Esoteric Meandering Shouting Into the Void

Dwain Northey (Gen X)

To Them We Owe

© Don Nielsen More By Don Nielsen

Published by Family Friend Poems June 2014 with permission of the author.

Happened today, and in the past;
Sacrifice made, for ours to last.

Wives to widows, families torn;
Gave their lives, for them we mourn.

Gone forever, souls are lost;
Freedom comes, with this cost.

Enjoy the life, they did preserve;
Fate they suffered, did not deserve.

On this day, lest we forget;
To them we owe, our life in debt.

Don Nielsen. “To Them We Owe.” Family Friend Poems, Jun 2014. https://www.familyfriendpoems.com/poem/to-them-we-owe

The Fallen

© Randall W. West More By Randall W. West

Published by Family Friend Poems May 13, 2022 with permission of the author.

Fragile is a single life the brave so freely give.

Bound for immortality, their souls will surely live.

Death, don’t be proud for what you took, they freely gave away.

Their quest for freedom far outweighed the fear that you convey.

They joined the ranks of warriors, staying vigil day and night.

They often skipped a meal or two, but they never missed a fight.

God bless the men and women whose fighting days are done.

Say a special prayer at night for each and every one.

Rest assured that you will find throughout the coming years

These fallen warriors will return in the hearts of all their peers!

If we forget their sacrifice, their deaths will be in vain.

Let’s stand beside their loved ones as we sing their last refrain:

You’ve come upon our heaven’s gate

You surely won’t have long to wait.

The saints will take good care of you,

But there is still a lot to do.

You’ve joined the ranks of everyone

Who fought so freedom could be won.

Although your job on earth is done,

Your work in heaven’s just begun.

Randall W. West. “The Fallen.” Family Friend Poems, May 2022. https://www.familyfriendpoems.com/poem/the-fallen-6

On this Memorial Day I thought I would publish a couple Poems that others have written, and I feel adequately convey the solemn yet grateful day that we observe annually. We should never forget those that signed an open contract to serve, those that without hesitation wrote a check they knew may result in death or injury.

For all those the served All Gave Some, Some Gave All…

Dwain Northey (Gen X)

Conspiracies have been in the historical lexicon probably ever since man was able to tell a story but some of those conspiracies have lasted centuries. There is the Illuminati, the Templars, the Free Masons (which may be connected to the Templars), 100s of conspiracies around the Catholic Church, many around religion in general.

In the U.S. there are the tales of intrigue around Lincolns Assassination as well as JFK, there are legions of theorist that will tell you that the moon landing was staged or that the earth is actually flat. These conspiracies are fanciful and relatively harmless, as far a I know no one has injured or killed someone over their flat earth machinations.

The current round of ridiculous conspiracies are in fact dangerous and potentially life threatening. The belief that COVID19 isn’t real or that it was a manufactured bioweapon is ludicrous and deadly. The fact is that the virus Globally, as of 24 May 2023, there have been 766,895,075 confirmed cases of COVID-19, including 6,935,889 deaths, reported to WHO. As of 23 May 2023, a total of 13,355,264,024 vaccine doses have been administered. I am sorry but those numbers don’t sound like the common cold to me. The insanity is that some how we stopped believing in science and I know that isn’t a historical anomaly. In the early 20^th century, a microscopic killer circled the entire globe in four months, claiming the lives of more than 21 million people. The United States lost 675,000 people to the Spanish flu in 1918-more casualties than World War I, World War II, the Korean War and the Vietnam War combined. There were many that didn’t want to acknowledge that reality either.

The potentially most damaging and completely absurd is the right-wing QAnon conspiracy movement emerged on the internet in late 2017. While followers of the QAnon movement claim a variety of different beliefs, the main threads of QAnon’s core theory are that a network of Satan-worshipping pedophiles control the government and media, and that a coming “storm” will sweep them out of power. The QAnon movement centered former President Donald Trump as its key leader, and said he was secretly fighting to unmask the evildoers who controlled the political and economic systems of power.

This madness was a genesis of January 6^th and the nearly catastrophic overthrow of the U.S. government. As bazar and unhinged as this conspiracy is it is still alive and spreading. I would rather chase my tail and believe that there is an Illuminati, a cabal of wealthy individuals that are pulling all the strings, than the democrats are all pedophiles and drink terrified children’s blood, i.e. adrenochrome, to stay young. That shit its f’ing ludicrous.

Throughout time there have been those that tell the truth and those who refuse to believe it. The catholic church jailed Galileo for saying that the earth was not the center of the universe and I know there are some conspiracist that will say how do I know that they aren’t right. They are the same ones that run away when I ask for definitive proof. Yes, I am a skeptic but if there is a glimmer of actual facts involved, I am willing to hear you out.

Thanks again for indulging my rant.    

Dwain Northey (Gen X)

The fear of AI is overblown—and here’s why

Is this beginning have we reached a SkyNet moment are we entering the Matrix or are we already in it?

The fears of AI may be completely over blow at the current time but who know what the future will bring. The 4 main types of artificial intelligence

• Reactive machines. Reactive machines are AI systems that have no memory and are task specific, meaning that an input always delivers the same output. …
• Limited memory. The next type of AI in its evolution is limited memory. …
• Theory of mind. …
• Self-awareness.

Will smart machines kill the labor market? One could argue that in many ways it already has. Automobile manufacturers have used welding robots for decades already and with the advances in robotic technology that has gotten far more efficient. Using reactive machines, robots, has made the manufacturing process safer and more consistent than its previous human method. The human component hasn’t been removed, it has only become more technical and specialized because those machines still need to be programed and invariably repaired.

The elephant in the room currently has to do with the ChatBot technology that can write stories in the tone or voice of author or genre. That obviously is a point of contention for the writes union because production companies are always trying to save money and even though the writers are the lowest paid in any production if those writers can be replaced with a program the money people will always take the cheapest option. I have read some of the things that these AI writers have written and currently the tone and tenor of the writing is almost obviously not written by a human. The again I am pretty sure that Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg are either AI or just aliens in human skins.

My feeling that AI must bring the subject that Andrew Yang ran his campaign on which for those of you that don’t remember was UBI, universal basic income, if robots perform many of the task that people currently do, and those people can’t earn an income the economy would collapse. It is a basic concept if a rich guy like Jeff Bezos, that has good and services he wishes to sell if there is no consumer base to buy his wears, he isn’t a rich guy anymore. I know all you Republicans are saying, this a big government handout, and you are right if the rich want to stay that way they are going to have to pay more in taxes to subsidize the masses otherwise that all they will be able to do is sit in their ivory towers and watch the world crumble outside their gates.

Dwain Northey (Gen X)

https://www.postandcourier.com/opinion/commentary/both-sides-ism-a-big-problem-in-journalism/article_9bab8232-b6bd-11e8-84ca-5784be02719c.html#newsletter-popup

This is a relatively new word in the English language lexicon and absolutely one of the most ridiculous and annoying. This absurd word refers to a tendency to treat all policy debates as if the opposing sides present equally strong arguments or are equally valid or equally. 

The common hypothesis of how this term, mindset or whatever you want to call it, puts the onus on Fox (so called) News and their slogan of fair and balanced. It has been obvious, to anyone who actually pays attention, that the catch phrase of ‘fair and balanced’ was and is completely tongue in cheek unfortunately many Americans didn’t get the memo.

This radical redefining of facts has gone to the extreme, even rewriting of history to fit both sides narrative. Teacher in primary schools in some states being to that they have to present both sides of the Civil War and of Hitlers Nazi conquest of Europe in WWII. There are not 2 sides to these historical events.

Bothsidesism of the Civil was fits the narrative that the North was the aggressor imposing itself of the sovereign rights of the South and their practice of slavery that was the economic engine of the Southern States. In some schools in the South the period from 1861 to 1865 is even taught as the War of Northern Aggression. This conflict had nothing to do with slavery, it was all about states’ rights and Lincoln had no right to outlaw the system of forced labor of an enslaved people. The fact that the system of slavery had been abolished across the free world before 1860 meant nothing to Southern Plantation owners that had built their fortunes off the backs of forced labor. Both sides advocates will tell you that the slaves were happy and that if they hadn’t been brought to America.

The same people would say the Hitler may have done some bad things, but his control of Germany made the train run on time and stated the construction of the Autobahn. The fact that he killed millions of Jews and stole their belongings is just an unfortunate consequence.

During Covid19 the White House led the country to believe in its infancy that it would be gone in a few weeks and that China had done a heroic job of containing the virus. That adoration if President Xi Jinping soon turned into ‘the China Virus’ and that this was biological weapon released intentionally.

The truth the both sides caucus neglected to report was that Trump pulled CDC scientist out of Wuhan prior to the virus being reported and if he had left them in place that the pandemic would mostly likely not have been as sever. Trump also praised China on their quick action on containing the virus. Soon after that adoration of President Xi Jinping the narrative was China Virus and that it was a biological weapon. Donald proclaimed that he immediately stopped all travel from China, real truth was it was not immediate or total.

Bothsidesism said that the virus wasn’t dangerous, that the lock down was in infringement on our rights, the vaccine, that Trump claims full credit for creating, was a globalist plot to track or poison the masses. The unfortunate truth is that the virus has killed over a million U.S. citizens and multiples of that worldwide. The facts are Trump did not create the vaccine, MRA does not change human DNA, the MRA platform has been around for at least a decade, but if you ask the both sides contingent all of these truths are lies because that’s not what they read on the internet or heard on Fox.

The last both sides argument I will hit is January 6^th, it was not a normal tourist visit and was a fucking attempted insurrection with the goal of overturning a free and fair election. There was no theft of the election from Trump, there weren’t thousands of dead voters in Georgia, 10s of thousands of undocumented people did not vote across the southwest. Get this through your thick heads your maniacal wannabe dictator lost, do what you told Hilary votes to do, “Get over it.”

Thank you for sticking though this rant has been something I need to get off my chest for awhile.

Dwain Northey (Gen X)

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/read-full-durham-report-here/

The long-awaited Durham report has been released. This was the multimillion dollars investigation the was going to definitively exonerate Donny and prove without a shadow of a doubt the Hilary Clinton colluded with Russia and it was covered up by the deep state FBI. Here is one line from the highly touted report, ‘That investigation identified several procedural errors, but overall concluded there was no “political bias” at the bureau.’

Holy Crap, you mean there wasn’t any implication to convict the Clintons or the FBI?

Well, if you listen to the Red Hat entertainment networks you will hear that this 300-page report 100% vindicates Trump and points the finger squarely at the Deep State. Which anyone with the time to actually read the report would realize that is another falsehood perpetrated and advanced by the Right Wing.

The report in reality proves nothing, even those ‘implicated’ in the investigation were cleared and eventually never charged. The genius of Merrick Garland is that he didn’t touch the report in any way and just released it unredacted and let it fall on its face all by itself. Very much unlike Bill Barr and his press conference prior to his heavily redacted comments of the Mueller Report. Barr, as attorney general, really perjured himself by falsely claiming that the Mueller report said nothing to implicate Trump of any wrongdoing. As the unredacted portions of the report where finally released we all, at least those of us who pay attention, learned that Barr’s representation of the report was another Trump era alternative set of facts.

Special counsel John Durham’s final report reveals that four years, a $6.5 million reveled absolutely nothing except a bill for American Taxpayers. I can here the Republicans screaming already, ‘The nearly two-year special counsel investigation of Russian election interference led by Robert Mueller cost nearly $32 million in total.’ To that finger pointing accusation the only real response is the investigation produced 37 indictments; seven guilty pleas or convictions; and compelling evidence that the president obstructed justice on multiple occasions. Mueller also uncovered and referred 14 criminal matters to other components of the Department of Justice. Paul Manafort, pleading guilty to conspiracy charges and agreeing to cooperate with the ongoing investigation. Mueller may have also paid for his own investigation. That’s because, as part of his plea deal with the special counsel, Manafort agreed to forfeit real estate and cash estimated to be worth between $42 million and $46 million.

Based on my math the Mueller investigation, although costing more than Durhams had a net gain of between 5 and 9 million dollars. Even though based on an obscure office of legal counsel rule that you can’t charge sitting President, and even if we could have AG Bill Barr wouldn’t have, Trump wasn’t charged for any crimes.

The facts of the Mueller Investigation will forever be ignored by the right because Barr gas lit the findings, and many Americans have the attention span of a toddler especially when it new they don’t want to hear will not change. The Durham Report will invariably be held up as a rebuke of any wrongdoing by Trump or any of his lackies by the Red Hat Media and the Orange Menace himself and that will be the narrative that those that can’t see beyond the bill of their MAGA hats will believe.

I hope that we move forward from the damage that 45 and his minions have done and that history paints would be king Donald the First as poorly as Benedict Arnold.

Thank all of you that read though my entire rant. Stay Strong (hopefully) this storm will pass.

Dwain Northey (Gen X)

https://nicenews.com/innovation/new-water-treatment-removes-forever-chemicals/

This breakthrough in being able to remove PFAS chemicals from drinking is great news but it’s also one of the solutions to a problem that we totally created for ourselves. I know the first question is what the hell are you talking about and why should I care.

First let me tell you what PFAS are: Per- and Polyfluorinated Substances (PFAS) The per-and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are a group of chemicals used to make fluoropolymer coatings and products that resist heat, oil, stains, grease, and water. Fluoropolymer coatings can be in a variety of products. I can still feel the confusion and are wondering why you should read any further.

Ok let me tell you what these chemicals are in.

 Where are PFAS found?

• Cleaning products.
• Water-resistant fabrics, such as rain jackets, umbrellas and tents.
• Grease-resistant paper.
• Nonstick cookware.
• Personal care products, like shampoo, dental floss, nail polish, and eye makeup.
• Stain-resistant coatings used on carpets, upholstery, and other fabrics.

This is stuff we all have in our homes and these chemicals aren’t doing us any favors. A growing body of science has found that there are potential adverse health impacts associated with PFAS exposure, including liver damage, thyroid disease, decreased fertility, high cholesterol, obesity, hormone suppression and cancer. These chemicals can easily migrate into the air, dust, food, soil and water.

So, this latest technology has found a way to remove them from the water, which is good news, but we still need to get them out of everything else. I hope that we are working on air filtration that can eliminate these micro chemicals that are slowly killing us.

I know this is a far departure from the previous civics lesson but the blog is named Esoteric Meanderings so you had to expect that the direction could suddenly change direction.

Thank you for reading to the end of this post and I hope you check out the short article attached.

Dwain Northey (Gen X)

Article III of the Constitution, which establishes the Judicial Branch, leaves Congress significant discretion to determine the shape and structure of the federal judiciary. Article III, Section I states that “The judicial Power of the United States, shall be vested in one supreme Court, and in such inferior Courts as the Congress may from time to time ordain and establish.” Although the Constitution establishes the Supreme Court, it permits Congress to decide how to organize it.

Seems pretty simple right? The Legislative Branch writes the Laws, and the Executive enacts those laws and the Judicial enforces those laws. A pretty basic structure that has seemed to work for over 200 years but recently the Judicial Branch which is supposed to be nonpartisan and just call balls and strikes has turned into a system that only works for the monied elite.

The Judicial is supposed to interpret the Constitution and based on that document rule on cases that come before them. Not a biblical doctrine or any other personally held belief structure only using their interpretation of a document that was drafted in 1789 and subsequently amended over the past 234 years. That seems like a daunting task and courts in the past have made mistakes and later adjusted their opinions to bring that flawed judgment into a more reasonable perspective. The decision of Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka on May 17, 1954 is perhaps the most famous of all Supreme Court cases, as it started the process ending segregation. It overturned the equally far-reaching decision of Plessy v. Ferguson in 1896. So, the court gave a right back that had been taken away and that is how the process should work.

This current Court did just the opposite based on their own theological belief system overturning Roe vs Wade decision pushing women’s rights back 50 years. My opinion is that that ruling was not rooted in the constitution but several Justices personal and antiquate religious dogma. This court is doing the same with equal protection of other groups based purely on that misguided theological belief system, or just because they think its oogy. I am talking about LGTBQ+ rights.

A common misconception that the mostly Republican are spewing is that the number of Justices is a fixed number not to be changed although in 2015 Mitch McConnel arbitrarily reduced the size of the court be disallowing President Obama his constitutional duty to fill a vacated seat cause by the death of Justice Scalia. McConnel’s actions in 2015 were reminiscent to the Judiciary Act of 1789 established the first Supreme Court, with six Justices. In 1801, President John Adams and a lame-duck Federalist Congress passed the Judiciary Act of 1801, which reduced the Court to five Justices in an attempt to limit incoming President Thomas Jefferson’s appointments. The original court had 6 justices appointed by George Washington. The Constitution does not stipulate the number of Supreme Court Justices; the number is set instead by Congress. There have been as few as six, but since 1869 there have been nine Justices, including one Chief Justice.

The last time the court changed from 10 to 9 justices was when the country had 9 federal court districts and each Supreme oversaw one of the Districts that was in 1869 and there were only 37 states. It is now 2023 we have had 50 states since 1959, 90 years after the last time the court was changed. Now we have 13 Federal Courts but still only Supremes, this to me says it is time to expand the court.

I also have an issue with lifetime appointments, I know that is what the Constitution states but there has to be a way around that. I think the Supreme Court should be a rolling bench that Justices sit on for 18 years and then they can go back to a district court. There would have to be a system that each newly elected President can appoint a certain number of justices and not have to depend on retirement or death of a sitting Justice.

I know this a conspiratorial and morbid thought but imagine Trump or someone worse getting to seat the entire court because of some ‘random’ act that takes out the entire court. In so doing this despot seats 9 Federalist Society judges that are all in their 30’s with little to no judicial experience. These jurors would have lifetime appointments which would mean they could redefine the court and federal law for generations. Don’t think it could happen Trumps last appointment is 49 years old only had clerkships and private practice. Barrett spent two years as a judicial law clerk after law school, first for judge Laurence Silberman of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit from 1997 to 1998, and then for justice Antonin Scalia of the U.S. Supreme Court from 1998 to 1999. Zero judicial experience and has a seat on the highest court in the country and could potentially be there for the next 30 plus years.

It is time for some traditions to change.

Dwain Northey (Gen X)

We have talked about the two sides of the Legislative Branch now let’s talk about the Executive i.e., the President.

First a little history that many may not know. Everyone is taught that George Washington was our 1^st, President. This is what we are all told, ‘George Washington was an American military officer, statesman, and Founding Father who served as the first president of the United States from 1789 to 1797.’ My query for all of you, would be historians, is what happened between our declaring our Independence in 1776 and the Inauguration of George Washington in 1789. Did we just flail around rudderless for 13 years? How did we manage those years without a government? Technically George Washington was the first President of the United States when we finally became a Constitutional Democratic Republic after the ratification of the Constitution in 1789 but before that there several Presidents of Congress which was a very weak role. The men that  held the position: John Hanson (Nov 5 1781 – Nov 3 1782), Elias Boudinot (Nov 4 1782 – Nov 2 1783), Thomas Mifflin (Nov 3 1783 – Nov 29 1784), Richard Henry Lee (Nov 30 1784 – Nov 22 1785), John Hancock (Nov 23 1785 – Jun 5 1786), Nathaniel Gorham (Jun 6 1786 – Feb 1 1787), Arthur St. Clair (Feb 2 1787 – Jan 21 1788), Cyrus Griffin (Jan 22 1788 – Apr 30 1789), and Samuel Huntington (Sept 28 1779 – July 10 1781). The office only had a one-year term because initially the colonies were steadfast against a strong central government but the loosely held colonies acted more like 13 different countries with their own currency which incumbered commerce. This fragile ‘confederacy’ of states nearly ended in a war with several border conflicts happening between states in the 1780’s.

Now that we have had our brief history lesson let’s talk about what the constitution has defined as the powers of the executive. The Constitution explicitly assigns the president the power to sign or veto legislation, command the armed forces, ask for the written opinion of their Cabinet, convene or adjourn Congress, grant reprieves and pardons, and receive ambassadors. Under Article II of the Constitution, the President is responsible for the execution and enforcement of the laws created by Congress. Fifteen executive departments — each led by an appointed member of the President’s Cabinet — carry out the day-to-day administration of the federal government.

So, for all you that think the President has unlimited power he does not he is responsible for enforcing laws and enacting them. The Executive does submit a budget to the Legislative Branch that outlines his (hopefully soon her) vision for the country but it isn’t in the office holders’ powers to unilaterally enact their agenda. We have a republic, ‘a form of government in which a state is ruled by representatives of the citizen body. Modern republics are founded on the idea that sovereignty rests with the people, though who is included and excluded from the category of the people has varied across history’, not a dictatorship.

Knowing this it begs the question of why we continue to both praise and denigrate Presidents for accomplishments. As we have seen time and time again they can’t do it alone and even if their agenda is positive to the citizens, the economy, or both one party in our 2 party system can derail even the best intentions.

How our President is elected is one of the points of controversy because our President is the only office that is not elected by a simple majority. (Wait, What?) No, the Presidency is elected via an arcane rule that the founders were literally forced to put in place so that rural and slave states had more say with far fewer voters. The Electoral College is how we refer to the process by which the United States elects the President, even though that term does not appear in the U.S. Constitution. In this process, the States (which includes the District of Columbia just for this process) elect the President and Vice President. Every four years, voters elect a group of electors whose only purpose is to elect the president and vice president. This group of electors is known as the Electoral College. This process gives states, based on their population, a defined number of electors, most states are winner take all meaning the candidate with the most vote even if it is only one takes the pot some split electors. This is why states like Wisconsin, Michigan, Florida, Ohio, get more attention than other areas because the number of electors they have can and often does swing the election. This system is why the only Republican President in 30 years to win the popular vote was George W. Bush who won 50.7% of the popular vote in the 2004 presidential election, according to the Federal Election Commission, the agency responsible for enforcing campaign finance regulations. This was his reelection bid he did not win the popular vote in 2000 against Al Gore in fact the Supreme Court stopped the count of ballots in Florida giving those electors to Bush securing his victory. (History has corrected the count and Gore rightfully won.)

As with other things in our governmental system I have talked about this a profoundly undemocratic and in 2016 Trump was able to take office with only 46.1% of the popular vote and attempted to exploit that same system in 2020 but the overwhelming turn out over came the electoral count and favored the Democrat Joe Biden.

Next time we will talk about the Supreme Court ;(    

Dwain Northey (Gen X)

As promised let’s talk about the Senate, the other part of the legislative branch. Unlike the House of Representatives which has a little more proportional representation to the population of their State the Senate has 2 members per state which realistically makes the proportions vastly unequal. I say that because a state like Wyoming has population of 585,587 their population allows them 1 house seats and 2 senate seats now California has a population of 39,029,342 with 53 house seats and 2 senate seats. Can you see how proportional representation in the Senate is vastly undemocratic in nature? Alaska has more Moose than people still has 2 senators. This is skewed because higher population centers (cities) tend to lean more democratic whereas rural farm areas with smaller populations lean more conservative and republican. In this WY/CA comparison that gives WY 6.66 to 1 representation in the Senate. If you’re superstitious that is an evil comparison.

The other difference between the House and the Senate is that Senators are elected to 6-year terms unlike the House Members 2-year terms. The first proposal, from Virginians Edmund Randolph and James Madison, called for seven-year Senate terms. Citing Maryland’s system, Randolph and Madison argued that a long term would create stability in the Senate and provide an effective check on the more democratic House of Representatives. In the United States Senate all states are represented equally. Regardless of size or population, each state has two senators, who serve six-year terms. Unlike the House of Representatives, where all members must stand for election every two years, only one-third of the Senate’s seats are filled with each general election. Longer, overlapping Senate terms provide Congress with stability and continuity, and lessen the immediate pressure of public opinion on members of the Senate. Until the 1913 ratification of the Constitution’s 17th Amendment, Senators were elected by the legislatures of their respective states making it an undemocratic body.

Now that we know a little more about the Senate let’s get into a procedure that has been used by both parties but more by the Republicans and more frequently in to past 20 years, the Filibuster. In 1789, the first U.S. Senate adopted rules that did not provide for a cloture mechanism, which opened the door to filibusters. Indeed, a filibuster took place at the very first session of the Senate. The Senate tradition of unlimited debate has allowed for the use of the filibuster, a loosely defined term for action designed to prolong debate and delay or prevent a vote on a bill, resolution, amendment, or other debatable question. Originally this stall tactic required that the senator that was filibustering a bill had to hold the floor speaking continuously and when they stopped the bill could come to a cloture, a procedure for ending a debate, and taking a vote. Today, senators can merely signal their intent to object, even privately, and that’s enough for Senate leaders to take action. Leaders sometimes just drop the issue from floor consideration. At other times, they push ahead, taking cumbersome steps to cut off the filibuster and move forward with the proceedings. In order for a bill to break the filibuster there must be 60 votes which in today’s very partisan climate is nearly impossible. Harry Reid had to change the rule for appellate court appointments during the Obama administration because Senate republicans would not allow any judicial appoints to go through. Subsequently Mitch McConnel changed the rule to include Supreme Court appointments to a simple majority allowing Trump to appoint 3 Justices to the High Court.

The filibuster is not in the constitution and is only a sad tradition that has long exceeded its usefulness. Historically the procedure had only been used to block any civil rights legislation that was until Mitch McConnell devised a way to weaponize the practice when the Republicans had a Senate Minority.

Just one more thing that makes the Senate a undemocratic body.

Dwain Northey (Gen X)

I don’t know if anyone took Civic or Government recently when I was in High School it was a required class, but I know that my son only had pass a basic civic test as a freshman and subsequently hasn’t had to take a full semester of civics. I think that is a travesty because there are a lot of Gen Z that know very little about how their government works. There has been a war on education in the past 20 to 30 years and I truly believe that the powers that be want an undereducated electorate so that they can continue to subjugate the masses. So, I am going to give a basic government class here and let those of you reading what some of ‘rules’ that continue to be used and abused are actually constitutional.

The U.S. Constitution establishes three separate but equal branches of government: the legislative branch (makes the law), the executive branch (enforces the law), and the judicial branch (interprets the law). That seems simple enough but the nuance in the separation of those powers in our two-party system has been severely bastardized.

The House and Senate, mainly the House of Representatives controls the purse (money). The House members are up for election every 2 years, that was an attempt to make those members more accountable to their constituents. That 2-year election cycle doesn’t seem to have dissuaded lifetime politicians. Representative John Dingell, Jr., of Michigan, had more than 59 years of service and holds the record for longest consecutive service took office in 1955 until 2015. Longest-serving Speaker of the House: Sam Rayburn of Texas served as Speaker for a total of 17 years, two months, and two days, serving from 1913 to 1961. Don Young the Representative from Alaska served from 1973 till is death in 2022. These terms in office seem excessive and not fitting the citizen legislator that the founders had in mind.

The House currently has 435 members and passes bills with a simple majority and the Speaker is voted in by simple majority and historically represents the party that has 218 or more elected members. The ruling party gets the privilege of majorities in committees and can bring bills to the floor for a vote. Basically, the party in power gets to run the show and if there is a bill, they don’t agree with they don’t ever have to bring it to a vote.

(This lesson is going long so today I am only going to talk about the House of Representatives)

The current fight over the budget and the debt ceiling is a bogus fight in the House and the Republicans are currently holding the country hostage over something that was never in the Constitution. In fact, as I discussed in a previous post, the XIV Amendment that was passed after the Civil war states that the debt of the country cannot been questioned and must be paid. This Republican House majority is trying to negotiate the debt ceiling by cutting future spending rather than repealing tax cuts that run up the debt.

So, the debt ceiling argument wasn’t even a thing. The present debt ceiling is an combined limit applied to nearly all federal debt, which was substantially established by the Public Debt Acts of 1939 and 1941 which have subsequently been amended to change the ceiling amount. As previously stated, not in the Constitution. Subsequently that limit has been routinely lifted the first time the Republicans use this tactic was when President Obama was in the White House, with Trumps tax cuts exploding the debt the debt limit being increased wasn’t even questioned by the Republicans in the house. Now with President Biden the debt ceiling is miraculously a huge concern for the ‘not so’ fiscally responsible Republicans. ‘Anyone else see a pattern?’

Today we exposed the Debt Ceiling as a ruse, tomorrow I will talk about the Senate and the Filibuster.