Impeachment: Everything (Else) You Really Need To Know

This is a follow-up to the recent social media binge by pajama pundit Carpe Donktum. Today we show Fox News commentator Jesse Watters in two segments. The first is the short version (ten minutes) of the fallout as of last Saturday, the result of Day Five of the impeachment proceedings in the senate.

The second segment is the long version (the first nineteen minutes) of more detailed fallout as of today, complete with the testimony of the defense (which, despite some people's best efforts, is what actually happens at a trial), as well as backtracking by the big media "experts" who have just got to be feeling really stupid right now -- probably because they also look stupid. Every last one of them.

UPDATE: The "long version" has since been cut, most likely due to intellectual property issues. At this writing (the following day), the "short version" has not fallen victim to this -- yet. Our next piece will use original sources.

America is starting to get bored with the entire drama, just when it's starting to get interesting, don't you think?

Or don't you?
 

Impeachment: Everything You Really Need To Know (So Far)

I should begin by saying that I did not vote for Donald Trump for President.

I also did not vote for Hillary Clinton.

In other words, I did not vote for either Donald Trump or Hillary Clinton. The reason at the time (as of November 2016) was that I saw very little difference between the two. Both ran in the same social circles, both were equally unscrupulous, and I didn't trust one any more than I did the other, leaving me with the choice of voting for the lesser of two evils. And as the good Father Martin Fox said at the time: "The lesser of two evils is still evil."

He was definitely on to something.

In fact, I also did not vote for a third party candidate, as I did in 2000 (Patrick Buchanan, Reform Party) and 2004 (Michael Peroutka, Constitution Party). The reason at the time (as of November 2016) was that my mother was dying, and I was too late for obtaining an absentee ballot.

So, I didn't vote, period.

That said, in the three years that have followed, the unemployment rate is at its lowest level in about half a century, unemployment for blacks, Hispanics, and women, are at the lowest levels in years, interest rates have managed to stay below five percent, the stock market is doing reasonably well, manufacturing jobs are actually returning in some places, companies are raising wages in other places, our NATO allies were told to pay their fair share of their own defense, this administration is frequently blamed for policies that began with previous administrations (where they weren't called "Nazis" for doing so), and the political appointees to whom I answer, at the government entity where I work, are actually competent.

In other words, it could be a lot worse, and in my experience (which would be quite a bit) usually is.

So, when there have been calls for the removal of the President since roughly the day he was elected (and this can all be verified, and I will if some of you keep pushing your luck), the least I can expect is for the burden to fall squarely on the accuser, and not the accused. But when I watch the evening news, I wouldn't know that.

A thief or a murderer gets more consideration.

That's when a friend of mine found this guy on Twitter, who like most of them never uses his real name but calls himself "Carpe Donktum" (which is really bad Latin for "seize the donkey"). What follows is attributed to him, and is published here without permission or shame.

+    +    +

Democrats: We have an airtight case against the President

Republicans: Okay, go ahead

Dems: Trump and his staff came up with a plot to withhold funding to Ukraine contingent on the announcement of investigations into Joe Biden's son. AN ABUSE OF POWER, then he obstructed our investigation!

Reps: Oh, gee, that sounds bad.

Dems: It gets worse, he also withheld a meeting with the new President of Ukraine unless he complied.

Reps: WOW. That poor man, when will they get the money?

Dems: Oh, they already got the money. A few weeks before the deadline.

Reps: Wait, he got the money? Are they going to withdraw the investigations?

Dems: He never announced the investigations, but Trump asked them to investigate in their meeting.

Reps: Wait, THEY HAD THE MEETING?

Dems: Well yeah, they had a meeting

Reps: So, let me makes sure I have this right, Trump gave them the money before the deadline, they didn't announce any investigations and they got the meeting.

Dems: Yes.

Reps: And you investigated this?

Dems: Of course we did, we had to, the president clearly has bad motives.

Reps: And you found proof of this?

Dems: Absolutely, one guy overheard someone else on the phone talking to Trump about the whole scheme.

Reps: Like on speaker phone?

Dems: Not exactly, more like across the table in a crowded restaurant, not on speakerphone.

Reps: I see, I suppose he destroyed all the evidence, thus the obstruction.

Dems: Well, no, first he declassified the meeting transcripts, BUT then he said he had executive privilege or some nonsense.

Reps: What did the court say?

Dems: What court?

Reps: Didn't you take him to court to get the records?

Dems: There was no time, we can't have a president extorting foreign countries. LOL MAN, are you crazy?

Reps: Just a second, let me catch my breath.

Dems: Shocking, isn't it.

Reps: To recap, Trump gave Ukraine a meeting, the funding, no investigations were launched, declassified the meeting, and offered to go to let the courts decide on executive privilege, and you impeached based on an overheard phone call and the fact that you were in a hurry?

Dems: Well ... when you say it like that it makes us sound silly. But you'll see when we call new witnesses during the Senate phase.

Reps: YOU HAVEN'T EVEN INTERVIEWED ALL THE WITNESSES YET?

Dems: Well, no, but we did interview a few low level staffers.

Reps: (looks around)

Dems: (grins confidently)

Reps: You are f@#$ing crazy.

+    +    +
To put it another way, A is accused of doing something wrong while going after B, who actually did do something wrong, while the ones going after A are not denying the reasons for going after B.

That's the good news. The bad news? It's not over yet.

+    +    +

POSTSCRIPT: By the way, kiddies, all Ambassadors serve at the pleasure of the President. He can remove them for any reason without the approval of Congress. Here endeth the civics lesson.
 

Shutdown: What It Is, What It Ain’t

This past midnight, the United States government not only did not have an annual budget (and has been without one for the last four years), but also lacked what is called a "continuing resolution," that to which Congress and the President agree as a means of operating at "present spending levels" for a specified time of up to, but not usually, a fiscal year. This short-term fix has kept the nation's government operating for at least four years. But after continued parlays from both ends of Pennsylvania Avenue, and (when it comes down to it) both sides of the political aisle, the luck ran out.

This morning, all federal employees deemed "non-essential" were required to spend up to four hours on duty for "shutdown operations," after which they were sent home. They will get paid for those hours -- eventually. Once a budget or continuing resolution is passed and signed by the President, all employees will return to duty. Whether they will be paid retroactively is a separate decision made by the Congress. In the past, they have done so, but the present general sentiment indicates that they most likely will not. (Relax, all 535 elected members of the legislature who have been dicking around for the past four years are considered "essential." They will get paid on time, if they have to run the presses and print more money by themselves.)

Now, I know what at least one of you is thinking: “Dude, we never know the difference when [begin dripping sarcasm] non-essential workers [end dripping sarcasm] are sent home for a few days, or a few weeks, so, like, um, why should we care? You should suffer just like the rest of us.” My initial response would be thus:

You're an idiot.

That's right. You merely think there's no difference, as long as your Aunt Minnie still gets her Social Security check on the same date every month, and you yourself are not otherwise inconvenienced. Tell that to the war veterans who literally tore down the fences blocking the World War II Memorial today (with the help of at least two members of Congress), because all national parks are now closed. You gotta hand it to them; at this age, these old grunts haven't lost their touch. Meanwhile, dear old Auntie will get her check -- eventually. You see, the money may come from a separate fund, but most of the people responsible for processing it have just been sent home, you big dummy! So you may have to float the old gal a few hundred until the unpaid masses yearning to assist you get to return to their jobs and do just that.

Now that I've got what's left of your attention, let's take a closer look at that, using big words that you'll have to read slowly, to see how some of you will be inconvenienced.

FINANCIAL SERVICES. The Small Business Administration will stop making loans, federal home loan guarantees will likely go on hold, and students applying for financial aid could also see delays and backlogs in applications.

HEALTH CARE. The National Institutes of Health will stop accepting new patients and delay or stop clinical trials. Medicare and the Veterans administration will continue paying out benefits, but new filers could face delays and doctors and hospitals may also have to wait for reimbursements.

PUBLIC SAFETY. The Environmental Protection Agency would stop reviewing environmental impact statements and food inspectors would stop conducting workplace inspections unless there is an imminent danger. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms could stop processing applications for permits.

SECURITY AND TRAVEL. The Department of Homeland Security would suspend the E-Verify program, which helps businesses determine the eligibility of employees, creating hiring delays. The State Department will also likely halt new passport and visa applications.

PARKS AND RECREATION. The National Park Service sites and the Smithsonian Institution will be shutdown. During the 1990s, 368 sites closed down and approximately 7 million visitors denied entry.

DISASTER RELIEF. In preparation for a potential shutdown, the Utah National Guard is holding off on sending a team to help rebuild areas in Colorado devastated by massive floods last week. More National Guard engineers are desperately needed to repair major roads and bridges in Colorado. Roughly 240 Colorado National Guardsmen currently working on flood missions are also in danger of losing funding.

NUTRITION FOR WOMEN AND CHILDREN. Though food stamps will still be available in the event of a shutdown, the Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) nutrition program, a service meant to help new and expecting mothers and their young children get nutritious foods, will not. If a shutdown lasts for more than a few days, the roughly 9 million Americans who rely on WIC could see their assistance dry up, leaving them food-insecure.

The article at ThinkProgress.org couldn't be more biased against Republicans for allegedly causing this, as the party that didn't control both houses of Congress when the no-budget scenario began, doesn't have one of its own for President who won't sign it without that which most Americans do not want. and didn't have one of its own say that "you'll have to pass the bill to see what's in it." All that aside, the above is a pretty good indication of what you will be missing until this is straightened out. Granted, some things will be missed by some people more than others. But a great portion of the population will be at least mildly inconvenienced while its tax dollars are not at work, including anyone with a government contract that's waiting for their business to be conducted smoothly. That last one will hurt the small businesses the most.

All the crybabies who think they can get along without the government, still want to feed from the federal trough. They are used to it. The most ardent Tea Party member wants their Medicare and Medicaid benefits. They paid for them, right? Well, yes, but you also pay for people to make sure you get them. You also pay for the federal government to swoop down on your little hamlet if there's a tornado, even before the governor of your state can ask them, which is required.

And last but not least, federal employees pay for the same things, with taxes, just as you do. They often get much of the blame for that over which they have absolutely no control. This brings up one more subject. Salaries and benefits are a substantial percentage of a state budget, but only a fraction of a percent of the federal budget. The savings to the federal debt incurred by three years without a cost-of-living increase for federal employees, will amount to about one-fourth of one percent. The woman who once told me -- in full view of Twitter, of all places -- that federal workers should suffer like others do is an ill-informed little twit! What possible benefit will come from wishing ill on people who try to make an honest living? If she can think of one, she can tell it to Federal defense worker Rob Merritt, a husband and father of four, who would have gone bankrupt from a furlough due to medical bills from heart surgery.

(As for me, I am one of the lucky ones. I have a contingency in place, so there will be no "tin cup rattle" campaign at this venue anytime soon, at least not to pay my mortgage.)

What can you do about what's wrong with Washington? Hold your elected representatives accountable. Quit re-electing the same bozos every time they want to keep their miserable job with exorbant benefits, and exemption from many of the laws they pass (including the Affordable Care Act, aka "Obamacare"). That goes ditto for you idiot Republicans in Arizona who keep sending that geezer John McCain back to Washington. For pity's sake, stop making that poor old man think he's indispensable, and let him retire in peace.

That, and quit crying to me about it. We get the leaders we ask for, the leaders we deserve. That means you, too, buckaroo!
 

Michael Schwartz (1950-2013)

Michael Schwartz, a leader in the pro-life movement, and a tireless advocate for pro-family issues in Washington, fell asleep in the Lord this past Sunday, after a two-year battle with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). He was 63.

Michael was one of a handful of faithful Catholics who brought the unique presence of the True Faith to the rise of the so-called "religious right" during the Reagan years. This writer met him when he was a leader of the "Carroll Group," a consortium of Catholic leaders who met monthly, under the auspices of the Free Congress Foundation in Washington, a conservative think tank founded by political strategist Paul Weyrich, to discuss matters of mutual concern. Over the years, Michael had been active with the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights, Concerned Women for America, Operation Rescue, among other endeavors. For the better part of over a decade, until the illness was in its final stages only recently, he was chief of staff to Senator Tom Coburn (R-OK).

A Mass of Christian Burial was celebrated at Mother Seton Church in Germantown, Maryland. He is survived by his wife, Rose Ann, and their children and grandchildren.

Requiescat in pace, Michael.
 

Discovering Judge Bork

Robert Heron Bork died last Wednesday morning at the age of 85, of complications from heart disease. Judge Bork was one of the preeminent jurists of our time, holding to the interpretation of the Constitution according to the intent of those who wrote it, on the presupposition that they actually meant what they wrote at the time. One might expect no less of anyone with a measure of integrity, to say what they mean, and to mean what they say, even in our time.

There have been many tributes written to honor the man. There will be more in the days ahead. This may well be among the least of them, in the mere shadow of those who knew him better. Be that as it may ...

In 1973, when President Nixon ordered the firing of Special Prosecutor Archibald Cox during the Watergate investigation, the Attorney General resigned after refusing to carry out the order, followed by the Deputy Attorney General. This left Bork, then Solicitor General, in the position of Acting Attorney General, and who proceed to follow through on the order, in what became known as the “Saturday Night Massacre.” In 1987, when President Reagan nominated Bork to the United States Supreme Court, the Democrats in Congress launched into a severity of scrutiny into his legal opinions, and assaults on his personal character, unprecedented for a President's selection to the High Court. His nomination was defeated by a record margin. A new term was introduced to the political vocabulary, as such character assassination in the public realm was thereafter known as being “borked.” And yet, his role as an architect of the "originalist" school of constitutional law inspired peers and protegés alike, and in concert with his grace and tenacity under fire, he won a new generation of admirers.

VIDEO: A tribute to Judge Bork produced by The Federalist Society in April of 2011.

I never really knew the judge, but I did know his second wife, the former Mary Ellen Pohl. (His first wife, the former Claire Davidson, died of cancer in 1980.) Mary Ellen is an accomplished teacher and lecturer on issues concerning the Gospel of Life in her own right, and I was a student in a Theology of the Body class she conducted in 2004. A pleasant and most graceful woman, she was the perfect complement for the irascible former Marine. In over thirty years of living in Washington, I wasn't always at ease in a room full of public figures, which can be a liability on occasion in the Nation's capital. I had only met him once, at a lecture about seven or eight years ago. As I was introduced to the judge by his wife, I said the first stupid thing that came to my head: “It's nice to meet you, sir. I've heard so much about you.” He looked up at me out of the corner of his eye with suspicion and growled: “WHERE???” I was a bit taken aback: “Well, um, I read the papers and, um, I may have come across your name once … or twice.” Thankfully, Mary Ellen was the wiser of us, and gently nudged him to move on.

The story came back to me yesterday, as a Mass of Christian Burial was celebrated for his repose, at the Church of Saint John the Beloved in McLean, Virginia. In attendance were six members of the United States Supreme Court, several prominent members of Congress, and numerous political pundits, syndicated columnists, former law clerks, family, friends, and admirers. After he was laid to rest with military honors, and a volley fired by his fellow Marines, a repast was held at the Bork residence.

Shortly after my arrival, a distinguished gentleman confined to a walker required assistance getting a cup of tea, and so I obliged him. Upon sitting at the table with several other gentlemen, all of whom knew the judge quite well, it came into conversation that this gentleman was a professor at Ave Maria University. My interest was piqued.

“So, what do you teach, sir?”

    “Whatever I damn well please.”

“Well, then, what is it that damn well pleases you these days?”

    “Catholic social doctrine.”

PHOTO: Courtesy of Rev Vincent Fitzpatrick, retired prolife anarchist, now a priest of the Diocese of Fargo.

Then followed a discussion of this subject, on to the so-called "Catholic vote" among Latinos, and then to the Theology of the Body. After about fifteen minutes, someone comes along and introduces him by name to someone else. I had been engaging none other than Michael Novak, the eminent Catholic philosopher, journalist, novelist, and diplomat, with whose work I had been familiar for many years. And so, with the professor and other distinguished gentlemen, we sipped martinis and spoke of our encounters with the judge. It came as no surprise, then, that they were sufficiently amused with my own first encounter.

There were so many others in attendance to remember the passing of an old friend, men and women who may or may not have been public figures, but who were nonetheless accomplished, and whose stories held my rapt attention. I was at the residence for over an hour, and it went by all too quickly.

When I would see him at St John's with Mary Ellen, you could tell he was fading. There were occasions in the final years when he actually gave interviews, even then refusing to mince words when it came to certain parties by name, but these were welcome respites from the continued failure of his health. His devoted wife cared for him at home for the last several years. Knowing of how my own mother spent half her married life caring for my father, a man slowing wasting away with multiple sclerosis, I knew that no man could be loved more by any woman than Mary Ellen loved Robert. “Behind every great man ...”

There are times when we only get to know a man by the company he keeps. And so, I left that house knowing, not only the measure of the man, but what it was to be in such good company. This is how I will remember the man I barely knew. Whatever injustices were meted out to Robert Bork in this life, his case proceeds forthwith to the Highest Court, and the most Just Judge.

May justice and mercy prevail in Robert's favor, and he may enter into Eternal Life.

Amen.
 

What Has America Become?

So is the question asked by one Ken Huber of Tawas City, Michigan, a town of just over two thousand on the shores of Lake Huron, in a "letters to the editor" page of a small Michigan newspaper.

... in public schools you can teach that homosexuality is OK, but you better not use the word God in the process; you can kill an unborn child, but it is wrong to execute a mass murderer ...

To answer his question, America has become exactly what we allowed it to become.

No one forces us at gunpoint to settle for the version of the truth as told by the mainstream media. We are free and able to seek out reliable alternative sources. No one forces us not to believe in God, and we can still (for the time being) worship him as we choose. Those of the Muslim faith, to the extent that they get their way in the public square -- remember, "Allah" is simply the Arabic word for "God" -- do so because they have learned to show collective outrage at any affront to their beliefs. Do not blame them for something that Christians in America used to do without hesitation. They hold sway because they frighten us. The extremists among them know this, and the moderates among them take advantage of this.

No one took over this country by force. We sat back and allowed an effete and articulate minority to influence opinion, to the point where they have taken over the bully pulpit, and have cowed us into submission. They earn personal fortunes, and enjoy the good life, by mimicking the cry of the poor, showing generosity with someone else's money.

Mister Huber asked all the right questions. What will he do with the answer?

What will YOU do?

Discuss.
 

Ron Paul’s Swan Song

Congressman Ron Paul, Republican from the Texas 14th Congressional District (Galveston and vicinity), considered by many to be the “intellectual godfather” of the Tea Party movement, recently announced his retirement from the United States Congress. Yesterday, he gave his farewell address, which is shown here. Also available is the full transcript of that address.