Happy Independence Day? - NOT! Now Reading by Senator Sheldon Whitehouse - The Scheme! Open Memoir

 

Kate Smith, in 1943 introduced a song that had been around even longer... I have been happily singing it through many celebrations of July 4th here in the United States.

But I awoke early this morning and found no joy in my heart or mind to sing... There have been many people who have talked about the danger of what the republican party and its backers have been planning for America and it sickens me to my stomach... Where and how and who are these people providing what is called "dark money" which is being used in so many different ways to break and destroy our American Democracy? Each jab leads me further into sorrow and PTSD, but I have to say that even at the worst of my depression, I have never felt so lost and discouraged for our country. Yes, I have God's strength and his refuge. But I find, in times like this, I have little patience to wait for the seemingly "miracle" it will take to correct and bring back all that has and is being destroyed... Too many people have already been hurt or died... 

I think I am like most Americans in many years. I had no reason to be concerned about the political life of America. I was thankful when Nixon was held accountable. I was proud when Obama was elected as President... That's about as far back as I can say I was in any way influenced by politics. During my career at West Virginia University, I had come to know Senator Byrd of West Virginia's activities to support our area, so I naturally turned to the democratic party seeing a man who was constantly involved with his state in one way or another. But I had never really voted or felt a "call" to... The country was moving forward while I was working hard to handle a new job and, hopefully, to move upward in positions on the campus. I became very involved in campus activities based upon the acts coming out of the government to improve people's lives: Civil Rights, Equal Pay Guidelines, Affirmative Action, Women's Concerns, The Disabilities Act... So many things that I wholeheartedly felt that the government had my back... And yet, even then, I have learned through reading that there were always those behind the scenes instigating changes, inciting prejudice...Only to see it fling the doors wide open in 2015...

When a group of those in the Evangelical sect of Christianity chose to support Donald Trump for president. I was shocked, mainly because I had already heard the "grab 'em by" tape... Then as I read a woman writing books discussing the Biblical Hebrew language translation, suddenly decide that she was grateful that Trump... Huh? What is going on... I even wrote questioning her and got no response... How could these people be supporting such a man as we were finding out more and more about his actions toward women, toward anybody who was not white, and even to those who were openly marching against Jews... Even now as I write, I begin to cry, upset. How could this be happening here in the country which once received a statue of liberty from France in honor of our freedom and welcome to all peoples...

This was the America that, my mother had quickly declared to me that I was an American, when I had asked about my heritage... She must have been devastated by the Nazi actions in the war and wanted me to not even think about my heritage... Now the Nazi flag and followers were part of the followers that attacked Our Nation's Capitol on January 6th! Incited by the past-president who now may never be held accountable! THIS CANNOT BE HAPPENING IN AMERICA, I CRY, YET IT IS! I find I am glad my mother is not here at a time when Nazi sympathizers play a role in the act of insurrection...

During the Trump administration, I was spending a lot of time glued to CNN, and later, MSNBC, which I found had more of a diversified news staff, which I appreciated... However, after he was at last voted out and yet kept on being part of political news, I could no longer deal with it emotionally. I chose to tape only The Last Word. I like the commentator, who had a background in Congress and I would listen to him each morning to catch up on the latest mess that was being created by the republican party affecting our lives.

It was on The Last Word that I first heard and learned of Senator Sheldon Whitehouse--and his books--who was keeping on top of what corruption was being done within the Supreme Court! I found a champion in his keen dedication to discover the Truth!

I have always been concerned about those who lie and refuse to accept responsibility, even if only saying a "I'm sorry." I've faced it in my own personal life and I of course constantly saw the former president refusing to acknowledge what we all heard him say as truth. And then lie about anything and anybody. I remember well the Kavanaugh trial. I believed the woman who was a professor, who accused him and watched his face as he tried to obfuscate rather than answer. Whitehouse notes that none of the investigations on questionable actions for candidates or the justices have ever been done.

It was bad enough for me to watch the former president in his constant lies, but, we now face the fact that the Supreme Court has become so bold that they are acting as planned in what is being openly announced that the republican party is moving toward. A Civil War (without the guns?) I have chosen not to read the 800+ page 2025 manifesto that SPECIFIEs what they plan to do... It should be noted that this is not a congressional document of the republican party...  The little I have heard is totally repulsive to a woman, to a Christian who strives to follow Jesus' command to love one another as we love ourselves... At this time in America, I quickly point out that I believe this is a broader and higher goal, similar to the "do no harm" philosophical statement. None of us are capable of not lashing out from time to time, but, I hope, the majority of us do not move to act to the detriment of other people...

And yet,,, The Scheme clarifies just how wrong my thinking has been... (Notice the expanded title!)

The Title Tells You Exactly What Has Happened! And we saw it happening... For instance, remember the Republican Majority Leader during Obama's presidency who refused to bring to Congress his appointment to the Supreme Court, using lies and delays...? That was the first step of The Scheme... Here are just a few selected excerpts. I recommend this book be read immediately if you value our Democracy... I'll be writing more once I get further into the book...

Justice removed, then, what are kingdoms but great bands of robbers? —SAINT AUGUSTINE

This book is dedicated to the small brave band of writers, researchers, and scientists who investigate and report on the poisonous creep of secret influence into America’s democracy.

...there’s no reason climate should be a “red” or “blue” issue—we all represent people who have lost their homes to floods, fires, or hurricanes; who have seen crops, herds, or fisheries suffer; who have had their air and water polluted. How had we gone so quickly from regular, bipartisan Senate work on climate change to gridlock? As I dug deeper, the parts fell into place. Citizens United had allowed the fossil fuel industry to use its massive money advantage to strike at this bipartisan progress, and it struck hard. Once the Supreme Court gave it the green light, the fossil fuel industry set its political forces to work instantly, targeting pro-climate-action candidates, particularly Republicans. Congressman Bob Inglis, for instance, was run out of the Republican Party over his climate heresy, crushed in a primary; being “Inglissed” became a word. A lurking climate denial apparatus, funded with anonymous money, shifted into high gear. Outside spending in 2010’s congressional races increased by more than $200 million over the previous midterm elections—a nearly 450 percent increase.2 My climate speeches became less about polar bears, pteropods, and science, and more about the fossil fuel industry’s dark-money front groups, which at any given time numbered sixty or more. I got my education in the dark arts of climate denial. I realized that dark money was the other side of the climate denial coin (as quipped by the republican party.) On several occasions, I rounded up Senate colleagues to speak in chorus about the “Web of Denial” that dark money funded to block climate action. I came to know the brave band of scientists who track this climate denial operation. I studied, and I learned. There was a lot of pain and anguish behind those climate speeches, and some anger, too. At the end of the day, I don’t know whether my long and often solitary effort accomplished a thing to advance the cause of climate legislation. I was up against the biggest political manipulation and disinformation campaign in modern history. My effort was probably a failure, a lost cause. I couldn’t not do it, however; I had to try, even if I was only beating my head against a wall. It was frustrating and maddening, and in the end perhaps in vain, but it accomplished one thing: it gave me an education into the massive dark money apparatus set up by the fossil fuel industry. So when the decision-making of the Supreme Court began to smell bad, when its decisions seemed increasingly outcome-oriented rather than reasoned in accordance with long-standing judicial principles, I had the instinct to look for dark money and phony front groups. Sure enough, not only did I find them, I found many of the same front groups and donor conduits that I knew from climate denial. They turned up, for instance, when the EPA issued its first-ever plan to limit carbon emissions from power plants and five conservative justices (then including Justice Scalia) blocked the law while it was still under review in the lower courts, before it had even reached them. This was a procedural eyebrow-raiser of a ruling without precedent in U.S. history, one that I reckon saved the fossil fuel industry $100 billion per year...

It’s easy to do the math. For simplicity, let’s use the $400 million from the hearing testimony. If you spend $400 million and get a $100 billion annual payback, you make your Court-capture investment back 1,000 times in four years. And that doesn’t count all the other helpful decisions a captured Court could provide. Capturing the Supreme Court is a lucrative scheme.

REGULATORY CAPTURE 

The Scheme to capture the Court has its roots in “regulatory capture.” Decades of research shows that when you regulate an industry, some actors in that industry don’t take it well. They don’t like oversight, much less oversight that is based on observable facts, that is informed by knowledgeable input and public comment, and that is implemented by career experts who know the industry well. A classic response by regulated entities has been to try to “capture” the agency meant to be overseeing them. A straight-up bribe could land you in prison, so capture is a longer and subtler game. This is a game with tactics. First and foremost, you try to control who gets appointed to the agency, and stack it with friends of industry. Put people in charge who will decide things your way. You can more or less take the agency over this way. You can also make sure that friendly members get cushy, well-paid, low-effort jobs when they leave the agency (the proverbial “revolving door”), and that the ones who are not sufficiently friendly get a cold shoulder. That sends a message. You can launch lobbyists at Congress to threaten the agency, putting its funding at risk or challenging its powers. You can bury the agency in paper blizzards of data, or burn its resources with endless litigation. You can develop pet theories that steer the agency toward the outcomes you seek. And you can promote a culture of chumminess so regulators forget they are supposed to be the referees and instead begin to see themselves as the pals of the regulated industry. This is what many people think happened with the SEC in the years leading up to the Great Recession, and what had happened at the Minerals Management Service prior to the massive explosion of BP’s drilling rig in the Gulf of Mexico. Capture is a well-documented phenomenon. Hundreds of academic articles in dozens of academic journals have been written on regulatory capture, sometimes called “agency capture.”5 Big industries capturing agencies of government is a well-known and well-chronicled practice. For decades, this sordid practice was focused on regulatory agencies. It would have been indecent to think of our courts of justice, let alone our Supreme Court, as just another agency to be captured. But once someone had that idea, once that Rubicon of indecency was crossed, once powerful forces turned their arsenal on the Court, little stood between the Court and those weapons of capture. Once the decision was made to capture it, the Court fell with almost no resistance at all. Regulatory capture became Court capture. 

COVERT OPS 

In the same way that ordinary decency kept regulatory capture efforts away from the Supreme Court, until it didn’t, ordinary decency kept covert ops tactics overseas against foreign targets, until it didn’t. Regulatory capture and covert operations became the methodology of the Scheme. Intelligence agencies around the world use covert operations to meddle secretly in other countries’ affairs. The United States has used covert operations to disrupt our foreign adversaries, and the Soviet Union, and now Russia, have been particularly adept at deploying these techniques in satellite nations and within their self-proclaimed sphere of influence. Russia has recently begun targeting us with “information warfare” as well. There is a tradecraft to deploying that malign influence in other nations and disrupting what might otherwise be a functioning political and social system. The techniques of covert disinformation and manipulation will be familiar to anyone who’s a fan of spy novels: agents who pretend to be something other than they really are, hidden funding sources, co-opted local organizations, front groups that obscure who’s behind the covert op, false propaganda launched to drive division and spread disinformation. Players in this shadow world persist at falsehoods even when caught lying. Truth isn’t the point in covert operations; disinformation is deployed purposefully to drive social discontent, with the purpose secretly to control elements of the society. Our well-known Conman is a master at this!)

Covert ops are a good model for understanding a key element of court capture: it has to be clandestine. David Robarge, the chief historian of the Central Intelligence Agency, has explained that covert intelligence actions are usually not secretive in their impact—“the whole point … is to make things different … you want people to notice.”6 The trick is in hiding the hand that is pulling the strings and driving the operation. To run its climate denial “op,” the fossil fuel industry borrowed heavily from the covert ops playbook. And the Scheme borrowed heavily from fossil fuel’s climate denial operation. Both operations secretly control things, hide their identities, and can lie with impunity. Staying covert often means evading the laws that require financial transparency and disclosure—laws that are wildly popular across the American political spectrum. An elected official who wants to stay in office long can’t very well repeal those laws. But an unelected, unaccountable set of Supreme Court justices can. In fact, they already have.

Remember all those activities that I talked about that were created to support individuals in America, well, I've had to sit watching as announcements are being made of removing all those "restrictive" policies that are used to protect discrimination against individuals. Dark Money sees no American as worthy of attention...

There you have it on this July 4th, 2024... Imagine, the Dark Money that is funding much of what is happening could be from leaders of those countries who are authoritarian...who don't want us to be a successful Democracy... Money like that given to both of the Trump family members who were holding positions within the last president's administration. Deals were made for personal gain by both of them...

Whitehouse's book supports and documents all that we have been hearing about what Trump will do if he is elected IN JUST A FEW MONTHS! It makes it quite clear that what is being planned would eliminate a democracy by the people, for the people...meaning that voting just may NOT be in our future... Or, it would be a fake election such as that held by Putin in Russia. Instead there will be a king, whoever he may be, will really be a stooge for those holding the dark money that is out there being used to destroy the American Democracy... This is real, folks. And in my opinion, if you are not doing something to prevent it, you will have no right to be upset now or in the future. If you've never voted before, think hard! I didn't vote much before 2016. But you can be very sure that I will be voting AGAINST TRUMP and his cronies down ballot... I've read enough that documents the news being provided on legitimate stations. The 2024 Election may affect you and your children's lives... forever...

Today? Plan To Ensure Voting for the Democratic President and down the ballot... The Scheme has been developed to affect any form of government down to school boards to reflect only what somebody else other than YOU will rule... That is a Reality--a loss of our democracy (personal freedom)--That I Pray Will NEVER OCCUR! DO IT FOR YOUR KIDS! We have already lost many children because of the dark money provided by the NRA which prevents members of Congress from acting on gun control...Yes, It Can Get Worse!

AND

Speak Jesus to Your Kids!

GABixlerReviews

Robert Sells, Political Commentator, Discusses Latest Court Case of Republican Party Presidential Candidate...Spotlighting Congressional Leader's Actions!

 

Check to right column for Sells' Latest!

Mike Johnson: “This was a purely political exercise, not a legal one… a shameful day in American history.”.

No. It was our judicial system working just as it was designed, Mr. Speaker. Since you don’t seem to understand how our legal system works, let me enlighten you.

The district attorney decides what crime to ascribe to a defendant. That is exclusively his prerogative. Whether or not a case should be brought to the criminal court is decided not by the prosecution nor by the defense. Instead, it is decided by a grand jury… twenty or more American citizens who listen to the evidence brought forth by the prosecution. Whether or not the case proceeds to trial is exclusively their responsibility. It was the grand jury, a group of American citizens, who decided to bring the case to trial AS IS DONE IN ALL CRIMINAL CASES. Not President Biden, not the Democrats.

The jury is picked by both the defense and the prosecution equally and fairly. Once the jury is picked, the trial is overseen by a judicial expert, the judge. Donald is certainly not an expert on legal matters so whatever he claims about the judge or the trial is superfluous. Despite what he may want, he does not call the shots in the courtroom. Finally, the jury, twelve Americans, weight the evidence and decide upon guilt or innocence. They decided Donald was guilty on all 34 counts. Donald nor you have any say in this matter, Mr. Speaker of guilt or innocence in the eyes of the law… just the twelve common men and women.

So, the “exercise” was perfectly legal. Admittedly, it wasn’t what Donald wanted. Once again, he has shown himself to be a poor loser by blaming the court instead of himself. Was the process shameful? Not at all, Mr. Speaker. It was a sterling example in which the court system worked perfectly without fear or favor.

What was shameful were the deprecating remarks you and other MAGA Republicans said about the rule of law. Instead of respecting the result, you rejected the rule of law. Shame on you!

~~~

Donald, convicted felon, continues to make false statements. Here’s one about why he thought his trial was “unfair”: “The judge allowed them [prosecution] to go into everything I was ever involved in.”

No, not everything, Donald. Nothing was said about how you were stripped of your “charity” because you used it for your own personal gain. Nothing was said about the young ladies in your beauty tournaments who you embarrassed by barging into their dressing rooms unannounced. Nothing was said about you being found liable for defaming columnist E. Jean regarding your sexual assault of her. Nothing was said about you exaggerating the value of his real estate and now having to pay back the government over $500 million. Nothing was said about your intimate involvement regarding the Jan. 6th insurrection. Nothing was said about your deliberate stealing and then deliberate hiding of Top-Secret documents. Nothing was said about your seven bankruptcies. Nothing was said about your unreliable credibility, your many, many lies… over 30,000 of which you made while being president. Finally, nothing was said about you duping your followers by asking them for campaign money which is then being used to pay off your debts.

~~~

When under so many indictments, it is wrong for Donald to run for president. He even said so himself!

After Donald found out the FBI were investigating Hillary Clinton for her missing emails, he said the following: "She is likely to be under investigation for many years, and also it will probably end up – in my opinion – in a criminal trial. I mean, you take a look. Who knows? But it certainly looks that way. She has no right to be running, you know that. No right."

LOL. And now Donald is past the investigation phase… four (4) grand juries have viewed the evidence and are convinced he should stand trial in four (4) criminal cases. Four! And, one is already completed and he was found guilty! So, per his own words, he “has no right to be running”. And, MAGA followers, just to quote your master again… “You know that. No right.”

We all wonder when the republican party will face the reality of what has happened... Too much delay has occurred due to the standard justice system where appeals can be made... But, let's face it, so many lies from the republicans have eroded the value of Truth. Robert Sells presents cogent, logical statements of fact, yet there would be many who say he is lying! Simply because they disagree... Because they have heard their choice of president speaking year in and year out lie after lie after lie... How can the average citizen discover and willingly admit that they've been lied to for so long... Will they ever get over that they have been fooled by a conman? Only time will tell...

Robert Sells Talks Politics! With Appropriate News Articles Supporting Today's Truth!

 

I love a little sarcasm when it perfectly makes the point...Thanks Bob, Gabbie

I want to thank Republicans for all they have done for our country. They were instrumental in having America break records! Yup, this last week we had three consecutive days in which the average temperature was higher than ever before. Hurray! Great job, Republicans. And the icing on the cake was those beautiful sunsets we’ve enjoyed over the last months, compliments of the smoke drifting from the Canadian forest fires. We even got to smell the delightful aroma of burnt wood. A Republican gift to America. All because they still refuse to believe scientists global warming is caused by an increase in carbon dioxide from our factories and vehicles.
Then there are the new state laws restricting abortions. So glad that Republicans now are telling women what they can and can’t do with their bodies. Let's face facts, folks. Things went downhill after women got the vote. Now the Republicans are finally getting those pesky women under control.
So many books! Heck, too many books. It makes perfect sense that Republicans should try to reduce the number so that our children aren't overwhelmed. 
Hence, it is perfectly understandable that they ban the books that talk about sexual matters. Shameful ugly topic. Such matters should only be discussed between a child and their parents. So throw out those books mentioning sex. Books like Catcher in the Rye, Handmaiden’s Tale, Catch 22, To Kill a Mockingbird, Of Mice and Men and that real scorcher, the Bible. Yeah, the Bible dwells too much on rape and incest. Then, of course, there is that little story about a father giving his young daughters to some weary travelers. Terrible sexual stuff in the Bible.
Republicans are finally curtailing the abuse by police. We’ve all seen how rogue police have unjustly manhandled our citizens, even murdering them. Well, Republicans have drawn the line in the sand. No more of that. Those police defending the Capitol on Jan. 6th… they were far too restrictive and combative with the “patriots” just trying to visit the Capitol. And look at the mess those police caused. 
Even the federal police force, the FBI, is clearly out of control when they execute search warrants on a person who stole Top Secret documents and refused to return some of them to their rightful owner. Terrible. Yes, investigate that rogue police force.
And, finally, we need to thank Republicans for supporting and defending a man who has torn our country apart with his lies, his vulgar words, his terrible treatment of women, and his threats to anyone who tries to stop him. He is stoking anger and fear such that his followers view Democrats as the enemy. Well, damn it… they are destroying the country; at least that’s what Donald, the paragon of truth, suggests. So, bring on the violence. Wasn’t it Jefferson who said that we need to spill a little blood every now and again to keep the movement growing?
So, thank-you, Republicans.

~~~

Talk about Truth Versus the Biggest Liar Ever... Along with his sycophants

Donald often minimizes his unethical and sometime criminal behavior by attributing the same behavior to his enemies. For example, when reputable news sources called him out on his many lies, he cried “FAKE NEWS”. 
Recently indicted for stealing Top Secret documents, he falsely claimed that other presidents committed the same crimes. His words and actions are steering us toward a fascist government. So, he calls Democrats “fascists”. 
It is this last distraction from facts that I want to address.

Fascism is control by a dictatorial leader relying on a forcible suppression of opposition; there is no democratic debate. There is also an inherent belief in a natural social hierarchy in which one race is superior to other races.
Fascist leaders gain power by creating public rage at presumed cultural targets. Most often they resort to lies. Recall when Donald claimed President Obama was not born in the United States thus implying he was not a legitimate president? This further polarized many Republicans who were uncomfortable with an intelligent black man being president. 
During the 2016 presidential campaign, Donald associated the Clintons with a number of deaths and suggested that they orchestrated those deaths; in other words, Donald essentially accused them of murders. Of course, there was no basis in facts in these accusations. He just found unsubstantiated claims from unreliable talking heads on the internet. Again and again, Donald uses dictatorial techniques to fan the fires of rage and resentment against his enemies.

But lying is not enough for a fascist leader. They have to constantly stoke anger and fear in their weak-minded followers. Donald did this with his divisive speeches and posts: He claimed that Mexico was sending us “rapists” and “murders”. And disease: “Tremendous infectious disease is pouring across the border.” He extolled his followers to be ready and willing to fight to take back a country that was presently controlled by a democratic government: “You’ll never take back our country with weakness, you have to show strength and you have to be strong”. Fear and anger, the lynchpins of fascism used by both Hitler in Germany and Putin in Russia.

Though subtle, Donald pushed his weak-minded MAGA followers into a belief that the rights of others must be curtailed just to maintain the “natural social hierarchy” of Christian whites. Muslims are dangerous and thus should be restricted from entering our countries. People of color come from “shit-hole” countries. Democrats were the enemy: “SINCE THE RADICAL LEFT INDICTMENT HOAX WAS INITIATED BY THE MISFITS, MUTANTS, MARXISTS, & COMMUNISTS!” 
Even knowledge itself was attacked by Donald: “Getting critical race theory out of our schools is … a matter of national survival.” His trigger words and phrases have been used by Fascists from Hitler to Putin.

So, no! Fascism is not being peddled by the Democrats. Indeed, fascism is what President Biden and the Democrats are trying to steer our country away from. In fact, fascism is being nurtured by Donald and his MAGA allies. For this and other reasons, Donald is a clear and present danger to our constitutional democracy.

What's Happening at Book Readers Heaven - What Will Happen As Changes Continue to Occur in 2023?

 

It's funny, you know, I didn't know how I would be sharing New Year's here at Book Readers Heaven, but before long, I found myself at Elevation Church! (This video is private so if interested, check it out at YouTube or Facebook) How Cool is That!?! Hearing a lot of new music and in awe as to how God Incidents seem to happen--just at the time that I needed to know--to know, for sure, that God is indeed with us!

Over the last week or so, I've been thinking about the Parable of the Talents and even began a draft post... Then somewhere along the way, I found a book... A truly remarkable book that, I assure you, could never have been placed in my hands... unless it was supposed to be...and read in sufficient time to share with you as part of the post already started... That will come next... But, it seems, that I've been waiting for this message... Just as the song says... I'm gonna wait on you...

You see, I've been so disgusted with the latest news about still another republican newly-elected congressman  who has totally lied about his "resume" as he ran for office to the U.S. Congress...

He joins the newly elected members who will take office in January, all of whom were election denyers as they were elected... Let's not think about whether that is a problem...let's face it, Donald Trump was a liar when he was elected and continued to lie through to his loss--and refusal to accept that loss, but instead went on to incite the January 6th, 2022, Insurrection.

Is America becoming a country that has no basic moral imperative NOT to lie? If you look at the history of the republican party during the last few years, and continuing into 2023, it becomes clear to those who are willing to watch, listen, and then accept the reality of where we are...

In a country that, no matter how much the incumbent president has accomplished, as promised, still every single thing that is discussed is related to the lies that are concurrently distributed by those who are maga followers. 

Sure, anybody will have to admit that they have lied from time to time and, mostly, for personal reasons that have little effect for others... This is NOT the same when politicians have taken an oath to follow the constitution, yet continue to lie and promulgate disinformation purely to cause confusion and chaos.

I'm disappointed because I see little if any change within the republican party to try to regain some bit of credibility and, also, to vote related to upcoming issues in Congress, to support America, rather than to continue to tear it apart with lies, including violence!

Still there is hope...Much has been put through since the Insurrection failed...and, if some republicans can begin to act in response to the needs of the United States, then we can continue to move forward... Don't forget, it's part of your responsibility to keep watch!

On a personal level, I'm now dealing with the aftermath of my hip replacement surgery. One leg is now shorter than the other, which had been predicted, but with a history of osteoporosis from my father's side of the family, I'm not sure what is the exact cause. I'm having a hard time walking with regular shoes (feeling like I'm falling forward), so will see how things go...

Next week I'll be heading to see my eye doctor to evaluate the size of cataracts on both eyes... Of course, my eyes are probably the most important part of my body for me, since I love to read and...spend time here sharing with all of you! Will let you all know what happens...

In the meantime, consider where you will be in the days ahead...Will you be working to help America through the continuing chaos? I hope so... We are seeing the results of an authoritarian leader, Putin, who, as one person, decided to start bombing another country, just because of his desire for more power! I, too, have concerns about how financial issues will be handled for Ukraine and the freedom that is being fought for daily. May reason, intelligence, research, and logic be used to move forward in saving a sister democracy, even as we fight here at home for our own! Freedom is not as easy as we once thought, is it?

God Bless

Gabbi

With Continued Incitement of Lies and Violence, Republican Party Continues to Provokes and "Use" Americans to Gain Power

 

Each morning as I awake, I start thinking about writing about the wonderful books I've been reading, only to turn on the News and Learn of Still Anothr Mass Shooting!

Have you noticed that many television stations are pulling out specific past programs to highlight what is now happening in America... All over America, there are people striving to stop what has and is happening to America... Many writers are also using topics that are on the nightly news in one way or another, again, normally to show the "good over evil" theme... For surely, there is indeed a fight between good and evil... and right now, evil is winning... In my opinion, because they are allowed to, for whatever reason... And, it appears that, also my opinion, most of this incitement is coming from the republican party...

Take for instance, the Law and Order program last night. (The third video aboves highlights the theme.) Freedom of Speech Versus Use of Speech to Incite Hate and Violence. Let me just say that the man who incited hate and violence in white boys, was found guilty!!!

Yet republicans continues  to incite... Mike Pompeo chose to name One Woman the most dangerous person in the world... Is this garbage dissemination for real? 

Former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo speaks during a Republican Jewish Coalition Annual Leadership Meeting in Las Vegas on November 18, 2022.

Weingarten pushed back hard on Twitter. “I know that Mike Pompeo is running for president, and frankly, I don’t know whether to characterize his characterization ... as ridiculous or dangerous,” she wrote.

Weingarten accused Pompeo of defending “the Middle East’s tyrants,” “undermining Ukraine,” and kowtowing to Trump instead of “fighting 4 freedom.”

“So Mike, let me make it easy for you,” Weingarten continued in her Twitter thread. “We fight for freedom, democracy, and an economy that works for all. We fight for what kids & communities need. Strong public schools that are safe and welcoming, where kids learn how to think & work with others. That’s the American Dream!” (Click to read the rest of the news story...

Of course, all those running for office, or those who are now in congress or will be coming on board in January...are telling lies and spreading and inciting disinformation...

It is quite easy, therefore, to immediately tie all of the recent mass shootings to the republican party as well. Why? Well, we all know that answer don't we? But, just to clarify...I'm sharing what happens when the republicans refuse to stop assault guns used to murder in large numbers 

 Mass Murder at Walmart last night

Mass Murder at Community social club November 21

Mass Murder on college campuses days ago...

And it's extremely hard for me, especially, to see that supposed Christians have supported all of this such as January 6th!

The thing is, most of us are so confused because of the lies and disinformation, that we cannot know WHO TO BELIEVE! When I was told that if I was a Christian, I had to vote for republicans... Then, I've sat watching all the incitement of hate, prejudice, and so many lies... One thing I cling to is that God Is Love. Surely, He does not expect us to believe those who claim being a christian when at the same time, we see that republicans have for many years refused to do just one thing: Ban the military style guns which have and are being used to murder innocents, including our children... I find only one solace, I see those speaking out, those voting out extremists who claim to be christian, but talk of war, hate...instead of loving our neighbors...

I have NO choice. I must believe those who seek to eliminate the hate, the violence... Can we justify to ourselves, our God, doing something differently?

Bottom Line for me, though is this: Where were the Christians' outrage when ball games began to be played on our supposed Sabbath, and so many watch or play and even left church early (where I attended) to get to games! 

Or consider that Christians have made no public concern about the fact that TV and Movie, and Game stars pull in more of an audience than do church leaders...

Or consider that many Christians have allowed and made Santa Claus and the Bunny Rabbit more important on two of the most important Christian celebrations...allowing their children to see just how much parents supposedly follow Christ our Savior...

Or consider that sexual abuse, human trafficking of children and teens, especially, and drugs are part of many lives of those who claim to be Christians... No wonder young people are having more and more problems with mental issues, given the hypocrisy seen... while their parents scream and even kill for changing laws on abortion, while supporting political leaders who "approve" of incest, rape, and lack of medical care for women... How could we possibly expect Americans to believe that we should be a "Christian" nation?!

God Bless

Gabbie

 

Republican Gomorrah: Inside the Movement That Shattered the Party, Part II, by Max Blumenthal

Vote Against Election Deniers 

Who Threaton Constitutional Freedoms!

Note that I did not purchase the book by James Dobson... Excerpt is from Republican Gomorrah...

Dobson’s manual, Dare to Discipline, read like a manifesto for domestic violence when it finally appeared in 1970. He urged parents to beat their young children, preferably with a “neutral object” such as a belt or a rod, lest they turn into drug-addled longhairs. He also advised administering a healthy spanking every now and again. “A little bit of pain goes a long way for a young child,” Dobson wrote. “However, the spanking should be of sufficient magnitude to cause the child to cry genuinely. After the emotional ventilation, the child will often want to crumple to the breast of his parent, and he should be welcomed with open, warm, loving arms.” For parents struggling with children who refused to cooperate in public, Dobson recommended a slightly less vigorous technique than spanking. “There is a muscle, lying snuggly against the base of the neck [and] whenfirmly squeezed, it sends little messengers to the brain saying, ‘This hurts; avoid recurrence at all costs.’” Dobson instructed his readers to firmly pinch the necks not only of their own sons and daughters, but of the inadequately disciplined children of complete strangers as well. “It can be utilized in countless situations where face-to-face confrontations occur between child and adult,” Dobson said of his technique. To reinforce his advice, Dobson offered an anecdote that read as though it were lifted from the script of Dirty Harry (in which he used his strength to overpower a young teen who was attacking an older man.) 

When Dobson updated his child-rearing advice in his 1992 manual The Strong-Willed Child, he extended his advocacy of corporal punishment to unruly household pets.

To Dobson, children were to be treated no differently than dogs. Both were preternaturally prone to rebellion, so both should be “crushed” with violent force.

By about this time, I felt sick to my stomach as I soon began to realize that this man was instigating violence within the home and without...in order to respond to authority/orders... And that he used the organization he led to send out letters that "told his family" how to vote... The story continued that this was about the time of the Kent State murders and a group of hard-hat rioters started a murderous riot which was later learned to be instigated by Nixon's special counsel, Colson...

Can we make a firm hypothesis that between 1970 and and around 2000, the indoctrination of violence rather than love to train our children had been firmly implemented in many homes across America. 

By the summer of 1973, Colson was preparing for his trial for obstruction of justice. With the prosecution preparing its case against him and the press corps homing in on his role in the Watergate break-in, Colson knelt on the floor with his friend Raytheon CEO Tom Phillips. While Colson fought back tears in an embarrassed state of silence, Phillips prayed for his soul. Driving through Washington afterward, Colson suddenly began to cry “tears of release.” 

“I repeated over and over the words, Take me . . . ” Colson wrote in his best-selling memoir, Born Again. “Something inside me was urging me to surrender.” Soon after, Colson sought out Dobson and Francis Schaeffer as prayer partners. When Colson finally came to Jesus, he became America’s best-known born-again Christian, lending exposure to a cultural phenomenon erupting below the radar of the mainstream press and secular America. In the Washington Post, columnist Nicholas Von Hoffman mocked his conversion as a cynical ploy, panning it as “a socially approved way of having a nervous breakdown.” While Colson appeared to remove himself from politics, he quietly planned a strategy to regain his former influence...

Of course, Colson may have indeed been changed... but he also then moved to regain his former influence and power... And, Colson went on to work within prisons for reform, based upon some promised instantaneous miracle... and his scifi book Gideon's Torch seens little more than a preliminary conceptual planning for the January 6th attack. Not surprisingly, Gideon’s Torch became a recruiting tool for those wishing to realize its fictional narrative. It has been excerpted at length on the website of the "Army of God," a radical anti-abortion group responsible for the killing and bombing of abortion providers. 

When Dobson first entered public life, his understanding of politics was amateur at best. Colson became his counsel, providing him with high-level Republican contacts and help devising a strategy to transform his growing flock into an influential political bloc. Colson could never have fulfilled the strategy on his own. Indeed, no figure in the burgeoning evangelical movement shared Dobson’s psychological understanding of his audience on an intimate level. Only Dobson recognized events such as the hard-hat riot as integral parts of a gathering backlash against liberalism. His advocacy of corporal punishment was carefully intended to channel the violent backlash in the streets into a coherent grassroots movement with himself as its guru. Dobson’s teachings resonated on a profound level with the backlashers. By 1976, Dare to Discipline had been reprinted eighteen times and sold over a million copies. His success propelled him into the rapidly expanding evangelical broadcast industry. Dobson’s new radio show and ministry, "Focus on the Family," became immensely popular as well. Now, the followers eager to implement his harsh methods had grown into a belt-wielding army of millions. Corporal punishment was back with a vengeance. 

Philip Greven, a professor of history at Rutgers University and a leading expert on Protestant religious thought, is one of the few researchers of American conservatism who has recognized the impact of corporal punishment on the sensibility of movement members. In his incisive book Spare the Child: The Religious Roots of Punishment and the Psychological Impact of Physical Abuse, Greven analyzed Dare to Discipline in detail, concluding that Dobson’s violent child-rearing methods served an underlying purpose, producing droves of activists embarked on an authoritarian mission. “The persistent ‘conservatism’ of American politics and society is rooted in large part in the physical violence done to children,” Greven wrote. “The roots of this persistent tilt towards hierarchy, enforced order, and absolute authority—so evident in Germany earlier in this century and in the radical right in America today—are always traceable to aggression against children’s wills and bodies, to the pain and the suffering they experience long before they, as adults, confront the complex issues of the polity, the society, and the world.”

While Dobson worked with the psychological issues of aggression and more, he twisted it into a period of "purity" during which any individual must reveal their deepest darkest secrets before they could become a "member" of his family... The problem with this was, of course, that there is a difficult, if not an impossible issue with both allowing violence to be the controlling factor while at the same time demanding a level of purity and submission to a dominant... Certainly, this was never what Jesus had ever asked of us, especially when He gave us Our Free Will...

Yet, the movement grew and grew and a future plan of action was installed:  ... would stop gun control, outlaw abortion, limit the rights of homosexuals, curb contraception, end the constitutional separation of church and state, and adopt the Ten Commandments as guiding principles for public schools.”

And what happens when you have power--the power of a group of people--a cult--who will follow directions from their leader? Well, heading directly into influencing the political structure is a key part of fulfilling their goals, isn't it?

Are you aware that every single president through the election where Obama was elected (and which ended the book time coverage) has been forced to seek top-down authority to even choose what and who would be running with you?

Take for instance John McCain. Many of us would have already heard that he had originally wanted to choose a democratic senator to be his VP... This is true... What you may not know is that the far right only considered him because they forced him to take Palin as his VP running mate... "She" was the one they supported, not one of the greatest republican leaders that we all respected...

And when Obama attempted to meet with Dobson??? He was refused even one meeting... I guess that shows exactly what Dobson was all about...doesn't it? 

Of course, there are many other corrupt activities that were exposed, not the least of which was that there are more divorces and teenage pregnancies in this group than in any other... Frankly, I didn't even want to throw all of that crap into my discussion, but it's there...

I saw enough, like Roger Stone being involved early on in this movement, to form a conclusion that what was being written had a basis for exactly what is now happening... The Shattering of the Republic Party... Surely no longer standing on solid ground...

Full Disclosure: This author has been seen as writing about conspiracy theories and can be possibly discounted by some...

That doesn't bother me. He is writing about authoritarian type regimes and we happen to be one of those at the moment, from the inside...

Nobody can question that the republican party has constantly refused to work to respond to the nation-wide cry for gun control, and in particular the banning of military-style rifles...

Nobody can question that the use of violence, bias, prejudice, and lies has become a part of the people running for political office and that they are extreme in their positions of working to control power...

What I know is this: Jesus gave His Life to ransom all who call upon His name...He died that we might live in love for all...and in love for God...

I did not come to Christ as a matter of personal crisis, but because of what He offered to Us...His Gifts of Love and Truth...

This book gave me the answer to my question of WHY?

I pray that, as God as He promised, those who love him will not be damaged because pride has gone before the fall... 

The constitution speaks for our government.

God Speaks for Love and Truth...

God Bless Us All

Gabbie

SEEK TRUTH