Points to Ponder:

Lord, make me an instrument of thy peace
Where there is hatred, let me sow love
Where there is injury, pardon
Where there is doubt, faith
Where there is despair, hope
Where there is darkness, light
And where there is sadness, joy

O Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek
To be consoled as to console
To be understood as to understand
To be loved, as to love

For it is in giving that we receive
It is in pardoning that we are pardoned
And it is in dying that we are born to eternal life. [St. Francis of Assisi]

Logan Act is the last refuge for the American prosecutorial scoundrel

Briefly...

Watching #NeverTrump folks respond to the complete obliteration of the Russian collusion narrative in the past week by completely ignoring it and moving onto other gripes without pause, reflection, or apology reminds me a lot of what conspiracy theorist douches do when one of their pet hypotheses are demolished. It is a thoroughly disingenuous and unethical way to behave and undermines to no small degree their veracity in general.

Two Special Elections On Tuesday Could Hint At Another Blue Wave In 2020

With the caveats of 538 being among the most accurate political prognosticators out there and special elections being a tough animal to master for many reasons, the purpose of this post is to point out that even the good political predictors out there have their misses and here are two from 538 on CA-25 and WI-7.

"One From the Vault" Dept. on "States' Rights"...

This note was first published in social media on August 26, 2011...

Gotta love pics like these, makes everyone think that the Civil war was all about Slavery.

Of course it was not all about slavery but the latter was a significant  part of the equation. All you need to do to realize this is look at the platform of the Democratic Party in the 1856 and 1860 elections to see the dominance of the slavery theme in that party's view of things.

Since the South separated like sniveling brats after the 1860 election when they did not win, lets look at the platform from 1860 to see what it was that they actually ran on:

Resolved, That we, the Democracy of  the Union in Convention assembled, hereby declare our affirmance of the  resolutions unanimously adopted and declared as a platform of principles  by the Democratic Convention at Cincinnati, in the year 1856, believing  that Democratic principles are unchangeable in their nature, when  applied to the same subject matters; and we recommend, as the only  further resolutions, the following: 

Since the 1860 platform was  mostly that of the 1856 convention with a few addendums, lets look at how many times slavery popped up in the 1856 platform now shall we?

The first part of the platform is basically the Jeffersonian model discredited both in the early Republic as well as by example in how things were generally governed prior to that point in time. The second half of the platform contains these references to slavery:

Resolved,  That we reiterate with renewed energy of purpose the well-considered  declarations of former conventions upon the sectional issue of domestic  slavery, and concerning the reserved rights of the states—

1.  That Congress has no power under the constitution to interfere with or  control the domestic institutions of the several states, and that all  such states are the sole and proper judges of everything appertaining to  their own affairs not prohibited by the constitution; that all efforts  of the Abolitionists or others, made to induce Congress to interfere  with questions of slavery, or to take incipient steps in relation  thereto, are calculated to lead to the most alarming and dangerous  consequences, and that all such efforts have an inevitable tendency to  diminish the happiness of the people and endanger the stability and  permanency of the Union, and ought not to be countenanced by any friend  of our political institutions.

I am sure the slaves were happy about the arrangement. Moving on...

2.  That the foregoing proposition covers and was intended to embrace the  whole subject of slavery agitation in Congress, and therefore the  Democratic party of the Union, standing on this national platform, will  abide by and adhere to a faithful execution of the acts known as the  compromise measures, settled by the Congress of 1850—"the act for  reclaiming fugitives from service or labor" included; which act, being  designed to carry out an express provision of the constitution, can not,  with fidelity thereto, be repealed, or so changed as to destroy or  impair its efficiency.

So first Congress has no authority on the matter and now they claim they will follow the compromise measure from 1850 set forth by that same Congress. To paraphrase the milk campaign: Got hypocrisy?

3. That the Democratic party will  resist all attempts at renewing in Congress, or out of it, the agitation  of the slavery question, under whatever shape or color the attempt may  be made.

Gee, there is sure a lot of talk about slavery for a party and a group of the country that did not fight to protect slavery is it not? And we are not done yet though...

4. That the Democratic party will  faithfully abide by and uphold the principles laid down in the Kentucky  and Virginia resolutions of 1792 and 1798, and in the report of Mr.  Madison to the Virginia legislature in 1799; that it adopts these  principles as constituting one of the main foundations of its political  creed, and is resolved to carry them out in their obvious meaning and  import. 

Translation: The Democratic Party embraced sedition. Even Madison eventually wised up and recognized how utterly illogical and stupid his involvement in that enterprise was. Jefferson never did except when he was president he expected an even greater fealty to his government than the Washington and Adams administrations{1} demanded of them. Again, got hypocrisy?

And  that we may more distinctly meet the issue on which a sectional party,  subsisting exclusively on slavery agitation, now relies to test the  fidelity of the people, north and south, to the constitution and the  Union— 

For the sake of economy, from that point on in the platform there were three additional numbered resolves, all of which  specifically mentioned slavery or involved slavery and one of the final two resolutions which also dealt with slavery. Geez, more on slavery.  But nah, it had nothing whatsoever to do with the Civil War and only  "ignorant people" would claim otherwise right xxx? ;)  There is more, let us look at the 1860 platform which as I said reaffirmed everything from the 1856 platform with a few more addendums:

2. Inasmuch as  difference of opinion exists in the Democratic party as to the nature  and extent of the powers of a Territorial Legislature, and as to the  powers and duties of Congress, under the Constitution of the United  States, over the institution of slavery within the Territories,

Resolved,  That the Democratic party will abide by the decision of the Supreme  Court of the United States upon these questions of Constitutional Law. 

But in the first part of the 1856 platform, they rejected a central bank which the very same Supreme Court they were now claiming to reverence had declared over forty years previously was constitutional.{2} So they laud the court on Dred Scott but explicitly reject it in areas where the Court  had already settled constitutional questions decades ago. Again, got hypocrisy?

Resolved, That the enactments of the State  Legislatures to defeat the faithful execution of the Fugitive Slave Law,  are hostile in character, subversive of the Constitution, and  revolutionary in their effect.

Yeah, we do'nut want them blacks gettin' all edjucated and free.

But nah, those who talk about slavery being a major factor{3} in what brought about the Civil War, they are the "ignorant ones."

Bottom line: the South had some good  arguments to make on some issues but they chose an absolutely heinous and evil idea around which to pitch the center pole of their ideological tent. Furthermore, they proved after 1865 that all this talk about  respecting the Constitution and respecting the Courts was a bunch of  horse shit. Cases in point: the Thirteenth, Fourteenth, and Fifteenth Amendments which southern states tried to flout at every turn in various  ways once Reconstruction was over for nearly a century.

Im really sick of people thinking that The Stars and Bars stand for Slavery and Oppression when in fact its quite the Opposite to the Union considering the Union is all for Centralized Big Gov. Interference.

And  I am really sick and tired of "Lost Cause" sorts who make excuses for both the evil of slavery that they propagated prior to the war and the state of third class citizenry they sought to impose on an entire race of people. Thanks to the later segregation numbnuts, the states rights cause was stunted for over half a century while we saw a lot of federal overreach. It is after all kind of hard for a philosophy to be given credence by average people when that exact same philosophy was used to justify retaining slavery prior to 1865 and then regularly used to flout three duly ratified Constitutional amendments and the rights of American citizens after that point for nearly a century.

Notes:

{1} Which he and Madison agitated against back in 1798.

{2} Based on arguments that more than twenty years before that had convinced most of the Founders as well as President Washington. (And which President  Madison later on would come to recognize himself.)

{3} Arguably the most significant factor.

Points to Ponder:

A cigar numbs sorrow and fills the solitary hours with a million gracious images.[George Sand]

It looks like President Obama ordered up phony RussiaGate scandal

So Obama's Administration was "scandal free" they said? Yeah and Jenna Jameson is a virgin!

Strip club owner sues NY Governor over shutdown

Presumably by the Law Office of Glenn Quagmire. (Giggity!)

Papal War? What Papal War?