Tuesday, July 04, 2017

This and That, July 4th Edition

Happy Independence Day to all.

Courtesy of Powerline's Scott Johnson, an excerpt from Calvin Coolidge's July 4, 1926 speech.

"If all men are created equal, that is final. If they are endowed with inalienable rights, that is final. If governments derive their just powers from the consent of the governed, that is final. No advance, no progress can be made beyond these propositions. If anyone wishes to deny their truth or their soundness, the only direction in which he can proceed historically is not forward, but backward toward the time when there was no equality, no rights of the individual, no rule of the people. Those who wish to proceed in that direction can not lay claim to progress. They are reactionary." Indeed.

If the above looks familiar you are either a long term reader of this blog or of  Powerline. Mr. Johnson has published the excerpt (a much longer one actually, you should enjoy it at the link above) every July 4th since 2004.

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I hope you have been enjoying the Donald Trump Show as much as I have. His latest Tweet storms have been fabulous. Thin skinned poseurs like Joe Scarborough and Mika Brezinski apparently cannot help themselves and respond to him like  Pavlov's dogs.

It is a joy to watch their hair catch fire as these two hypocrites try to take on a man much more clever than them.

For months, since he didn't allow them into a New Year's Eve party at his Palm Beach resort, they have been attacking him daily. Suggesting he suffers from a mental illness among other insightful revelations of his character . Having been friends of his for years, no doubt they know him well. Except for the curious change in their attitude after he wasn't nice to them, I might even believe some of what they have to say. Or not. Truly a joy to watch.

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Do you remember the controversy  President Trump created with his "Comey better hope there are no tapes of our conversations" Tweet? It was beautiful. All the right people reacted in all the right ways interpreting his comment to mean that he had taped the conversations and the Nixon comparisons took flight.

"With that tweet, Trump immediately deepened his own ­legal and political quagmire, evoking comparisons to President Richard M. Nixon and prompting congressional committees investigating his campaign’s alleged ties with Russia to demand the disclosure of any such recordings."

Look at what he actually said.

Do you remember his much earlier Tweet about Obama having wire tapped Trump Towers in New York?

It has been suggested, credibly I think, that when looked at together Trump was actually warning Comey that the intelligence community might have tapes of their conversations and he had best be careful about his then pending testimony to Congress. It worked. Comey confirmed in that testimony everything Trump had said. Trump didn't need to tape anything. The bluff was sufficient. Brilliant.

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From the annals of "You must be joking " comes this.

"The Denver City Council voted Monday to approve major sentencing reform (in other words, making penalties more lenient) on Class I and II offenses. The latter cover crimes like public defecation, panhandling and camping out on the sidewalk." (Emphasis added).

The "reasoning" behind this outrage?

"City leaders and immigrant rights advocates argued the changes will protect Denver’s immigrant community from facing unintended consequences.

“Many times it becomes a deportable (sic)offense if you’ve been convicted of even a minor ordinance violation that’s punishable by a year in jail,” Mark Silverstein said, legal director for the American Civil Liberties Union of Colorado."

Abject stupidity in the service of the progressive agenda to turn the USA brown.

Sorry, couldn't resist.

Enjoy the 4th of July. Most of you have the great good fortune to live in the greatest country in human history. Too bad we have to share it with so many ingrates and fools.

Even so, it is well worth the price.