Early thoughts on SCOTUS

The coming election will be decided in the Supreme Court. Everyone has known for months that the Democrats know that Trump will win on election day, and the hope for the Democrats was to overturn that election with mail in ballots. This would throw the election into the courts- both sides have been posturing and engaging in legal maneuvering for months.

This has been destined to go all the way to SCOTUS for months. Previously, the Democrats counted on having four justices vote to install Biden and, along with the ability to flip Roberts, assure a Biden win with a 5-4 decision. That hope died with Ginsberg. Let me explain:

If the Republicans name a replacement, they don’t need Roberts- the vote will be 5-4, even without him.

If the Republicans DON’T name a replacement, Roberts can’t flip without tying the court 4-4. This would mean the lower court decision- whatever it was- stands. That would be devastating for the power and prestige of SCOTUS and will DESTROY Roberts’ legacy in the history books. He would forever be known as the Chief Justice that punted on a court decision that affected a Presidential election. For that reason, Roberts is unlikely to destroy the legacy of a Roberts court by flipping. He will decide with the only majority available to him- the four conservative justices.

Whether or not the Republicans name a replacement, the immediate damage has already been done. The Democrat hopes of stealing this election just died with Ginsberg. The left knows it- the temper tantrums have already begun. 

I am not sure what to call this

I am at a loss for words. Is this cognitive dissonance? Hypocrisy? I am not sure what to call it:

 FBI Director Chris Wray told lawmakers Thursday that antifa is an ideology, not an organization… “It’s not a group or an organization. It’s a movement or an ideology.”

Yet, they claim that white supremacists are the largest threat to US security. 

I don’t understand how Antifa is just an ideology, while white supremacy is an organization that threatens US security. Is US Federal Law enforcement claiming that the white supremacists have forged themselves into some sort of nationwide organization, while Antifa isn’t organized?

Fake news

 The Washington Post did a story about a motel in the Orlando area, the Star motel. I am well acquainted with this establishment from my days as a paramedic. The motels in that particular area, including the Star motel, are well known to local emergency workers. They have not been motels for tourists in decades. Instead, they are inhabited by drug users, prostitutes, and other assorted debris from society. 

I remember finding more than one dead body in the place, often with drugs in the room, sometimes with the needle still in the arm of the corpse, and the occasional homicide. Once or twice, a meth lab. The article claims that:

In tough times, the motels degenerated into shelters of last resort in a city where low-income housing shortages were among the most severe in the nation and the social safety net was collapsing. Now they were fast becoming places where it was possible to glimpse what a complete social and economic collapse might look like in America.

This hotel was never a nice place. To the best of my knowledge, there haven’t been any tourists in this motel since before the Clinton administration. This motel’s economy collapsed decades ago. To make this sound like a recent development is fake news. 

SITREP

The nation has been largely riot free since September 8th. The only activity seen since that date has been the arson out west and some small actions taken by limited groups of BLM/Antifa/RevCom forces. The large scale, coordinated actions have been noticeably absent. 

A couple of weeks ago, I issued a warning that 

Chances of favorable outcome or appeasement of what appear to be professional insurgents is very doubtful. This situation coupled with statements of the Antifa/BLM/RevCom movements and the forces that they control indicate in our opinion that a surprise aggressive movement in any direction including attack on unarmed and helpless residential areas or even schools is a possibility. 

While it remains my opinion that no army has ever been fully mobilized only to be called back, the possibility of imminent violence has abated somewhat. While attacks appear to be possible, they are not likely at this point, with the exception of the area surrounding the I-5 corridor in Washington and Oregon, as well as the area surrounding Minneapolis/St Paul, both of which remain high threat areas. 

It is also my opinion that, barring any major development, the risk of violence will remain at this level up to election day. This seems to be a time that can best be used to continue preparations for what I view as the likelihood of further violence following the national elections in November. 

As before, 

Avoid travel to large cities in the run up to the election unless it is necessary. 

Keep your head on a swivel. 

Burning books

The left claims that Trump is a Nazi and they are the Antifascists, yet they do stuff like this.

A new TikTok trend has emerged this week as former “Harry Potter” fans protest author J.K. Rowling’s widely criticized views on trans people by burning copies of her books.

One video, posted by TikTok user @elmcdo shows a number of “Harry Potter” books being placed on a burning pyre.

Dort wo man Bücher verbrennt, verbrennt man auch am Ende Menschen.

[Where they have burned books, they will end in burning human beings.]

Christian Johann Heinrich Heine

“Every record has been destroyed or falsified, every book rewritten, every picture has been repainted, every statue and street building has been renamed, every date has been altered. And the process is continuing day by day and minute by minute. History has stopped. Nothing exists except an endless present in which the Party is always right.” ― George Orwell, 1984

Situation report

 It seems like the rioting in Portland suddenly stopped. Why? In May, an Antifa candidate for Portland Mayor came in second against Ted Wheeler, triggering a run off election. She was trailing him 49 to 24 percent

Until the first week of September, when Wheeler began polling with a 63 percent negative rating after 100 days of riots. This virtually guarantees that Antifa will have their candidate elected and will own the city of Portland. 

With that mission accomplished, it is time for Antifa to move on. So they begin setting fires and attacking utility infrastructure by cutting down utility poles

So in short, the riots in Portland have stopped because the battlefield has moved on.