The Stage

Readers:

I did not with foresight begin this as a meme, a thread. And yet, beginning with A Perfect Storm, it becomes one.
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Europe. Sooner than you think.

Union transport workers strike and sympathizers from various other unions join in solidarity. Fuel and food deliveries are virtually frozen. Brussels (EU capital) demands an immediate end to the strike but truckers remain adamant.

Grocery shelves are emptying and fresh produce is rotting on farms and in warehouses. Folks living near producers are bartering for foodstuffs but city dwellers are becoming agitated.

Afghanistan. Sooner than you think.

Coalition forces are ordered to withdraw from the south as the Taliban reclaims cities and provinces. Recently released detainees from Guantanamo serve as inspiration and evidence of the weakness of the West.

Iraq. Sooner than you think.

As US forces are ordered to abandon Iraq, Muqtada al Sadr's Mahdi army reclaim Basra and Sadr City while the formerly defeated al Qaida in Iraq resurfaces to control al Anbar Province and Mosul in the north. Any Iraqis accused of aiding coalition forces, along with their immediate families, are publicly beheaded.

Iran. Sooner than you think.

Iran successfully tests a fission bomb while separately testing missile launches to targets in Indian Ocean. European leaders protest but the Mullahs remain defiant.

US. Sooner than you think.

By 1930 hours in the evening of the day of the Flashpoint protest almost every American knows of the death of twelve citizens at the hands of Capitol police. The initial shock is turning to anger. People meet on street corners commiserating that they share the same difficulties that spurred the protesters' actions along with their feelings of rage and helplessness to alter their condition.

At 2100 the president delivers a hastily prepared address to the nation.

"I stand here today... with the greatest sorrow in my heart. Twelve of our citizens... no... our brothers and sisters... today lost their lives in a brutal... and unnecessary confrontation with the Capitol police.

"I need every American to know... that this government... united for the first time in sixteen years... has been working tirelessly... with business and industry... with the leaders of every state... with clergy... with grassroots community groups... to end the divisiveness... of the previous administration.

"I know there are hardships. I sense your frustration. And that is why... I am asking every American... to join in our struggle. Become active within your communities... join a food bank... organize a neighborhood cleanup... we can make America better... for all of us... and for our children."

This is later found to be the least watched presidential address in decades.

D.C. Metro Police spokeswoman Dana Peters promises to investigate the shootings and prosecute any officers who unlawfully discharged firearms at the protesters. The Department of Justice is quietly directed to investigate the backgrounds of the victims to determine if they had any past acts or affiliations that might be exploited to the government's advantage. The idea of mass suicide by cop is quickly shelved.

Across the country roving bands of young to middle-aged men take to the streets after dark. Those fortunate enough to have gas in their tanks drive with friends in SUVs and pickups looking for a target for their rage. Almost simultaneously police station windows from Spokane to Charlotte are smashed with bricks and rocks and the police response is quick and effective--immediate internment.

Those that evade the police find their 'cool'. They may be returning to their homes but the fire they felt earlier is not extinguished--only tamped for the moment. They now realize that the fight must be smarter.

Hundreds of thousands of men and women look to the 'net for information and guidance. By 0100 a video with an accompanying text message, first uploaded at 2311, has gone viral. By 0130 the video hosting service has pulled it but the text portion has been copied and continues to spread like a prairie fire by email.

Your first duty is to stay free. Preserve your freedom. That's what America is and always has been about.

Your enemy is not the police. We may succeed in enlisting their aid but not by targeting them.

Same for the National Guard if and when they are called in.

We know that you may feel angry at the gas station or the oil company. We know that you might be mad at the grocer or the big Ag corporations.

None of these are responsible for where we find ourselves.

That is not to say that government alone is responsible. There are others that must be held accountable.
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If you feel the need to take action the best way to preserve your freedom is to remain anonymous. Get a ski mask--there are cameras everywhere. Wear gloves.

Disable the cameras wherever you can. Put a sliding ladder in the back of your truck--that's fairly innocuous. Wire cutters are fine for cutting the cable connection but a large bolt cutter against the lens socket will permanently disable it.

For tomorrow night. Action taken anywhere needs a large diversion somewhere else. Fire at an abandoned warehouse may give a cell the opportunity to ransack and destroy the records and computers at a local Social Security or Welfare office. Soft targets, so to speak. But federal.
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Lastly, for any hackers--I know you're nightowls--stop the Pentagon hacks! We need the private emails and files of the worst of the Senate and House.

We can't afford to merely bring down this president--we need to force a change in that party--a change we can live with.

Hundreds of thousands of Americans have now read this. So have analysts from China, Russia, Israel, Iran and various European countries passed to them from various fellow travelers. And the alphabet agencies of the US, of course.
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The Stage is greater than one can see. There are wings and trapdoors. There are unseen producers and directors, assistants, lighting what is meant to be seen and not aiming the camera at what is dross. Lastly, there is the god of the stage--the writer of the bill--ensuring that there is an outcome certain.

Flashpoint

Ruby Ridge August, 1992.

Some public outrage over the disproportionate actions of the government but, after all, those must have been strange people to want to live in the back-woods of northern Idaho.

Waco April, 1993.

Shock and horror as satellite transmission of the blaze was beamed live to our TVs. Everybody felt bad for the children but--hey--that David Koresh was a kook.

YFZ Ranch Raid April, 2008.

(The Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints)
Hundreds of children forcibly removed from the only homes they knew. The courts hash it out and the families are reunited but we sure learned a lot about that crazy Warren Jeffs.

One might get the impression that I'm relating a series of events in chronological order. Now I need to reverse it.

L.A. Riots April-May, 1992.

Following the acquittal of the police charged in the video-taped beating of Rodney King, Los Angeles erupted in some of the worst rioting in US history.

Why?

Because to the sizable African-American population of L.A., Rodney King was like any other individual in that community. Exacerbating factors: the authorities (police) on the video were white and the trial venue was moved to a mostly white community but that is not the point I'm getting to.

Washington D.C. Sooner than you think.

A large protest of middle-class working people is held to demand government action on the food and fuel crisis coupled with the heavy burden of taxation. The crowd goes unanswered by those in power. Initially regular police are in position to maintain order but as the crowd's agitation grows, more police are sent in riot gear.

Tensions rise and the pheromone of fear and aggression spreads through the area affecting protesters and police, alike. To the mob, without the real members of the legislative and executive branches, the police are the face of the government. For some, the threat of deadly force is not enough to back down and flee--they can't face the thought of returning to their cold and hungry families.

And, of course, this is all playing out on live TV and the web.

The predictable and preventable becomes the inevitable. A young officer, early to arrive on the scene and not one of the better protected in riot gear draws his sidearm.

One of the mob yells, "gun", but the other police nearby don't know that the warning came from the crowd--it's the standard warning police shout when encountering a firearm.

The shooting starts and it is all over very quickly. A dozen citizen bodies are on the ground and the mob falls back to be peaceably detained and subsequently dispersed.

Later, the forensic investigation reveals the officers that discharged their weapons and they are arraigned. Later, the government and media spin machine goes to work, finding something wrong with the slain individuals. Something conspiratorial or insidious.

But that is all later.

Right now...right now more than a million citizens are watching in real time and in horror. Between the 24/7 cable news and the web more than 20 million will have seen the primary events within 30 minutes and by 7:30 everyone in the US knows that a dozen protesters just like them were gunned down.

Does my little tale have any merit? You have to be the judge of that.

Because the above is a simple retelling of the events of

Boston March 5th, 1775. (The Boston Massacre)

(updated for the 21st century)

(And yes, that mob was protesting over money.)

Sold Out

I think that's a fair assessment of what the bare majority of the Supreme Court has rendered in giving Habeas Corpus rights to Gitmo detainees. The decision flies in the face of hundreds of years of precedence, defies common sense, and in practice will tie up our legal system for years. Might as well just let 'em go.

There is that second meaning of the phrase--as in when you drive up to the pump and find the station is sold out. Or to the grocery and find no corn. Or when you look to congress for some leadership with the good of the US in mind.

Going...going...gone (and the hammer drops).

UPDATE

(Slip Opinion)

OCTOBER TERM, 2007

Syllabus

NOTE: Where it is feasible, a syllabus (headnote) will be released, as is being done in connection with this case, at the time the opinion is issued. The syllabus constitutes no part of the opinion of the Court but has beenrepared by the Reporter of Decisions for the convenience of the reader. See United States v. Detroit Timber & Lumber Co., 200 U. S. 321, 337.

SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES

Syllabus

BOUMEDIENE ET AL. v. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, ET AL.

CERTIORARI TO THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA CIRCUIT

No. 06–1195. Argued December 5, 2007—Decided June 12, 2008*

Here is the entire ruling followed by the dissenting opinions of John Roberts and Antonin Scalia.

A Perfect Storm

And it's been brewing for a long time.

The Founding Fathers understood that throwing off the tyranny of a monarch could, without a carefully crafted constitution, easily be replaced by the tyranny of the masses.

Yet the masses can never hold power--it must be concentrated. But a populace can be manipulated into believing that they have a say in decisions that affect them. Or that somehow a system can work in greater fairness.

(personal note--My blogging has fallen off in frequency these past few months as a growing sense of doom great change has overcome me.)

I am an avid reader (and occasional commenter) at the excellent Gates of Vienna that is mostly focused on political happenings in Western Europe, Scandinavia and the UK. In a guest essay (more of a book review) I came across this quote from one of the earliest planners of the European Union:

The sovereign nations of the past can no longer solve the problems of the present: they cannot ensure their own progress or control their own future. And the Community itself is only a stage on the way to the organized world of tomorrow. — Jean Monnet, Memoir

Chilling words to me for two reasons. The EU by any measure is a socialist, near borderless entity with a managed capitalist economy and because I regard Monnet's reference to the sovereign nations of the past as meaning he concluded the US to be one, as well, especially in light of the organized world of tomorrow.

I've believed in the inherent goodness of my country for a long time and I've believed equally that our government mostly gets it right because people are smart enough (mostly) to vote the better candidate into office. The 2006 mid-term elections shook that belief for a while until I realized that it was a vote driven by anger and frustration largely fanned by a complicit media and a highly organized and motivated DNC.

Maybe the country will turn this all around and throw the rascals responsible for our current misery out. But it's looking less and less likely to me. JB Williams at the New Media Journal has a fine piece today highlighting the stupidity of voters and the socialists progressive members of Congress.

Then there's the candidate:

"We can't drive our SUVs and eat as much as we want and keep our homes on 72 degrees at all times ... and then just expect that other countries are going to say OK," Obama said.

"That's not leadership. That's not going to happen," he added.

I'm trying to get the full understanding of that statement. Aren't OPEC nations already having a say in how I drive my car? And countries to our south that send their (literally) unwashed to pick and process our spinach and tomatoes have made sure that I can't eat as much as I want.

Obama knows most of us (the "productive") are taxed. And most of us are reasonably self-moderating in food consumption and have been forced to limit our driving. He has to know that. So what is he really saying? I ask this because it sounds to me that under his leadership there would be a supranational body that will determine from where and to whence resources flow. Like the EU.

Unlike the EU which has been working since 1958's Treaty of Rome to this very day's Irish Referendum (the last nation to allow its citizens a direct vote on the subject) this great change is to happen in less than a decade. If Obama wins and the Democrats retain their majority in congress it could happen in a year.

What could such an immense change trigger for us? We may (collectively) be stupid enough to pull the same levers in November but what will be the result when families with $100K incomes must start living like families with $35K incomes?

An equally important question arises. Are those who have organized for so very long in hopes of reaching this dream--have they not anticipated what kind of reaction might ensue? Or are there already plans and alliances with authorities?

What started in Spain has now spread throughout Europe as those that transport the food and goods cannot now afford to deliver them. Media are careful to use the word "protest" but when someone is killed and a truck is firebombed the word "riot" comes across as more accurate.

Yeah. I'm speculating that such a drastic change might provoke otherwise peaceable folks to "protest".

Five to go

Umm. Barrack Hussein Obama is a staunch supporter of Israel. At AIPAC.

Golly. He pretends he has a sack vis a vis Iran.

There's a world of difference between community organizing in Chicago and global affairs.

But large-scale community organizing has worked for Obama.

Saul Alinsky. Look him up. This communist taught Chitown how to organize and recruit voters. The Reverend Wright and Father Pflager, as well as Obama, are studious adherents of Alinsky.

Pflager, as of June 4th, has been suspended by the Catholic archdiocese of Chicago. Both Wright and Pflager have received large-scale state and federal taxpayer money.

Wright, recently retired from Trinity Church of Christ, is set to move into his new 1.2 M$ home in a gated community that has a demographic of <2% minority (black). Retirement. Life's sweetest reward.

Meanwhile, in the news the msm deems not fit to print, Obama's real estate buddy and contributor, Syrian-born Antoin Rezco is convicted of multiple (16) felonies.

Clinton's cohorts were jailed after he came to office.

We're off to a great start.

These links are important.

Maggie's Farm has some fact checking.

And more.

Economic Equality

These are the two words that loudly leapt from the TV screen at Obama's May 31st presser about his decision to leave the Trinity congregation and comments regarding what his "faith" leads him to believe.




There is nothing in the Book of God about economic equality. Nothing in scripture. Nada. Zilch. Zip. Zero.

The parable related in Matthew 20.1-16 regarding vineyard workers receiving equal pay for unequal work could possibly be construed as a scriptural recommendation for economic equality. Of course, the meaning of this story is that whether you come to God in the first hour or the eleventh hour, the reward is the same.

Economic equality. If I were asked to reduce the works of Marx and Engels to two words...