Affluenza is worse than Benghazi

The actual "Affluenza" Case is, of course, far worse.

In the case, Judge Jean Boyd decided that 16 year old Ethan Couch, a pampered white juvenile delinquent who stole booze from a Walmart, got liquored up, and while driving recklessly, 30 miles-an-hour over the speed limit, with a BAC 0.24 KILLED 4 people, was not responsible for his actions because he suffered from "Affluenza", the crippling disability of not knowing right from wrong by virtue of being a little white entitled punk, who is rich and has been overly coddled.

The four people slaughtered by Couch were: Breanna Mitchell, who had crashed her SUV, Brian Jennings, a youth pastor at a local church, Hollie Boyles and her daughter Shelby Boyles who stopped to help Mitchell before the drunken little shit killed them with his dad's jeep.

While emergency crews were on the scene, Couch took a defiant attitude telling responders, 'I’m outta here' before attempting to leave the scene. Couch's parents apparently have a history of reckless driving as well.

Of course, previously Judge Boyd sentenced a 14-year-old African-American child to 10 years in a juvenile detention center after the little puke punched a man who died when he fell over and struck his head on the concrete.

I agree with giving the punching perp a tough sentence (his actions lead to the death of another person) but, how did the "Affluenza" defense not get laughed out of the courthouse? How did his past transgressions and previous offenses not come into play?  The State's Attorney wanted Couch tried as an adult and sought a sentence of at least 20 years for the four deaths he directly caused.

But, instead of being held responsible for 4 murders little Couch will go to a posh rehab clinic and be on probation for 10 years.

So when does Darryl Issa begin the House Oversight Hearings? When does every Republican Senator and Congressman take to Faux News to demand an investigation. After all 4 Americans died. According to the Right-Wing, there can never be a worse event.

Ah, but this incident involves a Rich White criminal. That's a Republican protected class.

The Republican Party exists only to guard and defend the Rich.

If you are Poor, black, a woman, a Catholic, a Veteran the Republicans have a simple message for you; Work Hard, Get Nothing from the Government, Die Quickly.

Meanwhile, Large Scale Affluenza is strangling the Nation, just as the 1% have plotted.

The problem with the Left is the idea that battles for Progressive Values can ever be considered "Won". Following their defeats during the 20th century, the Plutocracy began slowly building infrastructure for their Long March back to Dominance.

The effort has been a multi-front assault on the 99%, pushing for the weakening and eventual destruction of Unions, the slow elimination of Worker's Rights via "Right-to-Work" Laws, removing child-labor restrictions and sneaky legislative elimination of Collective Bargaining Rights, the cultivation of the wholly owned Republican Party and the corruption of the Democratic Party, the creation of Think-Tanks whose only job is to produce "studies" which conform to their dreams of a Neo-Feudalist Wage Slave State.

"Really poor children, in really poor neighborhoods have no habits of working and have nobody around them who works so they have no habit of showing up on Monday. But one of the things I’ve talked to the secretary of agriculture about: Why don’t you have the kids pay a dime, pay a nickel to instill in them that there is, in fact, no such thing as a free lunch?"  Republican Jack Kingston, maybe he imagines putting little poor children to work cleaning up Steve Stockman and Dana Rohrbacher's offices for a nickel a day?

Additionally, the 1% biggest coup has been the byzantine restructuring of the Tax System. Of course, they claim the tax loopholes which allow them to shelter billions have been unintentionally created, while the grossly unfair tax reorganization sees Working Class people paying far more in taxes the the 1%.

Corporations routinely have Negative Tax rates because of the off-shore tax havens and foreign structuring which rewards them for sending jobs and manufacturing overseas while hiding money in Ireland or the Cayman Islands.

Capital Gains, the making of money with money, and deferred income instead of actual work is now so unfairly rewarded that a Near-Billionaire like Mitt Romney can go a decade without paying any income taxes while Orrin Hatch takes to the Senate floor to despicably lie that poor people who have almost nothing aren't paying taxes.

Meanwhile, when the Rich get in trouble, because their Capitalist House of Cards is built upon a foundation of lies, thefts and legerdemain they scamper to the Government to have the middle class taxpayer fund their rescue.

This is Capitalism. It's a sickness. Affluenza describes Capitalism very well. It's system for raising wealth that is grossly unfair and unstable and creates a small cadre of criminals who have no sense of morality and no compunctions about treating humanity as disposable commodities.

If Gun Loons are actually interested in the Liberty of the Second Amendment

Why don't they challenge Fireworks Laws and Ordinances across the country?

Today is the 4th of July. Every June, July and August resident complaints about fireworks skyrocket in my town. Now why is that?

Besides Municipal Ordinances, Illinois still has a multiple laws and regulations in reference to Fireworks; 425 ILCS 30, the Fireworks Regulation Act of Illinois.

Why don't the Lovers of Liberty move to strike down Laws infringing upon fireworks makers and users?

The reason they don't is because most Second Amendment Screamers are witting or unwitting tools for Gun Manufacturers and the Merchants of Death. Fireworks don't make enough $$$ to get the Gun Lobby motivated to file challenges under the False Flag of Defending Rights and Liberty.

By July 9th Illinois has been ordered to have a Concealed Carry Law adopted due to the 2010 case McDonald v. Chicago. In that 5-4 ruling, SCOTUS exercised an INCREDIBLE OVERREACH of BIG GOVERNMENT from UNELECTED JUDGES LEGISLATING from the BENCH, by holding that the Second Amendment was incorporated under the Fourteenth Amendment thus local, county and state governments have no rights in reference to Guns.

Of course, the word "Gun" appears nowhere in the Second Amendment. And besides the Stare Decisis of "Well Regulated" there is no clear definition of what "Arms shall not be infringed".

Small explosives have long been weapons and components of a military's hardware. By the time the Founders wrote the Bill of Rights, there was already an established tradition of individual soldiers armed with explosives, Grenadiers, as opposed to Fusiliers.

So, it's not cut and dried that Arms refers to Guns. But, what's clear is negligent discharges, unattended guns being used by children to kill children, and unlawful shootings of innocents are going up.

I'm not talking about murders but of these bizarre scenarios such as in an Oakland Wingstop where a Second Amendment Hero murdered two employees:

The sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the investigation is ongoing, said the men in the orange vests came in to order food but ended up running to the freezer section in the back of the restaurant, possibly because they felt threatened by a third party.
At least one of the customers was armed, the sources said, and shot the two employees when they went to the freezer to see why the customers had gone there.

Marine Corps Base Quantico and Kurt Myers Join the Second Amendment Hall of Fame (Updated)

"The white man, that landed here; He came with two great weapons. One is the bible and the other was the gun. If he didn't humble you with the bible, he'd crumble you with the gun. And he's still praising the lord and passing the ammunition." - Lewis H. Michaux

The Second Amendment Hall of Fame is already loaded with such hallowed places like Columbine, Colorado and Newton, Connecticut and laudable Second Amendment "Heroes" Adam Lanza and Nidal Hassan and today we can add Quantico, Virgina and Kurt Myers to the Second Amendment Hall of Fame.

Gun Nuts believe their Right to Murder trump Americans Rights to Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness.

In the early hours of 03/22/13, Three Marines at Quantico, Virginia have been shot to death. Apparently, two Marine Corps Officer Candidates were murdered by a Marine who then barricaded himself in a Barracks and eventually shot himself. The comments from the despicable Unrestricted Gun Violence Supporters were to blame Gun Control Advocates, President Obama and Muslims. (Update: The three Marines were all junior enlisted Active Duty trainers assigned to Quantico. As the killer murdered a male marine at one location and then killed a female marine and himself at the barracks it seems, sadly, this has the mark of an issue of infidelity.)

Last week, 64 year old Kurt Myers, a quiet loner who had only been arrested once in 1973 for Drunk Driving, shot six people seemingly at random killing four before barricading himself in an abandoned bar in Herkimer, Upstate New York. Myers then shot and killed FBI Working Dog “Ape” who was sent in against him before the Special Operations FBI/State Police Team killed him.

Seven people were shot in a wild gun fight after a rap concert at Mr. G's Entertainment Club in the Gresham Neighborhood of Southside Chicago in the early morning yesterday.

The Chief of the Colorado Department of Corrections Tom Clements was gunned down at his house two days ago*.

Gun Fanatics and Right-Wing Domestic Terrorists have so debased and sickened this Country that discussion of Gun Control evokes promises of violence and gun rampages. Multiple aspects of Gun Control enjoys overwhelming support amongst the American Populace. But, the NRA and Gun Nuts are creating an atmosphere of Death and Violence if their surrogate wieners are taken from them.

Speakers at CPAC 2013 promised a New Republican Party. But, what did The Lunatic Bachmann talk about at CPAC? Benghazi and Presidential Dog Walkers. Everytime a Republican mentions Benghazi they should immediately be asked to name the 4 Americans killed. I know it would be impossible to ask The Lunatic Bachmann because she’d run away from the Reporters.

And during all of this what are Right-Wing appointed Judges doing? Ruling that the Government keeping Guns out of the Hand of Convicted Felons is “Unconstitutional”. Because, the NRA backed a State Constitutional Amendment for Louisiana deeming gun ownership a “Fundamental Right” and according to Judge Judge Darryl Derbigny the State did not prove the “government’s compelling interest” in keeping the gun out of the hands of a convicted Felon.

We have a fundamental breakdown going on. The basic concept of Laws and Governance are being sundered by the NRA and a small minority of Gun Owners who would rather have scores of children die than see a single piece of legislation inhibit their so-called rights.

The Leadership of the NRA is paid millions to bully, cajole and entice Politicians to ignore the will of the people in service to Firearms Manufacturers. The NRA spends time attacking the ability of communities to restrict gun violence and supporting the rights of Felons and those on the FBI Terrorist Watch List to own firearms.

Even West Point Cadets know Conservatives are Domestic Terrorists. In response, Conservative Domestic Terrorists declare their intent to engage in Secession and armed violence using their beloved Second Amendment.

No, background checks aren’t a panacea. No, merely limiting the size of magazines to 10 rounds won’t stop the violence. Yes, the rules governing what is and what is not an “Assault Weapon” seem arbitrary.

But, More Guns has not made We, the People safer. More Guns Means More Gun Violence.

Unrestricted Gun Violence Supporters wail that it has but they are lying. We are awash in Gun Violence which is what Republicans, the NRA and Second Amendment Supporters obviously want. They want carnage and children murdered because they love and worship their Guns and Death.

Update:

*- The apparent suspect was identified in several reports as Evan Spencer Ebel, a 28-year-old Denver parolee who was shot to death Thursday after first wounding a North Texas sheriff’s deputy and then crashing his car during a chase that reached speeds of over 100 mph. Ebel is a member of the 211 Crew, also known as the Aryan Alliance.

Welcome to the Second Amendment Hall of Fame, Evan Ebel. You did the righteous work of Right-Wingers everywhere by gunning down a Bureaucrat who was trying to take away your Freedoms and Rights. 

Illinois passes Drivers License's for Undocumented Immigrants

Governor Quinn signed into law the Illinois State Legislature bill which will allow Undocumented Immigrants to apply for valid State Driver's Licenses starting October 1, 2013.

This is a fantastic development. One of the most worthless arrests I have to make is a No Valid DL. Sans another violation (DUI, Reckless Driving, Speeding 30+ over, No Insurance, Texting in a School Zone, etc...) it's a huge waste of time and resources. And not just for me, but for all the associated Circuit Court Persons.

What this will accomplish is multi-fold. First off thousands of residents in Illinois will now have proper identification. With valid licenses they will be able to acquire insurance and be held liable for minor traffic infractions and accidents.

Additionally, they won't compound minor accidents or violations with a panicked desire to flee the scene.

Now, Right-Wing morons are livid over this citing their fantasy scenarios of Voter Fraud and their general fear of the Brown People but, the Totalitarian Right should applaud this for a number of reasons.

Right-Wingers, with their inherent distrust of Government, should be against arbitrary political boundaries being used to make people "criminals". And as all conservatives are Totalitarians they should applaud the identification process.

However, Right-Wingers are easily lead by their Corporate Controllers. Corporations and Plutocrats love "illegal" immigrants but want their Right-Wing stooges angry at them.

Corporations have always used the immigrant worker to undercut and control the American worker, in a multitude of ways. Plutocrats get to drive down wages and control employment opportunities while displacing Nativist anger at the incoming immigrant as opposed to the Business which happily employs the "illegal".

Also, Corporate interests are best served by having a ready supply of non-citizens because they can exploit them easily. Citizens in America have rights, benefits and protections. "Illegal" immigrants are a a dime a dozen and can be tossed aside if they get hurt or fired if they step out of line.

So, expect the usual round of Right-Wing Outrage and racist ignorant screeds but this is a win for Justice and Law in Illinois.

Whose Side are You On? Gabby Giffords or Alex Jones?

Former Congresswoman Gabby Giffords and her husband NASA pilot Lt. Cmdr Mark Kelly have begun a Campaign Americans for Responsible Solutions against Gun Violence

Meanwhile, Alex Jones went on Piers Morgan Show and showed the True rambling, insane Face of American Gun Owners. Alex Jones, Zardoz LaPierre, James Holmes, Adam Lanza and the Murderers in Chicago are the Reality of Guns in America.

The "Argument" that Gun Laws would not have stopped Columbine or The Dark Knight Killings or the VA Tech Massacre, or the Northern Illinois shootings or the NRA-endorsed Newton Connecticut Killings or the Tinley Park Lane Bryant Murders or the latest 4 shot to death in Aurora, Colorado is used by the NRA and their Republican Allies in order to distract Americans from the facts about Gun Violence in America.

The Unrestricted Gun Violence Supporters continue to make the "Argument" that Gun Laws don't stop Gun Crimes.

How is this an Argument? When has any Law, in and of itself, ever stopped a Crime? 

Despite all the laws we have against Murder, Theft, Assaults, Vandalism and Tax Evasion these crimes continue to occur daily.

Since the Laws we have don't stop those actions does that mean we should ignore the crimes and abolish the Laws?

This is an Argument Gun Manufacturers have crafted. For the very simple reason that Gun Control hurts their profits. We have been flooded with Hundreds of Millions of Firearms. They make money as we are killed by their products.

The NRA exists to represent the Interests of Firearm Companies. Wayne LaPierre and The Republicans stand with and for the Rights of the Merchants of Death.

Who is representing the American People?

NRA Terrorists and Gun Nuts in America want Anarchy

Once Rockets go Up
Who cares where they come Down
That's not my Department
Says Werner Von Braun

Gun Nuts like to claim that new laws or even current laws can stop Gun Violence. That's true but that's true of every law. No Law, in and of itself, has ever stopped a crime.

**Update: Connecticut lawmakers, in March 2011, tried to ban the magazines used by the Newton Murderer. I wonder if that Law which the NRA, Firearm Makers and Gun Nuts fought visciously against may have helped some of the murdered children survive.**

Enforcement and societal controls are what are needed. We have neither. The Second Amendment is being used by Gun Right's Fanatics to Destroy the Country. ALEC and NRA Terrorists represent the interest of Gun Manufactures over Americans. Profits over People. It's the Right-Wing response to everything.

What is obvious is the massive influx of guns into American society is the driving the gun violence.

As a result, here are Homicides by Firearms in so-called First World Nations:

• USA 9168
• Canada 173
• Germany 168

Gun Violence is being fueled by a confluence of events, Gun Makers pursue profits over people by flooding the Nation with firearms, we've allowed bought politicians to slash the Social Safety Net, and current laws are ignored and curtailed.

Gun Makers have flooded the Nation with firearms. We have over 250,000,000 guns in the country.

Additionally, the Right has been advancing arguments undercutting the authority and legitimacy of the Federal Government for the past 30 years, "Government is not the solution to our problems. Government is the problem."

As California Governor, Reagan closed down the State's Mental Hospitals. California's homeless population exploded as a result. As President, within a month of Reagan's inauguration, the Office of Management Budget announced it would curtail the budget of the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH). Inside of 2 years Reagan had gutted the Mental Health Systems Act of 1980 and instead, the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act (1982) would merge money for mental health programs into block grants, with fewer dollars going to the states.

Chicago Mayor Rahm Emmanuel at the bidding of his Plutocratic Masters shut down 6 of 13 Mental Hospitals in the city, to save $3 Million dollars, that the evil Rich belive are being stolen from them by greedy poor people.

While there is a tiny lunatic fringe who yearn for Anarchy, a Glenn Beck-inspired Overton Window, who want the Government to fail because it will allow them to fulfill their murder fantasies against the Moochers, Liberals and Government "Tyranny".

It's the legally purchased guns which owners don't safeguard that are fueling the danger. One of the top 3 items stolen in every Residential Burglary are guns.

After Chicago Police officers confiscated 125 guns in a series of citywide stings in late August, the department went to work investigating the path each weapon took from store to street. 

Authorities were able to trace 54 of those guns to their original point of sale. Thirty percent were from Indiana, 26 percent from Illinois and 6 percent from Kentucky, the analysis found. 

The police analysis found at least four of the 125 recovered guns were stolen from gun stores. 

One gun was snatched from Maxon Shooters Supplies and Indoor Range in northwest suburban Des Plaines, where at least 140 guns were stolen in January.

The guns used by Adam Lanza in his murderous spree were evidently legally purchased by his mother and first victim, Nancy Lanza. A quiet divorced woman who apparently in the last 3 years let the Faux News fueled Fear Factory of American Collapse drive her towards survivalist thinking.

Most gun owners want responsible ownership, yet they don't know that Background checks are not universal. Most don't know that the NRA fought against the Federal Government attempts to stop gun sales to those on the FBI's terrorist watch list.

Most don't know that in 2011 Republicans in Illinois, in direct opposition to the health and safety of their constituents, voted to put guns in the hands of Terrorists:

Republicans on the House Judiciary panel shot down a proposal Thursday to prevent weapon sales to suspected terrorists.  

In a party-line vote of 21-11, the committee Republicans killed an amendment from Rep. Mike Quigley (D-Ill.) that would have blocked firearm purchases by those on the FBI's terrorist watch list.

The Gun Rights of Terrorists and Criminals are more important to Gun Nuts, Republicans (Michele Bachmann fits both categories), ALEC and NRA Terrorists than the safety and lives of American children.

But, the Constitution is NOT a Suicide Pact. The Second Amendment itself calls for 'Regulation'. Use that term in every Gun Control Law.

There is no reason for an American to have an Assault Weapon with 100 round drum magazines or 32 round extended clip Glock magazines unless they truly believe they are going to use them to kill National Guardsmen, ATF Agents and UN Blue-Helmeted soliders trying to take away their Country from them.

Regulate every weapon. Regulate every firearm owner. Regulate every Gun Maker. Make Firearm Owners and Manufacturers liable for them. Make people prove they have control of their weapons every year. If a weapon is used in the commission of a crime make the purchaser and seller potentially liable. Sig Sauer CEO Ron Cohen should be sued by every family in Newton, CT. Chain guns to their lovers.

They have the money and the ruthless desire to enforce their Killing Machines into every corner of American Society. What do we have? What are we as a people willing to do to stop them?

And in this corner David "The Strangler" Prosser

Wisconsin has turned into the WWE. The Wisconsin Republicans are fakes. They care nothing for the people of Wisconsin and are wholly owned and operated by Corporate Moneyed Masters.

Justice David Prosser won re-election, under dubious, but most likely not fraudulent circumstances, when a former worker of his, Waukesha County Clerk Kathy Nickolaus announced she had found 14,000 uncounted votes, 11,000 of which went to Prosser.

Now, prior to this discovery and with the spectre of a Prosser defeat, Nationwide conservatives were crying election fraud as they always do when they lose. And if they were honest they would have been skeptical of the results after this discovery. But, like all things conservative, cries of foul are only important when it's against their side. Conservatives have no shame and are rabid hypocrites who feel no compunctions at lying, obfuscating and stealing in order to get "their way", which is hilarious because "their way" is the way of the Richest in this country who seek a return to out-right slavery and Neo-Feudalism.

But, David Prosser was adjudicated the winner of the election and went to work ensuring the anti-Worker agenda of the Koch Brothers was put into action. However, Prosser is a mysognist with a history of anger issues and it wasn't too long before he was involved in some alleged confrontations.

The most serious event involving Prosser was the allegation made by Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice Ann Walsh Bradley, that in a fit of anger Prosser grabbed her in chokehold. Prosser countered that Bradley had rushed at him fists raised and he defended himself. As every Police Officer could tell you anytime you get to a fight in progress or a battery, it's always the other guy who started it, but that didn't matter to conservatives.

Every Rightwing blog declared Prosser innocent because he is a conservative. Guilt and Innocence is a matter of political ideology to the Right. Every liberal accused is guilty and every conservative convicted is a victim of liberal bias!!!

It's part of the Conservative Insulation Machine. A self-perpetuating mythos which allows the Right to complain that anytime a conservative is found guilty, accused of wrong-doing or caught saying something Bachmann Crazy it's a set-up by the Liberal Media. This was dramatically demonstrated by the oft repeated lie that President Obama wasn't "vetted by the media" (the current torchbearer of that meme is Totally Not Racist Republican Joe Walsh) and poor, poor Sarah Palin was viciously attacked by the MSM.

It wouldn't be so bad if conservatives' blindness, ignorance, hatred and hypocrisy didn't have consequences for the rest of society. But, Conservatives are not content to shackle themselves to the gears of Industry and Warfare, they actively work to cosign the rest of America to Wage Slavery to the Ruling Class.

Conservatives celebrate rape and All your Ladyparts are belong to Us

The Republican War to control women gets more loathsome by the day. Despite all their rhetoric about the economy and jobs, the Republicans have been focusing on re-exerting control of Women and to that end are proposing and ramming through legislation with that goal in mind.

The US House of Representatives has 242 Republicans, 24 are women, the US Senate has 47 Republicans and 5 are women. So only 10% of the Republicans in Congress are women but, don't worry your pretty heads' ladies the Republican male dominated Congress knows what's best for you and every other woman in America.

You see Republican men know about Rape and know it's only Rape when it's forcible.

Christopher Smith was the Republican chosen to sponsor the forcible rape provision. What exactly constitutes force was never described and the Republicans faced opposition to their outrageous evil 'forcing' them to back down, Smith declared the forcible rape language would be removed. But, Republicans are slimy liars and when they passed the No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Bill (HR 3) on May 9th, the bill achieved a similar goal as the redefinition of rape by using the power of the IRS, the threat of audits and byzantine Medicare rules to ensure women are punished for being raped and impoverished or incarcerated for having an abortion.

Because if you are raped Republicans and Conservatives believe it's the woman's fault. Faux News will immediately go on air to declare it's definitely your fault because you dared show your 'filthy lust-ridden body' in public without a burqa.

Rebecca St. James' and Sean Hannity had a gay old time blaming rape victims during his segment on "Slutwalks", when she stated women,

"are asking for sex. They’re asking for sex if they’re dressed immodestly.” And, “There has to be responsibility, though, for what a woman is wearing, personal responsibility.”

Conservatives and Republicans then love to have a token representative, whose power and position are tied to the Patriarchy, carry the banner of the Right's Repression and Dogmatic Misogynism as Kirsten Powers did in further blaming rape victims for being raped. I point Sean Hannity, Kirsten Powers and Rebecca St. James to the Illinois Complied Statutes:

(720 ILCS 5/12‑17):
The manner of dress of the victim at the time of the offense shall not constitute consent.

But, Sean Hannity is a shameless hypocrite, just like his Republican Masters, who wails and tears at his breast to demonstrate his love of law but is more than willing to ignore laws when they don't conform to his sociopathic immorality.

In Texas, the Texas Legislature and Rick Perry declared they needed an emergency session to pass an invasive transvaginal sonogram bill, mandating all Doctors perform a sonogram before performing an abortion wait 24 hours then show the pictures and describe the image to the woman. So much for the GOP fear mongering about Government getting in-between Doctors and Patients.

There are many more restrictive laws in State Houses across the country and the Republicans defeated assault on Planned Parenthood, including John Kyl's ridiculous lie that 90% of Planned Parenthood's activities are abortion related*, are all designed to get women back under the control of the Patriarchy.

The Republican Party, the party of racist, homophobic, misogynist, religious zealots, is rushing forward to do as much damage to the American People as possible. And while they've focused on women, their classic target, the GOP have a stable full of federal and social bills designed to harm as many middle and working class Americans as possible. And it's for one simple reason; The Republican Party are the hired Assassins in service to their Moneyed Masters and the Plutocracy.

*- When questioned about his claim, Kyl's spokesman said it was "not intended to be a factual statement", i.e. a lie. John Kyl then had the Congressional Record altered so people wouldn't know he's a liar.

Related:
The GOP's Stealth Plan to Redefine Rape [Mother Jones]

Deceptive Practices

No One represents the American People. We've been sold into Wage Slavery and Serfdom to the Banking interests, by their wholly owned bureaucrats and thugs in the Republican Party and the deluded and corrupted portions of the Democratic Party.

"In Washington, the view is that the banks are to be regulated, and my view is that Washington and the regulators are there to serve the banks,” Congressman Spencer Bachus, Republican Alabama.

What are you doing Alabama?
You got the rest of the union
to help you along
What's going wrong?~ Neil Young, Alabama

At a time of 10% unemployment, pay freezes for middle class federal workers, the planned for destruction of social security and unemployment coverage, every breaking news story is of unprecedented record profits for Wall Street; Wall Street Sees Record Revenue in Recovery From Bailout.

What benefit does Wall Street provide to the American people? They no longer loan money to emerging small businesses, they do not seek to find rivals to established corporate behemoths, they no longer regulate themselves, they increasing create more and more byzantine "products" which are divorced from an actual commodity or crafted item. Or as the NewYorker asked; What Good is Wall Street?

Since 1980, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the number of people employed in finance, broadly defined, has shot up from roughly five million to more than seven and a half million. During the same period, the profitability of the financial sector has increased greatly relative to other industries. Think of all the profits produced by businesses operating in the U.S. as a cake. Twenty-five years ago, the slice taken by financial firms was about a seventh of the whole. Last year, it was more than a quarter. (In 2006, at the peak of the boom, it was about a third.) In other words, during a period in which American companies have created iPhones, Home Depot, and Lipitor, the best place to work has been in an industry that doesn’t design, build, or sell a single tangible thing.

And when trouble came and the economy was faced with a meltdown caused by the rampant malfeasance of Wall Street? Those selfsame people who create nothing, those who do nothing but play fancy computer games of transferring little 1s and 0s from one ledger to another, were saved on the backs of the workers. And since then? Why they've created no new jobs, they've tightened loans, they've foreclosed homes, they've sought to destroy healthcare, GM and the UAW and anything which represents a protection to the Middle Class and Poor in America.

And why do they get away with it? Apparently because of the Grand Scale of their Theft. I've tracked down and caught any number of thieves in my capacity as a police officer. The latest was a man who attempted to pass off false coupons he created himself for a pack of Marlboro's. It's a Deceptive Practice. He's poor and will undoubtedly get a conviction for a Class A Misdemeanor for trying to pass off the worthless paper.

But, what does Wall Street get for passing off Trillions in worthless paper again and again and again? They get the full faith and force of the Federal Government every time. Welcome to Serfdom.

Related:
A Secretive Banking Elite Rules Trading in Derivatives [The New York Times]

How Wall Street Creates Socialists - E.J. Dionne And from the article, The *Money* Shot:

“Well,” Fabrice “Fabulous Fab” Tourre sent to his girlfriend, “what if we created a ‘thing’, which has no purpose, which is absolutely conceptual and highly theoretical and which nobody knows how to price?”

Perhaps Fab once read the Karl Marx who wrote: “The more abstract money is, the less natural its relationship to other commodities.”

Joe Miller's DropZone Oathbreakers

The Oathkeepers are a group of various former and active duty Military members and Law Enforcement officers who jumped into political forefront last year along with the Teabaggers.

They crafted Youtube manifestos, propounded their Tenets at Teabagger Rallies and issued a Code of Conduct including a list of Ten Orders they will not Obey!

Among the Ten Orders is:

10. We will NOT obey any orders which infringe on the right of the people to free speech, to peaceably assemble, and to petition their government for a redress of grievances.

The Oathkeepers emerged because one of the first smears against President Obama from Glenn Beck, Michele Bachmann, Paul Broun and the Republican Party was that the US Military would be used for operations on American soil. Well lo and behold, Joe Miller, employed Active Duty Military members to unlawfully detain a US citizen.

While, I don't think they violated his 4th Amendment Rights, they did violate his 1st Amendment Rights and most states have laws against unlawful detention. In Illinois it's called Unlawful Restraint and it's a felony:

(720 ILCS 5/10‑3)
Sec. 10‑3. Unlawful restraint.
(a) A person commits the offense of unlawful restraint when he or she knowingly without legal authority detains another.
(b) Sentence. Unlawful restraint is a Class 4 felony.

I don't know what legal authority DropZone has but, this incident is worthy of an investigation and following that possibly charges against Miller's DropZone agents and Miller himself if he gave instructions to seize anyone whose questions he didn't like.

Republicans are transparent. Republicans and Conservatives know that if given power they will abuse it to it's fullest and use it to enrich themselves through greed, graft and avarice. And Republicans being evil can not imagine anyone else put into a position of power would behave any differently than themselves.

Related:
Alaska candidate’s ‘security’ firm allegedly tied to extremist militia[Raw Story]

Dropzone Security Services and its owner William F. Fulton -- who led the security detail that detained Alaska Dispatch editor Tony Hopfinger -- are closely tied in with the so-called Alaska Citizens Militia and its leader, right-wing extremist Norm Olson.

Bachmann crosses the Rubicon [Disaffected and it Feels So Good]
Toxic Commentary [Disaffected and it Feels So Good]

What Liz Cheney and Bill Kristol are Actually saying...

Imagine what horrible fate awaits my enemies when I would gladly kill any of my own men for victory. ~ Xerxes, 300

Similar to the ridiculous 300 version of King Xerxes, Liz Cheney and Bill Kristol are ridiculous characters on TV who let it be known every Sunday and many times in-between that they would gladly see any number of innocents die in order to achieve their goals.

The latest 'Al Qaeda 7' ad has stirred up much controversy. But, while it is true that Liz Cheney and Bill Kristol hate President Obama so completely they will fear monger, attack and lie about him and his administration everyday; the reasons they are doing so are as old as civilization itself.

The way the American Legal System is sometimes encapsulated is with Blackstone's Ratio, 'Better a hundred guilty men go free than one innocent man suffer.' But to Liz Cheney and Bill Kristol and their like-minded Conservatives the exact opposite is true. More precisely Liz Cheney and Bill Kristol don't care about justice, they care about and crave power. And if that power must be gotten through the deaths of hundreds or thousands of innocents or the wanton sacrifice of the military then so be it.

Liz Cheney has ridden Dick to get into her position, a parasite who lives by sucking off other men in Government. She doesn't care about the lives her lies and propaganda destroy and why should she? None of her children will ever be put in Harm's Way. None of her children will ever be sacrificed for a War for Republican Profits...

As a Police Officer I hate to see bad guys get away especially if I've put in some work making a good case against them. But, I am keenly aware of the coercive power of the State (something which Conservatives sometimes acknowledge - more later) and the necessity of a good, spirited yet legal defense for the defendant.

Conservatives claim to revile the Power of Government, but it's a lie. Conservatives only fear Government when the wrong people are in power, usually Blacks but always when it's a Liberal. When Conservatives are power they use the destructive and coercive power of every single level of Government to advance their personal beliefs, to curtail human rights, to enshrine ignorance, to steal money and to empower themselves for future power grabs.

*Please Note: This above post is abrogated in the case of Republicans, in those cases the State is persecuting an innocent and no amount of evidence will ever convince them of a Republicans guilt and Republicans can lie, fabricate evidence if they are in pursuit of the Republicans goals of stealing money, oppressing the poor and killing innocents.

SCOTUS and The Chicago Hand Gun Ban

It's in your nature to destroy yourselves. ~ Arnold, T2

SCOTUS heard the arguments in Macdonald v. Chicago on 03/02/10. Constitutional law expert Sheldon Nahmod, Professor at the Chicago-Kent College of Law, joined WBEX Chicago Public Radio to discuss the case. His opinion was that the Ban itself would be lifted (after several months deliberations) but certain provisions against carrying concealed or in sensitive places and other legal minutiae would be allowed to remain in place.

I want honest law abiding citizens to be able to defend themselves. Gang Bangers and Criminals are armed. A gun is the second best weapon for personal defense and has been for years. When a criminal breaks down your door or throws you on the pavement and puts a blade to your throat you put two in his chest. But, the idea that an armed society is a polite society is pure poppycock. People aren't rational and even when they aren't criminals, don't exhibit insanity or have clear background checks they have snapped and gone on murderous shooting rampages. And while Guns are tools their inherent nature makes them more dangerous than a claw hammer or ban saw or box cutter.

I have to deal with violations of the Illinois Unlawful Use of Weapons (720 ILCS 5/24‑1) occasionally. However, other calls for service are more frequent like Domestic Disputes, which every officer knows are fraught with danger due to the charged emotions involved.

The problem that arises is with the advent of SCOTUS failing under the control of Right Wing Extremist Terrorists who care more for money than Americans lives I don't see how any State or Municipal Law restricting gun ownership can survive.

Now, Gun Sucking Nuts have told me I am wrong that "natural" law can constitutionally restrict gun ownership but such natural law opinions require an interpretation of the Constitution don't they? And isn't that where the entire 2nd Amendment debate is bogged down and troublesome? What do the actual words of the 2nd Amendment mean? A well regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the People to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed. This is the least understood and most debated amendment in America.

But, what's very easily understood is with the rise of bigoted Right Wing Anti-Government Extremists, the Oath Keepers or Republican Mike Huckabee or Conservatives like Lars Larson hatred for the Police and the desire to see Cops gunned down by criminals have increased.

And now thanks to the SCOTUS I'll have to worry a Drunken H2 driver who runs over 6 other vehicles but views my arresting him as a violation of his 4 Amendment Rights' or the Gay Bar loitering drunk driving Homosexual Republican will come out blazing because as a typical Conservative Terrorist he feels the need to defend himself against Cops who are just Obama Thugs anyway...

Illinois Get To Know Your Laws 2

This is memo to President Obama. Sir, until your recent victory to the office of the Presidency you served as a Senator for the State of Illinois. Here in below is a law I believe you should acquaint yourself with and apply towards George W. Bush and Dick Cheney, and everyone else associated with Torturing enemies captured during the War on Terror.

(720 ILCS 5/12‑7) Compelling confession or information by force or threat.

(a) A person who, with intent to obtain a confession, statement or information regarding any offense, knowingly inflicts or threatens imminent bodily harm upon the person threatened or upon any other person commits the offense of compelling a confession or information by force or threat.

(b) Sentence. Compelling a confession or information is a: (1) Class 4 felony if the defendant threatens imminent bodily harm to obtain a confession, statement, or information but does not inflict bodily harm on the victim, (2) Class 3 felony if the defendant inflicts bodily harm on the victim to obtain a confession, statement, or information, and (3) Class 2 felony if the defendant inflicts great bodily harm to obtain a confession, statement, or information.

Please Mr. President have this matter investigated and use the statements made by Mr. Cheney, "I was involved in the helping getting the process cleared. They talked to me as well as others. I supported them." as evidence in their criminal trials.

Bong Water

Mmmmm, Mmmmm Good! Hey Kids! Do you want to win 14 Gold medals in Olympic Competition against the BEST in the world like Michael Phelps??? Then try Kellogg's Bong Water! Kellogg Scientists have specially crafted Bong Water to give you extra energy and is filled with the THC goodness your body needs.

The Michael Phelps bong tokin' photos bru-ha-ha-ha ha has brought the marijuana issue to light, at least momentarily. The necessity for the criminalization of cannabis is predicated on: the current state of scientific and medical knowledge concerning the effects of cannabis makes it necessary to acknowledge the physical, psychological and sociological damage which is incumbent upon its use.

It's likely Phelps has smoked pot prior to the photographic evidence. So, it leaves one to wonder how much of a negative impact it can have on the physical health of the user since Phelps went on to win A Million And One gold medals in the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

Historically, cannabis has also been classified as a "gateway drug" once a person starts eatin' them hashish brownies it's only a matter of time before they're mainlining heroin. I believe this is faulty reasoning akin to believing the person who has an occasional beer is going to eventually drink a gallon of Canned Heat a night.

And this brings us back to the 1937 Marijuana Tax Act. A key proponent of criminalization was the DuPont Chemical Company which invented Nylon in the 1935. Nylon was created to be used for the vast array of products which had been made from Silk and Hemp. Silk, of course, was and still is expensive as well as difficult to cultivate. But, Hemp, ah now that is a problem.

Hemp grows everywhere and had been grown in US since before the Revolution. And this is were the ubiquitous and nefarious William Randolph Hearst enters into the picture or more accurately the newspaper. Hearst used his influence and papers to print any number of racist and sensational stories about what the use of the devil weed did to people.

The Director of the newly created Bureau of Narcotics Harry J. Anslinger used many of the anecdotal and completely fabricated Hearst stories in his "Gore Files" to highlight all sorts of terrible things done while under the power of Reefer Madness. Sadly, it seems, Anslinger was just another power mad racist who worked for years deluding himself that his goals were noble and it was his duty to protect certain segments of society form other less desirable segments.

So, as often is the case throughout history, a select few of the powerful create a situation in which the lesser classes are divided and their actions criminalized. And the Hounds whom they Keep are tasked with lying to, shaming, cajoling or forcing the lower peoples of this nation in line.

Illinois Get To know Your Laws 1

With the recent financial implosion and the realization that the US system is designed to benefit the elite at the expense of the masses, Privatize the Profits, Socialize the Losses here's an Illinois Law readers should know.

From the Illinois Complied Legal Statutes:

(720 ILCS 300) Derogatory Statements About Banks Act.

Any person who shall willfully and maliciously make statements... which is derogatory to the financial condition of... any corporation doing a banking or trust business in this State... shall be guilty of a Class A misdemeanor: However, the truth of said statement, established by the maker thereof, shall be a complete defense in any prosecution under the provisions of this Act.

Follow the link to read the full legal jargon, which includes the elements of the offense and the manner in which a person can commit the offense, but here is the defense again: However, the truth of said statement, established by the maker thereof, shall be a complete defense in any prosecution under the provisions of this Act.

...the truth shall set you free...

So, when you point out tax payers are funding the bonuses given to anti-american communist executives and bankers of Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, Citigroup, JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, Merrill Lynch and others who facilitated the necessity of the TARP Bailout by their corruption, greed and avarice you are innocent of the charge and free of prosecution.