One Citizen Speaking

Previous month:
October 2019

Next month:
December 2019

DISHEARTENING NEWS ON THE UPCOMING REPORTS ON THE BIGGEST SCANDAL IN U.S. HISTORY?

Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Lindsey Graham (R-SC) has been all over the media touting the fact that the Department of Justice Inspector General Michael Horowitz is scheduled to testify about the long-delayed, long-awaited report on FISA abuses on December 11, 2019.

Even promising that the report was likely to be released a few days earlier so the media has enough time to review the voluminous report. Many believe that the report will reveal what actions were taken when the FBI applied for FISA court surveillance warrants to surveil U.S. citizens and which allowed the agency to spy on Donald Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign. Some hope that there will be criminal referrals appended to the report. Considering that the Inspector General cannot issue subpoenas or impanel a Grand Jury, there is always another step in the process – all subject to the political bugaboo: "prosecutorial discretion."

The more I read about the Democrat’s assertion that nobody is above the law, the more I have come to realize that there is nobody in power who appears to have the political will to prosecute politically-connected high-level Democrats and that today’s media will say little or nothing about this failure to achieve justice in the biggest political scandal in the history of the United States.

So I am taking all of the conservative pronouncements of upcoming justice in the reports of Attorney General William Barr, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, John Durham, and the Department of Justice Inspector General Michael Horowitz with a grain of salt.

Consider the recently released “audit” report from DOJ Inspector General Michael Horowitz which found “numerous issues” with how the FBI deals with secret sources and confidential informants. The report released November 19, 2019, and titled “Audit of the Federal Bureau of Investigation's Management of its Confidential Human Source Validation Processes, Audit Report 20-009” is freely available on the DOJ IG website (Summary | Full Report | Video | Press Release)

Results in Brief…

We found that the FBI's vetting process for CHSs, known as validation, did not comply with the Attorney General Guidelines. We also found deficiencies in the FBl's long-term CHS validation reports which are relied upon by FBI and Department of Justice (Department or DOJ) officials in determining the continued use of a CHS. Further, the FBI inadequately staffed and trained personnel conducting long-term validations and lacked an automated process to monitor its long-term CHSs.

Our report contains 16 recommendations to help the FBI better manage its CHS program.

The FBI’s response to the draft audit report…

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) appreciates the opportunity to review and respond to your office's report entitled. Audit of the Federal Bureau of Investigation's Management of its Confidential Human Source Validation Processes.

The Human Source Review Committee (HSRC) comprised of DOJ and FBI has had a positive impact as 33% of the CHS files reviewed between February 2016 and November 2018 were closed, or continued operation with conditions added including caveats or recommendations. The FBI looks forward to improving the HSRC in order to address the highest risk CHSs in a timely manner.

We agree it is important to continue to improve the validation process to ensure compliance with the AG Guidelines. The FBI has already initiated meetings with DOJ to address possible revisions to the AG Guidelines to establish a better validation policy with a cohesive CHS validation strategy. In that regard, we concur with your fourteen recommendations for the FBI and the two recommendations for the Department and FBI.

And then there is footnote 20…

20 While the AG Guidelines require all long-term CHSs to receive an enhanced validation, those CHSs providing information for use in national security investigations or foreign intelligence collections are exempt from the HSRC requirements.

Amazing, since many individuals caught up in the Trump/Russia “Collusion” case were either foreign citizens or U.S. citizens operating abroad. Australian, British, French, or Italian. All were represented and exempt from enhanced validation as noted in Footnote 20.

Through published reports in the legacy media, we can see where many of the “Confidential Human Sources” used by the FBI in the 2016 election scandal were deeply flawed, their information appears to be deliberately deceptive and politically-motivated, and led to severe consequences for individuals caught up in a web of lies, half-truths, and fanciful supposition. Yet, I am looking for the section on who will be held accountable for these failures. Or, like good bureaucratic apparatchiks, will the blame be declared “systemic” and the responsibility diffused to the point where nobody will be held accountable for deliberate, and possibly criminal, misuse of the process by knowing and complicit individuals.

This is the same type of report created by the General Accountability Office who notes the failure of systems and controls to prevent the loss of large sums of money or government-owned property but never seems to point the finger at specific individuals with a recommendation and referral for prosecution. Because, according to the auditors, that is not their job and up to law enforcement and others.

IT APPEARS THAT LADY JUSTICE IS A DEMOCRAT

I believe that people like Barack Obama, Samantha Power, Susan Rice, Hillary Clinton, John Brennan, and James Clapper will never be successfully prosecuted and will remain “protected individuals.”

I also believe that if anyone will be prosecuted, it will be low-level intelligence, law enforcement, and State Department operatives, including but not limited to Andrew McCabe, James Comey, Peter Strzok, Lisa Page, etc.

And that such prosecutions will be so flawed as to prevent severe penalties – most likely for lying to the government (18 U.S. Code. § 1001 which prohibits making false statements to the government) and not part of a broader criminal conspiracy to interfere with a presidential election. (5 U.S. Code § 7323 which prohibits a government employee from using their official authority or influence for the purpose of interfering with or affecting the result of an election.).

Bottom line…

It is unlikely that there will be safeguards to protect the 2020 presidential election, especially since the House Democrats are already abusing their power as they conspire to use their official authority for the purpose of interfering with or affecting the result of the election. All courtesy of the “Separation of Powers” which prevents the Executive Branch from unduly interfering in the activities of sitting Members of Congress or their staffs.

Or that old standby, prosecutorial discretions, which saw Hillary Clinton considered only for her violation of the Espionage Act – where James Comey added an additional non-existent element to the law (“Intent”) and then gave her a pass from prosecution although he usurped the power of the Department of Justice to do so. You will notice that she was not charged with perjury, lying to the government, destruction of documents under subpoena, theft of government property, and other criminal activities.

Even if President Trump is reelected and the GOP retakes the House of Representatives, I would not look for justice as the bureaucracy takes care of its own and survives no matter which party might be in power.

We are majorly and thoroughly screwed.

-- steve

“Nullius in verba”-- take nobody's word for it!
"Acta non verba" -- actions not words

“Beware of false knowledge; it is more dangerous than ignorance.”-- George Bernard Shaw

“Progressive, liberal, Socialist, Marxist, Democratic Socialist -- they are all COMMUNISTS.”

“The key to fighting the craziness of the progressives is to hold them responsible for their actions, not their intentions.” – OCS

"The object in life is not to be on the side of the majority, but to escape finding oneself in the ranks of the insane." -- Marcus Aurelius

“A people that elect corrupt politicians, imposters, thieves, and traitors are not victims... but accomplices” -- George Orwell

“Fere libenter homines id quod volunt credunt." (The people gladly believe what they wish to.) ~Julius Caesar

“Describing the problem is quite different from knowing the solution. Except in politics." ~ OCS

Permalink | Comments (0)

NOVEMBER 2019 PRIMARY DEMOCRAT DEBATE: LOSERS AND WINNERS

As I have pointed out before, the real losers in the Democrat debates are the American people who are being offered a choice between totalitarian socialism and a politer, but similarly destructive, form of socialism.

Worldview…

Unfortunately, most in the far left believe that mankind is imperfect, but can be perfected with public policies administered by “enlightened” individuals that are worthy of trust by the rest of the population. Many also believe that the historical activities of the United States are the root cause of existing global problems.

Again, unfortunately, this worldview is insane because it violates the very basis of human nature: the strong will exert control over the weak and complacent to their self-benefit. Thus, some will do everything in their power, foul or fair, to gain and retain their power. And as we have historically witnessed, no group of individuals has been proven worthy of being considered “enlightened” for the central administration of the affairs of the greater population.

As for the historical activities of the United States over its short lifespan, slavery can be traced back to antiquity, and colonialism was the theme of many empires. Why is it that the extreme left finds itself unable to recognize modern colonialism in Russia and China and modern slavery in many African nations?

It appears that it is more advantageous to disparage the system where you reside and where you seek political power. It is more politically advantageous to sell a utopian viewpoint than deal with the failures of existing public policy to improve lives among minorities and the poor.

When you listening…

As you listen to many of the nominees, it is helpful to remember that these people and their staffs live in a carefully-managed utopian bubble without any sense of responsibility or accountability for the real-world consequences of their actions. The paint a picture with broad strokes and not with the implementation of specific legislative solutions. The gloss over prior policy failures as easily and quickly as they dismiss their own failings as “old news.”

We have seen the consequences of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, where patients were not protected, and routine care became massively unaffordable in terms of premiums, co-pays, and reimbursement restrictions. Most of the so-called uninsured were actually transferred to state-managed Medicaid programs that could not exist without massive federal subsidies.

Now, they speak of “Medicare for All, which would result in reducing or eliminating all private insurance, the loss of Medicare paid for decades by senior citizens, and forcing everyone into a one-size-fits-all Medicaid-like program where the government sets coverage and reimbursement rates.

But, worst of all, even in the face of trillion-dollar costs, these candidates cannot explain how you can service a greater number of people with the same number of facilities, physicians, diagnostic devices, and medical support personnel. Or how many doctors would be willing to work for the government with reduced wages and restrictions on the care of patients. A scenario that will most surely lead to denials, delays, and deaths.

This is all because the candidates and their respective staffs live in a bubble where all of the feedback comes from like-minded consultants, pollsters, and even the media.

Everything is about narrative, and individuals are screened and provided access based on how well they support that narrative.

Memorable or not…

** From the opening moments spent condemning Trump and supporting the impeachment effort by moderator Rachel Maddow who mischaracterized the present day’s testimony, it went downhill. You know something is wrong when a nominee quotes Walter Mondale’s words on the wall of the Jimmy Carter Presidential Museum: “We told the truth. We obeyed the law. We kept the peace.” Yeah Right! We gave the world Islamo-Fascism in Iran, We failed to protect our fellow Americans in our Embassy. And, we almost bankrupted America with a damaged economy and sky-high interest rates. One might think that they would start with some of their initiatives – not attempting to destroy the existing president.

** I was hoping someone would ask Joe Biden why his administration failed to give weapons to the Ukraine while they were being attacked – not about a 55-day delay in lethal aid.

** Harris mentions people who shoplift should go to jail – yet in California, shoplifting or stealing anything under $950, well under the price of a gun, gets a misdemeanor ticket. Well, I guess that’s one way to teach functional illiterates everyday arithmetic.

** $15/hour minimum wage – Yes, I want $30,000+ burger flippers and to pay $10 for a hamburger. What an incentive to displace human labor with automation or kill small business opportunities!

** Warren wants to bring 135 additional million people into her Medicare for All at no cost to them. Screw senior citizens who spent their whole life paying into the system – not to mention everyone else losing their private insurance.

** Tulsi Gabbard destroyed Kamala Harris as a liar.

** Steyer condemning the corporations that provided his billions – a hypocrite to be sure.

** Klobuchar: Let’s overturn Citizens United – but says nothing about curtailing the very same campaigning by unions, especially public employee unions.

** Sanders: Nobody is above the law. – Right, just ask Hillary Clinton!

** Democrats want to preserve Ethanol – even as it raises food prices, destroys car engines, and is simply a subsidy to corporate America.

** Yea! Let’s kill our economy with green policies. Yea! Let’s live in a dream world. Steyer: Climate is an emergency, and I will use the President’s emergency powers. Environmental justice – explain how that works.

** Biden: Climate is an existential emergency. Bullshit! Political corruption is an existential emergency – and the Democrats are the most corrupt of all.

** Warren: Mentioning cages at detention centers at the border – I guess she forgot that these were Obama’s cages.

** Sanders: I will stand with 11,000,000 undocumented immigrants. If only that were the true number!!! It hasn’t changed for decades.

** Warren goes on-and-on about corporate corruption, but says nothing about political corruption which permits corporate corruption.

** Biden claims the Obama Administration had a spotless reputation. Pretty much proof that he is out-of-touch with reality.

When are they going to ask Joe why his son was qualified to receive millions from countries and companies in nations in his political portfolio?

Yada. Yada. Yada.

BORING!

Bottom line…

There were no real winners. This is not a contest, a beauty contest, or a reality show. It is a process to determine which individuals might be capable of leading our exceptional nation. And, in my opinion, none of the current candidates meet the challenge. The biggest losers were non-entities Andrew Yang, Tom Steyer, Kamala Harris, and Cory Booker.

Most notable moment for me, watching Tulsi Gabbard going up against “Mayor Pete” saying that simply serving in the military does not qualify a candidate to be the commander-in-chief.

The funniest moment for me was Warren saying: “I am so grateful to be here and I am grateful to an America who gave the daughter of a janitor a chance to become a public school teacher, a chance to become a college professor, a chance to become a United States Senator and a candidate for President of the United States.” Funny because she wasn’t grateful to an America who gave her a chance to become an American Indian which she parlayed into a $500,000 professorship teaching one class at Harvard.

Stripped of the euphemisms, they are about collectivist, communist if you are honest, power over the self-determination inalienable rights of the individual citizen.

It is not a matter of choosing the best of the worst; it is a matter of rejecting their message altogether and making your displeasure known.’

For three years, the Democrats have tried to bring down or cripple President Trump, mainly because they lack the ideas and the candidates that can win over a majority of American citizens. There is no doubt that Trump is an unpolished, sometimes crude, individual. But he does try to fulfill his political promises, and his chaotic nature is shaking the establishment to its foundational core.

As we approach funding deadlines and the threats of China, Russia, Iran, North Korea, etc., all we see is the Democrats obsessing over President Trump and doing little or nothing to have improved the well-being of Americans over the last four years.

We are genuinely screwed when we see ten self-important individuals fighting among themselves to see who can destroy productive capitalism and implement destructive communism in the United States.

Today proved, beyond a shadow of a doubt, democrats are dysfunctional crazies living in a mythical world.

We are so screwed.