Author: lobotero

I have been a radical, labor organizer, writer, lecturer, teacher, analyst, political activist , convention delegate and I still have my sanity--who knew?

A Few “Founding” Myths

As with all history there myths that get passed around so much that soon become a fact….but in reality they are still a myth no matter how many times they are uttered.

As a political Historian I feel it necessary to corr4eect a bunch of the myths that we have lived with for generations.

10 myths that we all know and have heard…..

  • The Declaration of Independence wasn’t signed on July 4, 1776. Though the Declaration was adopted by Congress on July 4, the document wasn’t signed by most of the delegates until August 2.
  • Thomas Jefferson didn’t sign the Constitution. Though Jefferson signed the Declaration of Independence, he missed the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia because he was serving as the United States’ envoy in Paris at the time.
  • Neither did John Adams. Like Jefferson, Adams was away from the United States at the time it was signed. He was in London serving as the United States minister to Great Britain.
  • The Founding Fathers didn’t originally want the turkey as the United States’ national symbol. The debate over the Great Seal began in 1776 and lasted six years, involving ideas about religious and mythical scenes. The turkey was not a close contender.
  • The Liberty Bell probably didn’t ring after the Declaration of Independence was signed. Historians say it’s unlikely the bell rung because the steeple that housed the bill was rotted at the time. It’s also unlikely it cracked that day.
  • There weren’t originally 13 colonies. Until 1776, Delaware was legally considered a lower county of the colony of Pennsylvania. It left to become an independent state in 1776.
  • There’s no proof Betsy Ross created the the first American flag. According to National Geographic, the only evidence Ross played any part in designing or sewing the American flag that made its debut in 1777 is testimony from her family. Likewise, there’s no proof Ross didn’t create the flag, and several reasons she may have done so.
  • Neither the Constitution nor the Declaration of Independence were written on hemp paper. They were both written on parchment, though some early drafts of the documents could have been written on the widely-used hemp.
  • Most of the Founders who signed the Declaration of Independence didn’t sign the Constitution. Only six signed both: George Clymer, Benjamin Franklin, Robert Morris, George Read,James Wilson and Roger Sherman.
  • The Constitution doesn’t say “All Men Are Created Equal.” That language is contained within the Declaration of Independence; the original Constitution included provisions such as the Three-Fifths Clause, which counted each enslaved person as three-fifths of a person to determine representation in Congress.

That will do for now….

Class Dismissed

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Section 224

Section 224?

Buried in the House’s version of the 2027 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) released on Tuesday, is section 224, entitled “United States-Israel Defense Technology Cooperation Initiative.” The provision would arguably do more to intertwine the U.S. military with the Israeli military than the more than $200 billion (inflation adjusted) in military assistance Israel has received from the U.S. since its founding in 1948.

Section 224 lays the groundwork for bilateral research and development, co-production of weapons, joint ventures, licensing agreements, and seemingly every manner of U.S.-Israeli military-industrial complex cooperation. The U.S. and Israel already work together heavily on missile defense, but this provision would greatly expand coordination to seemingly every area of defense tech, including AI, quantum, autonomous systems, directed energy, cyber, biotech, and many more. It also proposes “network integration” and “data fusion.” In other words, the U.S. military’s data could soon be the Israeli military’s data.

Is this a good idea?

I know the US is at the mercy of Israeli ash but to give them this much sway over our military is unheard of and unprecedented.

Section 224 would be a different beast entirely. It would fuse the U.S. and Israeli defense sectors in multiple areas vital to the battlefields of the future, like autonomous systems and cyber. It would also bring extraordinary Israeli influence to the U.S. beyond what it already has through the Israel lobby and its robust network of social media influencers. It would give the Israeli government the opportunity to greatly expand one of the most powerful levers of influence in U.S. politics: jobs in the U.S. By expanding or starting new co-production facilities like it already has in Mississippi and Arkansas, the Israeli government could boast of providing jobs on U.S. soil, thereby securing allies among members of Congress who represent the districts where those jobs lie.

The result could well be a U.S. political system even more susceptible to the whims of an Israeli government that seemingly has no qualms about drawing the U.S. into military conflicts in the Middle East.

https://responsiblestatecraft.org/israel-us-military/

Israel has way too much power over Congress and the WH…it is time to break this stranglehold and put Israel in its place…..as the problem that keeps the Middle East in flames and allows it to get away with genocide and massive destruction in the name of security.

These twats are expanding their little piece of sand into a mini empire which I am sure we can find in one of their books of myths.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Could This End Donny’s Iran Adventure?

The House has finally voted on the resolution to end this war with Iran….4 Repubs jumped political lines and sided with the Dems….

The House approved a war powers resolution Wednesday that would halt the US military action against Iran, defying President Trump as a handful of Republicans joined with Democrats to end the three-month-long war that has reordered politics at home and abroad. House Speaker Mike Johnson had tried to prevent an outcome that would show the mounting opposition to the war, abruptly shutting down floor action two weeks ago when the war powers resolution was on the verge of approval. But displeasure has only grown as the conflict drags on. The roll call Wednesday was 215-208. Cheers then erupted in the House chamber, the AP reports.

Republican Reps. Thomas Massie, Tom Barrett, Warren Davidson, and Brian Fitzpatrick voted with Democrats to approve the resolution, the Washington Post reports.

  • “This reckless and costly war of choice needs to end today,” House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries said earlier in the week. “All we need are a handful of Republicans to join us and we can end this reckless and costly war of choice.” During debate on the House floor, Democratic Rep. Gregory Meeks, the ranking Democrat on the Foreign Affairs Committee, said: “We are trapped in a war that won’t end because an incompetent president launched it thinking of only his own ego while failing to prepare for the consequences. Diplomacy is the only exit from this, not more bombing, not more bluster.”
  • It was the fourth time the House tried to curb the US war against Iran, and the first time the measure passed. The House deadlocked 212-212 in a vote last month.
  • The war powers resolution from the House would not immediately stop the war, but it would provide a symbolic if not legal step against further military action. It now goes to the Senate, where four Republican members last month joined Democrats in advancing a similar measure to curtail the war. The Senate has yet to take a final vote to approve or reject its own war powers resolution.
  • If the resolution made it as far as Trump’s desk, he would be certain to veto it, a move that would take a two-thirds majority in both the House and Senate to override, the Post reports.
  • Secretary of State Marco Rubio warned Wednesday, testifying at a House Foreign Affairs Committee hearing, that the Iranians would think that the administration’s “hands are going to be tied” if Congress approved a war powers resolution. He said they would think “we won’t be able to do anything to them, so why make a deal?”

Does anyone really think this will end the conflict with Iran?

Donny will find a way to keep this war going if only to fund Israel and keep them crawling to the US for their help.

Do you think think will help end this conflict?

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Once Upon a Time In The South

SCOTUS has made it official that the hard fought right of voting is dead….but what can those alienated from voting do to make up for this loss?

 

https://newrepublic.com/article/210669/voting-rights-act-dead-new-model-black-politics

 

The marginalization of voters must come to a halt….we must make damn sure that every qualified voter has the right to do so and without interference.

That means….time to step up and fight!

And now the South should lead the way once again….the voting rights movement started in the South and now it is time for the South to rise again and take the lead.

Time to Cause Some Good Trouble Again in the South

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Can We Be Hopeful?

These are days that try men’s souls….our nation seems to be dissolving in front of our eyes.

Many of us are worried the nation will destroy itself and others are just as certain that all will be okay if we just give it time to straighten itself out.

This is an opinion piece along these lines…..

I grew up in a place called Freedom.

Freedom, Pennsylvania, to be exact. In the borough of Economy. My high school is in a town named after the American Bridge Company. The son of an Army veteran and a nurse. A literal white picket fence. Family of five. A dog. The American Dream by many measures.

Nearly 40 years later, I’m not sure I believe in that American Dream. And I’m not alone in that doubt. This year, the United States will celebrate 250 years of independence — with fireworks, reenactments, and the familiar stories of founders and freedom. But for a lot of us, the milestone lands differently. Not as a celebration, exactly. More like a question we can’t stop asking.

Independence from what? And for whom?

I’ve watched the definition of freedom narrow in my lifetime. I’ve felt the quiet suggestion — sometimes subtle, sometimes loud — that people like me are outside the frame of what this country was meant to be. And yet, queer people have always been here. In towns like mine. In families like mine. Serving, building, showing up. We were never separate from the American story; we were just edited out.

When I say I’m not sure I believe in the American Dream, I mean: I’m not sure the version I was handed was ever the whole truth. What I’m still reaching for is something underneath it — a possibility that requires participation, friction, and revision. Something that asks more from us than nostalgia.

Which brings me to hope. And how hard it is to hold onto right now. Author and civil rights activist James Baldwin once wrote, Hope — the hope that we, human beings, can be better than we are — dies hard; perhaps one can no longer live if one allows that hope to die. But it is also hard to see what one sees. Published in 1972. It could have been written this morning.

https://thefulcrum.us/democracy/i-m-not-optimistic-about-america-at-250-im-still-hopeful

What do you think?

I think we can survive….but not from the sidelines as a by-stander….I think we need to go out and make our positions known and demand our rights and the survival of our country.

But that is just me.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

As Usual An Unqualified Hire

Gabbard is out as DNI and now Donny must find another unqualified person to run one of the moist important offices in the government.

Right on key another amateur, another unqualified person has taken the reins of DNI duties….

President Trump has tapped federal housing finance director Bill Pulte to be acting director of national intelligence to replace Tulsi Gabbard. As the AP reports, Trump made the surprise announcement Tuesday on Truth Social regarding Pulte, the director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency and chair of mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Trump says Pulte “has deep experience managing the most sensitive matters in America, the safety and soundness of the Markets, and over 10 Trillion Dollars at Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac, a substantial increase from where it was just 12 months ago.”

Trump says Pulte will keep his other positions even as he fills in for Gabbard, who resigned last month after revealing her husband’s cancer diagnosis. If formally nominated, Pulte would need to be confirmed by the Senate to hold the position full time. Pulte’s current role involves ensuring the soundness of the mortgage market, but he morphed into a megaphone who has gone after the Republican president’s perceived political foes. Pulte has mainly trained his sights on Trump’s domestic rivals, going after Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell for not cutting the central bank’s benchmark interest rates as aggressively as the president wanted. It’s unclear what national security expertise Pulte has, but he has been a frequent guest on Air Force One as Trump has traveled to Mar-a-Lago. He has no experience in intelligence, notes CNBC.

Pulte does not sound like someone that should be in charge of the DNI…..why?

The Director of National Intelligence serves as the head of the Intelligence Community, overseeing and directing the implementation of the National Intelligence Program budget and serving as the principal advisor to the President, the National Security Council, and the Homeland Security Council for intelligence matters related to national security.

Working together with the Principal Deputy DNI and with the assistance of Mission Managers and Deputy Directors, the Office of the DNI’s goal is to effectively integrate foreign, military and domestic intelligence in defense of the homeland and of United States interests abroad.

Pulte sounds more like an attack dog for Donny’s many opponents….and national security, real national security, will take a backseat to revenge.

I am not alone in questioning the new ‘hire’…..

Republican senators spent Tuesday puzzling over President Trump’s surprise move to tap Bill Pulte as acting director of national intelligence—and few were rushing to his defense. Pulte, who currently runs the Federal Housing Finance Agency and is heir to the Pulte Homes fortune, has no evident background in intelligence or national security, several GOP senators said, even as he’s poised to oversee agencies including the CIA and NSA during heightened tensions with Iran. “I see no evidence of any qualifications for that job,” said Sen. John Cornyn, a senior member of the Intelligence Committee. “The best I can tell you is he’s not qualified, but I don’t know anything about him other than that,” said Sen. Bill Cassidy.

Republicans stressed they can’t block an acting appointment but suggested Pulte would face a steep climb if Trump seeks to install him permanently, the Hill reports. Senate Majority Leader. John Thune warned that the director’s post must not be “weaponized,” a concern stemming from Pulte’s recent efforts combing mortgage records for possible fraud by Trump critics such as New York Attorney General Letitia James, Sen. Adam Schiff, and Fed governor Lisa Cook. Sen. Thom Tillis said he had “a real issue” with that work. Tillis also questioned Pulte’s experience. “When we looked at his background for the current confirmation, I thought most of his experience was in the building industry,” Tillis said. “I didn’t know he had any national security experience.”

Donny never fails when hiring idiots.

Everyone hates this slug.

https://newrepublic.com/article/211289/trump-bill-pulte-director-national-intelligence

Where was this concern for experience when they were confirming the rest of his cabinet?

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

How About 38 Instead Of 50?

This is just for fun….but I would like to see the comments so keep ’em coming.

My post today about splitting up the country got a lot of attention and comments….I want to thank everyone for that…..I saw this in my news feed and thought that it might add to the conversation from earlier today.

Just a little something to think about.

 

https://x.com/historyinmemes/status/2061662088313913528/photo/1

 

Whatcha you guys think?

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Should We Divide Into Two?

SCOTUS has done its part in dividing this nation….

On April 29, the Supreme Court delivered a devastating blow to the 1965 Voting Rights Act (VRA). As bad as it was, the decision fit with a long line of cases in which the conservative- dominated Court has turned a blind eye to the lived realities of racism in the United States.

https://thefulcrum.us/rule-of-law/supreme-court-vra-gerrymandering-unraveling-democracy1

The political divide in our beloved country is making it impossible for it to ever return to the unity of yesteryear.

There are some that think we should just stop all this back and forth and divide the country into Blue States and Red States and become two separate entities.

I never thought I’d say this. I agree with Marjorie Taylor Greene. Not on policy, certainly not on her rhetoric, but on her suggestion that Americans might be happier if we split into two separate nations — one red, one blue.

It may sound unthinkable to many. But let’s be honest, America has never been as united as its name suggests. The Articles of Confederation established an unworkable loose alliance of sovereign states, and it took the Constitutional Convention’s compromises — on slavery, representation, and federal power — to hold our young nation together, eventually leading to the Civil War, still our bloodiest conflict.

Post-Reconstruction, the divides persisted. The agrarian populism of the Midwest clashing with Eastern industrialism, the isolationist heartland versus coastal internationalism during the World Wars. The 20th century was marked by furious battles over civil rights, voting, and gender equality. From the beginning, we have been — and continue to be — a nation at odds with itself.

This divide feels even more permanent and deep than ever before. A country of 330 million people — stretching from New England villages to Mid-Atlantic cities to Texas oil towns to Montana ranches to California tech hubs to the glaciers of Alaska — is forced to act as if one set of laws, one political culture, and one vision of morality can workably apply to everyone. The result is endless frustration — with the whiplash of government swinging from left to right, Democrat to Republican, and back again every few years. One administration builds, the next tears down, and ordinary citizens are left angry, exhausted, and embittered.

A peaceful separation into two sovereign countries could offer a much healthier and happier path forward. Imagine a “Red America” and a “Blue America,” each free to pursue its own vision of health care, education, social policy, and regulation — without constantly trying to override the other.

But separation need not mean isolation. We could model our post-split relationship on the European Union: two sovereign nations bound by a cooperative framework that preserves the best of our shared history. The U.S. dollar — as a continued common currency — would stabilize economies and facilitate trade, avoiding the pitfalls of monetary divergence. Joint defense through a mutual security pact — perhaps an evolved NATO-like alliance — would safeguard against external threats, with shared military assets and intelligence.

https://wegotthiscovered.com/news/marjorie-taylor-greene-is-threatening-donald-trump-publicly-with-a-revolution-his-next-move-might-be-the-one-that-finally-breaks-maga/

My take is that this nation can heal but it will take lots of work….work that the population is not prepared to do….so maybe the separation is necessary for the nation to heal.

I am not sure just yet….but I would like to see what others think of this idea.

Please join the conversation.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Witch Doctor Prognosis

in case you may have missed it the results of Donny’s latest medical check up….

President Trump’s physician says the president is in “excellent health” and is “fully fit” to serve as commander in chief after a medical exam on Tuesday at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center. A report from Dr. Sean Barbabella, released late Friday, says Trump underwent a CT scan and other heart imaging, along with cancer screenings and other preventive assessments carried out by 22 specialists, per the AP. Trump, 79, said after the three-hour visit on Tuesday that everything checked out “perfectly.”

The president weighed in at 238 pounds, up 14 pounds from a medical exam in April of last year. His doctors gave him guidance on his diet, physical activity, and weight loss, but they concluded his “cognitive and physical performance are excellent.” With his 6-foot, 3-inch frame, Trump has a body mass index of 29.7; an index of 30 is considered by doctors to be obese. The report also documented bruising on Trump’s hands, explained as “minor soft tissue irritation related to frequent handshaking,” noting it was “a common and benign effect of aspirin therapy.” Among the recommendations for Trump was a switch to low-dose aspirin.

Last year the White House said Trump, who turns 80 next month, was diagnosed with chronic venous insufficiency, a fairly common condition for older adults that causes blood to pool in the legs. The report from Trump’s latest exam noted “slight lower leg swelling” but said there was “improvement from last year.” His doctor reported nothing abnormal, saying Trump demonstrated strong cardiac, pulmonary, neurological, and overall health. “His demanding daily schedule, including multiple high-level meetings, public engagements, and regular physical activity, continues to support his overall well-being,” Barbabella wrote.

Then there is Donny’s pronouncement that he has “extreme intelligence’….the same thing he says every time….the problem is those tests are NOT an IQ test…..

President Donald Trump is again highlighting his performance on a cognitive screening exam as evidence of what he called “extreme intelligence,” following the release of a White House medical summary of his latest physical.

The condensed memo of the exam, issued by the White House physician after Trump’s annual examination at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, states that his cognitive function, assessed using the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA), was “within normal limits” with a score of 30 out of 30.

The MoCA is a widely used cognitive screening tool designed to assess memory, attention, language, visuospatial skills and other areas of cognitive function. Medical experts say it is intended to identify potential signs of cognitive impairment and determine whether further evaluation may be needed. It is not designed to measure intelligence, IQ or academic ability.

https://www.salon.com/2026/05/31/trump-says-cognitive-test-proves-extreme-intelligence-doctors-disagree/

This part gave me my first good belly laugh this morning….with coffee it was a good start.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”