20200706 WRITING - DAY 6

Yesterday's efforts:

My Black Tee Shirt

Everyone I know has a collection of seldom-worn tee-shirts?  I must have 100 or more stashed in various places.    The nice ones get a hanger in my closet.  The less-frequently-worn ones get folded neatly and stored in a dresser drawer, seldom opened.  And the worn out ones occupy a shelf near my gym stuff.  And this is where my black tee shirt has been kept for the last several years.

It was given to me by my former significant other, Ed Ross.  It's black, with a white image on it.  I'm wondering now if the colors have significance.  Ed had visited Atlanta on business, and had gone to see the Stone Mountain monument which has carvings of 3 confederate generals (Lee, Jackson, Davis) on horseback. He brought me back the tee shirt as a "trip gift."

Until the other day, I had never bothered to ask myself or anyone about the monument.  I had not known that it was a monument to these three Confederates, who were enemies of the Union.. They supported slavery, and they fought against freedom and equality for black Americans.  But I ignorantly wore the black tee shirt to the gym.

Today we Americans are considering whether we should have public emblems and monuments honoring confederate soldiers and leaders ANYwhere in our country.  Mississippi decided THIS WEEK to remove the confederate part of their State flag.  Wow - more than 150 years after the South lost the Civil War!  And some Southerners STILL want to keep the flag, and the monuments.

Well, my tee shirt was a gift that I've been wearing - UNKNOWINGLY supporting the confederacy - for more than 20 years.  I'm sure that some have seen it and wondered why I would wear it.

I wore it only because it was a gift.  When it wore out a bit, I moved it to my workout shirt stack.  People at the gym likely saw it, but no one ever said anything.  Maybe they wondered why I would wear it.

I cycle everything:  socks, belts, shoes, towels.... EVERYthing.  I'd like the things I own to wear out evenly.  So, I wash, dry and fold my gym workout clothes, and I put them at the bottom of the stack.  That way, I'll pick & wear my clothes evenly.

So 2 days ago, I noticed that the "GEORGIA'S STONE MOUNTAIN" tee shirt was next.  I quickly grabbed it and a pair of scissors, and I cut the image of Lee, Davis and Stonewall right through their faces.

Then I rolled them up into a ball and tossed them into my trash can.  Where they belong.  That felt both right and good.

**********

ANOTHER TOPIC

I'm formulating a response to Ron Thornton who objected to my recent FaceBook post, which reads as follows:

TRUMP TELLS US NOT TO TRUST THE FBI, THE JUSTICE DEPARTMENT, THE FREE PRESS ... AND NOW THE COURTS.  HE IS TRYING TO UNDERMINE EVERY INDEPENDENT CHECK ON HIS POWER.  IF THAT DOESN'T ALARM YOU, IT SHOULD.

Ron Replied

fact check not true

I Replied

RON, are you saying that you did fact checks on all of that, and that any or all are not true?  Please explain in greater detail.  Or we can just drop it since we probably won't agree.

Ron Replied

Trump has often said that the FBI is the premier law enforcement agency in the world and does great work for our Country.  He is the head of the Justice Department so it stands to reason that he isn't undermining himself.  A free press is great if they are not propaganda.  I refer you to Mark Levin's book Unfreedom of the Press.  It is an excellent read.  And speaking of the MSM, they reported Supreme Court decisions incorrectly recently leading the President and others to make unnecessary comments that have now been settled.

I will Reply:

I learned a long time ago that Trump SAYS things, but then DOES things that contradict what he has said.  As many political pundits advise, when it comes to Trump, watch what he DOES, and not just what he SAYS.

FBI

Trump has said what you say he's said.

Here's what Trump has DONE:

Trump has fired or removed the following FBI career professionals because he could not rely on their protection and loyalty:

Director James Comey

Deputy Director Andrew McCabe

Special Agent Peter Strzok

(All three of the above played or were still playing a role in the investigation into the Trump's campaign before they were fired)

FBI Attorney Lisa Page

DOJ

From the US Constitution:  "Chapter 31, section 503 for us mortals). Specifically:

The President shall appoint, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, an Attorney General of the United States. The Attorney General is the head of the Department of Justice.

From Wikipedia:  "The United States Attorney General (AG) is the head of the United States Department of Justice, the chief lawyer of the federal government of the United States, and a member of the Cabinet of the United States.

Under the Appointments Clause of the United States Constitution, the officeholder is nominated through the power of appointment by the President of the United States, then appointed with the advice and consent of the United States Senate. The Attorney General is supported by the Office of the Attorney General, which includes executive staff and several deputies.

The 85th and current United States Attorney General is William Barr, appointed by Donald Trump.^[3]

It is wrong and unprecedented for a President to refer to the AG and "my AG;"  rather, the AG is the AG of the PEOPLE of the United States, and should be referred to as such.

Ron, please.  When the original message says "he is undermining the independent checks on his power" it means that he has ALREADY done so by replacing the AG with another one who will do his bidding.  With Barr in place, he no longer has to worry about committing questionable acts.

WHATEVER TRUMP SAYS, here's what he DID:

He originally appointed Jeff Sessions as the AG and head of the DOJ.  When he found that Sessions recused himself from the investigation about Russia interfering in our 2016 Elections, he openly stated that he would not have appointed Sessions as AG if he had known that Sessions would recuse himself from that case.  Eventually he fired Sessions and appointed William Barr as AG.

FREE PRESS

If we remove any "free press" efforts because they are "propaganda," then I'd guess we'll have to not listen to or read ANY reporting at all.  "Fake news" in not a new concept.  Randolph Hurst's "yellow journalism" helped him become a multi-millionaire, and build Hurst Castle in Central California.

So where can we get honest assessments of the truth?  

Asking Trump is dangerous because he lies.  Further, he labels anyone who reports a story that he doesn't like  as "fake news."  He does that so much that I have concluded that he KNOWS his statements (speeches, tweets) are fake, and so premptively lashes out at the "other guys" and calls them "fake news" before they get a chance to even finish their statements/questions, let alone challenge what he's saying.

I'm guessing that you listen to FOX.  I do too, now and then, so that I can get a more balanced view of what is going on.  Have you ever listened, now and then, to CNN?  MSNBC?  Have you read the New York Times?  The Washington Post?  to get a more balanced view?

Levin's book will become part of my reading list, and I'll definitely tell you what I think after I read it.  (That it's an "excellent read" is irrelevant).  But I did read several reviews of it, and one in particular interested me:  a person said they were fed up with all the recent "news," and longed for the old days when the news was much more objective.

So, while you're waiting for me to read Levin, how about reading a book I recommend:  

A Very Stable Genius: Donald J. Trump's Testing of America Hardcover – January 21, 2020

by Philip Rucker  (Author), Carol Leonnig  (Author).  Both authors are Pulitzer Prize winners, and both have extensive insight and direct knowledge about what Trump has DONE (thus far) in presidency, and not just what he has said.

THE COURTS

Who is "MSM?"  Apparently a news entity, or ...?

If you meant MSNBC, then I know who you mean.  Your accusation against them is vague.  Can you give me more details?  I'd like to follow that up.

Meanwhile, here's what I think.  Under Trump, the courts have been subjected to the most biased processes I've ever know about.  Sen McConnell illegally refused to entertain Obama's SC nominee, Merrick Garland, even though there were still 9 months remaining in the Obama presidency.  Now Trump has 2 successful conservative appointments to the SC, and might have more - unless we defeat and remove him from office.  Further, McConnell has done almost NOTHING in response to the legislation brought to the Senate from the House.  Rather, he has sought to appoint only conservative, right-wing and often UNqualified people to Federal Judgeships.  The televised hearings for some of these candidates are all I need to know that the Republicans are trying to grab power from the people.  I will note here that these nefarious Republican efforts were going on well before Trump took office.