussion about Faith as you might expect.  Notre Dame students, faculty, and administration not only talked about their Faith, they tried to live it.  That gave everyone Hope.

There were many campaigns for Charity, running from raising funds for Biafra (a breakaway republic in Africa that no longer exists) to raising funds for the Tom Dooley Foundation (which delivered medicine and provided doctors in Southeast Asia, until the foundation was eliminated by those who took power later).

In my first article with FAITH, HOPE AND CHARITY in the title, I mentioned the activities of the so-called Catholic Church in Kansas City.  They campaigned this Summer to make everyone believe what they believe, which is not at all the kind of campaign that real Catholics ever waged.  To begin with, the Kansas City campaign was not a campaign for Charity.   What's more, it was not "universal" and so by definition it was not "Catholic," which means "universal."

But let's focus just on the money.  Following the money means following at least $2,450,000.00 or $2.45 Million Dollars.  That is the amount that the Archdiocese of Kansas City spent on a political campaign to pass an amendment to the Kansas State Constitution so as to permit the Kansas State Legislature to ban abortion for anyone and everyone in Kansas.

That $2,450,000.00 did not come from God.  It was donated by thousands of parishioners in the pews.  It was not the Archdiocese's money to spend on a political campaign.  Especially a campaign that turned God into Big Brother.

The contribution of $2.45 Million would have gone a long way to support adoption services.  That alone would be a huge encouragement to mothers to decide to bring babies to term  instead of having an abortion.  But of course, then there would have been no guarantee that women would be absolutely prohibited from making their own decisions.

The millions of dollars spent by the Archdiocese of Kansas City on a political campaign could have been spent to support healthcare of mothers and babies and small children in Kansas City and anywhere in Kansas for that matter.  The millions should have been spent for those purposes, or perhaps even to buy diapers and formula, and in a different age, Catholics' money would have been spent on Charity.

Where your money is, there will your heart be also, the Bible says.  And speaking once more of all that money taken from the faithful Catholics of the Kansas City Archdiocese, it should be paid back.  That would be the Christian thing to do.

Let us Hope for Charity as our Faith would have us do.

Please read the disclaimer.  ©2022 Dennis J. Wall.  All rights reserved.

"SPEAK NO EVIL" MEANS RECONCILIATION vs. MURDER ON FIFTH AVENUE.

Chuck Schumer told me something last night.  Actually, it's what he did not say that educated me.  Speaking of one of America's most vocal politicians, that is saying something about Chuck Schumer, that he did not speak.

Last night on cable TV Schumer declined to answer about the search warrant on The Grievance Boy's Florida residence while TGB was back in New York City.  That was understandable, under the circumstances.

But then Schumer was asked a different question right after that one.  He was asked about threats made by Kevin McCarthy against the Attorney General of the United States, and the Senator declined to answer.

That was his instinct, Speak No Evil.  (I have no doubt that when instinct has passed, Senator Schumer will have something to say, but that will not change his instinctive reaction, the reaction he has when he is caught without time to reflect, so to speak.)

Compromise led to reconciliation only a couple of days ago.  A bill passed the Senate this weekend because Senator Schumer and President Biden lined up all 50 senators who call themselves "Democrats" to vote for it.   Compromise meant not saying anything bad about anyone whose vote you wanted.

They won't vote for your bill if they are  offended by what you say.  Even if what you say is the truth.  Perhaps especially if what you say is the truth.  So Speak No Evil is the order of the day or there will be no compromise, no reconciliation.

This was Chuck Schumer's instinct.  Speak No Evil.  I do not mean to single out Senator Schumer.  Speak No Evil is also President Biden's default, and it was President Obama's instinct too.  Speak No Evil.  You can't compromise if you Speak The Truth. 

Speak No Evil led to reconciliation.  Speak No Evil also leads to insurrection.  As we have seen, an instinct that Speaks No Evil encourages Evil to Speak and to take action.  There are limits on speaking no evil, you know.  If you don't see the limits, it's Murder on Fifth Avenue if your instinct is to watch and say nothing.

Just watch.

Please read the disclaimer.  ©2022 Dennis J. Wall.  All rights reserved.

FAITH, HOPE, AND CHARITY WERE IN KANSAS THIS WEEK.

Earlier this week, the people of Kansas rejected an attempted coup of their State Constitution.  In the process, they were gracious hosts to Faith, Hope, and Charity.

The people rejected a convoluted, devious scheme to overturn the Kansas Constitution that would take the right out of their own hands to decide whether to have children or not, and award that decision to the politicians in the Kansas Legislature.  For example, the election was scheduled by the Legislature for primary elections which are not usually well-attended.  (The election turnout  this year broke records.)  The amendment was written in language that was so convoluted very few people could understand it.  (An overwhelming majority voted "NO" anyway).  The people of Kansas voted overwhelmingly to keep the right to abortion a private right of each person to decide, and to reject the forced-birth crowd in the Capitol.

In contrast to the Kansas citizens' open display of Faith, Hope, and Charity, the Kansas City Archdiocese of the Roman Catholic Church contributed more than 200 times the amount contributed by anyone else to promoting this amendment.  According to a report stamped filed on July 18, 2022 with the Kansas  Governmental Ethics Commission, the Kansas City Archdiocese contributed $2,450,,000.00 in cash and another $16,000+ in what it called "in-kind contributions" to the failed campaign to change the Kansas Constitution.  The other nearest contributors gave $5,000.00 in cash, more than 200 times less.

Some reports put the Archdiocese's contribution at $2.45 Million, without counting the "in-kind contributions."  See, e.g., Jack Jenkins, Catholic Bishops Spent Big On Kansas Abortion Vote – And Maybe Lost Bigger, Washington Post online, August 5, 2022.

Parenthetically, the Kansas Governmental Ethics Commission report also lists the expenditures of that campaign as well as the contributions.  The campaign spent $350,000.00 of the contributors' donations to a business in Florida for "canvassers."  The Florida business lists Carter Page as one of its Advisors.

Returning to Kansas, the head of the Kansas City Archdiocese is a man named Joseph Naumann.  Archbishop Naumann is famous for denying Communion to Catholic office-holders who, while perhaps personally opposed to abortion, still support everyone else's right to choose, which is what the Kansas Constitution does.

Do you think that Naumann will deny Communion now to everyone who voted "NO" against the amendment scheme?

Will he try to deny Communion to the two nuns who published a letter on July 27 in The Kansas City Star opposing the amendment scheme?  To Many Catholics, Social Justice Demands a No Vote  on Kansas  Constitution Amendment / It's About Control.  I understand that one of the nuns is a co-founder of Network, the Catholic Lobby for Justice.

More to the point, why did Archbishop Naumann spend Millions of Dollars raised from the Catholic faithful of the Kansas City Archdiocese to take away a constitutional right?  The money he spent was not his money, you know.  It was given by the people in the pews.  Given the size of the vote, I doubt that many of them intended their money to support the scheme.

If Archbishop Naumann was going to spend their  money, wouldn't it have been much better to spend that kind of money to assist mothers who bring children to term by supporting adoption services?

Or by supporting healthcare of mothers and babies and small children in Kansas City and anywhere in Kansas for that matter?

 Or in support of parental leave?

Or maybe even to buy diapers and formula?

Where your money is, there will your heart be also, the Bible says.  The people of Kansas put their money where their mouth is, this week:  Their vote invited Faith, Hope, and Charity to pull up a chair in Kansas and sit awhile.

Archbishop Naumann's choices, on the other hand, are failures.  Speaking of all that money taken from the faithful Catholics of the Kansas City Archdiocese, it should be paid back.  That would be the Christian thing to do.

Please read the disclaimer.  ©2022 Dennis J. Wall.  All rights reserved.

VENUS IN MY BACKYARD AUGUST 4, 2022

Venus in my backyard, August 4, 2022.

Venus in my backyard August 4, 2022 (Dennis Wall)

 

What a lot of wonder there is in creation, if we let it.

IT IS DIFFICULT TO REASON WITH AN AGENDA.

It has been rightly said, including here, that Justice Samuel Alito of the United States Supreme Court actually says that he doesn't care about what State Constitutions, Governors, and Courts have to say about federal elections.  As we shall no doubt see this Fall when the current majority on the Supreme Court takes up the case of Moore v. Harper, in their view and his there are only two deciding views on electing U.S. representatives and senators:  State "legislatures" and of course the federal Supreme Court on which they all sit right now.

This may not be the entire picture, singling out Justice Alito, that is.  He is prominent because Justice Clarence Thomas, who assigns the "major questions" opinions, assigns them more often than not  to Justice Alito.  The opinion overturning Roe v. Wade, for example, in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization.  Removing a Constitutional right from Americans was short work not only for Alito, but for his followers too.

And that's the point.  So much has been made of the agenda pursued by the previous administration in so many attention-getting areas – making money, overthrowing the Constitution, putting children in cages are examples – that it is often overlooked that the previous administration appointed three Justices to join the Alito-Thomas majority.  I do not mean that this development has not been noticed.  Heaven only knows that the words that have been written about this development probably rival the word count of War And Peace.

No, what I mean to focus on, is the development that the newly empowered majority on the U.S. Supreme Court have an agenda and they will not be moved from it.  Only now, since Dobbs and the stripping of a Constitutional right for the first time in U.S. history, is attention being paid:  They do not listen, and neither do they hear.  They do exactly what they want to do, nothing less.  I would encourage listening to what they say about what they are going to do, except that these same people all said something different in their confirmation hearings when they were asked if they would uphold Roe v. Wade as the law of the land, remember?

"Fool me once, shame on you.  Fool me twice, shame on me."

Please read the disclaimer.  ©2022 Dennis J. Wall.  All rights reserved.

"THE ENEMY WITHIN," by ROBERT F. KENNEDY.

In 1960, Robert F. Kennedy published The Enemy Within, a book about corruption.

In July 2022, reports came out that the Inspector General of the Department of Homeland Security knew for months that Secret Service agents had deleted text messages from the day the insurrection tried to overturn the U.S. Government, and from the day before that, namely, from January 5 and 6, 2021.  That was roughly 18 months.  To say again, the IG of Homeland Security reportedly knew that for months but did not tell Congress until recently.

Also in July 2022, it was reported publicly for the first time that the IG of Homeland Security knew for months that the Acting Director of Homeland Security and the Acting Deputy Director of Homeland Security on January 6, 2021 deleted their texts too.  That was a year-and-a-half.  To say again, the IG of Homeland Security knew that for months as well, but he just told Congress now.

There's more.  In July 2022 it was reported that the IG of Homeland Security stopped his tech experts from trying to retrieve the text messages that were deleted by the Secret Service, and maybe by the high officials at Homeland Security, too.

The Acting Director of Homeland Security on January 6, 2021 – which oversees the Secret Service – was appointed by the previous administration, the one that was trying to stay in power that day.

The Acting Deputy Director of Homeland Security on January 6, 2021 was also appointed by the previous administration, the one that was trying to stay in power that day.

The head of the Secret Service on January 6, 2021 was another person appointed by the previous administration, the one that was trying to overthrow the U.S. Government that day.  He is still in that job.

The Inspector General of Homeland Security on January 6, 2021 (and today) was appointed by, well, you guessed right if you guessed the previous administration.  He is still in office too.

That makes at least 4 appointees of the previous administration that reportedly had a hand in deleting their text messages from the day when an insurrection tried to keep these people and everyone else in the  previous administration in power:

1. The Acting Director of Homeland Security.
2. The Acting Deputy Director of Homeland Security.
3. The Head of the Secret Service, and
4. The Inspector General of Homeland Security.

So far as we know right now, only the Inspector General of Homeland Security reportedly further instructed his tech experts not to try to retrieve the supposedly lost text messages.  His tech experts had offered to retrieve the texts but were apparently told not to.

The Enemy Within.  What do you think Robert F. Kennedy would write about today?

Please read the disclaimer.  ©2022 Dennis J. Wall.  All rights reserved.

THE STRUGGLE IS NOT OVER. IT HAS ONLY JUST BEGUN.

The fight in the next Term of the U.S. Supreme Court will be about whether we, you and I, will be able to vote.  The fight will come in a case called Moore v. Harper.  It will be led by Samuel Alito, an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court.

He has already said that what State Constitutions, Governors, and Courts have to say about it does not matter to him.  He is of the view that State legislatures have the next-to-last word on the time, place and manner of voting for federal representatives and senators.  (I say next-to-last word because Justice Alito reserves the last word  to himself and his colleagues on the federal Supreme Court.)

Lawyers cannot change this by doing what they usually do, what they are used to doing.  Lawyers are trained in legal reasoning when they begin their profession.  This time it will do no good for anyone.

 Lawyers are so  used to legal reasoning that  they can hardly conceive of not doing it.  With people like Justice Alito and his followers that hold the view that your view and your vote does not matter to them, it is difficult to reason.

 When those same people reject precedent so long as they have the votes to make their own view the law, there is no point to legal reasoning.  Parenthetically, the precedent and the reasoning are dead against Justice Alito's views and those of his followers on this one.  See Prescribing Times, Places, Manner Holding Elections Always Subject, Never Absolute, published on Claims and Bad Faith Law Blog on July 27, 2022.  But based on their past decisions such as Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization  clearly the only thing that matters to them is what they want the law to be, not what it is or what is has been until they came along.

We are in a pandemic still.  The disabled and the elderly are especially at risk, not just to the coronavirus but to a whole lot of barriers to everyday living  in general and to voting in particular.  Making our lives and our voting easier, not harder, with drop boxes and mail-in ballots is a good thing for the people, even if it is not so good for the powerful.

When reasoning does not work, the thing to do is not to accept the unreasonable but to resist it.  The Supreme Court famously reads the election returns.  Let them read things like these.

Contact your State representatives and senators.  Tell them your views on voting if they are going to be the next-to-last word on the subject.  Maximize the chances of your being heard so that the next-to-last word comes from you.

Contact also your U.S. representatives and senators.  Let them hear you as well.

 If you say nothing they will never hear you.

Write Letters to the Editor.  Write Op-Ed pieces for your local newspaper, whatever your local newspaper calls them.  The Orlando Sentinel for example calls its Op-Ed pieces written by citizens, "My Word."  Tell them your word.

Write, Lawyers to your own specialized newspapers and journals, places like this one for Florida lawyers:  The Florida Bar News at Mkillian@flabar.org.

Support people in their actions to bring about change that will benefit you and me.  For example, Citizens for Constitutional Integrity is trying to compel the U.S. Census Bureau to follow the Fourteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.  The Fourteenth Amendment provides in essence that States that construct barriers to voting in federal elections shall have the number of their federal representatives reduced by the same percentage as the percentage of its citizens that have been kept from voting.  The case  is pending in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, No. 1:21-cv-03045-CJN-JRW-FYP.  The EMail address for the Citizens in that case is jared@jaredpettinato.com.  Send them an EMail that you support them in what they are doing.

Find other people to support who are taking action too.  Support them in some way, even by sending an EMail to let them know that they are not alone in this, and that you support them.

Support, Friends of the Court ("amici") for example in the fight launched by Citizens for Constitutional Integrity with the U.S. Census Bureau.  Citizens is alone in that case so far.  There is a Hearing coming up on Citizens' Motion for Summary Judgment in December.  File your request to appear as amicus curiae in the case and let your voice be heard there.

Above all, organize.  The people in power tend to listen more closely to organizations than to individuals.  The more that voting is accessible, the more people that vote.  The more people that vote, the more they lose and the less they get elected.

We can learn a lesson today from the leaders of the movement that began to take root in the 1950's for Civil Rights in this country.  It took them a long time, but they prevailed for so long that it seemed it would always be that way, yet  right now the struggle seems to have erupted again..  Along the way from then to now, it was routine for them to be told by friends and foes alike that they should wait, that now is not the time, that thoughts and prayers alone were all that was needed.

 "Thankfully, most organizers refused to listen, noting there may never be an 'appropriate' time to make good trouble, nor a time when no risk would be involved.  To never stand for change means change will simply never materialize.  I choose to no longer seethe with anger[.]" Alissa Redmond, NC Bookstore Owner:  Online Trolls Are Trying to Ruin My Business.  I Won't Back Down, CHARLOTTE OBSERVER, July 26, 2022,  https://www.charlotteobserver.com/opinion/article263810128.html.

Please read the disclaimer.  ©2022 Dennis J. Wall.  All rights reserved.

'THAT INDEPENDENT STATE LEGISLATURE THEORY'S GOT ME IN ITS SPELL

CERTIFYING FAKE ELECTORS I DIDN'T KNOW SO WELL.  ON AND ON IT GOES, DOWN AND DOWN I GO'

The thing about the independent state legislatures theory is that the U.S. Supreme Court has rejected it.  That means it is not just making a comeback with Moore v. Harper and the current residents of the Supreme Court building.

For one thing, the theory has never been adopted by the full Court, it's true, and for another thing, the theory has only surfaced in concurring opinions that have never been accepted by the full Court, it's also true.  See "The North Carolina Legislature" Isn't  On the Docket,  published here on Sunday, July 24, 2022, https://claimsissues.typepad.com/insurance_claims_and_issu/2022/07/the-north-carolina-legislature-isnt-on-the-docket-.html.

However, something that has to be clearly understood or nothing wonderful can come of our story, as Dickens wrote about Marley's death in A Christmas Story, is that in this case, the thing that must be clearly understood at the beginning of our story is that the independent state legislatures theory has surfaced in the case law in the past.  It has always lost before now.

Parties have raised it, and lost raising it.  The U.S. Supreme Court has rejected the theory.  It's an unconstitutional theory, leading losers to hope that some State legislatures would certify fake electors in the 2020 Presidential Election, although no State ever did.

Past decisions in which parties have raised the theory, and lost because they raised the theory, are the subject of a future article that will be posted on Claims and Bad Faith Law Blog.  A copy of the article will be posted here as well.

But until then, it must be perfectly understood that the independent state legislatures theory has surfaced in the case law before – and the U.S. Supreme Court has rejected it before.

Please read the disclaimer.  ©2022 Dennis J. Wall.  All rights reserved.