Thoughts on Trump and democrat panic/efforts to keep him off the ballot.

First and foremost, no state has the ability to keep him off the ballot. Federal candidates are not subject to state or local laws concerning ballot eligibility.

The Constitution alone determines that eligibility. And while we're aware of leftist efforts to jam as many illegal aliens as possible into this country to vote leftist (in their calculus) efforts to date to enable them to, de facto, vote in Federal elections have failed.

So far.

(As an aside, leftists claimed (falsely) that Russian interference was the main reason Trump won in 2016. Many of those whining about "election denial" from 2020 were just as guilty in 2016.

Everyone from the White House serial liar press secretary, Karin Jean Pierre to perennial loser Georgia gubernatorial candidate Stacy Abrams have routinely denied the 2016 and other election results.

Yet now, their unmitigated efforts to promote foreign interference from within this country in our elections aren't even remotely hidden. They're out in the open for all to see.)

That said, leftists need to be extremely careful, since, if successful, it's entirely possible that if such a weapon is aimed at Trump, it could equally be aimed at Biden.

Trump has yet to be convicted of anything. Until he IS convicted of anything, in the eyes of American jurisprudence, leftist efforts to reply on a Constitutional Amendment (14th Amendment Section 3 - Disqualification from office for insurrection or rebellion) to attain their goal of restricting citizens who support Trump from voting will fail.

Ultimately, the US Supreme Court will make the final determination.

But in reviewing recent leftist history, it won't matter what the Supreme Court rules if, as expected, they rule in favor of Trump.

That, of course, is the basis for the Lilliputian type variety of double-standard legal cases to tie Trump up in knots and their efforts to bankrupt him in legal fees.

"Justice" does not appear to be the goal here. A weaponized series of alphabet agencies, from @doj and the AG as well as the @fbi appear to be doing all they can to force a "speedy trial" because man, oh man, what happens if Trump is reelected?

State efforts coordinated with the White House out of New York and Georgia all have the singular goal to do everything they can to damage Trump politically.

But this effort to lower the evidentiary bar to "allegation" as a basis to disqualify someone at the state level in a federal election?

That sword cuts both ways, and leftists would be well-served to remember that.

Tyler Hilinski... a life ended too soon.

Six years ago, a young man by the name of Tyler Hilinski who had a glittering life ahead of him, took his own life.

Tyler Hilinski shortly after "The Game"

No one had a clue. I literally came close to throwing up when I heard.

Eric Johnson KOMO, perhaps the most brilliant television journalist alive today, did what Johnson does.

He wrote of his legacy. He wrote of a bright young life, like so many other bright young lives that we did not know needed us in a way we simply could not fathom.

Tyler was a backup Washington State Cougar quarterback who will be known for many things in life, particularly in the Pullman area... in what could be simply called "The Game."

That was part of Johnson's story. But it was a relatively small illustration of a segment of what happened, which was leading, perhaps, one of the most astounding comebacks in college football.

It is the story of Tyler by a man who felt every molecule of it.

Take a moment to read this. And take a moment to hold your children a little closer, or to call them if they're out of the home, just to check in.

And then, if you can, watch Eric Johnson KOMO's story, of Tyler, Tyler's fantastic family and their efforts to come to grips with this tragedy... The Secret Sadness of Tyler Hilinski.

Even as Facebook reminded me of this today, it's painful to recall but I needed to recall it.

Tyler will continue to be missed by not only those who knew and loved him, but by those who even knew OF him. Kevin Carns

Is the police officer who murdered Ashli Babbitt FINALLY going to face justice?

HHhhhmmmmm....

WARNING: the video that is part of the article is GRAPHIC and includes the shooting of Babbitt by then Lieutenant, now Captain (yes, he was actually promoted after the murder) Byrd.

It MAY be that then Capitol Police Lt. Michael Byrd, best known for murdering Ashli Babbitt on Jan 6, 2021, could finally be in the process of suffering some accountability for his actions.

Audio tape which recorded Byrd falsely claiming to radio dispatch that shots had been fired on the floor of the House and then falsely claimed to radio dispatch shots were fired in the House Lobby, also falsely claimed that shots were fired at Capital Police officers.

These radio calls were made before he shot Babbitt. At least one additional false call was made after the shooting.

Babbitt, for her part, was both unarmed and nonthreatening. Babbitt, who was shown on video throughout this episode, "...did not hit the glass or cause any damage during her stay in the corridor, according to video evidence. The video shows that Babbitt actually interfered with agitator Zachary Alam’s attempts to break the glass and finally slapped him in the nose after he busted out a side window."

On January 5th this year, a federal lawsuit was filed by Babbitt's husband for wrongful death resulting from Byrd shooting her.

I have frequently wondered why either GOP House Speaker, McCarthy or Speaker Mike Johnson made no effort to hold hearings on the shooting to determine the truth of the matter.

IMHO, that failure, which certainly would have happened had the shooter been white and the victim black, is just another example of the GOP's misfeasance in office.

Should these allegations be proven in the lawsuit, both parties will have a lot of explaining to do for their respective parts in the obvious cover-up of what actually happened.

Byrd, for his part, has remained a member of the force since the murder took place (including promotion to Captain) and has, as I have said many times before, not received so much as a parking ticket.

Additionally, it appears that transcripts of this radio traffic were altered:

"The transcript of the OPS2 radio communications provided by the Department of Justice (DOJ) as evidence in the Jan. 6 criminal cases doesn’t include the words “we’re prepared to fire back at them.” The DOJ transcript instead says, “And it went, so we locked it down.”

Thus, whoever made the misleading edits to the Department of Justice transcript, and whoever signed off on them, knowingly committed a fraud upon the court."

Middle Eastern national insanity?

It would seem in the area packed with Muslim countries that there's a common thread of, well, insanity.

The Muslim world claims concern, for example, over Israel pounding gaza, the West Bank and southern Lebanon (Hezbollah).

That's all they're doing, effectively: talking. None committing troops or military aid to the terrorists in the region. They're just doing what we used to call in the biz, "podium pounding."

The reason is obvious: Arab armies have tried to eradicate Israel repeatedly since these same armies were destroyed in 1948.

Hope springs eternal in the Muslim world that the 7.7 million Jews in Israel can be destroyed (Himmler would be proud) thus solving every one of the myriad issues confronting countries whose view of governance is stuck in the 7th Century but after losing their militaries a half dozen times and realizing that Israel is also a nuclear power that they do NOT want to believe they've got nothing to lose by pulling the nuclear pin, they're, for the most part, wisely decided to sit this one out, the nutjobs of Iran notwithstanding; but even THEY are only willing to use lackeys to do their bidding, while the democrats/Obama/Biden have provided this terrorist state billions of our taxpayer dollars to shore them up.

These countries NEVER seem to have any concerns for Israel itself: there was no condemnation to speak of for the Oct 7 hamas attack. No condemnation of the rape and murders of Israeli women and children. Nothing about the kidnapping of the 250 or so. Nothing about the years of rocket attacks emanating (without complaint by the gazan people) against Israel.

And can we remotely get past the bizarre idea these countries have... as well as the terrorist supporting scum rioting, protesting, blocking freeways and facilities as they demand the slaughter of the Israeli nation... that whatever terrorists do... whoever they murder, rape, assault or maim... Israel should just take it.... without retaliation of any kind... or nothing beyond a "tit-for-tat" proportional variety response?

Forgive the long lead-in. This post is really devoted to the Western military response to incessant Houthi (which, come to think of it, are ANOTHER Iran-backed terrorist group along with hamas and hezbollah) attacks on shipping in the region AND US military ships... and the reaction of those same muslim countries in the region claiming upset that these vessels and the private vessels in the region should just sit back and take it with a smile as opposed to providing negative reinforcement to the attackers to assist them in, perhaps, seeing the error of their ways.

In sum, the idea is that muslim extremists have an expectation that THEY should be able to attack us; while we, in turn, let them.

The result? Middle Eastern "outrage" because the United States and England have the TEMERITY to actually hit back.

Which is certainly not what they expected.

U.S.-Led Strikes Spark Outrage in Middle East

January 12, 2024 in News

Saudi Arabia Voices 'Great Concern' Over Yemen Air Strikes: Foreign Ministry

By AFP - Agence France Presse January 11, 2024 

I freely admit it. Part of that is our fault.

The vast majority of American military killed and wounded in the region were killed and wounded as a result of Iranian logistical support. We, as a nation and a military knew that almost from the get go.

Much of the weaponry and explosives used in IED's were FOB tehran.

And we, of course, did absolutely nothing about it.

Instead of chatting with Iran and telling them that if the supplies didn't stop we would systematically destroy every Iranian military/civil target in the country, early on, we just sat on our hands while later, we provided Iran with billions of our dollars to finance their weapons manufacture used to kill and wound American military personnel and others.

Like every weakness out on display to bullies, at either the personal or national level that sent Iran a message. And Iran has gratefully received that message which sadly, breaks down to American support of their terrorist agenda.

Weird, ain't it?

And that support was/is bipartisan. So, no, this isn't a rant against just the left.

This was also going on during both the Bush AND the Trump Administrations. From Iran's perspective, why SHOULDN’T they become the terrorist command and control center for the world?

WE ain't gonna do anything about it. Because we HAVEN'T done anything about it for 2 decades.

So, another Iranian client has been pushing the envelope out of Yemen. The houthi rebels have been trying to overthrow the Yemeni government for the better part of 20 years so they can turn this strategically important state into an Iranian possession.

It appears Iran's calculous, which is hardly unreasonable under the totality of circumstances is to "Gulliver" the US military to spread us as thinly as possible.

They read newspapers as much as the next guy. They know of our personnel weaknesses and see our expenditures in support of Ukraine and Israel as a further strategic weakening of US military capabilities.

Further, they see our failure to respond to their military provocations for 20 years as a blueprint for American response to these attacks.

Had we destroyed Iran's military capability in 2003, NONE of what we see here today would be happening.

But we chose to let it go. Let it go. Let it go... and this is what we face as a result.

Meanwhile the houthis are doing their best to close down shipping lanes in international waters while Iran is literally pirating ships.

Remember: ANY military response to ANY of this is "unacceptable" to the muslim world. Because, well, a major part of the muslim extremist shtick is they can do whatever they want, anywhere they want, whenever they want.

Yes, the military response to these houthi terrorists is needed and I applaud it.

Yes, we have to deal with the current reality confronting us.

But imagine what the situation would be had we acted back when it would have made a difference.

And now?

Now, I increasingly fear it's too late.

Thoughts on Politics from a year ago:

Politics has pretty much consumed, in one form or another, most of my post-military life.

I became actively involved in it around '88, when I moved up here from my last duty station at Oakland Army Base (as opposed to going back to Seattle) and volunteered for Bob Williams when he ran for Congress, I volunteered for Linda Smith's campaigns and who, around then, can possibly forget the Red Wave of 1994?

I worked my way up in the GOP from volunteer, to PCO, to LD17 Chair, to Senior Legislative Assistant in the state House to Executive Director of the Washington State GOP in 2000. I became what most political, non-elected Republicans become: a consultant. I refused to work for anyone that I did not believe at the time was a conservative. Ultimately, I learned, to my dismay, how wrong I was on a few occasions and how we've all suffered for it as a result. For that, I apologize,

While I have a degree in Government/PoliSci, that was mostly theory.

Nothing could really prepare anyone for the savagery and brutality of the real political world. I had to experience it firsthand to believe it, because I simply could not fathom it until I saw it with my own eyes.

The main byproduct of that was cynicism. I discovered early on during my stretch in the Tukwila Zoo (aka party HQ) that no one was really there out of altruism and support of the tenets of the Republican Party.

I was caught in the state-level version of the local fist fight, except in this case it was between the Executive Board and the Chair, who happened to be Sen. Don Benton.

The things I experienced changed me forever politically, as I discovered that most involved at the state level were not there to further Republicanism at any level, state or national.

No... They were there for what they could get out of it.

What appointment. What job. The social ladder. We've all heard of the so-called limousine liberal, but what's only occasionally mentioned is what I refer to as the "corporate Republican."

For far too many, the title "Republican" is one of mere convenience. We see it here most recently for the past several years as PCO's have been attacked publicly and legally because they exhibit the temerity to stand in the way of the "get along to go along" attitude of the fake Republicans infesting us. Allegedly Republican mercenaries fund raising for fringe-left candidates come immediately to mind. Fake Republicans like our erstwhile soon-to-be former congresswoman throws a shadow over it as well.

I warned you. But you did not listen. And I got hammered many times for speaking the truth.

Others claimed to be one thing but wound up flipping once they had been ensconced, or flattered, or bought, or blackmailed into becoming something they pledged never to become.

In short, they sold us out for personal gain.

Politicians generally appear to be quite easy to buy. Locally, we are going to get hammered with permanent tolls, permanent tax and fee increases and voracious government that they were, ideally, supposed to protect us from.

But why do that when you can get six-figure government jobs for selling out/ignoring your constituents? Or get hired by democrat political firms as a way to bypass bribery laws?

I get why they do it: mainly, because far too many voters either don't know or care that corruption is the order of the day on both aisles.

And at the national level, we now have a $1.7 trillion dollar spending bill that has been loaded up like a Christmas tree with earmarks of our tax dollars to go to special projects that rarely benefit anyone but the chosen few. Look up the ubiquitous "Bridge to Nowhere" in Alaska for a prime example. Locally, it's the Portland light rail project masquerading as a bridge replacement project that the PEOPLE don't want, don't need and can't afford.

This democrat rip-off just hit the ground today. It is 4000 pages long. NO ONE has read it. NO hearings held.

Instead of doing the right thing and filibustering this garbage until January, Mitch McConnell and his band of fiscal liberals are going to bend us over and ram it in where the sun don't shine.

Well, here's the reality: as a country, as a government, the current unpaid debt is $94,268 for each and every one of us; 333,340,667 people. A debt that has required $475 BILLION (with a "B") in interest payments this year alone. A national debt that's gone up $20 million or so in the time it took me to write this.

$31,445,965,XXX,XXX = national debt at 7:08 PM Pacific time today.

We don't have $1.7 trillion. We will NEVER have it. Passage of all these debt-adding bills simply causes inflation to explode as the US Government makes money magically appear on computer screens without anything to back it except "good faith."

But instead of fiscal discipline and blocking this insanity in the Senate, they're going along with it as much as any of the democrats who wrote this garbage.

Particularly in the realm of the fiscal, how is it that the GOP is any different from the leftists we claim to despise?

Trillions have been added to the deficit this year as these same fake fiscal hawks bend us over every hour on the hour, playing ball with the neocommunists instead of doing what we sent them there to do.

Which is standing up for us.

All of which begs the issue: Why bother? What's the point?

For me, it's becoming increasingly difficult to see one. Good luck if you can.