Everyone's Blog Posts - Civil Discourse Now2024-03-19T02:29:55Zhttp://civildiscoursenow.com/profiles/blog/feed?xn_auth=noWith Manafort on the team, Russia has an "in" once moretag:civildiscoursenow.com,2024-03-18:6316350:BlogPost:1229312024-03-18T23:05:28.000ZMark Smallhttp://civildiscoursenow.com/profile/04vjqivrcsdny
<p>Russia still has a hand in our elections. Paul Manafort chaired the GOP presidential campaign in 2016. He later admitted he lied to investigators & under oath “about his contact with a Russian associate during the 2016 campaign.” [FN1] Manafort was pardoned by trump. 1/5</p>
<p>Some of the information was “internal polling data” and was shared with Konstantin Kilimnik, a “Russian and Ukrainian political consultant” and that “Russia could have exploited such inside information to target…</p>
<p>Russia still has a hand in our elections. Paul Manafort chaired the GOP presidential campaign in 2016. He later admitted he lied to investigators & under oath “about his contact with a Russian associate during the 2016 campaign.” [FN1] Manafort was pardoned by trump. 1/5</p>
<p>Some of the information was “internal polling data” and was shared with Konstantin Kilimnik, a “Russian and Ukrainian political consultant” and that “Russia could have exploited such inside information to target influence campaigns aimed at boosting” trump in 2016. [FN2] 2/5</p>
<p>This is news because Manafort is “in discussions” with trump’s campaign team “to potentially help with” the GOP convention in Milwaukee. [FN3] We can watch in real time as Russia, once more, works to install its stooge in The Oval Office. Actually, we saw that in 2016. 3/5</p>
<p>Given the “bloodbath” comment last weekend, trump might need information on how to do a “bloodbath.” Maybe Manafort can get tips from Putin’s former comrades in the KGB. He might want to call someone else. Putin’s specialty is defenestration. 4/5</p>
<p>Footnotes:<br/>FN1. “Manafort sentenced to additional 43 months in prison,” ABA Journal, 3/2019.<br/>FN2. Tucker, Eric, “US says Russia was given Trump campaign polling data in 2016,” AP News, 4/16/21.<br/>FN3. Holmes, Kristen and Jack Forrest, “Former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort is in discussions to help with reelection effort,” CNN Politics, 3/18/24. 5/5</p>trump's "bloodbath reference was not out of contexttag:civildiscoursenow.com,2024-03-18:6316350:BlogPost:1226382024-03-18T00:03:37.000ZMark Smallhttp://civildiscoursenow.com/profile/04vjqivrcsdny
<p>After my post this morning about trump’s threat, during a speech in Dayton OH 3/16/24, that if he loses on November 5, there “will be a bloodbath,” one comment was “bloodbath” was taken out of context from a speech about the auto industry. YouTube has several replays.</p>
<p>trump talks for a bit more than a minute. He describes jobs going to Mexico that should be here. He then says that, if he is re-elected [FN1] he will put a 100% tariff on cars from China. Then he says that if he does not…</p>
<p>After my post this morning about trump’s threat, during a speech in Dayton OH 3/16/24, that if he loses on November 5, there “will be a bloodbath,” one comment was “bloodbath” was taken out of context from a speech about the auto industry. YouTube has several replays.</p>
<p>trump talks for a bit more than a minute. He describes jobs going to Mexico that should be here. He then says that, if he is re-elected [FN1] he will put a 100% tariff on cars from China. Then he says that if he does not win in November, there will be a “bloodbath.” That’s a threat.</p>
<p>The “bloodbath” threat was not in relation to the auto industry, but what will happen if he loses in November.People can watch it for themselves. I have to crash in a short while. What trump said was a threat and a violation of I.C. 3-14-3-21.5. Quoting him is not out of context.</p>
<p>Footnotes:<br/>FN1. He was not elected in 2016. He lost the popular vote by 7 million votes.</p>trump threatens "bloodbath" if he loses - vote AGAINST him & his supporterstag:civildiscoursenow.com,2024-03-17:6316350:BlogPost:1229262024-03-17T11:01:16.000ZMark Smallhttp://civildiscoursenow.com/profile/04vjqivrcsdny
<p>In a speech in Dayton OH Saturday afternoon, trump said that if he loses on November 5, there “will be a bloodbath.” The word “bloodbath” is defined as “a ruthless slaughter of a great number of people; massacre.” [FN1] In Indiana, voter intimidation is illegal, specifically: 1/8</p>
<p>Indiana law forbids intimidating, threatening or coercing an individual to vote or attempt to vote.” [FN2] This goes to the heart of the right to vote. Neither trump nor any member of his crime family should…</p>
<p>In a speech in Dayton OH Saturday afternoon, trump said that if he loses on November 5, there “will be a bloodbath.” The word “bloodbath” is defined as “a ruthless slaughter of a great number of people; massacre.” [FN1] In Indiana, voter intimidation is illegal, specifically: 1/8</p>
<p>Indiana law forbids intimidating, threatening or coercing an individual to vote or attempt to vote.” [FN2] This goes to the heart of the right to vote. Neither trump nor any member of his crime family should be elected for public office. For people who vote in the GOP primary: 2/8</p>
<p>Mike Braun (governor) and Jim Banks (U.S. Senate) have fawned over trump. DO NOT vote for either these men, nor anyone who proudly states they’ll support trump. People running to be delegates to the GOP State convention should be asked an important question. 3/8</p>
<p>Micah Beckwith [FN3] wants to be Indiana’s Lt Gov. He has no business being anywhere near that office. Do candidates for the GOP State convention in your precinct intend to vote for Beckwith? If “yes,” DO NOT vote for them. Beckwith adores trump more than Braun. 4/8</p>
<p>I am running to be a delegate to the GOP State convention in June. I shall not vote for Beckwith or any other Christofascist. This iteration of the GOP is not the party of Lincoln. It is the party of ignorance and bigotry. trump seeks to make it a party of mass murder. We need to stop him. 5/8<br/> <br/>Footnotes:<br/>FN1. Dictionary.com 6/8</p>
<p>Footnotes:<br/>FN2. 3-14-3-21.5<br/>A person who knowingly or intentionally intimidates, threatens, or coerces an individual for:<br/>(1) voting or attempting to vote;<br/>(2) urging or aiding another individual to vote or attempt to vote; or<br/>(3) exercising any power or duty under this title concerning registration or voting;<br/>commits voter intimidation, a Level 6 felony. 7/8</p>
<p>FN3. Ham Co preacher/Christian nationalist, 2020 GOP candidate in INCD5 primary. Beckwith was appointed to the Hamilton East Public Library (HEPL) board of trustees was part of a short-lived 4-3 right-wing majority that messed things up & wasted money. 8/8</p>If one gun violence corpse has a value of 1.0, how many deaths did s/he/them save?tag:civildiscoursenow.com,2024-03-16:6316350:BlogPost:1226362024-03-16T18:39:19.000ZMark Smallhttp://civildiscoursenow.com/profile/04vjqivrcsdny
<p>Gun violence on 3/16 claimed at least 1 more person in Broad Ripple. Police “working near” a bar on Broad Ripple Ave “around 1:20 a.m.” heard multiple shots go off inside” the bar, [FN1] which caters to a younger crowd. [FN2] IMPD took measures last summer 1/9</p>
<p>to address violence after four people were shot, three of whom died, last summer. [FN3] In the latest shooting, police were not called to the scene. They “heard multiple shots go off inside” the bar. Close proximity of police…</p>
<p>Gun violence on 3/16 claimed at least 1 more person in Broad Ripple. Police “working near” a bar on Broad Ripple Ave “around 1:20 a.m.” heard multiple shots go off inside” the bar, [FN1] which caters to a younger crowd. [FN2] IMPD took measures last summer 1/9</p>
<p>to address violence after four people were shot, three of whom died, last summer. [FN3] In the latest shooting, police were not called to the scene. They “heard multiple shots go off inside” the bar. Close proximity of police was not a deterrent. 2/9</p>
<p>“The wild west” of the 1800s was not as in the movies. [FN4] The “Shootout at the O.K. Corral” resulted from enforcement of Tombstone’s ban on concealed firearms. [FN5] Advocates of gun culture laugh it up about gun shows. [FN6] They advocate for “concealed carry.” 3/9</p>
<p>Guy Relford is “The Gun Guy” on WIBC, a terrestrial radio station in Indy. [FN7] Gun nuts like to say more guns = less crime, regardless of facts. Relford has a duty to determine a coefficient in regard to how many lives are saved for every single corpse racked up by gun violence. 4/9</p>
<p>We need to know. If 1.0 is the value for a gun violence corpse, there should be a value for lives that 1.0 has saved. Whether that corpse is a six-year-old child or an adult male, that 1.0 still is the value. Relford should give that value for ... every ... single ... corpse. We’ll wait. 5/9</p>
<p>Footnotes:<br/>FN1. <a href="http://www.wishtv.com">www.wishtv.com</a> Channel 8, “Person killed, 5 others wounded in Broad Ripple nightclub<br/>FN2. I’ve lived in Broad Ripple for almost 40 years and am familiar with the businesses here. 6/9<br/> <br/>Footnotes:<br/> FN3. Jesse Wells, “Safety changes being made in Broad Ripple aimed at preventing violence,” Fox 59, 6/30/23.<br/> FN4. See Winkler, “Gunfight,” 2011 ed., pp. 166-173. E.g., Dodge City, Kansas banned concealed firearms in 1873. 7/9</p>
<p>FN5. Id., pp. 172-73; also, Ord 9(1): “It is hereby declared unlawful for any person to carry deadly weapons, concealed or otherwise (except the same be carried openly in sight, and in the hand)...” 8/9</p>
<p>Footnotes:<br/>FN6. Two very good friends of mine carry in their line of work. I never have heard either joke about firearms. <br/>FN7. His first name is “Guy.” Get it? 9/9</p>1) Not the Party of Lincoln and 2) Circumstances not so dire as to warrant civil wartag:civildiscoursenow.com,2024-03-11:6316350:BlogPost:1226312024-03-11T15:34:56.000ZMark Smallhttp://civildiscoursenow.com/profile/04vjqivrcsdny
<p>“Oh What a Lovely War” [FN1] a 1969 British film, is sharp, bloody satire set to happy songs popular in WWI. The scene for each tune disintegrates to carnage on the battlefield. I saw the film at DePauw around the same time I first read Tuchman’s “Guns of August.” [FN2] 1/9</p>
<p>I drew several impressions. European leaders blundered into WWI, each believing others would back down. People had little grasp of the realities of modern warfare. Roughly a century had passed since the Napoleonic…</p>
<p>“Oh What a Lovely War” [FN1] a 1969 British film, is sharp, bloody satire set to happy songs popular in WWI. The scene for each tune disintegrates to carnage on the battlefield. I saw the film at DePauw around the same time I first read Tuchman’s “Guns of August.” [FN2] 1/9</p>
<p>I drew several impressions. European leaders blundered into WWI, each believing others would back down. People had little grasp of the realities of modern warfare. Roughly a century had passed since the Napoleonic wars, but those conflicts lacked modern “refinement.” 2/9</p>
<p>The Gatling gun had been developed in 1862 during the Civil War. Widespread use of machine guns did not occur, however, until the Russo-Japanese War. [FN3] No one was ready for death, mutilation and destruction on the scale the would annihilate so many 1914-1918. 3/9</p>
<p>An October poll indicated “nearly one in four Americans believe that political violence may be justified to ‘save’ the country.” [FN4] I am a pacifist. I oppose violence. What is difficult to ignore is the violence advanced by the far right. January 6 was an insurrection & violent. 4/9</p>
<p>Also on January 6, a person carried a Confederate flag [FN5] through the Capitol. People in this iteration of the GOP seem unconcerned by the events opf January 6. People in the USA today seem as unaware as Europeans in 1914 of what warfare is. I shall close as follows: 5/9</p>
<p>1) People should be damn sure things are as bad as trump, et al, would have us believe.<br/>2) If claim as one of your own a racist walking through the Capitol, a Confederate flag over his shoulder, you sure as hell have no claim to be the Party of Lincoln. 6/9</p>
<p>Footnotes:<br/>FN1. “Oh What a Lovely War,” Richard Attenborough, dir.<br/>FN2. Tuchman, Barbara, “Guns of August,” 1962. 7/9</p>
<p>Footnotes:<br/>FN3. Kenda, Daniel, “Lessons Learned from the Use of the Machine Gun During the Russo-Japanese War and the Application of Those Lessons by the Protagonists of World War I,” Masters thesis, U.S. Army Command and General Staff College, 2005, p. ii. 8/9</p>
<p>Footnotes:<br/>FN4. David Smith, “Nearly one in four Americans believe political violence justified to ‘save’ US,” The Guardian, 10/25/23. <br/>FN5. The flag was that of the Army of Northern Virginia. 9/9</p>Banks & Beckwith pose arguments to abolish electors!? Gee whiz!tag:civildiscoursenow.com,2024-03-10:6316350:BlogPost:1226292024-03-10T19:45:47.000ZMark Smallhttp://civildiscoursenow.com/profile/04vjqivrcsdny
<p>I disagree that no one could be more stupid and mean than Rep Jim Banks [FN1] and Micah Beckwith. [FN2] There are over eight billion people on Earth. [FN3] The odds alone negate such an assertion. Then these events occur. Beckwith re-tweets a Banks re-tweet: 1/10</p>
<p>“After the next census, illegal aliens will have more representation in the electoral college than the entire population of Indiana. That’s the point of the Biden border crisis.” <br></br>I must ask: are they ANTIFA plants or…</p>
<p>I disagree that no one could be more stupid and mean than Rep Jim Banks [FN1] and Micah Beckwith. [FN2] There are over eight billion people on Earth. [FN3] The odds alone negate such an assertion. Then these events occur. Beckwith re-tweets a Banks re-tweet: 1/10</p>
<p>“After the next census, illegal aliens will have more representation in the electoral college than the entire population of Indiana. That’s the point of the Biden border crisis.” <br/>I must ask: are they ANTIFA plants or Deep State double agents? Gosh golly! 2/10</p>
<p>First, the phrase “electoral college” appears nowhere in The Constitution. This is not a matter of mere semantics. Hamilton emphasized the importance of a body that would deliberate and pick a chief magistrate. [FN4] Each State determines how its “Electors” are selected. [FN5] 3/10</p>
<p>Second, Indiana, like most States, requires electors to vote for the slate of candidates of the party that chose the electors. [FN6] Then we come to the real “devil”: “winner-take-all” to apportion the votes of electors. That became the predominant after the election of 1824. 4/10</p>
<p>Andrew Jackson won the popular vote, but the House selected John Quincy Adams. Jefferson had argued a State would have more power if its electors were chosen as a bloc. [FN7] This is what effectively disenfranchises many voters. If “A” wins Indiana 50.1% to “B” 49.9% 5/10</p>
<p>the voters in the latter group are disenfranchised. The GOP candidate for Pres, since 1988, only has won the popular vote once (Bush, 2004). [FN8] Banks & Beckwith are upset about a group having “more representation” amongst electors than that group should have. 6/10</p>
<p>This is diabolically brilliant as a stealth argument to restore the right to vote of everyone with its implicit tossing aside of electors. On the other hand, if Banks did not realize what he was doing, that won’t add to him being Mr Happy. Either way, Beckwith is clueless. 7/10</p>
<p>Footnotes:<br/>FN1. U.S. Rep, INCD3, GOP and candidate for U.S. Senate.<br/>FN2. Ham County preacher/wannabe elected political official and former member Hamilton East Public Library (HEPL) board of trustees. 8/10</p>
<p>Footnotes:<br/>FN3. <a href="https://www.worldometers.info/world-population/#:~:text=8.1%20Billion%20">https://www.worldometers.info/world-population/#:~:text=8.1%20Billion%20</a>(current),currently%20living)%20of%20the%20world.<br/>FN4. Hamilton, The Federalist 68. 9/10</p>
<p>Footnotes:<br/>FN5. U.S. Const. Art. I, sec. 2; Amend. XII.<br/>FN6. I.C. § 3-10-4-1.7. <br/>FN7. <a href="https://fairvote.org/how-the-electoral-college-became-winner-take-all/">https://fairvote.org/how-the-electoral-college-became-winner-take-all/</a><br/>FN8. <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_United_States_presidential_elections">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_United_States_presidential_elections</a> 10/10</p>"MFV": My Faith Votes is another far-right religious grouptag:civildiscoursenow.com,2024-03-10:6316350:BlogPost:1228322024-03-10T00:25:22.000ZMark Smallhttp://civildiscoursenow.com/profile/04vjqivrcsdny
<p>11/5/24: could be our last elections. At CPAC a speaker hailed “the end of democracy”adding “All glory is to God.” [FN1] [FN2] On social media, groups mesh evangelical Christianity & politics. Most operate on a misconception easily dispelled. One such group: 1/9</p>
<p>“My Faith Votes” (MFV) says it is “a non-partisan movement” to get “Christians in America to vote in every election.” [FN3] It mentions “90 million Christians in America” [FN4] With its claim as “non-partisan,” MFV seems…</p>
<p>11/5/24: could be our last elections. At CPAC a speaker hailed “the end of democracy”adding “All glory is to God.” [FN1] [FN2] On social media, groups mesh evangelical Christianity & politics. Most operate on a misconception easily dispelled. One such group: 1/9</p>
<p>“My Faith Votes” (MFV) says it is “a non-partisan movement” to get “Christians in America to vote in every election.” [FN3] It mentions “90 million Christians in America” [FN4] With its claim as “non-partisan,” MFV seems to claim to speak for all Christians. 2/9</p>
<p>In a 2016 press release, MFV announced Dr Ben Carson was signed to lead it & noted that “more than 25 million Christians didn’t even bother to show up at the polls.” [FN5] Today its home page, under “Leadership,” includes a photo of former Gov Mike Huckabee. [FN6] 3/9</p>
<p>MFV’s SEO is slick. MFV + posts/videos dominate until a 2021 article from MinistryWatch pops up [FN7] & hits MFV’s claim as “non-partisan.” MFV aggressively promoted trump “to evangelical voters since 2016.” MFV is a 501(c)(3) corporation; i.e., it can’t be biased 4/9</p>
<p>in voter education or registration. The article notes MFV has never criticized trump and never praised a Democrat. At an MFV-sponsored event before the 2016 election a Christian nationalist “warned believers they would have to answer to God” if they didn’t vote for trump. 5/9</p>
<p>MFV’s home page lists 4 core pillars of faith: religious freedom, sanctity of life, strong families and marriages, and compassion and support for those in need. [FN8] They oppose women’s rights, marriage equality & all that is progressive. And the misconception easily dispelled: 6/9</p>
<p>“Jesus Christ” does not appear in any of this country’s founding documents: The Declaration of Independence, The Articles of Confederation, The Federalist, or The Constitution. Also, MFV only speaks for a minority of Christians. 7/9</p>
<p>Footnotes:<br/>FN1. Conservative Political Action Conference, held 2/21/24.<br/>FN2. newrepublic.com/post/179247/jack-posobiec-democracy-cpac-2024 <br/>FN3. myfaithvotes.org/about 8/9</p>
<p>FN4. Id.<br/>FN5. cnn.com/2016/03/04/politics/ben-carson-new-role-my-faith-votes-cpac/index.html<br/>FN6. Supra, FN3.<br/>FN7. Ministrywatch.com/my-faith-votes-evangelical-nonprofit-strains-meaning-of-non-partisan/<br/>FN8. Supra, FN3. 9/9</p>SOTU past & nowtag:civildiscoursenow.com,2024-03-08:6316350:BlogPost:1228292024-03-08T01:02:34.000ZMark Smallhttp://civildiscoursenow.com/profile/04vjqivrcsdny
<p>There were highlights of past State of the Union addresses in the lead-up to tonight’s SOTU by Pres Biden. There was Pres Obama (winner of the popular vote in 2008 and 2012) saying to the justices of SCOTUS right there how they screwed up on Citizens United. Alito mumbled 1/4</p>
<p>“Not true.” Unfortunately, Alito doth protest too much. [FN1] That decision “ushered in massive increases” in campaign spending that further tilted political influence toward wealthy donors & corporations.…</p>
<p>There were highlights of past State of the Union addresses in the lead-up to tonight’s SOTU by Pres Biden. There was Pres Obama (winner of the popular vote in 2008 and 2012) saying to the justices of SCOTUS right there how they screwed up on Citizens United. Alito mumbled 1/4</p>
<p>“Not true.” Unfortunately, Alito doth protest too much. [FN1] That decision “ushered in massive increases” in campaign spending that further tilted political influence toward wealthy donors & corporations. [FN2] Tonight’s address might be the last for our republic. 2/4</p>
<p>Hungary’s dictator will be a guest at trump’s place in Florida. trump probably is getting tips to augment the highlighted notebook he’s kept on thugs & murderers. I was kidding about that last part trump’s merely a thug. There’s nothing funny about his plans. 3/4</p>
<p>Footnotes:<br/>FN1. See, Hamlet, Act III, Scene 2.<br/>FN2. Brennan Center for Justice, “Citizens United Explained,” 12/12/19; CLC, How Does the Citizens United Decision Still Affect Us in 2024?” 1/15/24. 4/4</p>Make sure trump is never near The Oval Office againtag:civildiscoursenow.com,2024-03-06:6316350:BlogPost:1228262024-03-06T22:53:49.000ZMark Smallhttp://civildiscoursenow.com/profile/04vjqivrcsdny
<p>In his 2nd inaugural address, Pres Abraham Lincoln saw reconstruction of our country after The Civil War and said: “With malice toward none, with charity for all.” [FN1] Lincoln sought to “unify a broken nation.” [FN2] The Civil War was not sparked overnight. 1/8</p>
<p>Preservation of the institution of slavery ripped this country apart, and not because abolition was an overarching goal of the North, but because southern States seceded from the Union over the issue of slavery. [FN3] Abraham…</p>
<p>In his 2nd inaugural address, Pres Abraham Lincoln saw reconstruction of our country after The Civil War and said: “With malice toward none, with charity for all.” [FN1] Lincoln sought to “unify a broken nation.” [FN2] The Civil War was not sparked overnight. 1/8</p>
<p>Preservation of the institution of slavery ripped this country apart, and not because abolition was an overarching goal of the North, but because southern States seceded from the Union over the issue of slavery. [FN3] Abraham Lincoln was the first Republican President. 2/8</p>
<p>People were bitter about the greatest battlefield carnage in the history of this country. There was a long way to go. Slavery ended, but civil rights still, involve a struggle today. Women still had no rights. Indigenous people were regularly killed and moved off lands that had value. 3/8</p>
<p>Lincoln said “With malice toward none...” All that trump wants to bring if he steals the Oval Office is malice: “desire to inflict injury or suffering on another.” [FN4] trump vowed he would be a dictator for “one day” and there will be deportation of millions. 4/8</p>
<p>What carnage on the scale of The Civil War occurred that would justify bitterness so great that an individual so unhinged and far right-wing as trump is headed and the words of Lincoln forgotten? <br/>The answer: nothing. This iteration of the Republican Party is not the party of Lincoln. 5/8</p>
<p>Make sure you are eligible and registered to vote in the general election on November 5. All of us should research. If you oppose abandonment of The Constitution and imposition of a dictatorship don’t vote for trump or anyone who kisses his butt. I’m a GOP precinct committee person. 6/8 <br/> <br/>Footnotes:<br/>FN1. https://ww w.nps.gov/articles/000/-with-malice-toward-none-lincoln-s-second-inaugural.ht<br/>FN2. Id. 7/8</p>
<p>Footnotes:<br/>FN3. <a href="https://avalon.law.yale.edu/subject_menus/csapage.asp">https://avalon.law.yale.edu/subject_menus/csapage.asp</a> <br/>FN4. The American College Dictionary, 1962 ed., p. 737.<br/>FN5. @ trumpDailyPosts, 11/18/23 8/8</p>A test...tag:civildiscoursenow.com,2024-03-03:6316350:BlogPost:1227222024-03-03T19:41:16.000ZMark Smallhttp://civildiscoursenow.com/profile/04vjqivrcsdny
<p>This is a test. <br/>Is the following phrase consistent with the Republican Party?<br/>“With malice toward none, with charity for all.”<br/>If your answer is “no” (too wimpish?) please realize Pres Lincoln said this in <br/>his 2nd Inaugural Address.<br/>Today’s GOP, jacked by trump, is NOT the party of Lincoln.</p>
<p>This is a test. <br/>Is the following phrase consistent with the Republican Party?<br/>“With malice toward none, with charity for all.”<br/>If your answer is “no” (too wimpish?) please realize Pres Lincoln said this in <br/>his 2nd Inaugural Address.<br/>Today’s GOP, jacked by trump, is NOT the party of Lincoln.</p>Can you vote for someone who says only people like her/him can be moral?tag:civildiscoursenow.com,2024-03-02:6316350:BlogPost:1228232024-03-02T20:23:17.000ZMark Smallhttp://civildiscoursenow.com/profile/04vjqivrcsdny
<p>The 2024 elections should frighten Hoosiers. [FN1] Indiana’s GOP is a not-for-profit corporation that acts like a closely-held, for-profit corporation. Insiders run Indiana’s GOP. The candidacy of one person running for Lt Governor, reflects an attempt to build distance from voters. 1/8</p>
<p>Micah Beckwith [FN2] wants to be GOP’s nominee for IN Lt Gov. He’s never won an election, general or primary, but on 9/8/22 w/o fanfare & w/a few minutes’ public notice he was appointed to HEPL’s…</p>
<p>The 2024 elections should frighten Hoosiers. [FN1] Indiana’s GOP is a not-for-profit corporation that acts like a closely-held, for-profit corporation. Insiders run Indiana’s GOP. The candidacy of one person running for Lt Governor, reflects an attempt to build distance from voters. 1/8</p>
<p>Micah Beckwith [FN2] wants to be GOP’s nominee for IN Lt Gov. He’s never won an election, general or primary, but on 9/8/22 w/o fanfare & w/a few minutes’ public notice he was appointed to HEPL’s board of trustees for a 4-year term. [FN3] He resigned 1/12/24 citing his “run for 2/8</p>
<p>lieutenant governor, which is consuming most of my time.” [FN4] Beckwith didn’t mention the national ridicule heaped on HEPL as a result of a censorship policy he pushed. He only quit after he no longer was in a 4-3 majority & before how much $ was wasted during his 16 months. 3/8</p>
<p>Beckwith only attains office, it seems, via subterfuge, SOP for this iteration of the GOP. He says only Christians can be moral, but not a “Hindu, an atheist or a Jew.” [FN5] We should deny public office to Beckwith and others on the far right. Beckwith is a great threat to Christians. 4/8</p>
<p>History tells us that, during the Reformation, lots of Christians killed each other. Do you believe only those baptized by complete immersion can be forgiven of sin? Do you crack your egg on the side or the top? 5/8</p>
<p>Footnotes:<br/>FN1. ...except those who drank the Kool-Aid®,” to denote die-hard trumpers via the cliche for suicide/murders at Jonestown, Guyana, in 1979. btw, Jim Jones served up poison-spiked Flavor Aid, a cheap knock-off of Kool-Aid.® See, Guinn, The Road to Jonestown, p. 440. 6/8</p>
<p>Footnotes:<br/>FN2. Ham Co preacher/Christian nationalist, 2020 GOP candidate in INCD5 primary. Beckwith was appointed to the Hamilton East Public Library (HEPL) board of trustees was part of a short-lived 4-3 right-wing majority. 7/8</p>
<p>Footnotes:<br/>FN3. By-laws of the Hamilton East Public Library Board of Trustees, Art. 2, Sec. 2. <br/>FN4. IndyStar, 1/12/24.<br/>FN5. “The Church’s role in politics,” 10/19/20, Facebook. 8/8</p>trump was put in office to hurt this country...tag:civildiscoursenow.com,2024-03-02:6316350:BlogPost:1229222024-03-02T00:40:18.000ZMark Smallhttp://civildiscoursenow.com/profile/04vjqivrcsdny
<p>Pres Biden was wrong. On 2/29 in Brownsville, Texas, he was right: trump [FN1] ordered GOP members of Congress to “tank” a bipartisan immigration bill. [FN2] trump needs that issue. Pres Biden wants ppl to understand "clearly" that the border deal, a bipartisan agreement, 1/9</p>
<p>was tossed by partisan politics. Pres Biden could have used a stronger anatomical metaphor to describe GOP members of Congress ("show a little spine"). [FN3] Pres Biden was wrong when he said: "Let’s remember ..…</p>
<p>Pres Biden was wrong. On 2/29 in Brownsville, Texas, he was right: trump [FN1] ordered GOP members of Congress to “tank” a bipartisan immigration bill. [FN2] trump needs that issue. Pres Biden wants ppl to understand "clearly" that the border deal, a bipartisan agreement, 1/9</p>
<p>was tossed by partisan politics. Pres Biden could have used a stronger anatomical metaphor to describe GOP members of Congress ("show a little spine"). [FN3] Pres Biden was wrong when he said: "Let’s remember .. We work for the American people." 2/9</p>
<p>The pronoun “we” is first-person, plural. [FN4] In the context of Pres Biden’s speech, one may reasonably infer Pres Biden meant himself and trump. To “work for” means “to be a servant for.” [FN5] trump is a servant, but for the man who used cyber warfare (disinformation, etc) 3/9</p>
<p>to steal the 2016 election & hand the Oval Office to trump: Putin. trump’s fascination w/Russia’s dictator is described by Australia’s former Prime Minister as “really creepy.” [FN6] trump is Putin’s servant & has orders to harm and maybe destroy America. It’s been effective. 4/9</p>
<p>The sooner people realize what Putin did, the sooner we can try to repair the damage. All of trump’s actions in office, including/especially lifetime nominees to the Supreme Court, are void because trump took office via treason. 5/9</p>
<p>Footnotes:<br/>FN1. Few people w/a sense of decency can either read or hear spoken the name of the occupant of the Oval Office 1/20/17 to 1/20/21 w/o wincing. I won’t flatter myself by saying I am such a person, but I still wince & for their sake I won’t capitalize the “t.” 6/9</p>
<p>Footnotes:<br/>FN2. <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/congress/republicans-kill-border-bill-sign-trumps-strength-mcconnells-waning-in-rcna137477">https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/congress/republicans-kill-border-bill-sign-trumps-strength-mcconnells-waning-in-rcna137477</a> 7/9<br/> <br/>Footnotes:<br/>FN3. The speech was on news feeds during “family hour,” so use of a more brusque image might have met w/some objections.<br/>FN4. See, The American College Dictionary, 1962 ed., p. 1381. 8/9</p>
<p>Footnotes:<br/>FN5. <a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/work%20">https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/work%20</a>(for) <br/>FN6. <a href="https://www.huffpost.com/entry/trump-putin-really-creepy-turnbull_n_65e04e67e4b0d2a24758046a">https://www.huffpost.com/entry/trump-putin-really-creepy-turnbull_n_65e04e67e4b0d2a24758046a</a> 9/9</p>It's really that badtag:civildiscoursenow.com,2024-02-22:6316350:BlogPost:1229192024-02-22T02:00:54.000ZMark Smallhttp://civildiscoursenow.com/profile/04vjqivrcsdny
<p>In the last 2 blogs I wrote how (1) the murder of Putin enemy Aleksei Navalnov & (2) statements by trump, foretell what can be as trump tries to retake the Oval Office that Putin stole for trump in 2016, or if the effort succeeds. Some comments I received ignore Hoosier hospitality. 1/7</p>
<p>After WWI, D.C. Stephenson arrived in Indiana to recruit for, and build up, the KKK. Power was from numbers of Hoosiers who joined up to be “Kluxers.” [FN1] He also took healthy cuts from $10…</p>
<p>In the last 2 blogs I wrote how (1) the murder of Putin enemy Aleksei Navalnov & (2) statements by trump, foretell what can be as trump tries to retake the Oval Office that Putin stole for trump in 2016, or if the effort succeeds. Some comments I received ignore Hoosier hospitality. 1/7</p>
<p>After WWI, D.C. Stephenson arrived in Indiana to recruit for, and build up, the KKK. Power was from numbers of Hoosiers who joined up to be “Kluxers.” [FN1] He also took healthy cuts from $10 initial fees and $6 for robes to make, in an 18-month period, $2 million. [FN2] 2/7</p>
<p>Stepheon’s conviction for the death and rape of Madge Oberholzer killed the KKK’s power. The 500K Kluxers did not simply disintegrate, like the Orcs in the battle before the Gates of Mordor in “Returned of the King.” Racism is part of this State’s history, both past and present. 3/7</p>
<p>The other day I wrote Hitler’s Third Reich copied their Nuremburg laws after the Jim Crow laws of the South. Nazis regarded the USA as “the innovative world leader in the creation of racist law.” [FN3] Nazis saw a way to strip even native-born Germans of their citizenship. [FN4] 4/7</p>
<p>I apologize to readers bof this blog and peace-loving people of this World. I should have warned of the dangers of MAGA sooner. So please, register to vote. We need to fight these bastards. I’m a pacifist. That doesn’t mean I’m a doormat. 5/7</p>
<p>Footnotes:<br/>FN1. At its peak nearly 500,000, Hoosiers belonged to the KKK. Leibowitz, “My Indiana,” (1964 ed.), p. 191.<br/>FN2. Id., pp. 192-93. 6/7</p>
<p>Footnotes:<br/>FN3. Maddow, “Prequel,” 2023 ed., p. 21, citing Whitman, “Hitler’s American Model,” 2017.<br/>FN4. Evans, “The Third Reich in Power,” 2005 ed., p. 544. 7/7</p>Der 12-year Reich patterned Nuremburg race law on Jim Crow. trump might copy backtag:civildiscoursenow.com,2024-02-19:6316350:BlogPost:1226242024-02-19T12:49:50.000ZMark Smallhttp://civildiscoursenow.com/profile/04vjqivrcsdny
<p>The most votes usually wins an election. [FN1] “Most” is easier if voters for the other side lose the right to vote. “Jim Crow” laws [FN2] were copied & the USA regarded as “the innovative world leader in the creation of racist law.” [FN3] USA laws showed Nazis how to strip 1/8</p>
<p>non-Aryans and “opponents of the regime and all those who silently themselves from it by their lack of enthusiasm for its policies.” [FN4] <br></br>We should be scared by trump’s statements that echo the…</p>
<p>The most votes usually wins an election. [FN1] “Most” is easier if voters for the other side lose the right to vote. “Jim Crow” laws [FN2] were copied & the USA regarded as “the innovative world leader in the creation of racist law.” [FN3] USA laws showed Nazis how to strip 1/8</p>
<p>non-Aryans and “opponents of the regime and all those who silently themselves from it by their lack of enthusiasm for its policies.” [FN4] <br/>We should be scared by trump’s statements that echo the language of Der Twelve-Year Reich. For example: 2/8</p>
<p>“2024 is our final battle. With you at my side, we will demolish the Deep State, we will expel the warmongers from our government, we will drive out the globalists, we will cast out the Communists, Marxists, and Fascists, we will throw off the sick political class that 3/8</p>
<p>hates our Country, we will rout the Fake News Media, we will evict Joe Biden from the White House, and we will FINISH THE JOB ONCE AND FOR ALL!” [FN5]<br/>Before 2016, many said trump’s a joke & can’t win. trump lost the popular vote, but 4/8</p>
<p>took the Oval Office. No one should discount what trump would do in a second term. Jews, opponents of Hitler, and those who had a “lack of enthusiasm” for Hitler’s policies lost their citizenship, even if native-born. We can’t let this bastard steal the Oval Office again. 5/8</p>
<p>Footnotes:<br/> [FN1] “As far as I know, the presidency is the only elected office in the United States in which the person with the most votes in the final election does not necessarily win.” Finkelman, “The Proslavery Origins of the Electoral College,” 23 Cardozo L Rev 1145, 1146 (2002). 6/8</p>
<p>Footnotes:<br/>FN2. “A law enacted or purposely interpreted to discriminate against blacks, such as a law requiring separate restrooms for blacks and whites.” Black’s Law Dictionary, 10th ed., 2014, p. 964. 7/8</p>
<p>Footnotes:<br/>FN3. Maddow, “Prequel,” 2023 ed., p. 21, citing Whitman, “Hitler’s American Model,” 2017.<br/>FN4. Evans, “The Third Reich in Power,” 2005 ed., p. 544.<br/>FN5. @TrumpDailyPosts 11/18/23. 8/8</p>Navalny's murder shows the direction trump would take ustag:civildiscoursenow.com,2024-02-17:6316350:BlogPost:1227192024-02-17T14:48:40.000ZMark Smallhttp://civildiscoursenow.com/profile/04vjqivrcsdny
<p>Alexei Navalny, opponent of Russia’s President,Vladimir Putin, was arrested, tried, convicted and sentenced on charges of “extremism” by Putin’s regime. Navalny was in custody of Putin’s dictatorship. On 2/16 Navalny “felt unwell after a walk” & lost consciousness. [FN1] 1/11</p>
<p>In a video hearing the previous day, Navalny smiled behind the bars of a cell and made jokes. [FN2] There are several points in Mr Navalny’s case relevant to us in the USA.<br></br>1: trump takes marching orders…</p>
<p>Alexei Navalny, opponent of Russia’s President,Vladimir Putin, was arrested, tried, convicted and sentenced on charges of “extremism” by Putin’s regime. Navalny was in custody of Putin’s dictatorship. On 2/16 Navalny “felt unwell after a walk” & lost consciousness. [FN1] 1/11</p>
<p>In a video hearing the previous day, Navalny smiled behind the bars of a cell and made jokes. [FN2] There are several points in Mr Navalny’s case relevant to us in the USA.<br/>1: trump takes marching orders from Putin, who calls the tunes. Eric trump in 2014 said: 2/11</p>
<p>“Well, we don’t rely on American banks. We have all the funding we need out of Russia.” [FN3]. Putin uses kompromat & probably has videos of trump. They have to be more than “pee tapes.” I think they have to be snuff films. 3/11</p>
<p>2: trump cannot afford an election in November. The money is irrelevant. SCOTUS in Citizens United gave anonymity of campaign donations protection under the First Amendment. Cash is no problem for foreign powers that see a chance to buy our gov’t slipping away. 4/11</p>
<p>3: Red State governors dispatched National Guard units to Texas. The flow of arms into those groups and calling out “private militias” to help could already be in motion.<br/>4: trump has said the 2024 election will be the “final battle.” [FN4] 5/11</p>
<p>We are not on the sidelines. One example of a far right “reach” is described today by Prof Sheila Kennedy. S.B. 202 in Indiana’s General Assembly requires State universities to “‘deny, limit, or terminate [] employment to faculty if certain conditions [] are not met.” [FN5] 6/11</p>
<p>Der Third Reich tried to force German society into national socialism. {FN6] That did not go well. Hint: the thousand-year reich lasted a little over 12 years. The KKK ran Indiana in the 1920s. Its members didn’t melt away when their leader was convicted of homicide. 7/11</p>
<p>I leave you with these words from Aleksei Navalny: “Listen, I’ve got something very obvious to tell you. You’re not allowed to give up. If they decide to kill me, it means that we are incredibly strong.” Just because we’re pacifists doesn’t mean we’re doormats. Vote! 8/11</p>
<p>Footnotes:<br/>FN1. Heintz, Navalny died while taking a walk, according to Russian prison authorities,” AP, 02/16/2024.<br/>FN2. Hopkins and Kramer, “Aleksei Navalny, Russian Opposition Leader, Dies in Prison at 47,” New York Times, 02/16/2024. 9/11</p>
<p>Footnotes:<br/>FN3. Firozi, “Eric Trump in 2014: ‘We have all the funding we need out of Russia,” The Hill, 05/07/17.<br/>FN4. “Why it matters ...” MSNBC, 01/15/24. See also: “What happens after...?” Washington Post, 11/20/23; “[t]rump describes 2024 ...as ‘the final battle,’” The Guardian, 03/26/23. 10/11</p>
<p><br/>Footnotes:<br/>FN5. Sheilakennedy.net/2024/02/attacking-education/ 02/17/24.<br/>FN6. See, Evans, “The Third Reich in Power,” 2005 ed., pp. 291-302. 11/11</p>EXCLUSIVE interview w/Vlad "the Defenestrater" Putintag:civildiscoursenow.com,2024-02-16:6316350:BlogPost:1228192024-02-16T16:48:56.000ZMark Smallhttp://civildiscoursenow.com/profile/04vjqivrcsdny
<p>MOSCOW. Tuesday, Febr 13, 2024. Pres V. Putin granted me an interview. After the transcript was edited to remove graphic descriptions, obscene language & bare-faced lies, nothing was left. What follows is an accurate work of fiction, just like OAN or The New York Post. 1/8</p>
<p>VP: Take off the hood now.<br></br>CDN: Where am I?<br></br>VP: Good morning.<br></br>CDN: Where the ... <br></br>VP: Why are you looking around?<br></br>CDN: Making sure there aren’t any windows.<br></br>VP: That is hackneyed joke.…</p>
<p>MOSCOW. Tuesday, Febr 13, 2024. Pres V. Putin granted me an interview. After the transcript was edited to remove graphic descriptions, obscene language & bare-faced lies, nothing was left. What follows is an accurate work of fiction, just like OAN or The New York Post. 1/8</p>
<p>VP: Take off the hood now.<br/>CDN: Where am I?<br/>VP: Good morning.<br/>CDN: Where the ... <br/>VP: Why are you looking around?<br/>CDN: Making sure there aren’t any windows.<br/>VP: That is hackneyed joke. 2/8</p>
<p>CDN: You’re a ruthless killer. Apartment buildings you blew up in 1999...<br/>VP: No one thrown out a window! And I do not know “ruth.”<br/>CDN: May I have a notepad and a pen?<br/>VP: We have watched you for years. I am confident with your keen memory, you do not need paper and pen for interview. 3/8</p>
<p>VP: I clarify: Navalny was great man.<br/>CDN: “Was” a great man? I’m supposed to speak with him by phone ...<br/>VP: What time is it?<br/>CDN: There are no clocks in here?<br/>VP: This place like Vegas, baby. No clocks. <br/> (Phone rings.)<br/> Someone want talk to you. It now is on “speaker.” 4/8</p>
<p>CDN: Hello?<br/>X: Navalny dead. Was accident or suicide or he shot while trying to escape.<br/> (Sound of call terminated.)<br/>VP: And here is report on investigation of his death.<br/>CDN: But this report is dated almost a year ago.<br/>VP: We want make sure of conclusions. 5/8</p>
<p>CDN: The first page is titled “Note before I die of accident or suicide or shot while I try escape from place where President Putin give me great quarters that I do not appreciate.”<br/>VP: You question what this man write? 6/8</p>
<p>CDN: How could he list specific ways he “might” die. Why are you handing me a pen and notebook? You said I do not need “pen and paper for interview.”<br/>VP: For interview? Nyet. For posterity in maybe last moments of your life? You decide. 7/8</p>
<p>That is the end of my interview of Putin. A great leader whose moral code the 45th POTUS will try to copy, if that person is reinstalled in the Oval Office. So: signing off for CDN. And to Putin, if he reads this, I say "Путін—хуйло"! 8/8</p>Our republic is about to die & SCOTUS...tag:civildiscoursenow.com,2024-02-14:6316350:BlogPost:1229172024-02-14T11:16:34.000ZMark Smallhttp://civildiscoursenow.com/profile/04vjqivrcsdny
<p>I’m relieved that, in the very early 1980s, we did not have kids. I would have been worried sick about their future. Stephen Miller, who was trump’s person on immigration, spelled it out in comments last fall that I only read the past few days. 1/6</p>
<p>“[I]n terms of personnel, you go to the red state governors and you say, give us your National Guard. We will deputize them as immigration enforcement officers. ... And if you’re going an unfriendly state like Maryland, well, there would…</p>
<p>I’m relieved that, in the very early 1980s, we did not have kids. I would have been worried sick about their future. Stephen Miller, who was trump’s person on immigration, spelled it out in comments last fall that I only read the past few days. 1/6</p>
<p>“[I]n terms of personnel, you go to the red state governors and you say, give us your National Guard. We will deputize them as immigration enforcement officers. ... And if you’re going an unfriendly state like Maryland, well, there would just be Virginia doing the arrest...” [FN1] 2/6</p>
<p>Joseph Nunn, described as an expert on U.S. military policies domestically at the Brennan Center is quoted as saying the President could do such things under the Insurrection Act. Memes have said January 6 was a practice run at a coup. This would tie it up with a bow. 3/6</p>
<p>Our republic is about to die. Electors handed the Oval Office to the GOP in elections the GOP lost in 2000 & 2016. Thomas, recipient of so much largesse he copped The Teapot Dome award for corruption, is the only GOP SCOTUS nominee NOT named by a popular vote loser. 4/6</p>
<p>That means the rule of law, at best, is on life support. As I said, I’m glad we didn’t have kids. On the other hand, I can speak out and make people aware of what is happening. I am a pacifist. I’m not a doormat. Make sure you’re registered to vote. We can’t let them do this. 5/6</p>
<p>Footnotes:<br/>FN1. Barron-Lopez, PBS News Hour, “The potential impact of Trump’s extreme deportation and immigration agenda,” 2/12/2024. 6/6</p>Any crisis at the border is prolonged and appallingtag:civildiscoursenow.com,2024-02-13:6316350:BlogPost:1228172024-02-13T20:26:33.000ZMark Smallhttp://civildiscoursenow.com/profile/04vjqivrcsdny
<p>Indiana’s National Guard is sent to help other States in emergencies. (e.g., hurricanes) Statutes provide the Governor “shall order on state duty all or part of the national guard ” in times of war, invasion, insurrection or at any time the governor considers necessary. [FN1] 1/10</p>
<p>An email fr his campaign address [FN2] dated 02/10/24 says Gov Eric Holcomb is deploying our Nat’l Guard to assist w/the ongoing situation at the border” due to “Federal negligence enforcing immigration law”…</p>
<p>Indiana’s National Guard is sent to help other States in emergencies. (e.g., hurricanes) Statutes provide the Governor “shall order on state duty all or part of the national guard ” in times of war, invasion, insurrection or at any time the governor considers necessary. [FN1] 1/10</p>
<p>An email fr his campaign address [FN2] dated 02/10/24 says Gov Eric Holcomb is deploying our Nat’l Guard to assist w/the ongoing situation at the border” due to “Federal negligence enforcing immigration law” & securing our border jeopardizes nat’l & economic security. 2/10</p>
<p>Gov Holcomb asserts the “Biden administration and Congress aren’t taking action,” but ignores: <br/>1) Senators from both parties worked for four months “to produce a bill that enough members of both parties could accept.” [FN3] They had it! However... 3/10</p>
<p>trump wants the “ongoing situation at the border” to continue. Sen Romney told reporters: “The border is a very important issue for Donald Trump. [T]hat he doesn’t want us to solve the border problem because he wants to blame Biden for it is really appalling.” [FN4] 4/10</p>
<p>2) The Framers warned about the military. Hamilton wrote that nations “most attached to liberty to resort for repose and security to institutions which have a tendency to destroy their civil and political rights.” The institutions “are standing armies.” [FN5] 5/10</p>
<p>3) The Federal government has supremacy in matters of immigration and status of aliens. [FN6] This emergency is real. Its making is on the current iteration of the GOP. Worse, a would-be dictator has ordered his little minions NOT to do the peoples’ business. 6/10</p>
<p>Putin gets NATO gutted & a free hand to slaughter the people of Ukraine IF trump is handed a stolen Oval Office as he was in 2016. So now the States deploy military forces: 50 today, how many tomorrow? What Gov Holcomb is doing is wrong, so very damn wrong. 7/10</p>
<p>Footnotes:<br/>FN1. I.C. 10-16-7-7.<br/>FN2. holcombforindiana.com is the campaign address; an official State government email address, usually, in Indiana, ends w/”.gov” 8/10</p>
<p>Footnotes:<br/>FN3. Galston, “The collapse of bipartisan immigration reform: A guide for the perplexed,” Brookings Inst., 2/8/24.<br/>FN4. Prokop, “Why Trump fears a Biden-GOP immigration deal,” Vox, 1/25/24. 9/10</p>
<p>Footnotes:<br/>FN5. The Federalist No. 8, at 62 (Clinton Rossiter ed., 1961) <br/>. Interference<br/>FN6. Arizona v United States, 567 U.S. 387, 394-95 (2012). 10/10</p>Again w/people unaware of the history of the GOPtag:civildiscoursenow.com,2024-02-11:6316350:BlogPost:1229142024-02-11T23:03:25.000ZMark Smallhttp://civildiscoursenow.com/profile/04vjqivrcsdny
<p>A person need not be a “real” druggie to purchase a share of stock in Eli Lilly. Its articles of incorporation state its purpose: “to engage in any lawful act or activity for which a corporation may be organized under the Indiana Business Corporation Law. [FN1] 1/7</p>
<p>Indiana’s Republican Party is an assumed name of the Indiana Republican State Committee that was incorporated in 2005 by Terre Haute/Citizens United attorney James Bopp, Jr. [FN2] One person online called me “an anti-2a…</p>
<p>A person need not be a “real” druggie to purchase a share of stock in Eli Lilly. Its articles of incorporation state its purpose: “to engage in any lawful act or activity for which a corporation may be organized under the Indiana Business Corporation Law. [FN1] 1/7</p>
<p>Indiana’s Republican Party is an assumed name of the Indiana Republican State Committee that was incorporated in 2005 by Terre Haute/Citizens United attorney James Bopp, Jr. [FN2] One person online called me “an anti-2a ‘republican’ ... ‘a token republican.” That’s crap. 2/7</p>
<p>Under IN GOP rules and State law, I am a Republican in good standing and primary qualified. <br/>Neither the State Articles nor Rules require a Republican take the relatively recent view that the Second Amendment confers an individual right. An article in Rolling Stone noted: 3/7</p>
<p>GOP “presidents from Richard Nixon, who wanted a federal ban on handguns, to Ronald Reagan to George W Bush all voiced support for gun control. George H.W. Bush was so furious at the NRA’s extremism [] he renounced his lifetime membership” while in office. [FN3] 4/7</p>
<p>For 6 terms Richard Lugar represented Indiana in the U.S. Senate. The NRA gave him a grade of “F.” [FN4] Forces of ignorance & bigotry jacked the GOP. It’s not a complete cult of personality, set up as a theocracy, yet. 5/7</p>
<p>Footnotes:<br/>FN1. Eli Lilly Articles of Incorporation, as amended April 21, 2008.<br/>FN2. Indiana Secretary of State, INBIZ. 6/7</p>
<p>Footnotes:<br/>FN3. I can’t find the exact citation. I referred to it in my blog of 8/13/22. <br/>Blake, “Richard Lugar targeted by new ads from conservative groups,” The Washington Post, 4/9/12. 7/7</p>Do research before you consider a post "LADIES PLEASE conceal and carry"tag:civildiscoursenow.com,2024-02-10:6316350:BlogPost:1229122024-02-10T16:28:55.000ZMark Smallhttp://civildiscoursenow.com/profile/04vjqivrcsdny
<p>Implicit in a Feb 6 post, “LADIES PLEASE conceal and carry” [FN1] is handguns “work” as a means of self-defense. Before you [FN2] buy a weapon lethal to you or a loved one, you should research guns and alternatives for self-defense. “Let the people know the facts...”1/10</p>
<p>Peer reviewed studies of gun violence as health risk were prevented, as a practical matter, from 1996 to 2022. The NRA paid for members of Congress to block funding of such studies [FN3] by NIH [FN4] and CDC. [FN5]…</p>
<p>Implicit in a Feb 6 post, “LADIES PLEASE conceal and carry” [FN1] is handguns “work” as a means of self-defense. Before you [FN2] buy a weapon lethal to you or a loved one, you should research guns and alternatives for self-defense. “Let the people know the facts...”1/10</p>
<p>Peer reviewed studies of gun violence as health risk were prevented, as a practical matter, from 1996 to 2022. The NRA paid for members of Congress to block funding of such studies [FN3] by NIH [FN4] and CDC. [FN5] The NRA wanted to stop studies, like a major study in 1993: 2/10</p>
<p>A gun in the home was associated with a nearly threefold increase in the odds someone would be killed at home by a family member or intimate acquaintance. [FN6] There is no reason to believe merchants of one category of death are more truthful than another. [FN7] 3/10</p>
<p>There is another danger guns pose. Over half of gun deaths in 2022 were suicides. [FN8] Paul Nestadt, assistant professor of psychiatry at Johns Hopkins University discredits a “myth that suicide is this carefully considered thing.” Survivors: 75% tried w/in an hour of decision. 4/10</p>
<p>And 25% tried within five minutes of the decision. People use what they have available. Lying in bed at two in the morning, you reach for what you have in your bedside drawer. If that’s a bottle of Tylenol, the survival rate is 98% ... Firearms ... have a 90% fatality rate.” [FN9] But... 5/10</p>
<p>A “good guy” w/a gun can stop a bad guy. In Greenwood in 2022 a “highly trained” bystander stopped the gunman. If you want to become that highly trained, great, but three people still died. [FN10] So, PEOPLE PLEASE: research the issue. 6/10</p>
<p>Footnotes:<br/>FN1. Next Door Neighbor, 02/06/24, emphasis in original.<br/>FN2. I do not limit this blog to a specific sex or gender.<br/>FN3. The “Dickey” Amendment stated that “none of the funds made available for injury prevention and control at the [CDC] may be used to advocate or promote gun control.” (P.L. 104-208) 7/10</p>
<p>Footnotes:<br/>FN4. National Institutes of Health.<br/>FN5. Centers for Disease Control.<br/>FN6. E.g., Kellerman, et al, “Gun ownership as a risk factor for homicide in the home,” New England J of Medicine 329 (15) 1084-91 (1993). 8/10</p>
<p>Footnotes:<br/>FN7. Tobacco companies knew for decades cigarettes increase smokers’ risks of cancer, heart disease & emphysema. In 1964, the Surgeon General’s report came out and 42% of U.S. adults smoked. By 2012, 18% smoked. See, NPR, “50 years after landmark warning, 1/7/14. 9/10</p>
<p>Footnotes:<br/>FN8. Beckett, “The majority of US gun deaths are suicides. Here’s how to prevent them” The Guardian, 11/20/23.<br/>FN9: Id.<br/>FN10. Fawcett, "Bystander Killed Gunman 2 Minutes Into Indiana Mall Shooting". The New York Times, 7/18/22. 10/10</p>Fresh Thyme does the right thing in Broad Ripple incidenttag:civildiscoursenow.com,2024-02-08:6316350:BlogPost:1226192024-02-08T19:39:14.000ZMark Smallhttp://civildiscoursenow.com/profile/04vjqivrcsdny
<p>A few days ago a person was attacked in the parking area of the Coil Building, 6301 N College, north of the canal. The Store Director of Fresh Thyme, the building’s 1st floor tenant, replied to a local resident’s concerns about safety. The reply was damn decent. Major points: 1/5</p>
<p>1) Fresh Thyme is working w/local police to reduce potential criminal activity 2) A video of the incident was given to the police who also had video from a traffic camera 3) The assailant is not a regular at…</p>
<p>A few days ago a person was attacked in the parking area of the Coil Building, 6301 N College, north of the canal. The Store Director of Fresh Thyme, the building’s 1st floor tenant, replied to a local resident’s concerns about safety. The reply was damn decent. Major points: 1/5</p>
<p>1) Fresh Thyme is working w/local police to reduce potential criminal activity 2) A video of the incident was given to the police who also had video from a traffic camera 3) The assailant is not a regular at the store 4) Store mgmt & the police believe she was a person passing thru. 2/5</p>
<p>Open assessment of an ugly incident seems rare. There’s more: A) “I agree w/your comments” re: extra outside security B) will pursue posting signs re: area under video surveillance. C) discussed the incident & need for improved lighting w/the bldg’s mgr. Then there’s this: 3/5</p>
<p>“I have had a few calls and comments from in-store customers regarding concerns of safety and we are offering to meet them in the parking garage if they let us know when they arrive to escort them into the store and again escort them back to their car when they are finished shopping.” 4/5</p>
<p>That an attack occurred is abhorrent. That management of a business addresses, in a public forum, what has happened and what is being done to address any problems of safety, is a a rare and, I’ll repeat, damn decent. Fresh Thyme is at 6301 N College in Broad Ripple. 5/5</p>The John Birch Society!? Tonight's entertainment!tag:civildiscoursenow.com,2024-02-06:6316350:BlogPost:1226172024-02-06T21:45:13.000ZMark Smallhttp://civildiscoursenow.com/profile/04vjqivrcsdny
<p>#sayitoutloud Tonight’s premiere! Cassie Jackson discusses white privilege!(Tues, 2/6/24, 8:30 pm EDT) Cassie will be my guest at 8 pm on a special civildiscoursenow. @ 9 pm on “Mouthwash,” John Schmitz’s guest is Jon Schrock, head of The John Birch Society. [FN1] 1/11</p>
<p>There is history. The John BS started in 1958. [FN2] Most Americans saw the world on TV in black-and-white, w/only 350,000 color TVs in the U.S. Few shows broadcast in color. [FN3] Near Kokomo, we got 3 stations and, if…</p>
<p>#sayitoutloud Tonight’s premiere! Cassie Jackson discusses white privilege!(Tues, 2/6/24, 8:30 pm EDT) Cassie will be my guest at 8 pm on a special civildiscoursenow. @ 9 pm on “Mouthwash,” John Schmitz’s guest is Jon Schrock, head of The John Birch Society. [FN1] 1/11</p>
<p>There is history. The John BS started in 1958. [FN2] Most Americans saw the world on TV in black-and-white, w/only 350,000 color TVs in the U.S. Few shows broadcast in color. [FN3] Near Kokomo, we got 3 stations and, if skies were clear, Channel 4 [FN4] w/both 2/11</p>
<p>good [FN5] & weird programs like “The Joe Pyne Show.” Pyne was over-the-top crazy bad & fixated on conspiracies fictional & imagined. His guests were more nuts (usually) than him. The John BS was like Pyne, but in 1958 ppl were sick of “anti-Commie” oppression. When 3/11</p>
<p>John BS’s founder said Pres Eisenhower was a “conscious, dedicated agent of the Communist Conspiracy,” [FN6] creative people had fun. Pete Seeger sang “The Jack Ash Society.” [FN7] Future Nobel laureate Bob Dylan did “Talkin’ John Birch Paranoid Blues.” [FN8] 4/11</p>
<p>In “Dr Strangelove,” Brig. Gen. Jack D Ripper refers to “purity of essence,” a slam on The John BS’s “theories” about fluoride in water. There’s “The John Birch Society” by The Chad Mitchell Trio. [FN9] They should drop the “Commies” thing. In 1989 the wall came down. 5/11</p>
<p>What might bob to the surface of the cesspool that is the far right? Leftists are more empathetic & creative. I’ll take one Bobby Zimmerman against 1,000 Ted Nugents. I mean, who plays Ted’s 8-tracks these days? 6/11<br/> <br/>Footnotes: <br/>FN1. “The John Birch Society” frequently is abbreviated to initials “JBS.” That might save space, but almost might obscure an organizational identity that earned every bit of the ridicule it drew. I’ll abbreviate it to “John BS.” (Not a reference to the host of “Mouthwash”) 7/11</p>
<p>Footnotes:<br/>FN2. Peterson, “The Ideology of the John Birch Society,” A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science in Political Science, Utah State University, 1966, p. 10. 8/11</p>
<p>Footnotes:<br/>FN3. tvobscurities.com/articles/color60s/#<br/>FN4. WFBM (NBC on Channel 6), WISH (CBS on Channel 8), and WLW-I (ABC on channel 13). WTTV (Channel 4) was the crap shoot. 9/11</p>
<p>Footnotes:<br/>FN5. Channel 4 carried IU basketball games, pro wrestling, old movies (“W.C. Fields Theater” on Saturday nights), and my favorite, “TBA,” which always was different and never at the same time or even the same day. 10/11</p>
<p></p>
<p>Footnotes:<br/>FN6. Mallon, “A View from the Fringe: The John Birch Society and the Rise of the Radical Right,” The New Yorker, 01/04/16.<br/>FN7. Seeger, one of the greats of folk music, in a live performance, notes the puns at work in his lyrics.<br/>FN8. Dylan also performs in a clip on YouTube.<br/>FN9. On YouTube. 11/11</p>Destroying a football league is one thing ...tag:civildiscoursenow.com,2024-02-02:6316350:BlogPost:1226142024-02-02T20:17:03.000ZMark Smallhttp://civildiscoursenow.com/profile/04vjqivrcsdny
<p>Yet-to-be-convicted donald trump has interfered w/a bipartisan bill (i.e., written by ppl from both major political parties) to address immigration. For a moment, set aside the litany of harms trump has inflicted on the country. [FN1] We should look at his brilliance as a strategist. 1/7</p>
<p>The USFL was started as a pro football league w/games in the spring. One owner said they “had a great league and a great idea. But then everyone let Donald Trump take over. It was our death.” [FN2]…</p>
<p>Yet-to-be-convicted donald trump has interfered w/a bipartisan bill (i.e., written by ppl from both major political parties) to address immigration. For a moment, set aside the litany of harms trump has inflicted on the country. [FN1] We should look at his brilliance as a strategist. 1/7</p>
<p>The USFL was started as a pro football league w/games in the spring. One owner said they “had a great league and a great idea. But then everyone let Donald Trump take over. It was our death.” [FN2] The USFL filled a void for football fans. trump bought the New Jersey franchise. 2/7</p>
<p>ESPN’s “30 for 30" episode “Small Potatoes: Who Killed the USFL?”(2019) depicts trump as a blustery, incompetent bad guy. In other words, the episode is accurate. trump’s aim was to push “his fellow owners to move the league’s to the fall.” [FN3] trump got his way and 3/7</p>
<p>promptly sued the NFL for violation of anti-trust laws. The jury found in trump’s favor for One Dollar. ($1) By statute it was tripled and the judgment continues to earn interest. So, today trump interferes in the operations of our government. The GOP has its orders: no deals. 4/7</p>
<p>trump thinks deals aid President Joe Biden’s re-election [FN4] campaign. If trump is acting on orders from his boss (Putin), it’s more treason compounded. As strategy, it’s as sound as when trump killed the USFL, only this time trump’s ineptitude kills people. 5/7</p>
<p>Footnotes: <br/>FN1. Treason (Const., Art. III, §3) in obtaining the Oval Office, for starters, and gross mismanagement or intentional conduct that resulted in a lot of deaths (COVID) that could have been avoided or been fewer in number. 6/7</p>
<p>Footnote:<br/>FN2. Jerry Argovitz, owner, Houston Gamblers, quoted, by Pearlman, “The day Donald Trump’s narcissism killed the USFL,” The Guardian, 09/11/18. <br/>FN3. Markazi, “5 things to know about Donald Trump’s foray into doomed USFL, 07/14/15. 7/7</p>Aircraft carriers: giant, expensive targets w/crews in the thousandstag:civildiscoursenow.com,2024-02-01:6316350:BlogPost:1228132024-02-01T15:16:37.000ZMark Smallhttp://civildiscoursenow.com/profile/04vjqivrcsdny
<p>History: we learn from experience. In 1588, the Spanish Armada was defeated. [FN1] Weather and the relative inexperience of Spain’s commander were factors. [FN2] Spain’s warships were large, slow-moving and meant to rely “on boarding and close-quarters fighting.” [FN3] 1/6</p>
<p>The smaller, faster ships armed “with long-range naval guns” of the English won. [FN4] <br></br>Today, the U.S. Navy has 11 nuclear-powered fleet aircraft carriers; the latest cost almost $13 billion. [FN5] The crew…</p>
<p>History: we learn from experience. In 1588, the Spanish Armada was defeated. [FN1] Weather and the relative inexperience of Spain’s commander were factors. [FN2] Spain’s warships were large, slow-moving and meant to rely “on boarding and close-quarters fighting.” [FN3] 1/6</p>
<p>The smaller, faster ships armed “with long-range naval guns” of the English won. [FN4] <br/>Today, the U.S. Navy has 11 nuclear-powered fleet aircraft carriers; the latest cost almost $13 billion. [FN5] The crew numbers in the thousands. 2/6</p>
<p>Our aircraft carriers are large, expensive targets. As we have seen in the Russian invasion of Ukraine and in attacks in the Middle East, drones are cheap and can take out ships. There is no question “if” such attacks can sink a carrier. I have argued these points before: 3/6</p>
<p>We’ve done a lot to starve education in the USA while dumping $$$ on defense. A lot of that $$$ has been wasted. Their “strategic” missions should be questioned. The first one that is sunk will wave a “bloody shirt” that MAGA will scream requires a war they & Putin want. 4/6</p>
<p>Footnotes:<br/>FN1. See, “The Spanish Armada,” historic-uk.com/HistoryofEngland/Spanish-Armada/<br/>history-uk<br/>FN2. Id. The Duke of Medina Sidonia “was considered a good and very competent general” but “had no experience at sea and apparently soon developed seasickness after leaving port.” 5/6</p>
<p>Footnotes:<br/>FN3. history.com/topics/european-history/spanish-armada<br/>FN4. Id.<br/>FN5. That is the nuclear-powered USS Gerald R Ford. Van Allen, “Meet the US Navy’s $13 billion aircraft carrier,” CNET, 12/10/19. 6/6</p>Military deployment is counter-productivetag:civildiscoursenow.com,2024-01-30:6316350:BlogPost:1226122024-01-30T01:47:23.000ZMark Smallhttp://civildiscoursenow.com/profile/04vjqivrcsdny
<p>I am pro-war. By that I mean that this country should use military only by declaration of war, as set forth in The Constitution. [FN1] Three U.S. military personnel and 34 wounded in a drone attack in Jordan. [FN2] Iran’s denial of involvement means little in a US election year. 1/6</p>
<p>After all, what do these Arab countries have against the US? Iran’s people are of varied ethnicity, but the dominant group is Persian and its most common language is Farsi, not Arabic. [FN3] The people of…</p>
<p>I am pro-war. By that I mean that this country should use military only by declaration of war, as set forth in The Constitution. [FN1] Three U.S. military personnel and 34 wounded in a drone attack in Jordan. [FN2] Iran’s denial of involvement means little in a US election year. 1/6</p>
<p>After all, what do these Arab countries have against the US? Iran’s people are of varied ethnicity, but the dominant group is Persian and its most common language is Farsi, not Arabic. [FN3] The people of Iran have legitimate beefs with the US. We backed the overthrow in 1953 of 2/6</p>
<p>Mohammad Mosaddegh, who sinned against interests of US corporations by nationalizing the oil reserves, The US backed a coup that installed the Shah. [FN4] In a way the US goal of removing Mosaddegh’s nationalization of oil worked. It became the Shah’s, an absolute monarch. 3/6</p>
<p>The Shah’s secret police, SAVAK were US-trained. They barred the doors of a cinema in the city of Abadan, then set it on fire. [FN5] When we blindly employ force, things do not go well. Later we supplied both sides in the Iran-Iraq War and, thereby, got oil cheap. 4/6</p>
<p>This brings me around to my point: we should require declarations of war. As for surprise attacks, after Pearl Harbor, we declared war the next day. There is nothing to indicate we would have saved lives. We have ourselves to blame for hatred against us. 5/6</p>
<p>Footnotes: <br/>FN1. Art. I, §8.<br/>FN2. Hjelmgaard, “Iran-linked drone strike that killed US troops highlights military vulnerability overseas,” USA Today, 01/29/24.<br/>FN3. Wallechinsky and Wallace, “The People’s Almanac,” 1975, p. 409.<br/>FN4. Id.<br/>FN5. Khosrokhavar, “New Arab Revolutions that Shook the World,” (2016) 6/6.</p>1) Don't allow Putin's puppet back into The Oval Office and 2) trump's actions, 2017-2021, are voidtag:civildiscoursenow.com,2024-01-28:6316350:BlogPost:1228082024-01-28T17:20:05.000ZMark Smallhttp://civildiscoursenow.com/profile/04vjqivrcsdny
<p>My favorite TV shows/podcasts involve history & often an interviewee is seated in front of book shelves. Most shelves are neat, but some bear signs of a random chaos of a personal library often used. Factors help to identify books. [FN1] Questions in history? 1/7</p>
<p>How did Germans allow the NSDAP [FN2] to seize power? Most Americans don’t give it much thought. In the “land of the free,” elections transfer power peacefully. Our rights were protected, especially through Brown I and…</p>
<p>My favorite TV shows/podcasts involve history & often an interviewee is seated in front of book shelves. Most shelves are neat, but some bear signs of a random chaos of a personal library often used. Factors help to identify books. [FN1] Questions in history? 1/7</p>
<p>How did Germans allow the NSDAP [FN2] to seize power? Most Americans don’t give it much thought. In the “land of the free,” elections transfer power peacefully. Our rights were protected, especially through Brown I and acts of Congress. What’s often on podcast shelves? 2/7</p>
<p>“The Third Reich Trilogy” is a disturbing read. [FN3] There are a few parallels between the NSDAP in 1933 and this GOP. This GOP is controlled by a disgusting leader who is charismatic to some. His themes of hyper-nationalism & racial supremacy are spread via 3/7</p>
<p>mass communication to spread disinformation. (i.e., lies). We are told that what we saw on Jan 6, 2021, was ... not what we saw on Jan 6, 2021. trump chuckles as he talks about being a “dictator” for “day one.” We know what will follow. We need not go there. 4/7</p>
<p>We are not emerging from the ravages of a World War. Our populace that is not starving. trump was installed via election interference by a dictator who wants to see us fail, as trump has said he wants our country to fail so he (trump) can benefit at the polls in November. 5/7</p>
<p>Our problems are not worsened by Pres Biden, who won office in 2020. trump gained the Oval Office in 2016 illegitimately. Appointments trump made & orders he issued are void. How did Germans allow things in 1933? Well, how can we STOP them NOW? 6/7</p>
<p>Footnotes: <br/>FN1. E.g., Chernow, “Alexander Hamilton.”<br/>FN2. National Socialist Workers Party, active 1920-1945.<br/>FN3. Evans, Richard J, “The Coming of the Third Reich,” (2003); “The Third Reich in Power,” (2005); and “The Third Reich at War” (2008). 7/7</p>Not the Party of Lincoln, but of George Lincoln Rockwelltag:civildiscoursenow.com,2024-01-26:6316350:BlogPost:1229032024-01-26T13:29:17.000ZMark Smallhttp://civildiscoursenow.com/profile/04vjqivrcsdny
<p>The rights to cast a vote and to have one’s vote counted are both constitutionally protected. [FN1]. A person’s interest in participating in the political process through voting and having her or his vote counted is a right both ‘individual and personal in nature. [FN2] 1/7</p>
<p>This iteration of the GOP has been described as a cult. [FN3] Indiana’s GOP is an assumed business name of Indiana’s Republican State Committee, and set up as a not-for-profit (“NFP”) corporation. The Indiana GOP’s…</p>
<p>The rights to cast a vote and to have one’s vote counted are both constitutionally protected. [FN1]. A person’s interest in participating in the political process through voting and having her or his vote counted is a right both ‘individual and personal in nature. [FN2] 1/7</p>
<p>This iteration of the GOP has been described as a cult. [FN3] Indiana’s GOP is an assumed business name of Indiana’s Republican State Committee, and set up as a not-for-profit (“NFP”) corporation. The Indiana GOP’s bylaws, and “how to” seize control of it, are not public. 2/7</p>
<p>Now trump is pushing to be named the GOP’s candidate for 2024, and dispense with primaries. [FN4] That deprives people of the right to vote in primaries and to have their votes counted. For perspective, in 1972, Richard Nixon had challengers in the early primaries. [FN5] 3/7</p>
<p>Nixon did not use public statements or threats to pressure either John Ashbrook (R-OH) or Peter McCloskey (R-CA) to drop out and leave it all to him. Today is different. The Indiana GOP entities were created in 2005 to be tight & secret. [FN6] 4/7</p>
<p>No political party, as a corporate entity, should be able to operate in secret w/no ways for voters to take control publicly-available. This iteration of the GOP aims to install fascism. This is not the “party of Lincoln.” It is more the party of a George Lincoln Rockwell. 5/7</p>
<p>Footnotes: <br/>FN1. U.S. v. Classic, 313 U.S. 299, 315 (1941).<br/>FN2. Reynolds v Sims, 377 U.S. 533, 561 (1963).<br/>FN3. E.g., Hassan, “The Cult of Trump,” 2019; Kruse, “The One Way History Shows Trump’s Personality Cult Will End,” POLTICO, 04/16/22. 6/7</p>
<p>Footnotes:<br/>FN4. Karni, New York Times, “Trump’s Influence,” 1/26/24.<br/>FN5. Wikipedia, “1972 Republican Presidential Primaries.<br/>FN6. Articles of Incorporation filed 10/24/05, with the Indiana Secretary of State, under the laws of the State of Indiana, by Terre Haute, Indiana, attorney James Bopp, Jr. 7/7</p>Messages from a "supernatural source" to Beckwith appear to violate election lawtag:civildiscoursenow.com,2024-01-22:6316350:BlogPost:1226092024-01-22T16:39:32.000ZMark Smallhttp://civildiscoursenow.com/profile/04vjqivrcsdny
<p>This iteration of the Republican Party decries foreign individuals to the point of xenophobia. The Framers of The Constitution were concerned that foreign powers could attempt to influence our elections [FN1] or simply advance corruption. [FN2] Foreign assistance to a political 1/8</p>
<p>campaign is illegal. [FN3] This proscription applies to Federal, State and local campaigns. [FN4] It applies against a “foreign principal. [FN5] The assistance may be from a citizen or one who owes…</p>
<p>This iteration of the Republican Party decries foreign individuals to the point of xenophobia. The Framers of The Constitution were concerned that foreign powers could attempt to influence our elections [FN1] or simply advance corruption. [FN2] Foreign assistance to a political 1/8</p>
<p>campaign is illegal. [FN3] This proscription applies to Federal, State and local campaigns. [FN4] It applies against a “foreign principal. [FN5] The assistance may be from a citizen or one who owes allegiance to the US. [FN6] 2/8<br/>\<br/>Definitions are specific. Here is the bottom line. Beckwith talks with “The Lord about specifics of political issues. To be charitable, Beckwith sounds like he’s making it up on the fly, but that happens sometimes on video selfies in cars. On the other hand, he is assisted by someone.3/8</p>
<p>Beckwith contends the words of wisdom are from “The Lord.” That assistance is impermissible by the laws I’ve cited. Ah! If Beckwith’s adviser is not imaginary, but slick, that entity might be calling Beckwith from the infernal regions. Either way, a candidate like Beckwith is bad. 4/8</p>
<p>Unless Beckwith provides audio and video from his conversations, or wants to ask his “source” to speak with me at a time and place upon which we mutually agree, we should deal with Beckwith’s claims as crap and dispose of his candidacy as such. 5/8</p>
<p>Footnotes:<br/>FN1. See, Madison, Note on the Federal Convention, The AntiFederalist Papers, Signet, 1986, p. 120 and discussion of “ministers of foreign powers would have and make use of, the opportunity to mix their intrigues and influence with the Election....” 6/8</p>
<p>Footnotes:<br/>FN2. Hamilton, The Federalist 22. A weak side of republics is “they afford to easy an inlet to foreign corruption.”<br/>FN3. Statement of Federal Election Commission Chair Ellen L. Weintraub, 06/13/2019. 7/8</p>
<p>Footnotes:<br/>FN4. 52 U.S.C. §30121. <br/>FN5. 22 U.S.C. §611(b).<br/>FN6. Id.; also see 8 U.S.C. §1101(a)(20) and (22). 8/8</p>When will the "Lord" promote Lt Gov Beckwith?tag:civildiscoursenow.com,2024-01-21:6316350:BlogPost:1227072024-01-21T15:17:48.000ZMark Smallhttp://civildiscoursenow.com/profile/04vjqivrcsdny
<p>A limited subject is Micah Beckwith [FN1] & what can happen if delegates to the IN GOP state convention [FN2] (many of whom Beckwith will have recruited) choose Beckwith as GOP’s nominee for IN Lt Gov. Beckwith’s said he won’t be a “yes person” or ceremonial Lt Gov. 1/7</p>
<p>At HEPL [FN3] Beckwith parroted behavior of the House GOP in DC. Beckwith’s efforts impaired HEPL’s operations & cost a lot of $$$. Beckwith posted a photo of him & this month’s Speaker. Scant literature…</p>
<p>A limited subject is Micah Beckwith [FN1] & what can happen if delegates to the IN GOP state convention [FN2] (many of whom Beckwith will have recruited) choose Beckwith as GOP’s nominee for IN Lt Gov. Beckwith’s said he won’t be a “yes person” or ceremonial Lt Gov. 1/7</p>
<p>At HEPL [FN3] Beckwith parroted behavior of the House GOP in DC. Beckwith’s efforts impaired HEPL’s operations & cost a lot of $$$. Beckwith posted a photo of him & this month’s Speaker. Scant literature exists on how IN’s 2 major parties pick LtGov nominees. 2/7</p>
<p>Similarities exist in parties’ picks for VP nominees. E.g., Sen John McCain’s 2008 run for Pres was hurt by an ambitious but outspoken and clueless then-Gov Sarah Palin. [FN4] Beckwith is more ambitious, very outspoken and, hard to believe, probably more clueless than Palin. 3/7</p>
<p>A record will be set for most attack ads, in grainy black-and-white, of Beckwith at an HEPL meeting or Beckwith in a car selfie-video Yeah, those car selfies. Care to bet how long it takes for Beckwith to say the “Lord” told Beckwith the Governor is wrong about something? 4/7</p>
<p>The 1st message from “Lord” might even be upbeat. With each message the “Lord” will be more righteously behind Beckwith. And we need to remember, Beckwith has weapons training for his followers. This is real. 5/7</p>
<p>Footnotes:<br/>FN1. Ham County preacher/wannabe elected political official who claims to talk w/the “Lord” about political issues.<br/>FN2. Indiana GOP convention is scheduled for 6/15/24. 6/7</p>
<p>FN3. Hamilton East Public Library.<br/>FN4. See Heilemann and Halperin, “Game Change,” 2010, pp. 360-64. Explains how then-Gov Sarah Palin was chosen to be Sen John McCain’s running mate in 2008. 7/7</p>What about "Lt Gov Beckwith" in office?tag:civildiscoursenow.com,2024-01-20:6316350:BlogPost:1228052024-01-20T17:45:23.000ZMark Smallhttp://civildiscoursenow.com/profile/04vjqivrcsdny
<p>Micah Beckwith [FN1] aims to be IN’s GOP nominee in 2024 for Lt Gov. Voters don’t pick that. Delegates to the GOP State convention say who is the running mate voters choose as nominee for Gov. From Beckwith’s words & conduct, we know what he’ll do as Lt Gov Beckwith. 1/10</p>
<p>Words: Beckwith has said he won’t be “ceremonial” or a “yes person.” [FN2] He will be “a proactive Lt. Governor” and “fight for our constitutional rights, lead the war against the woke culture and get the…</p>
<p>Micah Beckwith [FN1] aims to be IN’s GOP nominee in 2024 for Lt Gov. Voters don’t pick that. Delegates to the GOP State convention say who is the running mate voters choose as nominee for Gov. From Beckwith’s words & conduct, we know what he’ll do as Lt Gov Beckwith. 1/10</p>
<p>Words: Beckwith has said he won’t be “ceremonial” or a “yes person.” [FN2] He will be “a proactive Lt. Governor” and “fight for our constitutional rights, lead the war against the woke culture and get the politics out of the classroom.” [FN3] Problems: 2/10</p>
<p>1) Beckwith does not say what power resides in the office of Lt Gov to let him do these things.<br/>2) Beckwith has little knowledge of or regard for the Constitution and when he says “our” rights, many of us are excluded from his first-person plural, as seen in 3/10</p>
<p>3) “War” on “woke culture” inherently attacks OUR rights of association, expression & religion protected by the 1st Amendment. “Wokeness” is “a new strawman to use to reenergize & promote continued racism & disenfranchisement.” [FN4] 4/10</p>
<p>4) Beckwith & his ilk shove their politics into our classrooms & daily lives any way they can. <br/>5) Beckwith has weapons training for people in his church. Since 1990 acts of far-right extremists have resulted in far more homicides than leftist violence in the USA. [FN5] 5/10<br/> <br/>Actions: Beckwith, based on past conduct, will make grandiose plans w/no basis in reality & quit when those plans inevitably fail. We need only look at what Beckwith did as a member of the board of HEPL. [FN6] Beckwith pushed a policy to remove from publicly accessible 6/10</p>
<p>“young adult” shelves books that needed to be subjected to some sort of review. A lot of $$$ was wasted, Hamilton County was ridiculed and Beckwith quit. A Governor would be crazy or stupid to let a #2 control things, but we are talking about this iteration of the GOP. 7/10</p>
<p>IN Lt Gov has less authority than U.S. V.P., an office of which LBJ said was “not worth a bucket of warm piss.” One can hope Beckwith has a tantrum in the next few months and quits before he can do to the State what he did to HEPL. He shouldn’t have even that bucket. 8/10</p>
<p>Footnotes:<br/>FN1. Ham County preacher/wannabe elected political official who claims to talk w/the “Lord” about political issues.<br/>FN2. Leslie Bonilla Muniz, “Pastor Micah Beckwith launches bid for lieutenant governor,” Indiana Capital Chronicle, 06/06/23. 9/10</p>
<p>Footnotes:<br/>FN3. Id.<br/>FN4. Janice Ellis, “Campaigns to kill ‘wokeness’ are efforts to perpetuate racism, disenfranchisement,” Missouri Independent, 03/20/23. <br/>FN5. National Institute of Justice, “What NIJ Research Tells Us About Domestic Terrorism,”<br/>01/04/2024. <br/>FN6. Hamilton East Public Library. 10/10</p>