Day: April 10, 2023

This Is What Happens

Does anybody remember the protests by legislators in Tennessee?

Probably not so let me enlighten your mind….

In an extraordinary act of political retaliation, Tennessee Republicans on Thursday expelled two Democratic lawmakers from the state Legislature for their role in a protest that called for more gun control in the aftermath of a deadly school shooting in Nashville. The House, where Republicans have a supermajority, voted to expel Reps. Justin Pearson and Justin Jones. A vote to remove Rep. Gloria Johnson failed by a single vote, the AP reports. The chamber has used the punishment only a handful times since the Civil War. Most state legislatures possess the power to expel members, but it is generally reserved for lawmakers accused of serious misconduct, not used as a weapon against political opponents. In a tweet, President Biden called the expulsions “shocking, undemocratic, and without precedent.”

Republicans said the punishment was in response to the Democrats’ behavior last week as hundreds of protesters packed the Capitol to call for passage of gun-control measures. While demonstrators filled galleries, the three Democrats approached the front of the House chamber with a bullhorn and participated in a chant. The protest unfolded days after the shooting at the Covenant School, a private Christian school where six people were killed, including three 9-year-old children.

Apparently it is a damnable sin to protest the murder of children…..at least in Tennessee.

This seems a bit extreme considering the number of ‘violations’ some of the legislators have had in the past and still held their positions….

What violations?

The Tennessee House chamber where Republicans expressed outrage this week at a breach in decorum was filled daily, for years, by the sound of their colleague ringing a cowbell to mask the lack of applause. A lawmaker’s office chair was urinated on by a fellow Republican, a reporter who used to cover the GOP-controlled House writes in Politico. The quick expulsion of two Democrats on Thursday for supporting a protest was of a piece, Natalie Allison says. “The place has been defined by partisan vitriol, pique, scandal, racism and Olympic-level pettiness for years,” she writes. Here are other actions committed by Republican House members in the past that did not lead party leaders to remove them:

  • Lynching suggestion: In a committee hearing in March about capital punishment, Rep. Paul Sherrell asked if he might offer an amendment to include “hanging by a tree” as a method of execution; the state has a history of lynching. An uproar followed, but Sherrell has not been reprimanded or censured.
  • Sexual assault allegations: Three women accused Rep. David Byrd of sexually assaulted them when they played on a basketball team he coached. They were minors at the time. Byrd denied the accusations, but a recording captured him apologizing to one of the women without specifically saying what he was sorry for, per WSMV. GOP leaders twice blocked attempts to remove Byrd, per the Washington Post. “You have to balance the will of the voters and overturning the will of the voters,” said Speaker Cameron Sexton in 2019.
  • Historical revision: Rep. Justin Lafferty described the Three-Fifths Compromise as necessary to end slavery during a 2021 debate on the House floor. Historians were among those who objected to that interpretation.
  • Slurs: Republicans joked twice publicly in 2020 about Black people eating fried chicken. A lawmaker speaking about his bill on sanctuary cities used the term “wetback.” The chief of staff for a former House speaker texted, “Black people are idiots.” Other texts showed the speaker endorsing disparaging and sexual comments the aide made about women.
  • Mean tweets: An investigation in 2019 found that Rep. Rick Tillis was behind an anonymous Twitter account filled with gossip and criticism of lawmakers and staffers. It was his chair that eventually was soaked with urine.

This situation is pathetic…is this what has become of our so-called democracy?

I weep for this country.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

UN Gets New President

This is one for the “Got to be kidding” file.

Within the United Nations there is the ever powerful Security Council and recently Russia has become the president of the Council…..

Russia is once again the head of the UN Security Council, a body tasked with ensuring international peace.

The last time that Russia held the position of president — in February 2022 — it invaded Ukraine, the BBC noted.

The UN Security Council is made up of 15 members, 10 of which are voted in for two-year stints. The other five are permanent members and have veto power. They are the United States, France, the UK, China, and Russia.

The 15 members rotate the presidency every month. The president of the Security Council is considered the face of the body and represents it in front of the larger United Nations.

While Ukraine protested Russia’s term as president, as a permanent member, there is little any of the other members can do. 

https://www.businessinsider.com/russia-is-again-the-president-of-un-security-council-2023-4

There is the whole problem in a nutshell…..5 permanent members that have veto power…..nothing can be accomplished as long as the idiots in the US, Russia, France, England and China have the power to stop any progress dead in its tracks.

Since the last time Putin was in charge Russia invaded Ukraine….how will this play out in the social media BS?

What was said from the White House?

From the White House podium on Thursday, press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said that a country that “flagrantly violates the U.N. Charter” and invades its neighbor has no place on the council, but there is “no feasible international legal pathway” around that.

“As unpalatable as it may be to see Russia presiding over the council, the reality is this is a largely ceremonial position which rotates to council members month by month in alphabetical order,” she said, adding that the U.S. encourages Russia to conduct itself professionally so the council can carry out its work.

“Russia is a permanent member,” said one council diplomat. “While they are misbehaving gravely on Ukraine and just tearing the [U.N.] Charter apart, my expectation is they will do this presidency in a professional manner.”

Thoughts?

Enough is enough.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Leak Heard Around The World

Over the Easter weekend a batch of so-called classified documents were released over the internet…..and the War Department went to CYA….

The leak of US classified documents concerning Ukraine’s defense against the Russian invasion has done more than reveal information that could help opposing nations on the battlefield. The files also provide a detailed look at US intelligence operations, including whom the US is spying on and how, the Washington Post reports. That has American officials, as well as allies, racing to measure and contain the damage. In the meantime, the Pentagon has restricted access to intelligence. And the Justice Department is investigating how the information became public, per the Post.

After a batch of files showed up Friday on social media, Russian and Ukrainian officials were among those expressing skepticism about whether they were legitimate. Some, including John Sullivan, a deputy secretary of state, suggested the leak was part of a Russian disinformation campaign, per NBC News. But officials said they’re treating the documents as genuine, after realizing Thursday they were available to read on a public server. “They look real,” a US official told CNN. Beyond data about such war-related matters as analysis of Ukraine’s fighting capacity, the posts uncover details about US spying practices.

The revelations include where the CIA has recruited agents to report the private talks of world leaders and other eavesdropping, and the technology the US uses to track Russian troop movements. The 50 pages seen by the Post detail intelligence operations by the CIA, National Security Agency, Defense Intelligence Agency, National Reconnaissance Office, and law enforcement agencies. There’s information about Canadian and UK operations, too. “We need to manage this well both internally and externally,” a Defense Department official said. “There are lot of institutions and agencies involved.”

The documents, which appear to have come at least in part from the Pentagon and are marked as highly classified, offer tactical information about the war in Ukraine, including the country’s combat capabilities. According to one defense official, many of the documents seem to have been prepared over the winter for Gen. Mark A. Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and other senior military officials, but they were available to other U.S. personnel and contract employees with the requisite security clearances.

More info available….

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/intelligence-leak-exposes-us-spying-on-adversaries-and-allies/ar-AA19DplU

War Department is saying it is a Russian false flag (I would expect this …..trying to deflect any damage the leak could have if they are true)

Some say the documents may have been doctored….others say they are true to the letter.

We, the peasants, may never know the real story….so draw your own conclusions.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”