FOOLS

corrupt? stupid?

 both?

    The mob of fools who are the trump administration seem hell bent on being the nethermost boundary of incompetence in American history.

     One senses the gravity when the old war horse Charlie Rose asks, "do we face a constitutional crisis?" Constitutional crisis! The least qualified, least experienced and least fit president has done so much to unglue and desecrate two centuries of American tradition and history it is as though what parades before us is a perverse cartoon, with life altering impact. In 5 months he's brought us to the point where the Rose question is valid.

     Jefferson Sessions luckily escaped his racist past to get the job of Attorney General. In reading the power tea leaves he assessed his own involvement in the trump campaign and the chilly Russian winds and he recused himself from any involvement in any current or future investigation of the Russian invasion of American politics. That he did until he asked the president to fire the man who was directing this nation's investigation into the Russian intrigue. By calling for FBI Directory Comey's dismissal, Sessions may well have obstructed justice, complicit with the fool who is our likely illegitimate president. Yes, crisis is a good word. 

      This gaggle of swamp dwellers, aside from being colossal fools and would be tin horn dictators, are liars. They are liars of profound proclivity. And they act as though they can say they will recuse themselves and then foul the constitution by firing the FBI director or promise to release their taxes and never do so, etc. 
      You may debate Comey's role in the presidential election or his personality, but the man is due a modicum of respect if for no other reason than his position and his years of service. The manner of his firing is a disgrace and the sure sign of a coward. Donald Trump dissed not only the Director but all of the men and women of the FBI.

       

     This is gut check time for Republicans. Will they put party interests over that of the nation and let Trump snuff out the investigation into the Russian invasion of American politics? 
      It is time for an independent prosecutor or investigation.
      A dear friend of mine keeps asking, "Why aren't we rioting in the streets?"

behold the fava

      You may recall an earlier post on our bountiful fava bean crop. Here's the follow-up report.

     There are still a few beans left, but Lana harvested most of them.

       They are extraordinarily labor intensive. Getting them out of the outer shell is step 1

      Here is where fava fans begin to differ. I'm told Italian and English preference is to use the bean with the outer cellulose packaging. The French like to liberate the essential bean, and that means more work. We prefer the French method. The discarded inner husk is on the left. The free bean on the right.

    Hours later, the harvested, shucked, shelled beans are packaged for freezing. We have our favorite recipes, but that is for another post. 

      See you down the trail.

TEAPOT TEMPESTS AND MORE

PROPORTIONALITY

     The best information to date is the Innocence of Muslims  was a badly made and cheap film that attracted only a handful of viewers at a screening in LA.  It could have died there and never been heard of again. But social media changes all the old rules.

      Clips of the film circulated on YouTube and fanned Muslim anger.  Strains of fundamental Islam take little to work them into a frenzy.  Those who hew to a rigid line of never thinking critically about their own faith, or even thinking in an open minded and rational way are quick to foam and be seized by manic anger.  What apparently is a piece of trash with mysterious origin has now become a pivot point of anger, foment and a genuine foreign policy issue.  For all that is good about a wired world and communication power, an incident like this points to its dark side.

       Ignorance is just that, whether in a film, or in a response to it. Ignorance is rampant in the world, and it wears Muslim, Christian and Jewish garb.  A decentralized, non aggregated, free-for-all communication web can simply add fuel to a fire.  It obviously can also set sparks. When so much ignorance plays in the tinderbox, the world is more dangerous.

       This is the kind of world where the US foreign policy and national security apparatus must operate.  It reminds me of muddy and muck filled rivers populated by crocodiles and snakes.  I was glad to have a veteran at the helm.  Hysterics in this climate can be lethal, but they abound.

ROMNEY'S DANGEROUS MISTAKE

     Now before my Republican, conservative or Romney backing readers have apoplexy, this is not about politics.

Indeed even right leaning or right wing commentators as well as old fashioned mainstream Republicans have criticized the Republican candidate for his opportunistic and political attack on the administration.  He was accused of speaking too early, or looking weak among other non presidential qualities.  The Democrats were more pointed, but since this is not about politics, we leave the comment to his own kind.

     From a center court seat and with an historic perspective, his desperation to score political points reflected a lack of judgement, seasoning, sense of depth and class.  At a time of international crisis, the US speaks with one voice. And Romney's sense of timing was bad, at the very least.  

     When Americans and diplomatic personnel are under attack, politics has no place. When those personnel die, any attempt to score political points is not only repugnant and offensive, it is a stupid miscalculation in a grave moment.  It was a cheap, stupid and tactless thing to do.  Romney and his advisers should be ashamed and are rightly being criticized.

     So there you have it.  Stupid X's 3.  Stupid film, stupid fundamental reaction, stupid politics.  What should have been a tempest in a teapot reveals fatal flaws and fault-lines in a dangerous world.

AND NOW SOMETHING DIFFERENT

A Kitten's First Climb

See you down the trail.

A DUMB JUSTICE & EVENING LIGHT

EXCUSE ME MR. JUSTICE KENNEDY
GO BACK UNDER YOUR ROCK

     There are good arguments to be had over the Supreme Court decision allowing jailers to make more invasive searches.  It resolves what has been conflict in other courts about the balance of privacy and security. 

     As a journalist I've been in prisons, jails, detention centers and lock ups.  Those places are populated by some who indeed are dangerous. But I've also encountered people in control of those situations who are A)not the most elite of their corp and B)who seem to "enjoy" having people under their control.  In fact I've met some jailers who are simply brutal and sadistic.  Allowing them to operate without control is not a good idea. I doubt if they've read the Constitution or the Bill of Rights.

      What is heinous, offensive and, to my way of thinking dangerously ignorant behavior for a Supreme, is the position of Justice Kennedy that the circumstances of the arrest (in the case being heard) were of little importance.  Read that again, the circumstances of the arrest were of little importance! I'm sorry Mr. Justice, but the circumstance of every arrest, regardless of whether petty or a major crime is important.  Yes, the Supremes make high altitude decisions about principles and interpretations, as in this ruling, but they should never overlook, forsake or take for granted the circumstances of an arrest. 

     The power to arrest, or the act of being arrested, is a pivot point in the very Constitutional relationship of individuals to a government.  Our rights as people are affected by our granting of power to governments.  The individual good submits to the greater good of the commonweal.  This is the stuff of political science, philosophy and theory and the debates cross history.

     In this particular case, it was a bad arrest, not called for and simply one more example of inefficiency, poor record keeping, bad police work and perhaps even racial profiling.

      For Justice Kennedy to overlook such "circumstances" so he can sink his teeth into what is truly an important matter to decide is wrong.  For him to say circumstances don't matter is stupid.

     I'm sure some students of the law or the Supreme Court will find my logic to be that of a rube, but right is right regardless of whether you are wearing a black robe, or being falsely arrested.  Circumstances matter.  They are real.

      Theory is born of real experiences.

DAY BOOK

EVENING LIGHT

      Shooters-photographers, videographers, cinematographers-call it "the golden hour," that evening light, saturated with color. It is as though the light is playful and magical. It's one of my favorite times to shoot.

      The sun acts as spot light, or sets up interesting shadows.

See you down the trail.