A MODERN CIVIL WAR IN THE MAKING: TWO DISSIMILAR VISIONS FOR AMERICA

PART 2

“We don’t see things as they are. We see things as we are.” ~ Anaïs Nin, French-American diarist, essayist, novelist, February 21, 1903 – January 14, 1977“The clash between the two visions is not over the actual or desirable degree of freedom, justice, power, or equality—or over the fact that that there can only be degrees and not absolutes—but rather over what these things consist of, in whatever degree they occur.” ~ from A Conflict of Visions: Ideological Origins of Political Struggles, by Thomas Sowell, Economist and Social Theorist; Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution, Stanford University.The Nation sits, today, at a crossroads, just as it did at the juncture of the American Civil War. With each passing day, trust between the two sides further diminishes. The feelings of the one toward the other becomes more corrosive; the differences between the two ever clearer, ever more stark; the convictions of each, ever more entrenched.In an atmosphere of strong animosity and deep suspicion, compromise and negotiation between the two sides is impossible. Each side holds faithfully to a different vision of America. Each is insistent that its vision come to fruition. But, the two visions for the Country, grounded, as each is, in different belief structures, in different value systems, in different presumptive notions of justice and fundamental fairness, the two are inherently incompatible; so, even if the two sides were willing to negotiate, to compromise, any negotiation, any compromise would not bear fruit; would, in fact, be sterile. Where a path diverges, one or the other can be taken, but not both. Only one vision for this Country is capable of realization.One side, one faction holds to a vision of America that proceeds from the view that the Nation, conceived and created as a sovereign, independent Nation State, must always remain so, and must remain so in fact, not merely in name. That faction holds also to a vision of the Nation, where: the American people are the supreme authority; Government is understood to be a construct created by the people for the benefit of the people; certain fundamental rights and liberties preexist in the people, bequeathed to the people by the Creator; and, as the Government does not create those fundamental, natural, preexistent rights and liberties, Government lacks lawful authority to eliminate those rights and liberties. That faction’s vision coheres clearly, cleanly, and categorically with the vision of the founders of the Nation, the framers of the Nation’s Constitution.The other faction’s vision of the Country is predicated on an entirely different set of precepts. It does not accept the view that the people are the supreme authority; rather, it is Government itself that is deemed the supreme authority. This faction also does not adhere to the idea that rights and liberties are to be perceived as fundamental, natural, forces, preexistent in the people. This faction doesn’t see  some rights and liberties—or any rights and liberties, for that matter—as immutable forces endowed in man by the Creator at all; but, views rights and liberties as man-made artifices, no different than any law, rule, regulation, code, or ordinance. And, as such, this faction sees that rights and liberties may be lawfully modified or eliminated when Government deems it beneficial to do so for the good of the people as a whole, even as that “good” manifests as detrimental to the individual. This faction has, then, a vision of the Country completely at loggerheads with that of the founders of the Republic. But, this doesn’t faze the faction’s adherents. This faction has determined that the foundation of the Nation, its Constitution, the bedrock of a free Republic, along with the Nation’s most celebrated canons and cherished values, can and ought to be and must be altered or eliminated outright, consistent with what this faction perceives to be a new reality emerging in the world at large.The differences between the two factions cannot be reconciled for those differences rest upon mutually exclusive inferences—inferences that establish both the structure of government and society, and the relationship of man to those structures and to each other. And those inferences themselves follow from an entirely different set of axiomatic premises—premises at once basic and primordial.The two sides that fought each other in the American Civil War—the Union and the Confederacy—did not perceive their differences, profound as they were, as a vast existential divide between them, not to the extent seen today. The American Civil War was perceived as a confrontation between States’ rights advocates and advocates for a strong centralized Federal Government. Arguably, the nineteenth century conflict between the Union and Confederacy may be viewed as a continuation of a debate--a longstanding debate--commenced among the founders of the Republic. One side, the Federalists, espoused a strong central Government; the other side, the Antifederalists, suspicious of a strong central Government, espoused decentralization of authority. But, for all that, the South, in the American Civil War, still professed to hold to the relevance of the concept of the ‘Nation State.’ Its concerns were directed to the allocation of power within that Nation State; nor did either the Union or the Confederacy contest the inherent importance of and sanctity of the Bill of Rights. That is not the case today.Unlike the two sides that fought each other in the American Civil War, the Union and the Confederacy, one side, the leftist faction, has, in this present conflict, questioned the very meaning and meaningfulness of the concept of  ‘Nation State,’ in this age of Globalization and massive movements of people across national boundaries. That helps to explain why that faction would question, and abhor, and mock, President Trump’s* campaign slogan, ‘America First;’ for that faction sees the slogan as an affront to their bedrock principles; an unacceptable return to an archaic world view in contrast to their “modern” world view; and an obstacle to fulfillment of their goals.  That faction, too, believes that rights and liberties are subject to modification, or even elimination, when, their usefulness does not cohere with—as they see—changed circumstances in the world.The other faction holds to the vision of this Country that the founders of the Republic held. This faction believes in the continued relevance of the concept of ‘Nation State’ and, therefore, professes a strong need to preserve this Country as an independent Sovereign Nation; to preserve the supremacy of the Nation’s laws, and to preserve the integrity of the Nation’s physical borders. This faction also believes in the sanctity of the Bill of Rights of the U.S. Constitution. Modification, much less, elimination of any of the rights and liberties set forth therein is an anathema. This faction, then, holds to a vision of and for the Country that has stood the test of time; a vision that has endured for over two hundred years. The other side seeks to undo that vision of the Country. The other side seeks to construct the Nation anew. Its “modern” vision for this Country distorts and contorts the foundation upon which this Nation rests, as articulated in the Nation’s Constitution, and questions the very meaningfulness of the concept ‘Nation State’ and of the concept of ‘citizen of the United States.’Congressional Democratic Party members, the proxies for the leaders of the leftist faction—secretive, amoral, extraordinarily wealthy, and abjectly ruthless transnationalist, Globalist financiers and entrepreneurs—are well aware the power they wielded in Government, on behalf of their secretive, ruthless benefactors, has eroded; their agenda contained; their desires and aims to reshape the Country all but frustrated. They cannot abide this. They and the secretive, ruthless, inordinately wealthy and powerful transnationalists who seek to thrust the United States, “kicking and screaming” if need be, into their new international world order, have mobilized legions of progressive Leftist elements: agents provocateurs, agitators, to stir up dissension in society; to breed confusion and unrest in the Nation; to deliberately create and to maximize disorder and chaos in the Country. This, then, is their response to Governmental power and influence that they have lost but which they refuse to relinquish.Democrats seek to recover their lost power on behalf of the faction they represent. They seek to regain control of Government, to continue to work toward completing the items on their agenda, as their efforts to remake the Country into the image they envision had been rudely interrupted and disrupted through loss of 2016 U.S. Presidential election to the populist, Donald Trump. Too regain control, Democrats have reprehensibly dispensed with adherence to our Nation's laws even as they claim to abide by them. They are masters of deception. They are cunning, dispassionate, hypocritical, ruthless. They have plowed ahead with their agenda, even though doing so skirts the law and extends well beyond the bounds of common decency. To assist them in their efforts they coopted the feminist #MeToo movement. They have formed alliances with left-wing progressive groups on and off university campuses, and with the far-left radical anarchist group, 'Antifa.'  Their echo chamber, the mainstream media, works on their behalf, as do media moguls, actors, and directors in the entertainment business and in the technology sector; and, as do bureaucrats of the "Deep State" and left-wing jurists, sprinkled in federal courts across the Country by Obama.The police often stand at the sideline, forbidden by Leftist State Governments that control them, to interfere. But, police, and the military too, will need, eventually, to take a side, to take a stand in the conflict.Unless one side capitulates to the other—and that won’t happen—further and more severe clashes are inevitable.____________________________________*Trump, strictly speaking is not a Republican—certainly not in a conventional sense. And, while this leftist faction likely would have accepted a Republican Centrist as President--someone like Jeb Bush, albeit having preferred Hillary Clinton or Bernie Sanders as President, it does not see in the Bush clan, a mortal enemy, that it sees in President Trump, whom it attacks daily. The Bush clan, unlike Trump, shares the same neoliberal economic principles and much the same social, legal, political, and cultural precepts and interests that cohere with and complement those of the EU, that this faction emulates. Indeed, centrist Republicans, like the Bush clan, properly considered, belong to the faction that seeks this “new” vision for America. Trump and most Americans accept none of that. Trump's Presidency reflects a vision of the Country the founders intended for it. Americans, seeing that vision slipping away, elected Donald Trump to serve as U.S. President, to set the direction of the Nation aright. Many Americans recognized this Nation’s goals were off kilter; that the Nation had moved far afield from the core values and legal precepts of the Nation’s founding. But as Trump is now President, and not Jeb Bush or Hillary Clinton, and as the faction that wanted Hillary Clinton to be U.S. President, and fully expected that she would be President, cannot and will not abide the election results. Thus, the tension that has festered between the two factions for decades, have now reached a “tipping point.” The battle over Judge Brett Kavanaugh’s confirmation is merely the most recent proof of and exemplification of that clash._________________________________________________Copyright © 2018 Roger J Katz (Towne Criour), Stephen L. D’Andrilli (Publius) All Rights Reserved.  

THE UNITED STATES ON THE CUSP OF A MODERN-DAY CIVIL WAR

PART ONE

A WAKE-UP CALL FOR AMERICANS

“Each new generation born is in effect an invasion of civilization by little barbarians, who must be civilized before it is too late.” ~ from A Conflict of Visions: Ideological Origins of Political Struggles, by Thomas Sowell, Economist and Social Theorist; Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution, Stanford University.Make no mistake about it: The United States is on the cusp of a civil war. It is a war fought not with swords, firearms, and artillery—at least not yet—but through throngs of people chanting and screaming in the streets; in buildings; on university campuses; and in the public square; even outside private residences. These throngs are threatening, ridiculing, harassing, and assaulting Americans who do not share their views, their sensibilities. And physical altercations and clashes have occurred. More of those are on the horizon; that is certain. No one should doubt it. The outcome of this modern conflict will have as deep and lasting effect on this Nation and on its citizenry as did the American Civil War.In the present conflict, there can be no negotiation with or compromise between the two factions, for the gulf dividing them is too vast, the chasm too deep. The outcome of the present civil war will be profound. This conflict’s outcome will determine the Nation’s social, political, economic, and legal contours for generations to come.Americans see the clash between the two factions playing out most aggressively, of late, through the Senate confirmation process of the President’s second nominee to the U.S. Supreme Court, Judge Brett Kavanaugh. Judge Brett Kavanaugh presently sits as a judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. He is, by any estimate, a brilliant jurist with many years of judicial experience. No one should doubt that. No one can reasonably refute or rebut that. No matter. One faction intends to strike his nomination down.Senate Democrats and Senate Republicans, sitting on the Judiciary Committee, pose, essentially, as proxies for the two factions in conflict. One faction supports confirmation of Judge Kavanaugh to the high Court and is working to see it happen. The other intends to prevent it. Few Americans remain on the sidelines. Both factions in this modern civil conflict know that the Judiciary—more so than Congress, or the Chief Executive—has power, predicated on the jurisprudential and philosophical predispositions of the Justices of the U.S. Supreme Court, either to strengthen or weaken the bedrock of the Nation: its Constitution. In their individual approaches to case analysis, through the methodologies employed, one vision of the Country sees actualization.Democratic Party proxies, frantic and frenetic, fearing imminent confirmation of Judge Kavanaugh to the high Court, have lost all sense of decorum, all reason, all self-restraint. They have been unable to shoot holes in Brett Kavanaugh’s legal methodology; in his understanding of the law. That much is clear.Democrats, and the public at large that tuned to the Confirmation Hearing, know that Bret Kavanaugh has a keen analytical mind; that he is legally astute; that his years of experience as a lawyer and as a jurist make him eminently qualified to serve on the U.S. Supreme Court. Democrats and the public at large know that Judge Kavanaugh has a deep, abiding respect for the Nation’s system of laws; for its Constitution; and for the Nation’s massive body of jurisprudence, accumulated over two centuries.Democrats, and the lay public also know that Kavanaugh’s methodology for analyzing cases reflects respect for case law precedent; and for the plain meaning of statutes; and for adherence to “original intent,” when applying the U.S. Constitution to the facts of a case. And, as for the latter two points, there’s the rub. For, one faction seeks a jurist to sit on the high Court who has no qualms about legislating from the Bench: someone like Judge Merrick Garland,* a Judge, whose jurisprudential methodology and jurisprudential philosophy just happen to coincide with the political and social agenda championed by the previous U.S. President, Barack Obama, who nominated him to sit on the high Court—a jurist who would also be championed by the 2016 Democratic Party Presidential hopeful, Hillary Clinton who failed to get elected. Judge Brett Kavanaugh’s jurisprudential approach to case analysis and jurisprudential and ethical philosophies are antithetical to those of Judge Merrick Garland.Knowing what is at stake, Democrats have become frantic, desperate. At the last minute, in a last ditch effort to delay, with the aim of ultimately derailing the confirmation of Brett Kavanaugh, Democrats have sought the last refuge of the hopeless: character assassination. As they could not successfully attack the man’s principles, his ability, his experience, they launched a vicious, audacious, reprehensible, despicable attack on the man himself.Each side, in this conflict, knows full well that the very soul and psyche of this Nation and its people is at stake. The outcome of the present conflict will, then, from that perspective, be far-reaching—conceivably more so than that of the previous conflict, devastating as that conflict was and as far-reaching in its consequences that it was for the Confederacy; and for the Nation; and for all Americans.Before we explain how the very soul and psyche of the Nation is at stake and what, precisely, we mean by that and why we say that the outcome of the present conflict may very well have consequences that are, potentially, more far-reaching than the consequences of the American Civil War, let us, for the moment, consider what resulted from the South’s defeat in that conflict. We see that:

• The secession of the Confederate States from the Union was withdrawn, and the Nation reunited.
• The Confederacy was placed under military rule.
• The Federal Government gained supremacy over the States (all States) and State Governments (all State Governments), clearly and unequivocally. In that regard, the diminution of the power of the States has negatively impacted the “Union” States as much as it has the States of the Confederacy. This “Federalism” pervades to the present day.
• Slavery was de facto eliminated. This led to de jure elimination of slavery with the passage of the 13^th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

The loss of State power to the Federal Government is, arguably, the most significant outcome of the American Civil War; and the Federal Government’s accumulation of power at the expense of the States has grown exponentially in the years and decades since the American Civil War ended.Now, suppose for a moment, that the Confederacy prevailed; this Nation would likely have formed a  confederation of two sovereign independent Nation States, comprising States of their own. But, the concept of 'Sovereign Nation States'—the USA and CSA—not beholding to or subordinated to foreign Nations or to political entities of one sort or another, unlike those Nations comprising the EU, was never at stake. Secondly, preservation of the fundamental, unalienable, natural rights and liberties of the people, as codified in the Bill of Rights of the U.S. Constitution, was never questioned during the American Civil War, either. With the conclusion of the American Civil War, the United States remained a Sovereign, independent Nation State, albeit as one Sovereign Nation State, rather than two.We, American citizens, must keep these two points uppermost in mind, because the notion of ‘Nation State’ and the notion of natural rights preexistent in the individual—will either be preserved and strengthened, or they will not, depending on which faction prevails in this modern civil war.While the stakes in the present conflict are emphatic, the lines between the two factions in the present conflict are not. With the American Civil War, a clear physical demarcation existed for the most part between the two sides: North and South, and the Civil War combatants, “Yankee” or “Rebel,” aligned with one side or the other, although among the border States—Delaware, Kentucky, Maryland, Missouri, West Virginia—the demarcation was not clear-cut, static, but more tenuous, more fluid. Close family members took one side or the other. Brother fought against brother; father against son; cousin against cousin; and uncle against nephew.As with the border States during the American Civil War, we see today, too, that physical demarcations do not predominately mark the boundaries between the two sides, between the two factions, although a preponderance of one faction lives in the Coastal States, and a preponderance of the other resides in the interior States. But, ultimately, for most people, it is the precepts and tenets that one holds to that determines which side one fights on, rather than where one lives.The precepts and tenets one holds to determines whom one considers his friend or his foe. And, as the precepts and tenets held by one faction are inconsistent with the precepts and tenets held by the other, any compromise between the two factions is sterile, impossible. The Country is, then, very clearly in the midst of an existential crisis. It is a crisis taking hold of people on a primordial level. Americans are lining up; taking sides in a major clash of competing visions for this Country. Each faction’s vision for this Country rests on distinct, incompatible social, political, economic, and ethical philosophies. Only one side, one faction will prevail in the unfolding conflict.We will see either massive upheaval, a cataclysmic sea change in the political, social, economic, and legal structure of our Nation, or we will see preserved those principles, those core values and mores upon which the political, social, economic, and legal structure and fabric of our Nation has stood and endured for over two centuries—principles and core values that so many Americans had fought, and for which so many had died, to preserve: principles and core values—unchanging and eternal.[We continue with this article in the next installment]._________________________________________________*Under Article 2, Section 2 of the U.S. Constitution the President nominates a person to sit on the U.S. Supreme Court. But, the President shall do so only with the "advice and consent" of the Senate. The "advice and consent" of the Senate operates as a condition precedent to actual appointment. But, there is nothing in the Constitution that requires the Senate to give its advice and consent. And the Senate has not done so, here, with Barack Obama's nomination of Merrick Garland to sit on the high Court. Those Democrats and Leftists, of all stripes, who wanted and had expected the Senate to provide a Hearing and Roll-Call vote on Merrick Garland were apoplectic. Merrick Garland, who would, have been Barack Obama's third appointment to the high Court, would have given the liberal-wing of the Court a clear majority, sufficient to move the left-wing agenda along. Leftists conclude that Republicans have stolen a seat on the high Court that belongs to them. That helps, in part, to explain, but certainly does not justify the outrageous, reprehensible smear campaign Senate Democrats launched against President Trump's nominee, Brett Kavanaugh, in their late hour effort to defeat Judge Kavanaugh's confirmation to the high Court._________________________________________________Copyright © 2018 Roger J Katz (Towne Criour), Stephen L. D’Andrilli (Publius) All Rights Reserved. 

DEMOCRATS ASSERT: “FOR THE SAKE OF OUR AGENDA, LET’S PUT TRUTH ASIDE; WE MUST DESTROY THE REPUTATION AND CHARACTER OF BRETT KAVANAUGH.”

SENATE DEMOCRATS, ON THE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE, BLATANTLY ATTEMPT TO DESTROY A MAN’S NAME; TO DO SO WITHOUT CONCERN FOR THE TRUTH.

“I always cheer up immensely if an attack is particularly wounding because I think, well, if they attack one personally, it means they have not a single political argument left.”  ~ Margaret Thatcher Prime Minister of the United Kingdom,” May 4, 1979 through November 28, 1990“Good name in man and woman, dear my lord,Is the immediate jewel of their souls:Who steals my purse steals trash; ’tis something, nothing;’twas mine, ’tis his, and has been slave to thousands;But he that filches from me my good nameRobs me of that which not enriches him, And makes me poor indeed.” ~ William Shakespeare, Othello, Act 3, Scene 3On Thursday, September 27, in a U.S. Senate Hearing Room, Christine Blasey Ford, testified before Senate Democratic Party and Republican Party Judiciary Committee members; and before the American public. This 11^th Hour Senate Hearing, an “addendum,” need not have transpired; and should not have occurred; for the Senate Hearing on Judge Kavanaugh’s qualifications, character, and integrity that had taken place for several days, had concluded weeks before. Judge Kavanaugh demonstrated beyond any doubt that he is eminently qualified to serve as a Justice on the U.S. Supreme Court. Senate Democrats, though, did not like that turn of events. What could they do? They decided to play a “trump card,” against President Trump, in a last ditch effort to undercut the confirmation of Brett Kavanaugh to a seat on the high Court.Senate Democrats sought to demonstrate that Judge Kavanaugh had a serious flaw in his character—a flaw that made him unsuited to sit on the high Court, regardless of his many qualifications and years of judicial experience. Senate Democrats sought, ostensibly, to portray Christine Ford as a victim—the only victim. But, contrary to Democrats attempt to portray Christine Ford as the sole victim, there was a second victim: Judge Brett Kavanaugh. Senate Democrats intended to use Christine Ford’s testimony against Judge Brett Kavanaugh as a cudgel—another planned assault, along with the Mueller probe—to frustrate the policy objectives of  U.S. President, Donald Trump. To derail the President’s nominee to the high Court, Congressional Democrats brazenly used Christine Ford for their own ends, not hers. The result was to turn a seemingly solemn endeavor into a Grand Inquisition, produced and directed by Senate Democrats.

SENATE DEMOCRATS DISPENSE WITH THE NATION’S BASIC PRINCIPLES OF JUSTICE AS SET FORTH IN THE U.S. CONSTITUTION AND UNDER OUR PROCEDURAL LAWS.

Turning due process on its head, the accused, Judge Brett Kavanaugh, was presumed guilty, not innocent, of sexual assault. Judge Kavanaugh’s accuser, Christine Ford, simply had to disclose in public matters that she had thought and hoped would remain private—allegations of sexual assault committed by Brett Kavanaugh, when they both were in their teens. The testimony of Christine Ford would be used, so it was anticipated by Senate Democrats, to support the inference that Brett Kavanaugh did in fact sexually assault Christine Ford, thirty-six years ago. Senate Democrats made clear that it wasn’t necessary for Christine Ford’s testimony to actually cohere with or correspond to the facts of the matter. It would be enough, so Senate Democrats assumed and argued that she merely appear to be honest, credible. But, due process requires more from an accuser than an accuser’s mere conviction; due process requires more than the accuser’s honest belief in the truth of her own allegations. And due process requires more than the mere perception, of the observer, that the accuser is, after all, really telling the truth. From both a logical and legal perspective belief does not ipso facto equate with truth.Under the Sixth Amendment to the United States Constitution, the testimony of an accuser is not sufficient to convict or condemn a man. Evidence to support a naked accusation is required, such as independent forensic evidence and corroboration of witnesses to the event—none of which Christine Ford had produced. So, regardless of Christine Ford’s personal conviction as to her certainty that the events she speaks of—that took place, thirty-six years ago—and however adamant her remarks, fact remains that, bare allegations, ostensibly based on recollections, in the absence of more, do not substantiate truth for the trier of fact. Under our system of laws and justice—a system built on over two centuries of jurisprudence—an accuser’s barefaced accusation of wrongdoing is constitutionally insufficient to convict one of a crime or, as in this case, simply constitutionally insufficient to condemn.Here, the accuser’s testimony came up short on critical details, painfully short. No matter. Senate Democrats had, before the fact, accepted the accuser’s testimony, on its face, as factually true. They accepted on faith alone the veracity of the allegations because, as they have said, in public, even before the hearing, they had found Christine Ford’s barefaced allegations of a crime to be credible and compelling; and, for them, that was enough, and they insisted that Christine Ford’s barefaced allegations of a crime should be considered credible and compelling for everyone else, too. That is patently ridiculous!Imagine if you will that an accusation were sufficient, of itself, to sustain punishment or public condemnation, irrespective of even a scintilla of independent corroborating evidence. What would that mean for someone; what would that mean for you if someone came forth with a damning accusation against you? What it means is that, you, the accused do not  have the right to face your accuser. You don’t have the right to test the sufficiency of the accusation through direct examination of the accuser. The presumption of innocence does not attach. Thus, the barefaced allegations of an accuser are presumed sufficient to convict or to condemn you and off to prison you go or otherwise, if not to prison, then, perhaps, you, the accused lose a benefit to which you ought otherwise be entitled; or you lose an opportunity you sought to obtain. Moreover, you will find your reputation, your honor, your integrity, your character are all irrevocably besmirched and stained, forever. This inversion of our basic principles of due process can happen to you. Don’t think it can’t! This inversion of our basic principles of justice is precisely what we see happening here in the case of Brett Kavanaugh. We see a planned coordinated, systematic, reprehensible attack to destroy a man’s character and reputation. Senate Democrats, who sit on the Judiciary Committee, along with the Congressional Democratic Party leadership, have connived, conspired and implemented a last minute plan in an unconscionable attempt to discredit the honor, character, and reputation of a man. They could not and cannot destroy the man’s judicial record, his jurisprudential philosophy, and his keen, analytical mind. So, they attempt to debase him. They resort to the last tactic available—a tactic of those in the throes of desperation. They resort to an attack on the man himself.Their plan is nothing more than a well-orchestrated, coordinated contrivance, utilizing their echo chamber, the mainstream media, to cherry pick details of the man’s history. They do this with the aim to come up with something, anything that might be used to cast aspersions on the man’s character. They take whatever they find, and then exaggerate the claim, blowing it up out of all proportion to reason and sensibility. Did the man ever drink alcohol in high school or college? If so, then the public must conclude that the man is a drunkard. A few women come forward with the most outrageous claims of moral turpitude. So, then, the public must believe their damning allegations and must conclude that the man is guilty of moral turpitude because of course these women are telling the truth; and because of course these women wouldn’t lie; and, because of course their memories of the events, if such events occurred at all, didn’t fade with time; and because of course a personal animus toward this man—toward all “white men”—doesn’t motivate them to attack the man. Democrats provide their echo chamber, the mainstream media, with tantalizing bits of garbage to rouse to rally and to rouse their base, the #MeToo movement, and the results are as expected: the lizard brain takes over; all reason goes out-the-door. The  #MeToo sorority becomes ever more indignant; and, then they lose all control. They shout, scream, rant, foam at the mouth, convulse with rage. The lizard brain completely takes over; eats away at them; consumes them. They know what they want. It is as clear as a bell. “Down with White Men! Down with Trump! Down with America!” The entire performance, the entire charade, the entire farce, has nothing, really to do with Brett Kavanaugh; nothing at all. It is, rather what, Kavanaugh represents to these people, who, one can reasonably infer, has not read the man’s legal opinions. They know nothing of his love and devotion and of his years of service to his Country. They know nothing of his love and of his devotion to his wife, to his children, and to his Church. They don’t want to know. They don’t need to know. For what it is they think they know is enough for them. It is what they hear from Democrats, and from the newspapers and from MSNBC and CNN and NPR and PBS. They know everything they have to know about him, which is what they think they know, and what they think they know is wrong. What they think they know has been planted in their lizard brain, and what has been planted there is enough: Brett Kavanaugh is President Trump’s nominee; Brett Kavanaugh is just a privileged “white man.” Brett Kavanaugh doesn’t respect women. Brett Kavanaugh is just plain “evil.” So, Down with Kavanaugh! Down with Trump! Down with white men! Okay—Let us now get back to some semblance of reality, as we consider the Confirmation process.Where, then, does that leave the accused, Brett Kavanaugh? Senate Democrats placed the accused in the legally dubious position of having to bear the burden of proving his innocence. They patently surrendered a presumption of innocence afforded an accused—a presumption that is not mere platitude, but the very cornerstone of our system of justice. Application of the presumption requires that accuser, in the first instance, sustain the burden of proof. But Senate Democrats insist on a presumption of guilt. They insist that Brett Kavanaugh rebut Christine Ford’s testimony even though Christine Ford’s evidence, consisting of her testimony alone, had met no recognized legal standard—not even the lowest standard—preponderance of the evidence that might otherwise, if satisfied, shift the burden of proof onto the accused. Be that as it may, Brett Kavanaugh did proffer his testimony willingly; insisting, in fact, that he be permitted to do so; and Judge Kavanaugh did so, professing his innocence through his own equally compelling, credible testimony. Judge Kavanaugh denied—clearly, succinctly, emphatically, categorically, and unequivocally—ever sexually assaulting Christine Blasey Ford, or anyone. By placing the initial burden of proof on the accused, as Senate Democrats did, though, it became clear even to a lay observer, that the entire hearing was nothing more than a shameless charade, a sham, a circus, complete with clowns; and the clowns in that circus turn out to be Senate Democrats. But, there was nothing for Americans to be amused about.Senate Democrats, looked on dispassionately as the man spoke eloquently, honestly, from the heart. Even so, the attack against him continued. Senate Democrats castigated Brett Kavanaugh and derided him, for they had cast judgment on him even before they heard him speak. And, what do these Democrats, these seemingly honorable people, themselves, really find Brett Kavanaugh guilty of? Just this: the hubris of daring to sit on the U.S. Supreme Court; for doing so wrecks the Democratic Party’s political, social, and economic agenda. The man must be taken down!

WHY DID CHRISTINE BLASEY FORD AGREE TO TESTIFY IN PUBLIC?

As to the matter of Christine Ford’s public testimony, she didn’t really have a choice in the matter. Senate Democrats, dispensing with due process, had urged Christine Ford to testify. This was necessary if they were to delay or derail the Confirmation process. They knew this. They had to attach a face, an identity to a bare accusation against a man. They knew that much. So, even though the accuser sought to remain anonymous, clearly her identity had to be brought out. Only a few Democrats were aware of the accuser’s identity, and her identity was leaked to the Press. A reasonable person would conclude that the accuser did leak the matter since she made clear her wish to remain unknown. Congressional Republicans could not have leaked her name to the Press, for Congressional Republicans had no knowledge of the accusation. Democrats didn’t inform Congressional Republicans of the identity of the accused until the 11^th Hour, when they sprung the accusation on Republicans and on the public. So, a reasonable person would conclude that someone within the Democratic leadership or within the Senate Judiciary Committee had leaked the information. So, much, then for respecting Christine Ford’s wish to remain anonymous.But, whoever it was in the Democratic Party who leaked Christine Ford’s identity, this is what the public learned: The accuser is a middle-aged woman, Christine Ford, a year younger than Brett Kavanaugh; she is a College Professor and holds a Ph.D degree in psychology. Brett Kavanaugh’s accuser, Christine Ford, made a conscious decision to attack the character of the man, even though she could not remember critical details, sufficient to support a criminal charge against Judge Kavanaugh; and, who, for whatever reason, never reported the matter she claims occurred, to the police, or to her friends, or even to her family, but who deemed the matter important enough to bring up now, thirty-six years after the alleged event occurred. She says she is 100% certain that it was Judge Kavanaugh who had attacked her, who had sexually assaulted her. Despite the many gaps as to when and where the matter in question occurred, and as to exactly what had occurred—if the matter had indeed occurred at all—she accuses Judge Kavanaugh, explicitly, of sexual assault.Christine Ford’s representative thereupon passed the information to Senator Dianne Feinstein, ranking Democratic Party member of the Senate Judiciary Committee. Now Senator Feinstein, for her part, was ethically bound to share that information immediately with the Chairman of the Judiciary Committee, Senator Chuck Grassley. If she had done so, the Senate Judiciary Committee could then have undertaken a discrete inquiry into Christine Ford’s allegations. But Senator Feinstein didn’t share the contents of the letter with Chairman Grassley. Senator Feinstein held onto the letter, for several weeks, albeit conceivably sharing the contents of the letter with her Democratic Party colleagues on the Committee and with Democratic Party leadership. Congressional Democrats apparently made a decision to spring the information onto Senate Republicans and the American public, days before the Judiciary Committee was set to vote on submitting the Confirmation of Judge Kavanaugh to the floor of the Senate, for a full Roll-Call vote. Possibly fearing that Judge Kavanaugh would be confirmed by a simple majority of the Senate, they sprung their trap on Senate Republicans and brought Christine Ford’s bare accusation of sexual misconduct to the attention of Chairman Grassley and other Senate Republicans on the Judiciary Committee. Clearly, they did this with the intention to derail, altogether, or, at least, to delay the Confirmation process.The failure to share critical information immediately with Republican members of the Senate Judiciary Committee—holding onto the information secretly, surreptitiously, to be used as a weapon to delay or to derail the Senate Confirmation process—is unethical, even reprehensible behavior. And everything that followed, from the point in time that Christine Ford’s damning and unsupported allegation against Judge Brett Kavanaugh became public up to and including the sham hearing that followed, illustrates the extent to which Democrats will go to get their way.Ranking Democratic Party Senate Judiciary member Dianne Feinstein and the other Senate Democrats, sitting on the Judiciary Committee, were, though, taking a gamble. Senator Feinstein and Senate Democrats knows that a barefaced accusation of sexual misconduct, especially an accusation going back decades, is, in the absence of supporting forensic evidence or, at least, corroborating witnesses, patently insufficient to convict or to condemn, under our system of justice. And there was none. That constitutes the crack, a chink in the Democrats’ armor, and Democrats, some of whom are attorneys at law, certainly know this. But, they played the game out, victim (the accuser) versus attacker (the accused), anyway.

ACCUSER AND ACCUSED ARE BOTH VICTIMS HERE.

Christine Blasey Ford had presented Democrats with a gift, a dangerous weapon, a barefaced allegation of wrongdoing. The Party, bereft of common decency, would be only too tempted, too willing to use the accusation against Brett Kavanaugh, against Senate Republicans, against the President of the United States, and against the Nation to achieve their ends. Senator Feinstein knew that a barefaced allegation of sexual misconduct against another individual was patently unfair. But, Democrats didn’t hold back. They didn’t care. They gambled that this gambit would serve to derail the Confirmation of Judge Kavanaugh to the high Court or, at least, delay a Senate Confirmation vote until after the 2018 Midterm elections. It is the hope of Democrats that they can gain control of the U.S. Senate after the Midterms. A cascading sequence of events thus unfolded, as deeply sensitive allegations came to the public’s attention—embarrassing and humiliating to both accuser and accused. These barefaced allegations would forever sully the reputation and character of an honorable man, a man with a distinguished record of judicial service, and would, at once, leave the accuser all alone, with her own reputation and honor tainted. Thus, along with the victim that Democrats played to the public—their “ace in the hole,” Christine Ford—there was another victim. This was a victim whom they failed to consider, whom they had no wish of considering as it was a victim whom they are responsible for creating, the victim whom in fact they made: Judge Brett Kavanaugh.Both Congressional Republicans, and conceivably even some Congressional Democrats, along with the American public, have learned that Democrats and Leftist groups will do anything to frustrate President Trump’s policy objectives. No scheme is too outrageous for them; no scheme too outlandish; no scheme too reprehensible if they can accomplish their agenda; their end goals. They intend to secure power for themselves and to proceed once again with accomplishing their own policy objectives—objectives at odds with the core values of most Americans people. With Judge Brett Kavanaugh sitting on the U.S. Supreme Court, their plans to hijack this Country from the American people will be all that more difficult, if not impossible. They therefore had no pangs of conscience, no reservation as to what they would do; what they felt they must do to protect their plans, their agenda. They would be willing to destroy a man’s character and reputation, along with his very life, well-being, and personal safety, and that of his family. They would know and be willing to accept, at one and the same time, that their actions might very well endanger, too, the life, well-being, and personal safety of the human being they claimed to be concerned about, Christine Blasey Ford. This would be the price they would be willing to pay in order to regain power and to be able to proceed with the items on their agenda.The accuser, Christine Ford should be perceived as much a tool, here, as victim—a tool to be used and eventually to be discarded, when no longer useful. And Democrats used their tool, Christine Ford, to play her as victim in need of justice, albeit justice coming decades late. Christine Ford’s accusation became the highlight of the #MeToo movement; trumpeted by the mainstream media in the newspapers; hailed by Leftist pundits on the airwaves; a rallying point for Hillary Clinton supporters, thunderstruck and enraged at the Presidential hopeful’s seemingly implausible defeat in the 2016 general election; and the predicate for mass demonstrations.

THE AGENDA OF DEMOCRATS AND LEFTIST GROUPS

The Democratic Party has been, in great part, coopted by Progressive elements. But, progressives lack basic common-sense. Still, the aims of Progressive elements have gained support from the mainstream media—an institution also responsible for undermining our Constitution and for undermining the foundation of a free Republic. These elements promote an agenda that most Americans do not agree with and which can, if implemented, deleteriously impact our Constitution and the preservation of a Free Republic. The items on the Progressives’ agenda include, among other things, placing specific impediments on a citizen’s exercise of sacred rights and liberties: the right of free speech, freedom of association, freedom from unreasonable searches and seizures, for turning our system of laws and justice on its head; and for placing considerable limits on, and eventually eliminating altogether, the right of the people to keep and bear arms. They know that it is only by curtailing the citizenry’s basic, fundamental, natural, unalienable rights and liberties that the citizenry be effectively controlled. Most Americans, though, do not agree with these objectives. And, most Americans do not take kindly at attempts to manipulate them, urging them, cajoling them, to take action against their own best interests, which they well see. Most Americans abhor pretense; false preening; glib, self-assured proselytizing; and they particularly loathe hypocrisy which is abundantly in evidence.Senate Democrats on the Judiciary Committee did not realize the extent to which the most Americans would be appalled at Democrats’ attempt to reduce an honorable man, a distinguished jurist, to the point of tears. Americans’ felt the man’s pain; and they realized that this man could be themselves—a man accused of commission of a heinous act and condemned through mere accusation. The result: a man’s reputation is in tatters; his honor forever tarnished; his sincerity forever doubted.Brett Kavanaugh’s character, reputation, and honor were being directly and systematically attacked. Is it any wonder, then, that he would turn his righteous anger and indignation back on those Senate Democrats, who, curiously, showed surprise that an even-tempered man could exhibit anger. They must have felt: "How can this person, this nominee who sits before us, have the audacity to dare speak so rudely to us? Who does he think he is?" Who Brett Kavanaugh is, if these Senators would only stop to consider the matter, is a man with a sense of honor, pride, character, and integrity, well-deserved, who has served his Country well, in a distinguished career, spanning decades, having worked in the Executive Branch of the Federal Government and subsequently working as a distinguished judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. A man who graduated at the top of his Class at one of the premier Universities in our Country, Yale University, and then went on to distinguish himself at Yale Law School. That is who Judge Kavanaugh is. So, then, let us turn the question around on these Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee. Who do these Senators think they are to toy with a good man's reputation, honor, and character? Who are these Senators who would dare do those things that place the life, safety and well-being of my own family at risk?Apparently, these people, these Democrats, sitting on the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee, have so little character, honor, and integrity themselves and so full of their own bravado, they could not understand how it was that a man, sitting before them, would dare remonstrate against them; perhaps Democrats thought, in part, that the personal attack on Brett Kavanaugh’s character should not be taken personally; for, after all, they simply don’t want to see him on the U.S. Supreme Court. And, didn’t they say as much? Didn’t minority leader of the Senate, Chuck Schumer, and other Democrats say as much? Didn’t they ask him, plead with him, to withdraw the nomination, to step aside? If so, they had no idea of the fortitude of the man, for they, themselves have none. Could they truly believe Brett Kavanaugh would not take the attack on his reputation, on his character, on his integrity, and on his personal sense of simple human dignity, personally? Really? Of course he would “dig in his heels” and defend his honor, and his reputation, and his character, and his integrity, and his dignity, too, as a human being--all of which Senate Democrats dared to besmirch.Thus, they concocted an outrageous and outlandish plan to take down an honorable man. And, this all plays out oddly in the Press, as agitators in the #MeToo movement, and their allies, claim that the nominee’s anger, indignation, and, at times, loss of composure, somehow, oddly, bespeak guilt, and lack of proper respect for the Senate? Are they kidding? After what Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee have done to this man? And, still, this outrageous, despicable attack against Brett Kavanaugh continues, unabated. Leftists, along with many Democrats, have lost touch with reality and have lost, as well, any sense of human decency.It is strange, indeed, that Progressive elements in society, along with many Democrats, tend to perceive the average American as wrongly attached to the past: wrongly attached to nationalism, patriotism, American history, pride in self and Country, morality as conceived through a Christian ethos; and wrongly attached to the plain meaning of the Constitution as conceived by the founders of the Republic. Progressive elements, many Democrats, the mainstream Press, and Leftists of all stripes, intend to eradicate this, all of it. They intend to destroy all that defines us; all that has defined us since the creation of a free Republic and since the ratification of our Constitution. And they intend to destroy the very conception of fundamental, natural, unalienable rights and liberties, as codified in the Constitution’s Bill of Rights.Those elements in our society—and what is becoming increasingly clear, Globalist interests abroad—intend to bring Americans, “kicking and screaming” if need be, into a new world as they conceive it, a new international world order. The world that Progressives, in particular, seek, is one wholly disconnected from our Nation’s past. It is one marked by multiculturalism; subordination of our Nation’s interests to those of a world community; subordination of the Nation’s Constitution and laws to international laws and norms; and the application of a conception of liberal democracy as played out in the EU. It is a view that, as we have seen, mandates the subjugation of whole nations and people; suppression of basic rights and liberties; submission of the populace of independent nations to solitary autocratic rule, emanating from one place: Brussels.Democrats realize that President Trump’s nominee to sit as an Associate Justice on the U.S. Supreme Court, Judge Brett Kavanaugh, will, given the Judge's high regard for the plain meaning of Statutes, and for the original meaning of the U.S. Constitution, neutralize the goals of Democrats and their allies both here and abroad. They tried to defeat Judge Kavanaugh through several days of Confirmation Hearing, attacking the jurist’s legal reasoning, his jurisprudential philosophy. But, they could not defeat the cogency and brilliance and intensity of Judge Kavanaugh’s legal mind, and of his singular regard to uphold the sacred precepts of the U.S. Constitution, consistent with the understanding and intentions of the framers of it. So, when the initial attempt to tear down his jurisprudential philosophy and methodology failed, and they could see confirmation as imminent, they resorted to more extreme and drastic measures. They attacked Judge Kavanaugh on a deeply personal level. They played their “ace card in the hole”—they brought up a matter that they should have brought to the attention of the Chairman of the Judiciary Committee, weeks ago, and that they should have done so discretely; a matter that they deviously, deceptively, secretly kept to themselves, to be used as a tactical device to defeat the Confirmation of a man who well merits a seat on our Nation’s highest Court of law. And, when they brought the matter up to the Chairman of the Judiciary Committee, Chuck Grassley, they did so, at the 11th Hour, just before the Committee was set to vote on recommending confirmation of Judge Brett Kavanaugh to the full Senate for a Roll-Call vote. They brought up a sensitive matter at the last minute and with great fanfare, so the public would become aware of a damning accusation before neither they, the Democrats, nor Republicans, had an opportunity, to investigate the matter privately, quietly, and thus protect the identities of both accuser and accused. But they didn't. They unleashed, at the last possible minute, a barefaced, unproven accusation to Republicans on the Senate Judiciary Committee and to the public before Republicans on the Committee had a chance to privately look at the accusation and to discretely investigate the matter. And, even after the fact, Democrats on the Committee refused to work with Republicans on the investigation. But, it is clear that Democrats don't really care to verify the truth of the accusation--especially if there exists no one to corroborate the accusation. Indeed, to date no one, whom the accuser named as witness to her damning accusation, sexual assault, has corroborated it--either asserting that they had not witnessed the event or, if at the scene, refuting that any such assault took place. But, that didn't stop Senate Democrats from attacking Brett Kavanaugh's character anyway. Democrats don't care. All they do care about is the fact of the accusation, not the truth of it. Thus, it is sensible to conclude that Democrats' attack on Brett Kavanaugh’s character is logically fallacious, legally faulty, and morally reprehensible. They directed a massive frontal assault on Judge Kavanaugh’s character, reputation, integrity and bearing, anyway. What took place in a Senate Hearing Room, on September 28, 2018, will go down in American history as one the most sordid, outrageous, abjectly shameless, and disgusting episodes in U.S. Senate history.Americans bear witness to nothing less than wholesale character assassination: the attempted murder of a person’s very self by Congressional Democrats. They have engaged in character assassination for what it is that Brett Kavanaugh represents to them--defeat of their Agenda for this Nation--rather than for who Brett Kavanaugh is. But, did these Democrats honestly think that this last minute gambit would actually work? Apparently so, since they made sure it would play out if Judge Kavanaugh would not step aside, as Senate Minority Leader, Schumer, pugnaciously, sanctimoniously insisted he do. One may well ask: would Chuck Schumer and other Democrats have stepped aside had the same attempt at character assassination been directed at them? Do they have the fortitude, the stamina to withstand such an attack. some of them, surely, do have serious character flaws—beyond any reasonable doubt. That, the public knows full well.Consider the flawed character of Senator Richard Blumenthal, for example. As one of the most vehemently, outspoken of Senate Democrats, he is, perhaps not surprisingly, also one of the most sanctimonious. It seems that Senator Blumenthal tends to project onto Judge Kavanaugh the Senator’s own moral failings, his own character flaws.Recall that Senator Blumenthal claimed to have served in Vietnam during the War. He didn’t. When called on the carpet for his blatant lie, Senator Blumenthal didn’t apologize. He didn’t show remorse. That isn’t in his nature. That isn’t in his character. Instead, Richard Blumenthal deflected the matter. He did so in order to salvage the lie. He sought to “clarify” his false remarks, rather than owning up to them. By failing to own up to his lie, Blumenthal merely compounded the lie; demonstrated to the public that here was a man who has a flawed character and is blind to his own flaws; and that he so contemptuously views the public, that he arrogantly assumes the public will be blind to those character flaws. What the public sees in this man, and in other Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee, though, are diehard hypocrites. The American public sees, in these Senate Democrats who sit on the Judiciary Committee, and the American public sees in the Democratic Party leadership, people so obsessed with their own sense of self-worth and so enamored with their own smug self-importance, and so dazzled by pretensions of personal grandeur that they truly believe Americans believe in the lies and delusions these Congressional Democrats created for themselves. But they are wrong. Americans, most Americans, at least, are not taken in by the air of pompous self-regard these Democrats have for themselves; nor do most Americans wish for the kind of America that these Democrats seek to create--the kind of America that President Obama had pushed the Country toward; and a kind of America that Hillary Clinton would have continued to work toward had she won the 2016 U.S. Presidential election.Could Senator Blumenthal and could other Democrats, who have a flawed character such as that of Blumenthal, withstand Senate inquiry and serious scrutiny into his character and reputation were he to have been nominated by a President—perhaps by Barack Obama—to sit as an Associate Justice on the high Court? One wonders.

BRETT KAVANAUGH DOES NOT OWE AN APOLOGY TO CHRISTINE FORD; NOR TO SENATE DEMOCRATS, NOR TO ANYONE. IF ANYTHING, CONGRESSIONAL DEMOCRATS OWE AN APOLOGY TO JUDGE KAVANAUGH.

Senate Republican, Lindsay Graham, appropriately and rightfully excoriated Senate Democrats. And then speaking directly to Judge Brett Kavanaugh, in an attempt to assist a man whose pain Senator Graham felt, as the man’s character was being improperly impugned before the entire Nation. Senator Graham told Judge Kavanaugh that he, Judge Kavanaugh, has done nothing wrong and does not need to apologize to anyone.Congressional Democrats obviously did not count on the courage and fortitude of Brett Kavanaugh—his tenacity to defend his honor, reputation, character, and good name; nor did they count on the American public’s own sense of fair play and human decency, as Americans have stood by Judge Kavanaugh.Democrats are so blinded by their own misguided sense of moral superiority that they have come to believe the deception they, and their allies, Progressives and Leftist agitators, dared play out on the American citizenry. But, “means do not justify the ends”—certainly not in this Age of Reason, and certainly not here, in the United States. Americans were justifiably appalled at Democrats’ chicanery; even more so once it became apparent that Senate Democrats had urged Judge Kavanaugh—plaintively, as a last ignominious and clearly futile attempt to delay a Senate Roll-Call vote on Confirmation—to ask President Trump to authorize the FBI to investigate Christine Ford’s allegations against the Judge. This was absurd.Senate Democrats, on the Judiciary Committee, know full well that Judge Brett Kavanaugh, the nominee, cannot authorize FBI investigations into himself or anyone else; nor should he. The claim put forward by Senate Democrats that, if Judge Kavanaugh were truly innocent, he would authorize an investigation into the allegations was merely a red herring. How was Judge Kavanaugh expected to respond to that. Was he expected to capitulate? That would only serve to delay a Confirmation vote, which, of course, was what Senate Democrats hoped to accomplish. Moreover, Judge Kavanaugh would appear weak, having capitulated to the will of Senate Democrats. That would serve their own end; not his; nor ours, the American people.For all that, the FBI, as with any police agency, undertakes investigations on its own initiative when deemed necessary and has done so, many times, in the course of Judge Kavanaugh’s extensive work for the Nation. Nothing remotely came up, during seven thorough FBI investigations into Judge Kavanaugh’s background. That, in itself is telling. Also, the Senate itself can authorize an investigation; and the Senate itself can conduct its own investigation. In fact, Senate Republicans did undertake their own investigation into the barefaced allegations of Christine Ford, contacting individuals whom Christine Ford mentions as supporting her allegations. None of them did support Christine Ford’s allegations. Moreover, and oddly too, Senate Democrats on the Judiciary Committee, refrained from taking part in the Senate investigation, conducted by Republicans.Why is that? Could it be that the Democrats did not wish to know whether Christine Ford’s allegations could not be corroborated? For, if Senate Democrats learned that the accuser’s allegations could not be corroborated that would undercut the claim that Christine Ford’s allegations were true and that would have effectively ended the matter, as the accuser’s allegations would appear to the Nation to be less credible and Senate Democrats would have been compelled to acknowledge as much. But Senate Democrats would have none of that. Lastly, as Judge Kavanaugh pointed out, this latest hearing was itself an investigation. What more would actually be accomplished through an FBI investigation as the investigators would be doing no more than what Senate Republicans had already done: namely talk to those individuals whom Christine Ford had mentioned as people who could corroborate her story. They did not corroborate her story when interviewed by Senate Republicans, under pain of criminal penalty if they were caught in a lie. These individuals would not have corroborated the accuser’s story to FBI investigators as well. So, then what would be gained from an FBI investigation into the accuser’s allegations? Nothing. A call for a seventh FBI investigation at this time would serve nothing but make clear to the American public that Senate Democrats sought merely to delay a Roll-Call vote.*When one feels compelled to resort to chicanery, that chicanery comes back to bite them. And it has done so, here. The chicanery has come to bite Senate Democrats.

AMERICANS HAVE HAD ENOUGH OF DEMOCRATS’ DECEITFUL AND REPREHENSIBLE TACTICS.

Many members of the Democratic Party—certainly those members who sit on the Senate Judiciary Committee—thought they could win over the public and, too, those few holdout Senators on the Republican Party. They apparently didn’t realize that, far from persuading Senate Republicans to turn against President’s Trump’s nominee to the U.S. Supreme Court, they have likely persuaded those Senate Republican holdouts to vote in favor of Confirmation of Judge Kavanaugh to the U.S. Supreme Court, and, perhaps, may have persuaded a few Senate Democrats to do so as well.Americans have now become increasingly aware that those Democrats who sit on the Senate Judiciary Committee as well as the Democratic Party Leadership and, many other Congressional Democrats, are “little people.” They have little empathy for human beings even as they claim empathy and concern for people. Their only concern is accumulation of power for themselves and to enable them to continue working toward completing the items on their agenda. They are people who have no integrity, no sense of human decency or character themselves, and therefore assume, wrongly, that no one else does either. Since they are flawed people, they are blind to their own flaws; and that will doom them and will doom the ignoble causes they seek to force upon our Nation and upon the American people. What they seek is massive social change and political upheaval, in order to remake this Country in a way far removed from a conception of a free Republic and a free people, propounded by the founders of our Nation, the framers of our Constitution.A quotation from the 1951 Cary Grant film, “People Will Talk,” aptly describes what befalls those people who are so consumed with hate and vindictiveness and so convinced of their own moral superiority that they fail to see the flaws in their own character. Cary Grant, star in the film. He plays the protagonist, an idealistic medical professional, named Dr. Noah Praetorius. The antagonist in the film, Dr. Rodney Elwell, is played by the actor, Hume Cronyn. Dr. Elwell unfairly, spitefully, and ruthlessly attempts to destroy the character and reputation of Dr. Praetorius. Toward the end of the film, when Dr. Elwell’s attempt to destroy the character and reputation of  the man fails, he finds himself literally and figuratively, alone. As Dr. Elwell and Mr. Shunderson, Dr. Praetorius’ mysterious friend and personal servant, remain alone in a conference room at a college where Dr. Praetorius teaches, Mr. Shunderson privately scolds Dr. Elwell. Mr. Shunderson does so, not loudly and proudly like a victor might who had fought and won a brutal contest, but quietly, thoughtfully—and, curiously, in a way, that may be described as soothing, even melancholy—as he contemplates now a broken man, a disgraced man, a shallow man, sitting at the conference table. Here was a man who had been smugly self-assured, seemingly pious, but no longer.Dr. Elwell is now truly alone, a ruined man, and wholly irrelevant, as he has failed utterly to bring over others to his side in what was clearly found to be an unfair attack on Dr. Praetorius, a man for whom, it became clear, Dr. Elwell was deeply envious, and whose character and reputation he had, therefore, sought to ruin. But, those whom he had hoped to convince had heard more than enough. No one wished to listen to Dr. Elwell anymore. Dr. Praetorius character and reputation was vindicated and it was Dr. Elwell whose character and reputation now lay in tatters.Mr. Shunderson tells Mr. Elwell, this: “Professor Elwell, you're a little man. It's not that you're short. You're. . . little, in the mind and in the heart. Tonight, you tried to make a man little whose boots you couldn't touch if you stood on tiptoe on top of the highest mountain in the world. And as it turned out . . . you're even littler than you were before.”Senate Democrats on the Judiciary Committee are, together, “Dr. Elwell,” and we would add the Democratic Party leadership, too, Senator Chuck Schumer, and Representative, Nancy Pelosi. They are attempting to take down Brett Kavanaugh, whose boots these Democrats couldn’t touch if they stood on tiptoe on top of the highest mountain in the world. These Democrats are, themselves, little people, and always have been even if that fact had been lost on many Americans; but no longer. And, after the disgusting sham hearing they put on to cut down an honorable man, a sham hearing they put on for the entire Nation to see—after behind the scenes machinating, conspiring—it isn’t Brett Kavanaugh who appears “little” to the Nation, whom they sought to make little. Rather, it is these Democrats who are “little, in the mind and in the heart.” Americans should seriously think about the matter witnessed in the spectacle they see played out before them. If they do so, and are not taken in by false rhetoric, they will become fully aware of what is really going on here: a ruthless attempt to destroy a man’s honor, character, and reputation, not because of some perceived flaw in the man—as there is none—but because Brett Kavanaugh stands in the way of their own lust for power; he stands in the way of their own quest for personal aggrandizement. And, through all that they have done and all that they continue to do to ruthlessly cut down the honor, character, and reputation of a man, they now appear, like Dr. Elwell, even littler than they were before.If there was any doubt whether Judge Kavanaugh merits ascendancy to Justice on the U.S. Supreme Court, Senate Democrats have now, themselves put that doubt to rest. But they have done so not in the manner they thought; not in the manner they planned for; not in the manner they have hoped and expected. And, perhaps worst of all, for them, the public sees them now as disgraceful actors, as circus clowns, yet still bearing animosity, still bearing grudges, despite being found out for the buffoons they are. They hold high rank in Government, yes, but they have been thoroughly exposed for the hypocrites they were; for the hypocrites they are, and for the hypocrites they will, unfortunately, always remain. They are worthy of no American’s respect and should expect none.We implore our fellow Americans to contact their U.S. Senator immediately, telling their Senator they should do nothing to dignify the Democrats’ despicable last minute attempt to sabotage confirmation of Judge Kavanaugh through their outlandish scheme to impugn Judge Kavanaugh's character, reputation and honor. Tell your U.S. Senator to vote in favor of confirming the nomination of Judge Kavanaugh to the U.S. Supreme Court. As is abundantly clear, the American people need Judge Kavanaugh as he will help preserve the integrity of our Constitution, and our  system of laws and justice as an Associate Justice on the U.S. Supreme Court; and that Judge Brett Kavanaugh will do so in a manner consistent with the will and wishes of the founders of our Republic. We can ask for no more of Judge Kavanaugh; and would expect nothing less from him. You will find the name and contact number of your Senator at this link: https://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm._____________________________________________*As of the date of the posting of this article, President Trump, on his own initiative, has authorized a limited FBI investigation. The FBI is limited to investigating the specific allegations of sexual misconduct made against Brett Kavanaugh, however implausible the allegations are. Ostensibly, President Trump felt compelled to take this action because Jeff Flake, who had agreed to refer, along with other Senate Republicans on the Judiciary Committee, confirmation of Brett Kavanaugh to the full Senate, had, literally, at the last minute, reneged on that referral. Further, Senate Republicans, Collins and Murkowski, taking their cue from Senator Flake, have now made clear that they wish for the FBI to investigate the allegations of sexual misconduct, too, before they are willing to confirm Brett Kavanaugh as a U.S. Supreme Court Justice. Unfortunately, apart from delaying a full Senate Roll-Call vote for another week, this places the FBI in an unenviable position. Whatever the outcome of the investigation, the FBI’s report will be deemed political. This, the FBI doesn’t need, given that the American public has been apprised that, both prior to the 2016 U.S. Presidential election, and thereafter, high ranking DOJ and FBI officials have operated as functionaries of the Democratic Party and not as independent police investigators and attorneys. Moreover, since Senate Republicans have, as they made clear during the last Hearing, already undertaken an investigation of individuals whom Christine Ford named as witnesses who might corroborate her allegations, and as none of those individuals had corroborated Christine Ford’s allegations, nothing would be gained through an FBI interview of those same people. Now, two other individuals, Debra Ramirez and Julie Swetnick, have come forward with their own allegations of sexual misconduct against Judge Brett Kavanaugh. However, the allegations of sexual misconduct that these two new accusers have brought against Judge Kavanaugh are so patently ludicrous, that any time spent and taxpayer monies expended by FBI personnel to interview these women would serve only to turn what has already become a circus into a full-fledged farce. But that is where we, the American people, are, no thanks to Senator Feinstein’s unethical, and truly despicable 11^th Hour bombshell release of Christine Blasey Ford’s barefaced accusation against Judge Kavanaugh._________________________________________________Copyright © 2018 Roger J Katz (Towne Criour), Stephen L. D’Andrilli (Publius) All Rights Reserved.

CUOMO VERSUS NRA: NEW YORK GOVERNOR ATTACKS NRA AND SILENT MAJORITY IN BID FOR THIRD TERM AS GOVERNOR OF NEW YORK.

“ ‘It is of the utmost consequence that the people should discuss the character and qualifications of candidates for their suffrages.  The importance to the state and to society of such discussions is so vast, and the advantages derived are so great, that they more than counterbalance the inconvenience of private persons whose conduct may be involved, and occasional injury to the reputations of individuals must yield to the public welfare, although at times such injury may be great.  The  public benefit from publicity is so great, and the chance of injury to private character so small, that such discussion must be privileged.’ ” New York Times Co. vs. Sullivan, 376 U.S. 254, 281; 84 S. Ct. 710, 727; 11 L. Ed. 2d  686, 707 (1964), citing, Coleman v. MacLennan, 78 Kan. 711, 724; 98 P. 281, 286 (Kan. 1908)(Opinion by Judge Burch, Kansas State Supreme Court).{Parenthetical Note to Our Readers: The Arbalest Quarrel took the original version of this article off the site yesterday in order to do an extensive rewrite. We apologize for any puzzlement this may have caused.}

IS CUOMO USING HIS CAMPAIGN FOR A THIRD TERM AS GOVERNOR OF NEW YORK TO LAUNCH A BID FOR PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES IN 2020?

Andrew M. Cuomo, the 56^th Governor of New York and present sitting Governor, seeks a third term in Office. But is Cuomo contemplating a run for the U.S. Presidency in 2020, as the Democratic Party nominee? To the casual observer, it certainly appears so, even as he leaves the option open when asked.  That would certainly be in keeping with Cuomo's character, for Andrew Cuomo is an ambitious man. It is “Andrew M. Cuomo, 46^th President of the United States,” that Cuomo  may very well see in the mirror when he looks at himself. But, if this is indeed Cuomo's desire--this ultimate prize--the Silent Majority*  cannot allow this to happen. The Silent Majority must not allow this to happen. The Silent Majority must stop Cuomo in his tracks, and that means stopping Andrew Cuomo's election to a third term as Governor of New York.  But to stop Cuomo, the Silent Majority must first understand Cuomo.

WHO IS ANDREW CUOMO, REALLY?

Andrew Cuomo is a self-complacent, ruthlessly ambitious, smugly self-assured man. He is the last of “The Three Amigos,” all three of whom, under cover of darkness, spawned and machinated to secure enactment of the oppressive and reprehensible New York Safe Act—legislation that undercuts, and in its very conception is designed to undercut, the import and purport of the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. The New York Safe Act also negatively impacts the personal property clause of the Fifth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, as language in the Act makes it impossible for one spouse to transfer his or her firearms to the other spouse as well as to other family members.But, what became of the two close allies of Cuomo—two of the “three Amigos” that we hear so little about today? One of the two Amigos, Sheldon Silver, former Speaker of the New York Assembly, resides in federal prison. The New York Post reports that a federal Court sentenced Silver to 7 years in prison, and  fined Silver $1.75 million dollars, having found Silver guilty of public corruption. In that article, the Post reports that the judge reduced an earlier sentence of 12 years imposed on Silver, apparently as an act of mercy, given Silver's advanced age.Ten days after Sheldon Silver, was sentenced, a U.S. District Court, as reported by the Daily News, sentenced Skelos, Speaker of the New York Assembly, to 5 years in prison, for bribery, extortion, and conspiracy, and ordered him to pay $500,000 in fines. Skelos presently remains free on bail, according to The New York Times, while the Court considers the former Speaker's conviction on the specific charge of graft.And what of the kingpin, himself, the third Amigo, Andrew M. Cuomo? The Governor of New York has since attempted to distance himself from his two former friends and allies. Cuomo seems to remain unscathed, while his underlings, Silver and Skelos, get hit with criminal indictments and convictions. But perceptions can be deceiving. Public corruption is systematic in, systemic of, and endemic to Cuomo’s Administration, and, in fact, to Andrew Cuomo, himself.

ANDREW CUOMO: A MAN OF THE PEOPLE? HARDLY!

Several years ago, when Cuomo first ran for Governor of New York, The New York Times wrote that Cuomo was a man of the people. But, fast forward several years to this present moment in time, it is clear that Cuomo is nothing of the sort. No doubt Cuomo would claim that, then, as now, he represents the best interests of New York residents, but, truthfully, Cuomo has done nothing to earn the trust, support and confidence of New York residents in the heartland of the State.In point of fact Cuomo is unaccountable to and dismissive of all concern for the Silent Majority of New York. By extension, Cuomo would be unaccountable to and would be dismissive of all concern for the Silent Majority of citizens of the entire Nation were he to win the Oval Office in 2020.Cuomo cannot wash the sins of public corruption away, much as he may try. Evidence of Cuomo's embrace of public corruption is legion. The New York Post's expose of Andrew Cuomo is telling. The New York Post writes, ". . . Gov. Cuomo’s political interference with his Moreland Commission panel’s investigation of public corruption pulled the veil from one of the biggest open secrets at the state Capitol: The governor is a liar and almost anything he promises will turn out to be false. Cuomo’s betrayal of major pledges is well known: the promise to cut taxes in a meaningful way, encourage job creation without government handouts, reduce local mandates, conduct public work transparently and have science — not politics — determine if fracking can be done safely.But it wasn’t until it Cuomo violated his No. 1 pledge to rid New York of the “culture of corruption’’ that has dominated Albany for decades that the full extent of his betrayal of the public became clear.People who have known Cuomo for years, including some who go back to the days he served as the thuggish chief enforcer of his father, then-Gov. Mario Cuomo, say they aren’t surprised Cuomo’s penchant for lying has finally exploded in full public view.Andrew Cuomo has surrounded himself with unsavory characters. His own disreputable character is longstanding and his ties to unsavory types deeply entrenched. A case in point: Joe Percoco, a former aide to Governor Cuomo who was sentenced for public corruption. The times union, pointing to charges brought against Percoco in a federal bribery and fraud case, in 2016—which, according to the NY Post, subsequently led to Percoco's conviction on several charges—said that:“Joe Percoco, ‘has long been a bruising political enforcer at times feared by those in the Capitol sphere.‘Trained as a lawyer, he had the guts, brains and stick-to-itiveness necessary to attack any project — hard,’ Gov. Andrew Cuomo called his longtime confidant and former aide in his 2014 memoir, ‘All Things Possible.’ Percoco [first] worked for Andrew Cuomo's father, Mario, during his time as governor, beginning political life at the age of 19, according to Cuomo's memoir. At Mario Cuomo's January 2015 funeral, Andrew Cuomo called Percoco ‘my father's third son, who sometimes I think he loved the most.” 

ANDREW CUOMO IS, DEFINED, FIRST AND FOREMOST, BY HIS OPPOSITION TO THE SECOND AMENDMENT OF THE U.S. CONSTITUTION, AND HE IS DEFINED, SECOND—WHETHER THROUGH PERSONAL CONVICTION OR SIMPLY THROUGH POLITICAL EXPEDIENCY—WITH THE PROGRESSIVE LEFT OF THIS COUNTRY, AS HE HAS, THROUGH BOTH HIS WORDS, AND ACTIONS, CAST THE FATE OF HIS POLITICAL FUTURE WITH THAT FAR LEFT-WING POLITICAL FACTION OF THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY.

Andrew Cuomo is known as the man who, more than anything else, detests the Second Amendment, and the NRA, and all those Americans, the silent majority who reside both in New York and in the heartland of this Nation. Nothing defines Cuomo more than his utter contempt for, and his virulent, vitriolic, and absolute hatred for the right of the people to keep and bear arms. His signature Legislation, the New York Safe Act, more than anything else, defines what he stands for and what his vision for America consists of. The NY Safe Act is a testament to his virulent, vitriolic, and absolute hatred of the Second Amendment of the Bill of Rights of the United States Constitution.Residents of other States may scoff at Cuomo, perceiving him to be little more than a political con artist who, for political reasons, has consciously, calculatedly cast his lot with the most liberal elements of the Democratic Party, who also detest the Second Amendment and who have, of late, insinuated themselves inextricably into the web of the Democratic Party machinery. Centrists within the Democratic Party seem powerless to constrain these insurgent progressive left elements, or otherwise lack the will to do so, and have capitulated to their aims and wishes.The Democratic Party is the mechanism through which these insurgent progressive elements intend to destroy this Nation; and the centrist liberal elements within the Party, headed by Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer, have shown, through their clearly abject weakness, a willingness to join these progressive forces by either echoing the sentiments of their sentiments and aims or otherwise standing by placidly, ineffectively, unable or unwilling to control them.  Make no mistake about this. The Progressive Left in this Nation seeks to undermine this Nation’s sovereignty, and to undercut this Nation’s Constitution and Bill of Rights. Ever since Donald Trump’s inauguration, as the 45th President of the United States, the Progressive Left in this Country have been systematically working toward their destructive goals—although more openly than they had wished; for, with the election of Donald Trump as the 45th President of the United States, much to their surprise and consternation, they have been forced to show their hand.To accomplish their reprehensible goal, those who would destroy our Nation and who would destroy our Nation’s history, traditions, and core values have launched an all-out war—a war against the very foundation of our free Republic and of a free People: a war against the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. It is destruction of the Second Amendment that exists, first and foremost, in their crosshairs. It is the destruction of the Second Amendment they want. It is destruction of the Second Amendment they need.  And it is the destruction of the Second Amendment they intend to bring off, to effectuate their ultimate goal: subordination of the Country as an independent sovereign Nation State; subordination of the Nation's Constitution and the Nation's laws to international laws and international tribunals; and the erasing of our history, traditions, and values, and the subversion of the very concept of  'citizen,' paving the way for the infusion of tens of millions of unassimilable illegal aliens into the heart of our Country. To accomplish their despicable end game, Andrew Cuomo is their man.The destroyers of this Nation, no less so than the silent majority, know that the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution is the very backbone of this Nation. Were the Second Amendment eliminated, the entirety of the Nation’s Bill of Rights, along with the autonomy and sanctity of the American citizen, and, too, the very structure of this Nation’s Government, as laid out in the Articles, as set forth in the Constitution, would topple like a house of cards. The socialists, communists, anarchists, and those that finance their operations in this Country are working tirelessly, unceasingly to see that this happens. The silent majority in this Country, for their part, must see to it that this doesn’t happen.

ANDREW CUOMO ATTACKS THE NRA

Lest there by any doubt, the National Rifle Association (NRA)—as the preeminent defender of the Nation’s singularly critical core, defining precept, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, and as preeminent defender of the very bedrock of a free Republic—is the first civil rights organization. It was founded in 1871 ((incidentally, nine years before the founding of the National Association for the deaf (NAD), in 1880, and almost forty years before the founding of the NAACP, in 1909)). Left-wing progressives, becoming increasingly emboldened and radicalized, and with the backing of the mainstream media, have the audacity to call NRA a terrorist organization. Left-wing progressives seem oblivious to the fact that NRA is the first and certainly the most important civil rights organization in this Country. By calling NRA a terrorist organization, left-wing progressives are implicitly, ludicrously calling millions of NRA members, terrorists, too. And, by calling the NRA a terrorist organization, these left-wing progressives explicitly denigrate the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, impugning Americans who choose to exercise their natural right to keep and bear arms as codified in the Second Amendment, and making a mockery of the Nation's Bill of Rights, of which the Second Amendment is a salient, critical part.The mainstream media does not so much as try to restrain the inane pronouncements of and the dangerous actions of these left-wing progressives elements in society but ignores—indeed, even repudiates—the sacred duty owed to all Americans, under the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, namely, to defend the rights and liberties set forth in the Bill of Rights—all ten of them—by seriously investigating and calling out the Un-American activities it observes through the words and actions of these left-wing progressive elements. The mainstream media unconscionably echoes the sentiments of this faction, thereby assisting in and hastening the breakdown of the institutions comprising our society; the destruction of our Constitution and its system of laws; the collapse of our Country as an independent, sovereign Nation State; the extinction of our traditions, our history, our core values and our code of ethics; and the defilement of our citizenry.Of course, the silent majority of this Country can readily dismiss the vitriol and antics of these left-wing progressives who attack NRA, who attack supporters of NRA, and who seek de facto repeal of the Second Amendment. These left-wing progressives in our society have no credibility. For, the Silent Majority knows what they aim to do. They seek nothing less than to destroy the sovereignty of the United States and to subordinate our Constitution and laws to those of foreign bodies.It is one thing for individuals and for the Press to attack our Constitution, repugnant to the conscience as that is. It is quite another thing when politicians, themselves, denigrate the Second Amendment and attack NRA. For politicians—the representatives of the people—were elected to represent the citizenry. They have taken an oath to preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States, which includes the preservation, protection, and defense of the Second Amendment, as a critical, and, arguably, most critical component of the U.S. Constitution.When these politicians—these representatives of the people, themselves—voice opposition to the sanctity of the right of the people to keep and bear arms and to the premier Civil Rights Organization, NRA, that exists for the sole purpose of defending that right, then, they have betrayed their oath of Office; they have betrayed the Constitution they swore to protect, preserve, and defend; and they have betrayed the American people, the Nation's citizenry, they claim to represent. At that point, the American people, the silent majority of this Nation, can no longer remain silent; must no longer remain silent. The silent majority has the duty to call these disrupters out for the evil they do.

NRA FILES LAWSUIT AGAINST ANDREW CUOMO

On May 11, 2018 NRA filed a lawsuit against the Governor of New York, Andrew Cuomo and the New York State Department of Financial Services (DFS).** In the lawsuit, NRA sets forth: “This case is necessitated by an overt viewpoint-based discrimination campaign against the NRA and the millions of law-abiding gun owners that it represents. Directed by Governor Andrew Cuomo, this campaign involves selective prosecution, backroom exhortations, and public threats with a singular goal – to deprive the NRA and its constituents of their First Amendment right to speak freely about gun-related issues and defend the Second Amendment. The foundation of Defendants’ selective-enforcement and retaliation campaign is a series of threats to financial institutions that DFS, an agency created to ensure the integrity of financial markets after the 2008 credit crisis, will exercise its extensive regulatory power against entities that fail to sever ties with the NRA.”Last month, NRA filed its Amended Complaint. Cuomo immediately fired back with a motion to dismiss the Amended Complaint, arguing that NRA’s lawsuit is “frivolous.” But, the appellation, ‘frivolous,’ is more aptly applied to Cuomo’s lack of regard for and respect for the Second Amendment. For, in his outrageous attack on NRA, incongruously using the mechanism of a boycott—a singularly bizarre and illegal maneuver by a Governmental entity to utilize—Andrew Cuomo has made clear that, as Governor, he intends to destroy the efficacy of the Second Amendment in New York. This should give all Americans pause. For, as President of the United States, Andrew Cuomo would do much, much more damage to the Second Amendment. He would work toward excising the Second Amendment from the Constitution of the United States, altogether. 

ANDREW CUOMO MUST BE STOPPED!

Cuomo’s malevolent ill will toward NRA is clear. Indeed, he has had the affront to call NRA--as the first and premier Civil Rights organization, defender of a sacred component of our Bill of Rights--an “extremist organization.” And, in a mocking tone,  as reported by the Daily News, denigrating NRA, and by implication, mocking the organization's members, millions of Americans, the silent majority of our Country, and mocking our Nation's sacred  Bill of Rights, Cuomo retorts: “If the NRA goes away, I’ll remember the NRA in my thoughts and prayers.”In making these insulting statements, Andrew Cuomo can no longer be considered a respectable leader of New York, much less of this Nation, in the event he decides to make a run for the Office of U.S. President in 2020. Cuomo has shown an utter lack of restraint and demonstrates a marked deficiency in character. He does not identify with and, obviously, he has no desire to identify with the vast number of Americans, the silent majority, both in New York and in the Nation as a whole, that reveres the great document, the Bill of Rights of the U.S. Constitution that our founders lovingly gave us and spilt their blood for, on our behalf. Cuomo identifies himself with a small, albeit vociferous, faction of society, left-wing progressives, who do not represent the vast majority of the American citizenry, who do not represent, we the silent majority. Cuomo has through both his words and deeds made himself into an outlier, even an outcast, who, has cast his lot with a small virulently Anti-American segment of the population, left-wing progressives. Cuomo is not the defender of our Nation's liberty and security that he pretends to be. He is, as with the left-wing progressives he identifies most closely with, a disruptor and destroyer of our Nation's traditions, values and history. He is openly contemptuous of the salient right of the people of this Nation to keep and bear arms as etched in stone in our sacred Bill of Rights, and therefore disdainful of all those--the silent majority of this Nation--that support NRA and that support the Bill of Rights in its entirety.Cuomo says he merely seeks to make New York and the rest of the Nation "safe" and will work with other States to make his vision of America a reality as he cannot get Congress on board with is plan for America. Yet Cuomo's vision for New York and for the rest of the Nation serves not to defend the American people but seeks to undermine our Nation and to dismantle our Constitution. Cuomo resides well beyond the pale of decency and respectability and properly merits the condemnation of the American people.

IN CONCLUSION

Andrew Cuomo has given up all pretense of representing the interests of the people of New York, and he has made abundantly clear, both through his statements and actions, that he has no desire or inclination, whatsoever, of preserving, protecting, and defending the Constitution of the United States. He should not serve a third term as Governor of New York. That would do a disservice to the citizens who reside in New York. And, Cuomo definitely should not serve as President of the United States, if he harbors any secret inclination to do so. For, were he to do so, that would inevitably prove fatal to the Nation’s Bill of Rights; fatal to the continued existence of a free Republic; and fatal to the continued existence of our Country as an independent sovereign Nation State, neither subordinate to or subservient to nor beholding to any other nation, federation of nations, or transnational authority._____________________*The expression, ‘silent majority,’—referring to the vast majority of American citizens throughout the Country whose voice is drowned out by the cacophony of noise incessantly, unceasingly, and obnoxiously generated by the mainstream media and by a vocal minority of extremists around the Country and in the halls of Congress whom the mainstream media represents and with whom the mainstream media is closely identified—is, perhaps, most closely associated with and most likely popularized by President Richard Nixon, after a speech he gave to the Nation in 1969. But, significantly, it was President John F. Kennedy, not Nixon, who earlier coined the expression. The expression appears in President Kennedy’s Pulitzer Prize winning book, “Profiles in Courage,”where he wrote: “Some of them may have been representing the actual sentiments of the silent majority of their constituents in opposition to the screams of a vocal minority. . . .”  **See August 3, 2018 update to the NRA's lawsuit, as reported in the Daily News, and the August 5, 2018 update to the NRA's lawsuit, as reported in The New York Times. _________________________________________________Copyright © 2018 Roger J Katz (Towne Criour), Stephen L. D’Andrilli (Publius) All Rights Reserved.  

THE GREAT DIVIDE: THE POLITICAL LEFT AND POLITICAL RIGHT WAGE A MODERN-DAY CIVIL WAR FOR THE AMERICAN SOUL.

During the American Civil War, there were no fence sitters. Every American chose a side. In the border States, especially, brother fought against brother and father fought against son. Foreign nations stayed out of the fray, perceiving the war as an internal matter between two sides—each with its own needs, its own perspective, its own interpretation of the relation between the Federal Government to the States.“It was therefore much to the chagrin of United States President Abraham Lincoln when, in 1861, near the outset of the American Civil War, the British government recognized the belligerency of the Confederate States that had unilaterally seceded from the Union. This recognition caused the British to be neutral in the domestic American conflict and to aid neither the rebels nor the government.” “The Concept of Belligerency in International Law,” 166 Mil. L. Rev. 109, 114, December 2000, by  Lieutenant Colonel Yair M. Lootsteen, Israel Defense Forces (IDF). Arguably, Americans are headed toward outright civil war today. Granted, this present state of civil unrest has not devolved into actual armed conflict—at least not yet. But, in an important respect the situation existent in our Nation today bespeaks civil unrest as pronounced as that which led to the American Civil War. The outcome of this present day civil unrest will shape the future contours of our Nation as assuredly as the outcome of the American Civil War had shaped the contours of our Nation once Robert E. Lee surrendered the Army of Northern Virginia to Ulysses S. Grant, in 1865.As use of the words ‘Yankee’ and ‘Rebel’ served, effectively, as colloquial expressions and shorthand descriptors for the opposing sides of the American Civil War, we see, today, as well, use of expressions, such as ‘Liberal Left’ and ‘Conservative Right’ bandied about in the media as shorthand descriptors for the two opposing sides in the modern American conflict. The terminology in use today, simplistic as it is, does underscore a clear, explicit, categorical, demarcation between two sides, in clear and perpetual opposition. As with the American Civil War, there are no fence sitters in this modern day civil war, even as many Americans proclaim themselves, ostensibly, to be independent, taking no side in this period of civil unrest.Through time, each side’s political, social, and economic philosophies have solidified. There is no debate. There can be none. Any attempt at compromise is impossible. Each side holds resolutely to one of two irreconcilable, mutually incompatible positions, representing two polar opposite ideological strains within the American polity. And, every American has a stake in the outcome of this present day state of nascent civil war.Transpiring today is more than mere “Culture War.” Americans are locked in mortal, internecine combat. The differences are stark and are readily perceived on multiple fronts. The outcome will change the very structure of the United States, as an independent sovereign Nation, forever.Each side views the Nation’s institutions from a different ideological perspective. Each side views the relationship of individual to Government and the relationship of one individual to another in a different light, even attaching a different meaning to the notion of ‘citizen.’ One major point of contention—an incipient and inevitable flashpoint that defines and clarifies the two sides—concerns how each side perceives the U.S. Constitution and, especially, how each side perceives the rights and liberties codified in the Nation’s Bill of Rights.Liberals view the Bill of Rights as a set of man-made rules—constructs, contrivances, subject to modification and de facto repeal, as time and circumstance dictate, not unlike any Congressional Statute. Conservatives, though, view the Bill of Rights as natural law, intrinsic to each American citizen, fundamental and inalienable, therefore immutable; not man-made, and, so, superior to Congressional Statute, never subject to modification, much less perfunctory rejection.Liberals view the freedom of speech clause of the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution as subject to constraint and modification on the basis of emotional impact to particular groups. Censorship is condoned if the purpose is to spare the feelings of groups. Conservatives view the freedom of speech clause as demanding full expression, consistent with high Court rulings. Censorship is to be avoided. Liberals play the game of “Identity Politics.” Conservatives do not.Liberals view the right of the people to keep and bear arms, as codified in the Second Amendment, as  archaic—to be ignored or to be statutorily constrained. Conservatives view the right of the people to keep and bear arms as pertinent today as at the founding of the Republic. The right of the people to keep and bear arms is absolutely fundamental to the autonomy of the American citizen and essential to the preservation of a free Republic, as the framers of the U.S. Constitution envisioned.There are other marked differences between The Liberal Left and the Conservative Right. The Liberal Left views moral acts from the standpoint of the impact of behavior on society as a whole. Personal intent and motivation behind one’s actions is considered irrelevant. The Liberal Left defines the moral good as maximizing utility for the greatest number of people. That ethical perspective detrimentally affects the rights and liberties of the individual. The Conservative Right, on the other hand, views morally good acts and morally wrong acts from the standpoint of a person’s intent. Maximizing utility for the multitude never outweighs the needs and interests of the individual.Liberals espouse a policy of open and porous borders, reflecting the idea that the notion of ‘citizen of the United States’ is essentially redundant in an increasingly globalized world. And they see the expression, ‘citizen of the United States,’ in the near future, as becoming essentially meaningless. For liberals, the people of any Country are deemed merely “citizens of the world,” and therefore free to emigrate to any nation at will. Liberals wish to see naturalization laws changed to recognize, exemplify, and reflect the idea that anyone who wishes to reside in the United States ought to be permitted to do so. Conservatives argue that a Sovereign Nation State—to be worthy of the name—must maintain the integrity of its borders. For Conservatives, no citizen or subject of a foreign power can legitimately stake claim to residing in the United States as a matter of legal or moral right. Conservatives maintain that Congress has sole authority, as the Constitution mandates, to determine who may emigrate to the U.S. and who may not, and to place restrictions on the number of those emigrating to this Country.The Political Left accepts--consistent with its view of the ‘Nation State’ as an archaic concept--the eventual dismantling of the United States as an independent Sovereign Nation. The Political Left sees this process as inevitable, inexorable, and irreversible. The Political Right views the dismantling of the United States as an anathema—a process, neither inevitable nor irreversible, and one to be prevented at all costs.Liberals believe in the utility and propriety of propaganda and psychological conditioning to effectuate their goals. Those who espouse Democratic liberalism, as that concept is understood and glorified, and placed into practice by the governing "elites" of the EU, do not believe in the autonomy and inviolability of the individual, and therefore do not profess concern over using the tools of propaganda to manipulate the American psyche to promote the Left’s policy goals. Americans are witnessing, in recent years, the explosive use of mind-control techniques, permitted and propagated through the Bureaucratic Deep State within the federal Government, and through the mainstream Press, and by billionaire CEOs of left-wing technological Companies, intent on promoting a socialist agenda, notwithstanding that such an agenda is inconsistent with the core values of our Nation and of our Nation’s history; inconsistent with our Constitution and system of laws; and inconsistent with the preservation of our Nation as a free Republic.Conservatives do not countenance use of propaganda or psychological conditioning to alter the mindset of the American citizenry under any circumstance. For the use of such techniques damage the individual psyche and spirit. Conservatives hold the use of such techniques to be intolerable. They view the use of such techniques as incompatible with the exercise of one’s free will. Moreover, for Conservatives, the idea that the United States can and ought to be relegated eventually to the status of a subordinate cog in a world-wide socialist federation of Western States is horrific in the very contemplation.The election of Donald Trump to the Office of President of the United States is illustrative of the battle for the soul of this Nation. Conservatives voted for Donald Trump as an act of defiance against a deviant Liberal tidal wave--a tidal wave that seeks to obliterate our Nation's core values, to shred our Nation's sacred traditions, to erase our Nation's unique and lasting history, and to reduce the population of our Country to abject servitude in docile service to an international ruling "elite." Curiously, the Political Left talks incessantly about a Constitutional crisis impacting this Nation and about the failure of Trump and the Political Right to adhere to “the rule of law.” Yet, it is abundantly clear that, although a Constitutional crisis does exist, it is one of the Political Left’s own making, starkly evidenced by, and through, the illegal appointment of a Special Counsel, Robert Mueller, whose sole purpose is to manufacture a reason to indict a duly elected, sitting President of the United States.Whether for good cause or no—and no cause whatsoever exists here for removing the U.S. President, Donald Trump, in any event—criminal indictment of a sitting President has never before occurred in our Nation, and no provision for indictment of a sitting President exists in the U.S. Constitution, and that is so for good reason: to preclude the subversion of the will of the American People by a hidden, powerful, inordinately wealthy upper class that seeks to create a Country amenable to their special, and exclusive interests. Robert Mueller’s audacious attempt to even consider compelling the U.S. President to appear before a Grand Jury is indicative of a dangerous coup d’état playing out before the American electorate by a secretive "elite."Liberals constantly maintain that the American people are a Nation governed by the rule of law. That means our Nation is to be governed by law, not by men. What the very existence of the Bureaucratic Deep State, entrenched with hundreds if not thousands of holdovers from the Obama Administration, demonstrates, though, is that We, the People, are a Nation that is consistently ruled not by law, but by men, contrary to the platitudes voiced by politicians of the Liberal Left.Americans are indeed in the midst of major civil unrest, headed toward outright civil war. How this plays out will be seen through President Trump’s ability to weather all underhanded attempts to destroy his Presidency and by the strength of those Americans who have not been deluded and are fully capable of perceiving the presence of and understanding the inherent danger presented by a ruthless, cunning and intractable foe lurking ominously in their midst.If the Political Left prevails--and as its failure to seat the devious, duplicitous, anti-American Globalist Hillary Clinton in the White House has not prevented the Political Left's efforts to dismantle a Country situated as a sovereign Nation State, but, rather, has caused the Political Left merely to redouble its  treacherous efforts to defeat the Will of a Conservative populist surge desirous of preserving a Nation founded on the sacred principles of the founding fathers, as those principles have been set in stone in the U.S. Constitution and in the Constitution's sacred Bill of Rights--socialism will rear its ugly head, and a sovereign Nation State, a free Republic, and a free people, will be well-nigh forever lost._________________________________________________Copyright © 2018 Roger J Katz (Towne Criour), Stephen L. D’Andrilli (Publius) All Rights Reserved.

AS TRAGEDY STRIKES MARJORY STOMEMAN DOUGLAS HIGH SCHOOL, ANTIGUN ACTIVISTS SHAMEFULLY ENLIST STUDENTS TO CARRY OUT THE ANTIGUN AGENDA.

ANTIGUN ACTIVISTS USE THE HYSTERIA OF THE MOMENT TO PURSUE THEIR AGENDA OF GUN CONFISCATION

With the latest shooting tragedy—this one at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida—antigun groups wasted little time in singling out a culprit—the AR-15 5.56 NATO / 223 semiautomatic rifle. The mainstream media quickly echoed the sentiment of antigun groups and their fellow travelers in Congress: if Government would just confiscate guns from the civilian population, commencing with semiautomatic “assault weapons,” society would be better off for it and all would be right with the world.In the hysteria of the moment, it is considered anathema to counter this sentiment or to question the underlying assumption. Banning civilian ownership and possession of firearms is proclaimed as a surefire panacea to preventing gun violence. It is recited as a categorical imperative; an irrefutable truth. But is it?Lost in any discussion about gun violence is any mention of one obvious and incontrovertible fact: that the tragedy at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School would not have happened—could not have occurred—if the School Administration had simply instituted a multilayered set of strategies to harden the school against security breaches. It didn’t. The result, while horrific, cannot and should not be construed as altogether unexpected and inexplicable in the peculiar age we live in.It is an age marked by broken homes and social alienation. It is an age beset by the rupture of core values and the seeding of a new ethos consisting of a hodgepodge of unassimilable multicultural influences, including multilingualism, and moral relativism; a hollowing out of sacred traditions, the denigration of basic Christian virtues, and a perfunctory attitude of indifference over the important role of the traditional nuclear family in shaping young lives: extolling the importance of self-reliance, personal integrity, and courage in dealing with adversity; promoting a love of Country, respect for our National heritage, and instilling a code of morality and a strong work ethic in our children. This is, unfortunately, an age that seeks out and relishes instant gratification. It is an age that redefines anomalous gender diversity and gender dysphoria as a social preference, a life choice, rather than the psychiatric disorder, which it really is. We live in an age of rampant exploitation of and, indeed, promotion of human weakness, that becomes ever easier through advances in technology and communication.We see an endless parade of new, ever more violent, hyper-realistic video games. We see a continuous procession of cinematic “treats” of gratuitous violence offered up by Hollywood moguls, ever willing to exploit and reinforce the public appetite for on-screen depictions of violence and carnage—all to turn a profit. And we see the blatant hypocrisy of Hollywood actors—highly paid individuals who take pride in their onscreen portrayals of psychotic and psychopathic killers, as they engage in over-the-top murderous sprees; pretending to be adept in the use of the firearm props they are taught to handle deftly for the roles they play onscreen. And, then we see these same actors sanctimoniously denouncing guns off-screen, and denouncing, too, the millions of law-abiding citizens who choose to exercise their Constitutional right to own and possess guns for the very real purpose of self-defense—hardly play acting.

WHO OUGHT RIGHTFULLY BE BLAMED FOR THE TRAGEDY AT MARJORY STONEMAN DOUGLAS HIGH SCHOOL?

Accusations are flying fast and loose as to whom bears responsibility for the cause of the tragedy. Lest the public forget—over the hailstorm of accusations flying hither and yon—the fact remains that blame for the tragedy falls, first and foremost, on the killer, himself, Nikolas Cruz. This sad, deranged young adult bears ultimate responsibility for the horror inflicted on innocent lives he lashed out against in his mindless rage. But, there are others in the cast of characters that bear a share of the responsibility.The Florida Department of Education and the Superintendent of Broward County Public Schools must share in the responsibility for failing to harden Florida schools against armed intrusions. And, the Governor of the State bears more than a modicum of responsibility for failing to secure schools against armed assault. And, through failure to heed warnings of the real threat posed by the Nikolas Cruz, the FBI, and Florida State and local Police must share in that responsibility.The other day the public learned that an armed Broward County Sheriff’s Deputy, who was assigned to Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, cowered outside the School, as the killer stalked the halls inside, undeterred. This unnamed Sheriff’s Deputy displayed abject cowardice. Had he steeled himself, as he was trained to do, as he was purportedly psychologically predisposed to do, he would have certainly prevented the loss of many lives; perhaps he could have prevented the loss of any innocent life, had he acted.

WHO DO ANTIGUN GROUPS WRONGLY BLAME FOR THE TRAGEDY AT MARJORY STONEMAN DOUGLAS HIGH SCHOOL?

Antigun activists, antigun politicians, and antigun journalists and news commentators blame, of course, the gun—an inanimate object—as if the gun itself had walked into the school and commenced shooting innocent high school students and teachers. They always do, but this accusation against the gun is ludicrous on its face. Antigun activists also cast blame on the NRA and on the Second Amendment, refusing to accept the fact that tens of thousands of American citizens defend themselves and their families with firearms every year.

NRA IS THE PREMIER CIVIL RIGHTS ORGANIZATION.

Contrary to popular belief, the NRA, not the NAACP, is the oldest civil rights organization. The NAACP was founded in 1909, but NRA was founded in 1871. The NRA has trained millions of individuals and law enforcement in the proper use of firearms for well over one hundred years. As the premier defender of the Second Amendment, NRA is at the forefront in protecting our sacred rights and liberties as codified in the Bill of Rights, ratified in 1791. The mainstream media though heralds the NAACP as the premier civil rights organization and condemns NRA. Apparently, the American citizenry is expected to forsake 240 years of history and to adopt EU socialist principles that eschew individual self-reliance as embodied in America’s Second Amendment. The EU itself is a contrivance, thrust on European Nation States through a coup d’état, meticulously and deftly orchestrated in the mid-Twentieth Century, by the same “elites” of Europe that pull the strings of the various antigun groups, antigun politicians, and antigun mainstream Press in our Country, today. See the Arbalest Quarrel article, "NRA Freedom, Join It."

ANTIGUN GROUPS NOW USE HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS TO PROMOTE THEIR INSIDIOUS ANTI-AMERICAN AGENDA.

A new tactic of antigun groups and of their billionaire internationalist EU benefactors involves the recruitment of and exploitation of teenagers as message boards. Taking their cue from cosmetic and clothing companies that hire models to hawk their products to the public, antigun groups realized they could employ articulate, photogenic students from Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, and from other schools, to promote their agenda. We may see these groups using this technique more in the future. They know that no one would dare challenge young adults.Clearly, these students did not simply voice outrage at gun violence spontaneously. They have been carefully coached. How do we know this? Consider what they are saying. They are using phraseology and sloganeering of the antigun activists, of antigun politicians, of antigun media personnel: referring to AR-15 semiautomatic rifles as “weapons of war;” calling for “background checks;” telling the American public to vote pro-Second Amendment legislators out of Office; attacking the “Gun lobby.” They aren’t simply speaking for themselves; they are puppets of antigun political activists and of the wealthy, secretive internationalist benefactors that bankroll antigun groups and antigun legislators. Ruthless forces both here and abroad seek to undermine this Nation’s Second Amendment. They have their own agenda and they see, in these students, a useful tool to be manipulated in efforts to destroy the right of the people to keep and bear arms.Doubtless, the words uttered sound fresh and heartfelt and emphatic, even if there is really nothing new about the messages. These students would not be compelling spokespersons for antigun activists if that were not true. But the messaging derives from antigun group sponsors, not from the students. There is a sophistication in the organization of these students that cannot be reasonably explained away as an impromptu effort by students themselves. These students are dupes for a cause that has nothing to do with the students’ personal safety and well-being and has everything to do with the undermining of our sacred rights and liberties. These students might reflect upon this before allowing themselves to be employed for an agenda that is not their own. But, then, these young adults are in shock. That makes use of these young people by antigun activists even more reprehensible.

ALERT: CONTACT YOUR REPUBLICAN CONGRESSIONAL REPRESENTATIVES NOW.

Tell your representatives they must not bow to antigun activist pressure to reinstate semiautomatic weapons and LCM bans.PHONE: U.S. Senate: (202) 224-3121; PHONE: U.S. House of Representatives: (202) 225-3121______________________________________________Copyright © 2018 Roger J Katz (Towne Criour), Stephen L. D’Andrilli (Publius) All Rights Reserved.

MAINSTREAM “PRESS” AND CONGRESSIONAL DEMOCRATS COORDINATE BRAZEN ATTACK AGAINST NUNEZ MEMO

PART NINE

One would think the publishers, editors, and reporters who work for the mainstream Press—all those who claim to prize and champion the principles of civil libertarianism—would have applauded efforts of the Republicans on the House Permanent Select Committee of Intelligence to bring, to the attention, of Americans the devious, insidious malfeasance of senior DOJ/FBI Officials, and that they would do so vociferously.  Not so! Instead, major news organizations like The New York Times remained, for several weeks, abjectly, painfully quiet, hoping the matter would just go away and that the public would lose interest. But the matter wouldn't go away. Not by a long shot! So, in recent days, when it was no longer possible for the mainstream Press to remain quiet, it entered the fray, but did so only to echo the sentiments of Congressional Democrats on the Committee.These Congressional Democrats not only condoned the malfeasance of top DOJ/FBI Officials, but actively encouraged it. You would think Congressional Democrats would work hand-in-hand with their Congressional Republican counterparts on the Committee to provide much needed oversight of DOJ and FBI abuses. After all, the purpose of the House Permanent Select Committee of Intelligence is to provide oversight of the powerful DOJ/FBI and of the vast intelligence apparatuses, consistent with the Committee's mandate as set forth on the Committee's website:The United States House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence (HPSCI) is a committee of the United States House of Representatives, currently chaired by Congressman Devin Nunes (California). Created in 1977, HPSCI is charged with oversight of the United States Intelligence Community—which includes the intelligence and intelligence-related activities of the following seventeen elements of the U.S. Government—and the Military Intelligence Program. The key word here is "oversight." The job of the House Permanent Select Committee of Intelligence is to provide watchful care of singularly powerful, secretive federal Government departments, agencies, and bureaus on behalf of the American people. The Republicans on the House Intelligence Committee seek to perform their duty, while the Democrats who sit on the Committee, shirk that duty. Congressional Democrats should have supported their fellow Committee Members. Instead they castigate them, and, in so doing, have forsworn their duty as Committee members and as Representatives of the people.Congressional Democrats who sit on this powerful House Permanent Select Committee of Intelligence Committee, do not, apparently, recognize that their job is one of oversight, or maybe they have forgotten this, or otherwise they don't care, or, perhaps--worst of all--they have capitulated. This means they are taking their marching orders from the individuals in the Deep State and Shadow Government. They are, then, deliberately undermining the work of the House Permanent Select Committee of Intelligence to engage in a duplicitous, reprehensible attack on the United States President, Donald Trump. And that means they are engaging in an insidious, outrageous, reprehensible attack on the American electorate and on the United States Constitution. This is their ultimate betrayal. Adam Schiff (D-CA), the ranking Democratic member on the Committee and his ilk, including, most notoriously, Eric Swawell (D-CA), Schiff’s close compatriot on the House Intelligence Committee, have literally given the “Green Light” to those individuals who work in the DOJ/FBI who have abused their authority, who have betrayed their Oath, and who have betrayed this Nation and the American people. By facilitating wrongdoing in Government, Congressional Democrats who sit on the House Permanent Select Committee of Intelligence have conveyed the message to the DOJ/FBI and to those who work in the intelligence community that these people can do whatever they want; that Congressional Democrats, like Adam Schiff, Eric Swawell and others, will cover for them. Congressional Democrats have thus become mere toadies of senior Officials of the DOJ/FBI and of the vast intelligence apparatuses. They cloak abuse in Government, rather than bringing abuse to light, and, in masking serious abuse in Government, these Congressional Democrats compound malfeasance with malfeasance of their own.They are all mere toadies of the senior Officials of the DOJ/FBI and of the intelligence apparatuses. These toadies allow the hidden Deep State and Shadow Government, within the external Government we see, to exist and, in fact, to flourish. The Clintons and Barack Obama, along with Congressional Democrats, and several Republican Centrists, and the mainstream media, and their trans-nationalist, internationalist globalist billionaire benefactors, are enablers of the Deep State and of the Shadow Government and always have been. Even now, behind the scenes, they are all quietly, incessantly working to undercut the U.S. President. In so doing, they are working to undercut the will of the people; they are working to undercut the sovereignty and independence of the United States; they are working to undercut the supremacy of our Constitution and our system of laws; they are working to destroy the rights and liberties etched in stone in the Bill of Rights.Unchecked, abuse of power invariably continues unabated, and, in fact, worsens incrementally over time. Lack of Congressional oversight, coupled with a compliant, mainstream Press that operates merely as an echo chamber of and for an effete Congress encourages malfeasance in the Bureaucracy of the Federal Government. Lack of strong Congressional oversight allows senior Officials in the labyrinth of the Deep State and Shadow Government to operate with impunity. Congressional Republicans must protect President Trump so that the President may do the job the American electorate expects of him,  which is to strengthen this Country and revitalize it; to strengthen the rights and liberties of the American citizenry; to make clear to trans-nationalist, internationalist globalists that the United States belongs to the American citizenry, and to no one else; to make clear that Americans have a right to take pride in their history, in their core values, in their history, in their Christian heritage and that there is no reason to feel guilty about any of this. Of course, Congressional Democrats and the mainstream media want none of this. Their vision for this Country marks the end of it. They wish to turn this Country over to the weak, the effete, the effeminate--making it ripe for takeover. So it is that the American citizenry cannot depend on either Congressional Democrats or upon the mainstream Press to investigate and curb abuses and excesses in Government. Rather, these Congressional Democrats, on the one hand, and, on the other hand, the publishers, editors, reporters, news anchors and commentators of left-wing networks, namely and particularly, ABC, CBS, CNN, MSNBC, and even PBS, that comprise the bloated mainstream Press, are all complicit in hiding evidence of gross malfeasance in the Federal Government. But, they go further; much further. Congressional Democrats and the mainstream Press not only hide evidence of malfeasance in the high ranks of the DOJ and FBI, and in other Federal Government departments, bureaus, and agencies, they actively abet Federal Government malfeasance.The mainstream media, in particular—this Press that prides itself as the protector of liberty is anything but that. The mainstream Press has devolved into a mere mouthpiece for the machinery that comprises the Deep State and the Shadow Government. This mainstream Press is now merely an organ of propaganda. This Press does not strive to preserve the sacred rights and liberties of the American citizenry but, rather, works methodically, inexorably to undermine those rights and liberties—the very rights and liberties upon which a free Republic rests.The New York Times wasted little time and expended much effort in attacking the House Intelligence Committee “Nunez” Memo, devoting considerable newsprint in that effort, as is clear from a perusal of the Saturday, February 3, 2018 edition of the newspaper.On page A13 of the print edition of the newspaper, the Times published the entirety of the Nunez Memo, including the cover letter, authored by the President’s personal attorney Donald F. McGahn II. The Arbalest Quarrel feels it worthwhile to analyze the NY Times’ analysis of the Memo and Cover letter so that the American public can see, firsthand, how a major newspaper employs propaganda in a continuing campaign of disinformation and misinformation, to sow seeds of doubt in the minds of Americans as to what to believe.In our next article of this multi-part series, we explore the NY Times’ deeply flawed analysis—analysis so obviously flawed that it adds credence to the conclusion that the NY Times is, indeed, complicit in protecting malfeasance in the senior ranks of the DOJ/FBI, and, in that act, shredding the U.S. Constitution and undermining the very rights and liberties of the American people it pretends to protect.The American citizenry should be appalled by the extravagant misuse of Government power and authority. Please contact your House and Senate Congressional Representatives. Tell them you support the work of Representative Devin Nunes (R-CA) and Senator Chuck Grassley in unmasking corruption in the Federal Government and in bringing to justice those who presently work in or who have worked in the FBI and DOJ, or in the intelligence community, or in the Department of State, who have betrayed the trust that the American people have placed in them. The phone number to call is: 202-224-3121._____________________________________________Copyright © 2017 Roger J Katz (Towne Criour), Stephen L. D’Andrilli (Publius) All Rights Reserved.

WHAT DOES PRESIDENT TRUMP’S DECLASSIFICATION AND RELEASE OF THE NUNEZ MEMO PRESAGE FOR THE NATION?

PART EIGHT

As anyone who keeps abreast of the news knows, the “Nunez Memo,” prepared by Congressional Republicans on the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence by order of the Committee’s Chairman, Representative Devin Nunez (R-CA), documenting DOJ/FBI abuse of the FISA Court is now out. President Trump declassified it, as is his Presidential prerogative, and authorized its release to American public. The Memo illustrates clear wrongdoing of the DOJ and FBI in the way Senior Officials of the DOJ and FBI obtained a warrant to conduct secret surveillance of an American citizen, Carter Page, a one-time bit player in Donald Trump’s campaign. Senior Officials of the DOJ and FBI likely violated Carter Page’s right to be free from unreasonable searches and seizures under the Fourth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution and likely violated the Due Process and Equal Protection Clauses of the Fifth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, as well. And, they certainly violated several Federal Statutes. To his credit, President Trump did not redact the names of those DOJ and FBI Officials.Congressional Democrats and their shills in the mainstream media wasted no time excoriating both the release of the Memo and the contents of it. More memos from Congressman Devin Nunez, will be forthcoming. This isn’t something that Congressional Democrats and those whom they protect within the Deep State and Shadow Government want. They aren’t pleased with the light that is beginning to shine on them all, and they have orchestrated plans to deal with it, now that the Nunez Memo is in the public domain. One tactic involves preparation of a Memo supposedly rebutting the Nunez Memo. That “Schiff” Memo has been drafted and voted upon by the entire the House Intelligence Committee. The Committee has voted to release the Memo. As with the Nunez Memo, the Schiff Memo will be submitted for President Trump’s review and action.Congressional Democrats along with reporters and editors of mainstream newspapers, prominently and particularly, The New York Times, and news commentators and news anchors in mainstream cable news networks—like ABC, CBS, CNN, and MSNBC—berated Congressional Republicans on the House Intelligence Committee for releasing the Memo, claiming it constitutes a threat to our National Security, and, in the same breath asserting, incongruously and inconsistently, that the Memo failed to live up to its hype. So, which is it? Does release of the “Nunez Memo” constitute a danger to the security of our Nation, or is it nothing more than a tempest in a teapot?Through deliberate mixed messaging Congressional Democrats and their shills in the mainstream media “screw with” the American psyche, to confound, disorient the American public so that the public doesn’t know what to believe concerning the Nunez Memo. Hence, Congressional Democrats and their shills in the mainstream media offer to the American public two primary, but inconsistent accounts. Yet, they are wrong on both scores.The Nunez Memo is critically important. It is hardly “hype.” President Trump’s declassification of the Memo and release of the Memo to the American public alerts Americans to the presence of rogue elements in the highest ranks of the DOJ and FBI who have betrayed their Nation. That is information Americans have a right to know and need to know. So, release of the Memo neither threatens the security of our Nation, nor is it hype. Indeed, far from amounting to a threat to the security of our Nation, the Memo’s release serves to safeguard it.The Nunez Memo serves as the most important information of serious criminal abuse in the Federal Government to come to the attention of the American electorate in the last several decades. It is an earth-shattering exposé of FISA Court abuse by the DOJ and FBI. Granted, the language of the Memo is dry and pedantic, but Republicans on the House Committee of Intelligence aren’t writing a novel. No colorful verbiage exists in the Memo because the Memo’s authors do not wish to entertain Americans, but, rather, to educate and inform them. And, they did that.The Memo exposes the dangers of secrecy in a free Republic, where high-ranking Federal Government bureaucrats operating in the spheres of intelligence, police, and law, wielding immense power, render decisions and take action on those decisions, based on their own personal philosophical and political beliefs, whims, and predilections, caring not one whit whether those decisions and actions tread on the rights and liberties of the citizenry as laid out in the Bill of Rights, and caring not one whit whether those decisions and actions extend well beyond the parameters set by Federal Statute. Indeed, it is abundantly clear, from a perusal of the Nunez Memo, that senior Officials of the DOJ and FBI act in extravagant defiance of the U.S. Constitution and Federal Statute.What can the American citizenry do to correct this abuse in high Government Office? Very little it seems. The American citizenry has no recourse, except for the oversight that Congress provides. It is curious, then, that Congressional Democrats would object to Congressional Republicans’ bringing to light Federal Government abuses. But, Congressional Democrats do object to release of the Memo. Among their other purported concerns, they claim that the Memo would cause the American citizenry to lose faith in the DOJ and FBI. But, then, that is the point. The public should be concerned.One must ask: Does it serve Americans’ best interests to doubt the integrity of the DOJ and FBI when sufficient cause exists to doubt that integrity? Or does it serve Americans’ best interests to live under the illusion that senior Officials of the DOJ and FBI operate within the bounds and constraints of the U.S. Constitution and Federal Statute, when, in fact, they do not, and have betrayed the American citizenry’s trust?Apparently, Congressional Democrats, such as Representative Adam Schiff (D-CA), and Eric Swalwell (D-CA), members of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence believe it better for Americans to live under illusion. Congressional Republicans clearly do not, and it is fortunate that Americans have individuals such as Representative Devin Nunez (R-CA), Chairman of that Committee, who, along with other Republicans on the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence realize their responsibility to inform the American citizenry of serious abuses in the DOJ and FBI when serious criminal abuses come to light. Americans obviously cannot rely on Congressional Democrats, nor can they rely on the mainstream media Press, to keep Americans informed of betrayal of the public trust by high ranking Officials in the most powerful and secretive police, intelligence, and legal institutions of this Country.The public should keep in mind that, if the Democrats gain control of the House in the 2018 midterm elections, Representative Schiff will gain the chairmanship of the powerful House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence. This is a man who, recently, in his continuing diatribe against release of the Nunez Memo, seemingly inexplicably brought up, as an aside, that Russians now support the right of the American people to keep and bear arms? From what bizarre realm of horror and fantasy did Representative Schiff pull that idea? And what was the point of it: that Russians, according to Schiff, suddenly have reverence for our sacred Second Amendment, so we should not; or, perhaps, that Russians hope that Americans around the Country will suddenly go on a massive shooting spree, killing each other?This man, Adam Schiff, is a menace to all that is holy. What he is doing in Government has nothing to do with protecting this Nation and its people and upholding the U.S. Constitution. It has everything to do with tearing down this Nation under the guise of protecting it; destroying the rights and liberties of its people under the cloak of strengthening them; subverting the Constitution behind the mask of preserving it. He seeks, through his position as Ranking Member of the Intelligence Committee, just below Representative Nunez, Chairman of the Committee, to undermine the will of the American electorate through his constant, pertinacious, presumptuous, indefensible, intolerable and singularly bizarre attacks on the Chief Executive of this Nation, President Trump.President Trump, to his credit—unlike Representative Schiff and his fellow Congressional Democrats—holds the American citizenry in high regard. Through declassification of the Nunez Memo and its subsequent release to the American citizenry, President Trump has opened a window to the machinations of  high-ranking Officials of the Deep State and Shadow Government, operating beyond the bounds of law. The American public bears witness to the contempt by which those who should be serving the public, have rebelled against it, and seek to oppress it.We continue with articles, bringing to light the game plan of those who have engineered a silent, insidious coup d’etat of the Government of the United States. The betrayers of the Nation haven’t yet lost. The American public is just now beginning to gain a glimmer of insight of the power wielded by insidious forces within the bowels of the Federal Government. Americans must remain vigilant.______________________________________________Copyright © 2017 Roger J Katz (Towne Criour), Stephen L. D’Andrilli (Publius) All Rights Reserved.

TRUMP AUTHORIZES RELEASE OF HOUSE INTELLIGENCE COMMITTEE MEMO: THE TREACHERY OF SENIOR DOJ/FBI OFFICIALS, AND OF THE CONGRESSIONAL DEMOCRATS WHO PROTECTED AND ENABLED THEM, WILL BE EXPOSED.

PART SEVEN

THE DISAMBIGUATION OF ‘TRUTH,’ ‘FACT,’ AND ‘OPINION’

Americans often hear the refrain that, “everyone is entitled to their own opinion, but they are not entitled to their own facts.” The quip, recited with some variation, is attributed to Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan (D-NY). Senator Moynihan, who died in 2003, served in the U.S. Senate from January 1971 through January 2001, and served, as well, as an advisor to the Republican President, Richard M. Nixon.As with many quips, Moynihan’s, too, has become, through time, an ivy-covered adage—an adage that one is expected to accept on faith as a weighty, profound truth. That would explain its continuing popularity, especially among Congressional Democrats. They recite it to refute statements of Congressional Republicans or of the U.S. President, Donald Trump. Moynihan’s quip then serves as a convenient “sound bite,” a shorthand denunciation of any statement coming from a Congressional Republican or from the U.S. President that they happen to take exception with as if the falsehood of any statement coming from those that Democrats disagree with is so obvious that no evidence is required to support their denunciation of it.The problem is that “facts”—if there are such things at all—tend to be pliable, flexible things, no less so than opinions. Facts are represented colloquially as kinds of entities that are “out there” in the aether, and, so, do not emanate from or exist in a person. Supposedly, people make assertions about facts, and those assertions are either true or false, predicated on whether, according to a couple of epistemological theories, the assertions “cohere with” or “correspond to” particular “facts.” The presumption is, then, that facts are infallible as they do not rest on one’s belief or opinion about them. That is the point of Moynihan’s quip. The problem is that, if “facts” are “out there,” a person really cannot ever retrieve them, for a person can never pierce the veil of his or her own perceptions. Facts, if there are such things, are not, generally the sort of things we can get to. The best that can be hoped for is that corroborating evidence—which are really nothing more than beliefs and opinions ostensibly resting on another fact or set of facts, and so on ad infinitum—serves to establish the truth or falsity of a person’s statement and that, through such corroboration, a consensus is reached, at some point, among the language speakers of a given community, as to convincing truth or falsity of a given statement.Sometimes consensus is readily achieved. At other times it is not.Consider the statement, “Deputy Attorney General, Rod Rosenstein, appointed Robert Mueller as Special Counsel to investigate, among other things, ‘any links and/or coordination between the Russian Government and individuals associated with the campaign of Donald Trump.’” That is a statement, the truth or falsity of which is determinative to the extent the statement coheres with or corresponds to or correlates with or, let us say, “mirrors” a “fact” about the world—namely whether there exists a person named Rod Rosenstein, who is, at the moment at least, a Deputy Attorney General within the Department of Justice, and that he appointed a person, Robert S. Mueller III, as Special Counsel to head a team to investigate certain matters pertaining to the Presidential campaign of Donald Trump.We say the statement is true, if it is the case that the statement coheres with or corresponds with or--let us say--correlates with or mirrors a particular “fact” or "set of facts" about the world. Well, an astute person, who has been keeping abreast of news reports knows that Rod Rosenstein does exist and that he is the Deputy Attorney General and that he did appoint a person, Robert Mueller, as Special Counsel, and that Robert Mueller has been given his appointment and specific instructions through “Order Number 3915-2017.”  So, we would say that the statement is, first of all, the kind of thing that is a truth bearer--that is to say--it is the kind of thing that can be ascertained to be either true or false. Since the statement does correspond to or cohere with or mirror a particular set of facts about the world, we say that the statement is true, and there is certainly public consensus on that. So far, no problem. But ostensible matters of fact and statements purporting to be about matters of fact get interesting and out of whack very quickly.Consider, for example, the statement, “the Mueller appointment as Special Counsel was justified.”  In asserting a justification for something, one is moving away from statements about facts. One is moving away from descriptive statements or accounts about the world—statements subject to corroboration. We are, instead, making prescriptive statements about the way the world ought to be. Counterfactual statements, as the term, ‘counterfactual,’ suggests, do not purport to say anything about the world at all. This is where Moynihan’s quip loses efficacy and poignancy, where it loses steam. For, statements about the way the world ought to be do not lend themselves to corroboration. There is no readily obtainable fact or set of facts to turn to ascertain the truth or falsity of the statement.The problem is that politicians, as with most people, do not distinguish between descriptive accounts about the world--the way the word is--and prescriptive or normative assertions about the way the world  is supposed to or ought to be. They believe, wrongly, that descriptive statements about the way the world is and prescriptive or normative statements about the way the world ought to be or should be are both factual—subject to corroboration, verification in the world.The public begins to ask questions, for example: "was the appointment of a Special Counsel to investigate Donald Trump justified? If not, then what lay behind the appointment?" And, "if appointment of Special Counsel was justified, was Robert Mueller the best person for the job?" But, the answers obtained, and the conclusions drawn, are muddied through one’s personal biases and predilections—those things internal to the person. This is where truth or falsity of statements, grounded in  purported “facts,” becomes fuzzy.Now, going back to Moynihan’s clever remark, we find that a person who believes the quip has efficacy might say that there are indeed, "hard, cold concrete facts" “out there” concerning the appointment of Robert Mueller and concerning various other matters, interrelated, going all the way back to the FBI handling of the investigation of Hillary Clinton for serious crimes against the Nation and against the American people and that, once a person gets to the bottom of it all, the truth can be ascertained and sorted out because there is only one fact or set of facts in the world for each and every proposition about the world. Well, if one sets forth descriptive statements about these matters, then, there would reasonably be a consensus about them as this would simply amount to an exercise of lining up, one-by-one, each descriptive statement with a concrete "fact" existent in the world upon which the truth of the statement is based.But, sorting out the propositions—a very large number of them and associating each of them in a one-to-one correspondence with or coherence with a specific fact—is exceedingly difficult, no less so because the American citizenry doesn’t have and cannot gain access to all the underlying  information.Unfortunately, many politicians don’t want the American people to have access to the underlying information nor, for that matter, to any information about the inner workings of the Federal Government, upon which their lives may be deleteriously impacted because that would shed light on the machinations of senior officials in Government who have likely engaged in illegal actions. What are the illegal actions of these senior officials? Well, we suspect that they used the power of their Office to give Hillary Clinton an edge or boost against Trump in the run-up to the 2016 election, and we suspect that they have engaged in illegal actions to oust Donald Trump from Office upon his prevailing in the U.S. Presidential election against Clinton. Politicians give seemingly plausible reasons for precluding the average American citizen from gaining access to such information. They raise issues of national security. They talk about the need to protect confidential sources and to safeguard intelligence gathering methodology. Sometimes these seemingly plausible reasons are sound. Often, as in the matter of release of the House Intelligence Committee Memo, they are not. They are simply clichés offered up to hide the real reason for keeping the Memo hidden: to prevent the American citizenry from learning of illegal machinations behind the scene that upend the entire Democratic election process. They suggest that, due to Russian meddling, which they insist Americans  accept without proffering any proof to support the assertion, Clinton would have won the election--a conclusion that doesn't follow from the premise that the Russians did interfere with our elections, even if the underlying premise is true. But, that conclusion, apparently, provides the impetus for and drives the action on multiple fronts to oust Trump from Office. Now, one may demur, arguing that the assertions set forth in this article are themselves mere unsubstantiated opinion. But are they? Are they not declarative assertions that can be substantiated, through release of the House Intelligence Committee Memo? Surely, the truth--or falsity for that matter--of the assertions made here can be substantiated at least in part through release of the Memo. But, that isn't something the supporters of Clinton want, even if the public would finally be privy to the underlying basis for the Mueller investigation. No one on either of the political spectrum would refute that point, which explains why, on the one hand, Congressional Democrats and senior Officials of the DOJ and FBI, and those who supported Hillary Clinton's candidacy, among others, including publishers, editors and reporters of the mainstream media and left-wing news anchors and commentators, don't want the Memo released to the American public, and why, on the other hand, Congressional Republicans, and many rank and file FBI agents and rank and file DOJ attorneys, and American citizens who supported Trump, along with conservative news reporters and commentators do want the Memo released to the American public and unredacted.* They evidently know that the information set forth is true, and it is the truth that they cannot and will not abide. It is the truth that they are afraid of. For, it is the truth that illustrates for the American citizenry to see, indeed for the entire world to see--when that truth is held up to the light of day--that these individuals, these senior Officials of the FBI and DOJ, and these Congressional Democrats, such as Adam Schiff and Dianne Feinstein, are scoundrels, not deserving of respect of the people whom they claim to serve; whom they deign to serve, but whom they serve up as slaves to the lords whom they really serve--the internationalist, trans-nationalist globalist "elites" who seek to subordinate this Nation and its people to a new pan-world Order.If the Mueller investigation is a sham, then, presumptively, the motive behind the investigation operates, not to find evidence of wrong-doing on the part of Donald Trump or on the part of Trump Campaign Officials or members of Trump's Administration, but operates, rather, as a critical step leading up to impeachment. And, once again, no one would seriously contest the accuracy of that point either, which would explain why it is that, having failed to find evidence of a criminal conspiracy between anyone connected with Trump and the Russians--if ever there were grounds for surmising such conspiracy in the first place--Mueller and his team are not wrapping up the investigation but are exploring other avenues of investigation, namely obstruction of justice--to keep the sham going. Obstruction is, for Mueller and his team, a convenient "peg to hang a hat on," because "[i]n a broad sense, any offense negatively affecting government functions can be viewed as an obstruction against the administration of justice. For example, treason, sedition, perjury, bribery, escape, contempt, false personation, destruction of government property, and assault of a public official are crimes against the government. Moreover, as the number of governmental functions has increased throughout time, the number of statutory offenses penalizing obstructions of those functions likewise has increased. Many of these crimes have been clearly and distinctly set apart as separate offenses. . . ." "The Varying Parameters of Obstruction of Justice in American Criminal Law," 65 La. L. Rev. 49 (Fall 2004), by John F. Decker. Obstruction of Justice charges are, by their nature, open-ended matters--broad domains into which almost any wrongdoing or semblance of wrongdoing can be dropped. Of course if an obstruction of justice charge could ostensibly be lodged against Donald Trump or of any one or more people in his Campaign or in his Administration, one could certainly make the case that an obstruction of justice charge, among many others, could, reasonably, certainly, have been lodged against Hillary Clinton and against individuals who worked for her Campaign. And, if obstruction of justice charges were not lodged against Hillary Clinton and others who worked for or on behalf of her when, notwithstanding that all of the elements of multiple obstruction of justice charges were met, then why wasn't Clinton and any of her people charged with obstruction of justice? If those members of the FBI who were involved in the investigation of Hillary Clinton on multivarious federal charges did not bring charges against her specifically because they did not wish to disrupt her campaign for the U.S. Presidency, then, one might well ask whether those investigators of the FBI involved had not themselves obstructed justice. But, who would charge them? And, imagine for a moment that Hillary Clinton did prevail in the 2016 U.S. Presidential election against Donald Trump. Imagine a likely criminal occupying the highest Office in the Land. Imagine a system of laws in this Nation turned on its head. Imagine Harlequin Justice and a Harlequin U.S. President: Hillary Clinton. The conclusion we draw is that an attempted coup of our Constitutional Republic is underway. The contents of the House Intelligence Committee Memo will certainly lend credence to that conclusion. That is why there has been considerable push-back against release of the Memo to the public. The Conspirators don't want an accounting. They don't want a reckoning. Thus, they come up with specious reasons to waylay release of the Memo. What the American public is witness to is a deliberate and reprehensible attempt--assembled by actors in Congress, in the Federal Bureaucracy, and in the Mainstream Media, with likely assistance from Billionaire globalists both here at home and abroad to undermine the Trump Presidency.Representative Devin Nunes (R-CA), House Intelligence Committee Chairman, seeks to redress this horrific situation that bad actors have inflicted on our Country and continue to inflict on our County and that is why he ordered preparation of a Memorandum detailing DOJ and FBI surveillance abuse and misuse of the FISA Court by senior Officials of the DOJ and FBI. These abuses involve presenting the FISA Court with an application for issuance of a warrant to enable the FBI to conduct surveillance of American citizens. If the application were submitted with evil intent, with knowledge that the presenters had that the content of the application was patently false or that the content had not been corroborated for veracity and if those presenters of the FBI and DOJ represented to the FISA Court that the content of the application for a FISA warrant was true, then those presenters of the FBI and DOJ perpetrated a fraud on the Court. That is reprehensible. That is unforgivable. And that, apparently, is precisely what happened. That is what prompted Representative Nunes to order preparation of the Memo, for release to the American citizenry. The legal authority for him to do so is based on the Committee’s function and job:“The United States House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence (HPSCI) is a committee of the United States House of Representatives, currently chaired by Congressman Devin Nunes (California). Created in 1977, HPSCI is charged with oversight of the United States Intelligence Community—which includes the intelligence and intelligence-related activities of the following seventeen elements of the U.S. Government—and the Military Intelligence Program.”The HPSCI is tasked with oversight of powerful institutions—seventeen institutions that, in a free Republic, cannot be trusted to police themselves. Representative Nunes became frustrated, and rightfully so, by DOJ and FBI recalcitrance in responding to Committee concerns.The DOJ and FBI must answer to the American people through their Representatives in Congress. Apparently, the DOJ and FBI don’t see it that way. Congressional Democrats, like Adam Schiff and Nancy Pelosi and Dianne Feinstein—who have been most vocal in their denunciation of the House Intelligence Committee Memo—don’t see it that way either. You would think that all members of Congress would be aghast at unethical conduct, arising to the level of crimes—serious crimes at that—that senior Officials of the DOJ and FBI, had likely committed against the Nation and against the American people. But, Representatives Schiff and Pelosi and Senator Feinstein don’t want the public to have access to the contents of the Memo. Apparently, neither does the mainstream media that has come out of the shadows itself on the topic, which it had previously ignored, and no longer can do so, and, so, reluctantly reports it.Why is it that Representatives Schiff and Pelosi, and Senator Feinstein don’t want the public to have access to the contents of the Memo? What is it that senior Officials and Congressional Democrats are fearful of? Are they afraid that the contents of the Memo do not correspond with or cohere with facts, as they claim, and that, the public therefore should not gain access to a document that portrays senior Officials of the DOJ and the FBI in a false light, damning them for illegal conduct these senior Officials of the DOJ and the FBI never engaged in? Or, rather, is it because these Senior Officials of the DOJ and FBI and these Congressional Democrats are afraid that the contents of the Memo do clearly correspond with or cohere with facts “in the world” and that the contents of the Memo do rightfully damn these individuals for betraying their Oath to uphold the U.S. Constitution. If the latter, then one need not wonder as to the concern of Congressional Democrats and the concern of high-ranking Officials in the Federal Bureaucracy over the contents of the Memo, and why it is they remonstrate against the Memo’s release. For, these holders of high rank in Government, who wield incredible power, and whom the public is expected to trust, and who are expected to utilize the power of their Office circumspectly, and whom, the public—so it is told—have the utmost integrity, would be exposed for the frauds that they are, and would, themselves, be investigated for crimes against this Nation and against the American people. Moreover, it is clear enough, although no one publicly acknowledges it, that, once President Trump does allow for the release of the House Intelligence Memo to the American public, there will be a ripple effect that calls into question the legitimacy of the entirety of the Mueller investigation. And, the ripple effect does not end there. The public will obtain an inkling as to depth of and complexity of the conspiracy against the U.S. President and, by extension, the depth of and complexity of the conspiracy against the American people. The American public will rightfully demand an accounting of these high-ranking Officials, including a demand for an accounting of Congressional Democrats who protect these Federal Bureaucrats who flagrantly violate the laws of the Land—senior police officials and senior attorneys, whom one would think would have the utmost respect for our laws, but who obviously don't.The reasons Congressional Democrats give for preventing release of the Memo to the American public cloaks a normative argument that is not subject to true/false verification. These Congressional Democrats and the senior Officials who both betray their Nation and its people have a vision for this Nation that cannot be reconciled with the vision that President Trump and much of the American citizenry have for this Country. These Congressional Democrats and senior Officials of the DOJ and FBI and many senior Officials of the Federal Bureaucracy wish to create a Nation that is subordinated to a new pan-World Order; a Nation with open borders; a Nation open to disparate multicultural influences; a Nation suffering the fragmenting of core values; a Nation witnessing the disassembling of fundamental rights and liberties; and a Nation that sees an expansion and consolidation of power in the Federal Government with ultimate transfer of power to international Governing bodies. Clearly, these senior Officials of the DOJ and FBI that wield incredible power have little regard for the American people. And, those members of Congress who protect and enable the  illegal conduct of these Officials are no better. Indeed, they are all complicit in the assault on our Constitution and complicit in the illegal effort to destroy the Trump Presidency. These Senior Officials of the DOJ and FBI feel they can spurn our laws because they presume they know what is in the best interests of the American people. They create ad hoc rules of behavior for themselves as they deem themselves to be superior to the public.  They demonstrate contempt for the citizenry. Their behavior amounts to crass, unabashed paternalism. The Founders of our Republic would be appalled. You should be appalled too. The American citizenry must demand an accounting. Perhaps, with release of the House Intelligence Committee Memo, there now will be an accounting.______________________________________________*As this article goes to publication, the Arbalest Quarrel has learned that U.S. President, Donald Trump, has authorized release of the House Intelligence Committee Memo, and, apparently, in unredacted form, which means that Americans should see the names of those high-ranking Officials in the FBI and DOJ, who have betrayed the trust of the citizenry of this Nation. These individuals of "Justice" must be brought to justice themselves. Once the Memo is released to the public, the Arbalest Quarrel will analyze it and post the results of its analysis on this site.______________________________________________Copyright © 2017 Roger J Katz (Towne Criour), Stephen L. D’Andrilli (Publius) All Rights Reserved.

RELEASE THE MEMO: ADAM SCHIFF AND OTHER CONGRESSIONAL DEMOCRATS DARE ARGUE AGAINST GOVERNMENT TRANSPARENCY, DEMONSTRATING THEIR BRAZEN CONTEMPT FOR THE AMERICAN PEOPLE

PART FIVE

ADAM SCHIFF AND OTHER CONGRESSIONAL DEMOCRATS DO NOT TRUST AND NEVER WILL TRUST AMERICANS WITH THE TRUTH. WHY IS THAT? IS IT BECAUSE THESE CONGRESSIONAL DEMOCRATS DO IN FACT BELIEVE THAT AMERICANS ARE INCAPABLE OF HANDLING THE TRUTH, OR IS IT, RATHER, THAT THESE CONGRESSIONAL DEMOCRATS KNOW FULL WELL THAT AMERICANS ARE QUITE CAPABLE OF HANDLING THE TRUTH? CLEARLY, ADAM SCHIFF AND OTHER CONGRESSIONAL DEMOCRATS KNOW FULL WELL THAT, ONCE AMERICANS KNOW HOW THESE CONGRESSIONAL DEMOCRATS, AND THEIR FRIENDS IN AND OF THE BUREAUCRATIC DEEP STATE, HAVE BETRAYED THIS NATION AND HAVE BETRAYED THE AMERICAN CITIZENRY, THEY  WILL BE EXPOSED FOR THE DEFILERS THEY ARE. THEY KNOW THAT THEIR BETRAYAL WILL NOT SIT WELL WITH THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. THEY KNOW, AS WELL THEY SHOULD, THAT THEY WILL BE CALLED ON THE CARPET FOR THEIR MANY BETRAYALS, ALONG WITH THE SENIOR OFFICIALS OF THE DEEP STATE WHOM THEY HAVE, IN THE PAST, IMPROPERLY SHIELDED, AND WHOM, EVEN NOW, WITH ALL THE MOUNTING EVIDENCE OF SERIOUS CRIMINAL WRONGDOING THAT HAS COME TO LIGHT, THEY CONTINUE MINDLESSLY, IRRESPONSIBLY, BLATANTLY, AND REPREHENSIBLY TO SHIELD.

Jessep: You want answers? Kaffee (Tom Cruise): I think I'm entitled to them. Jessep: [Again] You want answers? Kaffee: I want the truth! Jessep: You can't handle the truth! Son, we live in a world that has walls. And those walls have to be guarded by men with guns. Who's gonna do it? You? You, Lt. Weinberg? I have a greater responsibility than you can possibly fathom. You weep for Santiago and you curse the Marines. You have that luxury. You have the luxury of not knowing what I know: that Santiago's death, while tragic, probably saved lives. And my existence, while grotesque and incomprehensible to you, saves lives . . . You don't want the truth. Because deep down, in places you don't talk about at parties, you want me on that wall. You need me on that wall. We use words like honor, code, loyalty . . . we use these words as the backbone to a life spent defending something. You use 'em as a punchline. I have neither the time nor the inclination to explain myself to a man who rises and sleeps under the blanket of the very freedom I provide, then questions the manner in which I provide it! I'd rather you just said thank you and went on your way. Otherwise, I suggest you pick up a weapon and stand a post. Either way, I don't give a damn what you think you're entitled to! Kaffee: Did you order the code red? Jessep: (quietly) I did the job you sent me to do. Kaffee: [Again, persistently] Did you order the code red? Jessep: You're goddamn right I did!!From the 1992 legal drama film, “A Few Good Men,” written by Aaron Sorkin“I want to believe the path you threw out for consideration in [Deputy Director Andrew McCabe’s] office—that there’s no way [Trump] gets elected—but I’m afraid we can’t take that risk. It’s like an insurance policy in the unlikely event you die before you’re 40. . . . ” Incriminating text message from Peter Strzok, demoted FBI counterintelligence agent, to fellow FBI lawyer and Strzok’s mistress and “secret society” member, Lisa Page. Is Strzok’s illegal “Insurance Policy” not unlike Jessop’s illegal “Code Red”?

CONGRESSIONAL DEMOCRATS’ CONTEMPTUOUS DISREGARD FOR THE AMERICAN PEOPLE IS ON AMPLE DISPLAY THROUGH THEIR ATTEMPT TO PRECLUDE THE CITIZENRY’S ACCESS TO THE HOUSE INTELLIGENCE COMMITTEE MEMORANDUM, SETTING FORTH THE BLATANT BETRAYAL OF FEDERAL GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS OF THE DEEP STATE.

Adam Schiff, D-CA, ranking Congressional Democratic member on the House Intelligence Committee has spoken out, constantly and vociferously, against release of the House Intelligence Committee FISA Memorandum that, reportedly, according to House Republicans who viewed the Memo, illustrates clear evidence of abuses arising to the level of federal crimes, committed by senior Officials of the DOJ and FBI. Schiff has been complaining ever since he learned that House Republicans wish to release the Memo to the American people. One would think that, in a Free Republic, the American people should—indeed must—be made aware of violations by their servants—those individuals who serve in the Federal Government, ostensibly on behalf of the people. Why then the display of such vehement reticence on the part of Congressman Schiff? What is Congressman Schiff afraid of?

WHY DOES CONGRESSMAN ADAM SCHIFF ARGUE AGAINST RELEASE OF THE HOUSE INTELLIGENCE COMMITTEE MEMORANDUM?

One website, the Gateway Pundit, posted an exchange between Schiff and a news anchor for CNN, Ana Cabrera, that took place on January 21, 2018. Congressman Schiff’s comments set forth his obvious contempt for the American people—a contempt positively established through the Congressman’s desire to keep critical information on criminal conduct on the part of Senior Officials of the top law enforcement institutions of our Nation, the Department of Justice (DOJ) and, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), within the Department of Justice—a contempt of the American people that is echoed by Congressional Democrats generally and by the mainstream news media particularly.“Cabrera: ‘Let me ask you about the Russia investigation. I can’t have you here and not. Especially given how much we talked about it in the first year of the presidency. And now if you turn on any conservative media, they keep talking about this Nunez memo, the chairman of the house intelligence committee, that he’s put out there and many Republicans have taken a look at it and they want it made public. Can you tell us what exactly is it?’Schiff: ‘It is essentially a set of talking points that the Republican Intel staff drafted. Based on the highly classified materials which most of the Republican members were forced to acknowledge. They’ve not even read. So they don’t know how distorted these talking points are. But as part of the narrative they want to push out. Interestingly enough, they’ve made common cause once again with Russian bots because Russian bots are pushing their narrative out there. It’s in a redux of the campaign. We have Assange and Wikileaks and Russian trolls and bots saying, you know, hash tag whatever the GOP narrative is. That ought to tell you a lot about what’s driving this. And that is – [statement not completed, interrupted by question by Cabrera]’Cabrera: ‘Why not allow peel to look at it and let Americans make the decision for themselves about whether it’s useful information or not?’ Schiff: ‘Well, because the American people unfortunately don’t have the underlying materials and therefore they can’t see how distorted and misleading this document is. The Republicans are not saying make the underlying materials available to the public. They just want to make this spin available to the public. I think that spin, which is a [sic] attack on the FBI, is just designed to attack the FBI and Bob Mueller to circle the wagons for the White House. And that’s a terrible disservice to the people, hard working people at the bureau, but more than that, it’s a disservice to the country.’In other words, Schiff believes [as rightfully inferred by the Gateway Pundit] Americans are too stupid to understand the memo.” Of course, whatever underlying materials Schiff refers to cannot themselves be released to the public because they, too, are classified, and might engender evidence of tools counterintelligence agents of the FBI employ. Since we presume that the “underlying materials" Schiff refers to cannot be released to the public and, as those materials, according to Schiff, would serve to place the House Intelligence Committee Memo in proper context, as Schiff argues, it then follows that, according to Schiff, nothing should be released to the public. How convenient!The confounding, disturbing, and mystifying thing about Schiff, and about all Congressional Democrats for that matter, is that Schiff and other Congressional Democrats forever claim, albeit speciously and sanctimoniously, the moral high ground, be it on matters touching upon the Free Speech and Freedom of the Press clauses of the First Amendment; the right of the people to keep and bear arms, codified in the Second Amendment; the cruel and unusual punishments clause set forth in the Eighth Amendment; the right to be free from unreasonable searches and seizures that falls under the Fourth Amendment of the Bill of Rights of the U.S. Constitution; or immigration and other naturalization matters which fall exclusively within the province of Congress, as set forth in Article I, Section 8, Clause 4, of the U.S. Constitution.The fact of the matter is that Schiff, and his fellow travelers in the Democratic Party, exemplify in their statements and in their actions, a profound mistrust and distrust of, and disfavor toward, the American citizenry even as they pretend to care deeply for the American citizenry’s well-being. Taking Schiff at his word, the American people are expected to have faith in the DOJ and FBI even as mounting evidence supports a finding that senior Officials within those powerful institutions of Government have been operating outside of and in abject defiance of the United States Constitution. Yet, when Americans rightfully rebuke these Officials and demand an accounting for their unethical and clearly illegal behavior, we see apologists, like Adam Schiff and the mainstream media that operates as nothing more than a propagandistic echo chamber for Congressional Democrats and for the internationalist, trans-nationalist globalist “elites” who seek to destroy this Country and its Constitution, to subsume it in a greater pan-internationalist world order.Adam Schiff obviously takes his cue from other Democrats and propagandists working for them to create arguments that on a superficial level seem sound, but, beneath the surface, are specious and demonstrate a profound distrust of Americans. Schiff refers to the House Intelligence Committee Memo as nothing more than political “spin.” Shouldn’t Americans have a go at it and determine for themselves whether the Memo is mere “spin” or whether the contents of the memo are amply demonstrative of something deeper and profoundly serious—namely, deliberate, exhaustive intensive and extensive misuse of Governmental power to undermine the will of the American people through an orchestrated frontal assault on the U.S. President, predicated on the personal outrage of some senior officials in the DOJ and FBI and in other Departments, Bureaus, and Agencies of Government that Donald Trump became President of the United States, rather than Hillary Clinton?The actions of these senior Officials go well beyond the usual imbecilic nonsense portrayed ad nauseum in the mainstream Press and on liberal talk radio and on liberal cable news programs like CNN, MSNBC, ABC, CBS, PBS, and BBC that Trump is, simply, not Presidential; that he does not demonstrate, according to armchair psychiatrists, mental stability; that he is a racist, and a xenophobe. No! What these senior Officials truly find really upsetting is that Donald Trump has set a new course for America, one that is aimed at preserving and strengthening the very idea of the import and purport of the Nation State; one that emphasizes strengthening the national economy to serve Americans, first, rather than the interests of the globalist community; one that emphasizes preservation of traditional core values; one that seeks to preserve our history; one that seeks to strengthen the Bill of Rights; one that seeks to control the Nation's borders; one that seeks to win wars, not simply to continue them endlessly and aimlessly; one that seeks to preserve the core religious Christian foundation of our Country; one that emphasizes the idea that Americans, as citizens of the United States, are, then, citizens of an independent sovereign Nation not to be subservient to any other Nation, groups of Nations, or subservient to some sort of global corporate/financial new world order. Americans are not serfs; they are not cogs in a wheel; they are not “citizens” of the world, and do not care to be. Our Constitution is supreme; and our Nation's laws are not to be subordinated to international law or to international pacts and treaties or to the laws of any other Nation, or to the laws of the EU.Senior Officials of the DOJ and FBI conspired behind the scenes to make certain that Hillary Clinton would be able to continue her bid for the U.S. Presidency, when she should have been charged for serious breaches of federal law against this Nation and its people. Once she lost her bid for U.S. Presidency, these same individuals sought, through the creation of a sham investigation of Trump and his Campaign Officials, to destroy his Presidency. And, the sham continues, unabated. This conspiracy to denounce Trump and to take down his Presidency is as cutthroat and illegal and no less an attack on our national security than it would be were the conspirators within the DOJ and FBI working for foreign, enemy sponsors. Indeed, they are likely working foreign sponsors: ruthless, powerful, inordinately wealthy international, trans-national globalists who see, in the election of Trump, a wrench thrown in their goals of a world ruled dominated by and ruled by them.When Americans denounce senior Officials in the DOJ and FBI, this is not to be construed as denouncing the rank and file of those institutions, even as Adam Schiff and other Congressional Democrats and their sounding board in the mainstream media wrongly presume and calculatedly assert. It is just a straw man argument. For Americans generally, and Congressional Republicans, particularly, to justifiably denounce senior Officials in the DOJ and FBI, such as Strzok, Page, Rosenstein, McCabe, Comey, Mueller, and others, is not to attack, and does not logically entail an attack on, the rank and file members of the DOJ and FBI who may, for their part, be just as outraged as the American people at the conduct of many of their superiors

DOES THE CIVIL RIGHTS ACT HAVE APPLICATION TO THE ILLEGAL ACTIONS OF SENIOR DOJ AND FBI OFFICIALS?

It is time to expand the import of federal civil rights laws so that senior Officials of the Federal Government can be charged for engaging in illegal activity through the cover of the power of their Office—that is to say, “under color of law”—to undermine the will of the people and who betray their oath of Office. These federal Officials, as with State Officials, who, under color of law violate the sacred trust the public has placed in them should suffer the full wrath of federal law for their act of betrayal. The Civil Rights Statute, 42 U.S.C.S. § 1983 (Deprivation of Rights) sets forth:"Every person who, under color of any statute, ordinance, regulation, custom, or usage, of any State or Territory or the District of Columbia, subjects, or causes to be subjected, any citizen of the United States or other person within the jurisdiction thereof to the deprivation of any rights, privileges, or immunities secured by the Constitution and laws, shall be liable to the party injured in an action at law, suit in equity, or other proper proceeding for redress, except that in any action brought against a judicial officer for an act or omission taken in such officer's judicial capacity, injunctive relief shall not be granted unless a declaratory decree was violated or declaratory relief was unavailable. For the purposes of this section, any Act of Congress applicable exclusively to the District of Columbia shall be considered to be a statute of the District of Columbia.”There is no reason why the Civil Rights Statute that traditionally applies to provide a cause of action by individuals against State officials, who, under color of law, deny the rights of particular protected classes of people, should not apply to Federal Officials who, under color of law, deprive the citizenry of this Country of their rights under the Constitution, generally and broadly, by attacking the very institutions of this Country upon which the Nation depends for its very survival as an independent sovereign Nation. We see now evidence of Senior Federal Officials betraying their Oath of Office by undermining the Chief Executive of our Nation, under whose wing, they fall. These senior Officials of the DOJ and FBI have, through their actions, deprived the entire  citizenry of this Nation to rights secured to them under the Constitution generally, and under the Bill of Rights specifically. The criminal actions of these Officials of the DOJ and FBI constitute the supreme criminal evil, depriving citizens of their rights, under color of law, endangering this Nation's national security through their attack on the Chief Executive of this Nation whom the citizenry depends upon to implement policies consistent with the promises made to the people who voted for him. Even among those Americans who did not vote for Donald Trump, their rights too have been undermined; for Government officials have an obligation to perform their duties consistent with the law. They are not permitted to subvert the law to attack the President of the United States simply because they happen to disagree with the policies of the Chief Executive. They are not permitted to use the power of their Office to circumvent the will of the President and the desire of the American people. These Officials have no such lawful Article II authority to undermine the authority of the President of the United States. That precisely is what Robert Mueller is attempting to do, under color of law. He has no such lawful authority. Likely, the House Intelligence Committee Memorandum makes that point patently clear.“The substantive change has been a joint venture of Congress and the courts. Congress took the lead with legislation prohibiting discrimination because of race, sex, national origin, disability, age, and other characteristics in employment, public accommodations, housing, and institutions receiving federal funds. Congress and the courts together have made such statutes privately enforceable, recognizing the public benefit of private litigation. The Court itself ushered in the era of serious constitutional litigation when it resuscitated 42 U.S.C. § 1983, a long-moribund provision of the Reconstruction Era, and turned it into a meaningful and powerful vehicle for enforcing federal constitutional rights. The Court expansively interpreted the statutory requirement of action ‘under color’ of state law so the Constitution would reach misconduct by all public officials acting randomly and individually even if in violation of state law—officials who misuse power through conduct made possible only because the official was ‘clothed with the authority’ of state law. The Court also recognized that otherwise private entities may be subject to constitutional liability for engaging in forms of joint action with government. And the Court alone created constitutional damages litigation against federal officers when it recognized an implied right of action in the Bill of Rights itself.” “Symposium: Pondering Iqbal: Iqbal, Procedural Mismatches, And Civil Rights Litigation,” by Howard M. Wasserman, Professor of Law, FIU College of Law, 14 Lewis and Clark L. Rev. 157 Spring, 2010. The article continues:“. . . public-law litigation is often less about discrete individual unlawful acts on the ground (although such acts certainly must have occurred), than about the content and enforcement of government policy and violations of rights caused by that policy through individual acts of enforcement. Policy causes harm over a longer period of time and to a potentially larger number of people. Constitutional litigation targets not only actors on the ground, but also supervisory officers and government entities who enact policy and guide officers in their enforcement. This is of a piece with the general evolution of substantive law away from precise rules into more complex general standards and principles, which has reduced the overall utility of pleading.” Id.The actions of Senior DOJ and FBI officials, including, Strzok, Page, Rosenstein, Comey, and Mueller, and undoubtedly others, operates as illegal Government policy that has existed since at least as long as Hillary Clinton’s Presidential campaign and is manifest in the very existence of Special Counsel Robert Mueller's misbegotten investigation—which, in that very existence, demonstrably violates the specific rights of individuals connected with Trump's Presidential campaign or Administration and, in illegally attacking individuals connected with Trump's Campaign or Administration, operates as a violation of the rights of citizens who elected Trump and, indeed, operates as a violation of the rights of all American citizens as it denigrates the rule of law upon which this Nation is grounded. Mueller's investigation should not be allowed to continue.Congressman Schiff is correct on one score. The House Intelligence Committee Memorandum does in fact attack the very heart of the Mueller investigation. But, as well it should. For, if the contents of the Memo are correct, then the Mueller investigation must end, for its existence is tantamount to criminal policy operating in the false guise of lawful exercise of authority. It is no such thing. It is disgraceful; illegal, and logically incoherent. It must come to an end and Mueller and his team and other Senior Officials must be charged with crimes against this Nation, against this Nation’s Constitution, against this Nation’s laws, and against this Nation’s people. The true extent of the criminality of Mueller's investigation will obviously be immediately evident to the American people and cause the American people to demand that the rot of Government be excised. This is what Adam Schiff and other Congressional Democrats fear, and they are right to be afraid. For, they must answer to the American people as well.The American citizenry should be appalled by the extravagant misuse of Government power and authority. Please contact your House Representative. Demand release of the House Intelligence Committee Memorandum that Representatives Jordan and Gaetz refer to, at once. The phone number is: 202-224-3121.______________________________________________Copyright © 2017 Roger J Katz (Towne Criour), Stephen L. D’Andrilli (Publius) All Rights Reserved.

RELEASE THE MEMO: SENIOR DOJ AND FBI OFFICIALS LIKELY COMMITTED SERIOUS FEDERAL CRIMES IN THEIR UNLAWFUL ATTEMPT TO TAKE DOWN PRESIDENT TRUMP.

PART THREE

THE SWAMP MUST BE DRAINED; CONSPIRATORS’ HEADS MUST ROLL; THE GUILTY MUST BE HELD FULLY ACCOUNTABLE.

As intimated in the account of the contents of the House Intelligence Committee Memo that Representatives Jim Jordan (R-OH) and Matt Gaetz (R-FL) have alluded to on Fox News, it is not enough that Senior DOJ and FBI Officials, whose names appear in the House Intelligence Memo, simply lose their jobs (which would allow them to collect retirement benefits). The fact that DOJ and FBI senior officials like Peter Strzok, Andrew McCabe, Bruce Ohr, and undoubtedly many others, continue to hold onto jobs in the DOJ and FBI, is reason for consternation.Clearly, other senior Officials of the Deep State are protecting them. How high up the Government ladder does this insidious subterfuge extend? The President’s call to drain the swamp now takes on immediate and critical urgency.The “swamp” of the Federal Government is, it is now evident, more than mere metaphor—much more. The expression takes on literal meaning. Why are these senior DOJ and FBI officials still holding positions in the Federal Government? Why are they still receiving paychecks, courtesy of the American taxpayer? Why do they still hold top secret security clearances? These people and others should be fired immediately, and they should be investigated for serious crimes against this Nation and the American people. Why hasn’t Attorney General Jeff Sessions acted against these individuals? After all, Jeff Sessions holds the highest position in the Department of Justice? Why hasn’t Sessions cleaned house? Is he unable to do so, notwithstanding that he holds the top position in the DOJ? If that is the case, then, do high-ranking officials in the DOJ, and in the FBI, and in other Cabinet-level Departments, and in the Military, and in the Intelligence Community, and in Congress too, hold sway over the entirety of the Federal Government. If these high-ranking senior Officials, these Conspirators who have betrayed their oath of Office, who have betrayed the U.S. Constitution, who have betrayed this Nation, and who have betrayed the American people, do hold sway over the Federal Government, then, we must conclude that this Shadow Government—this Deep State within the Federal Government—these Conspirators hold sway over the American people as well. Has a coup d’état of the Government already taken place notwithstanding their failure to seat the shrew and puppet of the trans-nationalist, internationalist, globalist “elite,”—Hillary Clinton?If Attorney General Jeff Sessions does muster the strength to exercise the authority vested in him and hold to account those officials of the DOJ and FBI, who have betrayed this Nation, who have betrayed our Constitution, and who have betrayed the American people, then we should see investigations commencing at once. If the Attorney General does not have the courage to assert his authority, then he should resign; and, if Sessions does not voluntarily step down, then President Trump should demand his resignation, or otherwise, simply fire him, and appoint a person who has the stomach to clean house!In the interim, these Betrayers of our Nation, of our Nation’s Constitution, and of our Nation’s citizenry must be prevented from doing further harm to our Nation, to our Nation’s President, and to our Nation’s people. Accordingly:

• THEIR EMPLOYMENT WITH THE DOJ OR FBI SHOULD BE TERMINATED AT ONCE!
• THEIR SALARIES SHOULD BE SUSPENDED!
• THEIR SECURITY CLEARANCES SHOULD BE REVOKED!
• THEIR MISCONDUCT SHOULD BE THOROUGHLY INVESTIGATED!

Once evidence of the serious federal crimes--that these senior Officials of the DOJ and FBI committed and are even now still committing--has been systematically collected, collated, and analyzed by prosecutors—and it is certainly clear that a plethora of such evidence exists—then legal action must commence forthwith:

• THESE BETRAYERS OF THE NATION SHOULD BE INDICTED!
• THESE BETRAYERS OF THE NATION SHOULD THEN BE TRIED IN A COURT OF LAW FOR THEIR CRIMES!
• IF CONVICTED, THESE BETRAYERS OF THE NATION SHOULD RECEIVE NO LENIENCY IN THE METING OUT OF THEIR SENTENCES.
• AND, THESE BETRAYERS OF THE NATION SHOULD BE DENIED RECEIPT OF PENSIONS AND BENEFITS!

IF SENIOR OFFICIALS OF THE DOJ AND FBI HAVE COMMITTED SERIOUS FEDERAL CRIMES AGAINST THIS NATION, AGAINST THIS NATION’S CONSTITUTION, AND AGAINST THE AMERICAN PEOPLE, AS IS NOW MANIFEST AND CLEARLY CERTAIN, WHAT WOULD THE NATURE OF THOSE CRIMES BE? WE PERCEIVE AND ANTICIPATE THE FOLLOWING: CONSPIRACY; PERJURY; SUBORNATION OF PERJURY; DEPRIVATION OF RIGHTS UNDER COLOR OF LAW; AND OBSTRUCTION OF PROCEEDINGS BEFORE DEPARTMENTS, AGENCIES, AND COMMITTEES.

One serious crime falls under Title 19 of the United States Code: Crimes and Criminal Procedure, Part I, Crimes, Chapter 19, Conspiracy.19 USCS § 371 (Conspiracy to commit offense or to defraud the United States) sets forth in principal part:  If two or more persons conspire either to commit any offense against the United States, or to defraud the United States, or any agency thereof in any manner or for any purpose, and one or more of such persons do any act to effect the object of the conspiracy, each shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than five years, or both. A second serious federal crime falls under Chapter 79 of the United States Code. Chapter 79 of Title 18 of the United States Code. 18 USCS § 1621 (Perjury generally) sets forth in principal part: Whoever—(1)  having taken an oath before a competent tribunal, officer, or person, in any case in which a law of the United States authorizes an oath to be administered, that he will testify, declare, depose, or certify truly, or that any written testimony, declaration, deposition, or certificate by him subscribed, is true, willfully and contrary to such oath states or subscribes any material matter which he does not believe to be true; or(2)  in any declaration, certificate, verification, or statement under penalty of perjury as permitted under section 1746 of title 28, United States Code, willfully subscribes as true any material matter which he does not believe to be true;is guilty of perjury and shall, except as otherwise expressly provided by law, be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than five years, or both.Since the Fusion GPS Dossier is a lie, those DOJ Officials who presented it to the FISA Court, swearing to the authenticity of the contents have committed perjury before the Court; and, since they did this to secure a warrant from the FISA Court that would allow Special Counsel Mueller to undertake an investigation of Trump Campaign Officials, predicated on presumptive collusion between Russian officials and Trump, those DOJ Officials who lied before the FISA Court to affect or influence the FISA Court to issue a warrant have committed a third serious federal crime, that these senior Officials of the DOJ and FBI have likely committed is subornation of perjury.A third serious federal crimes falls under Chapter 79 of  Title 18 of the United States Code, 18 USCS § 1622 (Subornation of perjury). 18 USCS § 1622  (Subornation of perjury) sets forth in principal part:Whoever procures another to commit any perjury is guilty of subornation of perjury, and shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than five years, or both.A fourth serious federal crime falls under Chapter 13 of Title 18 of the United States Code. 18 USCS § 242 (Deprivation of rights under color of law). 18 USCS § 242 (Deprivation of rights under color of law) sets forth in principal part:Whoever, under color of any law, statute, ordinance, regulation, or custom, willfully subjects any person in any State, Territory, Commonwealth, Possession, or District to the deprivation of any rights, privileges, or immunities secured or protected by the Constitution or laws of the United States, or to different punishments, pains, or penalties, on account of such person being an alien, or by reason of his color, or race, than are prescribed for the punishment of citizens, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than one year, or both. . . .By betraying their oath to uphold the laws of this Nation, they have deprived the citizens of this Nation of their rights as they have attempted to subvert election laws by allowing an ignominious individual, Hillary Clinton, to campaign for the highest Office in the Land, when Clinton should, instead, have been indicted on several criminal charges. The Arbalest Quarrel has detailed these crimes at length, in several articles. See for example, “Pay to Play: The Clinton Foundation’s Open Secret and Silent Purpose.” These senior Officials of the DOJ and FBI have compounded their crimes by unlawfully utilizing tools, such as appointment of a Special Counsel—Robert Mueller—to undertake a lengthy, expensive investigation of the U.S. President, Donald Trump, when appointment of Special Counsel and investigation of Donald Trump is altogether unfounded, as the basis for such investigation is grounded on nothing but bald-faced lies, unsubstantiated hearsay, unfounded assumptions, and mere innuendo.Having failed to seat a likely criminal, Hillary Clinton, in Office, these Conspirators—senior Officials of the DOJ and FBI—have now turned their attention to removing the U.S. President, Donald Trump, from Office. They are doing this out of spite and they are doing this because, in their mind, they won’t accept this President’s policy initiatives; and they won’t accept the will of the American people who elected Donald Trump in a fair and lawful election. They arrogantly assert that they know what is best for the American people and thereby subvert the very Constitution and laws of this Country that they have taken an oath to serve.And, a fifth serious federal crime falls under title 18 of the United States Code, 18 USCS § 1505 (Obstruction of proceedings before departments, agencies, and committees) 18 USCS § 1505 (Obstruction of proceedings before departments, agencies, and committees) sets forth in critical part:Whoever corruptly, or by threats or force, or by any threatening letter or communication influences, obstructs, or impedes or endeavors to influence, obstruct, or impede the due and proper administration of the law under which any pending proceeding is being had before any department or agency of the United States, or the due and proper exercise of the power of inquiry under which any inquiry or investigation is being had by either House, or any committee of either House or any joint committee of the Congress—Shall be fined under this title, imprisoned not more than 5 years. . . .News Commentator, Sean Hannity, reported on Fox News, Monday, January 22, 2018, that hundreds of anti-Trump text messages have inexplicably vanished from FBI databases. The website, Sean Hannity "Release the Memo," further elucidates the point raised and expounded upon on Hannity's evening program. If, as almost certainly appears to be the case, senior officials of the DOJ and/or FBI deliberately destroyed messages—amounting to pre-emptive document deletion or shredding—in anticipation of civil or criminal investigation of wrongdoing, this amounts to anticipatory obstruction of justice and they may be subject to criminal liability under the obstruction of proceedings Statute mentioned, supra.

THE ARBALEST QUARREL WON’T REST UNTIL THE HOUSE INTELLIGENCE COMMITTEE MEMO, COMPLETE, UNABRIDGED, AND UNREDACTED IS DECLASSIFIED FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE TO THE AMERICAN PUBLIC.

In Part Five of our ongoing “Release the Memo” multi-series set of articles, we will look at whether the most serious charge of all, “treason,” can be leveled against these Senior DOJ and FBI Officials who have betrayed their Oath of Office. In Part Six, we will look at the actions of Congressional Democrats who--as with the mainstream news media, that has tacitly assisted the agents of the Deep State by censoring reporting of news pertaining to the House Intelligence Committee Memorandum--are impeding the release of the House Intelligence Committee Memo, and, through their actions are demonstrating, as well, their contempt for the American people. We are speaking here, namely and particularly, of Representative Adam Schiff (D-CA) Ranking Democratic Party Member of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence.We are doing our part. Please do your part. Tell Congress to release to the American public the House Intelligence Committee Memo that describes DOJ and FBI FISA Court abuses. The phone number to call is (202) 224-3121. That number will connect you to the U.S. Capitol switchboard. Follow the prompts to connect to U.S. Representatives and to U.S. Senators in your State._________________________________________________Copyright © 2017 Roger J Katz (Towne Criour), Stephen L. D’Andrilli (Publius) All Rights Reserved.

RELEASE THE MEMO: MAINSTREAM MEDIA NEWSPAPERS FAIL TO KEEP PUBLIC INFORMED OF THREAT POSED TO THIS COUNTRY FROM WITHIN

PART TWO

WHY AREN'T MAINSTREAM NEWS ORGANIZATIONS COVERING THIS HOTBED MATTER?

MAINSTREAM MEDIA BLACKOUT OF DAMNING HOUSE INTELLIGENCE COMMITTEE MEMO ABETS DOJ/FBI CONSPIRACY TO TAKE DOWN U.S. PRESIDENT

With all the media buzz about the Government shutdown, the more pressing matter, by far, is this: Conspiratorial DOJ and FBI Officials and, perhaps, other high-ranking Obama Administration hold-overs of the Deep State have surreptitiously planned to overthrow Donald Trump. The odd thing is that this silent coup is still unfolding. It is unfolding, like a seemingly radiant—at least as presented to the public by Congressional Democrats—but clearly poisonous and deadly flower—and all of it with the passive, placid consent and connivance of mainstream media news organizations and outlets.The House Intelligence Committee Memo, would, as House Intelligence Committee Republicans make plain, explain clearly the reprehensible, insidious conspiracy afoot, within this Country, to oust Donald Trump from Office.We begin with this: the Fusion GPS Dossier, a work of fiction, concocted by ex-British spy, Christopher Steele, comprising uncorroborated, garbage meant to compromise Donald Trump—commissioned and paid for by Hillary Clinton and the DNC, which she controls, and which she had hoped would assure her victory in the 2016 U.S. Presidential election, and which now serves as the primary force behind Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation of collusion between Trump Campaign Officials and the Russian Government.The Fusion GPS Dossier serves as the predicate basis for Special Counsel, Robert Mueller’s investigation of Donald Trump and his Campaign Officials. This Special Counsel, Robert Mueller, along with other Deep State Conspirators—whose names undoubtedly appear in the House Intelligence Committee Memo—seek, together, to take down Donald Trump. The Fusion GPS Dossier also serves a complementary purpose for these Conspirators. It serves, at one and the same time to draw attention away from Hillary Clinton and other likely criminals who worked for and who would have had jobs in Clinton’s Administration had she prevailed in the 2016 election. Now that she has lost the election, she remains vulnerable to a new investigation of her many criminal actions when she served as Secretary of State in the Obama Administration.Obviously, Hillary Clinton, and the toadies and hangers-on who served her, along with mainstream news media organizations and Congressional Democrats—all of them—are furious that Hillary Clinton lost the election. What does this mean for the Country? Well, apart from the shattering of Clinton’s personal delusions of grandeur, we see, thankfully, an abrupt end to President Barack Obama’s domestic and foreign policy agenda. Hillary Clinton, as with Barack Obama before her, would have taken her cues from the secretive, ruthless, powerful, trans-nationalist, internationalist, globalist “elite” who seek to dismantle this Nation’s Constitution, and who intend to make the U.S. a vassal of a new world order, which the EU gives the American public some intimation of.

WHY DOES CONGRESS ALLOW THE SCAM OF THE MUELLER INVESTIGATION TO CONTINUE?

To date, after several months of “investigation” of collusion between Trump Campaign Officials and the Russian Government, Special Counsel, Robert Mueller, has come up with nothing, because there is nothing. Congressional Democrats, though, want the investigation to continue. In an obvious and blatant attempt to give the Mueller investigation an aura of respectability and to suggest that the Mueller probe constitutes something more than a rip-off to the American taxpayer, Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-California), “released,” ostensibly on her own, according to the liberal news media website, Politico, “the transcript of congressional investigators’ interview in August 2017 with Fusion GPS co-founder Glenn Simpson, whose firm was behind the controversial dossier alleging ties between President Donald Trump and Russians.” Politico provides a link to the transcript. On perusal the transcript is nothing more than a compilation of bald, hearsay assertions that would not be admissible in a Court of law.It is time to end the illegal farce of the Mueller investigation. Further, the American public should demand a renewed—and this time, true and proper—investigation of Hillary Clinton and of those toadies who have aided and abetted her, along with an investigation of the conspirators who orchestrated and who are even now systematically machinating behind the scenes, blatantly, smugly, continuing to carry out their detailed, despicable, diabolical operation to destroy the Trump Presidency and to undermine the will of the people of this Country.In a renewed investigation of Hillary Clinton and her many henchmen, along with an investigation of those responsible for attempting to undermine the Trump Presidency, the Arbalest Quarrel demands that Attorney General Jeff Sessions appoint a new cadre of FBI agents and officials, and a new cadre of DOJ attorneys and officials—uncorrupted Americans, beyond reproach, unconnected with and untainted with the conspiracy to protect Hillary Clinton and unconnected with the conspiracy to destroy the U.S. President Donald Trump—to conduct these investigations.

SO, THEN, WHY AREN’T THE MAINSTREAM NEWSPAPERS REPORTING ON THIS FARCE AND DEMANDING, ON BEHALF OF THE AMERICAN CITIZENRY, A RELEASE OF THE CLASSIFIED HOUSE INTELLIGENCE MEMO THAT LAYS BARE THE INDIVIDUALS IN GOVERNMENT WHO, UNDER COLOR OF LAW, ARE USING THE POWER OF THEIR OFFICE IN THE DOJ AND FBI, AND, POSSIBLY, IN THE CIA AND NSA AS WELL, TO MACHINATE AND CONSPIRE TO DESTROY THE TRUMP PRESIDENCY AND, THEREIN, TO UNDERMINE THE WILL OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE WHO ELECTED DONALD TRUMP TO SET THIS COUNTRY ARIGHT: STRENGTHENING THIS COUNTRY’S BILL OF RIGHTS; ENSURING THIS NATION'S SYSTEM OF LAWS, THIS NATION'S CONSTITUTION, AND THAT THIS NATION'S JURISPRUDENCE ARE NEVER SUBORDINATED TO THOSE OF ANY OTHER NATION, PERSONS, OR LEGAL ENTITY; ENSURING THAT OUR CORE VALUES REMAIN IN PLACE AND THAT OUR NATION’S HISTORY IS NOT FORGOTTEN; SECURING OUR NATION’S BORDERS; PROTECTING OUR COUNTRY’S SMALL BUSINESSES AND WORKERS FROM THE EFFECTS OF RAMPANT GLOBALIZATION; PROTECTING THE  SANCTITY OF THE INDIVIDUAL; AND KEEPING MEANINGFUL THE CONCEPT OF ‘CITIZEN’ THAT IS IN DANGER OF BEING ERODED AND DEGRADED THROUGH THE VERY EXISTENCE OF MILLIONS OF ILLEGAL ALIENS PRESENT WITHIN OUR BORDERS, ABSURDLY CLAIMING THEY HAVE A "RIGHT" TO REMAIN HERE?

One would think that The mainstream Press would be all over this. It isn’t. The left-wing mainstream New York Times, whose motto is “all the news that’s fit to print,” reports nothing. Of course, The New York Times, debasing the sacred protection afforded the Press, under the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution allows itself to be used as a tool of—or, more likely, is itself complicit in—the coup attempt to oust a popularly elected U.S. President. So, the NY Times reports nothing.Non-information—a veritable news blackout of critical events—is even more damaging to the maintenance of a free Republic than news distortion—i.e., reporting “fake” news, consisting of disinformation or misinformation, meant to deceive the public and to turn public attention toward trivial or irrelevant matters. Campaigns of deliberate deception, carried out by the Press through non-information, misinformation, and disinformation destroy a news organization’s credibility. To be sure, an astute reader may glean nuggets of truth even from misinformation or disinformation. But a total news blackout--a complete censoring of news--is a different sort of beast, as there is nothing to glean from a void in the news.We would expect news blackouts in Countries ruled by totalitarian regimes, not in Democratic Republics. News blackouts occurring in a Free Republic, such as the U.S., are heinous. The mainstream news media hides behind the First Amendment, claiming to work on behalf of the American people. Not so! They abet conspirators who seek to overthrow a popularly elected leader of our Nation.This is not the first time that a mainstream news organization, namely and specifically, The New York Times, hides news that is definitely fit to print. Indeed, it is the Times' new policy, now etched in stone, to keep their news reporters on a tight leash. The Arbalest Quarrel has recently written about the Times’ new gag order on its own reporters. See our article, titled, The Mainstream Media New York Times Newspaper’s New “Gag Order” Policy Prevents Its Employees From Exercising Their Right Of Free Speech Under The First Amendment To The U.S. Constitution.We guess that no other mainstream newspaper has reported on this apparent diabolical coup attempt—an attempted coup d’état of the Executive Branch of Government that is still unfolding, a matter more dangerous than the Watergate exposé that the Washington Post had written extensively on. Where is the Washington Post now? We see just a smattering of this frightening and provocative news in that news publication. Apparently, neither the Washington Post nor The New York Times, and likely no other mainstream media newspaper considers the overthrow of a legitimate U.S. President—who wishes only to do his job to faithfully execute the laws of this Country in accordance with his Oath of Office and who seeks to strengthen the Bill of Rights—to amount to news that most mainstream media news organizations like The New York Times considers the kind of news that’s fit to bring to the attention of the American citizen.Even conservative leaning Wall Street Journal, too, has nothing to say about the House Intelligence Committee Memo that Republican Congressmen, Matt Gaetz and Jim Jordan first brought to the attention of the American public in the last week’s Hannity broadcast. Gatekeepers of information obviously exist on both the “right” and “left” of the political spectrum. The American public is caught in the middle, deceived from this bastion of Democracy—this Fourth Estate—that claims to be the guardian of American Democracy. Instead, the Press, too, betrays the American people.Why is that? Instead of discussing and investigating a despicable coup attempt of the Executive Branch of Government, these mainstream news media organizations dwell on the illicit Obama created programs, DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals) and DAPA (Deferred Action for Parents of Americans)—illegal schemes hatched by the Obama Administration to place this Nation in the very situation it faces today: what to do with 180,000 illegal aliens, along with their parents; and, for that matter, what to do with millions of other illegal aliens who do not belong here; never should have been here; should have been prevented from entering here; should have been removed from our Country years ago; and, that removal having been suspended, should certainly be removed from our Nation now as their very existence in this Country amounts to a slap-in-the-face of our naturalization laws and threatens the stability of the social, political, economic, legal and cultural fabric of this Nation.

THE ENDGAME OF OUR NATION IS UPON US

If DOJ and FBI conspirators succeed in this horrific coup attempt to upend the Trump Presidency, we will see further erosion of First Amendment free speech rights and the undermining of the Second Amendment. The Mueller investigation is, itself, in its very existence, an illegal and reprehensible attack on the unreasonable searches and seizures clause of the Fourth Amendment that should shock the conscience of all American citizens.In Part three of this multi-series article, we look at plausible federal crimes these DOJ and FBI conspirators can feasibly be charged with—once their names—all of them—are known to the American people. For, these individuals constitute a far greater and graver threat to the well-being of this Country, and to its citizenry, and to its Constitution, than any threat emanating outside this Country. And, in further articles, we will continue discussing this critical matter until justice is meted out to those who have corrupted their Office, who exhibit disdain for our citizenry, who have stained our Constitution, and who threaten the very existence of our Republic.The Arbalest Quarrel calls on Congress to expose to the light of day, the rot that festers within the bowels of the Federal Government bureaucracy. Release the Memo now!Please do your part. Tell Congress to release to the American public the House Intelligence Committee Memo that describes DOJ and FBI FISA Court abuses. The phone number to call is (202) 224-3121. That number will connect you to the U.S. Capitol switchboard. Follow the prompts to connect to U.S. Representatives and to U.S. Senators in your State._________________________________________________Copyright © 2017 Roger J Katz (Towne Criour), Stephen L. D’Andrilli (Publius) All Rights Reserved.

RELEASE THE MEMO: REPUBLICAN HOUSE INTELLIGENCE COMMITTEE MEMBERS SHOCKED BY CONTENTS AND CALL FOR ITS RELEASE TO THE AMERICAN PUBLIC

PART ONE

HAVE SENIOR OFFICIALS IN THE DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE AND FBI CONSPIRED TO OVERTHROW PRESIDENT TRUMP? IS THE MUELLER INVESTIGATION PART AND PARCEL OF THIS COUP ATTEMPT?

For those of you who tuned into Hannity’s Fox News program Thursday evening, January 18, and Friday evening, January 19, 2018, you learned that our Government is in the throes of a silent but deadly coup. U.S. House Representatives Jim Jordan (R-OH) and Matt Gaetz (R-FL), appearing on Hannity, Thursday, stated they had reviewed a classified House Intelligence Committee Memorandum that, as they strongly intimate, provide conclusive proof of a deliberate, calculated, categorical, treacherous attempt by senior FBI and Justice Department Officials to topple the Trump Presidency. They describe the Memo as “shocking.” Jordan and Gaetz want this Memo to be released to the public. They are insistent. They say the public has a right to know the contents of the Memo. And, we do.If half of what these House Republican Intelligence Committee members suggest is true—and, keep in mind that House and Senate Intelligence Committee members rarely, if ever, call for release of classified material to the American public—the public not only does have a right to know the contents of this Memorandum; they must know. But, House Democratic Party Intelligence Committee members according to Representatives Jordan and Gaetz, have demurred, claiming national security concerns, even, as they show, incongruously, lack of interest in the material. Very few House Democrats have reviewed the Memorandum and have, curiously, expressed no wish to do so.Government Officials and Legislators routinely cite national security concerns when they do not wish to release the contents of classified material; and, when they do, the contents are generally heavily redacted, and, so, essentially indecipherable. But national security is not at stake when Governmental documents contain content merely content that may be deemed merely embarrassing or humiliating. Worst of all, when Government documents contain evidence of ethical or criminal wrongdoing, transparency, not secrecy, is mandated. Evidence of criminal or ethical misconduct cries out for disclosure. The federal Government is, after all, our Government. It doesn’t belong to Congress and it doesn’t belong to bureaucrats. They are supposed to serve our interests, not their own. In refusing release of this House Intelligence Committee Memorandum to the American citizenry, House Democrats demonstrate complicity in the coup attempt and cover-up.Representatives Jordan and Gaetz, true patriots, having come forward with knowledge of this deeply disturbing Intelligence Committee Memo, have made abundantly clear that, once the American citizenry has access to the contents of it, heads will roll.The American public should not be surprised if, once the Memo is released, hopefully uncensored, some of the names that appear in the Memo happen to include:Rod Rosenstein, Deputy Attorney General of the DOJ; Andrew McCabe, acting Attorney General after the U.S. President Donald Trump fired James Comey; Andrew Weissman, Chief of the Criminal Fraud Section of the DOJ, and senior managing official on Robert Mueller’s Special Counsel team; Peter Strzok, senior counterintelligence official in the FBI, who served on Mueller’s team until Mueller was compelled to oust him for conspiratorial comments coming to light in his “insurance policy” email to Lisa Page, FBI lawyer; Lisa Page, FBI lawyer who failed to notify her superiors of Strzok’s conspiratorial intentions as she was probably complicit in the conspiracy; Sally Yates, Deputy Attorney General to then-President Barack Obama, and acting Attorney General after the departure of Loretta Lynch—the latter of whom served as Attorney General in President Barack Obama’s Administration immediately after the inauguration of Donald Trump to the Office of U.S. President Trump—whom President Trump rightfully fired for insubordination after Yates defiantly refused to defend the U.S. President’s order to close the Nation’s borders against terrorist threats from the Middle East; Bruce Ohr, Associate Deputy Attorney General, demoted, for concealing his secret meetings with Officials of Fusion GPS; James Comey, fired Director of the FBI, who leaked classified documents to The New York Times, through a friend, Daniel Richman, Professor at Columbia Law School. Comey’s documents served as a basis, along with the Fusion GPS Dossier, as the pretext for Rod Rosenstein’s appointment of Robert Mueller as Special Counsel, whose tacit directive is to take down the U.S. President. And, we surmise that Robert Mueller’s name, too, may be one of the names that appears on the memo that Representatives Jordan and Gaetz refers to.Robert Mueller served as FBI Director from 2001 to 2013. As FBI Director, he must have had knowledge of and may have been complicit in approving illegal sale of uranium to the Russians. If true, it would be singularly odd for the DOJ's Robert Rosenstein to appoint Robert Mueller to head a team to investigate, inter alia--as reported in the letter (Order No. 2915-2017) from Rosenstein to Mueller--“any links and/or coordination between the Russian Government and individuals associated with the campaign of President Donald Trump.” We may surmise that Hillary Clinton’s name appears in this classified House Intelligence Committee Memo, too, along with the name of Loretta Lynch, who served as President Barack Obama’s Attorney General, from April 27, 2015 – January 20, 2017. And, is it possible that the name of Barack Obama, too, appears in this Memo? If, Clinton’s name and Obama’s name appears in this House Intelligence Committee Memo, we can well imagine why House Democrats adamantly refuse to release the Memo to the public. For, the entirety of the Democratic Party will be held up to shame. The shameful and likely criminal acts of these individuals are too numerous to mention here, but we have touched on several—especially those that point to serious criminal acts on the part of Hillary Clinton. Imagine a person such as Hillary Clinton in the White House.Senior Federal Government Officials, having failed to achieve their goal of depositing Hillary Clinton into the Oval Office—having hatched and orchestrated a plan, through then-FBI Director James Comey and others, to absolve Democratic Party U.S. Presidential Hillary Clinton of criminal wrongdoing on multiple counts of multiple felonies so that she could continue to run as the Democratic Party choice for U.S. President, hatched their secondary plan. They presented, as is abundantly clear, false and fabricated information, namely the notorious Fusion GPS Dossier—paid for by Hillary Clinton and the Democratic National Committee (DNC)—to the FISA Court. These high-level Officials in the FBI and DOJ, in a plot to topple the U.S. President, Donald Trump, attempted to obtain a warrant that would give these disreputable, and arguably, despicable, Officials legal cover by allowing the FBI to secretly, and ostensibly lawfully, to investigate senior Trump campaign officials on false allegations of having had nefarious dealings with the Russians. If true, this would serve, conceivably, as the principal feasible basis to impeach Trump and, if successful, would lead to his removal from Office.Comey’s own memoranda to The New York Times was instrumental in the appointment of  a Special Counsel in the first instance. The Fusion GPS Dossier, a compilation of damnable lies and uncorroborated, baseless rumor, innuendo, and hearsay, is a manuscript of deception put together by an ex-British spy, Christopher Steele. Steele is an expert on deception and intrigues, who worked for British intelligence, MI-6. The Dossier became the vehicle through which the FISA Court issued a warrant, allowing/authorizing the Special Counsel, Robert Mueller, to investigate presumptive collusion between the Trump Campaign and the Russian Government. This Dossier, this lie, this work of fiction, serves as the predicate basis for the Mueller investigation. Therefore, the Mueller investigation is itself grounded on a lie, made worse through misuse of exorbitant taxpayer monies and wasteful Governmental resources. Further, presenting false information to a FISA Court, swearing that it is true to obtain a warrant from the Court that the Court otherwise would not have issued--subornation of perjury--constitutes a fraud on the Court—compounding other serious wrongdoing by senior Officials of Government who have been working secretly and inexorably to bring down Trump and his Administration. These senior FBI and DOJ Officials, who may include senior and mid-level Officials in both the State Department and in the Intelligence Agencies as well—hold-overs from the Obama Administration, have betrayed, through color of law and their Office, their sacred oath to this Nation, to this Nation's Constitution and to this Nation's citizenry. Their weak defense, for their heinous betrayal, which will not operate as a tenable defense at all in a Court of competent jurisdiction, is that it is their belief that Donald Trump will lead this Nation on a path that is at loggerheads with foreign and domestic policies of previous Administrations which they had wish to see continued. This is the height of arrogance, and contrary to the will of the American people who elected Donald Trump to the Office of President of the United States. What these senior and mid-level Officials of the Deep State want, or, what they unwittingly would be working toward if they would only stop to think about the matter, is subordination of our Nation, its Constitution, its Bill of Rights, its system of laws, its jurisprudence, its core values, its system of ethics and morality, to that of a new trans-nationalist, internationalist, globalist world order, as  exemplified in the present undermining of the political, social, and financial fabric, and independence, and sovereignty of the Nations that comprise the EU.Is the Mueller probe, then, nothing more than a monstrous step in a planned, coordinated, coup d’état of the Executive Branch of Government? Does the House Intelligence Committee Memo that Representatives Jordan and Gaetz refer to evidence of that? We think so, as this is the only intelligible inference that can be drawn on the facts so far illuminated. Further facts would, we believe, serve only to  buttress this sound conclusion.In Part two of this multi-series, we look to the mainstream news media organizations. Why does the American citizenry hear so little about this? We will post Part two of this series, on the Arbalest Quarrel website, tomorrow. In Part three, immediately following the posting of Part two of this series, we will look at a few of the specific crimes that senior DOJ and FBI Officials likely committed--serious crimes that these Officials can feasibly be charged with through the contemptible, dishonorable, thoroughly reprehensible hoax they perpetrated on both the FISA Court and the American people, a hoax that is, as of the date of posting of this article, still being played out!_________________________________________________ Copyright © 2017 Roger J Katz (Towne Criour), Stephen L. D’Andrilli (Publius) All Rights Reserved.

CONSTITUTIONAL CRISIS? YES! BUT, DOES THAT CRISIS REST WITH TRUMP OR IN THE ACTIONS OF THOSE WHO WISH TO DESTROY TRUMP?

HOW TO DESTROY A UNITED STATES PRESIDENT

PART ONE

Several Congressional Democrats, along with their fellow travelers in the mainstream media, have claimed, in recent days, that our Nation faces a “Constitutional crisis.” That is the phrase they use: serious to contemplate, surely, and dangerous in its implications. They are correct, but not in the way they think and, so, not in the way they present their claim to the American people. The claim they present to the American public is based on the notion that our President has no legitimate claim to the U.S. Presidency and that, as long as he retains the Presidency, our Nation suffers Constitutional crisis. The notion is absurd, of course.Our President, Donald Trump, has campaigned vigorously and fairly in a difficult election and the American people have elected Trump in strict accordance with our system of laws. Yet these Democrats, along with journalists of the liberal mainstream media, assert, nonetheless, that Trump is not the legitimate U.S. President, and, therefore, must go.You would think that politicians who have the audacity to make the assertion would explain what they mean by it. But they prefer to presume Americans will accept their claim on faith as self-evident, when of course it is not. Some Americans, surprisingly, do accept the claim on faith. Most, though, do not. Those who do not accept the claim on faith insist on an explanation for it. They will never receive one. If pressed, politicians will grow irritated. They become upset because no discernible, concrete facts support the claim they have made. They are dumbfounded that a person would dare question them. They are flummoxed if one persists; if one insists on an answer.With casual, familiar bluster, ignoring remonstrations from Americans who do not accept the pompous empty claim made—that Donald Trump and his Administration are illegitimate pretenders—these politicians simply reiterate their empty, hollow, baseless claim, and the mainstream media callously echoes the sentiment.If one looks for independent confirmation of the empty claim, they will find none. For, no discernible, concrete facts support the claim asserted. It is pointedly ludicrous. But, it makes for good theater, as the bald claim shocks both the consciousness and the conscience of Americans, as it was meant to do.Congressional investigations are called to support the claim of the illegitimacy of the Trump Presidency. The conclusion is predicated on an assumption: that Trump’s "legitimate" victory is impossible. So, then, how did it happen? There must be an answer. Politicians chase, hither and yon, after ghosts—Russians, WikiLeaks, Comey, Flynn; this one and that one; assorted denizens of fevered imaginations: unicorns and centaurs; fairies and elves; Martians and Venusians. Take your pick! But all this comes at public expense—costing the taxpayers millions of dollars—looking for a reason, a rationale, a scapegoat, however dubious, however implausible, however unlikely or however nonsensical—something, anything, to support, to give credence to, to account for a Trump inauguration, rather than a Clinton coronation. Meanwhile Congress does not do the business of Government, as the real business of Congress, serving the American people, languishes as Congress traipses, aimlessly, looking for bugaboos in the bushes.Unfortunately, this “theatrical display” of hypocritical righteousness and sanctimonious indignation comes with tangible and substantial cost, wholly apart from the monetary outlay; for, a real threat to the preservation of our Nation as a free Republic and to our Constitution, as the foundation of that Free Republic, does exist and has existed for some time. We have seen this threat played out in the actions of the previous U.S. President, Barack Obama, as he slowly dismantled our Bill of Rights through Executive fiat, predicating his actions, defiantly, presumptuously, on a private notion of morality that he thinks more fitting than the profound wisdom of the founders of our Nation; the framers of our Constitution. But, the Press raised nary an eyebrow.Make no mistake: the threat to the preservation of our Nation as a free Republic and the threat to the underpinnings of our Constitution would have continued with a Clinton Presidency. To begin, Hillary Rodham Clinton is a criminal. Of that, there is no doubt. Her crimes are both serious and legion. The idea that she, rather than Trump, would better serve the American people is laughable to consider; yet, the reality would be no laughing matter. It would be horrific.A Clinton Presidency would be an affront to the dignity of the Office of the Chief Executive of our Nation; a sacrilege to the rule of law that our public servants claim, mendaciously, to adhere to; an assault against our Constitution and against our sacred Bill of Rights; and a jagged knife thrust into the chest of common decency and moral propriety.Yet, politicians of all stripes, Democrats, of course, but some Republicans, too, and bureaucrats hiding within the Deep State, along with the ubiquitous mainstream media, and Hollywood moguls and performers; and members of the Bilderberg Group and of similar secretive groups conclaves, were “all in” for Clinton. Yet, she lost the election as the American public wasn’t buying any of the nonsense that spouted from her mouth and from that of her surrogates.It was Clinton, the false voices of Democracy wanted, and it was Clinton they would have had, but for the fact that millions of American voters thought otherwise—that and the mechanism the framers perceptively and propitiously cemented in our Constitution—the Electoral College—protected the rights of smaller States to have a voice in our Presidential elections and helped protect the Country from seating a tyrant in the White House.In the 2016 U.S. Presidential election, the Electoral College did operate as a fortunate “fail-safe” device to what otherwise would have resulted in a Clinton Presidency—and the seating of an actual tyrant in the White House. But, there are those in Congress who would much prefer having the tyrant, Hillary Clinton, as U.S. President. And, if they cannot, they intend to destroy a man who seeks to set things right with this Nation—who seeks no less than to place this Nation back on a sound footing, making certain that this Nation's needs and concerns take precedence over those of all other Nations or groups of Nations, and that the laws governing our Nation remain supreme, not subject to subordination to those of any other Nation or international tribunal.This is as the founders of our Nation had intended. This is as they established. This, however, is in contradistinction to what Hillary Clinton had planned for this Nation had she succeeded Obama, as she would have continued his policies: undermining the Constitution; erasing our rights and liberties; and subordinating our Nation's needs, concerns, and laws to those of internationalists, pan-nationalists, and to those espousing multiculturalism, globalization, multilateral trade agreements, historical revisionism, and the removal of all immigration barriers--the vehicles for and harbingers of the eventual dismantling of our Sovereign Nation State and the disassembling of, the disintegration of the very idea of what it means to be an American qua citizen who is not, at once, merely a "citizen of the world," not aligned with or to any particular Country: but a serf of the New World Order. So, then, a true threat to our Nation, in the form of a Constitutional crisis, does exist, but that threat does not lie with Trump or with his Administration. No such threat to our Nation ever existed that can be pinned on our President or laid at his feet. A threat does exist but it has nothing to do with a Trump Presidency. The threat to our Nation lurks in the shadows. It rests in devious, insidious and utterly false challenges to the legitimacy of the Trump Presidency—challenges that arose in the planning stages immediately after the 2016 U.S Presidential election went decidedly and decisively to Trump—and challenges that had commenced immediately after Trump took the oath of Office. Yet these challenges have no tenable legal basis. Why, then, do we see these challenges to the Presidency of Donald Trump?There are forces at work both in this Country, and outside it—forces operating to undermine the Trump Presidency. These forces are extraordinarily wealthy, immensely powerful, extremely adept, inordinately secretive, ruthless in the extreme, assiduous and resolute in their efforts to bring down Donald Trump and his Presidency. These forces are livid over Donald Trump’s electoral success in the 2016 U.S. Presidential election. For, here is a man who has made clear his intent to raise the United States to preeminent status among Nations, a goal manifest in his campaign slogan, “America First.”Donald Trump means to take head-on the destroyers of our Nation State—those forces that seek to undercut our Nation as an independent, sovereign Nation; those forces that seek to rewrite our Constitution; those forces that seek to erase our Bill of Rights; those forces that seek—in the unabashed words of one of their principal spokesmen and pseudo defender of our Republic, U.S. Senator John McCain—to undercut our Democratic Republic through the creation of “a new world order.” John McCain did not elaborate on his use of the phrase when he repeated it over and over one Sunday afternoon on Meet the Press.Yet, Chuck Todd, host of the Sunday news program, did not ask McCain what McCain meant by use of the phrase—even as McCain repeated it, emphatically, several times.The expression alludes clearly and unmistakably to the destruction of our Country as an independent, sovereign Nation; the dismantling of our Constitution, its system of laws, and its jurisprudence; and the obliteration, the eradication of the very idea that the American people have natural rights and liberties that cannot be lawfully taken away by Governmental edict or by force of arms.Those forces that desire to crush our Nation and its People into submission have mechanisms at their disposal. There is impeachment, of course—a political process. In that, we see Centrist Republicans playing into the hands of the Democrats—setting up Committees, engaging in a fishing expedition, in a naked, illicit attempt to bring down a U.S. President simply because the forces that would crush this Nation will not abide a U.S. President who is not their puppet.Donald Trump is not “their boy.” Donald Trump had not been bought and cannot be bought. Hillary Rodham Clinton, on the other hand, has been bought; and,  for her blind obedience to these puppet masters, Clinton and her husband were paid handsomely; and they were paid in full. The forces that crush feel cheated. They require their quid pro quo for their investment. No less than destruction of the Trump Presidency and reassembling of Order, their notion of Order,  will do to set things right—to set matters back on track.But an effete and effeminate Congress, alone, cannot, defeat Trump. Independent Counsel, operating secretly, with full prosecutorial powers can. Appointment of private counsel, with full powers of the Department of Justice, presents a tangible threat to the Trump Presidency. We explain why that is and how that is in the next article.________________________________Copyright © 2017 Roger J Katz (Towne Criour), Stephen L. D’Andrilli (Publius) All Rights Reserved.

MAINSTREAM MEDIA’S “FAKE NEWS” DECEPTION

BAKERY FAKERY IN HALF-BAKED “FAKE NEWS”

PART ONE

"When any government, or any church for that matter, undertakes to say to its subjects, 'This you may not read, this you must not see, this you are forbidden to know,' the end result is tyranny and oppression, no matter how holy the motives. Mighty little force is needed to control a man whose mind has been hoodwinked; contrariwise, no amount of force can control a free man, a man whose mind is free. No, not the rack, not fission bombs, not anything—you can't conquer a free man; the most you can do is kill him." ~Robert A. Heinlein, If This Goes On, 1940

WHY THE SUDDEN APPEARANCE OF THE WORDS, ‘FAKE NEWS,’ AS BROADCAST BY MAINSTREAM MEDIA? WHAT BROUGHT THIS ON AND WHY IS ‘FAKE NEWS’ SUCH A HOT TOPIC TODAY?

In recent weeks, following the welcomed demise of Hillary Rodham’s Clinton’s bid for the White House, the American public encountered an expression that has become widespread in the mainstream media: ‘fake news.’The expression’s sudden appearance in the mainstream media and the public’s constant exposure to it is unsurprising. One might have expected this. Why? The owners of mass media pushed for Hillary Clinton for President. They were blindsided by alternative media sources that supported Donald Trump. The Arbalest Quarrel weblog was an early and fervent supporter of Donald Trump and an open skeptic of Hillary Clinton. Weblogs like the Arbalest Quarrel openly challenged the rationale and logic behind mainstream media’s news accounts, commentary and analysis of the campaigns and of the candidates.Mainstream media no longer has a monopoly on news coverage, news analysis, and commentary. The owners of mainstream media and the editors, writers, and pundits who work for them, don’t like this. They coined the phrase, ‘fake news.’ They did this to disparage anyone who offered a meaningful alternative to the contrived and scripted news, commentary, and analysis its organizations fed and continue to the public.The expression, ‘fake news,’ has become essentially synonymous with the phrase, ‘conspiracy theory,’ an earlier phrase mainstream media coined to discredit and disparage news coverage, commentary, and analysis provided by alternative news sources. Mainstream media uses both phrases to dismiss outright the notion that news coverage, commentary on the news, or news analysis presented by alternative media is worthy of public consumption.By dismissing, discrediting and discounting the legitimacy of alternative media outright, the owners of mainstream media hoped—indeed expected—the American public would, during this recent U.S. Presidential election cycle, look only to mainstream media for its news, for news commentary, and for news analysis as the public had done so in past election cycles. Mainstream media would remain preeminent. It would continue to dominate the central themes presented to the public and would continue to dominate the way those themes are presented to the public. Thus, mainstream media would continue to control and manipulate public opinion.The owners of mainstream media surmised, once again wrongly, that most Americans derive their news, today, primarily through major networks like MSNBC, CNBC, CBS, ABC, CNN, and FOX, and through major newspapers like the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times,  Financial Times, the Wall Street Journal and the Chicago Tribune. The owners of these and other major news vehicles, organizations, and outlets figured they had a lock on information about the world and the Nation—a lock on the news meted out to the public. That may once have been the case, but is so no longer. The election results proved them wrong.The owners of mainstream media did not figure on the power of alternative news media—independent weblogs and podcasts that obtained more traffic through the years, siphoning off audience that had relied heavily on the major television networks and the major newspapers for information—the core of the mainstream media.When Hillary Clinton lost the U.S. Presidential election, the owners of the major news networks and newspapers looked for a scapegoat. They did not blame themselves. But, they needed an explanation for the failure of mainstream media to woo the populace to accept Hillary Clinton as the preferred candidate for U.S. President. They contrived a scapegoat. They found it in two sources: alternative media, and in construction of a bogeyman: the Russians.

THE MAINSTREAM MEDIA CONCOCTS A FANTASY

In their broadcasts and in their newspapers, the owners of major news organizations express their anger and scorn for alternative media. They lament how the weblogs had duped the public by giving the public analyses of candidates and of campaign events that amount to “fake news.” Mainstream media’s use of the phrase, ‘fake news,’ extends beyond the mere casting about for an errant news story appearing in one or the other alternative media source. It goes to the central theme of news reporting and news analysis and news commentary.But did alternative media dupe the public, really? Was not the public simply waking up to the reality behind the orchestrated campaign of misdirection projected on it through the mainstream media? Didn’t mainstream media seek to maintain the deception it had perennially achieved through its monopoly of news coverage, commentary, and analysis? And, isn’t this meticulous and insidious campaign of deception by the mainstream media—having failed to produce an electoral win for either one of the favored packaged candidates, Hillary Clinton for the Democrats or Jeb Bush for Republicans—ongoing? Isn’t the mainstream media attempting even now—well past the Eleventh Hour as Trump very soon takes the oath of Office—to discredit, and delegitimize him by casting blame for the election’s outcome on a couple of bogeymen: Vladimir Putin of Russia and, to a lesser extent, although quietly, curiously enough, no longer--James Comey, Director of the F.B.I.? Is not the mainstream media guilty of thrusting ‘fake news’ upon the public—the same thing it accuses alternative media of doing and, now, Russia.Let’s assume for purpose of argument that Russia did have a hand in giving a boost to Trump, as the CIA claims. For all the hoopla and clamoring of the mainstream media in its pious denunciation of Russia for having, as is claimed by the CIA, in a substantially redacted report, the audacity of attacking our democratic process, one should note that none of Trump’s detractors has claimed or so much as hinted that all or any part of the information the public obtained through the apparent hacking of DNC computers and through the hacking of the computers of John Podesta and Hillary Clinton, was false. None of it was.If, then, the information presented through the hacking of computers were true, why then should not the public be privy to that truth? Why didn’t the mainstream media provide the American public with the very information it claimed Russia handed to the public? Should not the public take umbrage with and express its moral outrage not at the Russians, nor with the Russian President, Vladimir Putin, but at the DNC, and at Hillary Clinton, and at the Democratic Party, and at the mainstream media that, together, have made a mockery of our own Democratic processes? Who, truly, is the greater threat to our Nation, to Americans' sacred rights and liberties, to our Nation's institutions, to our Democratic processes? Is it Putin and the Russians, really, and others from outside our Nation, or  is it those terrible individuals within our Nation that trounce on the very ideals of our Republic they sanctimoniously claim to adore and uphold?Consider, too, is our Nation so weak as to be unable to withstand the release of information Americans should have received anyway, through the mainstream media, had the mainstream media done its job to inform the public? Would the American public not then be able to make an informed choice as to whom it truly sought to be the next President of the United States? But, does the mainstream media ever truly seek to inform the public with the news, neutrally presented—all the news that's fit to print that the NY Times sanctifies as its motto and then patently ignores—so that the public can critically appraise the events of the day and the operations of our Government in dealing with serious dangers to our Nation? Wasn’t the information obtained through the hacking of DNC computers and through the hacking of computers of Democratic Party officials merely a comprehensive reflection of the depths of corruption existent in the DNC and in the Party and in its candidate of choice, Hillary Rodham Clinton? If the Russians, upon orders of Putin, did hack unceremoniously—and apparently effortlessly into the computers of the DNC, and into those of officials and functionaries or the Party, as those computers were never properly secured anyway and therefore invited hacking--did the information obtained for public consumption act no more nor less than a mirror held up to the face of the American public? Did not that mirror say to Americans: “take a good look at the DNC and at the Democratic Party and, especially, at this person, Hillary Rodham Clinton, a criminal, who seeks the Office of President of the United States--take a good look at the extent of corruption in the DNC, in the Democratic Party, and in that Party's leaders?”But, the puppet masters that control the mainstream media didn’t wish to project the truth. The puppet masters did not wish the public to perceive the actual duplicity present in this Country. They did not wish to do so, for, after all, aren’t they the cause of that duplicity? They didn’t wish for the American public to know the truth about Hillary Clinton, to know the truth about the DNC, to know the truth about the Democratic Party apparatus. They still don’t. So, leaving nothing to conjecture, they proclaim Donald Trump, to be an illegitimate, usurper of the Office of U.S. President. The alternative? They would rather sit a criminal, Hillary Clinton, in the seat of highest power.The mainstream media works in lockstep with the DNC and the Democratic Party to deceive the public. They are all very good at this; and they are relentless. Still, they failed to convince the public to accept their candidate of choice. They are puzzled and distraught and enraged that the public refused to be duped this election cycle. They haven’t given up, though.The Democratic Party and much of the present machinery of Government, infected with the disease of statism, will likely attack Donald Trump throughout his Presidency. The corrupting influences and forces at work for decades that seek continued concentration of power in Government at the expense of the rights and liberties of the American People, as the founders of our Republic understood those natural rights and liberties, do not wish for Trump’s success. The mainstream media is the vehicle through which the forces that had fought Trump throughout the election cycle will continue to attack him, will continue to frustrate his attempts to strengthen the Nation’s independence and sovereignty. These insidious, secretive, powerful forces will frustrate his attempts to serve the American people. These dark forces will frustrate his attempts to extricate this Nation and its people from foreign entanglements. These corrupting forces will attempt, worst of all, to alienate and isolate Trump, to fracture the public's trust in Trump, and to harm the public's relationship with Trump and with the Trump Administration--to make it difficult for Trump to do his work as U.S. President on behalf of this Nation, and on behalf of the Nation's people, and on behalf of the Nation's Constitution.These evil forces will attempt to place the Trump Administration in a container, a deep freeze, cut-off from the public. These evil, corrupting forces will do this to prevent Trump from creating and implementing policy designed to set this Nation on the right path—a path consistent with the intentions of the founders of our Republic, a path that invokes what the Nation meant to the founders of it.The public must remain vigilant—hyper vigilant—to the mainstream media’s onslaught on President-elect, Donald Trump. The public is getting a taste of the new avenue of attack—an attack on the very legitimacy of Trump’s Presidency.

WHAT IS ‘FAKE NEWS,’ REALLY, AND WHY DO WE SEE THIS MEME—THIS MENTAL VIRUS—IMPRINTED IN THE PSYCHE OF AMERICANS BY THE MAINSTREAM MEDIA?

Let’s parse the phrase, ‘fake news.’ Look up the word, ‘fake,’ in a dictionary. The word, ‘fake,’ means ‘not genuine,’ ‘not authentic,’ ‘sham,’ or ‘false.’ Although not explicit, the word is a pejorative. It connotes, fabrication, fraud, pretense, artifice. The word suggests, then, something more, much more, than the innocent presentation of falsehood in reporting. It suggests deliberate intention or desire to deceive the target audience.Now check out the word, ‘news.’ The word, ‘news,’ means, ‘information about recent or current events.’ This word, too, has a subjective meaning. The word, ‘news,’ connotes the media tools through which news events are conveyed to the public. How is news conveyed? News is conveyed to the public through many vehicles. It is conveyed through newspapers, magazines, fliers, journals, trade publications, radio, television, and, commonly today, through weblogs and websites—those of major television, radio, and newspapers and through the independents—for profit and non-profit organizations, not affiliated with the major newspapers, television and radio networks, that provide an alternative news, news analysis, and news commentary source for the public.Today, the public has a plethora of tools from which to gather news. The owners of the mainstream media don’t like this because of what this means to them. It means the public doesn’t rely on or need to rely on the mainstream media alone for its news and for its news analysis and for its news commentary. The mainstream media doesn’t like this because it seeks to control the news the public receives. That means control over dissemination of and analysis of news. That means, too, control over the stories that are told and the manner of the telling. That means controlling the thought processes of the public. That means insidiously projecting onto the public consciousness and conscience, and into the public’s thought processes those ideas the mainstream media seeks the public to accept, in line with prevailing Governmental objectives.The mainstream media once did this easily, for the mainstream media once maintained exclusive control over the delivery vehicles for the news. That was once the case, but no longer.Realizing it had lost exclusive control over news coverage, and news analysis and news commentary, the owners of mainstream media established their own websites and weblogs. But, would the public be drawn to the mainstream media’s weblogs and websites? Some members of the public would do so, yes, but not all, perhaps not even most. And, those that do could still contrast the news received through the mainstream media with the news delivered through the owners of independent websites, weblogs, and podcasts. Mainstream media has lost ground, but more, it has lost face as the public becomes aware of the deception—a monstrous deception played upon it. For mainstream media seeks less to inform the public and more to control it, to sway public opinion in one direction, to create an image of the world and of the Nation the owners of mainstream media wish for the public to see—a false image, to be sure, and one that promotes goals and policy objectives antithetical to the interests of the Nation, and of the Constitution, and of the Nation’s citizenry.Clearly, there’s more to fakery in the news, then, than meets the eye. It is fakery that goes beyond any snippet of news. It goes to a massive, orchestrated scheme of deception of which mainstream media plays a critical part. If there exists “fake news,” then it is fake news on an immense scale—the false projection of a world view that does not benefit this Nation, this Nation’s Constitution or this Nation’s citizenry.More about the expression, ‘fake news,’ in upcoming articles.Copyright © 2017 Roger J Katz (Towne Criour), Stephen L. D’Andrilli (Publius) All Rights Reserved.

COMEY BUCKLES UNDER—A SECOND TIME!

THE DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE AND CONGRESS HAVE BOTH FAILED THE NATION. IT’S UP TO THE AMERICAN PEOPLE NOW TO RIGHT THE WRONG.

PART ONE OF TWO PARTS

“Then out spake brave Horatius, The Captain of the Gate: ‘To every man upon this earth Death cometh soon or late. And how can man die better Than facing fearful odds, For the ashes of his fathers, And the temples of his Gods.’”~“Horatius at the Bridge,” from “The Lays of Ancient Rome,” by Thomas Babington, Lord Macaulay (1800—1859)Note to readers: You may read the entirety of this Poem at Bartleby.com. The Shadow Government comes out of the “shadows.” The Democratic Process is an illusion. It’s a sham. The media, controlled by the Shadow Government, continues to smear Donald Trump. It does so on behalf of its owners. The mainstream media’s owners cannot “buy” Trump. He won’t take their money. He won’t do their bidding. Trump represents America, not the internationalist financiers who seek to buy up Nation States, creating, as they hope, a single, unified corporate empire—their New World Order. So, not surprisingly, ‘nationalism,’ is, today, an obscenity.The mainstream media castigates Trump. It does so incessantly. It does so emphatically and relentlessly. But Trump has committed no crime. For all the nonsense spouted against Trump, the mainstream media has not said Trump is a criminal. Why not? The answer is simple. It has not said this because it cannot. Trump isn’t a criminal.That same mainstream media trumpets Hillary Clinton. This creature, though, is a criminal. She is an uncommon criminal because no one has committed more crimes, more often, and with more relish and audacity than Hillary Clinton. Hillary Clinton’s crimes against this Country and against its citizenry are serious. Her crimes are legion. They will continue should she become U.S. President. She would not, then, suffer punishment. Rather, she would be rewarded for her crimes. She is a very successful criminal.The crimes of Clinton’s confidantes, hangers on, and toadies—such as John Podesta and Huma Abedin—are also serious and many in number. These are Clinton’s Captains in crime. Rest assured, they will serve their master, the Queen of Crime, well, if their master secures the Presidential suite.F.B.I. Director James Comey understands the horror this Country faces if a sociopathic criminal and her battalion of flunkies take control of the machinery of Government. Comey is the one man who could have prevented Clinton from running for President. If Clinton ascends to the throne, she can yet fall, unceremoniously, if honest, forthright, and courageous individuals in the FBI, in the Justice Department, and in Congress see to it that Clinton’s days in the Highest Office in the Land, are few—very few—in number. Likely though—and sad to say—there are few in Government who will stand up against this criminal should she gain the White House. Best, then, to see that she does not.The international financial banking cartel knows this. These Captains of Finance run the Shadow Government. Had Comey recommended indictment of Hillary Clinton, that singular act would have thrown a wrench in their plans to destroy America.One person, in a Nation of over 324 million, could have prevented Hillary Clinton from continuing her march to the U.S. Presidency. That person was James Comey, Director of the FBI. The international financial banking cartel realized that something had to be done to stop Comey. Something was done. Someone got to Comey. Clearly, someone threatened Comey.No matter. Comey did what he could in light of the threats. He warned the American people of the coming disaster of a Clinton Presidency. He did so in his statement, of July 5, 2016, to the American people. He delivered his statement one day after Independence Day. Consider the import of his statement to the American people. Consider its timing—one day after our National Holiday, proclaiming our independence from tyranny.Consider the thought that went into Comey’s statement to the American People.Consider the irrefutable proof pointing to Clinton’s felonies. But Comey did not recommend indictment. Yet, his arguments for not recommending indictment were lame. Comey obviously intended for them to be lame, ridiculous even, a stark counterpoint to his message of Clinton’s clear guilt.Comey told the American people in the clearest language he could muster, apparently fearing the suffering of retribution had he spoken more plainly, that Clinton has committed serious crimes against this Country; that she had committed them many times over; and that she had committed them over an extended period of time.We must assume that powerful, evil forces compelled Comey to forbear recommending indictment of Hillary Rodham Clinton. For, had Comey recommended indictment of Clinton, she could not rationally continue her bid for the U.S. Presidency. She would like to, of course. She would do so, indictment or not if she could. Hillary Clinton has no shame. But it would be unseemly. She would have to step down. The Democratic Party would be compelled to demand she step down.Still, more damning information about Clinton’s crimes came out in recent days. Copies of emails Clinton had destroyed, and thousands more, wound up on Anthony Weiner’s computer.Weiner is a disgraced U.S. Congressman. He was a close friend of Hillary Clinton. He remains, at the moment, Huma Abedin’s wayward husband. Abedin and Weiner have been separated since August 2016.FBI officials, in their probe, investigating Weiner for sex crimes, found 650,000 emails, implicating Huma Abedin, Clinton’s confidante and associate in the mishandling of classified information. They turned those emails over to Comey. Comey informed Congress.Powerful, corrupt, evil international financiers—the puppet masters who control the Clintons and who control our present President, Barack Obama—must have fretted over this. They realized they must do something. Comey had thrown another wrench into their plans for dismantling America. Would he now recommend indictment?Clearly, indictment or no, so long as the investigation into Hillary Clinton’s sordid conduct and dealings continued, she would live and operate under a cloud of suspicion. That was not something she would or could abide. That wasn’t something her benefactors could or would abide. What crimes have they committed—these sinister individuals in the shadows—that we can only obtain a glimmer of through the FBI’s investigation of Hillary Clinton?These corrupt, evil, extraordinarily wealthy and powerful international financiers and power brokers intend to crush this Country. They intend to crush the Nation’s Constitution; to crush this Nation’s heritage; to crush this Nation’s culture; and to crush this Nation’s spirit. Their goal for a one world government would go off schedule, would go off kilter, if their puppet, Hillary Clinton, failed her bid for the U.S. Presidency.They had to do something. Something they did. They attacked the F.B.I. Director. They attacked the Nation’s Messenger.They attempted to smear Comey’s reputation. We speculate they found a willing accomplice. But that accomplice wasn’t a Democrat. Their accomplice, curiously, wasn’t a Democrat. He’s a Republican. Fancy that. The Republican’s name is Richard Painter. Painter filed an ethics complaint against Comey.Painter “served as the chief White House ethics attorney under President George W. Bush, and he’s now professor at the University of Minnesota Law School.”We know the Bush family detests Donald Trump. That’s no secret. The Bush family believes Trump stole the Republican Party nomination from Jeb. Donald Trump was supposed to be Jeb’s foil, not the other way around. The Bush family obviously supports Hillary Clinton. The Bush family says: “GOP be damned!”If we are to believe Painter, he is saying his motivation for filing a complaint against Comey is to ensure ethics in Government. We are to believe that no one suggested or urged Painter to file a complaint against Comey. The American people are to believe he did this on his own. Sure!Richard Painter filed his Complaint, on October 29, 2016. He filed it with the Office of Special Counsel and with the Office of Government Ethics. Painter says he filed a formal Complaint, claiming Comey violated the “Hatch Act.” Painter says, in his Complaint, that Comey “was going beyond what he needed to do. And so one could argue that Director Comey had animosity against Clinton, wanted her to lose. But that’s only one way to violate the Hatch Act.” Painter, continues, “The other is where you have a government official who - they are pressured by somebody else who wants to influence the election to perform an official act in their capacity as a government employee that will have a likely effect on the election, and there is no other good reason for that official action.” It is odd that neither NPR nor the New York Times--the mainstream news organization that published Painter's self-serving article, explaining his rationale for filing his Complaint--asked Richard Painter whether the Bush family or anyone else suggested he file a complaint against Comey. Apparently, no reporter posed this question to Painter. If, though, a reporter for NPR or with the New York Times did ask Painter whether anyone urged Painter to file a complaint, neither reporter bothered to mention that fact in his written piece on Painter.Yet in Painter's article, published in the Times article, we do have this: “For the sake of full disclosure, in this election I [Richard Painter] have supported Jeb Bush, Marco Rubio, John Kasich and Hillary Clinton for president, in that order.”  Clearly, Painter would not take much persuading.Painter is also an obsequious apologist for Hillary Clinton. He is quick to condemn Comey. But he says Clinton has committed no crime. Really?We can surmise that Painter’s motivation for filing a complaint against Comey extends beyond the stated desire to promote ethics in Government. That point aside, let’s consider the merits of Richard Painter’s arguments.We discuss Painter’s arguments in Part Two of this Article.

PART TWO OF TWO PARTS

WHAT DOES THE HATCH ACT SAY?The “Hatch Act” was named for the sponsor of the original bill, Senator Carl Hatch, Democrat, New Mexico, in 1939. Then, as now, the import of the Act is to preclude federal bureaucrats from becoming involved in political campaign activities. The Act in its present form, diluted from the original Statute, is codified in 5 U.S.C.S. § 7323. The Statute is titled, “Political activity authorized; prohibitions.”The applicable portion of the Act Painter ostensibly relies on says:“(a) Subject to the provisions of subsection (b), an employee may take an active part in political management or in political campaigns, except an employee may not—(1) use his official authority or influence for the purpose of interfering with or affecting the result of an election. . . .”Now, in his letter to Congressional leaders, Comey says “the FBI has learned of the existence of emails that appear to be pertinent to the investigation.” Comey also informed FBI employees of his action and the reason for it.The legal issue that Painter raises in his complaint is whether, through his letter to Congress, James Comey has “use[d] his official authority or influence for the purpose of interfering with or affecting the result of an election.”Specific intent to influence is required to support a charge under the Hatch Act. The FBI Director was simply doing what his duties require him to do. He was investigating violations of federal law. The fact that the FBI was investigating a person who happens to be running for Public Office doesn’t obviate the Director’s duty to investigate violations of federal law whether a person is running for political office or not. In the instant case, the FBI was investigating serious crimes, felonies, and multiple counts that Hillary Clinton and her henchmen and her henchwomen had committed over a period of several years.It is specious to make the argument, as Painter does, that the FBI is to forbear investigating violations of federal law simply because a person happens to be running for political office. But, that, in its essence is the foundation of Painter's argument that Comey violated the Hatch Act. In fact Painter undermines whatever merit he claims for having filed his Complaint by saying, “I do not know whether the Director of the FBI personally wanted to influence the outcome of an election, although the content and wording of this week’s letter is of concern.” So, Painter paints his Complaint against Comey on bald conjecture and opinion. Painter knows his Complaint has no legal basis.We can infer, then, that Painter filed his Complaint against Comey in bad faith. Painter, an expert on the law is not ignorant of the import and purport of the Hatch Act. We must, then, return to Painter’s motivations. Did someone approach Painter, asking him to file an ethics claim against Comey? That is certainly possible, even probable. Since Painter doesn’t support Trump, he would be a willing partner in filing a spurious claim against Comey to cast false aspersions on the FBI Director. Painter’s objective, then, in filing his Complaint, is clear. He seeks to prop up Clinton—to dupe the American people. He attempts to cast a vile criminal, Clinton, in a good light, by drawing attention to Comey, attempting to cast a basically honorable man in a bad light. Painter’s purpose? He seeks to draw votes, in these final hours, to Clinton, and away from Trump.We are not alone in our judgment that Painter filed a dubious Complaint against James Comey.A prominent legal scholar, Jonathan Turley, also took Painter to task. Turley points out that nothing in Painter’s complaint supports a reasonable inference that Comey intended to influence the outcome of the election through his notification to Congress. Turley’s legal analysis of Richard Painter’s complaint is instructive. Turley says,“Comey has kept Congress informed in compliance with oversight functions of the congressional committees but has been circumspect in the extent of such disclosures. It is troubling to see Democrats (who historically favor both transparency and checks on executive powers) argue against such disclosure and cooperation with oversight committees. More importantly, the Hatch Act is simply a dog that will not hunt.Richard W. Painter, a law professor at the University of Minnesota and the chief ethics lawyer in the George W. Bush White House from 2005 to 2007, has filed a Hatch Act complaint against Comey with the federal Office of Special Counsel and Office of Government Ethics. He argues that “We cannot allow F.B.I. or Justice Department officials to unnecessarily publicize pending investigations concerning candidates of either party while an election is underway.”However, Comey was between the horns of a dilemma. He could be accused of acts of commission in making the disclosure or omission in withholding the disclosure in an election year. Quite frankly, I found Painter’s justification for his filing remarkably speculative. He admits that he has no evidence to suggest that Comey wants to influence the election or favors either candidate. Intent is key under the Hatch investigations.  You can disagree with the timing of Comey’s disclosure, but that is not a matter for the Hatch Act or even an ethical charge in my view.Congress passed the Hatch Act in response to scandals during the 1938 congressional elections and intended the Act to bar federal employees from using “[their] official authority or influence for the purpose of interfering with or affecting the result of an election.” Comey is not doing that in communicating with Congress on a matter of oversight.”In his Complaint to the Office of Special Counsel and to the Office of Government Ethics, Richard Painter also asks the Office of Special Counsel and the Office of Government Ethics to investigate the Director of the FBI to ascertain whether the Director violated 5 CFR § 2635.702 which forbids use of public office for private gain. The Statute says, in principal part that:“An employee shall not use his public office for his own private gain, for the endorsement of any product, service or enterprise, or for the private gain of friends, relatives, or persons with whom the employee is affiliated in a nongovernmental capacity, including nonprofit organizations of which the employee is an officer or member, and persons with whom the employee has or seeks employment or business relations. The specific prohibitions set forth in paragraphs (a) through (d) of this section apply this general standard, but are not intended to be exclusive or to limit the application of this section.”Beyond the naked request, Painter offers no reason at all for claiming the FBI Director has gained anything personally, from investigating violations of federal law. Isn’t the purpose of the FBI to do precisely what the FBI Director did: investigate violations of federal law?In his Complaint, Painter says, “Violations of the Hatch Act and of this ethics rule [5 CFR § 2635.702] are not permissible in any circumstances, including an executive branch official acting under pressure from persons such as the president and politically motivatedmembers of Congress.” Apart from stating the obvious, Painter says nothing that would paint a picture of wrongdoing on Comey’s part. Curiously, Painter has painted a most exquisite painting of Hillary Clinton’s violation of 5 CFR § 2635.702. Wasn’t the FBI investigation into the Clinton Foundation predicated on substantive and substantial evidence that Hillary Clinton used the Department of State as a mechanism through which she doled out favors for cash? Did she not use her position as Secretary of State to establish a grand “Pay to Play,” scheme reaping in tens of millions of dollars? Would she not extend that “Pay to Play” to the White House? Imagine the vast stores of money--the huge hoard of cash--Clinton could accumulate through the sale of the Office of the President of the United States? Such bribery and corruption this Nation has never before been seen! If Painter is truly concerned about Ethics in Government, why did he not file his Complaint against Hillary Clinton? The evidence supporting claims of Clinton’s ethics violations would fill volumes. He could certainly have made a much stronger case for ethics violations against Clinton than he has actually done, attempting to besmirch the FBI Director who was doing what was required of him: enforcing the Nation's laws. Letting Congress and the American public know that the FBI is investigating a person for criminal wrongdoing--a person who seeks the highest Office in the Land--is certainly not an ethics violations under federal law. He gains nothing personal from that: neither wealth nor position. He certainly isn't campaigning for Trump. One may just as well argue that, keeping the investigation and the findings a secret from the American people, amounts to campaigning for Clinton--a point that Jonathan Turley makes. The American people have a right to know what they are getting. If some Americans wish to vote for a vile criminal, then they should do so with both eyes open. For those Americans who vote for Clinton bear a measure of responsibility for the damage she can and would cause to the Office of the U.S. President, and to the Nation, and to the Nation's citizenry, and to the Nation's Constitution. Those Americans who vote for Clinton cannot be heard thereafter to plaintively say--in the event Hillary Clinton actually secures the Office--that they didn't know! They can't thereafter be heard to apologetically ask, "how could we know?" They can't justifiably say any of these things. They can't do so for the simple reason that the Director of the FBI, James Comey, has, explicitly as he can, forewarned them. He has forewarned all of us. Richard Painter should not be casting blame and aspersions on Comey. Comey isn't responsible for Clinton's criminal conduct. Hillary Clinton, herself, is responsible for her criminal conduct. The FBI didn't investigate Clinton because of a personal distaste for her. The FBI investigated Clinton because there existed and there does exist probable cause that she broke federal law; that she committed felonies; and that she did committed felonies many times over; and that she committed felonies over an extended and extensive period of time. Is Hillary Clinton still committing felonies? Possibly she is. Would Hillary Clinton commit felonies were she to secure the Office of the President? Undoubtedly, she will. She has a criminal nature. Holding high public Office doesn't change that. Holding high public Office can't change that. A zebra never changes its stripes. Holding high Office--the highest Office in the Land--would only allow Clinton to continue her criminal behavior. Even more, the Office of the U.S. President will allow Clinton to amplify that criminal behavior in a manner and to an extent that only a writer of horror fiction can imagine, except for the fact that the writer of such horror won't be writing fiction. He or she will be writing fact.

ALAS, NO HORATIUS FOR THE AMERICAN PEOPLE

Comey could have been America’s “Horatius at the Bridge.” Alas, at the Eleventh Hour, he failed the Nation and the American People. Comey buckled under to the forces that seek to push through a criminal for President.We then receive a bombshell from Fox News. Fox News reports, on November 3, 2016, that an indictment of Clinton is almost certain. Then, one day later, the same news network hits the public with another bombshell. Fox news not only retracts its statement that an indictment is almost certain but apologizes for making it.Fox News apparently heard that Comey would not recommend an indictment after all. The American public is then hit with the third bombshell, on November 6, 2016. Although it would ordinarily take weeks if not months to sift through all the emails found on Weiner’s computer, James Comey says the FBI won’t recommend an indictment of Hillary Clinton. It seems that whoever threatened James Comey, originally, reminded Comey that the threat still stands.Understand, if Trump becomes President, Clinton likely will be indicted on one or more charges of violations of federal law. If the U.S. Department of Justice cannot or will not indict and prosecute Clinton, Congress will likely enact legislation appointing independent counsel to investigate, indict, and prosecute both Bill and Hillary Clinton and their Foundation. Likely, Obama would be caught up in the investigation. Many other powerful, influential people would be caught up in the dragnet.

DO AMERICANS STILL LIVE IN A FREE REPUBLIC?

We infer that a quiet coup of our Government has occurred and only a Trump Presidency will be able to flush it out. Those who have much to lose have taken steps to thrust a Clinton Presidency down our throats.So, we come full circle. Powerful interests in Government—Centrist Democrats and Republicans—working on behalf of each other, and on behalf of powerful, wealthy, influential, and wholly corrupt international financial interests both here and abroad, do not want to see their power diminished and defused. They do not want to see their personal goals and aims for a one world government—one they have worked long and hard for—undermined and jeopardized.The destructive course they have set for our Nation will be set aright only by a Trump win in this election. The Bushes and Clintons—and their silent, powerful, secretive backers—have pulled out all the stops.They intend to seat, in the White House, the most venal, and vain, and vile individual ever to hold public office, Hillary Rodham Clinton. That says as much about them as it does about her.Only we, Americans, can bring this frightful, terrible juggernaut to a screeching halt. We have flushed these denizens of the night out into the light of day—these vampires of the night that would deny us our Birthright, that would break our Will, that would suck the lifeblood of our Nation. We cannot rely on Congress to preserve and protect our Nation. We cannot rely on the U.S. Supreme Court to secure our sacred Bill of Rights and to maintain the supremacy of our laws over those of other Nations and over those of extrajudicial foreign bodies. And, we certainly cannot rely on the Imperial Presidency to safeguard our freedoms.It is up to each and every American citizen to remind those who hold high Office in Government that they serve us, and they do so at our pleasure; that we do not serve them at their pleasure.“We are our own destiny. If we are victims at all, or conquerors, we have done it in our minds and our will, or with our faulty judgments or our illusions. If we permit others to exploit us, in private life or in government, we chose it. Or we made the fatal error of acquiescence, and for that we should be condemned. The world forgives everything but weakness and submission. It forgives everyone but a victim. For there is always battle, even if you die in it. In any event death comes to all men. How you died was your own choice, fighting or submitting.” ~Taylor Caldwell, “Captains and the Kings,” Part One, Chapter 17, page 178 (Doubleday & Company, Inc., 1972).We are at a definite crossroads. The founders bequeathed to us a Bill of Rights; and they made clear to all other Nations and to all foreign interests that we are an independent sovereign Nation composed of a free people—a people who control their own destiny. Our founders are watching us now. They are wondering whether we, Americans, their descendants, are worthy of retaining the Nation and the Constitution they bequeathed us.

[separator type="medium" style="normal" align="left"margin-bottom="25" margin_top="5"] Copyright © 2016 Roger J Katz (Towne Criour), Stephen L. D’Andrilli (Publius) All Rights Reserved.

TINKER, TAILOR, TERRORIST, TRAITOR

PART ONE OF FOUR PARTS

INTRODUCTION

Barack Obama’s destructive Administration is rapidly drawing to a close. Our Nation’s Constitution, its institutions, and our security have survived relatively intact. If Hillary Clinton succeeds Obama, our Nation will not survive. She will dismantle our Bill of Rights. She will destroy our economy. She will endanger our citizenry. Clinton will subordinate our laws and jurisprudence to that of other Nations and international tribunals. She will misuse our military, financing unwinnable wars with our tax dollars, sacrificing the lives of our soldiers on military campaigns and escapades that have nothing to do with defending our freedoms or preserving our National Security. Clinton will engage in Nation building, while dismantling our own Nation. She will distribute hundreds of billions of dollars to other Countries, underwriting their debt and serving their needs, while destroying the credit of our own Country and ignoring our Nation’s needs. Clinton will rewrite our Nation’s history. She will thrust alien ideas of culture, morality, religion, civil governance, philosophy, and jurisprudence into the Nation’s psyche. Clinton will undermine our National Sovereignty, our National pride our uniqueness. She will compel uniformity in thought and deed. Hillary Clinton will become the Imperial Presidency.Hillary Clinton does not have the best interests of our Nation at heart. She never did. She never will. Hillary Clinton and her family prove, through their deeds, that they serve only their own personal, selfish interests and those of their secretive benefactors both in this Country and abroad. Hillary Clinton’s needs are not our Nation’s needs. Clinton’s desires and goals are not our Nation’s desires and goals. She used the Department of State as a vehicle to amass personal wealth. She will use the Office of the U.S. Presidency in the same way, dispensing ever more favors to those willing to fill her personal coffers. The fate of our Country rests in the balance.This Nation has had enough of the Clintons and of all other family dynasties. Hopefully, the American People will see through the mask of this Viper, Hillary Clinton, before it is too late. Americans must refrain from voting for Clinton. The fate of our Country rests in the balance.

TREASON IS A CRIME AGAINST COUNTRY. THE HORROR OF TREASON IS ETCHED IN STONE FOR ALL TO SEE.

“Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; Who substitute darkness for light and light for darkness; Who substitute bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter! Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes and clever in their own sight!" ~ISAIAH 5:20—21Has Hillary Rodham Clinton committed treason? To Clinton’s benefactors and supporters, just asking this is heresy. They would like the question to go away. It won’t.The question of treason lies simmering like molten magna just below the Earth’s crust. It lies dormant, but potent. Only a few take notice, but should.Many say Hillary Clinton is a traitor. They hurl the word at her as invective, as an epithet. They are fervent in their denunciation of Clinton. But, truthfully, calling a person a traitor, if mere epithet, as invective, means nothing more than saying, “I hate you; go to Hell!” A mere assertion of indignation of moral outrage toward one—understandable though it be—carries no legal import or significance.A few others provide a rational basis for leveling the charge of treason against Clinton. But, a rational basis isn’t automatically a legal basis. It is the legal ground for charging Hillary Clinton with treason we must ponder. Treason is a most serious charge. For, treason is a crime against our Nation’s sovereignty. Treason is a crime against our Country. Treason is a crime against the founders of our Republic. Treason is a crime against our Constitution; and against our Bill of Rights; and against our institutions; and against our system of laws; and against the Rule of Law. Treason is a crime against our fellow Countrymen. Treason is a crime against those who gave their blood for our Country, that we may live, free—free from the control of those silent, secretive, seditious, and evil, corrupting influences and forces that seek to undermine the inviolability of our Nation’s sacred heritage, and of its precious birthright. Treason mocks the sanctity of our Nation’s past. Treason undercuts faith in the stability and security of our Nation at the present moment. Treason dashes our Nation’s hopes and dreams, leaving us fearful for our Nation’s future. Treason is Treachery incarnate to our Nation.Despicable behavior warrants our condemnation, surely. But, unless our laws forbid hateful behavior, such behavior isn’t subject to prosecution. Treason is forbidden conduct. Treason is prosecutable. The crime of treason is codified in our Constitution and in Statute. The crime of Treason is etched in stone.

DOES THE DESPICABLE BEHAVIOR OF THE ODIOUS HILLARY CLINTON AMOUNT TO TREASON?

Does concrete evidence exist in the public domain that might, legally, support a charge of treason against Hillary Clinton?A few commentators assert that Clinton’s conduct amounts to treason. Do their claims stand up to scrutiny? Do those claims hold up to analysis? Is there merit to charging Hillary Clinton with treason?The mainstream media won’t weigh in. It won’t touch the subject. Those media organizations and commentators not aligned to mainstream media that have broached the subject are few. So, there is little public outcry, only a palpable silence.But treason won’t go away. It is the four hundred pound silverback gorilla in the room. Does the gorilla exist? Or, is it shadow and mist? Let’s see.

CLINTON IS A CRIMINAL: OF THAT, NO REASONABLE DOUBT EXISTS. TREASON OR NOT, CLINTON MUST ACCOUNT FOR A MULTITUDE OF FELONIES. BUT NEITHER THE ATTORNEY GENERAL NOR CONGRESS CARES ENOUGH TO DO ANYTHING ABOUT IT.

We know Clinton has committed serious federal crimes. They include mishandling classified government information, lying to federal investigators; public corruption in high Office.These three federal crimes are not misdemeanors, much less mere infractions. They are felonies, the most serious of crimes. The public knows of them. If convicted of any one or more of them, Hillary Clinton would face both large monetary penalties and lengthy imprisonment in federal prison. Rudy Giuliani has pointed to fifteen other federal crimes warranting indictment of Clinton. Giuliani served as an Associate Attorney General in the Reagan Administration, and as U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, and as a Mayor of New York City. He knows whereof he speaks. The mainstream media should listen to him and roundly condemn Hillary Clinton. The mainstream media chooses not to. Instead, it applauds her; it hails her; it worships her. It defiles the sacred right of the Press, engraved in the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, our founders lovingly, lavished upon it.So, here we are. The Justice Department didn’t indict and prosecute Clinton and the mainstream media did not demand it do so. Why not? The F.B.I. Director’s stated reasons for recommending no indictment against Hillary Clinton remain weak and fallible and are clearly implausible. The Attorney General is an abject disgrace to her profession and to her Country. The F.B.I., within the Department of Justice, may yet come to our Nation’s rescue. James Comey, Director of the F.B.I., and the Bureau’s field agents of the F.B.I., may be our Nation’s Horatius at the Bridge.We have learned the Bureau may recommend indictment of the Bill, Hillary, & Chelsea Clinton Foundation. See article in RealClear Politics.  Likely, the Bureau would recommend indictment of the Foundation under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO), 18 U.S.C. § 1861 et seq. Understand, this does not mean indictment of Hillary Clinton and Bill Clinton in their individual capacity—at least not yet. But the Justice Department’s indictment of and prosecution of the Foundation, as a corporate entity, on federal RICO charges would be a good start!Evidence of Clinton’s criminal conduct is massive; the time frame of the criminal conduct, vast. Why didn’t the Justice Department indict Clinton on federal felony charges? We draw one inference: Political constraints, or threats, hindered the Justice Department’s legal duty to our Country, to our laws, and to our Constitution.Americans who committed any one or more of the crimes Hillary Clinton committed have suffered swift and severe retribution. Yet, Clinton, herself, emerges, and remains, to date, unscathed. That’s deeply perplexing. The scale of Clinton’s crimes dwarfs those of other Americans.Hillary Clinton must answer for her crimes. A double standard jeopardizes the integrity of our Nation, and the sanctity of our Republic. A double standard erodes the rule of law. A double standard mocks our Constitution; it mocks our system of laws; it mocks our jurisprudence; and it mocks the very idea of judicial fairness.The Executive Office of the President is beyond redemption. The Office of the Attorney General may yet redeem itself with an indictment of Hillary and Bill Clinton on federal felony charges. Congress, too, might redeem itself. It can do so with enactment of the Independent Counsel Reauthorization Act of 2016, H.R. 5271. But Congress must debate the Act on the Floor of the House and hold a public vote of its members. At the moment Congress has done nothing. It shows abject weakness in the face of the worst Constitutional crisis to face this Nation in decades.In Part Two we consider, one, the elements of treason, and, two, against whom federal prosecutors can bring a charge of treason.

PART TWO OF FOUR PARTS

THE DYNAMICS OF A TREASON CHARGE

“But these two things shall come to thee in a moment in one day, the loss of children, and widowhood: they shall come upon thee in their perfection for the multitude of thy sorceries, and for the great abundance of thine enchantments. For thou hast trusted in thy wickedness: thou hast said, ‘None seeth me.’ Thy wisdom and thy knowledge, it hath perverted thee; and thou hast said in thine heart, ‘I am, and none else beside me.’ Therefore shall evil come upon thee; thou shalt not know from whence it riseth: and mischief shall fall upon thee; thou shalt not be able to put it off: and desolation shall come upon thee suddenly, which thou shalt not know.” ~ ISAIAH 47:9—11, King James Version

WHOM MAY FEDERAL PROSECUTORS CHARGE WITH TREASON?

Federal prosecutors may charge with treason those American citizens who betray their Country. A citizen owes loyalty to his Country. That is self-evident. Treason is treachery to one’s Country. But, may prosecutors charge non-citizens with treason? Non-citizens don’t owe their loyalty to our Country. They aren’t expected to.Some say Barack Obama isn’t a United States citizen and, so, prosecutors cannot indict him on treason. But is that true? No; it isn’t true. Obama is subject to our Nation’s treason law, citizen or not. A common misconception is that a person must be a citizen of the United States to face a charge of treason. That’s untrue. Non-citizens who reside in the United States must adhere to all laws of the United States while here. Federal prosecutors can charge noncitizens with treason as they may citizens. How do we know that? The U.S. Supreme Court says so.Over a century ago, the Supreme Court ruled that aliens, whether here legally or not, aren’t beyond our treason law. The Supreme Court ruling is more than one hundred years old, but it is still good law. The U.S. Supreme Court said, “The alien, whilst domiciled in the country, owes a local and temporary allegiance, which continues during the period of his residence.” Carlisle vs. United States, 83 U.S. 147 (1873). The high Court, in Carlisle, added, “. . . it is well known that, by the public law, an alien or a stranger born, for so long a time as he continues within the dominions of a foreign government, owes obedience to the laws of that government, and may be punished for treason or other crimes as a native born subject might be, unless his case is varied by some treaty stipulation.” Id.

TREASON IN U.S. LAW

Treason comprises: levying war against the sovereign United States or adhering to the Nation’s enemies, giving them aid or comfort. Treason is a federal crime; a felony. The crime of treason appears in both our Constitution and federal Statute. We see it in Article III, Section 3, Clause 1 of the Constitution. We see it in the United States Code, 18 U.S.C. § 2381. Treason is treachery to Nation. Treason is the supreme betrayal to Country. Long ago, the U.S. Supreme Court made that point poignantly clear.“Treason is the most serious offense that may be committed against the United States.” Stephan vs. United States, 133 F2d 87 (6th Circuit, 1943), certiorari denied, 318 US 781 (1943), citing, Hanauer v. Doane, 79 U.S. 342, 79 U.S. 342, 20 L.Ed. 439, 12 Wall. 342 (1871). “No crime is greater than treason.”

WHAT DOES 'LEVYING WAR' MEAN?

The U.S. Supreme Court explained the meaning of ‘levying war,’ in a two-hundred year old case: Ex Parte Bollman, 8 U.S. 75 (1807), superseded by statute on other grounds as stated in Ex parte Monti, 79 F Supp. 651 (DC NY 1948). The Supreme Court’s comprehensive explanation of ‘levying war’ has stood the test of time. The high Court said, “What is the natural import of the words ‘levying war?’ And who may be said to levy it? . . . Taken most literally, they are perhaps of the same import with the words raising or creating war, but as those who join after the commencement are equally the objects of punishment, there would probably be a general admission, that the term also comprehended making war, or carrying on war. . . . If for example, an army should be actually raised for the avowed purpose of carrying on open war against the United States and subverting their government, the point must be weighed very deliberately, before a judge would venture to decide that an overt act of levying war had not been committed by a commissary of purchases, who never saw the army, but who, knowing its object, and leaguing himself with the rebels, supplied that army with provisions, or by a recruiting officer holding a commission in the rebel service, who though never in camp, executed the particular duty assigned to him.” The Court added: “Taking this view of the subject, it appears to the court, that those who perform a part in the prosecution of the war may correctly be said to levy war and to commit treason under the constitution.” Let’s not obscure the meaning of the words, ‘levying war,’ by drawing a distinction between a formal Declaration of War and use of military force without formal Declaration. Article I, Section 8, Clause 11 of the U.S. Constitution makes clear that Congress has sole authority to declare war. Yet, not since World War II did Congress declare war against a foreign actor. Congress agreed to a President’s use of the armed forces since then with no Congressional declaration of war. George W. Bush set up a war on terror to be sure. We are in armed conflict with Islamic extremists.Disagreement among legal experts exists over whether a charge of treason can stick without a formal Congressional declaration of war against a foreign actor. But, “if a congressional authorization to use military force can authorize the President to detain enemy combatants absent a declaration of war, such authorizations surely must also satisfy the enemy requirement of the Treason Clause. In short, if a person can be treated as an enemy combatant without a declaration of war, it would make little sense for that same person not to be considered an enemy for the purposes of the Treason Clause.” Article: Did The Court Kill The Treason Charge?: Reassessing Cramer v. United States And Its Significance, 36 Fla. St. U. L. Rev., Paul T. Crane, Solicitor General of the United States, 2008-2009.American citizens who join forces with radical Islam have levied war against the United States. Federal prosecutors can charge those citizens with treason. Yet, in the last sixty years, federal prosecutors charged and prosecuted only two treason cases: the latest in 2006; the earlier one in 1952. Id.A federal grand jury indicted Azzam al-Amriki Gadahn aka “Azzam the American,” on charges of treason in 2006 for giving aid to al-Qaeda. “The indictment alleged that Gadahn, an American citizen, ‘knowingly adhered to an enemy of the United States, namely, al-Qaeda, and gave al-Qaeda aid and comfort, within the United States and elsewhere, with intent to betray the United States.’ This charge was based on Gadahn’s participation in several videotapes produced by al-Qaeda between October 2004 and September 2006, in which he appeared with al-Qaeda leaders Osama bin Laden and Ayman al-Zawahiri, espoused his support for the terrorist organization, praised the attacks of September 11th and the bombings in London and Madrid, and threatened future attacks against the United States. Notably, Gadahn was not in United States custody when the indictment was issued and currently remains at large.” Id. Fifty years earlier, federal prosecutors charged an American, Anthony Cramer, with treason. “The treason prosecution of Anthony Cramer has its roots in the infamous Nazi Saboteur Affair. In 1942, seven German soldiers traveled by submarine and secretly landed on the east coast of the United States with plans to destroy American industrial war facilities. The saboteurs were eventually caught, tried by military tribunal, and sentenced to either death or imprisonment. The Supreme Court denied the saboteurs’ habeas corpus petitions in Ex Parte Quirin. Anthony Cramer was not a saboteur but rather a friend of one.” Id. The lower federal Court convicted Cramer of treason. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit affirmed the conviction. Cramer appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court. The Supreme Court vacated the charge of treason.Still, “although the Court vacated Cramer’s conviction, the government did not let him go free. While treason charges could have been brought again, the two sides reached a plea agreement on a different charge. Cramer pled guilty to violating the Trading with the Enemy Act and was sentenced to six years in prison.” Id.Apart from “levying war” against the United States, a person also commits the crime of treason if that person gives aid and comfort to our Nation’s enemies. What does the phrase, ‘giving aid and comfort,’ mean? The U.S. Supreme Court explained what the phrase, ‘giving aid and comfort,’ means in the case, Kawakita vs. United States, 343 US 717 (1952), rehearing denied, 344 US 850 (1952). The phrase, “aid and comfort,” is broad. It refers to any act that strengthens the enemy, and at once weakens the power of the United States to resist or to attack its enemies. But there’s a “kicker.” To satisfy the element of the crime, the act must be overt. “One may think disloyal thoughts and have his heart on the side of the enemy. Yet if he commits no act giving aid and comfort to the enemy, he is not guilty of treason. He may on the other hand commit acts which do give aid and comfort to the enemy and yet not be guilty of treason, as for example where he acts impulsively with no intent to betray.” Kawakita vs. United States, 343 US 717 (1952). “To give aid and comfort to our Nation’s enemies requires an act and an intent to act a desire to betray our Country.” Id. Further, “two witnesses are required, not to the disloyal and treacherous intention, but to the same overt act.” Id.Treason is notoriously difficult to prove in Court even if legitimately prosecuted.This takes us to Part Three: the penultimate, but not ultimate question. Did Hillary Clinton, commit treason?

PART THREE OF FOUR PARTS

THE PENULTIMATE QUESTION

DID HILLARY CLINTON LEVY WAR AGAINST THE UNITED STATES OR OTHERWISE GIVE AID AND COMFORT TO OUR NATION’S ENEMIES?

DID HILLARY CLINTON COMMIT TREASON?

“And Joram said, Make ready. And his chariot was made ready. And Joram king of Israel and Ahaziah king of Judah went out, each in his chariot, and they went out against Jehu, and met him in the portion of Naboth the Jezreelite. And it came to pass, when Joram saw Jehu, that he said, ‘Is it peace, Jehu?’ And he answered, ‘What peace, so long as the whoredoms of thy mother Jezebel and her witchcrafts are so many?’ And Joram turned his hands, and fled, and said to Ahaziah, There is treachery, O Ahaziah.’ And Jehu drew a bow with his full strength, and smote Jehoram between his arms, and the arrow went out at his heart, and he sunk down in his chariot.” ~2 KINGS, CHAPTER 9:21—24, King James Version

WHEREFORE DOES TREACHERY EXIST? DOES IT EXIST IN THE PEOPLE WHO TOPPLE A TYRANT? OR, DOES IT EXIST IN THE USURPER WHO PROCLAIMS, ‘I AM NOW THE LAW OF THE LAND AND RULE BY DIVINE RIGHT! OBEY ME OR FALL, FOR SUCH TREACHERY THAT EXISTS IN THE LAND IS TREACHERY TO ME, ONLY. NO OTHER TREACHERY CAN THERE BE.’

If Hillary Clinton obtains the mantle of U.S. President, she will proclaim that an attack against her right to reign as U.S. President is an attack against the Nation and, so, constitutes treachery to Nation. She will shred the U.S. Constitution—the Supreme Law of the Land that proclaims rulership in the People, not in those who hold high public Office. For those who hold Office—however lofty that Office may be—are but servants of the People, nothing more. Yet, Hillary Clinton will usurp the power the People rightfully hold. She will proclaim that “She,” not “We, the People,” is the rightful and true Ruler of our Nation.Hillary Clinton will substitute the Constitution for the law “She” makes. Hillary Clinton will say that her law is right, and just, and good, and superior to our old Canons. That may happen. Don’t think it cannot. If so, a Tyrant will rise in our midst. This Tyrant will rise through deception, through deceit, through the connivance of the Press, and through the ignorance of the People.No Greater Horror can beset this Nation than to seat a Deceiver in the Oval Office.

ANALYSIS OF EVIDENCE OF CLINTON’S TREACHERY TO NATION

We look at a few specific assertions, referencing specific events that occurred when Clinton served as Secretary of State in the Obama Administration. We analyze these assertions to determine whether they adequately support a charge of treason. The first is this:“While Hillary Clinton was secretary of state, she supported a covert exchange of weapons to Libyan rebels, some of whom then conducted the Sept. 11, 2012 attacks on the American diplomatic compound in Benghazi.” See article in HGN. Under the Supreme Court’s treatment of treason this would not support a successful prosecution for treason because, even if true, the intent to betray the Nation—the guilty state of mind—is missing, or, at least, the state of mind cannot be gleaned from the aforesaid assertion.Nothing in the assertion, if true, suggests Clinton knew the Libyan rebels that she and Obama armed had planned to attack Americans. Even if Clinton suspected these Libyan rebels might turn those weapons on Americans, that presumption still does not support a charge of treason. For, treason, under our Constitution and under federal Statute, as interpreted by the U.S. Supreme Court, requires a specific state of mind—a specific intention, a specific guilty mind or mens rea, to harm our Nation—thus, satisfying the “knowingly adhering” to our Nation’s enemies requirement. Negligence, gross negligence, or even reckless disregard for the safety of Americans is, simply, not enough to support a charge of treason, much less sustain a conviction on treason. Did Clinton know or suspect the rebels she had armed posed a potential threat to our Nation and to its citizenry? Perhaps she did. But, that presumption, too, does not support a charge of treason, reprehensible though her actions be if Clinton recognized a potential threat to Americans, posed by the rebels she armed, and decided to arm them anyway. Did Clinton know, in advance, that the Libyan rebels she armed would, in fact, attack Americans at Benghazi, or, at least, did Clinton arm the rebels with the expectation and hope they would attack Americans? Both inferences are a considerable stretch on the basis of the mere assertion that Clinton had armed the rebels who did eventually carry out an attack on Americans. But, if this scenario were true, a charge of treason would stick. A prosecutor could then show intent—that Clinton had adhered to our Nation’s enemies—intent sufficient to support a charge of treason, necessary to secure a conviction. But, a prosecutor cannot legitimately draw either one of the two aforesaid inferences from the evidence given. Those inferences simply don’t follow logically, rationally, from the mere assertion that Clinton had armed Libyan rebels who did eventually carry out an attack on Americans in Benghazi. In point of fact the Obama Administration still provides weapons to so-called “moderate” Islamic rebels who, from one day to the next, may no longer be “moderate,” and who, thereafter may use our own weapons against us. Or, these “moderate” Islamic rebels may sell those weapons to “non-moderate” groups of Islamic rebels, that is to say, extremist Islamic rebel groups who, thereafter, use those weapons—our weapons—against us. Perhaps Clinton believed that the Libyan rebels she had armed were “moderate” Muslims, who posed no probable threat to Americans at the time she armed them, from what she knew about them; and that she could not, at that time, and did not, at that time, reasonably anticipate they would turn violent. She could make that claim and probably would make that claim in her defense were she tried for treason. The claim is plausible and difficult to controvert, if one buys into the notion that the term, 'moderate,' as applied to a Muslim rebel group makes sense.If Clinton did want Americans killed at Benghazi, we can only speculate as to a reason. Perhaps she sought to demoralize Americans—destabilizing our Country, weakening our resolve, making us malleable, so that she, on behalf of her wealthy, powerful, sordid benefactors, might reshape our Nation in a manner they wish--a reconfiguration that requires the destruction of our independence, and of our Constitution, and of our sovereignty—drawing us into the orbit of a one world governing body, a new world order. But these speculations would not support her conviction on treason.Was Clinton negligent in providing arms to these Libyan rebels? Sure. Again, the Obama Administration provides arms to Islamic groups across the Middle East. That's his policy. He does this all the time. Obama tells us his Administration supports arming only “moderate” rebel groups. But, the word, ‘moderate,’ is a dubious and fluid concept. President Obama uses it deviously to suggest such rebel Muslim groups are our friends. They aren’t. They have their own agenda. “Moderate” Muslim rebel groups turn on us regularly, constantly; and, within a Muslim rebel group, one faction may be "moderate" and another faction may be "hostile." Who can really say? These rebel groups, "moderate" or "hostile" do use our weapons against us. The Benghazi tragedy illustrates that point well. If the group Clinton armed were deemed, "moderate," at the time she armed that group, that Muslim rebel group certainly  turned "hostile" once it took up arms--our own weapons--against us!Muslim rebel groups hate us. None, we can trust. That's the only safe bet. The appellation, ‘moderate,’ applied to some groups at any particular point in time is no more than a political nicety. Obama uses it for expediency, for propaganda purposes to deceive the American public. It means nothing. Our Nation should be circumspect in arming any Muslim rebel group. Rebel groups that seem friendly toward us one day or, at least, benign, can turn hostile toward us, the next, and do. We should not supply these groups with weapons they can turn against us, ever. Obama’s entire foreign policy is suspect. The policy is based on ill-formed goals. Military tactics and strategy in the Middle East change daily, even hourly. We, Americans, are caught up in an expensive and unending, seething maelstrom the Bush Administration--that of George W. Bush, not that of his father, George H. W. Bush--created through his ostensibly preemptive--actually, aggressive and premeditated--war in Iraq--a war the Obama Administration worsened through its tentative handling of the conflict.Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama have behaved negligently, at the very least, in the conduct of our Nation’s foreign policy. Their actions may support a claim of gross negligence. Their actions may even support both a claim of reckless indifference to the security of our Nation, and reckless indifference to the lives of our citizens. But, their policy formulations, endangering our Nation as they do, do not support a charge of treason, on the basis of negligent conduct, gross negligent conduct, or even reckless disregard for the safety and security of American lives they have a duty to protect. So a charge of treason against Clinton and Obama cannot rest on the specific act of having armed Libyan rebel groups that attacked and killed Americans, in the absence of evidence of specific intent on the part of Obama and Clinton--a deliberate desire to kill Americans through the act of arming Libyan rebel groups.Did Clinton fail to provide adequate military support to State Department personnel in Libya after our Ambassador made several requests for protection? If so, does that support a charge of treason?Some commentators point to Clinton’s failure to provide adequate military support to State Department personnel in Libya after our Ambassador made several requests for protection. See Politifact article.Although reprehensible, that assertion, too, if true, does not support a charge of treason. Once again, on its face that assertion shows negligence, gross negligence, or even reckless disregard for the safety and security of Americans. That assertion doesn’t entail a clear, irrefutable intention, on Clinton’s part, and, by implication, on Obama’s part, to kill Americans. So, that fact does not support a charge of treason. Did Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama refuse to send troops to protect our people once the attack against Americans in Benghazi was underway? Does that fact support a charge of treason against Clinton and Obama?The tacit premise here is that Clinton and Obama were aware that an attack against our people was occurring, and they deliberately told our military to “stand down.” If true, would this might support a prima facie case of treason against Hillary Clinton and against the President Obama? One thing is clear. If federal or special prosecutors charge Clinton with treason, they should charge Obama too. For, they operated in concert. So, Obama has a clear vested interest in having Clinton succeed him. He faces more than loss of his legacy—poor as it is—if Clinton is defeated in this Presidential election. For, if prosecutors charge Hillary Clinton with treason, they will charge Barack Obama with treason, too. Their actions in the Middle East are inextricably linked.Let’s suppose that Clinton and Obama had knowledge of the Benghazi attack in real time, while it was unfolding, and that they did nothing to protect Americans. Still, federal prosecutors would have a difficult time prosecuting the case against Clinton and Obama to a successful conclusion. The reason is that the legal issue here is one here of first impression: “Does the omission to act, where a legal duty to act exists, constitute an overt act, sufficient to support a charge of treason?” Remember, treason, according to U.S. Supreme Court decisional law, requires an overt act of betrayal to the Nation.Federal prosecutors must prove that Obama and Clinton knew Americans were under attack and intentionally did not provide military assistance to those Americans. But, even in this scenario, conviction on treason is, at best, uncertain.In their defense, Obama and Clinton would argue they did not know of the attack on Americans at Benghazi as it was unfolding in real time. If true, a treason charge would collapse. If false, then failing to send troops to protect our Ambassador and his staff does amount to an “omission to act” where there is a clear duty to act. There’s no question about it. But, then, the follow-up question is this: does a failure to act amount to an overt act of betrayal to Nation? Are the two equivalents? It may seem so, and but this is not a legal certainty, distasteful though such omission to act is to our conscience. Obama and Clinton would claim that failure to act—even where duty demands they act—does not mean they gave direct aid and comfort to our enemies. Is an act of omission equivalent to an act of commission, under the law of treason? That’s unclear. How would a court of competent jurisdiction decide that question? We don’t know. What we do know is that: “The Constitution has left no room for constructive treason and Congress could not and has no undertaken to restrict or enlarge the constitutional definition.” Stephan v United States, 133 F2d 87 (CA6 Mich 1943), certiorari denied, 318 US 781, 87 L Ed 1148, 63 S Ct 858 (1943), rehearing denied, 319 US 783, 87 L Ed 1727, 63 S Ct 1172 (1943). This raises hairy logical, linguistic, and legal issues concerning the meaning of "constructive knowledge" and "actual knowledge" and "constructive intent to commit a crime" and "actual intent to commit a crime."Evidence exists, according to The Daily Caller, that the Clinton Foundation received money from Arab Countries, namely and specifically, Saudi Arabia and Qatar, that are giving financial and logistical support to extremist Sunni groups, including "Islamic State." If true does that support a treason charge against Clinton? Once again, the critical question goes to whether Hillary Clinton has given aid and comfort to our Nation's enemies. Islamic State and other extremist groups definitely are our Nation's enemies. If Hillary Clinton accepted money from Nations with knowledge that these Countries were supporting the Nation's enemies, like Islamic State, that fact, although, despicable, probably doesn't support a charge of treason, for she is receiving support--money--from Saudi Arabia and Qatar. She isn't giving money to those Countries with the intent that such money be used on behalf of Islamic State and other such extremist groups. She is taking money from Countries that are construed as allies or, at least, as benign. That is to say, that, while Saudi Arabia and Qatar may be actively supporting our Nation's enemies, Saudi Arabia and Qatar are not, they themselves, are not treated as enemies of the United States. But, reasonably, they should be so treated. The fact that Clinton does receive illicit monies from Countries, like Saudi Arabia and Qatar, does show that Clinton doesn't give a damn about the welfare of our Country and its citizenry so long as her Foundation is making a profit. That fact, alone, also makes abundantly clear that Hillary Clinton is hardly a person to be entrusted with our Nation's secrets; and she is hardly the person to be entrusted with designing foreign policy for our Nation; and she is hardly the person to be entrusted with protecting the security of our Nation. But, does that fact alone--receiving money from Nations who do assist our enemies--support a charge of treason against Clinton.  Probably not. But, give Hillary Clinton time and rest assured she will weaken this Country's defenses as she cares not for the well-being of our Nation. She cares not for the preservation of our Bill of Rights. She cares not for the safety and security of our Nation's citizenry.So, where does all this leave us? If solid evidence to support Clinton’s indictment on treason exists—and, hence, evidence, by logical extension, to support Obama’s indictment of treason, too—that evidence lies buried in the bowels of Government. The Justice Department may in fact have that evidence. The American public, unfortunately, does not. But, if a charge of treason can’t feasibly stick against Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, that doesn’t end the matter. We have terrorism Statutes. We ask: Can a charge of terrorism be brought against them? To our knowledge, no one has considered this. We do. The question is not beyond the pale. We take it up in Part Four.

PART FOUR OF FOUR PARTS

THE ULTIMATE QUESTION

IS HILLARY CLINTON A TERRORIST?

WHAT MONSTERS HAVE WE AWAKENED THAT DARE THREATEN THE EQUANIMITY OF OUR PEOPLE AND THE SOVEREIGNTY OF OUR NATION?

“It is absolutely necessary, for the peace and safety of mankind, that some of earth’s dark, dead corners and unplumbed depths be let alone; lest sleeping abnormalities wake to resurgent life, and blasphemously surviving nightmares squirm and splash out of their black lairs to newer and wider conquests.” ~H. P. Lovecraft (At the Mountains of Madness, 24 February to 22 March 1931)

CAN WE NOT CHARGE HIGH PUBLIC OFFICIALS WITH TERRORISM WHEN THEIR POLICIES ENDANGER: THE SECURITY OF THE NATION; THE SAFETY AND WELL-BEING OF THE CITIZENRY; THE STABILITY OF THE SOCIAL ORDER; AND THE PRESERVATION OF OUR INSTITUTIONS AND OUR WAY OF LIFE?

A plethora of federal terrorism statutes exist today. Prosecutors could charge Muslim Extremists who commit acts of terrorism here with treason. We have seen many Islamic extremist attacks against Americans, stretching back to the 1970s.Many of these criminal acts fall under the category of treason. But the perpetrators are charged under other criminal statutes. These include the crime of Terrorism, codified in law in 2001, with passage of the Patriot Act. The Nation’s “Terrorism” statutes fall under 18 U.S.C. §§ 2331 et. seq.Might not prosecutors bring a charge of terrorism against Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama? Neither President George W. Bush nor Congress intended these Statutes to apply to high Government Officials. The idea of applying our terrorism laws against the U.S. President or Cabinet level officials under one or more terrorism charges is, admittedly, singularly odd, incongruous, and bizarre. After all, we expect the U.S. President and his Cabinet to protect the Nation and its citizenry from terrorism, not to lend their power and authority to terrorism’s promotion. How might federal prosecutors apply terrorism statutes to our own Government officials? Under what set of facts or under what circumstances might federal prosecutors indict high Government officials on a charge of terrorism? Let’s take a look at one of the Terrorism Statutes. 18 U.S.C. § 2331 says in part, “The term ‘international terrorism’ means activities that—(A)  involve violent acts or acts dangerous to human life that are a violation of the criminal laws of the United States or of any State, or that would be a criminal violation if committed within the jurisdiction of the United States or of any State;(B)  appear to be intended—(i)  to intimidate or coerce a civilian population;(ii)  to influence the policy of a government by intimidation or coercion; or(iii)  to affect the conduct of a government by mass destruction, assassination or kidnapping; and(C)  occur primarily outside the territorial jurisdiction of the United States, or transcend national boundaries in terms of the means by which they are accomplished, the persons they appear intended to intimidate or coerce, or the locale in which their perpetrators operate or seek asylum;(2)  the term ‘national of the United States’ has the meaning given such term in section 101(a)(22) of the Immigration and Nationality Act;(3)  the term ‘person’ means any individual or entity capable of holding a legal or beneficial interest in property;(4)  the term ‘act of war’ means any act occurring in the course of—(A)  declared war;(B)  armed conflict, whether or not war has been declared, between two or more nations; or(C)  armed conflict between military forces of any origin; and(5)  the term ‘domestic terrorism’ means activities that—(A)  involve acts dangerous to human life that are a violation of the criminal laws of the United States or of any State;(B)  appear to be intended—(i)  to intimidate or coerce a civilian population;(ii)  to influence the policy of a government by intimidation or coercion; or(iii) to affect the conduct of a government by mass destruction, assassination, or kidnapping; and(C) occur primarily within the territorial jurisdiction of the United States.”This Nation is fully capable of containing the criminal actions of individual Islamic extremists who seek to disrupt the lives of our citizenry and the tranquility of our Nation. Horrible as such criminal conduct is, its impact on the foundation of our Country’s laws, our Country’s Constitution, and our Country’s institutions is nonetheless, narrow.A U.S. Government Official’s terrorist acts, though, disrupt the foundation of our Republic. We see a paradox in this. The public presumes that domestic and foreign policy objectives mandate, inter alia, combating Islamic terrorism. But, suppose policy objectives promote the converse? Suppose the U.S. President and his Cabinet design and implement policies destructive to the Nation’s survival? If the policy threatens or intimidates the citizenry, then the President and his Cabinet are the terrorists. This may seem incongruous, but the possibility exists.18 U.S.C. § 2331 discusses terrorism apropos of actions of those on Government, of those affecting the conduct of Government. But, officials of Government, from the highest to the lowest, are servants of the People. True power and authority rests in the American people not in Government. So, if Government officials design and implement policies deliberately causing harm to or provoking harm in the citizenry, those officials are terrorists and they do fall under the purview of the terrorism laws. Through sanctimonious words and pseudo moral imperatives the President, Barack Obama, and his hopeful replacement, Hillary Clinton, implement policies detrimental to, anathema to the well-being of the Nation. They conduct their treacherous acts through the sanctity of the Office of the Chief Executive. That makes their treachery easier to hide. But the horror these reprehensible creatures unleash on our Country is far greater than any horror one or more loathsome Islamic terrorists desire to unleash upon us, and more insidious, too, since public officials can hide their evil deeds in the cloak of their Office. Radical Islamic terrorists cannot. Obama and Clinton turn the inviolability of high public office into a travesty, into an abomination.Consider: by implementing policy bringing hundreds of thousands of Muslims into this Country whom the F.B.I. and other counterintelligence officials cannot reasonably examine for potential threat to our Nation and to our citizenry, the U.S. President, Barack Obama, has endangered the American citizenry. Once here, they spread like locust over the landscape of our Country. They are difficult to locate; difficult to keep track of. Far better it would be to keep them from crossing our borders. Problematic enough it is to have to deal with illegal infiltration by Islamic extremists into our Country were our borders closed to Muslims. It is quite another matter where Presidential edict allows infiltration easily through lax immigration policies or policies specifically designed to contravene immigration laws enacted by Congress. Obama has permitted tens of thousands of Muslims from the Middle East to enter our Country—notwithstanding the problems Muslim refugees have caused for Europe. Clinton intends to allow hundreds of thousands more Muslims to enter our Country. That is insane.Hillary Clinton intends to continue Obama’s policy if she becomes President. She has admitted as much. Indeed, she revels in it. Both Clinton and Obama hide their goal—undermining the stability of our institutions and threatening the social order.Their policy doesn’t stand rational scrutiny, even as it is cloaked in high-sounding moral rhetoric. For, their domestic policy threatens the safety and well-being of the American citizenry. Such policy is, arguably, an act of terrorism perpetrated against the American citizenry. They mask their treacherous aims under the color of high Office, under the cloak of moral necessity, and under the guise of bald exigency. They are safe from potential harm their seemingly high-minded policies cause. The average American is not. Europeans have learned well the dangers posed by Muslims. What is the response of Obama and Clinton? Americans are expected to take upon themselves the same dangers that Europeans face. It is the right thing to do, so Obama and Clinton say. Application of the dubious ethical scheme of Consequential utilitarianism supersedes the duty owed to our Nation under our Constitution. Terrorism indeed, swathed in an infant’s soft blanket.

CONCLUSION; IMPORTANT REITERATION

Barack Obama’s destructive Administration is rapidly drawing to a close. Our Nation’s Constitution, its institutions, and our security have survived relatively intact. If Hillary Clinton succeeds Obama, our Nation will not survive. She will dismantle our Bill of Rights. She will destroy our economy. She will endanger our citizenry. Clinton will subordinate our laws and jurisprudence to that of other Nations and international tribunals. She will misuse our military, financing unwinnable wars with our tax dollars, sacrificing the lives of our soldiers on military campaigns and escapades that have nothing to do with defending our freedoms or preserving our National Security. Clinton will engage in Nation building, while dismantling our own Nation. She will distribute hundreds of billions of dollars to other Countries, underwriting their debt and serving their needs, while destroying the credit of our own Country and ignoring our Nation’s needs. Clinton will rewrite our Nation’s history. She will thrust alien ideas of culture, morality, religion, and into the Nation’s psyche. Clinton will undermine our National Sovereignty, our National pride our uniqueness. She will compel uniformity in thought and deed. Hillary Clinton will become the Imperial Presidency.Hillary Clinton does not have the best interests of our Nation at heart. She never did. She never will. Hillary Clinton and her family prove, through their deeds, that they serve only their own personal, selfish interests and those of their secretive benefactors both in this Country and abroad. Hillary Clinton’s needs are not our Nation’s needs. Clinton’s desires and goals are not our Nation’s desires and goals. She used the Department of State as a vehicle to amass personal wealth. She will use the Office of the U.S. Presidency in the same way, dispensing ever more favors to those willing to fill her personal coffers. The fate of our Country rests in the balance.This Nation has had enough of the Clintons and of all other family dynasties. Hopefully, the American People will see through the mask of this Viper, Hillary Clinton, before it is too late. Americans must refrain from voting for Clinton. The fate of our Country rests in the balance.

[separator type="medium" style="normal" align="left"margin-bottom="25" margin_top="5"] Copyright © 2016 Roger J Katz (Towne Criour), Stephen L. D’Andrilli (Publius) All Rights Reserved.

TOM COBURN ADDS HIS NAME TO THE GROWING LIST OF PRESENT AND FORMER REPUBLICANS WHO SAY THE SENATE SHOULD HOLD A VOTE ON GARLAND. THE QUESTION IS: WHY ARE SOME REPUBLICANS CAVING IN?

TOM COBURN ADDS HIS NAME TO THE GROWING LIST OF PRESENT AND FORMER REPUBLICANS WHO SAY THE SENATE SHOULD HOLD A VOTE ON GARLAND. THE QUESTION IS: WHY ARE SOME REPUBLICANS CAVING IN?

“Twelve voices were shouting in anger, and they were all alike. No question, now, what had happened to the faces of the pigs. The creatures outside looked from pig to man, and from man to pig, and from pig to man again; but already it was impossible to say which was which.” Animal Farm, by George Orwell, 1945Can we be certain that Senate Republicans are dead-set against the confirmation of Judge Merrick Garland to a seat on the U.S. Supreme Court. Well, we know that at least one Senate Republican, Mark Steven Kirk, would like very much to see Obama’s nominee confirmed.This should come as no surprise to anyone; for Senator Kirk, the Republican, is, as we know, a virulent opponent of the right of the American people to keep and bear arms. See the Arbalest Quarrel article, titled, "Senator Kirk Can't Whitewash Merrick Garland; the Record Speaks for Itself."But, what of other Senate Republicans – those who ostensibly support the Second Amendment, such as Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina. Well, as we recently pointed out, the Senator made poignantly clear to CNN anchor Kate Bolduan that, if a confirmation is held, Judge Garland will be confirmed. Take a look at the Arbalest Quarrel article, titled, "Read the Fine Print: Garland's Confirmation Under the Microscope."Would that concern Senator Graham, presumably a staunch defender of the Second Amendment? Apparently not. After all, Senator Graham voted to confirm Obama’s first two short-list nominees to the high Court: Sonya Sotomayor, and Elena Kagan. The jurisprudential philosophy of these two Obama nominees is well known, and it is one diametrically opposed to that of Justices Thomas and Alito, and opposed, as well, to the jurisprudential philosophy of the late Justice Scalia.So, then, if Senator Graham harbored any doubts about the qualifications of Justices Sotomayor and Kagan, it obviously was not enough to prevent him from voting for their confirmation to the U.S. Supreme Court. The attitudes of Justices Sotomayor and Kagan toward the Second Amendment are well known and they are contrary to those held by Justices Thomas, Alito, and to the late Justice Scalia.Of course, Senator Graham may have been duped. But that is highly unlikely. He is highly intelligent. Could any United States Senator truly doubt that Obama would nominate a judge to the high Court without having given careful consideration to that person’s jurisprudential philosophy on a range of Constitutional issues and to that person’s methodology for deciding cases and to the impact that person’s jurisprudential philosophy would have on Americans’ fundamental rights through that person's written decisions.Recently, in the New York Times, former Republican Senator Tom Coburn, Oklahoma, added his voice to the growing chorus of seemingly staunch supporters of the Second Amendment who are calling for action on Obama’s nominee, Merrick Garland.Oddly enough, former Republican Senator Coburn says, according to the NY Times, in the article, titled, “Tom Coburn, Ex-Senator, Says Merrick Garland Should Get a Vote,” that Garland should get a vote but that this should not be taken to mean that Garland should be confirmed.Wait a minute! If Garland gets a vote there exists the possibility that he may be confirmed, and, according to Senator Graham, if Garland gets a vote, he would be confirmed, no doubt about it. So, then, what is the rationale for holding a vote if past and present Republican Senators agree that Garland will be confirmed, notwithstanding their remarks that Garland ought not to be confirmed to a seat on the high Court.Obviously, if there is no vote on the confirmation, Garland cannot be confirmed. It is logically impossible for Garland to be confirmed without a vote of the Senate. But, if Garland cannot possibly be confirmed, then why hold a vote at all? Does the Senate have nothing better to do than to hold a vote on Obama’s nominee to the U.S. Supreme Court if Garland could not possibly be confirmed? The entire vote issue on Garland is a red herring, and should be laid to rest until the next U.S. President assumes Office.If Coburn and others believe a vote on Obama’s nominee is required by law, that is false. While there is debate among legal academicians as to the import of the “advice and consent clause,” one point is abundantly clear, the U.S. President cannot, on his own authority, lawfully, unilaterally appoint a person to the U.S. Supreme Court.If, as is presently the case, the Senate does not consent to the nomination, allowing a vote on the nomination would not be consistent with the consent requirement. In fact there is nothing in the appointment’s clause and in the "advice and consent" clause of Article 2, Section 2 of the U.S. Constitution that discusses the matter of voting on a President’s nominee at all. In the present matter the Senate has spoken. The Senate has advised the President that it does not consent to the nomination of Judge Garland.Now, if Coburn and other like-minded Republicans were to argue that the Senate owes the President a vote on his nominee as a matter of professional courtesy, which, then, has nothing to do with the Senate’s obligation under the “advice and consent” clause well, consider: does the risk of snubbing a President’s nominee outweigh a threat posed to the continued preservation of the Second Amendment? It would seem that Tom Coburn would very much like to see Garland confirmed.As the NY Times reports Coburn saying, “I don’t know if he [Merrick Garland] deserves a hearing. . . . He deserves a vote out of the [Judiciary] committee.” “Tom Coburn, Ex-Senator, Says Merrick Garland Should Get a Vote,” Really? Coburn appears to be saying, although tacitly, that the Senate should dispense with a public hearing altogether – that the Senate should just hold a closed-door vote, out of the purview of the public. That would be fair? To whom? Certainly not to the American people who have more than a little stake in the matter.The mainstream media and those who call for a hearing, or a vote, or both, constantly carp that the Senate Judiciary Committee’s motivation for denying Garland a hearing and/or vote is simply to be attributed to “politics.” But, that’s mere subterfuge.The Senate Judiciary Committee is well aware that, if Garland receives a vote – whether that vote comes after or in lieu of a hearing – he will be confirmed. The House knows it; the Senate knows it; the President knows it; and the American people know it.If Garland is confirmed, the sanctity of the Second Amendment will be threatened in a manner never before seen. A threat – any feasible threat – to our fundamental rights ought never be casually dismissed as mere “politics.” That is why Senator Grassley’s Judiciary Committee must hold fast and not be swayed by rhetoric coming from surly Democrats, disloyal Republicans, and from the mainstream media that echoes and trumpets their sentiments.Once again, we are drawn back to Orwell’s allegory, "Animal Farm," which has as much application today as it had in Orwell’s time: “No question, now, what had happened to the faces of the pigs. The creatures outside looked from pig to man, and from man to pig, and from pig to man again; but already it was impossible to say which was which.”As between those Senate Democrats who are calling for the Senate Committee on the Judiciary to convene a hearing and/or hold a vote on Obama’s third nominee to the U.S. Supreme Court, Judge Merrick Garland, and those Senate Republicans who are calling for the Senate Committee on the Judiciary to convene a hearing and/or hold a vote on Obama’s third nominee to the U.S. Supreme Court – as we look at each of them – as we move back and forth among them – one to the other – from Democrat to Republican, and from Republican to Democrat – it becomes increasingly difficult to distinguish between them. So many Senate Democrats and Senate Republicans are looking awfully like one another. Aren’t they?[separator type="medium" style="normal" align="left"margin-bottom="25" margin_top="5"] Copyright © 2016 Roger J Katz (Towne Criour), Stephen L. D’Andrilli (Publius) All Rights Reserved. 

READ THE FINE PRINT: GARLAND’S CONFIRMATION UNDER THE MICROSCOPE

READ THE FINE PRINT: GARLAND’S CONFIRMATION UNDER THE MICROSCOPE

Liberal Law Professors Send Open Letter to Chairman of  Judiciary Committee, Senator Charles Grassley, Urging the Senator to Hold a Hearing and Vote on Obama’s Nominee to the U.S. Supreme Court, Judge Merrick Garland.

The Arbalest Quarrel Responds, Sending its Own Letter to Senator Grassley, Rebutting Claims and Assertions of Law Professors.

“For it is a truth, which the experience of ages has attested, that the people are always most in danger when the means of injuring their rights are in the possession of those of whom they entertain the least suspicion.” Alexander Hamilton, Federalist No. 25, 12/21/1787For the moment the stars seem aligned in Mr. Obama’s favor. So much so, he will suffer no one confounding his ambitions to subvert the U.S. Constitution, in order to weaken our Sovereign Nation, thus paving the way for an EU style North American Union. The universe does not bend backwards to President Obama’s beck and call, of course, but that does not stop him from using the power of the U.S. Presidency to obtain what he wants.Before leaving Office, Obama intends to fill the ninth seat on the U.S. Supreme Court. The Senate has confirmed Obama’s previous two short-list candidates to the Supreme Court, Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan, and he is obsessed with and adamant about confirming his third short-list candidate to the high Court before he leaves Office: Judge Merrick Garland. That possibility conveniently materialized with the passing of Justice Scalia. Obama intends to stack the deck, 5 to 4, in favor of the liberal wing of the high Court.The mainstream media has obsequiously acted on Obama’s behalf, bombarding the American public incessantly with articles and editorials, extolling Garland’s many presumed virtues. Public Officials got into the act as well. Vice President Joe Biden heralded Garland’s candidacy in a speech he gave to law students at Georgetown Law School. That speech was followed by one Obama, himself, gave to Chicago Law School Students, where, ironically enough, the President had, at one time, taught “Constitutional law” – with emphasis, since he became President, more on the “CON” and less on the “LAW.” Harry Reid, Senate Minority Leader, added his two-cents on the Floor of the Senate, as well.The cacophony of gushing praise continues unabated through endless iterations. Most disheartening, several liberal law scholars have added their own voice to the mix. They claimed, in a letter sent by email, on March 31, addressed to Senators Grassley and Leahy, that no inference can be drawn from Garland’s judicial record to suggest that Garland would pose a threat to the preservation of the Second Amendment were he to gain a seat on the high Court.The central theme of the scholars’ letter to Senators Grassley and Leahy is that Garland’s actions in the Parker and Reno cases do not illustrate anything that might hint of the Judge’s legal and philosophical views toward the Second Amendment. We, at the Arbalest Quarrel, however, vehemently disagree with that assertion. Parker and Reno tell the public much about Garland’s jurisprudence and methodological approach to Second Amendment legal and logical analysis. The Scholars’ letter is cagey because they hesitate to assert that Garland would be an avid defender of the Second Amendment – which in definitive contrast, as we know, Justice Scalia definitely was.The Arbalest Quarrel therefore felt compelled to send out its own letter to Senator Grassley, in rebuttal to the March 31 letter the Senator received from the liberal legal scholars. We have posted our letter for your review, in an accompanying post on this site. Please see the Professors' March 31 letter sent by email to Senators Grassley and Leahy, for a side-by-side comparison.We feel it important to respond to the letter from academia for another reason. The academicians’ letter marks the first instance, we are aware of, that provides for public consumption something transcending empty praise – insofar as the letter actually discusses the Judge’s decisional law.There are two things Americans must keep uppermost in mind, concerning Obama’s most recent nomination to the U.S. Supreme Court.One, Garland’s jurisprudential philosophy toward the Second Amendment and the methodology he uses to decide legal cases are in perfect sync with those of Justices Kagan and Sotomayor. So, don’t for a second think that Judge Garland is a “centrist” – a word invented by the news media to describe him. As applied to Garland, the word is inappropriate, even deceptive. What is our justification for saying this?Consider the jurisprudential philosophy of Justices Kagan and Sotomayor, Obama’s first two short-list nominees to sit on the U.S. Supreme Court. Their view of the Second Amendment and the methodology they employ to decide cases are now well known. Their attitude toward the Second Amendment, in particular, is not one of deference. It is one diametrically opposed to that of the late Justice Scalia.It would stretch credulity to believe that Obama would nominate a person to the high Court who did not share his own views toward the Bill of Rights in general and toward the Second Amendment in particular. Justices Kagan and Sotomayor clearly share Obama’s views. Judge Merrick Garland is no different. The three Judges, Kagan, Sotomayor, and Garland, think alike, act alike, and operate as one. Together, they comprise three arms of a “Judicial Equilateral Triangle,” by which and through which Obama intends to defeat the Second Amendment.Two, if the Senate acquiesces to the shrill, belligerent cries for a hearing and vote on Garland’s nomination to a seat on the U.S. Supreme Court, Garland likely will be confirmed. How do we know this? Senator Lindsey Graham, Republican South Carolina, who met with Judge Garland, briefly discussed that meeting with Kate Bolduan, broadcast journalist for CNN, on Thursday, April 21, 2016.Yes, Senator Graham did assert there is less than a “snowball’s chance” that the Senate will relent and give Garland a hearing while Obama remains in Office. But, he added a chilling prognostication. He made poignantly clear that, if the next President were to nominate Garland and if the Senate, at that time, proceeds to a hearing and vote, Garland will be confirmed.By the way, Senator Graham, voted to confirm Obama’s previous two nominees to the Supreme Court: Sotomayor and Kagan. He made clear enough, during the CNN interview, he would vote to confirm Garland too were the Senate to hold a hearing on the nomination.During the interview on CNN, Senator Graham referred to Garland, as “a good man,” “a fine man.” The Senator added: “not one blemish on [Garland’s] record.” We must ask: is Senator Graham familiar with the Judge’s decisional law? If so, the Senator does not, apparently, see that Garland’s antagonism toward the Second Amendment constitutes “a blemish.” How many other Republicans would vote to confirm Judge Garland’s nomination to a seat on the U.S. Supreme Court?Of course if Hillary Clinton – who is virtually assured of the Democratic Party nomination for U.S. President – becomes the next President of the United States, assuming she doesn’t face criminal indictment, the Second Amendment will be under incessant attack by the three Branches of Government. It will be under attack in the Halls of Congress; it will be under attack in the Executive Office; and it will be under attack in the highest Court of the Land. The public will witness the liberal wing of the Court systematically out-voting the conservative wing, 5 to 4, on matters directly impacting the Bill of Rights, at every turn. Justice Scalia’s legacy on the high Court will be undone.The bottom line: The U.S. Senate should not and better not accede to a hearing on Obama’s nomination of Garland on the U.S. Supreme Court. We cannot let Obama stack the deck with another liberal Justice who will destroy our sacred Bill of Rights by judicial fiat. Hopefully, a Republican President will succeed Obama and nominate a Jurist to the high Court whose jurisprudential philosophy and methodology for reviewing cases is in the same vein as that of Justice Scalia. But God help the American people if Hillary Clinton becomes the 45^th President of the United States. We all know what that portends for the Nation, its citizenry, and for the Bill of Rights. It won’t be pleasant.[separator type="medium" style="normal" align="left"margin-bottom="25" margin_top="5"] Copyright © 2015 Roger J Katz (Towne Criour), Stephen L. D’Andrilli (Publius) All Rights Reserved.

CITIZENS BEWARE: JUSTICE SERVED ON A SILVER PLATTER SET TO DESTROY THE SECOND AMENDMENT

THE POSITIONING OF JUDGE MERRICK GARLAND FOR A LIBERAL-WING TAKEOVER OF THE U.S. SUPREME COURT

PART 2A

In the previous article in this series we began with a discussion of our concern over President Obama’s nomination of Judge Merrick Garland to the U.S. Supreme Court. We analyzed a Second Amendment case brought before the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, Circuit. The case is Parker vs. District of Columbia, 478 F.3d 370 (D.C. Cir. 2007), petition for en banc hearing denied, Parker vs. District of Columbia, 2007 U.S. App. LEXIS 11029 (D.C. Cir. 2007). An analysis of that case gives an inkling as to Judge Garland’s view of Americans’ Second Amendment right of the people to keep and bear arms. It’s not good. In this Article we provide further perspective.Judge Garland presently serves as one of ten Judges on the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. Service on that Court is a stepping stone to a seat on the U.S. Supreme Court. In fact the late Justice Antonin Scalia also served as a judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit before President Reagan nominated him to the United States Supreme Court. The U.S. Senate subsequently confirmed the nomination in 1986. Justice Scalia served as an esteemed Associate Justice on the U.S. Supreme Court until his untimely death on February 13, 2016.Many legal experts consider the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit to be the second most powerful Court in the Country. Other U.S. Circuit Courts of Appeal give considerable deference to a decision by that Court, but they are not obligated to do so. A decision by the U.S. Supreme Court, though, has binding effect over the Nation and its territories. Given the monumental impact of a U.S. Supreme Court decision, it is incumbent on the U.S. Senate to be circumspect in handling a nomination to the high Court. The decisions of the high Court impact the very fabric of society and, in fact, the existence of a free Republic. The framers of our Constitution made certain the U.S. Senate shall have the final say on all appointments to the high Court. The President shall nominate but the only the U.S. Senate can confirm the appointment. The Senate proffers its advice and consent, consistent with Article 2, Section 2 of the U.S. Constitution. Thus, the framers of our Constitution intended, and for good reason, to preclude a President from packing the Court. The U.S. Senate, though, seeks – and rightfully so – to protect the legacy of Justice Scalia, a man who devoted his life to – and focused his brilliant mind on – preserving our Bill of Rights.President Obama is improperly attempting to force the Senate’s hand in this matter and he is using the medium of a compliant Press to do so. He waxes poetic over the intellectual ability and moral character of Judge Garland and the Press echoes the President’s sentiments. One phrase President Obama uses in defining Judge Garland, though, should give the U.S. Senate and the American people pause.The President says Judge Garland is a “consensus builder.” Consider the meaning of that phrase for a moment. The President is saying Judge Garland would likely bridge the gap between the liberal wing of the Court and the conservative wing – a position, at the moment, filled by Justice Kennedy. But, Judge Garland is said to fall “to the left” of Justice Kennedy. Thus, the assertion that Judge Garland would act as a “consensus builder” on the high Court means, disconcertingly, that Judge Garland – serving as Justice Garland – would hand the liberal wing of the Court a decisive majority in every case. Justice Garland would likely support every cause promoted by the progressive left in this Country. The shattering of the Bill of Rights is not a pleasant thought to contemplate.The idea is not wild fancy. Judge Garland, sitting on the U.S. Supreme Court as Justice Garland, would take an active part in drafting opinions weakening the Second Amendment right of the people to keep and bear arms. Most news articles fail to mention Judge Garland’s clear antipathy toward the Second Amendment if those articles happen to mention the Second Amendment at all.Yet, it would be an affront to the memory of Justice Scalia to have, as his replacement, a man – regardless of ability and temperament – who would not continue Justice Scalia’s deference to our Bill of Rights.How do we know this? In our previous article we provided you with a comprehensive analysis of one Second Amendment case, Parker vs. District of Columbia, 478 F.3d 370 (D.C. Cir. 2007), petition for en banc hearing denied, Parker vs. District of Columbia, 2007 U.S. App. LEXIS 11029 (D.C. Cir. 2007). An analysis of that case gives an inkling into the mindset of Justice Garland. He is not at all a proponent of the Second Amendment. But consider: would President Obama honestly nominate a person to serve on the high Court if that person professed a strong propensity to preserve and strengthen the Second Amendment?Do we find in President Obama’s previous two nominations, whom the U.S. Senate confirmed, namely, Justice Elena Kagan and Justice Sonja Sotomayor, to be proponents of the Second Amendment? If you think so, you should take another look at the seminal Second Amendment case, District of Columbia vs. Heller, 554 U.S. 570, 128 S. Ct. 2783, 171 L. Ed. 2d 637 (2008). Those two Justices, along with Justices Ruth Bader Ginsberg and Stephen Breyer – the liberal-wing of the Court – dissented from the Majority in that case.Had Judge Garland served on the high Court in lieu of Justice Scalia, at the time the Heller case was decided, the outcome would have been entirely different. Of that, there can be no reasonable doubt. The liberal-wing of the Court would have had a majority and that majority would hold that: the right of the people to keep and bear arms does not entail an individual right, and that the Second Amendment has no meaning except in respect to one who serves in a military capacity.So, contrary to protestations of President Obama, as echoed through and trumpeted by a submissive news media, the U.S. Senate is not shirking its duty by refusing to consider Judge Garland’s confirmation. President Obama tells the Senate that it must do its job, just as President Obama has done his. He says, contemptuously, even perniciously: “to suggest that someone as qualified and respected as Merrick Garland doesn’t even deserve a hearing, let alone an up-or-down vote, to join an institution as important as our Supreme Court, when two-thirds of Americans believe otherwise — that would be unprecedented.” The U.S. Senate Committee on the Judiciary takes its role very seriously and it has in fact acted by choosing not to act on the Garland nomination at this time. Indeed, it has taken the only appropriate action it can take at this time – a step necessary to protect our Bill of Rights. The U.S. Senate is fulfilling its obligation under the U.S. Constitution, as the framers of the Constitution entrusted to it. Keep in mind: through Obama’s two prior nominations that the Senate confirmed, the composition of the high Court now tilts dangerously leftward. Equilibrium would be entirely lost were the Senate to confirm the nomination of Judge Garland.In the next article in this series we take a close look at a second U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit case – one that Judge Garland had a hand in – a case that bespeaks a positive legal bent away from – not toward – the preservation of the Second Amendment – a case decided by the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, eight years before Justice Scalia wrote the Majority opinion in Heller.Citizens beware! Our right to keep and bear arms is grossly threatened – more so than ever before. Stand up and demand that your elected officials protect the Second Amendment![separator type="medium" style="normal" align="left"margin-bottom="25" margin_top="5"] Copyright © 2015 Roger J Katz (Towne Criour), Stephen L. D’Andrilli (Publius) All Rights Reserved.