CNN: Sessions will undo decades of progress [A conversation with Leftist media bias]
****READER’S NOTE: The following article by Linda Coates appeared 11/19/16 on CNN’s website. cnn.com/2016/11/18/opinions/sessions-appointment-undo-progress-coates/index.html My commentary in reply to this CNN reporter’s statements are in [BRACKETS].
(CNN)The inevitable confirmation of Sen. Jeff Sessions — Donald Trump’s nominee to be attorney general as the successor of Eric Holder and Loretta Lynch, the first African-American male and female to hold that office, will slow, if not halt, the momentum gained during the last eight years to reform our criminal justice system.
[Apparently, using the Department of Justice to oppress whistleblowers from within government agencies, and refusing to enforce Federal laws overwhelmingly approved of by the citezens of the USA can now be described as “reform.” This kind of “reform” has a chilling effect on the rule of law and respect for civil order.]
Holder and Lynch prioritized combating racial profiling and selective policing within communities of color. [They consistently refused to consider factors other than race, income inequality, and guns when confronted with patterns of criminal behavior in locations such as Detroit, Philadelphia, and Chicago. Rather than support for policing tequniques proven to reduce criminal behavior, Lynch and Holder (and Obama) actively encouraged a victimhood mentality in minority communities and praised violent riots as ligitimate protests.]
In a twist of fate, by contrast, Sen. Sessions’ judicial appointment by President Reagan to the federal bench stalled in the Senate Judiciary Committee — the very committee on which Sessions now sits. Their refusal to confirm him was largely the result of a number of racially charged statements Sessions allegedly made in the 1980s. [The allegations made by an associate who made further unfounded and unproven accusations agains another colleague of Sessions, were simply vapid: Claiming that Sessions would speak approvingly of the KKK while in the course of successfully proscuting the Alabama head of the organization on capital murder charges (for which he was executed) in the case of the killing of a young black man, subsequently bringing civil charges and a $7 million judgement that bankrupted the Alabama KKK, is transparent political smearing.]
But a man who, because of those statements, was previously deemed unfit to preside over a court of law [by a partisan coalition, based on unproven and unlikely accusations], may now preside over the Department of Justice, placing the future of any progress made on Holder’s and Lynch’s watch in doubt. [Which, if true, would be an unalloyed victory for the American system of law and justice – under which all individuals are ostensibly to be judged by their actions and evidence, not by their skin color or sexual orientation. Holder and Lynch valued Social Justice over actual justice, refusing to prosecute black criminals and releasing violent ilegal aliens to roam freely and cause mayhem, while bringing crushing hate-crime charges against religious individuals who did not follow the ever-expanding politically correct and arbitrary dictates of “civil rights” regulations.]
Sessions’ statements will most assuredly be used as Democratic fodder during his confirmation hearing. But with a Republican majority, the confirmation hearing will largely be a formality. [One can only hope that with a landslide victory in the recent election, Republicans will find the backbone to respect the wishes of their employers – US.]
His rhetoric will, however, have a big impact on minority perceptions of the prominent civil rights agenda of the Department of Justice, which has gained increased visibility and scrutiny in an era of publicized police shootings. [The patronizing and paternalistic agenda of the Obama DOJ has left inter-racial relations in this country worse than they have been since 1968, and the intentional and irresponsible glorification of criminals such as Trayvon Martin and Michael Brown, who died as a result of (oftentimes) fully justified police actions has shown the political establishment to be fully unhinged from reality. Meanwhile, violent crime in the black community has resulted in the nearly-unknown tragedy of the “execution-style” cold-blooded murder of an 8 year-old black child in Chicago by black gang members sending a “message” to the black gang-member father of the innocent boy. The violence and murder rates in Chicago (a Leftist utopia without a single legal gun store, where pistols are illegal to carry) are staggering, but the DOJ is silent.]
Civil rights groups denounce Jeff Sessions as AG
Under Attorneys General Holder and Lynch, the Department of Justice has made powerful strides to restore racial minorities’ faith in the criminal justice system. [By playing facvorites and making sure that minorities were not treated to equal tratment before the law. This to the detriment of minority communities in Batimore, Ferguson, Chicago, New York, Philadelpia, Phoenix, Seattle, Minneappolis, Washington, DC, and more. Major upswings in violent criminality, riots, and gang behavior – not to mention a new epidemic of heroin abuse – have been a result of law enforcement being targeted for assasination-style killings and lack of community support.] They acted with an eye toward reversing the devastating impact that President Bill Clinton’s omnibus crime bill had on communities of color, and reducing the astronomical incarceration rate that resulted from harsher penalties imposed for possession and distribution of crack cocaine (more prevalent in economically disadvantaged communities of color) than those imposed for powder cocaine (which was more prevalent within affluent white communities). [This may be true, but illegal seizure of possesions under civil forfeiture rules, without due proccess, have given police an incentive to prioritize drug crime investigation above property crimes. This has not been addressed as yet.]
Yet even under successive African-American attorneys general, the widely publicized use of excessive and deadly force by police officers against unarmed black men [more widely publicized, but not more prevelant], and the seeming inability of local prosecutors to secure convictions against those officers [usually because of a complete lack of evidence to convict upon, other than public opinion], has all but depleted the faith of communities of color in the department’s ability achieve its mission. [Of course, having the POTUS, AG, Sharpton, CNN, MSNBCABCFOX, et al push this narrative 24/7 for weeks in aftermath of any incident, may have played a role.]
Indeed, the Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division was intended to act as a backstop against failed state prosecutions and serve as a neutral advocate for communities who feared that the objectivity of local prosecutors would be compromised by personal relationships or prejudices.
But with each failure to indict, mistrial and acquittal, the department has been criticized for its lack of effectiveness to ensure justice for communities of color. [Bringing charges for political reasons, or because of uninformed mob pressure, is not a winning plan for winning cases when the facts do not support the charges.]
Still, Holder and Lynch were vocal about their intolerance of civil rights violations. [Hypocritically so.] They were vocal even when they recognized the limitations on their ability to prosecute such violations under a body of Supreme Court precedent that is overwhelmingly deferential to police officers’ assessment of the appropriate amount of force to use. [Again, armchair quarterbacks make very poor referees.]
The perception of a powerful and conscientious watchdog in the Justice Department’s top job gave communities hope for the future and tempered the backlash in response to perceived miscarriages of justice.
Surely Jeff Sessions, a man accused of calling prominent Civil Rights groups like the NAACP “un-American,” [because of strong links to the Anti-American Communist movement, which is a fully defensible arguement] – and condemning the Klu Klux Klan for supposed marijuana use (rather than its legacy of hate) [again, Sessions first executed the head of the Alababma KKK on murder charges, then bankrupted the state KKK], will further undermine the African-American community’s faith that his department will act in — let alone prioritize — the interests of communities of color. [Perhaps the Attorney General will in future actually tak seriously his oath of office, to uphold the US Constituion and the Laws of the United States, without giving favor or consideration on basis of race, color, or gender. Even his political opponents have said that Sessions would be that kind of AG.]
But if the presidential election has taught us anything, it is that offensive rhetoric, perhaps even 30 years removed, may be wholly irrelevant to people who prioritize other issues more.
Frankly, it remains to be seen what types of criminal prosecutions Sen. Sessions will indeed prioritize, but he has already shown his hand as a political operator. Remember when then-candidate Trump promised to instruct his attorney general to appoint a special prosecutor to investigate Democratic Presidential nominee Hillary Clinton? Sen. Sessions has already called for a deeper investigation into the Clinton Foundation. Attorney General Sessions would have prosecutorial power.
More than anything, Sessions’ appointment is an obvious forecast of the impending ideological shift across multiple branches of government.
With one Supreme Court vacancy in hand, and perhaps another two in the bush, Sessions’ nomination signals that President-elect Trump is prioritizing a reversion back to a time when America, and its justice system, was “great.” Sen. Session reiterated that same message on Trump’s campaign trail. When it comes to prosecuting civil rights violations, let’s hope Sen. Sessions’ reference point of greatness is at least in this century.
The Choices, Post GOP Debate
Donald Trump is a great entertainer, but his strongest conviction is his own excellence.
When cornered by his support for most of Obama and Hillary’s positions in international affairs he simply claimed that he would negotiate “better deals” regarding: China trade, Iranian nukes, incasion of Libya, relations with Cuba, standing up to Putin and dealing with ISIS. Not a stance that carried a lot of water…
The contrast with Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio, who made arguments based on convictions, was stark. Whether you disagree with him or not, Rubio made emotional and logical arguments for his positions. Ted Cruz was as usual consistent on insisting that the Constitution and well being of the United States itself and the rule of law should be held as primary values.
Kasich simply did not sound like he knew what he was talking about and wanted to make everyone feel good by saying that somehow, some way if we can all get together everything will be OK, despite math and reality.
I was originally a very strong supporter of Ben Carson. I believe that we need more professionals with life experience in the political realm to season the experiences of lawyers and politicians. His unfortunate lack of experience with political language led to several misunderstandings during his campaign, but I would hate for the final splash made by the Ben Carson 2016 presidential run to be a bid in support of someone who publicly contradicted all of Ben Carson’s positions and who seems to be his ideological and temperamental opposite. Endorsement of the Donald would be a huge disservice to those supporters of Carson who believe in conservative moral values to throw his support for someone who has demonstrated repeatedly that his only true value is winning.
If Trump is the eventual nominee, I will vote for him and hope for the best. He certainly seems ready to shake things up in some way, and we can pray for the best. But right now with 70% of Republicans voting for another candidate, I just wish that more would throw their support for a true conservative. At this point Ted Cruz truly is a viable alternative and has demonstrated a consistency in keeping his promises. That quality is unique and should be valued highly!
RE Rumors that Carson will support Trump
I hope first that the rumors are wrong!
I sincerely hoped that he would endorse Ted Cruz – if Ben endorses Donald then it would be a sign of political naivete. He started to lose support when his campaign began whining about supposed attacks by the Cruz campaign. Ron Paul made similar mistakes. Ben should have made peace with Ted, and united with moral constitutional conservatives. Instead he will apparently be supporting a chronically unfaithful husband, a supporter of all forms of abortion and an opportunistic showman… who Ben himself calls “shiny.” We stood up for Ben, time for him to stand on principal too. @bencarson
Deconstructing $15 Minimum Wage
So many things that we take for granted, tacitly assuming that they have always been and will always be part of the fabric of society, are in fact scams and frauds. Minimum wage laws have been on the “front burner” of political debate recently and deserve exploring.
The federal minimum wage, imposed during the Great Depression and raised numerous times through the years, is an instrument of oppression. It has always acted as a barrier to the employment of young, unskilled and minority workers – preventing these individuals from reaching the first rung of the ladder of income development.
Minimum wage laws have always been supported by labor unions because by definition labor unions despise competitive markets for labor. *(See note below.) By preventing cheap unskilled labor from entering the market and aquiring valuable skills, unions protect the artificial scarcity of labor to compete with their cartels. During the heyday of unions, both membership restrictions and wage laws were explicitly designed to reduce employment of black, Hispanic and Asian workers. (The consistent oppression of ethnic minorities by the Democratic Party and its supporting organizations dates to the 1830s and I will address in another post.)
Businesses interested in remaining viable for any length of time must allocate resources to maximize their productive utility – they do not exist to provide jobs, but rather to earn a return on investment capital. If the return is not equal to what can be earned elsewhere, the business closes and resources are available for better employment by other entrepreneurs. If labor costs are greater than the value the employees contribute, then the workers will not be employed. Instead, investment in labor-saving capital goods such as automated machinery, computers, and so on will increase.
This reality is being faced by minimum wage workers in Seattle and Los Angeles. After successful lobbying for a dramatic increase in minimum wages (to $15), many fast food restaurants are investing in computer kiosks to replace counter workers and sandwich-making machines that could realistically eliminate the need for grill cooks. The not-really-unexpected results of the “victory” of the (labor-union backed) minimum wage agitators is major spikes in teenage and immigrant unemployment.
The cost to our whole society is immense. At this point in time our next generation of wage earners is getting the shaft, but not because they are victims of oppression by employers offering minimum wage. Simply put, American teens as a whole are possibly the most entitled and self-centered generation in history. With a large number of high school graduates lacking in math, reading and logic skills (having majored in texting, Xbox, etc) and having been taught that they deserve to succeed in whatever they desire, employers will prefer to hire people who have already been employed and educated in the real world skill of showing up to work, on time, to work.
Young people who find it hard to find a job often continue to go to school, gaining more paper endorsements and (usually) student loans, graduate with few prospects and oftentimes begin working at a low wage job outside their field of study.
Would it not be wiser to allow students to learn marketable skills in high school, and for employers to be able to offer low-wage entry level positions which allow new hires to be trained and vetted for more advanced jobs?
My own work experience began at age 14, earning a fraction of the minimum wage as I learned landscaping skills. My second year, I was earning nearly double minimum wage working for the same business. I’m grateful for the experience. Minimum wage jobs are not intended to be careers. They should be just steps to experience and opportunities to recognize one’s aptitudes and abilities in the real world.
Let’s not smother the opportunities for our citizens in the name of social justice or “fairness” the best social improvement program is a job.
*In my hometown and the surrounding areas organized labor has negotiated the unemployment of entire mining companies and massive layoffs at foundries. Unions are expensive to their members, to the employers, and to society as a whole by preventing the most efficient allocation of the scarce resources of labor, capital and materials.
The GOP conundrum
The 2016 presidential election cycle is interesting for the vast majority of Americans for several reasons. The first is that this is the first election in decades where there are actually different types of candidates on the ballot:
We have two populist candidates: Donald Trump the Nationalist and Bernie Sanders the Socialist – Put them together and you have the Nazis (National Socialists)!
We have a flip-flopping “conservative establishment” candidate in Marco Rubio and a leftist status quo politician in Hillary Clinton.
Note: Hillary is not only a conniving self-centered elitist, but is also guilty of blatant criminal behavior including all kinds of security violations, aiding enemies of the US, betrayal of our embassy staff in Benghazi, and perjury. If not for the traditional obstruction of taxpayer’s interests by the State Department, covering her crimes and delaying justice as much as possible, she would already be serving life in Federal prison!
Finally, we have a true outsider willing to call his own party leaders on the carpet for their lies. When the Republican Senate leaders lied to the conservative Senate members only Cruz was willing to call them out by name:
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2015/07/24/cruz-on-senate-floor-accuses-gop-leader-mcconnell-lying.html
Why do the good old boys in the Senate country club complain about the fact that he criticized them, saying “This isn’t how it’s done here!”? If his accusations were false why do they not contest his claims?
It reminds me of the Joe McCarthy investigations regarding Russian spies in the State Department 60+ years ago. Senator McCarthy’s question was simple: Are there Communists working in the State Department? He was called a paranoid witch hunter, but KGB documentation released in the 1990s proved that there actually were a significant number of double agents working in the State Department on behalf of the KGB for Stalin at the time, receiving payments for spying. Even though Joe was right, he is still despised for making waves, seeking truth in the Senate.
Attempts by Ron Paul and Herman Cain break the Establishment mold in seasons past both failed to succeed, for very different reasons. Ron Paul had exciting ideas regarding getting the government out of the personal business of American citizens – however he allowed his followers to lead the campaign rather than leading himself. (Of course the GOP establishment was terrified that some of his ideas could actually become reality thereby limiting severely their vested interest in the status quo.) Herman Cain on the other hand had a simple and clear message in his 9-9-9 tax plan, but fell victim to character assassination by leftists a la Justice Clarence Thomas.
In this cycle the status quo Republican candidates have completely failed to inspire voter’s enthusiasm, and an “outsider” true to conservative Republican principles in the form of Ted Cruz is truly the best bet for the party. We have now the unique opportunity to elect a conservative who is not wishy washy and who has actually kept his campaign promises as a senator (unlike Marco Rubio and his promise to stand against illegal immigration). Ted is not only intelligent and articulate, he is also a true believer in the Constitution and faithful to the idea of America as envisioned by the founding fathers.
The Tea Party revolution of 2010 was led by true conservatives who were able to spread the message of freedom, equality before the law, rejection of unfair taxation, and government accountability. The GOP establishment has completely forgotten its lesson and unless it remembers why there is now a Republican majority in both houses of Congress they stand to lose permanently.
The 10th
The US Constitution is famous for good reason, as the foundation of the longest-lived constitutional republic in history. Unfortunately its genius is in many ways ignored today by those who claim to serve, support, interpret and act upon its dictates. The secret of the Constitution is not in the powers it awards to the US government, but in the powers that it denies.
The Constitution’s moral basis is that every human innately deserves the right to self-determination and freedom. The ability to learn, act, share ideas, build, worship, defend one’s own person and property, to reap the rewards of ingenuity and hard work and even Luck are protected by the Constitution as long as the rights of others to the same are not infringed. The Founding Fathers by and large were keen students of history both ancient and modern. From the Old Testament and the Magna Carta to the laws of Sparta and Athens, from lawgivers such as Moses and Hammurabi, and with the political philosophy of John Locke, Thucidides, Adam Smith, and others they wrestled a system of government to be administered by imperfect men.
The 10th Amendment in the Bill of Rights specifies explicitly that the rights of the government are small and limited, but the rights of the people on whom the government’s authority rests are not.
Themes from the 1787 US Cent
This Franklin Cent signifies some of the themes I hope to address in this blog:
“FUGIO” – Literally, “Time flies” – so it pays to know what history is teaching.
“MIND YOUR BUSINESS” – Franklin meant to pay attention to your own concerns first, but also to the events around you.
“UNITED STATES/WE ARE ONE” – The new US Constitution was ratified in 1787, the year these coins were issued. The unity of the country and the strength of its association are shown by the unbroken chain signifiying the member states.
The lessons of history, the facts of science and economics, the logic of the Constitution all fascinate me and hopefully you also!
1787 Cents 