The International Court of "Justice" Tries Dictating To the U.S.

The International Court of Justice, an arm of the United Nations, has "ordered" that the Trump Administration curtail certain sanctions against Iran that they believe violate the Amity agreement we made with Iran over 60 years ago that includes humanitarian and related aid to what has since become an Islamic theocracy that wilfully and aggressively not only rules its citizens with a monstrous and heavy hand, but uses whatever assets it can lay hands on to disrupt peace and stability throughout the region, from funding terrorism to arming, equipping and supporting insurrectionists.

We withdrew from the International Court years ago, anyway, because it was obvious that where the United States was concerned, it was weaponized by numerous third world dictatorships and others, as well as certain "allies," to undermine what amounted to modifying American global policies to our detriment.

Now, after Iran's government "took us to task" before that "court,"  that have ruled that our sanctions on Iran violate this agreement enacted with a country which, to all intents and purposes, is no longer the same country.

At the same time, while its decrees are "binding," this "court" does not actually possess the necessary power to enforce its decisions.

On the other hand, the people who live under the brutal heel of the ayatollah-run Iranian government, the citizens of Iran, are having a tough time of it as instead of using its monetary assets to provide for the good of the people, their government uses its funds to finance it's unwelcome and supremely disruptive external adventures.

That is one of several reasons the Iranian people have been clamoring for regime change, an end to rule by the despotic mullahs, and it would behoove America to support this movement by continuing the sanctions, thereby further weakening the government over there and by extension furthering the cause of those seeking a more benevolent national leadership.

We must also realize the fact that the UN, of which that court as a whole belongs to, contains too many small, hostile third world s**tholes whose leaders want to see America cut down to size and have votes at the UN on issues related to our interests.

Which is one reason why our membership in that global body is not beneficial to the United States in any way, and why our continued hosting and disproportionately financing it with yours and my tax dollars has, for far too long, been a really stupid idea.

Worse yet, the United Nations has, over the years, grown too big for its proverbial britches and blatantly demonstrates ambitions to become a global government whose interests supercede the sovereignty of its member countries, including ours.

One excellent example is its climate change related agenda, supposedly based on the as yet unproven theory of anthropogenic global warming, which is no more than a bid to insert themselves into the economies of developed nations and share the wealth of their taxpayers with corrupt and stifling regimes that contribute nothing to the rest of the world other than refugees escaping their listless economies. Naturally, the UN would hold the purse strings of the socialist world they envision.

Now they, through their "justice" court, expect our country to go against our own sensibilities and security judgements to accommodate their corrupt and oppressive friends in Tehran. More to that story is the fact that the EU, even knowing that ours is the right move, cares more about our sanctions interfering with their commercial interests in Iran than they do about the mayhem the Iranian regime is responsible for. As a result, they support our returning (not very likely) to the incredibly naive "Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action," or JCPOA, embraced by the Obama Administration.

President Trump and Secretary of State Pompeo should tell the "International Court of Justice" where to insert their latest ruling and move on, treating both the court and the ruling with the same amusement with which a big dog might treat a snarling chihuahua.

...or get off the pot

I know, the Kavanaugh fiasco simply won't go away, you can't open up a newspaper, watch a news broadcast, visit a news website or a political blog, or read an opinion page without seeing, hearing or reading something about the circus that the Democrats have made of what should have been a simple Supreme Court confirmation process.

The entire circus should have packed up its tents and moved on last week after the hearing in which both Judge Kavanaugh and his most credible (though not credible in the slightest if the requirement of any trace of evidence was present) accuser had concluded.

The full Senate should have held the final confirmation vote immediately after, not after still another week (this time of pointless FBI  inquiries).

Even the most profoundly obtuse man or woman observing this fiasco would have to realize beyond the shadow of a doubt that this entire issue is nothing but a delaying tactic by the Democratic Party, who are willing to destroy a good man's reputation and career without even the slightest compunction and make a mockery of the entire confirmation process just to prevent that deserved and highly worthy confirmation from taking place until their perceived "blue wave" gives them the majority they need to scuttle the entire Kavanaugh nomination.

They even have an unfounded perjury charge lined up to further delay the process for when the FBI'S so-called "investigation" has concluded; anything to delay.

This is chicken droppings that should offend every American, both because the Democrats are insulting our intelligence by trying to sell us the lie that they are doing this because they are "concerned" about Brett Kavanaugh's integrity and morality, and because they are, in every way, shape and form, not only setting a disgraceful precedent but making a true mockery of our judicial system.

This is, frankly, because today's Democrats haven't got a lick of respect for America's institutions, Constitution or, for that matter, the American people as a whole.

They seek nothing but power, and when they have it, they use it to subjugate every norm, concept and liberty we as Americans have enjoyed since some of the smartest people in history sat down together and drafted the Constitution.

Eight years of Obama and a lot of hard cash to Democrats courtesy of the likes of George Soros and others of his ilk have brought our country, after decades of hard work by the far left, to an actual precipice... One very small push is all it will take to change this great nation for the worse, and that push could come if the Democrats achieve a majority in Congress this November.

If the Democrats succeed at knocking Kavanaugh put of the box, the GOP can kiss the November midterm elections goodbye. It will show even most die hard Republican voters that their party stands for nothing but hot air, broken promises, weakness and capitulation, and all too many of those people will simply shrug and say "Why bother voting? It doesn't matter whom I vote for, because the Republicans aren't going to fight for me and the Democrats, no matter what they promise, offer nothing I want any part of."

In short, if the Republicans want to win this November, they absolutely must retain some semblance of credibility, and that means they absolutely must break their recent tradition of snivelling in the face of the Democratic Party and use their present majority the way the Democrats would use theirs, and end the bullshit once and for all by showing they are a potential force and confirming Brett  Kavanaugh as an associate justice of the Supreme Court.

If they can't get together and do even that,  they will only confirm what many of us conservatives have already begun to suspect, that the Democrats don't need a majority to get whatever they desire, the Republicans in Congress will gladly surrender to them on any issue without a fight.

I mean, if the Republican Party is that irrelevant anyway, why bother voting? Does it really matter who is in power if only one party has the final say, regardless?

I think not.

Flake Lives Up to His Name

Yes, Flake flaked out.

Two posts ago I presented my views on the kerfuffle the Democrats have created around what should have been simply the confirmation of a new associate justice to the Supreme Court, basically turning it into a cesspool for purely partisan "gain."

That and the fact that the media has been burying us for days in an avalanche of more partisan Kavanaugh reporting is the reason I won't bother recapping.

Instead, I will say that, after the delayed confirmation was approved on the more than expected 11-10 party line vote, Sen. Flake, rather than bring it right to a vote by the entire Senate, bent to the will of the Fine Steen and pushed back the vote yet another week to have the FBI conduct a completely pointless "investigation" that will undoubtedly yield no additional information.

Meanwhile, Brett Kavanaugh and his family have to wait another week before, hopefully, the nightmare is finally over.

And believe me, for a church-going and very wholesome Christian family like the Kavanaughs apparently are, this ordeal has to be a nightmare.

This is a prime example of why, while I am very much against what today's version of the Democrats are doing to this country, I am not a registered Republican, either, haven't been since 2006.

Between January of 1995 and January of 2007, the Republicans held a stronger majority in both the House and Senate. Twelve years. Between January of 2001 and January of 2009 there was also a Republican president. Six years of a combined Congressional majority and same party president, and after the smoke cleared, the country had moved farther to the left.

This has very little to do with the will of the people, it has a great deal to do with the character of the politicians that the bulk of Republican voters keep sending to Congress and keep reelecting.

The Democrats no longer represent the American working class, they are hand-in- glove with elitist "progressives" who are, for the most part, wealthier than middle class. These people are, because they are more expensively educated and better "heeled," are in all too many cases  self-styled intellectuals who believe that members of their "enlightened" club are far more qualified to determine what is best for the rest of us.

This is where the leftists come into the picture.

These are well financed groups as well as individuals whose goal is to take down the American behemoth, render our Constitution moot and ease this great country, using the boiling frog method, into the arms of socialism.

Our gullible (Lenin called them "useful idiots") liberals, er, "progressives," were and are an easy sell for the leftists and at the same time, Democrat politicians, in fact the entire party structure, were and are taking large campaign contributions from the left.

Despite all the noble words heaped upon them by colleagues after they die, career politicians are, to get right down to it, whores. They take someone's money...

...and they have to sing for their supper.

The worst mix of leftist propaganda is the combination derived from said input and money with the liberal elitists who are most entrenched in the Democratic Party, already rich politicians like Nancy Pelosi or the Fine Steen.

The frog in their collective pot has mostly come to a boil. America is mired in destructive identity politics, our moral fabric has been badly frayed and the left, consisting now of the "progressives," the far left and bought & paid for Democrat politicians are attacking every American institution, fighting tooth and nail against every common sense policy and idea that presents itself.

The media is right there with them, lying to us just as the Democrats, from Obama to Pelosi to Hillary Clinton to the Fine Steen are lying to us, fighting desperately to either eliminate or belittle the positive changes the Trump Presidency has been overseeing, playing the filthiest and most dishonorable politics in the history of our country.

And the Republicans?

They, too, are whores, but unfortunately they are weak, rubber spined, gutless whores who, not wanting to offend anybody who might vote for them, are easily bullied by the Democrats.

All a Democrat has to do is call any Republican a "racist," a "facist," any kind of a "phobe" and that Republican instantly becomes the Democrat's snivelling, boot licking ass boy. What a way to win a war, just call the enemy names and surrender is imminent.

What I find most disturbing about them is that these Republicans are not stupid, all of them know the stakes at this stage of the game, yet they love their lifestyles and their status more than they love their country or give a damn about the people back home who elected and reelected their sorry carcasses.

So they aren't as willing to fight against what the Democratic Party has in store for us as the Democrats are willing to fight them, and by extension, us.

We, the People.

Anyone who has been paying attention should realize what's at stake. The folks on the left have given us fair and blatant warning:

An end to U.S. sovereignty via wide open borders/ sanctuary cities and states, unmitigated kowtowing to a U.N. that holds anything but an America First agenda at heart, rewriting most of the Bill of Rights to our detriment, including the rights to freedom of religion and the presumption of innocence, treating the taxpayers like an ATM while enacting socialist policies that will further degrade personal ambition, drive employers back offshore between suffocating taxation and regulation; They will preside over increases in crime and racial tensions, an education system deteriorating even further than it has, a weaker military and an open season for the corrupt.

We have already seen how the Democrats turned a blind eye to Hillary Clinton's corruption as Secretary of State, from her pay to play hijinx to the Uranium One episode, the way the Obama Adyministration dragged the Justice Department, the FBI and the CIA under its shameless umbrella of corruption as they gave Hillary Clinton a free pass on her email server "discrepancy" and illegally fabricated a Russia Collusion smear against President Trump that for some reason hasn't yet gone away.

We saw how Obama's first Attorney General, Eric Holder, managed to skate on the issue of his culpability for the "Fast and Furious" debacle, how Hillary's totally inexcusable Benghazi tragedy was simply swept under a rug by the Democrats, so that later she wasn't even criticized by her fellow Democrats when she said of the Benghazi affair, "At this point, what does it matter?"

We saw the "Affordable Healthcare Act," in which Obama said, "You can keep your health insurance" and later millions of working/middle class families lost their insurance because ObamaCare drove insurers' costs up astronomically. Before the vote, then Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi had said, "You have to vote for it to know what's in it."

We saw President Obama sign an agreement, without obtaining the required Congressional approval, called the "Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action," JCPOA, that put a mere sunset clause on Iranian abandonment of their aggressive nuclear ambitions while bankrolling the ayatollah and friends with more than enough money, hard U.S. cash, to foment terrorism and insurrection throughout the Middle East and points south while their  citizens we're going hungry.

Then we saw Obama's other award winning secretary of state, John Kerry, acting as a "private citizen," travelling to Tehran to try and undermine President Trump's withdrawal from the bad deal. That was essentially treason, but the Democrats (and the liberal media) were completely silent about it.

Now, having said all of the above, think about this:

Having demonstrated that corruption doesn't bother them as long as another Democrat is involved and seeing the mess that socialism had made of certain other countries that were previously doing quite well and seeing also how corruption and oppression of those who disagree with the party in charge are part and parcel of a socialist government, coupled with what the Democrats have been up to, why would any American want to see that party come out on top? I mean last time I looked we were a capitalist republic, not a masochistic republic.

Which brings us back to the Republican Party. 

What are those people doing? Bringing a knife to a gunfight? Attempting to follow Queensbury rules in a street fight?

The Tea Party, whose people saw where things were going, had the right idea: Vote out ineffective or "lite" Republicans and elect candidates who would get up on their hind legs and fight for the principles that made America the greatest and most unique nation in history.

Once the Tea Party helped secure a new majority for the party, the establishment Republican politicians viewed them as a threat and shoved them aside.

Maybe we need the Tea Party back in full strength. Between them and President Trump, we could send the leftists back under the stone from whence they came and continue restoring America to the peak of greatness.

A Comment on the Anarchy Issue

In my last post I mentioned that I see Kalifornia as, because of the essentially "nothing too left" political environment, very likely headed for near total anarchy.

I see the Democrats, who are forever moving farther from American norms and more toward the totalitarian left, as being complicit, wittingly or unwittingly, with entities like George Soros who want to push us as far to port as they can.

Most of these are citizens who vote for Democrats because they've always voted for Democrats.. It's how they vote, period.

Many of the rest are what Lenin called western liberals: "useful idiots."

These are the ones the voters put and keep eternally in office, and the wealthy liberal elitists who, as a collective, are clueless as to where this all can lead.

If you've ever read The Scarlet Pimpernel, which is set during the French Revolution, remember all those hundreds of people the common, rank and file Frenchmen we're beheading on the guillotine?

Those were these same liberal elitists, only in another country in another time.

Now, while I'd be the last person to suggest that anyone deserves to be thusly dispatched, or even harrassed for their political beliefs, I will say that they are actually very silly fools.

Why?

For one thing, this plunge into anarchy that is inevitable if we continue using illegal immigration as a political football instead of the threat it actually is from the standpoints of both economic considerations and public safety.

If we don't do something about the homelessness crisis, the opioid crisis...
...and it's not only a problem with opioids,  in Kalifornia there are meth heads running amok in cities like Los Angeles, Santa Monica, San Francisco... Used needles laying around on sidewalks, feces as well, raggedy tents lining city blocks, and a large percentage of the drugs being purchased on the street is financed by the taxpayer.

How?

Thousands of young people in their twenties and thirties, living on the streets, collecting welfare or Social Security disability and buying little other than illegal drugs, spending their monthly incomes in less than a week, then panhandling, shoplifting or whatever else they need to do to obtain their crank, crack or other contraband substances.

The social security administration doles out disability to non-disabled, "just lazy" or "too busy partying to be bothered with work" types.

Local liberal politicians ensure that their police forces "go easy" on such people.

Why?

Because, like all the other deviations from the norms, it adds to the anarchy.

Here is the problem with these leftists' lines of reasoning.

The purpose of creating a state of anarchy in a country is to eventually drive the masses to declare "enough is enough!" and demand that the government take control and rid society of the lawlessness.

In that way, a government can take control with the tacit approval of the people to take "extraordinary measures" to instill security and peace...

The government turns totalitarian, and by the time the people realize what they've allowed to happen, it's too late.

As is always the case with the left wing, like today's Democrats, they never take things like human nature or ultimate costs into account when they make plans for our future.

This is why I think they're collectively as dumb as a box of rocks.

What they don't get is that unlike in the past, "the people" in this case are not peasants of old. They, we, are Americans who would fight before we would submit to the kind of government the left wants to foist on us.

Unfortunately, when we reach the point where the left wants to take us, we would be in a state of complete ruin as a nation.

Jerry Brown Drops a Jaw or Two

I was surprised when I learned that generally left wing, pro-sanctuary state Kalifornia Governor Jerry Brown has vetoed SB 174, a bill that, had he signed it, would have made it legal for illegal aliens to serve on local boards, among other civil venues, and would have prohibited federal authorities from making arrests in Kalifornia court houses.

Jerry Brown, of all people!

More astounding, he gave as his primary reason that "I believe existing law, which requires citizenship for these forms of public service, is the better path."

For Brown to say that is nothing short of pure serendipity.

The Golden State is, in various places, enough of a mess as it is, but the way the left wingers here never seem to consider that maybe they've gone far enough, Kalifornia may one day soon descend into an abyss of pure, unmitigated anarchy.

It's nice to see this one sliver of common sense manifesting itself in the extremely wayward politics of Kalifornia.

The Kavanaugh Fiasco

Hopefully, this profoundly disgraceful chapter in the annals of the so-called "Resistance" is finally over and the Senate will finally return to the process leading to the confirmation of an eminently qualified judge to the Supreme Court.

It's really kind of tragic that the party I grew up in hasn't grown up as well. It's worse that they have grown to display so much contempt for not only the letter of the Constitution and any pride in being Americans, but also for concepts that are vital elements of the fabric that makes our country both unique and truly great.

Freedom of speech, freedom of religion, the rule of law, civility...

None of these concepts apply to today's Democrats, just as unbiased, truthful reporting no longer applies to the liberal mainstream media.

This is not the first time the Democratic Party has employed drummed up sexual allegations to eliminate someone whose honorable and patriotic worldview didn't conform to theirs.

Remember when David "dirty deeds done dirt cheap" Axelrod falsely smeared 2012 Republican primary candidate Herman Cain? That was done because the last person Barack Obama needed running against him was a mega-successful black man who had grown up poor in the Jim Crow south.

The timing and details involved in the three attempts by the Democrats to destroy Brett Kavanaugh's reputation, career and family life were so obvious, to anyone who thought about it, as to show us "average Americans" how little respect they have for our intelligence.

The Fine Steen and her cohorts have also shown us how little respect they have for the overall process of confirming an associate justice to the highest court in the land.

I watched Judge Kavanaugh give his very strong, sincere testimony before the committee today, and whenever the face of Dianne Feinstein came on camera, you could see nothing there but pure evil.

Like everything else that these people have made a mockery of, they've now politically weaponized the Me Too movement.

These are people who are so despicably bent on taking control of our government and imposing a new order that any true, liberty loving American will not like even one bit.

They have shown themselves of late to oppose virtually every concept of American sensibility, love of country and morality.

I fervently hope that the majority of voting Americans realize what's very definitely at stake, at this point in time, when they go to the polls in November.

Music

My tastes in contemporary music, with a few early 1980s exceptions, are mostly from the Progressive Rock genre:

Yes, Focus, early Genesis (with Peter Gabriel and Steve Hackett), Triumvirat, Emerson, Lake & Palmer, the Moody Blues, Jethro Tull, Mystery, Asia, Druid  and of course, Renaissance.

I'm also a fan of the Marshall Tucker Band, the Allman Brothers, Charlie Daniels, 1970s-80s Country and Cajun Zydeco music, accordions, washboards, fiddle and all...

Some say the latter is an acquired taste, but having spent a lot of time in New Orleans, I've had a lot of exposure to it and have a few favorites, like Fontenot and Buckwheat Zydeco as well as great club bands such as one I was partial to years ago called Mamou.

Then there are some fellow old folks, at least two of whom are unfortunately deceased; Judy Collins, Bob Dylan, Joan Baez, Leonard Cohen, Peter, Paul and Mary...

... and I've downloaded some Bach, Handel and Mozart, three of my favorite Classical composers, though I'm having trouble trying to get a Corelli download I want.

Life's tough, what can I say?

Having lost a phone recently, I've been  downloading a lot of replacement music into my new Motorola, which Metro PCS gave me a generous upgrade on, the new one also coming equipped with 16 gigs of storage space, most of which is already filled with downloaded music, and I haven't yet added an SD card.

I have no qualms about downloading free, since virtually every album is one I've previously purchased in more than one form: vinyl, then cassette, then CD and most through venues like defunct Yahoo! Music.

I haven't yet found any music newer than the mid 1980s that has appealed to me in the slightest.

When I was in my preadolescent years, I was exposed to quite a bit of live opera as well, but the only one I can say that I came away enjoying, for the songs, orchestration and the story, was Carmen.

Even then, the only version I'd really want to own is a filmed BBC version, conducted by Zubin Mehta, in which the awesome Maria Ewing sings Carmen. So far, I've been unable to find it, and then mostly in pieces on YouTube, and the volume of the video is somewhat lower than I'd like.

Since I tend to do a lot of traveling and a lot of getting around wherever I happen to be, my phone is a combination communications tool, office, internet access/ reference library, filing cabinet, entertainment center and work space all rolled into one, and I'm still learning how to use everything I need to, being as I am...

...an analog man in a digital world.