“We do not believe any group of men adequate enough or wise enough to operate without scrutiny or without criticism. We know that the only way to avoid error is to detect it, that the only way to detect it is to be free to inquire. We know that in secrecy error undetected will flourish and subvert.” –J. Robert Oppenheimer
No, the real problem is the fact that a majority of the 168 top GOP people voted for her. And now that has happened five times so they cannot claim they didn’t know what she was.
In spite of the fact that under her “leadership” the party had deliberately sabotaged the will of its base, had deliberately refused to challenge blatant election fraud, had gone out of its way to ensure certain candidates do not get nominated, had diverted donor money to namby-pamby candidates who have all the electoral appeal of a puddle of dog vomit…and in general has done nothing whatsoever to help fix the problems that plague America.
However that last is to be expected; I cannot expect anyone who IS the problem to help FIX the problem.
RINO McDaniel would have been powerless without an entire party leadership of the same mind as her. They wanted this dismal performance; they want to ignore the party base.
Her being gone will likely solve nothing as someone just like her will eventually be elected by those same pustulous people.
Me, over and over again in my openers (as amended when RINO McDaniel got the boot
So there I have been screaming at the top of my QTree lungs time and time again, that we have RINOs up and down the Party leadership and as long as that is true we will get nowhere.
Well RINO McDaniel is gone. But what about those 168 people?
In particular, what about this useless bint?
This is Vera Ortagnon, the National Committeewoman for Colorado.
The RNC consists of one woman and one man from each state and territory in the United States, plus (I believe) the state (or territory) chair. 50 states + DC + 5 territories = 56, 56 x 3 = 168.
And as I have been pointing out, likely to the point you’re sick and tired of reading me do so, most of these people loved RINO McDaniel.
Including Vera Ortagnon. She endorsed RINO McDaniel the last four times RINO McD ran for RNC Chair.
At the Colorado State convention, which was held on Saturday April 6, both the national committeewoman and national committeeman were selected for a new four year term.
The Committeeman for Colorado was unopposed for re-election, claimed he did not vote for RINO McD, and I heard absolutely no grumblings or suspicion of him at all.
National Committeewoman, on the other hand…well, I just told you Ortagnon’s a problem.
And two people ran against her.
Ortagnon first. In addition to her love of RINO McD, one thing that’s a bit aggravting is that it is impossible to hear from Vera Ortagnon without her making the point that she is Hispanic. I mean she explicitly says so, just in case her accent doesn’t make it clear. (She is a legal immigrant from Colombia; I have to admit that when she told the story of her naturalization, it was touching.)
The first opponent was Laura Imer. She was endorsed by plenty of prominent people (including the committeeman, once he was re-elected)…but there’s something offputting about her. Maybe it’s the fact that she looks a bit like Lynn Cheney. She is loud, and angry. But I saw no sign whatsoever that she is a RINO.
When she gave her speech, she dropped in the fact that Ortagnon had endorsed and presumably voted for RINO McD four times. Now it’s customary NOT to sling mud at your opponents, so that just showed a mean streak to most of the deletages, and I am glad she did it because Ortagnon and Imer took hits from that shot.
Because I wanted the third candidate to win. Meet Christy “Ruckus” Fidura.
She has been the driving force in turning Pueblo, yes Pueblo, the town of steel workers’ unions and lots and lots of Hispanics, RED when it has been “blue” for decades upon decades.
Unlike many places in Colorado, the geography makes sense. Pueblo is in Pueblo County, which is the county immediately to the south of El Paso County, in which is not El Paso. For many years, Pueblo was more famous than Colorado Springs; globes and small-scale maps would show two cities in Colorado: Pueblo and Denver. Even as a kid I would see these. By the time I was looking at maps, though, Colorado Springs had exceeded Pueblo in size, and now Colorado Springs is much better known across the country and to some extent even around the world, than Pueblo is.
So why the nickname “Ruckus”? Because she fights and the Dems in Pueblo know better than to mess with her. And someone coined the slogan “I aim to raise a ruckus” and Ruckus herself loved it.
In short, she’s effective, combative…and just absolutely Deplorable.
OK so I’ll come back to this race in a bit.
I mentioned that El Paso’s delegation to the two races we worked on yesterday was very small. Seven of us in a meeting of hundreds for US Congressional District 4. Twelve of us for House District 56. Completely overshadowed by other counties, even ones we tend to think of as “small” counties.
At the State convention, though, El Paso County is by far the biggest one. We owned an entire block of chairs on the floor. A supercontinent of our own.
But only seven of us had gotten to vote for Boebert the day before.
Did I exploit the sheer envy value of my photograph of a ballot with Lauren Boebert’s name on it? Who, me?
I went over to the Hinsdale County delegation during a break and told them, “Now I know how you must feel at these things.” Hinsdale is one of the emptiest counties in Colorado, with a population of a 788 people in 2020. And Hinsdale is famous for being where Alferd Packer, the “Colorado Cannibal” had his meal of long pork.
[Aside: Here’s what the sentencing judge, presumably a Democrat, is supposed to have said when he sentenced Packard (spelled phonetically): “Stand up yah voracious man-eatin’ sonofabitch and receive yir sintince. When yah came to Hinsdale County, there was siven Dimmycrats. But you, yah et five of ’em, goddam yah. I sintince yah t’ be hanged by th’ neck ontil yer dead, dead, dead, as a warnin’ ag’in reducin’ th’ Dimmycratic populayshun of this county. Packer, you Republican cannibal, I would sintince ya ta hell but the statutes forbid it. ”
Well, that’s one answer for the question of what to do with Democrats. But not one I endorse. Probably too much mad cow disease in the meat.]
After an additional discussion about this quote (the Hinsdale folks were adamant that Packer et all of the Dimmycrats) I went back to my seat.
People who arrive at these events have to be “credentialed” and it seems like that cannot be anything but a gigantic clusterf*ck no matter what. We were supposed to start at 9 AM, didn’t come close to that, and the credentials committee finally submitted their final report (including alternates who had been made delegates) at 3 PM. After which we could vote.
So the candidates made their speeches including an electrical engineer alumnus of CU Boulder who was running for the board of regents (we’re close to the same age and may even have been in classes together). He was unopposed (no petitioners either), and nominated by acclamation; I wish him luck in the general election.
One useful bit of business that got done is the party leadership is now allowed to explicitly endorse candidates that won at the assembly, which can be used to give them a leg up over those who petitioned on.
And we had some speakers. Including…drumroll…Matt Gaetz!
(I regret that I have found no video of his speech, which was excellent.)
He was here to help out both Lauren Boebert and Dave Williams (apparently Matt’s wife and Boebert are besties). Dave Williams is our state chair, and he is running to replace Doug Lamborn in the 5th district (the one that covers most of El Paso County; the one I was in before redistricting). By all accounts Williams, should he win the primary and the general election, would be a fighter for MAGA; some think he’d be just as solid as Gaetz. Good luck, Dave!
The registration process was complicated. We got our badges (showing photo ID to claim them). We then had to walk through a doorway and they put a sticker on the back with a six letter, mixed case code on it. We were then supposed to scan a QR and give it both our badge number (on the front) and the code on the back to complete sign in. Out of a couple of thousand people, however, about a 150 didn’t do that last step. When they went to vote for committeewoman, they had to complete their registrations before they could vote, but then…the credential committee report had to be amended one more time. That caused a…er…ruckus.
The delegates had to walk right by the Pueblo County delegation to cast their ballots. As you might imagine there were a lot of Ruckus signs there. In order to avoid mobbing the voting area, delegates were divided into six roughly equal-sized groups, El Paso County was Group One (all by itself). After I voted, I looped back to the Pueblo area and held up a Ruckus sign. Next to us were a bunch of very young people holding Immer signs; then we realized they were guests, not delegates! Our spiel incorporated “Ruckus has support from actual delegates!”
Finally after all that, at about 6:30 PM (it had taken three hours to vote and hand count the ballots; that was actually a smooth process), we got to hear the results. I don’t recall the exact numbers but, with just under two thousand ballots cast:
Vera Ortagnon : roughly 200 votes. Crushed!!!
Laura Imer : roughly 500 votes.
Christy “Ruckus” Fidura : Over 1100 votes!!!
Kickass!!!
And THIS is how you kill a RINO! By Raising A Ruckus!
This Rejoice & Praise God Sunday Open Thread, with full respect to those who worship God on the Sabbath, is a place to reaffirm our worship of our Creator, our Father, our King Eternal.
It’s also a place to read, post, and discuss news that is worth knowing and sharing. Please post links to any news stories that you use as sources or quote from.
In the QTree, we’re a friendly and civil lot. We encourage free speech and the open exchange and civil discussion of different ideas. Topics aren’t constrained, and sound logic is highly encouraged, all built on a solid foundation of truth and established facts.
We have a policy of mutual respect, shown by civility. Civility encourages discussions, promotes objectivity and rational thought in discourse, and camaraderie in the participants – characteristics we strive toward in our Q Tree community.
Please show respect and consideration for our fellow QTreepers. Before hitting the “post” button, please proofread your post and make sure your opinion addresses the issue only, and does not confront or denigrate the poster. Keep to the topic – avoid “you” and “your”. Here in The Q Tree, personal attacks, name-calling, ridicule, insults, baiting, and other conduct for which a penalty flag would be thrown are VERBOTEN.
In The Q Tree, we’re compatriots, sitting around the campfire, roasting hot dogs, making s’mores, and discussing, agreeing, and disagreeing about whatever interests us. This board will remain a home for those who seek respectful conversations.
God is in Control . . . and His Grace is Sufficient, so . . . Keep Looking Up
Hopefully, every Sunday, we can find something here that will build us up a little . . . give us a smile . . . and add some joy or peace, very much needed in all our lives.
“This day is holy to the Lord your God; do not mourn nor weep.” . . . “Go your way, eat the fat, drink the sweet, and send portions to those for whom nothing is prepared; for this day is holy to our Lord. Do not sorrow, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.”
My Soul Restored
The only biblical passage that contains this phrase is Psalm 23:3: “He restores my soul.” This is in the context of the Shepherd who leads His sheep to “green pastures,” “quiet waters” and “paths of righteousness.” As Christians, we are the sheep of God’s pasture (Psalm 100:3), and only He can restore our souls. To restore means “to repair, renovate, or return to a former condition.” The soul is the deepest part of us, our spirit and innermost being. Since God is the one who made us, only He can restore us, because only He knows what we truly need to restore our souls.
God has given us the answers about restoring our souls in the Bible—the Word of God (2 Timothy 3:16-17), and it has the answers and wisdom to deal with everything we will ever face. It can make us wise unto salvation (2 Timothy 3:15), serve to encourage us when we are faint-hearted (2 Corinthians 1:3), and be our guidebook to a life of peace and satisfaction (Psalm 119:97-105). While there are all kinds of books written by men offering worldly wisdom, only God’s Word is truly capable of restoring the soul and offering hope in times of distress.
Of course, restoring the soul is only possible for those whose souls have been redeemed through faith in Christ. Jesus promised rest to all those that would come to Him (Matthew 11:28-30), so it is important that we are sure of our salvation and our relationship with God. Only those who are truly born again in Christ can experience the peace and joy that God has promised in His Word.
Thankfully, God has provided for us when we face discouragement, trials and temptations. He has provided three primary sources of encouragement and strength. First, He has given us His Word to guide us, encourage us and nourish us spiritually. We need to spend time reading it, hearing it preached (Romans 10:17) and most of all obeying it (Psalm 119:2; Proverbs 3:1-2; James 1:25). Second, God has also given us the privilege and power of prayer (Matthew 7:7-11; Mark 11:24-25; John 15:7; Hebrews 4:16; 1 John 5:14). We need to take our problems, our discouragement and our tiredness to God in prayer, knowing that He loves us and cares for us (1 Peter 5:6-7). Third, He has given us other Christians to encourage us and support us (Ecclesiastes 4:9-19; Ephesians 4:29; Hebrews 3:13). It is important to be a part of a healthy, well-balanced church and to regularly worship and fellowship with other believers (Hebrews 10:23-25). Christians who have gone through similar struggles can be a great source of encouragement and help as we go through dark times (2 Corinthians 1:3-4).
Discouragement in times of trouble and tribulation is not unusual. Throughout the Bible we see examples of godly men and women who have faced similar situations. These examples can serve as encouragement to us today, because the same God who was faithful to them then will be faithful to us today. It’s helpful to begin by reading the Psalms because King David wrote many of these during the dark times in his life, and they can serve to encourage us when we are depressed, tired and discouraged. Because David had experienced the joy of a soul restored by God, he could pen the beautiful words of the 23rd Psalm: “He restores my soul.” https://www.gotquestions.org/restore-my-soul.html
What is it that feeds our battle, yet starves our victory?
January 6 Tapes?
Where are the tapes? Anyone, Anyone? Bueller? Johnson??
Paging Speaker Johnson…this is your conscience calling you out on broken promises.
Boebert Day
Friday was the day that delegates from all over Colorado’s 4th Congressional District met to designate a candidate. This is Ken B*ck’s old district. Lauren Boebert who now represents Colorado’s 3rd Congressional District, has moved into this district believing that she has a better chance of winning here. Her election in 2022 was the closest race for Congress anywhere in the United States; she won by a few hundred votes.
OK a bit of personal background. I live in El Paso county; that’s the one where Colorado Springs is located. It’s actually the most populous county in Colorado (even beating out the City and County of Denver). As a result of the last census, Colorado gained an eighth house seat and everything got redistricted. My old congressional district, 5 (Doug Lamborn, who is also leaving) had formerly included El Paso County and a bunch of smaller surrounding counties, now CD5 can’t even cover the whole county. A bit on the west side of the county got shaved off and given to CD 7, my piece on the east, on the prairie, got shaved off and handed over to CD4.
Finding myself in Ken B*ck’s district I have said several times that I wished I were in Boebert’s district. With her making this move…well now I am…but first she has to win the election!
It’s a near certainty that the Republican nominee will win the district; the problem is to ensure that Lauren Boebert becomes the nominee.
I was an alternate to this assembly but did manage to fill in for someone who didn’t show, so now delegate SteveInCO had the opportunity to vote.
Four candidates were vying for the nomination at the assembly. Boebert, some guy named Ted Harvey, someone else named Richard Holtorf and yet another named Jerry Sonnenberg.
As it turns out, the other three are verifiable RINOs with scores in the 60s (100=perfect conservative) though in the case of Harvey I had to talk to another former state legislator who worked with him to find it out; his term was too long ago.
Of course every single one of them talked a good game…Did you know that they are all ranchers? No? You would within five minutes of arriving at the assembly; every one of their signs said “rancher” on it.
An observer from Mars would be forgiven for concluding, on the basis of their speeches, that all four were equally conservative. (This is why listening to the speeches is pointless. However, IF you’ve been around long enough to know who the old retired RINOs are, you can sometimes figure things out by watching WHO is doing the nominating.)
So after the speeches it was time to vote. (And yes one of the other three went out of his way to say he wasn’t a carpetbagger from Rifle, and I could hear people’s surprise that he would attempt to call out Boebert that way; generally candidates at these things do not sling mud at each other.)
And at 12:20 on Friday, April 5, I happily cast my ballot for Lauren Boebert.
That felt good.
And it has been many years I could feel good casting a ballot (with the exception of the presidential primary on Super Tuesday).
So here’s the deal. To get to go to this assembly, you must attend precinct caususes; each precinct is assigned a number of delegates in proportion to the number of people who voted for the Republican candidate for governor the last gubernatorial election. (That really should be spelled goober-natorial.) At the caucus they vote for people to go. I failed to get into this (but did get into county and state house level assemblies) but secured an alternate slot. If enough people from my county failed to show up I could replace one of them. As it happens, out of 7 delegates total, one did not show up, and I was the only alternate from my county, and I got “elevated”…and so I got to vote for Boebert. (El Paso County, the 900 lb gorilla of the state, only had 7 delegates here…because only a tiny sliver of the county got put into this congressional district.)
OK so here are the rules: only candidates who get 30 percent of the vote are considered “designated” and will appear on the primary ballot. UNLESS the candidate also gets an adequate number of signatures by petition, in which case the threshold is ten percent. This is a major problem, as I will explain below.
In any case the final vote tally (with 159 votes being 30 percent, or 53 votes being ten percent) is: Boebert 215, Ted Harvey 135, Richard Holtorf 81, and Jerry Sonnenberg getting 96 votes. So only Lauren Boebert would appear on the primary ballot.
Except for those damn petitions.
Under Colorado law, you can petition onto the primary ballot and completely bypass these assemblies. Almost every incumbent GOP politician does this; they’re generally despised by the party grassroots because…they’re RINOs. Or you can petition AND go to the assembly and be designated with only ten percent of the vote.
In this case, Harvey did not petition at all, so he is out of the race, and good riddance. However Holtorf and Sonnenberg did petition (perhaps unsuccessfully, I don’t know yet) and therefore WILL be on the ballot if they were successful.
There is at least one other candidate, Flora (I don’t know if that’s a first or last name) who petitioned on and did not go through the assembly; she (?) will be on the primary ballot. There may be others.
The one bit of good news is that assembly winners go on the ballot above the petitioners.
The reason I said petitioning is a problem is that Incumbent politicians use the petition process to circumvent the party grassroots. They don’t have to pay any attention to us whatsoever; they hire someone to gather signatures for them, they end up on the primary ballot with no indication of how they got there (other than they aren’t top line on the ballot), and because of name recognition they win the primary, again. Petitioning needs to either be ditched, or require a 20% showing at the relevant assembly. But this will never happen, the incumbents know they can’t get re-elected without the petition process, so it will remain required by law, because they won’t change the law.
Other races decided on Friday were state school board…where a RINO and a good candidate ended up almost tied, so both will be on the primary ballot, and my house district (at a totally separate meeting), where there were two good people and one RINO, however his home base county (whose people he has snookered) had half of the delegates in that assembly. So it was a 50-25-25 split and the RINO will be on the ballot unopposed (no petitioners for this race). The incumbent, by the way, is a RINO who has brain cancer; he opted not to run.
I still have the (unused because unnecessary) second round ballot from the House 4th CD race; it’s going to become a treasured souvenir of the first time I got to vote for Lauren Boebert. I even have a picture of it:
Saturday (today) will be the election of RNC committee people; three candidates, the incumbent talks too much about being Hispanic and endorsed RINO McDaniel in 2022 (HELL NO!), of the two others, one has managed to turn Pueblo County red (former union democrat stronghold) and will get my vote. The third one has been spamming me a lot (almost as much as the incumbent) and I’ve been ignoring her.
News Flash
Today, it is still the case that Joe Biden didn’t Win.
I realize that to some readers, this might be a shock; surely at some point things must change and Biden will have actually won.
But the past cannot actually be changed.
It will always and forever be the case that Joe Biden didn’t win.
And if you, Leftist Lurker, want to dismiss it as dead white cis-male logic…well, you can call it what you want, but then please just go fuck off. No one here buys that bullshit–logic is logic and facts are facts regardless of skin color–and if you gave it a moment’s rational thought, you wouldn’t either. Of course your worthless education never included being able to actually reason–or detect problems with false reasoning–so I don’t imagine you’ll actually wake up as opposed to being woke.
As Ayn Rand would sometimes point out: Yes, you are free to evade reality. What you cannot do is evade the consequences of evading reality. Or to put it concretely: You can ignore the Mack truck bearing down on you as you play in the middle of the street, you won’t be able to ignore the consequences of ignoring the Mack truck.
And Ayn Rand also pointed out that existence (i.e., the sum total of everything that exists) precedes consciousness–our consciousnesses are a part of existence, not outside of it–therefore reality cannot be a “social construct” as so many of you fucked-up-in-the-head people seem to think.
So much for Leftist douchebag lurkers. For the rest of you, the regular readers and those lurkers who understand such things: I continue to carry the banner once also carried by Wheatie. His Fraudulency didn’t win.
Let’s Go, Brandon!!
Hey China!
Or rather, “Hey Chinese Communist Party and your entire array of servitors, ass-wipers, and fellators!”
You’re not even worth my time this week. When you decide to act like civilized people, maybe I’ll give you a lesson or two in how non-barbarians behave.
Hey BiteMe! (Or, Whoever Has Their Hand Rammed Up That Putrefying Meat Puppet’s Ass)
[Language warning]
You and yours have caused a lot of injury. Literal injury with your war on people who don’t want to take an untested vaccine. When people die in an emergency room because a hospital won’t admit them because they haven’t had their clot shot, that’s a crime.
I’m going to address here the insult on top of the injury, because I am among the insulted. I still have my health but apparently you want me to live under the 8th Street Bridge (which actually isn’t on 8th Street, but whatever, that’s what the I-25 overpass over Cimarron is called), so maybe if you have your way that won’t be true for long. Dreadful time of year to become homeless.
No, you’re just trying to make me unemployed, because I won’t take your fucking shots.
Well, that threat is NOT going to work. I. Won’t. Take. Your. Fucking. Shots.
And it looks like enough people agree, that you’re having to back down, you worthless asswipe.
You’re LOSING.
You LOSER.
You Chinese-bought ratfucking traitor.
I would love to see you die an agonizing, humiliating death. (This isn’t a threat, because I am not threatening to cause that death. I am just announcing my intention to party if it happens.) It would be just recompense for the way you’re killing America…and millions of Americans.
His Fraudulency
Joe Biteme, properly styled His Fraudulency, continues to infest the White House, we haven’t heard much from the person who should have been declared the victor, and hopium is still being dispensed even as our military appears to have joined the political establishment in knuckling under to the fraud.
One can hope that all is not as it seems.
I’d love to feast on that crow.
(I’d like to add, I find it entirely plausible, even likely, that His Fraudulency is also His Figureheadedness. (Apparently that wasn’t a word; it got a red underline. Well it is now.) Where I differ with the hopium addicts is on the subject of who is really in charge. It ain’t anyone we like.)
Justice Must Be Done.
The prior election must be acknowledged as fraudulent, and steps must be taken to prosecute the fraudsters and restore integrity to the system.
Nothing else matters at this point. Talking about trying again in 2024 is hopeless otherwise. Which is not to say one must never talk about this, but rather that one must account for this in ones planning; if fixing the fraud is not part of the plan, you have no plan.
Lawyer Appeasement Section
OK now for the fine print.
This is the WQTH Daily Thread. You know the drill. There’s no Poltical correctness, but civility is a requirement. There are Important Guidelines, here, with an addendum on 20191110.
We have a new board – called The U Tree – where people can take each other to the woodshed without fear of censorship or moderation.
And remember Wheatie’s Rules:
1. No food fights 2. No running with scissors. 3. If you bring snacks, bring enough for everyone. 4. Zeroth rule of gun safety: Don’t let the government get your guns. 5. Rule one of gun safety: The gun is always loaded. 5a. If you actually want the gun to be loaded, like because you’re checking out a bump in the night, then it’s empty. 6. Rule two of gun safety: Never point the gun at anything you’re not willing to destroy. 7. Rule three: Keep your finger off the trigger until ready to fire. 8. Rule the fourth: Be sure of your target and what is behind it.
Gold has been going up, and up, and up. It touched $2300 on Wednesday, dipped on Thursday, and more than made up for the dip on Friday. And Silver Finally Woke Up. It was $2.50 over the previous week, just shy of a ten percent increase. (Gold went up less than five percent.)
Gold is well above the magic $2,067 mark. That’s the point at which the dollar is worth one cent in gold by the old gold standard of one troy ounce of gold is $20.67. Does that mean the dollar is worth a real penny? I would say it probably has more purchasing power than a cent did in the 1920s, but then we’ve gotten better at producing things…what you should see with stable money is a decline in prices as we get more productive. Instead we get a steady inflation. Sometimes very strong, but never do prices trend down. Gee, I wonder what that could be about.
(I think we all know.)
The Eclipse
Of course the big news in the hard sciences is the upcoming solar eclipse.
But I will show this map of the path of the eclipse.
A bit of a joke there but it highlights the point that only totality is going to be something more than mildly interesting. If you can get to that O! M! G! stripe, do so; the closer to the center the better.
Weather is looking bad through all of Texas with slightly better chances of good weather near the border with Mexico. But chances are, we’ll have this to say on Tuesday.
As has been pointed out a solar eclipse occurs somewhere on Earth roughly every 18 months or so. These are not rare events in that sense. But it can be centuries between occurrences at any one particular spot on Earth, so they seem like truly unusual events. Most people must travel to see one during their lifetimes. (And some make it their rather expensive hobby to try to see them all; these people are called “eclipse chasers.”)
Well I am part eclipse chaser. I’m going to this just in case the weather turns out better than expected.
See you on the 9th.
Obligatory PSAs and Reminders
China is Lower than Whale Shit
Remember Hong Kong!!!
Whoever ends up in the cell next to his, tell him I said “Hi.”
中国是个混蛋 !!! Zhōngguò shì gè hùndàn !!! China is asshoe !!!
China is in the White House
Since Wednesday, January 20 at Noon EST, the bought-and-paid for His Fraudulency Joseph Biden has been in the White House. It’s as good as having China in the Oval Office.
Joe Biden is Asshoe
China is in the White House, because Joe Biden is in the White House, and Joe Biden is identically equal to China. China is Asshoe. Therefore, Joe Biden is Asshoe.
But of course the much more important thing to realize:
Joe Biden Didn’t Win
乔*拜登没赢 !!! Qiáo Bài dēng méi yíng !!! Joe Biden didn’t win !!!
This is dedicated to the Badlander Hosts who still think Pence is not a Deep State Player. Kyle commented something to the effect that those of us who still dislike Pence are not thinking. So here is my rebuttal.
If You look at Pence’s CV there is NOTHING to recommend him to America First or Trump.
Like many of our career politicians Pence is an EMPTY SUIT LAWYER. As one commenter said, Pence is “one of those guys who gets to put esquire after their name and Honorable before it.
What was that the Constitution said? Oh Yeah. “No Title of Nobility shall be granted by the United States””
Neither Pence (nor DeSantis) have EVER BUILT ANYTHING or worked at a real job. They just marked time until they were old enough to run for office. Pence? He gets a degree in FAUX history.🙄 He worked for a college from 1981 to 1983 🙄 , gets a law degree (1986) lost two State House bids in 1988 and 1990 while working as a lawyer [DOING WHAT? Wills?? no one says], becomes president of Indiana Policy Review Foundation from 1991-1993 & then does a radio show to get some polish and exposure before jumping into politics for another try. OH, and Pence was a Democrat 🙄 [WIKI & BIO]
Whenever I think of Pence the word smarmy comes to mind and always has.
For more on Mikey’s background I strongly suggest reading this Huff and Puff article:
…Pence, like Trump adviser and New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R), is among a minority of Republican governors who implemented the Affordable Care Act’s expansion of Medicaid…
Pence has long been a favorite politician of Charles and David Koch…
He criticized Trump’s call for a ban on Muslim immigration...
He also splits with Trump on trade.
Another key facet of Trump’s campaign that the two Republicans disagree on is free trade. But as The Washington Post notes, Pence voted in favor of every free trade agreement that came up while he was in Congress. He’s also a supporter of the controversial Trans-Pacific Partnership🤮 as well as the Central American Free Trade Agreement….
He attempted to start a state-run media organization.
Last year, Pence’s staff tried to launch a state-run news organization funded by taxpayer dollars….
According to Angelo Codevilla’s definition, Mikey is a good fit to join his brother as part of “…America’s Ruling Class, the group of bipartisan political elites who run America….”
If you cast your mind back to 2016 towards the end of the primaries, you may remember that Ted Cruz was agitating for a rule change and for the RNC to pick someone besides Trump.
All four early appointees to the rules committee for this year’s Republican National Convention told POLITICOthey’re prepared to weaken or scrap a rule that could limit the convention’s alternatives to Donald Trump.
The four took issue with a rule, originally imposed by Mitt Romney forces in 2012 to keep rival Ron Paul off the convention stage, requiring a candidate to win a majority of delegates in eight states to be eligible for the party’s nomination — a threshold only Trump has exceeded so far. If preserved, the rule could block John Kasich or Ted Cruz from competing with Trump at the convention, set for July in Cleveland.
If the committee scraps the requirement entirely, it could open the door to multiple candidates, possibly even some who never entered the primaries, competing for the party’s nomination at a brokered convention. And even a lower threshold would make it easier for Trump’s rivals to challenge him…
This is why Trump hired Manafort to pilot him through the shoals of the convention. I would not be surprised to find Manafort’s success is why the Cabal later had Manafort mistreated & imprisoned.
“His convention strategy is in the hands of a former lobbyist who’s been linked to one corruption scheme after another.“
Late last month Donald Trump hired Paul Manafort — who has represented his organization in Washington — to make sure his delegates at this summer’s convention in Cleveland actually end up voting for him. And for this task, Manafort is well-qualified. He ran delegate operations for the campaigns of Gerald Ford in 1976 and Bob Dole in 1996…
So the price of winning the RNC nomination was taking on Pence as his VP.
As a side note, I find it very interesting that Ronna Romney has been kicked out and Trump supporters are now running the RNC… That maybe a LOT more important this time around than we think.
Rumor has too much power in today’s media but this piece starts with the rumor that Donald Trump actually wanted General Michael Flynn as his Vice Presidential running mate. Alas, we are not inside the Trump inner circle so rumor is all we’ve got.
As the election nominee process evolved on the Republican side, the RINOs and NeverTrumpers were apoplectic at the thought Trump might actually win the nomination and with General Flynn as a VP they knew their days would be numbered in single digits. Then how did Trump end up with Mike Pence, a Globalist, as his running mate?
If you think Pence is loyal to Trump you probably don’t even know about the Cleveland Deal made just before the Republican National Convention. Oathkeeper NavyJack @USNJack shares, “There are a LOT of NEO-CONs in the cabinet (Pompeo, Coats, Haley, Perry, Cohn, Preiebus, etc.). All of them came with the Pence/Cleveland Deal. Paul Ryan was about to change the rules to allow delegates to vote however they wanted on the first ballot. Trump would not have been nominated.”
So how could Ryan alone change it? The rules had to be voted on by delegates. NavyJack shares, “And they would have voted for it had Ryan allowed it to come to a vote. He did not because of the deal.”…
[What follows are a bunch of E-mails backing up this information and a lot more.]
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NEXT UP – THE PRESIDENTIAL TRANSITION TEAM
“….the presidential transition of Donald Trump, led by then vice president-elect, former governor Mike Pence…” — WIKI
Responsibilities
Key responsibilities of a presidential transition include the identification and vetting of candidates for approximately 4,000 non-civil service positions in the U.S. government whose service is at the pleasure of the president; arranging the occupancy of executive residences including the White House, One Observatory Circle, and Camp David; liaising with the United States Strategic Command for receipt of the Gold Codes; and briefing senior civil service personnel about a new administration’s policy priorities.
Recent developments
A law enacted by the United States Congress in 2016 amending the Presidential Transition Act requires the incumbent president to establish “transition councils” by June of an election year to facilitate the eventual handover of power.
The National Academy of Public Administration (NAPA), meanwhile, launched a new program called “Transition 2016” in 2016. Led by Ed DeSeve and David S. C. Chu, the program was described by NAPA as one which provides management and procedural advice to the leading candidates in establishing transition teams.
Remember the transition team relegated Dr Peter Navarro to the HALLWAYS of an out building (no office) and removed his entire staff in hopes he would quit.
While Katie Walsh, and later John Kelly, knew that the Boss would never tolerate my firing, they thought that if they could humiliate me enough, I would simply quit and go back home to California with my tail between my legs. Walsh and the globalists in the West Wing she was carrying water for were wrong on that account, as they were wrong on so much else. It was on more than one night I thought. Screw them. Stay the course.
Walsh, by the way, lasted barely two months and got fired for leaking. Karma is truly a schadenfreude bitch. (From page 11 of In Trump Time by Dr Peter Navarro.)
According to Sundance at the Conservative Tree House, there were MANY MANY COMPLAINTS of people putting in EXCELLENT RESUMES and getting turned down while at the same time POTUS complained he could not fill positions.
So Pence was put in charge of the transition team and almost all of those he recommended were later fired by Trump.
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ASSASSINATION
At this point I want to mention assassination attempts. The Cabal’s favorite fallback is ASSASSINATION. This was the main reason for saddling Trump with a Cabal selected VP.
Somewhere I heard there were more assassination attempts against POTUS Trump than any other president but I can not verify that. It is “…Interesting that google doesn’t list how many attempts on Trump while pres. Try a search, all they want to show you is everybody else…”David in the comments to the following article.
Media Keywords:missile pic washington assassination attempt
Media Keywords Contributor(s):justkeke8
Do you remember when they told you this was a HELICOPTER?
Q
From Q # 4833 — Oct 08, 2020 8:48:53 PM EDT
Media Keywords: missile pic washington ASSASSINATION attempt 25th amendment
Media Keywords Contributor(s):justkeke8
Nothing is random.
Everything has meaning.
Q
There are other drops dealing with assassination but I wanted to highlight these since they point DIRECTLY towards the Deep State embedded in the US government. Even if the Cabal could not kill Trump, Mikey had a major role to play as the Judas within the Trump Admin.
Emerald eviscerates Pence. I suggest reading her entire article.
1) Who Fired General Michael Flynn?
Let’s begin with Mike Pence’s least favorite question: “Why did you insist that President Trump fire his National Security Advisor Michael Flynn in the opening days of the administration?” The official story is that Gen. Flynn had lied to Mike Pence about Flynn’s contacts with Russian diplomats. Nobody has bothered to ask Pence exactly how he was informed about Flynn’s private conversations. Think about it: somebody went to Pence with transcripts of Flynn’s calls, and told Pence that Flynn was a national security risk. Who would have access to such phone calls? Who would want to lie about the nature of those phone calls to get Flynn fired?
It almost certainly must have been disgraced FBI agent Peter Strozk.
It’s likely that Strzok was the one who pushed for VP Pence to fire Flynn because we know that Peter Strozk’s assistant was Katherine Seaman — the wife of Mike Pence’s chief of staff Josh Pitcock. We also have the text exchanges between Strozk and Page discussing infiltrating the Trump White House in great detail. (This was the subject of an extraordinary letter from Senator Grassley and Senator Johnson to AG Bill Barr.) What did Pence know about the FBI’s attempts to spy on the Trump White House? Is it even possible that Mike Pence was totally unaware that his chief of staff’s spouse worked directly for the chief of the counter-espionage unit of the FBI?…
2) The Ukraine Impeachment
During the failed Ukraine impeachment of President Trump, plenty of State Department and NSC swamp creatures crawled out of the shadows to hurl lame accusations about Trump’s phone call with Ukraine President Zelensky. Did you know that one of main accusers was a national security official on Vice President Mike Pence’s staff?
A State Department official named Jennifer Williams was placed on Pence’s staff in April of 2019 — which was just in time to get involved in the Ukraine call and the subsequent impeachment. (What a coincidence that she arrived mere weeks before the call!) Just imagine being a few months into your new job in the White House only to volunteer to testify against the President in an impeachment trial over phone calls you didn’t like.…
During her testimony before Congress, Jennifer Williams identified her working colleagues on Ukraine issues as Alex Vindman, Fiona Hill, and George Kent. She also testified that Trump’s call was”unusual and inappropriate” without explaining her legal reasoning. (That’s not so strange because Williams had defied an order from the White House by agreeing to appear for her deposition at all.) She was then sent off to CENTCOMM right after the Ukraine impeachment was over…
3) Olivia Troye And The COVID Vaccines
The worst mistake that President Trump made during his administration was probably turning over the COVID Task Force to VP Mike Pence — because Pence turned it over to his chief of staff Marc Short and Marc Short turned it over to a little known national security official with no medical expertise. If you want to know the name of the person most responsible for unleashing the Dr. Fauci vaccine nightmare on America then remember the name of Mike Pence’s “COVID advisor”: Olivia Troye.
Why was the decision made to treat the COVID virus (developed and funded by the U.S. Government under the thin disguise of the EcoHealth Alliance) exclusively with experimental vaccines (developed with funding from DARPA) instead of therapeutics? Perhaps because Pence picked a national security official to advise him on COVID who regularly appears on TV now with a framed picture of Dr. Fauci hanging prominently behind her in her house….
So that’s three members of VP Mike Pence’s office who engaged in anti-Trump activities during normal business hours. That’s a lot of treachery. Let’s not forget the ringleader of so much of this malice too: Pence’s chief of staff Marc Short….
Pence’s chief of staff was Marc Short. Short came under fire for “…possessing up to $1.6 million worth of stocks in companies working with Pence’s coronavirus task force to fight the COVID-19 pandemic. He worked as a senior fellow at the Miller Center of Public Affairs, a CNN contributor, and Chief of Staff to Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison, and the House Republican Conference. He served as the president of Freedom Partners Chamber of Commerce from 2011 to 2016.”LINK
Page 33 details Dr Navarro’s banishment from the Coronavirus Task Force over the travel ban. “– And it would be permanent – was Mick Mulvaney’s revenge.”
..But I still think I got the better end of the deal. With no more seat at the Task Force table, I did not waste endless hours… Instead I used my time to draft a series of Action, Action, Action memos that I would unrelentingly pound the task Force with.
[He says this about his first memo on pg 31.]
I wanted to paper the crap out of everybody on a distribution list that approached a hundred people.
My thinking was …it would be impossible for Mulvaney, Fauci, or anyone in between to cover their asses if they opposed the [travel] ban.
As floor manager for the White House Coronavirus Task Force chaired by VPOTUS, Marc Short wielded tremendous power to steer the course of pandemic history…
[pg 39 – 42]
…because he really did believe that the virus was no worse than the flu, he saw no reason for the Task Force to do much of anything, much less quickly even though the president was demanding action every hour of every day. It was just one more example of bad personnel disobeying the chain of command, resulting in bad policy.
Second, the kind of government actions that might be required to combat the pandemic – including the invocation of the Defense Production Act of 1950 to ensure adequate supplies… ran strictly against Marc Short’s free-market grain.
It was probably for that last reason alone that Short would get up in my grill every time I, as Defense Production Act policy coordinator, tried to move action along….
…he and along with Mick Mulvaney, was always trying to block my efforts to fight the pandemic and use the Defense Production Act to advance a wide range of pandemic-related goals…
With Mulvaney at one end of his couch, Short at the other end, and me across from them in the hotseat, Mulvaney ordered me upon threat of firing to stand down from any further work on anything related to the Task Force or the pandemic. As Marc Short sat there like a cat that had just eaten a six-pack of canaries, I thought to myself. “F—these guys.”
[There is about a page (43) on PRICE GOUGING and how Marc Short and the 👉VPs legal counsel Greg Jacob blocked all action👈 [Note this name, it comes up later ] despite the FBI finding warehouse after warehouse full of contraband. GEE I guess, Marc was concerned about that $1.6 million worth of stock he held… G.C]
[On page 89 – 91 Dr Navarro confronted Fauci for a second time. The first was over the Travel Ban.]
On April 4, I had my second major facedown with Saint Fauci…
This time the facedown with Fauci was over hydroxychloroquine. In preparation I had Doc Hatfill and my team prepare a large dossier with hundreds of pages of scientific studies I had reviewed on the safety and efficacy of hydroxychloroquine. I knew that Fauci would play the ‘there’s only anecdotal evidence’ card and wanted to be ready to prove that assertion false….
Adam was followed by Hahn, and to my surprise, even Hahn had some encouraging words for hydroxychloroquine…
When it was Fauci’s turn, right on cue, he immediately played his “there’s only anecdotal evidence’ card. I stood up from my backbench chair just behind Vice President Pence and walked straight towards Fauci.
As I approached him I saw fear in his eyes. I am sure it crossed his mind that I might physically assault him. I dumped my large dossier of studies…. And said to Fauci as much as to everyone else in the room –👉especially VPOTUS – “Tony these are not anecdotes. That’s more than fifty scientific studies in support of hydroxy. FIFTY! So stop spouting your crap…. You are going to kill people just like you did during the AIDS crisis when you refused to approve medicines that everybody but you knew worked.”
If looks could kill…
And now we know why.
And while we are talking MEDICAL…
Dr. Ronnie Jackson was Trump’s personal physician. Trump nominated Dr Jackson to head the VA. HOWEVER it was Mikey Pence’s physician who raised the concerns about Jackson. This was reported by CNN where Dr. Jennifer Peña detailed her claims of professional misconduct against Jackson. She sent memos to senators considering his nomination. Dr. Jennifer Peña alleged Jackson had violated Second Lady Karen Pence’s patient privacy rights by sharing details of a medical incident involving her and chief of staff John Kelly.
Mike Pence’s physician privately raised alarms within the White House last fall that President Donald Trump’s doctor may have violated federal privacy protections for a key patient – Pence’s wife, Karen – and intimidated the vice president’s doctor during angry confrontations over the episode.
The previously unreported incident is the first sign that serious concerns about Ronny Jackson’s conduct had reached the highest levels of the White House as far back as September – months before White House aides furiously defended Jackson’s professionalism, insisted he had been thoroughly vetted and argued allegations of misconduct amounted to unsubstantiated rumors.
The episode – detailed in three memos by Pence’s physician – is also the first documentation that has surfaced involving a specific allegation of medical misconduct by Jackson. It adds to a series of significant allegations leveled by unidentified current and former colleagues, including that he casually dispensed prescription drugs.
The article contains more allegations against Dr Jackson. Nancy Pelosi’s “wrap-up smear?”
Dr Navarro is now in prison. Dr Jackson had his reputations shredded. So what happen to Marc Short? He is a Miller Center senior fellow… So what is this Miller Center?
Members of the media consistently turn to Miller Center experts for comment and historical context surrounding current events, and impeachment inquiries are no exception. For example, School of Law professor and Miller Center senior fellow Saikrishna Prakash talked with Mother Jones about what could happen if impeachment reaches the Supreme Court. Former Barack Obama adviser Chris Lu spoke on MSNBC about local election results and possible connections to impeachment, and history professor Philip Zelikow, whose federal service includes five administrations, wrote in Lawfare about how criminal law interacts with impeachment. LINK – University of Virginia
Looks like Short is busy crafting more poison for the Fake News to dispense. I wonder if he is one of those ‘unnamed experts?’
…In early February, the White House announced that Vice President Pence was leading a task force into voter fraud, and he was “starting to gather names and individuals to be a part of it.” A month later, Pence’s office told NPR that the task force was “still doing the necessary groundwork.” By last week, a senior administration official told CNN that the task force “has not been the topic of a lot of conversation” in the White House. And as of today it still appears to have no staff and there is no indication of when it will start its work. A spokesman for Pence did not return requests for comment…
A Trump administration letter requesting data from all 50 state’s voting rolls has put some states and voting rights advocates on edge after many were already wary of the aims of the President’s commission on voting…
Kobach also requested that each state provide “publicly available voter roll data” as allowed under each state’s laws, which could include full names of registered voters, dates of birth, party registration, last four digits of Social Security numbers and voting history…
As of Friday afternoon, at least 27 states had publicly expressed reservations or legal barriers to turning over all of the requested information, particularly with regard to the privacy of social security numbers, according to a CNN inquiry to all 50 states. Several others, including South Carolina and Arkansas, had not yet received Kobach’s letter…
Voter file data is available for purchase in every U.S. state and Washington, D.C. Each state has developed its own guidelines regarding the sale of voter registration data. Indeed, the cost to purchase voter files can range from $0 in 11 states to $37,000 in Alabama!.
Also “…The Electronic Registration Information Center, or ERIC, was sold to states as a quick and easy way to update their voter rolls. Started in 2012.” It is now used by 33 states. LINK
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
PENCE & CERTIFICATING THE 2020 ELECTION
For this I want to go to a video I saw this week. However let’s hear from Mikey first.
“They were asking me to overturn the election. I had no right to overturn the election,” Pence said on CNN’s “State of the Union.” … Donald Trump’s defense attorney says the former president never asked Mike Pence to overturn the will of the voters in the 2020 election, but only wanted the former vice president to “pause” the certification of votes to allow states to investigate his claims of election fraud.
Ivan Raiklin came up with the ‘Pence Card’ that POTUS Trump retweeted after the November 2020 election. In this video he explains what Pence could have done either on December 23th or on January 6th, ‘LAWFULLY.’ (Ivan’s favorite word.)
My Very Rough Transcription:
3:41 What Pence could have done about 2020 fraudulent election
6:00Ivan: I never argued there was fraud.[illegal votes] My argument is about a Constitutional breach thanks to Covid. [& Marc Elis Lawfare] I talked one on one with many members of Congress.
Electoral Count Act & Article 2 Sect 1, clause 2 of Constitution & 12th Amendment dictates how presidential elections are to be conducted. “Congressman, can you agree that the election was NOT conducted according to State Z’s election Law per the state legislature, then that is an ILLEGALLY CERTIFIED ELECTION.”
11:40 Mikey received on DEC 23rd the transmitted slate of electors from each state. He then had discretionary authority to determine if those were legal. That is, was the election conducted according to state laws and Constitution. Pence agreed. At that point he could have sent them back to the state.
The states would then have three options:
A. State could abstain from sending any electors.
B. Hold new LEGAL election according to state law.
C. Convene Joint State House & State Senate and CHOOSE new electors.
Pence DID NOT DO THAT! He did not defend the Constitution.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
14:00 Ivan: So that is the frame on Mikey P. On how he did not defend the Constitution when he was duly obligated to… We got 240 members of the House by Jan 5th, and growing by the minute that agreed with that analysis.
14:50 And then what happened? Jan 6th, THE COVER-UP… It was a COUP. It was a straight up facilitated unlawful entry into the capitol. Spearheaded by Nancy Pelosi, Her daughter coordinating from the inside. Her son-in-law coordinating from the outside, with Ray Epps, with John Sullivan, and with the Capitol Police Board. Namely the House Sargent of Arms, Paul Irving who was previously the House Sargent of Arms of Paul Ryan before Nancy and John Boehner before Paul. [Uni-party anyone? G.C.]
16:50 R. Clinton Ohlers PhD (History): Mike Pence… What he asserts [in his book] is that he did not have the power. He only had the power to read the electoral votes that were given to him by the states and he backs that up with United States Court of Appeals Judge Michael Luttig, who personally advised him that the only responsibility and power of the VP under the Constitution is to FAITHFULLY count the electoral votes as cast.
17:20 Ivan: And guess what he [Mikey] failed to do that as well!
And here is how he did it… I want everyone who does not believe me to go on C-Span and look up the Joint Session of January 6th… Let’s simply go to the document he tweeted… the four page memo at 1:02 PM [Jan 6th].. My synopses of it is that he was just a coward so he had to come up with a solution that he could not do anything….I have a 2 hour podcast on that called SOVEREIGN SOULS [I put it below G.C.]
I’ll summarize it in this way: Pence tweeted out I do not have the unilateral authority… but what did he actually DO?
18:30 When NancyPelosi gaveled in at 1:00 PM She said, and this is on video, at the advice and consent of the Sargents at Arms of both House and Senate, and the Medical officer and in conversations with the leadership, meaning Kevin McCarty, Mitch McConnell, Chuck Schumer, and herself. They four agreed to ONLY ALLOW ELEVEN MEMBERS OF THE HOUSE REPUBLICANS, HOUSE DEMOCRATS, ELEVEN MEMBERS OF THE SENATE DEMOCRATS AND SENATE REPUBLICANS TO BE PRESENT ON THE HOUSE FLOOR TO PARTICIPATE IN THE JOINT SESSION. [It later comes out the Medical Officer did not so advise per Ivan G.C.]
19:09 TRANSLATION: That is 44 members of both bodies. When we look at the 12th Amendment, Mike Pence, the 12th amendment specifically stipulates, and it is the only place where it talks about the joint session, in the US Constitution. It specifically states a quorum constitutes 2/3 of the states being represented. So if only one member of each of those states, of the two thirds, was present. That would mean on the House side, you need 34 members. If they are all from different states. 34 is more than 22 (11R + 11D) And on the Senate side that would mean there would need to be 34 members from the Senate if they were each from separate states to meet that Constitutionally mandated threshold.
20:10 When Nancy gaveled it over to Mike Pence to be the presiding Officer, as the senior official of the Joint Session — What did he do?
He gavels in and is about to start and one member of the House… His name is Morgan Griffith… And he says “Mr Vice President, If we are to abide by the Speaker’s request, that the MAJORITY OF US are NOT on the HOUSE FLOOR, how the heck are we even supposed to participate in the Joint Session?”
20:40 And Mikey Pence replies “I consider that an Objection Debate [correction by Ohlers] and that is not allowed under Title Three of the US Code.” So sit down and get off the floor, because I am only going to ALLOW less than 10% of the House and Senate collectively to participate in this Joint Session. [This is the strategy worked out to combat the objections that the Cabal knew were coming if there was a full Joint Session. And Mikey was complicit. G.C.]
Thus Unilaterally, with NancyPelosi, they VIOLATED the Tweet that Mikey Pence just delivered minutes ago. Where he said he could not unilaterally do anything [and would let Congress do their thing @ 23:20].
He Just BARRED over 90% of Congress from participation in the Joint Session to determine whether or not they were going to accept or reject thru objections those slates of electors that were contested.
21:35 That right there folks was a 12th Amnendment violation and by extension because he did not offer proper procedure and he is a Federal Actor, that also violates the Due Process clause of the Fifth Amendment. But that is ancillary to the straight up in your face QUORUM REQUIREMENT.
25:30 There were other violations he committed on Jan 6th. Lets go into them.
What happened immediately after what I argue is the NancyPelosi facilitated unlawful entry into the Capitol, to create the facade that there is no objection. Because guess what? The viewership on that day was 10 super bowls combined. It was probably going to be the highest rated time on C-Span ever.
But guess what? Instead of the world seeing the objections and the evidence to boot for two and probably three states which would have triggered the contingent election and thus a re-election. They created that frame to allow people into the capitol.
So what happened after people went into the Capitol?
They went from a mostly entirely peaceful election integrity rally outside the capitol. Moved onto the grounds and continued that mostly entirely peaceful election integrity rally on the inside of the Capitol.
26:30 And then what did Mikey Pence do? He starts prancing around & there is video footage. Prancing around ordering the National Guard around to include ordering around General Milley. Which General Milley testified to before Mike Pence’s J 6th Cover up committee. When Lizzy Chaney on one of the hearings said it wasn’t Donald J Trump that was ordering around the DOD, DHS and the DOJ on Jan 6th, it was my beloved Mikey Pence. [This was so they could say Trump did not provide National Guard Troops to protect the Capitol in an effort to frame him for ‘insurrection’ and thereby bar him from possible re-election. G.C.]
Well Guess what beloved Mikey Pence, under what authority were you directing and ordering the Unites States Department of Defense. Last I checked, through all the laws, The Commander in Chief gets to order around the Department of Defense and military. Not a VP unless you conducted with the Cabinet a 25th Amendment section 4 removal of the president to then become the ACTING president. Guess what Mikey Pence, you did not do that. How do I know? Because on the following days NancyPelosi was DEMANDING you do so….
28:20 What does that mean to me?
HMMmm Taking over the military.
Ordering it around.
Outside of the authority of the president.
Last I checked that is considered a COUP. Usually associated with the term TREASON. And the noun for someone who conducts treason is a TRAITOR.
So not only are you barring the states, or congress with your 12 Amendment violation for Quorum. You are also usurping the Presidential Power with your 25th amendment violation, your 5th amendment violation. Your inability to defend Article 2 section 1 clause 2 of the Constitution way back in December…
29:15 And why General Milley accepted an UNLAWFUL ORDER. General Milley said before that Committee…. “It was clear and unambiguous that VP Pence gave those orders…”
34: 00 Ivan talks about Chris Miller & Pence
37:00 VP PENCE DEPLOYED THE MILITARY on Jan 6th. He is NOT constitutionally enabled to do that.
50:00 Supreme court was going to PREVENT certification but the traitors worked to move before the Supreme Court had a chance.
Ivan details on how it SHOULD have played out
58 min Second slate of Electors was legal.It was based on Supreme court taking on the Texas vs PA case. It was for the ease of the Supreme Court.
1:02:00 The main person behind creating friction during the 1st term? Mike Pence
The President can not fire VP but 👉 the VP can FIRE Pres. [Remember that Pence, via the transition team and the RINO Senate, placed RINOs in Trump’s Cabinet They could REMOVE POTUS via 25th Amendment.]
Pence spent 13 years in house (Judiciary committee & Foreign Affairs) He had plenty of time to make lots of political connections.
Pence headed up National Governors’ Association [I can find nothing on that]
1:04:00 Pence got rid of Flynn then Steve Bannon then Gorka via attacks & discrediting. Those around Trump were hand picked by Pence, Mitch McConnell, Lindsey Graham, Richard Burr & Paul Ryan. they are the key players that come up in the final chapters of Pence Bio. They were doing the “Right Thing” per Pence. Note Pence was NEVER attacked by the Fake News
1:06:00 Pence Volunteered for Covid Task force. He Determined $$$ going to each state. ventilator = $$$ Masks = $$$
1:11:10 Lost 2.3 Mill in contracts
1:20:00 Sexual problems of Kevin McCrathy (2015) and also got 2.8 million FTX money,
1:28:20 Bronson case was a long shot
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
In Trump Time, Dr Peter Navarro, on page 43, mentioned PRICE GOUGING and how Marc Short and the VPs legal counsel Greg Jacob blocked all action. When I mentioned that above I pointed out Greg Jacob. Well here he is again doing more damage.
…Gregory Jacob, Mike Pence’s legal counsel during the Trump presidency, testified Wednesday before the California State Bar about attorney John Eastman’s influence in the days leading up to Jan. 6, 2021…
Greg Jacob testified in John Eastman disbarment proceedings.
Moments before a pro-Trump mob would smash its way through a Capitol window, Greg Jacob was a few yards away at a self-serve coffee shop in the building’s Senate wing.
Jacob, then-Vice President Mike Pence’s top lawyer, was in the middle of a furious email exchange with John Eastman, the attorney who would soon become famous as the architect of former President Donald Trump’s final bid to remain in power…
Pro-Trump mob??? REALLY?
🔥Breaking, new Jan 6 evidence!
Rep Higgins seems to have evidence of two ghost busses holding FBI agents dressed like Trump supporters.
NOTE the Disbarment of Attorney Eastman for FREE SPEECH vs that of former NC assemblyman Richard Moore, a self-confessed Homosexual Pedophile, who is now Planet Fitness’s General Counsel and Chief Administrative Officer. Richard Moore DID NOT LOSE HIS LICENSE TO PRACTICE despite pleading GUILTY to a very nasty crime!
BREAKING: I spoke with former Planet Fitness CEO Mike Grondahl (@mggrond) about the recent trans bathroom controversy.
"It's in the culture. Corporate office is braindead. Find another safe place to work out"
Two of Pence’s top aides — chief of staff 👉Marc Short and chief counsel 👉Greg Jacob — have testified to the grand jury investigating the matter and were the subject of a secret court ruling that rejected Trump’s claims of privilege. 👉Short and Jacob were also two of the most crucial witnesses for the House’s Jan. 6 select committee, before which Pence has refused to appear…
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
IVAN RAIKLIN MENTIONS PENCE’S RECORD IN THE HOUSE & THE COMMITTEES HE SERVED ON.
Ivan suggests Pence had plenty of time to make important connections with the ‘Deep State.’ I can not verify that but I can look at some of the important bills Pence championed.
House Republicans today introduced legislation to reauthorize key national security provisions that are set to expire in 2009.
Following the attacks of September 11, the USA PATRIOT Act was enacted to help federal law enforcement and intelligence officials address the new terrorist threat. In 2006, after nearly two years of congressional debate, all but two provisions of the PATRIOT Act and one provision of the Intelligence Reform Act were reauthorized and made permanent.
The Safe and Secure America Act of 2009 extends the three expiring provisions for 10 years.
“Since the PATRIOT ACT was signed into law, a month after the September 11th attacks, we have been fortunate not to have another attack on U.S. soil,” Congressman Sensenbrenner said. “In our efforts to keep America safe, it is extremely critical that our law enforcement and intelligence communities have the resources they need to prevent future attacks. While we still face threats, this legislation is helping to keep our homeland safe. I was proud to author this legislation in the House in 2001, and I remain proud of it today.”
Specifically, the Act extends the “roving” wiretaps provision of the PATRIOT Act, the so-called “library provision” (aka FISA business records) of the PATRIOT Act and the “lone wolf” provision of the Intelligence Reform Act.
House Judiciary Committee Ranking Member Lamar Smith introduced the bill on Thursday along with Minority Whip Eric Cantor (R-Va.)and GOP Conference Chairman Mike Pence (R-Indiana). House Judiciary Committee cosponsors include Rep. Howard Coble (R-N.C.); Rep. Elton Gallegly (R-Calif.); Rep. Daniel Lungren (R-Calif.); Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa); Rep. Trent Franks (R-Ariz.); Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio); Rep. Thomas Rooney (R-Florida); and Rep. Gregg Harper (R-Miss.). Additional Republican cosponsors include: Rep. John Sullivan (R-Okla.); Rep. John Shadegg (R-Ariz.); Rep. Duncan Hunter (Calif.); Rep. Michelle Bachmann (R-Minn.); and Rep. Mary Fallin (R-Okla.)…
The Patriot Act like the Federal Reserve Act was a typical Uni-party ping-pong bill. If you can not pass it under the Democrats, pass a similar bill under the Republicans.
…Dempsey and Cole trace the origins of the national security trend back to the “intolerant approaches of the 1950s,” when association with Communist or anarchist groups was made a ground for exclusion and deportation. Congress removed the guilt by association law in 1990, but it was revived only six years later by law enforcement proponents in the 1996 Antiterrorism Act, immediately following the Oklahoma City Bombing.
More specifically, however, Dempsey and Cole show that it was the Reagan Administration which initially proposed some of the most troubling provisions which eventually became part of the USAPA. When Reagan proposed these provisions, Congress rejected them on constitutional grounds. The first Bush Administration then made similar proposals, which were again rejected by lawmakers. Congress twice refused to enact the secret evidence provisions proposed by Bush I. (Indeed, just prior to 9/11, Congress was about to pass a law repealing the secret evidence provisions of the 1996 Antiterrorism Act.)….
The lawyer, Greg Jacob, said in a Jan. 18 letter to the National Archives that the outside counsel “identified a small number of documents that could potentially contain sensitive or classified information interspersed throughout the records.”Jacob said that Pence was “ready and willing to cooperate fully.”
So despite being only a VP with NO legal authority to declassify AND with plans to run for President, Mikey is given a pass by the Deep State. 🙄
…collected a $1.4 million advance [from Simon & Schuster] for his memoir, which recounted the events of January 6, 2021, and his refusal to buckle to Donald Trump’s demands to overturn the 2020 election results, new filings show.
…filings also show that Pence has earned big sums on the speaking circuit, collecting a total of $3.4 million for 32 speeches between January 2022 and the end of April this year….
Pence is vice president of Hoosier Heartland LLC and reported more than $1.8 million in business income from that company, which is described as engaging in speaking, writing and consulting. The firm’s clients have not been disclosed.
The former vice president reported earning $381,000 in salary from the company.
“Loyalty is a Vice President’s first duty; but there is a greater one—to God and the Constitution.” — Mike Pence
…Earlier Wednesday, Pence announced a policy and advocacy organization, Advancing American Freedom, backed by several high-profile Trump administration alumni.
Paul Teller is the executive director of AAF. Teller formerly worked in various leadership roles for the House Republican Study Committee and U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX)
ADVISORY BOARD [Boy there are some real winners.]
Marty Obst is a co-chair of Advancing American Freedom. Obst formerly served as chair of the Great America Committee PAC and in various advisory roles for the Republican Governors Association, National Republican Congressional Committee, and America First Policies.
Chip Saltsman is a co-chair of AAF. Saltsman formerly served as chair of the Tennessee Republican Party and as campaign manager for the 2008 presidential campaign of former Gov. Mike Huckabee (R-AR).
Marc Short is a co-chair of AAF. Short formerly worked as chief of staff to Pence and formerly led Young America’s Foundation and Freedom Partners..
Doug Ducey [who certified BIDEN’s Arizona’s results] is the Governor of Arizona…Larry Kudlow served as director of the National Economic Council during the Trump Administration… David McIntosh is the president of the Club for Growth… Ed Meese served … a member of the presidential transition team for the Trump administration… Scott Walker is the former Governor of Wisconsin.
Scot Walker? “…Priebus, who was born in Wisconsin and formerly ran the state GOP there, called Walker a close friend and suggested he would be exactly the kind of person the party seeks to highlight at the Republican National Convention…” 06/07/12 LINK
Mitt Romney, Priebus and Walker
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
So now that President Trump does not have to worry about VP Pence hitting him with the 25th Amendment or bearing false witness, what does he REALLY think of ‘Ole Mikey?
Liddle’ refers to ‘Liddle Kidz Foundation’ Prior to this Trump used the term for Schiff.
This Rejoice & Praise God Sunday Open Thread, with full respect to those who worship God on the Sabbath, is a place to reaffirm our worship of our Creator, our Father, our King Eternal.
It’s also a place to read, post, and discuss news that is worth knowing and sharing. Please post links to any news stories that you use as sources or quote from.
In the QTree, we’re a friendly and civil lot. We encourage free speech and the open exchange and civil discussion of different ideas. Topics aren’t constrained, and sound logic is highly encouraged, all built on a solid foundation of truth and established facts.
We have a policy of mutual respect, shown by civility. Civility encourages discussions, promotes objectivity and rational thought in discourse, and camaraderie in the participants – characteristics we strive toward in our Q Tree community.
Please show respect and consideration for our fellow QTreepers. Before hitting the “post” button, please proofread your post and make sure your opinion addresses the issue only, and does not confront or denigrate the poster. Keep to the topic – avoid “you” and “your”. Here in The Q Tree, personal attacks, name-calling, ridicule, insults, baiting, and other conduct for which a penalty flag would be thrown are VERBOTEN.
In The Q Tree, we’re compatriots, sitting around the campfire, roasting hot dogs, making s’mores, and discussing, agreeing, and disagreeing about whatever interests us. This board will remain a home for those who seek respectful conversations.
God is in Control . . . and His Grace is Sufficient, so . . . Keep Looking Up
Hopefully, every Sunday, we can find something here that will build us up a little . . . give us a smile . . . and add some joy or peace, very much needed in all our lives.
“This day is holy to the Lord your God; do not mourn nor weep.” . . . “Go your way, eat the fat, drink the sweet, and send portions to those for whom nothing is prepared; for this day is holy to our Lord. Do not sorrow, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.”
He is Risen
A Combined Resurrection Narrative From all Four Gospels
Now after the Sabbath, as the first day of the week began to dawn, Mary Magdalene, the other Mary, the mother of James, and Salome came to see the tomb, and they bought spices which they had prepared, that they might come and anoint Him.
And behold, there was a great earthquake; for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven, and came and rolled back the stone from the door, and sat on it. His countenance was like lightning, and his clothing as white as snow. And the guards shook for fear of him, and became like dead men.
Mary Magdalene went to the tomb early, while it was still dark, and saw that the stone had been taken away from the tomb. Then Mary Magdalene ran and came to Simon Peter, and to the other disciple, whom Jesus loved, and said to them, “They have taken away the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid Him.”
Now, as the first day of the week began to dawn, they came to the tomb (bringing the spices which they had prepared) when the sun had risen. And they said among themselves, “Who will roll away the stone from the door of the tomb for us?” But when they looked up, they saw that the stone had been rolled away–for it was very large. Then they went in and did not find the body of the Lord Jesus.
And entering the tomb, the women were greatly perplexed about this. Behold, two men stood by them in shining garments, and they saw a young man clothed in a long white robe sitting on the right side; and they were alarmed. Then, as they were afraid, they bowed their faces to the earth.
But the angel said to them, “Do not be alarmed. You seek Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. Why do you seek the living among the dead? He is risen! He is not here. See the place where they laid Him. Remember how He spoke to you when He was still in Galilee, saying, ‘The Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and the third day rise again.’ But go quickly, tell His disciples–and Peter— that He is risen from the dead, and that indeed He is going before you into Galilee; there you will see Him as He said to you. Behold, I have told you.” And they remembered His words.
So they went out quickly and fled from the tomb, for they trembled and were amazed. And they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid.
Peter therefore went out, and the other disciple, and were going to the tomb. So they both ran together, and the other disciple outran Peter and came to the tomb first. And he, stooping down and looking in, saw the linen cloths lying there; yet he did not go in. Then Simon Peter came, following him, and went into the tomb; and he saw the linen cloths lying there, and the handkerchief that had been around His head, not lying with the linen cloths, but folded together in a place by itself.
Then the other disciple, who came to the tomb first, went in also; and he saw and believed. And Peter departed, marveling to himself at what had happened. For as yet they did not know the Scripture, that He must rise again from the dead. Then the disciples went away again to their own homes.
Mary stood outside by the tomb weeping, and as she wept she stooped down and looked into the tomb. And she saw two angels in white sitting, one at the head and the other at the feet, where the body of Jesus had lain. Then they said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping?”
She said to them, “Because they have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid Him.” Now when she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, and did not know that it was Jesus.
Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you seeking?”
She, supposing Him to be the gardener, said to Him, “Sir, if You have carried Him away, tell me where You have laid Him, and I will take Him away.”
Jesus said to her, “Mary!”
She turned and said to Him, “Rabboni!” (which is to say, Teacher).
Jesus said to her, “Do not cling to Me, for I have not yet ascended to My Father; but go to My brethren and say to them, ‘I am ascending to My Father and your Father, and to My God and your God.’ “
And as the women went to tell His disciples, behold, Jesus met them, saying, “Rejoice!” So they came and held Him by the feet and worshiped Him.
Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid. Go and tell My brethren to go to Galilee, and there they will see Me.” So they went out quickly from the tomb with fear and great joy, and ran to bring His disciples word.
Then they returned from the tomb and told all these things to the eleven and to all the rest. It was Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the other women with them, who told these things to the apostles. And their words seemed to them like idle tales, and they did not believe them.
Now while they were going, behold, some of the guard came into the city and reported to the chief priests all the things that had happened. When they had assembled with the elders and consulted together, they gave a large sum of money to the soldiers, saying, “Tell them, ‘His disciples came at night and stole Him away while we slept.’ And if this comes to the governor’s ears, we will appease him and make you secure.” So they took the money and did as they were instructed; and this saying is commonly reported among the Jews until this day.
And if Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain, and your faith is also vain. Yea, and we are found false witnesses of God; because we have testified of God that he raised up Christ: whom he raised not up, if so be that the dead rise not. For if the dead rise not, then is not Christ raised: And if Christ be not raised, your faith is vain; ye are yet in your sins. Then they also which are fallen asleep in Christ are perished. If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable. But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept. 1 Corinthians 15:14-20
Christ Arose!
Low in the grave He lay, Jesus, my Savior, Waiting the coming day, Jesus, my Lord!
Vainly they watch His bed, Jesus, my Savior; Vainly they seal the dead, Jesus, my Lord!
Death cannot keep his Prey, Jesus, my Savior; He tore the bars away, Jesus, my Lord!
Up from the grave He arose, With a mighty triumph o’er His foes, He arose a Victor from the dark domain, And He lives forever, with His saints to reign. He arose! He arose! Hallelujah! Christ arose!
Robert Lowry – 1874
Acts 1:9-11 And when he had said these things, as they were looking on, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight. And while they were gazing into heaven as he went, behold, two men stood by them in white robes, and said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into heaven? This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.”
1 Thessalonians 4:16-17 For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord.
What is it that feeds our battle, yet starves our victory?
Speaker Johnson: A Reminder.
And MTG is there to help make it stick.
January 6 tapes. A good start…but then nothing.
Were you just hoping we’d be distracted by the first set and not notice?
Are you THAT kind of “Republican”?
Are you Kevin McCarthy lite?
What are you waiting for?
I have a personal interest in this issue.
An Interesting Point
This video by Lauren Southern is titled, “Conservative Sensitivity Training.” A bit longwinded at first; if you want, skip to 30 minutes in if you like.
Now before you tell me that’s oxymoronic (or just moronic), I have watched this, and it makes some good points.
Many people are struggling with the Brandon Economy. Yes they take to Twitter, YouTube, et. endless al. to complain and maybe even cry about it.
And we dump on them.
Instead of pointing out to them in reasonable tones WHY it is that they are having such a hard time of it. It’s the same reason we are.
Our corrupt government.
Lauren draws a parallel (starting about halfway in) between a “cry” video and Oliver Anthony (who just happens to be posted below, scroll down for a reminder/refresher if you want one). We dump on the upset 20-something woman and lionize Oliver Anthony.
The parallel is not perfect, because Oliver Anthony is identifying the cause and the 20-something may very well have voted for it.
But then that 20-something might not have made the connection. Especially if she lives in the YSM/pop culture bubble. So yes, it’s necessary to connect the dots for her. But she won’t listen to people who treat her like Cat Turd did. Her pain is real, it is caused by the same things our pain is caused by…so we should try to win her over, not (figuratively) stomp her guts out.
My close-in generation, graduating high school in the early 80s, was, and is, conservative. We lived with the Carter Malaise. Now the Carter Malaise isn’t nearly as bad as the Brandon Shitstorm, but Brandon has a distinct advantage over Carter: There are millions of people who are so wrapped up in a bubble as they suffer, that except for some true independent thinkers amongst them, the herd will follow Brandon right off the cliff. Under Carter there were plenty of conservative voices, and they could be heard even via the YSM if you looked hard enough. Now the YSM is as consistent (with itself) as the Soviet media was.
So here’s my thinking: If someone is in such a state, and it’s caused by the same symptoms as your struggles under Brandon, engage them in a positive manner, not an insulting one or even an “I’m going to win this discussion even if it pisses you off” manner. Help them see the cause if they don’t already see it.
[On the other hand, if they’re upset because of something Trump did…proceed as you would have before reading this.]
This Man is Pissed!
And if you aren’t…what the hell is wrong with you?
Is This Our Anthem?
Or at least our song to march to?
I’m sure most of you know I don’t believe in “devolution” or any variant of “we’re really still in charge” and certainly not the ones that come with “They’re waiting for everyone to wake up.”
No, I don’t think the good guys are in charge. But that makes it even more necessary that people wake up.
This might be the Uncle Tom’s Cabin of our age. (Or perhaps the recent trafficking movie was it. Or maybe both.)
Certainly there seem to be a huge number of people who are finally having the light bulb turning on when they hear this song.
Joining The Herd Of Lemmings
I’ve had cause to consider a few things. Maybe we’re going about it the wrong way, and we need to ditch Trump
Yeah, NO
Trump all the way! Why? Because being hated by the people who hate him is a sign of impeccable character, that’s why.
The haters can go fuck themselves with rusty twelve gauge bore brushes. I’d prefer ten gauge but that’s kind of scarce, so…I’m willing to compromise.
The RINO’s Dilemma
The RINOs who who have burrowed in and taken over most GOP organizations, from the state down to local organizations, have quite a dilemma on their hands, and most of them have their heads too far up their asses to realize it.
OK, I’m not talking about the liberal in a Republican area, who knows they’re in the wrong party, but is there because it’s the only game in their town; they hope to capture a nomination someday, at which point they’re guaranteed to be elected…otherwise, they never will be. These people are a hazard in any heavily conservative area.
No, I’m talking about the guys who are a little bit conservative and want to do some good by going into politics, and they’re in a closely matched area, closely enough that they can join the party they are most aligned with and still have a chance. They think the Democrats…particularly the ones who end up running for office…are nuts.
They don’t think much better of the Deplorable types, either. A bunch of bumpkins whose hearts are in the right place, mostly…OK a bit extreme. But they think Deplorables can’t understand that first you have to get elected, then work within the system to change things…a slow process. They genuinely want many of the things Deplorables want…just not as much. The government is spending too much. Or they need to spend money on highways instead of welfare for illegal immigrants. But they want to work within the system to get these things done.
Or maybe they think things are pretty close to ideal right now, and they want to nail it in place.
The problem is, that means they don’t stand for anything in particular. And it shows. They’re about as unappetizing to the electorate as a puddle of dog vomit. The folks in the middle, who they think they are appealing to because they themselves are not extreme, would honestly prefer a clear-spoken radical to someone who qualifies everything they say to the point where they sound like they don’t believe anything at all.
The problem these “Mild RINOs” have, is they just can’t see that. And the reason they just can’t see that, is their entire sense of self-worth is tied up in not seeing that. In their minds, they’ve worked tirelessly for their party, to keep those crazy Democrats out…only to have to constantly fight with a small number of crazy Republicans–who are only liabilities if they end up as candidates. They’ve fought the good fight, and if they can just find the right candidate, someone with some charisma, they might stop the crazies…without being too beholden to the OTHER crazies. In the meantime it’s not working. What’s a responsible guy in politics to do?
They simply cannot understand that the Republicans can’t succeed as the party of nothing in particular. Not really in the past, and certainly not today when people are starting to realize that no matter what they do in the voting booth, the country is still about to fly off a precipice. If they did see it, they’d suddenly have two choices: Go away and let the GOP succeed, or stay and fight. But “go away” isn’t really an option, because what’s the point of having a party now owned by the crazies, win?
Well, they have a dilemma…and WE, therefore have a problem. And we would have that problem even IF they realized that they had a problem…that they were the problem.
No one ever thinks they are the bad guy. Even Epstein probably thought he was the good guy. Right up to the moment where he didn’t kill himself.
So if you ever wonder why these unappetizing dufuses cling on even when their fingernails are being left behind…that’s why. They don’t understand no one wants them, and can’t imagine that no one should want them. And oftentimes their greatest pride is in all the hard work they’ve done for the party. They’re not going to give that up; it’d be psychological suicide.
If you’ve worked with these people, there’s a good chance you like them and consider some of them your friends. But even if so…we’re going to have to give them a good, hard shove. Because America is more important than those milquetoasts’ egos.
Justice Must Be Done
The prior election must be acknowledged as fraudulent, and steps must be taken to prosecute the fraudsters and restore integrity to the system.
Nothing else matters at this point. Talking about trying again in 2022 or 2024 is hopeless otherwise. Which is not to say one must never talk about this, but rather that one must account for this in ones planning; if fixing the fraud is not part of the plan, you have no plan.
Lawyer Appeasement Section
OK now for the fine print.
This is the WQTH Daily Thread. You know the drill. There’s no Poltical correctness, but civility is a requirement. There are Important Guidelines, here, with an addendum on 20191110.
We have a new board – called The U Tree – where people can take each other to the woodshed without fear of censorship or moderation.
And remember Wheatie’s Rules:
1. No food fights 2. No running with scissors. 3. If you bring snacks, bring enough for everyone. 4. Zeroth rule of gun safety: Don’t let the government get your guns. 5. Rule one of gun safety: The gun is always loaded. 5a. If you actually want the gun to be loaded, like because you’re checking out a bump in the night, then it’s empty. 6. Rule two of gun safety: Never point the gun at anything you’re not willing to destroy. 7. Rule three: Keep your finger off the trigger until ready to fire. 8. Rule the fourth: Be sure of your target and what is behind it.
Thursday gold closed at just over $2180. Friday was the usual pattern with gold being pushed down just before the weekend, this time 16 bucks. However, it’s still higher than last week.
(Fuck Joe B*d*n
Due to complaints about foul language, I’ve censored the most objectionable word in the title of this section.
B*d*n, you don’t even get ONE scoop of ice cream today.
(Please post this somewhere permanent, as it will continue to be true; the SOB will never deserve a scoop.)
Obligatory PSAs and Reminders
China is Lower than Whale Shit
Remember Hong Kong!!!
中国是个混蛋 !!! Zhōngguò shì gè hùndàn !!! China is asshoe !!!
China is in the White House
Since Wednesday, January 20 at Noon EST, the bought-and-paid for His Fraudulency Joseph Biden has been in the White House. It’s as good as having China in the Oval Office.
Joe Biden is Asshoe
China is in the White House, because Joe Biden is in the White House, and Joe Biden is identically equal to China. China is Asshoe. Therefore, Joe Biden is Asshoe.
But of course the much more important thing to realize:
Joe Biden Didn’t Win
乔*拜登没赢 !!! Qiáo Bài dēng méi yíng !!! Joe Biden didn’t win !!!
What is it that feeds our battle, yet starves our victory?
January 6 Tapes?
Paging Speaker Johnson…this is your conscience calling you out on broken promises.
For all your high talk about your Christian moral background…you’re looking less and less like you have any kind of moral background.
If You are a Patriot and Don’t Loathe RINOs…
Let’s talk about RINOs, and why they are the lowest form of life in politics.
Many patriots have been involved with politics, often at the grassroots, for decades. We’ve fought, and fought, and fought and won the occasional illusory small victory.
Yet we can’t seem to win the war, even when we have BIG electoral wins.
I am reminded of something. The original Star Trek had an episode titled Day of the Dove. It was one of the better episodes from the third season, but any fan of the original series will tell you that’s a very low bar. Still, it seems to get some respect; at a time when there were about 700 episodes of Star Trek in its various incarnations out there, it was voted 99th best out of the top 100.
In sum, the plot is that an alien entity has arranged for 39 Enterprise crew, and 39 Klingons, to fight each other endlessly with swords and other muscle-powered weapons. The entity lives off of hostile emotions, you see and it wants a captive food source. (The other 400 or so Enterprise crew are trapped below decks and unable to help.) Each side has its emotions played and amplified by the alien entity; one Enterprise junior officer has false memories implanted of a brother who was killed by Klingons. The brother didn’t even exist.
Even people killed in a sword fight miraculously heal so they can go do it again.
The second best line of the episode is when Kang, the Klingon captain, notes that though they have won quite a number of small victories including capturing Engineering, can’t seem to actually finally defeat the Enterprise crew. He growls, “What power is it that feeds our battle yet starves our victory?*”
Indeed. He may have been the bad guy, but his situation should sound familiar.
We are a majority in this country. We have a powerful political party in our corner. There is endless wrangling.
And yet,
What power is it that feeds our battle yet starves our victory?
In our case, that power is the RINOs in our midst. They specialize in caving when on the verge of victory. Think of Obamacare’s repeal failing…by one Republican vote. Think of the way we can never seem to get spending under control (and now our entire tax revenue goes to pay interest on the debt; anything the government actually does now is with borrowed money).
We have a party…that refuses to do what we want it to do, and that refusal is institutionalized. If you’ve been involved with GOP politics, but haven’t seen this, it’s because you refuse to see it. Or because you are part of the problem yourself. (If so, kindly gargle some red fuming nitric acid to clear the taste of shit out of your mouth, and let those not part of the problem alone so they can read this.)
We fight to elect people, who then take a dive when in office. But it’s not just the politicians in office, it’s the people behind the scenes, the leaders of the national, state and county branches of the party. Their job is to ensure that real patriots never get onto the general election ballot. They’re allowed a few failures…who can then become token conservatives who will somehow never manage to win (Jordan), or can be compromised outright (Loren Boebert).
That way it doesn’t actually matter who has a congressional majority. I remember my excitement when the GOP took the Senate in 1980. But all that did was empower a bunch of “moderate” puddles of dog vomit like…well for whatever reason forty years later the most memorable name is Pete Domenici. And a couple of dozen other “moderates” who simply had no interest in doing what grassroots people in their party–those same grassroots people who had worked so hard to elect them–wanted them to do.
Oh, they’ll put up a semblance of a fight…but never win. And they love it when we fight the Dems instead of fighting them. Just like that alien entity, whose motto surely was “Let’s you and him fight. It’ll be delicious!”
If you think about it, your entire political involvement has come to nothing because of these walking malignant tumors.
That should make you good and mad.
The twenty five who blocked Jordan, and the hundred people who took that opportunity to stab Jordan in the back in the secret ballot should make you good and mad.
I’ll close this with another example of RINO backstabbing, an infuriating one close to home.
In my county, the GOP chair is not a RINO. She got elected when the grassroots had had enough of the RINOs. Unfortunately the state organization is full of RINOs, and the ousted county RINOs have been trying to form a new “Republican Party” and get the state GOP to recognize them as the affiliate. I’m honestly amazed it hasn’t happened yet.
In other words those shitstains won’t just leave when they get booted out; they’ll try to destroy what they left behind. It’s an indication that they know we know how important that behind-the-scenes party power is.
So they must be destroyed. That’s the only way they’ll ever stop.
We cannot win until the leeches “on our side” get destroyed.
What power is it that feeds our battle yet starves our victory?*
We know it. What is going to be done about it?
*NOTE: The original line was actually “What power is it that supports our battle yet starves our victory.” I had mis-remembered it as feeds. When I checked it, it sure enough was “supports” and that’s what I originally quoted. On further reflection, though, I realized my memory was actually an improvement over the reality, because feeds is a perfect contrast with starves. I changed it partway through the day this originally posted, but now (since this is a re-run) it gets rendered this way from the start.
If one must do things wrong, one should do them wrong…right.
RINOs an Endangered Species? If Only!
According to Wikipoo, et. al., the Northern White Rhinoceros (Ceratotherium simum cottoni) is a critically endangered species. Apparently two females live on a wildlife preserve in Sudan, and no males are known to be alive. So basically, this species is dead as soon as the females die of old age. Presently they are watched over by armed guards 24/7.
Biologists have been trying to cross them with the other subspecies, Southern White Rhinoceroses (Rhinoceri?) without success; and some genetic analyses suggest that perhaps they aren’t two subspecies at all, but two distinct species, which would make the whole project a lot more difficult.
I should hope if the American RINO (Parasitus rectum pseudoconservativum) is ever this endangered, there will be heroic efforts not to save the species, but rather to push the remainder off a cliff. Onto punji sticks. With feces smeared on them. Failing that a good bath in red fuming nitric acid will do.
But I’m not done ranting about RINOs.
The RINOs (if they are capable of any introspection whatsoever) probably wonder why they constantly have to deal with “populist” eruptions like the Trump-led MAGA movement. That would be because the so-called populists stand for absolutely nothing except for going along to get along. That allows the Left to drive the culture and politics.
Given the results of our most recent elections, the Left will now push harder, and the RINOs will now turn even squishier than they were before.
I well remember 1989-1990 in my state when the RINO establishment started preaching the message that a conservative simply couldn’t win in Colorado. Never mind the fact that Reagan had won the state TWICE (in 1984 bringing in a veto-proof state house and senate with him) and GHWB had won after (falsely!) assuring everyone that a vote for him was a vote for Reagan’s third term.
This is how the RINOs function. They push, push, push the line that only a “moderate” can get elected. Stomp them when they pull that shit. Tell everyone in ear shot that that’s exactly what the Left wants you to think, and oh-by-the-way-Mister-RINO if you’re in this party selling the same message as the Left…well, whythefuckexactly are you in this party, you lying piece of rancid weasel shit?
In Defense of Ranked Choice Voting
One of the biggest obstacles to direly-needed change is RINOs, and one of the weapons in their arsenal is the “Wasted Vote” argument.
Periodically a third party has arisen, trying to hold RINOs to account by putting pressure on them from outside of the party, since doing so from the inside has historically done very little good. But, even if you find a third party candidate who perfectly reflects your views, you’re likely to vote for the RINO anyway. Why? Because if you don’t, the Democrat might win, and that would be even worse. So if you vote for that third party (that few will vote for), you’re throwing your vote away and increasing the likelihood of the Democrat winning. (It’s half as much a gain for the Democrat, as actually voting for the Democrat would be. Not as much, but half as much. Because although you denied the R your vote, you did not flip your vote to the Democrat.)
The Republican Party Establishment knows you don’t love them. But they know you hate the Democrats worse, and they use that to continue to herd you into supporting them. With gritted teeth you cast your vote, but your vote counts the same whether you cast it enthusiastically. And the other alternative, pissing on the voting apparatus to express your actual feelings, is probably a felony.
But what if you could vote for that third party without increasing the chances of the Dem walking away with the prize?
This is what ranked choice voting, or instant runoff voting, can do provided it is properly implemented. (And this includes the votes, and only genuine votes, being counted honestly, of course. However, I’m going to compare it to what we have today, and pretend that is honestly done too. RCV can’t work if it’s not honestly administered, just like our current system isn’t working because it isn’t honestly administered.)
The idea behind RCV is to vote by expressing your order of preference. You could vote for the Patriot Party, then for the RINO Party as your second choice (and ignore the Democrat, the Green, the Overt Socialist Schmuckmonkey Party, etc).
What does this do? It nullifies the wasted vote argument. Your vote will be counted for the Patriot party, first, then instead of it being “wasted” when the Patriot Party loses, it ends up going to the RINO. Actually, it’s just barely possible that the Patriot Party would actually beat the RINO, if people weren’t all individually afraid to vote for it.
It’s just like the famous “Prisoner’s Dilemma” where your fear of other peoples’ actions prevents you from doing the optimal thing–and vice-versa. As long as Job Lowe is afraid to vote Patriot because he’s afraid you’ll vote RINO, you’ll have to vote RINO because you fear that Job Lowe will, because he fears you will.
So on the whole I like RCV. It gives you a no-risk way to vote against the RINO scum, and in favor of someone who deserves your vote.
The problem is, as done here in the US, it comes packaged with a “jungle primary.” A bunch of candidates get to put their name out there, and the top four (or so) candidates get onto the “main” ballot. This gives party establishments their way around the threat of a good third party bumping them off. Because they know that few people bother with primaries, and third parties don’t have the resources to run in a primary…so they throw two or three establishment hacks into the primary and they will probably beat the third party. The result is the RINOs end up with two of the four slots in the general election, and the Dems get the other two. Now there’s suddenly no third party candidate on the ballot at all.
If we were to combine RCV with the present system where each party could nominate exactly one candidate to appear on the November ballot, or at the very least, ensure minor parties could get onto the ballot with at least one candidate regardless of the primary, we would be getting somewhere, but the establishment is smarter than we like to give them credit for. They will support the jungle primary + RCV “solution” rather than the more appropriate one-candidate-per-party + RCV solution.
It’s not RCV that is the problem, it’s the primary structure grafted onto it.
Justice
It says “Justice” on the picture.
And I’m sure someone will post the standard joke about what the fish thinks about the situation.
But what is it?
Here’s a take, from a different context: It’s about how you do justice, not the justice that must be done to our massively corrupt government and media. You must properly identify the nature of a person, before you can do him justice.
Ayn Rand, On Justice (speaking through her character John Galt, in Atlas Shrugged):
Justice is the recognition of the fact that you cannot fake the character of men as you cannot fake the character of nature, that you must judge all men as conscientiously as you judge inanimate objects, with the same respect for truth, with the same incorruptible vision, by as pure and as rational a process of identification—that every man must be judged for what he is and treated accordingly, that just as you do not pay a higher price for a rusty chunk of scrap than for a piece of shining metal, so you do not value a rotter above a hero—that your moral appraisal is the coin paying men for their virtues or vices, and this payment demands of you as scrupulous an honor as you bring to financial transactions—that to withhold your contempt from men’s vices is an act of moral counterfeiting, and to withhold your admiration from their virtues is an act of moral embezzlement—that to place any other concern higher than justice is to devaluate your moral currency and defraud the good in favor of the evil, since only the good can lose by a default of justice and only the evil can profit—and that the bottom of the pit at the end of that road, the act of moral bankruptcy, is to punish men for their virtues and reward them for their vices, that that is the collapse to full depravity, the Black Mass of the worship of death, the dedication of your consciousness to the destruction of existence.
Ayn Rand identified seven virtues, chief among them rationality. The other six, including justice, she considered subsidiary because they are essentially different aspects and applications of rationality.
I’m sure enough of this that I put my money where my mouth is.
The prior election must be acknowledged as fraudulent, and steps must be taken to prosecute the fraudsters and restore integrity to the system. (This doesn’t necessarily include deposing Joe and Hoe and putting Trump where he belongs, but it would certainly be a lot easier to fix our broken electoral system with the right people in charge.)
Nothing else matters at this point. Talking about trying again in 2024 or 2026 is pointless otherwise. Which is not to say one must never talk about this, but rather that one must account for this in ones planning; if fixing the fraud in the system is not part of the plan, you have no plan.
This will necessarily be piecemeal, state by state, which is why I am encouraged by those states working to change their laws to alleviate the fraud both via computer and via bogus voters. If enough states do that we might end up with a working majority in Congress and that would be something Trump never really had.
Lawyer Appeasement Section
OK now for the fine print.
This is the WQTH Daily Thread. You know the drill. There’s no Poltical correctness, but civility is a requirement. There are Important Guidelines, here, with an addendum on 20191110.
We have a new board – called The U Tree – where people can take each other to the woodshed without fear of censorship or moderation.
And remember Wheatie’s Rules:
1. No food fights 2. No running with scissors. 3. If you bring snacks, bring enough for everyone. 4. Zeroth rule of gun safety: Don’t let the government get your guns. 5. Rule one of gun safety: The gun is always loaded. 5a. If you actually want the gun to be loaded, like because you’re checking out a bump in the night, then it’s empty. 6. Rule two of gun safety: Never point the gun at anything you’re not willing to destroy. 7. Rule three: Keep your finger off the trigger until ready to fire. 8. Rule the fourth: Be sure of your target and what is behind it.
Palladium is up 65 bucks. Proportionally speaking, even more than gold.
Even platinum managed to quit falling off the floor.
It should be noted that silver, platinum and palladium were down Friday, from Thursday’s close.
Venus
Or much more seriously, and much more grimly…the planet that should be named Hell.
Actually, I’m going to get one bit of semi-related trivia out of the way.
Planets and Metals
The Ancients recognized seven planets: The Sun, the Moon, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn. (And yes, two of those are no longer regarded as planets. Back then the definition was basically anything that moved in a regular pattern against the celestial sphere. This excluded comets and shooting stars, and of course the (as far as they could tell) “fixed stars,” but not much else.)
There were also seven recognized metals: Iron, tin, lead, gold, silver, mercury and copper.
The seven metals were commonly associated with the seven planets, to the point in fact where the planetary symbols were often used for the metals. Mercury was of course associated with mercury. The Moon was associated with silver.
And Venus was associated with copper.
Oddly enough, the association of planets to metals continued into the modern era. Uranium, discovered in 1789 (well sort of), was named after Uranus. When neptunium was synthesized, it was known to be uranium’s neighbor to the right, and so it was named after Uranus’s neighbor in the solar system, Neptune. And continuing the trend, plutonium, the element after neptunium, after Pluto, then regarded as the planet after Neptune. Of course Pluto got demoted.
But that isn’t actually the first time that a metallic element got named after a planet…which then got demoted! Consider the case of Ceres (discovered 1801) and cerium.
OK now Venus. Really.
Venus is very easy to spot. If it’s above the horizon at night but you are wearing three paper bags over your head, have your eyes shut, and are facing the wrong way, you might miss it.
It’s the brightest object in the night sky, except for the Moon.
Because Venus is one of those objects that orbits the Sun, but is closer to the Sun than we are, it will always be relatively close to the Sun on the celestial sphere, however its maximum distance is roughly 60 degrees, which is far enough away that it will hang around for as long as four hours after sunset, depending on a bunch of other factors (like the time of year and your latitude). Or, conversely, it could rise four hours before sunrise.
This dual nature at first confused the ancients, but they quickly realized that that super bright “morning star” and the super-bright “evening star” were the same thing. The Sumerians, one of the earliest civilizations of Mesopotamia (and perhaps the oldest anywhere), had figured it out. The Greeks didn’t start out with that memo, though, and initially named the morning star Phosphorus and the evening star Hesperus. Pythagoras, 6th century BCE, was credited with (re-)figuring it out.
Mercury and Venus’s habit of sticking close to the Sun ought to have been a clue that perhaps the Sun was at the center of things, rather than the Earth, but as far as I can tell, few took that seriously before Copernicus (published and died, 1543). And even Copernicus wasn’t believed.
Galileo in 1610 looked at Venus with a telescope and over time saw an almost full set of phases. He didn’t see a full Venus, nor a new Venus, but he saw almost everything else, and as you can see in the diagrams below, that shows that Venus must orbit the Sun, not move back and forth between us and the Sun.
Above: Venus orbiting the sun, displaying crescent and gibbous phases. Below, hypothetical Venus on an epicycle, whose center in turn orbits the Earth. It only ever shows crescent phases. (If the epicycle were beyond the sun, we’d see nothing but gibbous and even full phases.)
It’s also significant that the crescent Venus is much, much larger than the gibbous Venus. This size change counteracts the fact that normally a crescent should be less bright than a gibbous phase, because less of the disk we see is lit.
Nor was that the end…not by any means!!!…of the contributions to astronomy that looking at Venus with earthbound telescopes would make!
And this is in spite of the fact that Venus shows us no surface detail. Imagine a brightly-lit ping pong ball. That’s Venus. Blast white, no markings. We couldn’t tell how fast it was rotating. Or even if it was rotating. We did know that it’s a sphere, because of the phases. But that’s it.
As for the Solar System as a whole, Kepler had by 1611 demonstrated that the planets move around the Sun in elliptical orbits, with the Sun at one focus, and that their rates of travel were such that a line connecting the planet and the Sun would sweep out equal areas in equal times (meaning the planet moved faster both in angle seen from the Sun and in absolute terms, when it was closer to the Sun).
He was able to establish relative sizes of the orbits. Setting the Earth’s orbit’s size to 1 unit, Venus’s orbit was roughly 0.72 units in size. (Measuring half the long axis of the ellipse, also called the semi-major axis.) This “unit” of Kepler’s survives as our present-day “Astronomical Unit” (AU).
He didn’t know how big an astronomical unit was. No one knew. The only thing we did know was that it was at least two million miles, because attempts to measure the distance to the Sun by triangulation had been made, and failed. We’d have got a good reading with these methods if the Sun were less than two million miles away. (Similar methods had worked with the Moon.) It didn’t help that it’s hard to triangulate against background stars when you cannot see them because it’s daytime!
But what if we could watch Venus cross the face of the Sun?
You know, like this:
(Venus is three to four times closer to us than is the Sun when it is between us and the Sun, yet still looks puny by comparison. That should tell you something about the Sun.)
Imagine watching one of these “transits” from one place on Earth and noting where against the Sun’s disk Venus was. Meanwhile someone else thousands of miles away does the same thing and takes his notes. Since Venus is closer than the Sun, it should appear in two different places; if you know how far apart your observers are, you can triangulate.
Better yet, time how long it takes to cross. That will nail down, far more accurately, the length of Venus’s path across the Sun, and you can compare the two times, lay down two lines of corresponding length, and really get a good read on the difference in Venus’s apparent position on the sun.
This was first attempted in 1639, by astronomers in Yorkshire and Manchester. They weren’t very far apart, and they got an answer indicating an astronomical unit was about 60 million miles. That was ten times larger than most people had…well, basically, guessed.
This was done again in 1761, with people observing from Russia, Newfoundland, and the Cape of Good Hope. Much better circumstances and equipment! And again in 1769, with people in St. Petersburg, Baja California, and Norway. Combined, the answer was 153 million km, give or take 1 million km. That’s about 2% off the current value (which we know down to a hundred meters). Not bad!
The 1761 cooperation is particularly striking because Europe was still in the throes of the Seven Years War, and Russia and England were on opposite sides. In some ways it’s better to think of that war as World War Zero. Our “French and Indian War” was basically a side-theater of that mess…though it was also the start of that mess. (An excellent argument can be made that Colonel George Washington started the whole thing. Fortunately he became more astute by 1775.)
OK, so why did they sit around twiddling their thumbs between 1639 and 1761?
Because Venus transits are rare. They occur in pairs eight years apart…but those pairs, in turn, are over a hundred years apart!
How does that make sense?
Venus “laps” Earth almost exactly every 1.6 Earth years, crossing between us and the Sun. Well almost crossing. The two orbits are not in the same plane; they are in two different planes. The two planes intersect on a certain line, but if Venus laps us anywhere else other than that line through the Sun (either side of the line), Venus will appear to pass north or south of the Sun.
In the diagram above, the red line represents the line that is the intersection of the two orbital planes. Only if the Earth, Sun and Venus are all lined up on that line (on either side of the Sun) will we see a transit. (There’s a tiny bit of tolerance here because the Sun has width..you can be a little bit off that line, but not much.)
So imagine there is a Venus transit. Wait 1.6 years, and Venus laps us…but we’re 6/10ths of the way around the sun at that point, and the lapping does not happen where the planes intersect. Clean miss. Then again at 3.2 years, 4.8 years, 6.4 years…all misses. Only something-point-zero and something-point-five will work. But the next lapping is at 8.0 years. Bingo, another transit. So that explains the 8 year pairings. But why isn’t it every eight years? Because the lappings aren’t exactly every 1.6 years. They’re just a little bit off. Eight years after the second transit in the example, the lapping will happen, but slightly earlier and not quite close enough to the line of intersection to be a transit. And so we wait. And wait. And wait. Eventually things line up on the other side of the Sun and we get two more transits.
So, we had a transit in 2004 on June 8. And another in 2012 on June 5. Note just three days shy of exactly eight years later. The next lapping would have been 2020 on about June 2, and that’s far enough from the place where the planes intersect to ensure Venus does not cross in front of the Sun’s disk as seen from Earth.
The next transit is…wait for it…in 2117, on the 10th of December. Earth and Venus will be on the other side of the Sun when this happens, going through the other half of the line of intersection of their two orbital planes.
I observed the 2012 transit with eclipse glasses and took pictures with the same craptastic solar filter I used for the annular eclipse last year. I do remember that triangle of sunspots from the picture I pasted in. See below. The sunspots are quite faint. and the orientation is a bit different.
I Lied. Now, really about Venus.
I’ve talked about Venus’s orbit already, but I spotted this cool animation and you can watch the four terrestrial planets orbit the Sun in it. Note that there are faint circles every 0.5 AU you can compare the elliptical orbits with, the circles look elliptical because the diagram is at an oblique angle.
Venus orbits the Sun every 224.7 Earth days. And at present it’s the closest orbit to circular of any of the planets. That period works out to Venus orbiting almost exactly 13 times while Earth orbits 8 times. (That’s logical, it laps us 5 times in eight years, so it has orbited 8+5=13 times while we’ve poked along.)
Here’s a true color picture of Venus taken by the MESSENGER probe as it flew by, using Venus for a gravity assist (“slingshot”).
There’s only the slightest hint of banding, like clouds overlying clouds.
In ultraviolet light, though, you can see more:
Venus is a completely cloud-bound world. It’s almost as big as Earth, and seems like it could almost be a twin.
There was a belief clear up into the 1950s that Venus was a younger world than Earth (and Mars was older), so it was expected that under all those clouds Venus could be a swampy world with primitive life. It’d no doubt be warmer, but with the cloud layer blocking the Sun, maybe not much warmer than Earth. Maybe we could even live there!
Oh boy did that ever turn out wrong. We (well the USSR actually) sent our first probe, Venera 1, in 1961. And there have been many others since.
The surface temperature of Venus is 737K or about 867 F.
Lead melts at 621 F. I guess we would need something else for bullets there.
The atmosphere turns out to be almost pure carbon dioxide, with a pressure 92 times as great as our atmosphere at sea level.
And the upper layers of it are sulfuric acid.
So we have a baked, dessicated world with sulfuric acid…not a bad match for Hell.
We’ve managed to land spacecraft and have them survive for minutes to a couple of hours. (The USSR had better luck there, we did better with Mars.) Here’s one of the pictures, from Venera 9.
And another from Venera 14:
In fact here: https://www.planetary.org/articles/every-picture-from-venus-surface-ever is a compilation of every image ever taken from the surface. Only four spacecraft have managed it, all of them Russian or Soviet.
Nevertheless we do know quite a bit about Venus’s surface, because we’ve mapped it with radar from orbiting satellites, including Magellan in the early 90s. We’ve got topographic maps.
It turns out there are a lot of volcanoes on Venus (more hellishness). There are continents–sizable plateaus just like our continents are, but without oceans overfilling the low spots. There’s no chance of plate tectonics because no water is around as a lubricant for the plates. Nevertheless, it appears as though the entire surface gets catastrophically replaced every few hundred million years.
So here is the topographic map.
One last thing about Venus that stands out, and that is its rotation. It rotates once every 243 days…that’s longer than its year. So it seems as if Venus might almost be tidally locked, except that in fact it’s not even close. It rotates backward. (And that is a big WTF!)
The net effect is, someone standing on the surface of Venus would see the sun rise in the west, and set in the east, with the day lasting 116.75 earth days. Except you would never see sunrise or sunset with that thick layer of clouds.
Venus serves as a poster child for “runaway greenhouse effect” on account of the carbon dioxide, the heat, and the lack of water. It is believed it warmed up just a bit too much a few billion years ago, thanks largely to the early atmosphere being largely carbon dioxide (that was true here too; we needed life to make oxygen from the carbon dioxide); the oceans evaporated and the water molecules escaped. (Water vapor escapes Earth, too, but very very slowly. We’re more massive and cooler than Venus.) More carbon dioxide was released from the rocks which just made things worse. So it’s a favorite of the Global Warming crowd.
Admittedly, if we were that close the Sun we’d be hosed too. But we’re not. And they’ve fudged their data as to what is actually happening.
Obligatory PSAs and Reminders
China is Lower than Whale Shit
To conclude: My standard Public Service Announcement. We don’t want to forget this!!!
中国是个混蛋 !!! Zhōngguò shì gè hùndàn !!! China is asshoe !!!
China is in the White House
Since Wednesday, January 20 at Noon EST, the bought-and-paid for Joseph Biden has been in the White House. It’s as good as having China in the Oval Office.
Joe Biden is Asshoe
China is in the White House, because Joe Biden is in the White House, and Joe Biden is identically equal to China. China is Asshoe. Therefore, Joe Biden is Asshoe.
But of course the much more important thing to realize:
Joe Biden Didn’t Win
乔*拜登没赢 !!! Qiáo Bài dēng méi yíng !!! Joe Biden didn’t win !!!
This Rejoice & Praise God Sunday Open Thread, with full respect to those who worship God on the Sabbath, is a place to reaffirm our worship of our Creator, our Father, our King Eternal.
It’s also a place to read, post, and discuss news that is worth knowing and sharing. Please post links to any news stories that you use as sources or quote from.
In the QTree, we’re a friendly and civil lot. We encourage free speech and the open exchange and civil discussion of different ideas. Topics aren’t constrained, and sound logic is highly encouraged, all built on a solid foundation of truth and established facts.
We have a policy of mutual respect, shown by civility. Civility encourages discussions, promotes objectivity and rational thought in discourse, and camaraderie in the participants – characteristics we strive toward in our Q Tree community.
Please show respect and consideration for our fellow QTreepers. Before hitting the “post” button, please proofread your post and make sure your opinion addresses the issue only, and does not confront or denigrate the poster. Keep to the topic – avoid “you” and “your”. Here in The Q Tree, personal attacks, name-calling, ridicule, insults, baiting, and other conduct for which a penalty flag would be thrown are VERBOTEN.
In The Q Tree, we’re compatriots, sitting around the campfire, roasting hot dogs, making s’mores, and discussing, agreeing, and disagreeing about whatever interests us. This board will remain a home for those who seek respectful conversations.
God is in Control . . . and His Grace is Sufficient, so . . . Keep Looking Up
Hopefully, every Sunday, we can find something here that will build us up a little . . . give us a smile . . . and add some joy or peace, very much needed in all our lives.
“This day is holy to the Lord your God; do not mourn nor weep.” . . . “Go your way, eat the fat, drink the sweet, and send portions to those for whom nothing is prepared; for this day is holy to our Lord. Do not sorrow, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.”
Follow Me . . .
No sane parent has ever said, “I wish my children would misbehave,” and there’s never been a self-help book entitled How to Live an Unhappy Life. We all want blessings, happiness, and fulfillment, and we associate a happy condition with a certain amount of ease. Jesus promises blessing and fulfillment to those who follow Him (John 4:14), but many people have been surprised that the way of Christ is not as easy as they had hoped. Sometimes, following Christ can be downright difficult.
The fact is, blessing and hardship are not mutually exclusive. The disciples “left everything” to follow Christ, and the Lord promised them “a hundred times as much” blessing in return (Mark 10:28-30). Jesus warned that all who follow Him must deny themselves and bear a daily cross (Luke 9:23). Hardship, to be sure, but hardship with a purpose and leading to the joy of the Lord.
Followers of Christ also face resistance from the world. “In fact, everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted” (2 Timothy 3:12). Jesus did not promise His disciples that everything would be coming up roses for them; just the opposite—He promised that they would have trials in this world (John 16:33). “But take heart!” He told them, “I have overcome the world.”
God’s moral laws have been written on the heart of every human – giving all people a conscience to aid them in determining wrong from right (Romans 2:14-15). When a person becomes a follower of Christ, he not only has God’s laws in his heart, but he also has the indwelling Holy Spirit to compel him toward living righteously (Romans 8:11). This in no way means the Christian will stop sinning, but it does mean the Christian will become more aware of his own personal sin and have a genuine desire to do what is pleasing to Christ (Romans 8:14-16).
In many ways, it is after a person is saved that the struggle against sin really heats up in his life. All people are born with a nature that is bent toward sin, which is why children do not need to be taught how to misbehave – that comes naturally. When a person is converted, the sin nature does not disappear – and so the internal conflict begins in the life of every believer.
The apostle Paul, who called himself a “bondservant to Christ,” writes of the struggle with his sin nature in Romans 7:14-25. In verse 15 he says, “I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do” (Romans 7:15). Christians engaged in this battle have a true desire to avoid sin, but they also have a natural desire to indulge the flesh. They become frustrated when they find themselves “doing what they don’t want to do.” And to further complicate matters, Christians not only do not want to sin, they hate sin. Yet, they still sin.
Paul goes on to write, “It is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me” (Romans 7:17). Paul is referring to the division caused by the new birth – Paul is a “new man” through Christ (2 Corinthians 5:17). But he still sins because sin is still alive in the human flesh – the sin nature survives the new birth (Romans 7:18). Paul calls the internal strife a “war,” as the new man battles the old man. Paul found the battle quite distressing because he wanted to do well (Romans 7:23). “What a wretched man I am,” Paul cries out in his distress (Romans 7:24).
Every Christian who is attempting to live righteously is called to this battlefield for his entire life. We are in a spiritual battle. But in grace and mercy, God gives the faithful believer an entire suit of armor for the fight (Ephesians 6:13).
The Christian life is never easy, but the difficulties do not negate the joy. We consider Jesus, who “for the joy set before him . . . endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God” (Hebrews 12:2). God has set us free from the slavery to sin. The victory is ours (2 Corinthians 2:14). Through the Holy Spirit, believers receive encouragement, strength to persevere, and reminders of their adoption into the family of God. We know that our “present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed” (Romans 8:18).
What is it that feeds our battle, yet starves our victory?
January 6 Tapes?
I won’t beat this dead horse too much. We got some kind of weirdly redacted release of some number of tapes.
Paging Speaker Johnson…this is your conscience calling you out on broken promises.
News Flash
Today, it is still the case that Joe Biden didn’t Win.
I realize that to some readers, this might be a shock; surely at some point things must change and Biden will have actually won.
But the past cannot actually be changed.
It will always and forever be the case that Joe Biden didn’t win.
And if you, Leftist Lurker, want to dismiss it as dead white cis-male logic…well, you can call it what you want, but then please just go fuck off. No one here buys that bullshit–logic is logic and facts are facts regardless of skin color–and if you gave it a moment’s rational thought, you wouldn’t either. Of course your worthless education never included being able to actually reason–or detect problems with false reasoning–so I don’t imagine you’ll actually wake up as opposed to being woke.
As Ayn Rand would sometimes point out: Yes, you are free to evade reality. What you cannot do is evade the consequences of evading reality. Or to put it concretely: You can ignore the Mack truck bearing down on you as you play in the middle of the street, you won’t be able to ignore the consequences of ignoring the Mack truck.
And Ayn Rand also pointed out that existence (i.e., the sum total of everything that exists) precedes consciousness–our consciousnesses are a part of existence, not outside of it–therefore reality cannot be a “social construct” as so many of you fucked-up-in-the-head people seem to think.
So much for Leftist douchebag lurkers. For the rest of you, the regular readers and those lurkers who understand such things: I continue to carry the banner once also carried by Wheatie. His Fraudulency didn’t win.
Let’s Go, Brandon!!
Hey China!
Or rather, “Hey Chinese Communist Party and your entire array of servitors, ass-wipers, and fellators!”
You’re not even worth my time this week. When you decide to act like civilized people, maybe I’ll give you a lesson or two in how non-barbarians behave.
Hey BiteMe! (Or, Whoever Has Their Hand Rammed Up That Putrefying Meat Puppet’s Ass)
[Language warning]
You and yours have caused a lot of injury. Literal injury with your war on people who don’t want to take an untested vaccine. When people die in an emergency room because a hospital won’t admit them because they haven’t had their clot shot, that’s a crime.
I’m going to address here the insult on top of the injury, because I am among the insulted. I still have my health but apparently you want me to live under the 8th Street Bridge (which actually isn’t on 8th Street, but whatever, that’s what the I-25 overpass over Cimarron is called), so maybe if you have your way that won’t be true for long. Dreadful time of year to become homeless.
No, you’re just trying to make me unemployed, because I won’t take your fucking shots.
Well, that threat is NOT going to work. I. Won’t. Take. Your. Fucking. Shots.
And it looks like enough people agree, that you’re having to back down, you worthless asswipe.
You’re LOSING.
You LOSER.
You Chinese-bought ratfucking traitor.
I would love to see you die an agonizing, humiliating death. (This isn’t a threat, because I am not threatening to cause that death. I am just announcing my intention to party if it happens.) It would be just recompense for the way you’re killing America…and millions of Americans.
His Fraudulency
Joe Biteme, properly styled His Fraudulency, continues to infest the White House, we haven’t heard much from the person who should have been declared the victor, and hopium is still being dispensed even as our military appears to have joined the political establishment in knuckling under to the fraud.
One can hope that all is not as it seems.
I’d love to feast on that crow.
(I’d like to add, I find it entirely plausible, even likely, that His Fraudulency is also His Figureheadedness. (Apparently that wasn’t a word; it got a red underline. Well it is now.) Where I differ with the hopium addicts is on the subject of who is really in charge. It ain’t anyone we like.)
Justice Must Be Done.
The prior election must be acknowledged as fraudulent, and steps must be taken to prosecute the fraudsters and restore integrity to the system.
Nothing else matters at this point. Talking about trying again in 2024 is hopeless otherwise. Which is not to say one must never talk about this, but rather that one must account for this in ones planning; if fixing the fraud is not part of the plan, you have no plan.
Lawyer Appeasement Section
OK now for the fine print.
This is the WQTH Daily Thread. You know the drill. There’s no Poltical correctness, but civility is a requirement. There are Important Guidelines, here, with an addendum on 20191110.
We have a new board – called The U Tree – where people can take each other to the woodshed without fear of censorship or moderation.
And remember Wheatie’s Rules:
1. No food fights 2. No running with scissors. 3. If you bring snacks, bring enough for everyone. 4. Zeroth rule of gun safety: Don’t let the government get your guns. 5. Rule one of gun safety: The gun is always loaded. 5a. If you actually want the gun to be loaded, like because you’re checking out a bump in the night, then it’s empty. 6. Rule two of gun safety: Never point the gun at anything you’re not willing to destroy. 7. Rule three: Keep your finger off the trigger until ready to fire. 8. Rule the fourth: Be sure of your target and what is behind it.
Gold went straight up today! The other PMs are up, but not nearly so well.
Platinum continues to dwell in the toilet. Even though it was up $7 today, it has now slid below $900/oz.
Gold is above the magic $2,067 mark. That’s the point at which the dollar is worth one cent in gold by the old gold standard of one troy ounce of gold is $20.67.
Obligatory PSAs and Reminders
China is Lower than Whale Shit
Remember Hong Kong!!!
Whoever ends up in the cell next to his, tell him I said “Hi.”
中国是个混蛋 !!! Zhōngguò shì gè hùndàn !!! China is asshoe !!!
China is in the White House
Since Wednesday, January 20 at Noon EST, the bought-and-paid for His Fraudulency Joseph Biden has been in the White House. It’s as good as having China in the Oval Office.
Joe Biden is Asshoe
China is in the White House, because Joe Biden is in the White House, and Joe Biden is identically equal to China. China is Asshoe. Therefore, Joe Biden is Asshoe.
But of course the much more important thing to realize:
Joe Biden Didn’t Win
乔*拜登没赢 !!! Qiáo Bài dēng méi yíng !!! Joe Biden didn’t win !!!
This Rejoice & Praise God Sunday Open Thread, with full respect to those who worship God on the Sabbath, is a place to reaffirm our worship of our Creator, our Father, our King Eternal.
It’s also a place to read, post, and discuss news that is worth knowing and sharing. Please post links to any news stories that you use as sources or quote from.
In the QTree, we’re a friendly and civil lot. We encourage free speech and the open exchange and civil discussion of different ideas. Topics aren’t constrained, and sound logic is highly encouraged, all built on a solid foundation of truth and established facts.
We have a policy of mutual respect, shown by civility. Civility encourages discussions, promotes objectivity and rational thought in discourse, and camaraderie in the participants – characteristics we strive toward in our Q Tree community.
Please show respect and consideration for our fellow QTreepers. Before hitting the “post” button, please proofread your post and make sure your opinion addresses the issue only, and does not confront or denigrate the poster. Keep to the topic – avoid “you” and “your”. Here in The Q Tree, personal attacks, name-calling, ridicule, insults, baiting, and other conduct for which a penalty flag would be thrown are VERBOTEN.
In The Q Tree, we’re compatriots, sitting around the campfire, roasting hot dogs, making s’mores, and discussing, agreeing, and disagreeing about whatever interests us. This board will remain a home for those who seek respectful conversations.
God is in Control . . . and His Grace is Sufficient, so . . . Keep Looking Up
Hopefully, every Sunday, we can find something here that will build us up a little . . . give us a smile . . . and add some joy or peace, very much needed in all our lives.
“This day is holy to the Lord your God; do not mourn nor weep.” . . . “Go your way, eat the fat, drink the sweet, and send portions to those for whom nothing is prepared; for this day is holy to our Lord. Do not sorrow, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.”
Running the Race
Accomplished people will tell us that goal-setting is essential to achieving success in any worthy endeavor. Perhaps no other ambition is more important in the Christian life than the one the apostle Paul preached about in Philippians 3:13–14: “Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.”
What goal was Paul targeting? Like an Olympic athlete, Paul exerted absolute determination to cross the finish line of Christian maturity. For the remainder of his life on earth, Paul was resolutely committed to the passionate pursuit of this singular ambition. He explained to the Philippians that he had not arrived at his destination yet, “but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me” (Philippians 3:12).
Take hold means “to win, acquire, possess, or make one’s own.” On the road to Damascus, Paul had been seized by the powerful, unbreakable grasp of the risen Christ (Acts 9:1–19). His life now belonged wholly to Jesus. Acts 9:15 reveals that Paul was God’s chosen instrument to proclaim salvation to the Gentiles and the people of Israel. But this was not the goal Paul pressed toward. Instead, Paul explained, “I want to know Christ—yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, attaining to the resurrection from the dead” (Philippians 3:10–11).
The goal Paul pressed toward was twofold: to know Jesus Christ and to become like Him.
Jesus had saved Paul and made him His very own possession to bring him into an intimate and eternal relationship—one that would grow and increase throughout Paul’s earthly life and culminate in “perfection” or “perfect knowledge” at his death (Philippians 3:12, NLT). Crossing the goal line does not happen on earth. While we press toward Christian maturity in this life, “we see only a reflection as in a mirror,” but when we reach the final destination at death, “we shall see face to face” and know Christ fully even as we are fully known (1 Corinthians 13:12).
The word press in Philippians 3:14 means “to carry out or participate in an activity, to pursue or follow.” Believers are to actively press forward in our knowledge of the Lord and in our fellowship with Him until we finally hear Him say, “Well done, good and faithful servant. . . . Enter into the joy of your master” (Matthew 25:23, ESV).
Jesus said, “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross, and follow me” (Matthew 16:24, NLT). Giving up our own way, taking up our cross, and following Jesus are the activities of a Christian who is pressing toward the goal of becoming more like Christ. That is why Paul said, “For to me, living means living for Christ, and dying is even better” (Philippians 1:21, NLT).
The apostle John described the action like this: “We are already God’s children, but he has not yet shown us what we will be like when Christ appears. But we do know that we will be like him, for we will see him as he really is. And all who have this eager expectation will keep themselves pure, just as he is pure” (1 John 3:2–3, NLT). We keep ourselves pure by imitating Christ in right living (1 Corinthians 11:1; Romans 13:12–14).
James taught that pressing toward the goal of Christian maturity requires determined endurance to stay the course through the trials of life: “Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything” (James 1:2–4).
The Christian growth cycle is ongoing, with a snowball-like effect of building from one success to the next. As we persevere and grow through hardship, we are strengthened and prepared for even greater challenges of faith down the road. We are continually pressing upward into greater maturity as we move toward our goal—our full potential of complete and “perfect maturity” in Jesus Christ.
The English Standard Version describes the goal we press toward as “the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 3:14, ESV). When Jesus took hold of us, God called all of us upward toward His heavenly kingdom through an intimate relationship with His Son. The direction we press toward is “up” because that is where the call comes from—directly from God’s throne. He called us from heaven and will eventually bring us home to heaven (Philippians 3:20; 2 Corinthians 5:1; Hebrews 11:13–16). We press toward that goal by following the call that keeps us moving ever-increasingly onward and upward in Christlikeness and in our knowledge of Jesus our Lord. xhttps://www.gotquestions.org/press-on-toward-the-goal.html
But they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint. Isaiah 40:31
The Lord . . . will bring to light the things now hidden in darkness and will disclose the purposes of the heart. Then each one will receive his commendation from God. 1 Corinthians 4:5
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