Boulder Strong

 

Back when I lived in Aurora, Colorado one of my favorite places to "hang out" was in Boulder. It was largely a university town. I was in my 30s. It was a bit different from other areas. I always thought if Mork was real he probably really would have fit right in there. But it had a friendly atmosphere. I shopped at a lot of King Soopers store across the front range. The shooting there was tragic but I could see Boulder-ites rallying together. The shooter bought the gun about 6 days before the incident. Closing the loopholes in back ground checks makes sense..in spite of what Ted Cruz wants to bloviate about.

Words are an extremely powerful force

 

Words are an extremely powerful force. The Bible goes so far as to say that "death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruits." (Prov 18:21).

People like Donald Trump dont understand this. But his election lie lead to Jan 6 insurrection (and deaths) and his words about "China Virus" has lead to attacks on Asian Americans.

WE have a couple choices:

1) There is one whose rash words are like sword thrusts,

2)but the tongue of the wise brings healing. (Prov 12:18).

Anger makes the first choice tempting, but #2 is the better route.

Dr Suess Estate Pulled Dr Suess Books.....NOT a government ban

 

I was not necessarily on board with the idea of banning any of the Dr Suess books. (I mean, in a world where I can buy a new copy of Mein Kampf, but not Dr Suess, is kind of odd). BUT, after looking closer at what happened, it was not a government intervention or anything, it was a decision made by the company that owns the rights to the books. So I dont think I would have done it...(although I am not in a habit of reading Dr Suess so I have no pressing opinion either way)....but it is important to underscore that Last year, Dr. Seuss Enterprises, decided that it would cease publication of six different Dr. Seuss books, including the following.

And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street

If I Ran the Zoo

McElligot’s Pool

On Beyond Zebra!

Scrambled Eggs Super!

The Cat’s Quizzer

I support their right to do whatever they want with the books they own all rights to. Theodor Seuss Geisel, better known as Dr. Seuss, published over 60 children's books over the course of his career..1931 to 1990 (the year he died).

The Failing GOP

 

Because of Trump, Republicanism seems to becoming a minority party. With what little power they can muster they are trying to combat that by changing voting rules throughout the USA and bend them in their favor. They have become so corrupt. There are some with integrity but they are becoming the minority in the minority.

In the Congressional hearings this week:

The Republicans seem to only want to deflect away from Jan 6 to every other riot that happened last year.  And was Josh Hawley fishing to find out whether the FBI has anything on him?

CPAC Trump railed against cancel culture, while naming Republicans he plans to cancel.

Flyin Lyin Grifting Ted Cruz

 

So Flyin Ted Cruz decided to leave Texas to get out of the cold and fly to Cancun with his family and had booked a return flight for Saturday morning. THEN he got caught and switched into Lyin Ted Cruz mode and started telling lies about how he was just going to take his daughters there and come back...but as the story began to fall apart and it was discovered his wife had texted friends to come down with them to Cancun to stay at the Ritz Carlton for $309 a night....it was revealed that Lyin Ted Cruz was living up to his nickname. The guy claims to be a Christian but really does do an awful lot of lying. I guess he went on Fox News and talked to Hannity. Hannity gave him affirmation, of course. Cruz is one of those Republicans who escapes accountability whenever he can by avoiding the media that will throw him hard questions and only go to the media that he knows will affirm his stupidity. Flyin Lyin Grifting Ted Cruz. GOP & Texas should be so proud of him.

Article: For most, though, especially Texans like me who have suffered through a week without

heat or water in freezing overnight weather, the notion of Cruz leaving his dog behind to hit the beach was all too much — especially the thought of the power being out when they left. (The New York Times reported that Cruz’s wife Heidi had complained that the house was “FREEZING” in a group chat to friends and neighbors that proposed leaving the blackout behind for the Ritz-Carlton in Cancún.)

New York Magazine: Ted Cruz Abandons Millions of Freezing Texans and His Poodle, Snowflake

Gutless Offensive Pathetic: The Republican Party

If Trump was not responsible for the attack on the Capitol then why did Graham, McCarthy & Rubio call Trump to call it off?

Ted Cruz, a juror in Trump's impeachment trial, said he advised Trump's lawyers and told them they'd 'already won' their case

 

McConnells excuse:.. Yeah, you're right that he's guilty of all these things, but because of the technicality that impeachment wasn't filed sooner (even tho I'm the one that delayed it until after the election), this impeachment isn't lawful

The Senate needed a majority vote to decide whether or not they could proceed Constitutionally with the impeachment since Trump was no longer President. A majority vote allowed it to go forward. THAT bound them....or should have to their vote. When the Senate votes on bills, if a person is in the minority of a vote...the bill still binds them. So the original vote took the Non-Constitutional issue out of play. SO, any Senator who claims they voted against the impeachment because of the Constitutional issue is a liar.....and abdicated themselves from Senate rules they were sworn in to abide by. I have ZERO respect for any GOP member who makes the "Constitution" the reason for their vote.😡😡😡 The House Democrats did a GREAT job on the case and it should have been a slam dunk. Trumps attorneys were horrible and as dishonorable as Rudy, Sidney and that other nutjob whose name escapes me right now. And Ted Cruz...dont get me started on him.....

EmpTy Greene: Poster Child for Christian Nationalism

 I saw most of Marjorie Taylor Greene's press conference. She could very well be the next Trump-swamp queen. Trump never knew much about Christianity so he didnt use the language. Greene appears to know something about it.

MTG spouted all kind of Christianese while at the same time demonizing everyone and everything that did not think like she does. 

The Book of Jeremiah came to mind after contemplation on her speech. 

“From the least to the greatest,
all are greedy for gain;
prophets and priests alike,
all practice deceit.
They dress the wound of my people
as though it were not serious.
‘Peace, peace,’ they say,
when there is no peace.” (Jer 8).

The tongue is a powerful force and when you break it down most of politics is about using and confronting that force. Today she claimed "peace" while, at the same time in the same press conference pushed back against Democrats & socialism and even the press because she didnt like being asked certain questions and pushing her red herring world views.

She is now playing the victim card after she was removed from committees and lashed out against all the Democrats and the 11 Republicans who voted to have her removed.

She may be the new Poster Child for Christian Nationalism

Goldwater: These Christians Believe They are Acting in the name of God....

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This is an actual quote by Barry Goldwater. I understand the sentiment he is conveying but just want to separate Christianity from Christian Nationalism. It has likely been inevitable that the move of Christians into the Republican Party has been ongoing and growing stronger. It was that movement that brought us Ronald Reagan.

The problem is that it has been evolving away from true Christianity into what is now Christian Nationalism. The Christians replaced God as THE answer and mixed God and Republicanism as a duel force. To be clear, there is nothing wrong with Christians being involved in government and politics...it is the conflation of the two that is a problem. The mix is a really bad dogma that has and will have a bad end. While Christians have long suggested the anti-christ will come from some secular power or a fascist power...little did they notice that they themselves could be ushering an "antichrist" in. Optimistically I say "were" but a lot of them still are. Rather than keeping Christianity separate and holy it allowed politics to absorb it.

Goldwater, from an era when some intellectualism was still a part of "conservatism" saw that. We are seeing where it has come.

The First Amendment doesn’t protect all speech.

 

The First Amendment doesn’t protect statements that are meant to incite listeners to riot or commit other imminent illegal acts, as long as the statements are also likely to have that effect. As the Supreme Court has said, it's obvious that government has the power to prevent or punish speech that displays a clear and present danger of riot or another immediate threat to public safety, peace, or order (Cantwell v. State of Connecticut, 310 U.S. 296 (1940)).

At the same time, however, people have a constitutional right to advocate violence in general, even for abhorrent reasons—like when they allude to killing African Americans as a way to preserve white supremacy (Brandenburg v. Ohio, 395 U.S. 444 (1969)). The same is true when protestors declare—after police have cleared a demonstration—that they’ll take the street back later (Hess v. Indiana, 414 U.S. 105 (1973)).

The First Amendment doesn’t give you the right to make a direct, “true threat” to kill your boss or shoot a judge. But what if you say to a large audience that someone should use their “Second Amendment rights” toward a political opponent? There isn’t a clear, consistent definition of a true threat, but it should be more than political hyperbole or metaphor (“we’re going to kill you at the polls”), a joke, or an impulsive angry comment (Watts v. United States, 394 U.S. 705 (1969)).

In contrast, a true threat is meant to communicate a serious intention to carry out imminent violence against someone. The Supreme Court has said it doesn’t matter if the people making the threat don’t actually plan to carry it out, because barring true threats protects the victims from the fear of violence as well as the actual violence. So intimidating actions like burning a cross can be true threats if they’re meant to make particular individuals or groups of people fear for their lives. (Virginia v. Black, 538 U.S. 343 (2003).)

Other types of speech that aren’t protected by the First Amendment include:

perjury (lying under oath)

plagiarism (copying other people’s writing, art, music, or choreography without their permission)

solicitation (convincing someone else to commit a crime), and

blackmail.

SOURCE:

https://www.lawyers.com/legal-info/criminal/its-ok-to-speak-your-mind-but-dont-hurt-anyone.html

Constitution is becoming a just prop for most of the GOP

 

I think it's pretty clear now that the Constitution is becoming a prop for most of the GOP. Whenever they lay claim on it they use it in a way to defend their actions regardless of how ethical it is. The very bad thing about that is that they have no foundation for their actions. They become rudderless but with leadership authorities.

They did not get here overnight. It's been progressing over the years until now here we are. Trump exemplifies everything that is wrong with American politics.......and the really sad thing is that he may not be THE problem as much as he is just a symptom or a result of the problem.

Freedom of the Press is a foundation of freedom because it was established to keep Government honest. The GOP has avoided that check by only seeking out the press that shares their rudderless views. They seek only yes-men to affirm whatever whim the wind blew into their head on any given day. Turn on Tucker Carlson or Sean Hannity and the best of the worst of the GOP will likely be there getting their egos stroked.

Ive thought many times over the last few months that things are so nutty that you just think some adult should step in and set them straight. BUT, they dont have one. The have no accountability. .....not even to their own constituents (unless they are also yes-men....but, of course, that is not accountability.. it's more like subordinate partners in crime).

Personally I cannot see this ending well short of divine intervention.