The True Threat To Our Democracy - The Tyranny Of The Democrats, Part III (Newsom Goes After...Everyone?)

As Governor of the most populous state in the nation, what Gavin Newsom does is often copied by other states.  Given that the Democrats have super majorities in the State Assembly and State Senate, there is nothing to restrain their push for asserting government control over ever increasing aspects of our lives.

I was not aware of the fact that parents looking for toys for their children did not know how to shop properly.  I was not aware of the fact that private businesses needed to be told how to properly display their merchandise.  But now I know.  "A retail department store that offers childcare items or toys for sale shall maintain a gender-neutral section or area, to be labeled at the discretion of the retailer, in which a reasonable selection of the items and toys for children that it sells shall be displayed, regardless of whether they have been traditionally marketed for either girls or for boys."  This law will apply to businesses physically within California, with 500 or more employees in the state.

Exactly what is the purpose of this law?  Is it to make it easier for parents to find toys for their children?  Really?  Without this law, parents would not be able to walk through the aisles and find a suitable toy for their child?  I don't buy it.  There are fines that go along with this law for those companies violating it.  

No, as I wrote years ago (see the post "My Ex-Wife," 7/20/14, and "My Ex-Son and Ex-Daughters," 10/19/14), the Democratic "progressives" are simply pushing us down the path of obliterating all distinctions between men and women, boys and girls.  Follow the science?  Not when they come up with 57 "genders."   

Here is another.  Public schools and colleges in California must now provide free menstrual products in their restrooms.  Why?  Here is the author of that bill:  "Just as toilet paper and paper towels are provided in virtually every public bathroom, so should menstrual products."  I could be wrong, but I believe toilet paper and paper towels are used by boys and girls, by men and women.  Are menstrual products used by men?  I'm sure I will be sorry that I asked that question. 

The True Threat To Our Democracy - The Tyranny Of The Democrats, Part II (Biden Goes After The Unvaccinated)

Honestly, I do not need to hear from anyone claiming that I am anti-vaccinations.  In a prior post, I made it clear that I had gotten 2 Pfizer injections and planned on getting a booster.  I have since had the booster.  In that earlier post I also said that I believe in the efficacy of vaccines, as they do have an excellent history of helping to eradicate disease in our country.  And, I do not understand some of the objections to the vaccines.

Having said that, there is a legitimate issue regarding the proper role of the federal government.  President Biden has asked his Labor Department to come up with an emergency rule that will compel private businesses with over 100 employees to require those employees to either be fully vaccinated or test negative every week.  It is estimated that as many as 80 million Americans could be affected by this new rule.  It is quite telling that Biden decided to have his Administration simply issue a rule, without seeking Congressional authorization.  It is also quite telling that the Democrats in Congress are not objecting to this usurpation of their power.  Just do not expect the mainstream media to assert that Biden is acting like a king or dictator.  

The federal government can mandate military personnel to be vaccinated.  My brother, a Viet Nam vet, recounted how he had to get multiple vaccines, for the plague, polio and malaria, among others.  States, having the general police power, have for a very long time required that children attending public schools get certain vaccinations.  However, it is unlikely that the federal government has the authority to demand that a large segment of the civilian population get vaccinated.  Joe Biden admitted as much - until he decided he was going to do it anyway.  

Here was Biden last month:  "Many of us are frustrated with the nearly 80 million Americans who are still not vaccinated, even though the vaccine is safe, effective and free."  And Biden made this incredibly ignorant comment:  "Our patience is wearing thin."  Maybe somebody ought to get him a copy of "How To Win Friends And Influence People," by Dale Carnegie.  In what universe does that kind of threatening remark by the President help to persuade people.  If I was advising him, I would have suggested giving facts and figures proving the efficacy and safety of the vaccines.  

I realize that facts alone will not necessarily persuade people to any point of view.  But the art of persuasion was definitely lacking in our President.  State and local governments, as well as private businesses, have followed Biden's lead.  It has been reported that dozens of State Troopers in Massachusetts have resigned because of vaccine mandates.  Such resignations are happening throughout the country.  I do believe that states likely have the power to insist on state employees getting vaccinated.  But in a time of rising crime, do we want fewer police?  Do we want fewer firefighters?  Do we want anyone losing their livelihood over this?  Everywhere I go I see "Help Wanted" and "Now Hiring" signs.  Do we need even more jobs going unfilled? 

It is somewhat ironic that during the campaign last year, then vice presidential candidate Kamala Harris said:  "...if Donald Trump tells us that we should take it (the vaccine), I'm not taking it."  To which Vice President Pence replied:  "We're going to have a vaccine in record time...And we're right now producing tens of millions of doses.  So the fact that you continue to undermine public confidence in a vaccine, if the vaccine emerges during the Trump Administration, I think is unconscionable.  And Senator, I just ask you - stop playing politics with people's lives." 

If the vaccines protect the vaccinated, and if the unvaccinated are the ones getting sick and dying, then perhaps government mandates causing greater unemployment are not the answer.  Maybe all government officials who make the rules should take a look at Dale Carnegie's book.

The True Threat To Our Democracy - The Tyranny Of The Democrats, Part I (Biden Goes After Parents)

Recently, the National School Boards Association decided to ask the Biden Administration for some help.  Parents were showing up at school board meetings and objecting to the nonsense being taught to their children.  Alleging various threats, and citing only one example that could be construed as a criminal offense, the Board wanted Biden to treat these parents as "domestic terrorists," and sought prosecutions under the Patriot Act and federal hate crime laws.  You see, parents were disruptive, were shouting and acting like a mob.  The Board claimed, as all the talking heads on the left do, that no schools teach critical race theory (CRT); therefore the parents should have no complaints.

There have been numerous reports of children being taught CRT, even if under a different name.  Nevertheless, not wanting to alienate any part of their base, the Biden Administration dutifully complied with the School Boards' request.  On October 4, Attorney General Merrick Garland sent a memo to the Director of the FBI, the Director of the US Attorneys and the Assistant AG in charge of the Criminal Division in the Justice Department.  Here is part of the memo:  "In recent months, there has been a disturbing spike in harassment, intimidation, and threats of violence against school administrators, board members, teachers and staff who participate in the vital work of running our nation's public schools.  While spirited debate about policy matters is protected under our Constitution, that protection does not extend to threats of violence or efforts to intimidate individuals based on their views."

He then directed the FBI and the various United States Attorneys across the country to meet with federal, state, local, tribal and territorial leaders within 30 days.  Imagine that.  A federally run, nationwide task force to address what?  Unruly parents who are upset with the racist pedagogy being pushed on their children.  Where is the task force going after Antifa?  Or Black Lives Matter?  What is the AG doing about United States Senator Kyrsten Sinema, who was harassed and followed into a bathroom, no less, by left-wing immigration "activists."  How about a task force to go after the Palestinians and their supporters who have harassed and intimidated Jews?

The First Amendment to the Constitution provides, of course, for a right to free speech.  But it also provides for "the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances."  Does "peaceably" also mean that people must speak softly?  I don't think so.  Yes, I saw scenes of parents holding up signs against CRT.  I saw parents taking pictures and/or recording audio with their phones.  And I saw parents shouting.  How does any of that warrant a federal task force headed up by the FBI?  Are there no more local police and District Attorneys able to handle actual criminal violations?  The federal government has no business being involved in these local matters.

Does the FBI have nothing else to do?  See two paragraphs up.  Maybe they can also be used to determine who is entering our country illegally, with an estimated 2 million people likely to have entered during Biden's first year in office.  Are any criminals, members of gangs or criminal cartels, or terrorists crossing our borders?  No, the biggest threat seems to be parents fed up with left-wing propaganda being taught in the schools.  Terry McAuliffe, the once and hoping to be future governor of Virginia, said this:  "I don't think parents should be telling schools what they should teach."  Maybe not, if it was just about "reading, writing and arithmetic."  But when it comes to propagandizing their children into left-wing ideology, you better believe parents will be speaking up.  

Former US Representative James Sensenbrenner was a principal author of the Patriot Act (per his Op-Ed in the 10/13/21 Wall Street Journal).  As such, he wrote that "the legislation defined terrorism as unlawful acts of violence or acts dangerous to human life intended to intimidate or coerce a civilian population or to affect the conduct of government by 'mass destruction, assassination, or kidnapping."  It was not intended to put a chill on free speech and civil liberties.  

But teachers and the bureaucrats in the school boards across the country are major donors to the Democrat Party.  So Biden did not push back.  Perhaps Gerard Baker, in his 10/12/21 Op-Ed in the WSJ, said it best:  "This flagrant attempt to intimidate parents into handing their children over to the mercies of the state is as sinister as anything the modern progressives who now control the Democratic Party have done."  When parents are told to sit down and shut up it sounds an awful lot like communist or totalitarian societies.  And with federal crimes often carrying sentences of 10 to 20 years, the threat to civil liberties - speech and assembly - is substantial.  

Why I Oppose The Texas Abortion Law

The Texas law bans abortions after six weeks of pregnancy.  Obviously, that is unconstitutional as decided by Roe v. Wade.  If the purpose in passing the law was to set up a legal challenge to Roe, it was poorly done.  The law provided no exceptions for rape or incest.  And enforcement of the law is left to private citizens, allowing anyone to sue another if that person "aids or abets" in an abortion after six weeks of pregnancy.  These private lawsuits could enrich the filer of the suit with up to $10,000 per abortion, plus legal costs.  I do not like the idea of encouraging private citizens to turn on one another.  This is America, not the USSR.  (I am aware of laws that provide compensation to various whistleblowers.  Generally, those laws are enforced against government agencies and government contractors, and big businesses.)  

The Supreme Court refused to put a stay on enforcement of the Texas law.  However, in the session that began yesterday, is a case out of Mississippi, where a law bans abortions after 15 weeks.  If the Supreme Court is inclined to overturn Roe, the Mississippi case is cleaner.

The original decision in Roe was not based upon any Constitutional provision regarding "abortion" or the right to "privacy."  Those words are not in the Constitution.  Trying to guess the outcome of any Supreme Court case is always challenging, especially when the issue is so divisive and controversial.  However, if I was to guess, it would be a 6 to 3 vote in favor of upholding Roe.  Breyer, Sotomayor and Kagan would definitely vote to uphold Roe.  Thomas, Alito and Kavanaugh probably would not.  That leaves the CJ Roberts, Gorsuch and Barrett.  My gut is that those three would be very reluctant to overturn a nearly 50 year old precedent.  

And, if the Court can find a way to decide a case without ruling on the constitutionality of a law, they often prefer that type of limited decision.  But we should know, no later than next June.   

  

Two Other Voices Speak On Israel

 Howard Dean was the Democratic Governor of Vermont from 1991 to 2003.  In 2004 he ran for President of the United States.  From 2005 to 2009 he was the Chairman of the Democratic National Committee.  And he is yet another Democratic Israel-hater.  Here is a Tweet from Dean:  "I've been there and I think our alliance with Israel is important (for) both the US and Israel.  And Israel is in fact, an apartheid state."

Liar!  No, Israel is not an apartheid state.  Unless they changed the definition to mean that, although the minority (Palestinians) are doctors and lawyers and judges, and hold seats in the legislature (the Knesset) and even hold ministerial offices in the current government, if that is the definition of apartheid, then yes, Israel meets that definition.  As do most Western countries.  

Comedian and actress Sarah Silverman is Jewish.  But she was disappointed with the Squad, and just didn't get their vote against the funding of Iron Dome.  Silverman:  "It's frustrating because my girls, ma gurls in the Squad, really didn't want it to be funded...all the Iron Dome does is protect civilians from getting hit by missiles and bombs.  That's all it does!  It's not a weapon!...Voting against the Iron Dome defense system is voting for dead Israelis and that's Muslims, Christians and Jews."

And Silverman said this:  "I'm really trying to understand it, though...none of them talk about Hamas!  No one in the Squad is bringing up Hamas.  I can't - it's so bizarre."  Poor Sarah.  Of course she does not get it, because notwithstanding her occasional support for Israel, she is a leftist.  

Silverman:  "It just seems to prove the point that I didn't think existed which is, um, people only really like Jews if they're suffering.  Dead Jews get a lot of honor."  Welcome to the party, Sarah.  Welcome to the party.  

The Vice President Stays Silent In The Face Of Lies About Israel

Recently, Vice President Kamala Harris was at George Mason University in Virginia.  Here is what one student said to the VP:  "I see that over the summer there have been, like, protests, and demonstrations in astronomical numbers (in support of the Palestinians)...just a few days ago there were funds allocated to continue backing Israel, which hurts my heart because it's ethnic genocide and displacement of people, the same happened in America, and I'm sure you're aware of this."  

The student continued:  "I bring this up because Americans are struggling because of lack of healthcare, public healthcare, lack of affordable housing and all this money ends up going to inflame Israel..."

So let's take a look at these comments.  Recall that the Squad and other "progressives" put a hold on the bill funding the replenishment of the Iron Dome missile defense batteries, used by Israel to protect civilians against the thousands of rockets and missiles launched by Hamas earlier this year.  Ultimately, the House overwhelmingly voted to approve the funding by a vote of  420 to 9.  It hurts this student's heart - not that Hamas targets Israeli civilians (keeping in mind that there are Jews, Muslims, Christians and others in Israel) - but that Israel may be able to save the lives of civilians (non-combatants).  I can only conclude that this student wants to see more dead Israelis; and I suspect that she thinks/hopes they are all Jews. 

"Ethnic genocide" says the student.  A complete lie.  Not only are there no reports of any genocide from any credible news outlet, but it does make me wonder if the student understands "genocide."  When 6 million Jews were killed during the Holocaust, that was genocide.  When over one million Armenians were killed, that was a genocide.  When Communist China killed tens of millions of Chinese, that was a genocide.  So I would ask this student a question.  After 6 million Jews were killed, the world lost a third of the Jewish population.  How come in the last 3 decades the Palestinian population has actually grown by about 2.5 million people.  How does that happen during a genocide?

"Displacement of people" says the student.  I am not sure if she is alleging in so-called Israel proper (within the 1967 borders) or in the West Bank (Judea and Samaria).  I am not sure if she is referring to the area in Jerusalem where properties were legally obtained by Jews.  If there is displacement it is minimal; and certainly does not compare to the Palestinians' proposal to evict (displace) 500,000 Jews from their homes in the West Bank.  The student also says the money will "inflame Israel."  No.  Hamas starts a war by launching rockets and missiles into Israel, and Israel protects its civilians with Iron Dome.  And another reminder, most of the money "given" to Israel is spent right here in the USA for military hardware.  In this case, it is for Iron Dome.    

The student, who clearly has no fondness for either Israel or America, says the $1 billion should go to Americans for healthcare and housing.  For those who argue against all foreign aid to any country, even allies, I can understand.  I strongly disagree, but I can understand.  Here, we are supposed to believe that this $1 billion will make all the difference to Americans.  Given the $5 trillion on the table for both the infrastructure and Biden's Build Back Better bills, I don't believe the student really means that .0002% of the $5 trillion is what keeps her up at night.  If that $1 billion was going to the Palestinians, I would bet she would be asking for more, not complaining about Americans' healthcare and housing.   

As indicated above, this student's remarks were directed at our Vice President, who surely corrected her.  Right?  Wrong.  Instead, the VP said this:  "Your voice, your perspective, your experience, your truth cannot be suppressed, and it must be heard, right?  A democracy is at its strongest when everyone participates."  The Vice President of the United States failed to push back against the lies of an Israel hating student.  I am always amused whenever I hear anyone say "your truth" or "my truth."  If they mean "THE truth is I'm gay," for example and they have never openly acknowledged that before, then at least there is some sense to it.  Bit the student addressing the VP was not a Palestinian.  How is what she said "her truth?"  It is nonsense.  There is truth, there are lies, and there are legitimate factual disputes.  

As written in an Op-Ed in the 9/27/21 Wall Street Journal (by Lance Morrow):  "...the 21st century has lost its appetite for objective proof.  Feelings are enough.  If you feel that something or someone is evil, why then it is so.  What you feel (the mirage of your emotions) acquires the status of reality.  You must, after all, 'speak your truth.'"  I must say, that sounds a lot like my expression, used often in the blog:  "liberals let their beliefs dictate their reality, conservatives let reality dictate their beliefs."

As for the Vice President:  Shame on her!  The statement subsequently released by her office that she "strongly disagrees" with that student was too little and too late.  She failed to react in the forum where it would have done the most good.  She stayed silent, presumably in order to not offend the Jew-hating, Israel-hating, left-wing base.

A Postscript To The 9/22/21 Post "The U.S. Immigration Policy"

President Biden has finally found his voice with regards to the ongoing immigration crisis at our southern border.  But, as with his Vice President, it was not to express concern about the human smuggling, drug smuggling or the cartels behind it.  It was not to express concern about people entering our country with Covid or other diseases, or about people who may be criminals or gang members or terrorists.  No, none of that was of concern.  After all, Biden invited all of these people to come.  No, our President's concern was about the lie being told about the mounted Border Police.  Nothing new about this - the Democrats and the Left have been scapegoating the police since last summer's riots.  

Recall that the initial lie was that a mounted Border Patrol agent used a whip on a Haitian migrant.  Or, as the mainstream media and the Left told us - a black Haitian migrant.  When it was shown that the mounted officers have no whips, the story was that the agent used the horse's reins as a whip.  Except, no one was hit.  That did not deter Biden from saying this:  "To see people treated like they did, horses barely running over...people being strapped - it's outrageous."  And Biden went further:  "I promise, those people will pay.  There will be an investigation underway now and there will be consequences.  There will be consequences."  

As with his former boss, Biden is not terribly big on "due process."  What people will pay?  Who will suffer consequences, and for what?  Why is there even going to be any investigation if the decision has already been made - regardless of the facts.  I, for one, have zero confidence of there being a fair investigation at this point.  Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas did nothing to assure us of a fair investigation when he said:  "We are addressing this with tremendous speed and tremendous force...it (the investigation) will be completed in days not weeks."  

The mainstream media was, of course, outraged, and was unable to refrain from adding the racial component.  Here was the 9/22/21 USA Today editorial:  "Think about that: An agent, carrying with him the authority of the U.S. government, riding down a defenseless, frightened black man."  Jeff Self is a retired Border Patrol agent and deputy sector chief, who also worked the mounted patrol for part of his 33 year career.  Self explained that these mounted agents are trained to not not allow those they are pursuing to get too close to the horse, lest they pull the reins in a manner causing injury or death to the horse, the agent, and even the migrant.  Self:  "Everything I see on this is appropriate."   

For now, at least, there will be no more mounted Border Patrol agents.  But here is my question:  why have any Border Patrol agents?  Why not defund them?  Biden and the Democrats clearly want an open border.  Biden invited these people to come during the campaign, and it is estimated that by year's end at least 2 million of these "migrants" will have entered the U.S. in 2021.  All during Biden's first year in office.  It is no coincidence.  It is Biden's policy.  

According to Secretary Mayorkas, of the 15,000 migrants that were recently at the Del Rio, Texas border crossing, about 12,000 were already released into the country.  Mayorkas assured us that these people are monitored in order to "ensure their appearance in court."  Right.  Even Chris Wallace pushed back on that assertion, pointing out for one period 44% failed their required court appearance.  Mayorkas said that a claim for "humanitarian relief" is "one of our proudest traditions."  First, preliminary research reflects that humanitarian relief is most often granted for visiting a sick family member, attending a funeral and seeking needed medical attention.  But second, I am astounded that Mayorkas thinks is the way to determine anyone's need for humanitarian relief.  To say that his and Biden's system is not an orderly process that might engender support, is a huge understatement.