RUTHFULLY YOURS

Alan Dershowitz, professor emeritus at Harvard Law School, argued Monday that Trump should not face any criminal penalty just because he fired former FBI Director James Comey.

“The president of the United States should not be subject to criminal prosecution for merely exercising his constitutional authority,” he said on CNN.

“In the absence of any statute to the contrary, the president has the authority fire the director of the FBI, and the president has the power tell the director of the FBI who to investigate, who not to investigate,” he added.

Democrats have argued for months now that Trump fired Comey to disrupt the FBI’s investigation into Russia’s meddling in the election, which Democrats also say could show that Russia was colluding with Trump to bring down Clinton. Democrats admit there is no evidence of collusion so far, and recently have been arguing that Trump obstructed justice by encouraging Comey to drop the case.

But while Democrats have been saying Trump is trying to cover his tracks the way President Richard Nixon did, Dershowitz said the case is nothing like the Nixon coverup.

“This is not the Nixon case. This is the Bush case,” he said, referring to President George H.W. Bush’s pardon of former Defense Secretary Casper Weinberger. Weinberger was thought to have information linking Bush to the Iran-Contra affair.

“Nobody suggested obstruction of justice” in that case, Dershowitz said.

Dershowitz added it makes no sense to expand obstruction of justice to cover “constitutionally authorized” actions by the president.

On October 11, 1991 the Thomas-Hill hearings were called to explore alleged sexual harassment by Clarence Thomas, who had been nominated by President George H.W. Bush to replace Thurgood Marshall on the Supreme Court. They were called to “investigate” Anita Hill’s claim that some “salty talk” by the nominee amounted to “sexual harassment” which rendered him unfit to serve among the Brethren. Among those who questioned/lectured Clarence Thomas was that paragon of probity Senator Edward Kennedy, the prince of Chappaquiddick.

This was the response of Clarence Thomas:

“This is not an opportunity to talk about difficult matters privately or in a closed environment. This is a circus. It’s a national disgrace. And from my standpoint, as a black American, it is a high-tech lynching for uppity blacks who in any way deign to think for themselves, to do for themselves, to have different ideas, and it is a message that unless you kowtow to an old order, this is what will happen to you. You will be lynched, destroyed, caricatured by a committee of the U.S. Senate rather than hung from a tree.”

To paraphrase Clarence Thomas:

If you leave out the race issue, this statement can be easily applied to the Mueller/ Comey /Mainstream Media circus for which American taxpayers are paying a fortune.

“It is a high-tech lynching for a legally elected president who deigns to think for himself, to do for our nation, to have different ideas, and it is a message that unless you kowtow to an old order, this is what will happen to you. You will be lynched, destroyed, caricatured by a special prosecutor and his cronies.”

rsk

“The Sheik of Araby” is a song that was written in 1921 by Harry Smith and Francis Wheeler with music by Ted Snyder. It was composed in response to the popularity of the Rudolph Valentino movie ” The Sheik.” It was recorded and sung by almost 100 famous performers and even included in “The Muppets” and the Beatles.

Here are the lyrics:
“I’m the Sheik of Araby,
Your love belongs to me.
At night when you’re asleep
Into your tent I’ll creep.
The stars that shine above,
Will light our way to love.
You’ll rule this land with me.”

In November 1936, Don Albert’s band recorded the first version with the chant “Without no pants on” between the lines of lyrics. This got Albert’s record generally banned from radio.

No URL Jacques Godfrin appreciates what our country has always stood for and is alarmed at how so many who were born here are willing to see so much of what made America great disappear.

…..When Joe hurt Jim because he was goaded into action by Jeff, of course Joe is guilty, but isn’t Jeff the more guilty party? Before Jeff started nudging, Joe wasn’t thinking about actually doing anything. Jeff committed incitement, which is influencing someone to do what you yourself won’t risk because it’d get you in trouble.

There is a lot of incitement going on these days, which does not speak well of the actors’ maturity nor of their honorability. We read and hear of many people who don’t like our current president and let their discomfiture go to extremes that are not only dangerous but bordering on the criminal. Why criminal? Because what they are bandying about – indirectly of course – is nothing less than ending a life, this accompanied by a cloud of insults and vulgarities.

It started with the usual abuse: “dumb,” “incompetent,” “monster,” “trash,” “Hitler”, and escalated with “piece of sh…” and Nancy Pelosi, Democrat Minority Leader in the House of Representatives, saying that Republicans just wanted to elect “any mammal,” implying the president rates no better than subhuman.

It was also suggested that the White House should be blown up. In case that notion lacked clarity, we have been regaled with a photo showing a woman holding by the hair the severed bloody head of the president. And in case that was not sufficiently direct for some, now we have a play, “Julius Caesar,” staged in Central Park in New York City. Written about 400 years ago, it’s about the assassination of the prominent Roman Julius Caesar. However, this particular play is acted with current clothing styles, all the way down to Trump’s long tie, and the actor playing the role of Julius Caesar (who gets murdered, remember?) noticeably looks like Trump. What do you think is being whispered in your ear?

With this background, these incitements, how long will it take before some simpleton, sufficiently brainwashed, attempts to kill this president? It’s not impossible, other presidents have been killed; should our nation see one more atrocity stemming from nothing more imperative than an electoral defeat? Is this what we have come to? Goodbye democratic republic, hello Middle-Eastern hell-hole?

While campaigning in Virginia in 2008, President Obama said, “If you’ve got a business – you didn’t build that. Somebody else made that happen.” Later, in the same speech, he did mention the need for individual initiative. While Mr. Obama stated his belief that government is instrumental in individual success, he was also referring to the roles mentors play.

A mentorship can be defined as a relationship in which a more experienced or more knowledgeable person helps guide a less experienced or less knowledgeable person. Young people who do well in school and in sports often attribute their success to the dedication of a teacher or coach. The same can be said for those beginning their careers, and it is true even for old goats who, late in life, take up writing essays. Mentors help turn doubt into determination, aspiration into accomplishment. Earlier this year, in the Harvard Business Review, Anthony Tjan wrote that “mentors need to be givers of energy, not takers of it.”

Mentoring is a way of giving back. Five years ago, I was invited to join a small group of retirees in Old Lyme, people who realized their experiences and talents could be of use to those in need. While I was not then retired, I was spending most Fridays in the country, so Friday morning meetings worked. We called ourselves Mentoring Corps for Community Development (MCCD), a 501(c)3 organization. Our website speaks to the “sparkle” we try to add to our town and the region – Old Lyme and southeastern Connecticut. Over the years, we have worked with schools and students, with families who have experienced natural disasters, and individuals who have suffered hardships. We have aided non-profit organizations and helped small businesses. We try to abide by advice Robert Frost once gave: “I am not a teacher, but an awakener.”

We all have had mentors in one form or another. Mistakes are a form of mentoring. Certainly, that has been true for me. While I was not smart enough to learn from them all, I have learned from some: my rudeness, when I was fourteen, to a young girl who was not very popular; a wise man who gently advised my 16-year-old self about the risks of speeding on back roads; a group of construction types who separated me from my paycheck when I was seventeen; I learn from my grandchildren who chide me when I mess up.

But, I also benefitted from those who mentored me: a teacher of English at Williston Academy, Horace “Thugsy” Thorner, whose class on Macbeth and Hamlet I have never forgotten; an instructor in journalism in college, and the editor of Foster’s Daily Democrat in Dover, NH, for whom I wrote a sports column. I recall being told by my first real boss – Jim Donnelly of Eastman Kodak – that, if I set my mind to it, I could achieve anything. I was taught the basics of selling equities to institutional investors by Andy Monness, who thirty years later encouraged my fledging writing career. He often disagreed with my opinions, but liked the way I expressed them. As important as anything, in terms of my writing, have been the hundreds like you who have corrected me when I was in error, challenged my opinions when yours differed, and emboldened me in offering praise, not all of it deserved. I consider you all mentors.

As David illustrates, it took about a nanosecond after the shooting-spree targeting congressional Republicans for slaughter for the Left to roll into its anti-gun riff. Rep. Mo Brooks capped off his demonstration of personal valor with a flawless, spirited defense of the Second Amendment and the gun regulations that already exist in law. Bravo … and prayers for Rep. Steve Scalise for a speedy recovery, and for his family and the others who’ve been injured and traumatized.

At Powerline, Paul Mirengoff adds to his observation about the Left’s “stronger gun laws” response what he sees as the similar inevitability that “conservatives will blame overheated anti-Republican rhetoric.” I’m sure that’s true of some conservatives, but I doubt it’s true of most.

To put a finer point on it, what is blameworthy is the failure of government, academia and the media both to condemn the appalling notion of violent suppression as acceptable political expression, and to take enforcement and punitive action against instances of it. That is the problem here.

Of course conservatives don’t like obnoxious and fiery expression directed at us. But we do not seek to ban such speech as long as it remains on the right side of the line between argument and incitement, a line the First Amendment has always recognized. But if we are to have ordered liberty – a free society reliant on the rule of law – then the laws have to be enforced.

We used to say proudly to those with whom we disagree that, while we object to what they say, we would fight to the death for their right to say it. Now, the danger of death envelops those who have the temerity to say things that the radical Left finds objectionable. It is time to ostracize, and where possible prosecute or otherwise discipline, people who suppress speech through violence, intimidation, and other means of shutting down rather than engaging speech they find disagreeable.

Yesterday, while waiting in a hospital room for a dear friend, I listened to the conversations of other people. One young man (young is a relative term for superannuated people like me) was accompanied by a friend who was to be his translator since he only spoke Spanish. His translator was a young woman whose Spanish was abominable. They were very pleasant and friendly so I offered to help. I an fluent in Spanish which is my native tongue. She explained that “he would have went to the emergency room but they sent him to the floor and he don’t know where his cousin is at.” She then went on to tell me that she forgot a lot of her native Spanish. I asked the young man how long he was here and he grew very suspicious thinking that perhaps I was from “Immigration.” After I allayed his fears he assured me that he was a citizen and here for seven years. She told me that she was here since she was seven and that she learned English as a second language. She is a senior in one of the city’s colleges.

They were both so appreciative when I got the nurse to direct him, but I could not overcome a feeling of despair that even a rudimentary knowledge of our national language is not longer required to be a citizen and our education standards have fallen so low. rsk

In September 1940 The Burke-Wadsworth Act calling for a peacetime draft in the history of the United States was imposed. Selective Service was born and the registration of men between the ages of 21 and 36 began one month later. There were some 20 million eligible young men—50 percent were rejected the very first year, either for health reasons or illiteracy (20 percent of those who registered were illiterate). In November 1942, with the United States now engaged in World War 11 the draft ages expanded and men 18 to 37 were now eligible. By war’s end, approximately 34 million men had registered, and 10 million served with the military.
Those were the young men who answered the call of duty- who fought and died with honor in the major battles which vanquished Japanese and German enemies. I think of them today on the anniversary of the Normandy Invasion.

The Western Allies of World War II launched the largest amphibious invasion in history when they assaulted Normandy, located on the northern coast of France on June 6, 1944.

https://www.dday.org/history/d-day-the-invasion/overview.html

“It is hard to conceive the epic scope of this decisive battle that foreshadowed the end of Hitlers dream of Nazi domination. Overlord was the largest air, land, and sea operation undertaken before or since June 6, 1944. The landing included over 5,000 ships, 11,000 airplanes, and over 150,000 service men.

 After years of meticulous planning and seemingly endless training, for the Allied Forces, it all came down to this: The boat ramp goes down, then jump, swim, run, and crawl to the cliffs. Many of the first young men (most not yet 20 years old) entered the surf carrying eighty pounds of equipment. They faced over 200 yards of beach before reaching the first natural feature offering any protection. Blanketed by small-arms fire and bracketed by artillery, they found themselves in hell.

When it was over, the Allied Forces had suffered nearly 10,000 casualties; more than 4,000 were dead. Yet somehow, due to planning and preparation, and due to the valor, fidelity, and sacrifice of the Allied Forces, Fortress Europe had been breached.”

And that was the beginning of the end of World War 2. The memory of all those who fought is a blessing….rsk

The recent Islamic-inspired killings in Manchester, Kabul and London make more urgent the President’s message on his first trip abroad.

The focus of Donald Trump’s first foreign trip as President was radical Islam. In Riyadh, Mr. Trump, a man the media calls an Islamophobe, was well received by leaders of fifty Muslim nations. He did not patronize them. He did not mince words. He told them we have a common enemy – Islamic extremists who have subsumed the Muslim religion for their purpose. He said: “This is not a battle between different faiths…or different civilizations…This is a battle between barbaric criminals who seek to obliterate human life and decent people, all in the name of religion.” In Jerusalem, he spoke frankly to the duplicitous Mahmoud Abbas and the stolid Benjamin Netanyahu, that living in peace is better than dying in war. To the Pope, he talked of radical Islam in terms of immigration. To the pampered elites in Brussels, he told them what they knew, but had ignored – that peace is not free, that security requires a strong NATO that must be funded. He told them they must live up to their financial and defense obligations. In Sicily, he met with the Group of Seven. Their main concern was the Paris Climate Accord – an “agreement,” as the New York Times put it, that “does not require any country to do anything.” – when the immediate risk is Islamic extremism.

Europe has been living in a cocoon. With the United States providing the bulk of their security needs, their welfare systems have blossomed. Birth rates are far below replacement rates, challenging economic growth and indicative of a pessimistic outlook. The situation cannot endure. Mr. Trump understands consequences of radical Islam better than do European leaders – that the risk is not just terrorists who maim and kill; it is the cultural challenges radical Islam poses for the West – an adherence to religious intolerance, the rise of multiculturalism and the nihilism that is its progeny. As Nietzsche wrote:

“Things fall apart; the center cannot hold;

Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,

…………………………………….

The best lack all conviction, while the worst

Are full of passionate intensity.”

The West needs people who will lead from the front; people who will show that patriotism does not mean retreat from the world. We need leaders who will restore values we are at risk of losing and who will provide a sense of morality – that evil must be confronted, good must be commended and peace can be achieved only through strength. We are a conglomeration of independent nations, each with its individual culture. Countries must respect one another; they must be mindful of one another’s laws. They should encourage trade, with peace as a goal; but all must understand that all compete for economic advantage. In terms of immigration, it is not pluralism we seek, but assimilation, so we can become one. This is not to say that one culture is superior to another, but nations have identities, which should be maintained. It is what makes them unique. As Pierre Manent, the French philosopher, once said regarding immigrants to America: “…people came from all over the world, not to be human beings, but to be citizens of the United States.”

A top government scientist with several PhDs in climate science, environmental studies, and climacteric syndrome ( recurring symptoms experienced by some women during menopause-hot flashes and chills) who wishes to remain anonymous, has informed me that many former and present members of the Congressional Climate Summit, have expressed serious concerns that the hot air emanating from the media and Congress and the methane Pelosium gas which is the prime constituent of swamp grass are contributing to Global Warming and causing irreversible harm to our Planet. rsk