Yup. We ended slavery back in 1865. By the end of that year we were
already plotting ways to keep our control over "Our Negroes". There's
good money in Human Trafficking, especially children and women.
But it's all part of our Great American Culture. The Culture of
Worshiping at the feet of the Golden Calf. Imagine what a different
world we would live in if, instead of asking ourselves, "How can I
make a buck out of that?", we asked ourselves, "How can I help...how
can I be a contributor toward improving Life for all of us?"
Oh, I know. I've been told again and again to "Get Real!" Well, just
because I was born into this culture, and just because that culture
worships the likes of Donald Trump, the Koch Brothers, Bill Gates and
the rest of the "Beautiful People", is no reason for me to follow
along like a drooling, dribbling idiot.
Remember reading of a time when Kings and Queens and Emperors ruled
the nations of the world? They mostly claimed that they were God's
appointed rulers. Can you imagine when the first person stood up and
suggested that the world would be a better place if we removed Kings,
Queens and Emperors? What a Fool!
Well, there are those who say, "We would have a far better world if we
got rid of our worship of money, and if we embraced one another and
put the People and Life of Planet Earth at the top of our "To Do"
list.
Think of it. Instead of doubling down and modernizing our entire
military arsenal, as Donald Trump promises to do, instead of building
the military hardware to protect the financial interests of those
Billionaires we love to Worship, instead of that, we took back our
stolen wealth and put it to work for us, the People, building new
neighborhoods, fully funded public education, retraining the
Servicemen and Women in the long neglected jobs that are the backbone
of any truly Great Nation. Farmers, teachers, Thinkers, Creators,
Inventors, Artists; and when we had a good start here at home, we
might begin sending out real, honest Peace Keepers to assist other
nations...the ones we are now blowing to Kingdom Come.
Sure, it's a Pipe Dream. But if I'm going to dream, I'd rather dream
of a beautiful, healthy Planet Earth, rather than dreaming of becoming
a Billionaire Neanderthal. Like the Neanderthals of bygone days,
these modern holdouts will soon be found only in the pages of our
history books.
Can such a dream become Reality? It can if enough of us begin
dreaming...and planning...and believing that there can be a better
world for all.
Carl Jarvis
On 2/1/18, Miriam Vieni <miriamvieni@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
There's a best selling novel on BARD right now which, I gather, describes a
practice that occurred in the 30's in the South. White children would be
stolen in various ways from poor parents, held in group homes under horrible
conditions, and then sold, put out for adoption, to wealthy adoptive
parents.
Miriam
-----Original Message-----
From: blind-democracy-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:blind-democracy-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Carl Jarvis
Sent: Thursday, February 01, 2018 12:24 AM
To: blind-democracy@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [blind-democracy] Re: Trump Officials Are Exploring Mass Arrests of
US Mayors
It tears my heart, Frank. Where are all those outraged men and women who
throw rubber fetus' at the pregnant women going to and from the Health
Clinics, and call for those who perform abortions to be labeled as
murderers? I see none of them taking in the orphans and the young children
whose parents have been murdered by our bombs, and the bombs of our
international friends. Where is the compassion from those women who would
as soon kill another woman because she chooses to abort a fetus that was put
there against her will?
Where is that army of people shouting out that we will take care of the
unborn once the living have been cared for?
Carl Jarvis
On 1/31/18, Frank Ventura <frank.ventura@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Carl, my wife is/was the social worker for a family (10 kids) of
refugees from Somalia. After the red rooster's election the kids were
crying tht they would be sent back to Somalia. One day she found their
apartment abandoned.
It doesn't matter if they fled or were sent back to Somalia by ICE. In
either case they are probably dead by now.
Frank
-----Original Message-----
From: blind-democracy-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:blind-democracy-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Carl Jarvis
Sent: Wednesday, January 31, 2018 7:09 PM
To: blind-democracy@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [blind-democracy] Re: Trump Officials Are Exploring Mass
Arrests of US Mayors
Frank,
Also, don't forget the War Heroes. While Donald Trump delivered a
well modulated speech, it was brimming with barely veiled violence.
But like Eddie Haskell(Leave it to Beaver), Donald Trump came off like
the smug, sneaky bad boy he really is. He wrapped himself in the
Stars and Stripes, praised the War Heroes, and made declarations of
war on anyone who did not bow and kiss his royal red ring. Especially
persons seeking asylum from war torn nations devastated by our
American Empire's eternal war on Terror.
Carl Jarvis
On 1/31/18, Frank Ventura <frank.ventura@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Carl, in Trump's address what went unnoticed by this blind boy and
had to be explained to me by of all folks a right ling message board
was that in his honored guests Trump had a few of what he called
"heros".
Nope they weren't humanitarians, teachers, nurses, fire fighters, etc.
They were a bunch of white cops. All of whom have had multiple
"officer involved" shootings. Not my heros!
-----Original Message-----
From: blind-democracy-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:blind-democracy-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Carl
Jarvis
Sent: Wednesday, January 31, 2018 11:13 AM
To: blind-democracy@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Cc: jamesjarvis98 <jamesjarvis98@xxxxxxxxx>; Matthew
<mcblack@xxxxxxxxx>
Subject: [blind-democracy] Re: Trump Officials Are Exploring Mass
Arrests of US Mayors
"Trump Officials Are Exploring Mass Arrests of US Mayors!"
Even idle chatter such as this is unnerving. If the Trump
administration attempted such action, in an effort to seat Emperor
Donald Trump on the new American Corporate Empire's Throne, either
the American People would rise up in Revolution, or the Empire would
crush any efforts to resist. Either way, the nation would be in
total disarray. It's hard to conceive of anyone being so arrogant as
to give the finger to the Constitution and the Laws of the Land. But
Donald Trump is doing exactly that. And the cheering fools who went
crazy at Donald Trump's state of his union address, wildly cheering
and slapping their hands every time he suggested another violation of
our democratic institution, seem prepared to follow their "Leader"
into the bowels of Hell.
Carl Jarvis/Dad/Grandpa
On 1/30/18, Miriam Vieni <miriamvieni@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Trump Officials Are Exploring Mass Arrests of US Mayors Tuesday,
January 30, 2018 By Ron Fein, Truthout | Op-Ed
(Photo: filo / E+ / Getty Images)
It's 4 am in New York. Federal agents in tactical gear confront the
police department's mayoral security detail outside Manhattan's
Gracie Mansion.
After a tense standoff, the NYPD stands down and steps aside as the
bedraggled mayor is removed in handcuffs. Across the nation,
carefully coordinated pre-dawn raids sweep up the mayors of Boston,
Chicago, San Francisco and Seattle, and the governor of California.
Two hours later, President Trump tweets victory.
Paranoid conspiracy thriller? Feverish dystopian fantasy? Hardly.
This is a plan that the Trump administration is actively considering.
On January 16, Secretary of Homeland Security Kirstjen Nielsen told
the Senate Judiciary Committee that, at her department's request,
federal prosecutors are "reviewing what avenues might be available"
to arrest and prosecute mayors of sanctuary cities for harboring
unauthorized immigrants.
Nielsen's testimony wasn't even the first time in January that the
administration floated the idea of arresting mayors and governors.
Two weeks earlier, Acting Director of Immigration and Customs
Enforcement Thomas Homan told a Fox News host, "We gotta start
charging some of these politicians with crimes."
This is dangerous, dangerous talk.
It's important to understand what a sanctuary city (or state) status
means.
While local policies vary and there is no universal definition of
the term, in sanctuary cities, local police stick to enforcing local
and state law, not federal immigration law. That frustrates federal
authorities, but it's not obstruction, let alone nullification.
Federal officers can still enforce federal immigration law. They
just have to do it on their own.
The question here is not whether sanctuary policies are wise. The
question here is whether our constitutional democracy can survive
mass roundups of mayors and governors for refusing to use local
resources to help enforce federal immigration.
To be sure, elected officials are not immune from the law. Many have
spent time in the federal penitentiary for corruption. And elected
officials who deliberately violate court orders can be subject to
criminal contempt of court. For example, in the 1960s, Mississippi's
governor was charged with criminal contempt for defying a court
order to desegregate the University of Mississippi. And former
Arizona Sheriff Joe Arpaio was convicted for disobeying a court
order to stop unconstitutional policing practices.
(President Trump pardoned him, but that pardon is the subject of
ongoing and potential future litigation.)
It's possible that administration officials are performing elaborate
theater for an audience of one -- the president. Trump himself often
says "We're looking into it" as a way to dodge an awkward question.
Or perhaps the Department of Justice chuckled at the request for
criminal prosecution of mayors, but is considering narrower options
to punish sanctuary cities. There aren't many, partly because most
sanctuary policies don't even violate any federal statute. More
importantly, as the late Justice Antonin Scalia explained in 1997,
the Constitution prohibits the federal government from "commandeering"
local law enforcement to enforce federal law. Even Congress's power
to condition federal funds is limited; as Chief Justice John Roberts
explained in 2012, Congress cannot use its spending power to "coerce"
a state "to adopt a federal regulatory system as its own." That's
partly why a federal judge issued a permanent injunction against
Trump's earlier attempt to withhold federal funds from sanctuary
cities.
But let's not lose the forest for the trees: The United States
government is contemplating a mass arrest of US mayors and governors
for refusing to help the president's agenda.
We've seen this before in other countries. Mass purges of dissident
local officials are moves from Putin's Russia (if not Stalin's) or
Erdoğan's Turkey. But nothing in our own history has prepared us for
this moment.
Is this a red flag for autocracy? Some take comfort in Trump's
disorganization and distraction. On this theory, breaking the
republic is a full-time job, not something you squeeze in between
golf and live-tweeting morning television. But as longtime Putin
critic Masha Gessen notes, the first rule for survival in an
autocracy is to "believe the autocrat. He means what he says." And
even if Trump himself doesn't know how to achieve his goals, the
people running the president's immigration enforcement policy
-- Secretary Nielsen, Acting Director Homan and, of course, Attorney
General Jeff Sessions -- know what they are doing, and how to
achieve what they and the president want.
Maybe it won't happen. Maybe cooler heads will prevail. But we
should reflect on the chilling fact that President Trump's
handpicked appointees to run immigration enforcement openly discuss
prosecuting the mayors of US cities. We must prepare for the day
when the administration makes good on its threat.
We may not get a second chance.
Copyright, Truthout. May not be reprinted without permission.
Ron Fein
Ron Fein is the legal director of Free Speech For People, a national
nonpartisan, nonprofit organization that engages in legal advocacy
to confront the misuse of the US Constitution.
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