Facts: 2020

 Hello Again,

 I write today on a current, critically important matter of National Security: the 2020 Federal Election.

Presently, there is much livid and dangerous debate about the legitimacy of the outcome of the 2020 Election. I've commented previously on the matter. https://joeywalsez.blogspot.com/2022/01/today-1622.html 

https://joeywalsez.blogspot.com/2021/10/10112021-gop-trump-push-bilge.html

https://joeywalsez.blogspot.com/2021/07/indict-trump-71521.html

So, my view of the issue is fairly obvious. In fairness then, let's hear from 'the other side of the aisle' - Conservative Republicans: "We are political conservatives who have spent most of our adult lives working to support the Constitution and the conservative principles upon which it is based: limited government, liberty, equality of opportunity, freedom of religion, a strong national defense, and the rule of law. We have become deeply troubled by efforts to overturn or discredit the results of the 2020 Presidential Election". This Group of lifelong, esteemed Conservatives, consists of Republican Senators, Conservative Federal Judges (listed below), and prominent Attorneys, who have undertaken a project to Investigate and Report on the 2020 Election.

This is a group of prominent, widely respected Gentlemen with whom I personally, have nothing much in common, and often disagree with on mostly everything. Let's see what they have to say about the election and public conversation on the issue: " In fact, there was no fraud that changed the outcome in even a single precinct. It is wrong, and bad for our country, for people to propagate baseless claims that President Biden’s election was not legitimate."

They write further, 'We have undertaken an examination of every claim of fraud and miscount put forward by former President Trump and his advocates, and now put the results of those investigations before the American people, and especially before fellow conservatives who may be uncertain about what and whom to believe. Our conclusion is unequivocal: Joe Biden was the choice of a majority of the Electors, who themselves were the choice of the majority of voters in their states. Biden’s victory is easily explained...'

I strongly urge all readers here to click on the link and explore the report. It's a lot, and if you're not into reading much of the report, I urge you to please, read at least the Introduction, and the Summary.

https://lostnotstolen.org//wp-content/uploads/2022/07/Lost-Not-Stolen-The-Conservative-Case-that-Trump-Lost-and-Biden-Won-the-2020-Presidential-Election-July-2022.pdf

"The Conservative Case that Trump Lost and Biden Won the 2020 Presidential Election"

Senator John Danforth, Benjamin Ginsberg, The Honorable Thomas B. Griffith, David Hoppe, The Honorable J. Michael Luttig, The Honorable Michael W. McConnell, 

The Honorable Theodore B. Olson, Senator Gordon H. Smith

Buffalo, Conklin, Binghamton 5/16/22

 Pardon my absence; I've been distracted ...

I haven't been here on the blog lately but, Buffalo has moved me to words:

I live in Binghamton, NY. Approximately 230 Miles North and West of here is the City of Buffalo, where 10 people were shot and killed 3 more were injured at a Grocery Store.

Approximately 5 Miles East of here is Conklin, NY, where the 18-Year-Old Killer grew up and lived. 

Approximately 3 Blocks away from my home is the local Emergency Mental Health Service (EMHS), called the Comprehensive Psychiatric Emergency Program, (CPEP) at Binghamton General Hospital.

In June of 2021, the Buffalo Killer was taken by NY State Police from Susquehanna Valley High School in Conklin to the CPEP in Binghamton at Binghamton General Hospital ER, after having written and spoken about potential Mass-Shooting at School.

Years ago I worked at Binghamton General ER as an EMT. While I worked there, the EMHS added the CPEP component to Psychiatric Emergency Services. As a concerned private citizen and EMT, I was interested in Community Mental Health Services, and I became a member of the CPEP Advisory Board during the EMHS/CPEP development, transition, and implementation.

An area of concern to me as an ER Tech and Emergency Ambulance Squad Crew Chief, and other concerned Community Members, was that EMHS tended to Discharge those who probably should have been Admitted to In-patient Treatment, and Admit those who could have been treated on an Out-patient basis.

30 Years later, a 17-Year-old with Murder in mind is evaluated and eventually Discharged back into the community. This is the kind of thing some of us on the CPEP Advisory Board worried about. An Individual who probably should have been Admitted to In-patient Hospitalization or at least more closely supervised Out-patient Services, leaves the hospital unfettered by further restriction.

11 Months later, armed with an illegally modified semi-automatic assault rifle, he drives his parent’s car over 200 Miles from Conklin, NY to Buffalo and shoots 11 Black Americans. 10 of those shot died as a result of wounds inflicted by the berserk gunman.

This individual was quite obviously deeply disturbed and needed to be more closely supervised.

Erie County NY District Attorney John Flynn was quite cautious, and I would say, diplomatic in his description of Broome County Emergency Mental Health/Binghamton General CPEP Services – ‘I won’t comment on what went on down there in Broome County, I wasn’t there, so I won’t speak to it… I won’t criticize Broome County about that.’ He did go on to say that the shooter ‘had hatred in his heart long before coming to Buffalo’.

Well, Thank You for your candor, but, I will Critique: He should have been Admitted to In-patient.

 To not do so is an obvious and disturbing failure of Emergency Mental Health Services in Broome County, NY. As a result of this disastrous failure, 10 people were killed and 3 more wounded while shopping at a grocery store on Saturday Afternoon.

I know how this goes – a Patient Admitted to CPEP for Evaluation eventually says: ‘Oh, I don’t know why I wrote that… I didn’t really mean it … I wouldn’t do that …’ And, Viola! Discharge. In these violent and troubled, disturbing times, we cannot simply let people off the hook for recanting on such violent and disturbing threats.

An individual threatening in such a manner should be screened and investigated more thoroughly, personally, and circumstantially to truly evaluate one’s real emotional state, and to determine if circumstances such as Gun Possession indicate further action.     

Today 1/6/22

 

In these perilous times, we are compelled to a reckoning with the Truth.

The Primary Truth of our time, this day, is that Donald J. Trump Lost the 2020 Free, Fair, Most Secure Presidential Election. The Truth of our time is that the present-day GOP is operating from the base of a Lie.

We are as President Joe Biden says, on the very verge of an Autocracy in these beloved United States. Today’s Republican Party, with shamefully few exceptions, has brought us to this point, and hopes to keep us here.

Yesterday’s NY Times Editorial, ‘January 6^th Everyday’, directs us to ‘Look forward and backward at the same time’. So be it. Here, some ideas about looking ‘forward and backward at the same time’: https://www.nytimes.com/2022/01/01/opinion/january-6-attack-committee.html

Frank Figliuzzi was FBI Assistant Director for Counterintelligence. He served 25 years as a Special Agent and directed all espionage investigations across the government. He is an MSNBC columnist and a national security contributor for NBC News and MSNBC.

 Former FBI AD Figliuzzi explains forward/backward looking: ‘Trump won’t be on any ballot in the midterms, but his strategy to sow confusion and stoke anger over election results could again serve as a kind of template for terror’.https://www.msnbc.com/opinion/jan-6-security-lapses-enabled-2021-s-capitol-attack-they-n1287030

 Trump, Director-In Chief of the Big Lie and Insurrection, not a midterm candidate, (so far), not on the Ballot. Trumpism, our latest form of Domestic Terrorism, meanwhile, very much alive & kicking. 

Neal K. Katyal is the former Acting Solicitor General of the United States and a professor of law at Georgetown University. He too is an NBC Legal Advisor.

https://www.law.georgetown.edu/faculty/neal-k-katyal/

The former Acting Solicitor General of the United States, who has successfully argued many cases before the U.S. Supreme Court writes today, ‘The DOJ must examine the roles of government officials, including former President Donald Trump, in the Capitol insurrection. To look away is fantastically dangerous.‘…  

He also advises: ‘people, including high-ranking government officials, need to be interviewed and documents examined to determine whether probable cause exists’. ‘Probable cause’ here, means Cause to bring Criminal Charges.

This is ‘Looking back’ at what happened, to ‘Look forward’ to what we need to do to prevent this appalling treason from happening again.

https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2022/01/justice-department-garland-january-six/621167/

Good ideas are nice; decisive Action is necessary: We must insist on Truth and Justice. Advocate, Vocalize. Contact Elected Officials and insist upon Legal/Legislative Action. Volunteer, Organize, and Vote.  

1/3/22 Jan 6 Everyday

 

We are in the midst of very dangerous times.

In 1966 Stephen Stills, (later of Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young fame), was with a band called Buffalo Springfield and he wrote a song titled ‘For What It’s Worth.’

‘There's something happening here
but what it is ain't exactly clear
there’s a man with a gun over there
telling me I got to beware’

The song was primarily an Anti-Viet Nam War protest, but it reached across to many Social, Racial, Economic and Political injustices. These far-reaching, and remarkably insightful lyrics ring true again today.

‘What it is’ this time around though, is perfectly clear. Once again, a well-armed, well-organized, vocal minority is once again dictating to the real ‘Moral Majority’ what the future of this country shall be. The Armed, Vocal, Violent Minority, staged its ‘Big Show’ January 6^th 2021, but its Coup continues.

Mara Gay and the NY Times Editorial Board wrote today about ‘January 6^th Everyday’

‘ the Republic faces an existential threat from a movement that is openly contemptuous of democracy and has shown that it is willing to use violence to achieve its ends. No self-governing society can survive such a threat by denying that it exists. Rather, survival depends on looking back and forward at the same time.’ https://www.nytimes.com/2022/01/01/opinion/january-6-attack-committee.html

Ms. Gay speaks of the ‘Radical Minority’, (MAGA-Lytes), organized across State and County/Community Boards determined to undermine The Right to Vote/Voter Access. Republicans, (Mostly Trump Cronies), are working tirelessly to ensure that mostly only Republicans; mainly White Republican Trump Supporters, can Vote. These desperate men & women now get it; that they can no longer win a Free and Fair Majority Election in these United States.

It is ‘Happening’ Now. Right in front of us, out in the great wide open. It needs to be stopped. We have to, as the song says ‘Stop…’

 ‘I think it's time we stop
Children, what's that sound?
Everybody look, what's going down?

The United States Constitution enshrines the Right to Vote for All American Citizens:

The 14^th Amendment (1868), to the U.S. Constitution declares -  No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.” We can assume the phrase “the equal protection of the laws.” includes the Right to Vote.

Preceding the 14^th Amendment, the 12^th Amendment (1804), defines the Election of President “The person having the greatest number of votes for President, shall be the President, if such number be a majority of the whole number of Electors appointed” (Italics mine. jw) This is precisely what happened in 2020, and the outcome most Republicans seek to defy.

These enshrined Rights are then enforced by U.S. Code Title:

USC : U.S. Code Title 52 Subtitle I CHAPTER 101 § 10101

https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/52/10101

Of Special Note here is Section 2 (B) No person acting under color of law shall— deny the right of any individual to vote in any election because of an error or omission on any record or paper relating to any application, registration, or other act requisite to voting, if such error or omission is not material….

   Also Section (b) Intimidation, threats, or coercion

No person, whether acting under color of law or otherwise, shall intimidate, threaten, coerce, or attempt to intimidate, threaten, or coerce any other person for the purpose of interfering with the right of such other person to vote or to vote as he may choose, or of causing such other person to vote for, or not to vote for, any candidate for the office of President, Vice President, presidential elector, Member of the Senate, or Member of the House of Representatives, Delegates or Commissioners from the Territories or possessions, at any general, special, or primary election held solely or in part for the purpose of selecting or electing any such candidate.  (Italics mine. jw)

These are the very Constitutional Rights, and Voting Laws the current Republican Party seeks to eliminate in order to retain Power. They must not be allowed to undermine our democracy with such tactics.

10/11/2021 GOP & Trump push the Bilge

 

Bilge: 1 :the bulging part of a cask or barrel. 2a :the part of the underwater body of a ship between the flat of the bottom and the vertical topsides. b: the lowest point of a ship's inner hull. 3: stale or worthless remarks or ideas. Bilge.

Bilge water

the dirty water that collects in the bottom inside part of a ship

https://www.merriam-webster.com › dictionary › bilge  

 Today, I looked quickly at a Chryon below a News Story on Television that I thought read: GOP & Trump Continue to push ‘Bilge’.

What it actually said was – ‘Continue to push big lie’.  Hmmm…I thought; pretty much the same thing.  

My friends down in St. Pete Beach, FL, Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn, and the Rockaways in Queens, NY all understand what Bilge is, and how to manage it. I’m sure that not all of them agree with me that the ‘Big Lie’ is Bilge but as ‘many people’ say – It is what It is

 The ‘Big Lie’ is really filthy, dirty, contaminated Bilge and like Bilge, It needs to be expelled and disposed of. The January 6^th Congressional Select Committee is now engaged in that work. This is truly worthy work to preserve our Democracy from American Autocrats, and needs our enthusiastic support. There are at least 150 prominent Republicans who agree with this, and made the case in an Op-Ed in Monday’s New York Times,

 https://www.nytimes.com/

 ‘We Are Republicans. There’s Only One Way to Save Our Party From Pro-Trump Extremists.’

By Miles Taylor and Christine Todd Whitman

Mr. Taylor served at the Department of Homeland Security from 2017 to 2019, including as chief of staff, and was the anonymous author of a 2018 guest essay for The Times criticizing President Donald Trump’s leadership. Ms. Whitman was the Republican governor of New Jersey from 1994 to 2001, and served as E.P.A. administrator under President George W. Bush.

 ‘This year we joined more than 150 conservatives — including former governors, senators, congressmen, cabinet secretaries, and party leaders — in calling for the Republican Party to divorce itself from Trumpism or else lose our support, perhaps with us forming a new political party. Rather than return to founding ideals, Republican leaders in the House and in many states have now turned belief in conspiracy theories and lies about stolen elections into a litmus test for membership and running for office….’

 ‘…we agree on something more foundational — democracy. We cannot tolerate the continued hijacking of a major U.S. political party by those who seek to tear down our Republic’s guardrails or who are willing to put one man’s interests ahead of the country. We cannot tolerate Republican leaders — in 2022 or in the presidential election in 2024 — refusing to accept the results of elections or undermining the certification of those results should they lose.’

 Also, Ben Rhodes had some insightful commentary today on twitter and Deadline White House.

Benjamin J. Rhodes (born November 14, 1977) is a former Deputy National Security Advisor for Strategic Communications under President Barack Obama. Rhodes attended Rice University, graduating Phi Beta Kappa in 2000 with majors in English and political science. (No slouch, he.).

Ben Rhodes Retwee  

3h "We've already been going down this road of turning into something like... an autocracy... you have a very methodical, very transparent, very deliberate effort to try and turn this country into a Donald Trumpian, autocratic reality" -

@brhodes

w/  @NicolleDWallace

 Clearly, Better Minds than mine are seriously concerned about the current state of Our Democracy. Perhaps, so too should you.

Indict Trump? 7/15/21

 Should Trump be indicted? I’m not talking about his Fraudulent, Tax Evading corrupt business practice – we’ll leave that to the NY State AG and the Manhattan District Attorney. Nor his legal problems with Election Interference in the State of Georgia, we’ll leave that to the Fulton County District Attorney, Atlanta Judicial Circuit. I mean here charges of Sedition and Conspiracy to Overthrow the U.S. Government. Credible Reporting by numerous sources inform us that Former Pres. Trump was actively advancing unconstitutional schemes to illegally seize power and remain in Office, after having overwhelmingly lost this Nation’s most secure, and most reviewed and contested Presidential Election.

Reliable, verifiable information now comes to light that in the end days of Trump’s failed Presidency and failed Re-election bid, Trump and his closest acolytes (Giuliani, Kushner, Trump Jr., Eric Trump, et al…), proposed Seditionist, Treasonous, Illegal Plans. Thankfully, cooler heads prevailed. Much more thoughtful, reasonable people threatened Resignation and Press Conferences in order to rein-in Trump.

‘I Alone Can Fix It’  https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2021/07/13/book-excerpt-i-alone-can-fix-it/  By Carol D. Leonnig and Philip Rucker

"Frankly, We Did Win This Election: The Inside Story of How Trump Lost. By Michael C. Bender

https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/how-trumthps-team-struggled-to-tell-him-no-enabled-election-falsehoods

‘A Warning’ Anonymous (Miles Taylor)

https://read.amazon.com/kp/embed?asin=B07YKR7PF1&preview=newtab&linkCode=kpe&ref_=cm_sw_r_kb_dp_hWxWFbS09E7A7&tag=thewaspos09-20&reshareId=CX0SBKPM9QPPTES1XXZ4&reshareChannel=system

Recently, I compared the Trump Regime to the rise of Nazism in 1930’s Germany. Whenever and wherever I see Nazi-like conduct in Public and/or Government, I call it out.  (Please see: June 8 blog):   https://joeywalsez.blogspot.com/2021/06/democracy-itself-is-in-peril-here-at.html

Often, this is seen as over-emotional, overreaction. Personally, I think it ridiculous to claim the mantra of ‘Never Again!’, and then portray such comparisons as overreaction.

Eugene Robinson columnist and an associate editor of The Washington Post, (Pulitzer Prize Winner 2009), recently spoke of such comparisons – ‘I have a rule to columnists not to invoke Nazi’s, and here’s Gen. Mark Milley Chairman of the Joint Chiefs,  saying Trump’s Presidency is at a ‘Reichstag Moment’ with “Brownshirts” in the streets’, and the ‘Gospel of the Fuhrer’. Thank You, Mr. Robinson, and Gen. Milley, for Validation. 

 https://www.nybooks.com/daily/2017/02/26/reichstag-fire-manipulating-terror-to-end-democracy/   The Reichstag Warning  Timothy Snyder

Further, Ret. Gen. Barry McCaffery, not a Trump Staffer, but a Pentagon ‘Insider’ none-the-less, said today on MSNBC: When Foreign Intelligence Officials examine Trump’s actions at the time, they would conclude – This guy’s planning a ‘Coup against Democracy’. He also described the Trump years in Washington as a ‘Nearly Illegal Presidency’.

In addition to being awarded the Silver Star, (Twice awarded the Silver Star for exceptional valor in Vietnam combat action as a rifle company commander (1^st Cavalry Division), Gen. McCaffery Co-chaired the United States NATO Counterterrorism Working Group and among other honors, Served as Lt. General on the Joint Chiefs Pentagon staff as the J5Strategic Planner, and also served as a Major General on the Army Pentagon staff as the strategic planner. Point being this Distinguished Patriot is a guy who knows of which he speaks.

Among the Generals was former Lt. Col. Mark Esper, previous Secretary of the Army and then U.S. Secretary of Defense. Trump fired Secretary Esper following Trump’s loss to Biden in November. Defense Secretary Esper has been described as ‘being at odds with the president’ in matters involving deployment of U.S. Military Forces to quell Domestic Disturbance, and invoking the Insurrection Act during Black Lives Matter protests.  ‘We are not in one of those situations now. I do not support invoking the Insurrection Act.” Esper said then.

Had it not been for some mature, sane, reasonable people in positions of responsibility, the Nightmare that was the Trump Presidency could have been much worse. Should Trump be indicted? I think yes, the Congressional Hearings on the January 6^th Insurrection should conclude that Donald J. Trump should be Indicted and Prosecuted for Sedition against this Constitutional Republic, which is The United States of America. Also, there are some GOP Members of Congress on some very thin ice as well, (Hello, Mr. McCarthy). More will be revealed….

Pres. Biden’s Voting Rights Speech - Nice Words...

 

 7/13/21

I just listened to Pres. Biden’s Voting Rights Speech. It was a very nice bunch of very dramatic words, and unfortunately; nothing more. I like Pres. Biden. I support Pres. Biden. Pres Biden thus far, (including today’s wonderful speech), regarding Voter Rights; has been a bitter disappointment. A bunch of nice words is nice. When it comes to Voter Subversion, we need something much stronger than ‘Nice’.

When it comes to what Pres. Biden himself calls ‘Voter Subversion’, we need clear, substantial, and impactful assertive action by the U.S. AG and the Dept. of Justice. A famous book says ‘Faith without works is dead.’ Along these lines – Words without Action is meaningless.

The phony Arizona /Cyber Ninjas Election ‘Audit’ continues unimpeded and untouched by the U.S. DoJ, despite a very stern ‘Warning’. *May 5, 2021 VIA EMAIL The Honorable Karen Fann President, Arizona State Senate 1700 West Washington Street, Room 205 Phoenix, AZ 85007

Pamela S. Karlan Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Civil Rights Division pamela.karlan@usdoj.gov :  More Words – No Action. Failure of AG Garland and DoJ to act spawned  disastrous consequences:   subsequently, the proposed Pennsylvania ‘Recount’. Failure of DoJ to act in Pennsylvania instance equals capitulation.

"The Big Lie is just that: A big lie," Pres. Biden said. He called efforts to call the election in question "dark" and "sinister" on Tuesday, saying they reflected "human nature at its worst." O.K., what Now?

 When, if ever, will AG Garland & DoJ proceed with the blatantly necessary Investigative work and Prosecution of the clearly dubious Arizona ‘Recount’? What actual action is the Biden Administration going to take to enforce U.S. Election Law?

Respectfully,  Jos. R. Walsh, Binghamton, NY  c.c. Sen.’s Schumer, Gillibrand, Spkr. Pelosi, DoJ,  https://joeywalsez.blogspot.com/ , MSNBC, Lincoln Proj., et al…

**Correction** In an early version of this text I stated that the 1/6 D.C. Insurrection was a result of DOJ's failure to act on Voter Suppression. I apologize for the obvious error; to AG Garland, the DOJ, and my readers,  jw