Lullaby

"Talk about the flag or drugs or crime (never about race or class or justice) and follow the yellow brick road to the wonderful land of consensus. In place of honest argument among consenting adults the politicians substitute a lullaby for frightened children: the pretense that conflict doesn't really exist, that we have achieved the blessed state in which we no longer need politics."
-Lewis H. Lapham,
"Hotel America: Scenes in the Lobby of the Fin-de-siècle" (1995)

Polly

"A philosophical question: if a tree falls in a forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound? And if a woman who's wholly alone occasionally talks to a pot plant, is she certifiable? I think that it is perfectly normal to talk to oneself occasionally. It's not as though I'm expecting a reply. I'm fully aware that Polly is a houseplant."
-Gail Honeyman,
"Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine"

Neglected

"The neglected are too easily killed.
You see a lot--your eyes get very painful."
-John le Carré,
"Smiley's People" (1979)

Fermented Feinstein

It's official: Dianne Feinstein's Dead! Ding Dong...

Is anyone analyzing "why" she didn't resign/retire when it was clear her time on Earth was extremely limited? Feinstein didn't need the money, and didn't need to spend her remaining time in the Senate. So why hang on? For as bad as she was, and I've written several essays on Fraulein Feinstein over the years, perhaps there was still a piece of her soul that survived, that said she needed to hang on and prevent—or at least delay—Newsom from installing someone far worse than even she.

One possibility that Feinstein's departure was prolonged was it tied in nicely to The Narrative: That old people are expendable, are Useless Eaters, should “get out of the way” permanently for younger persons.

Donald Trump will be 78 in January, 2025, should he be elected President for the third time and take office. Demonizing seniors plays well into the neverending Trump Derangement Syndrome.

It's a cliché that “age is just a number”, but it's a truism. Check your local website for Arrests/Bookings, and you will see plenty of people in their 20s and 30s who are fried far beyond whatever you think FJB's condition is. Get out in the world, and you'll occasionally—not nearly as often as during the 1960s, but occasionally—still see people in their 90s that are still mentally sharp and physically healthy.

While the “news” is filled with speculation over what monstrosity Newsom will anoint, and the long career of Fraulein Feinstein, the question remains, why did she hang onto the Senate seat until the end?


Substack Permalink:
https://terrylclark.substack.com/p/fermented-feinstein

Jonathan Turley on Colorado Supreme Court vs. President Trump

Jonathan Turley has two articles out today on the Colorado Supreme Court vs. President Trump case.

The articles are not identical, but there is substantial overlap. I think Turley's article in the New York Post was written second, and builds upon the first article in The Messenger.

If you have time to read both, great. If not, I'd recommend the New York Post article. And if that whets your appetite, The Messenger article can be skimmed for the differences.

I don't agree with some of Turley's opinions, but we reach the same conclusions. The articles are a good refresher course in the U.S. Constitution. To the extent it was ever taught worth a darn in the government indoctrination camps (“schools”). For some, it may be the course you wish you had in High School. Or law school, for that matter.
___________________________________________

To keep things simple, some excerpts from the New York Post article:

The Colorado decision to bar Donald Trump from the ballot will be overturned because it is wrong on the history and the language of the 14th Amendment.

Dead wrong.

The question is whether the US Supreme Court will speak with one voice, including the three liberal justices.

As with the three Democratic state justices who refused to sign off on the Colorado opinion, these federal justices can now bring a moment of unity not just for the court but the country in rejecting this shockingly anti-democratic theory.

[Snip]

The majority on the Colorado Supreme Court adopted sweeping interpretations of every element of the decision to find that Trump not only incited an insurrection, but can be disqualified under this provision.

It does not matter that Trump has never been charged with even incitement or that he called for his supporters to go to the Capitol to protest “peacefully.”

In finding that Trump led an actual insurrection, the four justices used speeches going back to 2016 to show an effort to rebel before Trump was ever president.

[Snip]

It is the ballot cleansing that is usually associated with authoritarian countries like Iran, where voters are protected from “unworthy” candidates.

[Snip]

The court could help unify this country in a way that may be unparalleled in its history.

It can show that justices who hold vastly different ideological views can be unified on core principles.

It can remind us that, as citizens, the Constitution is ultimately not a covenant with the government but with each other.

It is a leap of faith that, as a free people, we can decide our shared destiny and protect our shared identity.

The moment has come for nine justices to speak in one voice.

An American voice that transcends the personalities and divisions of our time.

It is a voice that speaks not to what divides us but what defines us as a people.
___________________________________________

New York Post:
SCOTUS should rule unanimously that Constitution matters more than defeating Trump at any cost
________________

The Messenger:
Yielding to Temptation: Colorado’s Supreme Court Blocks Democracy to Bar Trump on the 2024 Ballot


Substack Permalink:
https://terrylclark.substack.com/p/jonathan-turley-on-colorado-supreme

Colorado Supreme Court vs. President Trump – Calm Down

The Colorado Supreme Court ruled today, 4 – 3, that President Trump cannot be on the Colorado 2024 Republican Primary Ballot.

1 – 2 – 3: Deep Breath. Exhale. Relax.

Relax.

Jonathan Turley, one of the greatest legal minds of our time, has three Posts on Twitter briefly covering the ruling, below.

It's notable that the majority opinion, as Turley indicates, is “Unsigned”. Meaning that none of the four Justices constituting the majority wanted to take credit/blame for its slipshod rationale.

There are three Dissenting opinions. One by the Chief Justice of the Colorado Supreme Court (beginning at page 135 of the PDF), one by Justice Samour (beginning at page 146 of the PDF), and a third by Justice Berkenkotter (beginning at page 189 of the PDF).

In Colorado, unlike many States and the US Supreme Court, there are only 7 Justices. Meaning it was a 4 – 3 Decision. Carrying less weight than had it been a 6 – 3 Decision.

Here's an important part that you might have missed (because it wasn't included) in many of the “news” reports. At PDF page 134 of the Decision, the Colorado Supreme Court states:

“But we stay or ruling until January 4, 2024 (the day before the Secretary’s deadline to certify the content of the presidential primary ballot). If review is sought in the Supreme Court before the stay expires, it shall remain in place, and the Secretary will continue to be required to include President Trump’s name on the 2024 presidential primary ballot until the receipt of any order or mandate from the Supreme Court.”

In other words, all that has to happen is that an Appeal of the Decision be Filed with the US Supreme Court by January 3, 2024. The US Supreme Court doesn't have to make any ruling, or even have to make a decision on whether they will accept the case. Just that the paperwork be Filed. Rest assured, that paperwork will be.

I very much look forward to reading Turley’s full analysis, which should be out in a day or two, of the four Opinions. In the meantime:

Jonathan Turley Tweets:

The Colorado Supreme Court has issued an unsigned opinion disqualifying Trump from the ballot: "The sum of these parts is this: President Trump is disqualified from holding the office of President under Section Three; because he is disqualified."

https://courts.state.co.us/userfiles/file/Court_Probation/Supreme_Court/Opinions/2023/23SA300.pdf

It is striking that the court relies on Schenck v. U.S., where the Court upheld the denial of core free speech rights of a socialist opposing a war. The opinion of the Colorado Supreme Court is so sweeping that it would allow for tit-for-tat removals of candidates from ballots

The opinion is remarkable in how the four justices adopted the most sweeping interpretations to get over each barrier. The result is lack of a limiting principle. I view the opinion as strikingly anti-democratic in what it now allows states to do in blue and red states alike.


Substack Permalink:
https://terrylclark.substack.com/p/colorado-supreme-court-vs-president

Some Vision

 

Invested

"When people have invested their identities into clichés, the only counter argument they have is 'being offended'."
-Stefan Molyneux

Mea Nothing

The usual pablum from a sockpuppet who feigns ignorance. That spiel has gotten so old.

When he puts the rope around his own neck, and walks up those stairs, then I might believe he accepts some responsibility.
_____________________________________

“There is no shortage of investigations about what happened here. We never want this to happen again. We want to do everything we can to, not just restore trust, but to prevent something like this from happening.”

Maui County Mayor: I 'Accept all' Criticism on Fires, 'Wish I Knew How to Do All This Stuff Before I Became Mayor'

FB Post Of Article


Substack Permalink:
https://terrylclark.substack.com/p/mea-nothing

Distinct II

"There have existed, in every age and every country, two distinct orders of men--the lovers of freedom and the devoted advocates of power."
--Robert Y. Hayne (1791-1839 )
U.S. Senator for South Carolina
Source: Speech, January 21, 1830

Alive IV

"Poetry was alive and dangerous."
-Terry Jones,
"Terry Jones' Medieval Lives"

Key

I have heard the key
Turn in the door once and turn once only
We think of the key, each in his prison
Thinking of the key, each confirms a prison.

-T.S. Eliot,
"The Waste Land" (1922)

Shut Down Better

The controlled demolition of the American economy and society continues. More lost jobs, higher prices. Financial stress is a good way to ruin the family unit, along with all the rest.'
__________________________

The stores set to close include one in Harlem, N.Y; two in Seattle, Wash.; three near San Francisco and Oakland, Calif.; and three in Portland, Ore.

Target closes 9 stores in response to retail theft, adds locked cases at some stores


Substack Permalink:
https://terrylclark.substack.com/p/shut-down-better

Don't Settle

 

Manners III

"When we think of evil, we think of something violent or demonic, something filled with hatred and wretchedly hungry to devour the good. But what if evil eats a salad at lunch and is polite, speaking rationally with nice table manners?"
-John Kass,
"Evil with salad and a nice red" (July 19, 2015),
Chicago Tribune, Illinois