Author: mwmiller2@outlook.com

Yesterday I suggested that the raid on Trump’s Mar a Lago compound had to be much more than a violation of the government records keeping laws driven by the National Archives.  We now know that the three criminal acts that were alleged in the search warrant related to illegal removal of government property, obstruction of justice but most importantly, the Espionage Act.

It has been reported that documents labelled Top Secret/SCI were retrieved.  This is beyond serious and would be hard to rationalize as mere carelessness.  There is no way that anyone who has ever been granted a clearance at this level does not understand the sensitive nature of these documents and how they are to be properly handled.  Stuffing them in a box and hauling them off to a private residence is a clear violation of every rule for how to handle these types of documents.  I assure you without a doubt that if I had removed a document labelled Top Secret/SCI when I was working and took it home and that fact came to light, I would certainly be looking at jail time and hefty fines. 

Access to these types of documents is very restricted and on a ‘need to know’ basis.  Just because someone may have a Top-Secret clearance does not mean they have a ‘need to know’.   Trump was extremely careless about this stuff.  It was recommended by the intelligence community that his son-in-law, Jared Kushner, not be granted a high-level security clearance, due in part to all of his foreign contacts and entanglements.  Trump pushed it through anyway. 

I am willing to bet that this is not just carelessness.  There is something much more sinister going on here.  As I stated yesterday, there is no legitimate reason for Trump to have these types of documents at his private residence in Mar a Lago unless there was some illicit intent.  It just cannot be rationalized any other way.   So, the real question in my mind is who was the intended recipient of this information?  It is inconceivable that Trump just took these as souvenirs. 

All Top Secret/SCI documents are logged so the exact number of copies is known. You cannot legally just go to any old copy machine and make a new copy without going through the proper procedures AND using an approved copying machine.  Anything else is illegal – full stop!  Secondly, all Top Secret/SCI documents are supposed to be locked in approved safes when they are not being used.  You just don’t leave documents like these laying around for anyone who passes by to get a glance at.  These types of documents are generally only reviewed in SCIFs (Secure Compartmented Information Facility), known commonly as ‘vaults.’

If these types of documents ended up in boxes in Mar a Lago, it means that someone had to either make an illegal copy of the document and not bring it into accountability and/or someone had to unlock a safe and consciously place a very sensitive document into a box that was then transported through unsecured channels to end up at Mar a Lago.  Both of those are criminal acts.  And given the fact that President Biden revoked Trump’s clearances when he left office, his mere possession of such documents is likely a criminal act.

If Trump tries to make the argument that the documents were accidently put into the box along with some other stuff, that is pure bullshit.  It had to be a conscious effort to place these documents into those boxes for the reasons cited above.  For anyone involved in putting those documents in boxes and transporting them to Mar a Lago, I would get prepared to soon be looking at the underside of the bus.  Trump will certainly not take responsibility for anything and, in true Trump style, will blame everyone else, even though it is inconceivable that he did not know what was in those boxes, given the nature of these documents. So, again, it begs the question, why would someone do something that they know is illegal to transfer these documents to Mar a Lago.  What was the intended purpose of retaining these documents?  Who was the intended recipient? 

It is unlikely that Trump kept these for those nights that he wanted a little light reading!  Or perhaps he thought that sharing them with his dinner guests at the Club would show everyone how important he was? (Even he is probably not that stupid!)  The only rational explanation is that there was a plan to use these documents in some way and I believe when it finally comes to light (and I believe it will), some people will be shocked.  I won’t be because I’ve been predicting this for a long time.

Unfortunately, Trump’s idiotic supporters will continue to rally around this man regardless of the facts that emerge and how damaging to our national security Trump turns out to be.  I have always believed, and I continue to believe, that Trump is the biggest security threat to this country in my lifetime. 

Don’t forget, Hitler wrote ‘Mein Kampf’ while he was in prison before coming to power in Germany!  Let that sink in for a while!

I find it quite interesting that the same people who were chanting ‘lock her up,’ when the existence of Hillary Clinton’s private email server came to light, are running to Donald Trump’s defense in spite of the fact that there is mounting evidence of multiple crimes having been committed by Trump which are far more egregious than anything Clinton did.  The hypocrisy is astounding, particularly from the party that claims to be the ‘law and order’ party! 

I watched Attorney General Merrick Garland’s address yesterday and I thought it was particularly brilliant when he said that the Justice Department was seeking a court order to unseal the search warrant and inventory of materials seized.  Trump and his attorneys have those documents and could make them public if they wished.  However, instead of dealing with facts, Trump prefers to bloviate and insinuate to get his base all riled up. 

It is quite likely that the judge will approve Garland’s request to unseal the documents.  However, if Trump and his attorney’s object, that would either stall or completely stop the process.  I’m betting that is exactly what will happen.   I suspect the documents would not be favorable to Trump so it will be in his best interests to continue to blow smoke up everyone’s butt about them, rather than have them available to the public.  As history has proven, facts are generally not kind to Trump.

If, as is alleged, some of the documents he had in his possession are, in fact, classified at the SAP/SAR level (Special Access Required), that is a huge deal.  People keep talking about classified documents that may be labelled Top Secret.  I suspect, that is the least of the problem.  SAP/SAR documents are highly classified documents and access to those documents is highly restricted and controlled.  Documents that are labelled with SAP/SAR caveats generally contain classified information that, if revealed, can gravely compromise national security.  The Washington Post is reporting that the documents in question contain nuclear information, which would surely fall into the SAP/SAR category.

So, the question is, if these are the types of documents that were transported to Mar a Lago, why was that done?  Secondly, who had access to these documents and why?  Having worked in the SAP/SAR arena for many years, my gut tells me that there is something bigger going on here than just a record keeping violation driven by the National Archives.

I don’t want to jump to any conclusions, but I will just say, there are many foreign entities that would pay very handsomely for access to SAP/SAR information, particularly information on nuclear technology.  We know how much Donald Trump likes money.  We know how little disregard he has for the rule of law.  We know he has a lot of very wealthy foreign contacts – Russian oligarchs, Saudis, etc.   We know how little regard Trump has for the United States and its institutions.  I just can’t wrap my head around any other reason why information like this, if that is the case, would be transported outside of secure channels and kept at Mar a Lago.  Which is exactly why I believe that there is something much bigger here than meets the eye.  I hope I’m wrong.  However, if I’m correct, this will make Hillary’s email server look like a mole hill sitting next to Trump’s Mount Everest.

Another thing I find extremely interesting is the report that the FBI actually acted on a tip.   That would mean that someone very close to Trump ratted him out.  That must be driving Trump nuts.  He is getting more and more isolated and now he has to be wondering who ratted him out.  Mob bosses hate that kind of thing!!  If he was paranoid before, this certainly can’t help. 

Trump has so many legal problems now, his teams of attorneys must be getting very rich.  He is virtually forced into the box of having to run for the 2024 presidency to continue to fund raise to pay his legal bills and to hopefully provide some kind of legal shield against prosecution.  I can’t wait for the first time he tries to stiff one of his attorneys (and history says that will only be a matter of time).  That will be fun sideshow to watch during this ongoing circus surrounding Trump.

If Trump were smart, he would move to some place like Indonesia which does not have an extradition treaty with the United States and also has some very nice golf courses.  He would sell all of his properties, built a big, swanky hotel/ golf course in Indonesia and live happily ever after.  However, his ego is way too big to do that.  So, we will likely see him stick around to become the first former president in the history of the country to be indicted on multiple felonies.  The noose is tightening!  And all of those idiots who were chanting “Hang Mike Pence” are going to have egg all over their faces when their boy, DJT, is showered with indictments brought on by his own arrogance.   He won’t be the first person brought down by hubris!  And for me, it can’t come soon enough!

In 1999, the Montana Supreme Court issued a ruling in Armstrong v. State, “which said the right to privacy in the Montana Constitution gave women the right to decide whether to have an abortion without excessive interference by the government. This allowed women to have an abortion prior to fetal viability”.¹   Now, with the overturning of Roe v. Wade, the Republican governor of Montana, Greg Gianforte, the Republican Attorney General and the Republican-controlled state legislature are looking for ways to have that decision overturned or to amend the state constitution to have the ‘right to privacy’ specifically exclude the right for a woman to have an abortion.

I continue to find it extremely ironic that all of these Republicans are continuously talking about ‘government overreach’ and how they want a smaller Federal government and less regulation, but at the same time, they seem to think the reach into a woman’s reproductive health decisions is within their purview. 

It begs the question, if these Republicans are successful in amending the Montana Constitution or stacking the Montana Supreme Court with justices who will bend to their desires, what is next?  Will these same people decide that they now have the right to manage all aspects of a woman’s uterus and outlaw all forms of contraceptives?  People can sit around and think that would never happen, but the fact is, there are states where people are trying to do exactly that. 

In addition, there are certainly some people who would like to really roll us back to the dark ages and pass laws to outlaw premarital sex, interracial marriage and same sex marriage to name a few things that used to be thought of as ‘private’ acts.  Clearly, according to some people, ‘right to privacy’ does not include one’s sexual organs and how and with whom they are used. 

That is the whole problem with this abortion debate.  It is a very slippery slope.  Once the local governments believe they have the right to interfere with the most personal aspects of one’s life, I guarantee it will not stop where a lot of people think it should stop.  The very vocal minority who fervently, and erroneously, believe that this is a Christian country and there should be no separation of church and state, will continue to push their agenda until enough people in this country stand up and vote people into office who will stop this nonsense.   And, based upon what is going on in many of the primary elections around the country, that doesn’t seem likely any time soon.

I have never understood why people get so consumed worrying about and wanting to interfere with how other people live their lives.  It is a big enough job for me to worry about my own little lily pad and those close to me.  I just don’t care what my neighbors do as long as it does not affect me.  If my next door neighbor wants of be a swinger and have orgies in their house with Martians and pink hippos, I don’t give a rat’s ass.  It’s none of my business.  And if in the process of having their orgies, someone gets pregnant and wants to have an abortion, I don’t give a rat’s ass.  It’s none of my business.

As a man, who the hell am I to try to tell any woman what she can and can’t do with her reproductive system?  Why is it always the woman who has to shoulder the entire responsibility in this whole mess?  If you want to stop unwanted pregnancies, the answer is simple.  When every male reaches puberty, they should be forced to undergo a vasectomy.  At some point in the future, when that male is married and wants to have kids, they could simply get a license from the government to ‘undo’ the vasectomy and try to procreate.  I’ll bet all of these anti-abortion males would not jump on that bandwagon.   They want to be able to tell women what decision they can and cannot make with respect to their uteri, but they want their little spermatozoa to be able to fly freely and frequently without a care in the world.  Make no mistake.  This is not about abortion.  This is not about babies.  This is about control.

The amount of time and money spent on this issue over the last 50 years is staggering, not to mention depressing.  The country and the world are facing huge problems – real impacts from climate change; food and water shortages; increasing homelessness; gun violence; adverse impacts on the public education system – and these are problems that are affecting millions of people. Think of all of the real good the money and time could have been spent on addressing some of these issues instead of it being wasted on an ideological war, that, in the end, will have zero positive impact on the quality of life of humans in this country and on this planet.

1. Montana abortion rights are covered by state law, not SCOTUS (krtv.com)

The Republican response to the FBI raid of Trump’s property at Mar a Lago is nothing short of astounding.  It reminds of people coming to the defense of people like mob boss, John Gotti, ‘the Teflon don.’  If the Republicans had one shred of integrity or courage, they would use this as the perfect opportunity to cast Trump to the wind and start rallying around a new standard bearer.  However, it is quite likely, in my opinion, that many of the loudest voices rallying to the defense of Trump are in a position where if Trump goes down, he will drag them with him.  As we all know and have witnessed over the past few years, Trump will throw virtually anyone under the bus to save his own ass, so all of these Republicans who are rushing to his defense should tread very carefully.

Just to recap, Trump is a man who touts himself as a great businessman, even if the facts easily prove differently.  He has left a trail of failed businesses, stiffed creditors and hundreds of lawsuits in his wake.  He has filed for bankruptcy multiple times.  He is under investigation for his financial shenanigans in the state of New York and with the IRS.  Great businessman – not so much.

The Religious Right has rallied around him in spite of the fact that Trump exhibits virtually zero characteristics that most would call ‘Christian.’  He is an inveterate liar.  He is a womanizer and has bragged on tape about assaulting women.  He has had affairs.  He swears like a sailor when not in front of the camera according to multiple sources close to him.  He rarely, if ever, sets foot inside a church, except for a possible photo op.  And he is certainly driven by greed and a huge ego.  The seven deadly sins are:  Lust, Gluttony, Greed, Sloth, Pride, Envy, and Wrath.  It seems to me that Trump checks the box nicely on all seven.  Great Christian – not so much.

According to Miriam-Webster, ‘Statesmanship’ is defined as: 1) one versed in the principles and art of government; 2) a wise, skillful, and respected political leader.  Trump checks neither of these boxes.   He severely damaged our relationships with our longtime allies in NATO and he was certainly not viewed as ‘skillful’ or ‘wise’ by any of them.  He cozied up to dictators like Putin and Kim Jung Un, in spite of the fact that they are sworn enemies of the United States.  He was impeached over his less than skillful dealings with President Zelensky of the Ukraine.  Trump made the United States the laughingstock of the world.  Great statesman – not so much.

He instigated a coup to block the peaceful transition of power that has been the cornerstone of American democracy since the founding of this country.  He continues to propagate ‘the Big Lie’ which is a direct assault on the democratic foundations of this country.  He never even attempted to unify the country but instead did everything in his power to sow even more dissension and cause even more polarization.  ‘Patriot’ is defined by Meriam-Webster as someone who has: “love for and devotion to one’s country.”  Trump a great patriot – not so much.

Trump claims to be a great golfer.  However, virtually everyone who has played with him will tell you that he cheats.  He has apparently perfected the art of having his caddy do most of the dirty work for him.  (That sounds a lot like his presidency!)  Just like in real life, he is a very sore loser.   Trump a great golfer – not so much.

Trump notoriously doesn’t read hardly anything, including the Presidential Daily Briefing, put together every day by the intelligence community to keep the President abreast of what is going on in the world that he should be aware of and concerned about.  He often misspells words or misuses words in his texts.  He clearly does not have much, if any, scientific knowledge because only a moron would recommend people ingest bleach to kill the COVID virus.  Trump may be street smart in the way of a mob boss, but his is not a great thinker or intellectual.  Trump is really intelligent – not so much.

Here we have a man who is clearly not a good businessman, not a good Christian, not a good statesman, not a great patriot, not a great golfer, or not a great intellectual thinker and yet, members of the Republican party and his ‘base’ of supporters, willingly ignore all of the facts and continue to defend this man who, quite frankly, should have been in jail a long time ago and who should never be near the levers of power again.  I just don’t get it.

To me, Trump is like a Black Hole in astronomy.  If you get too close, he will just suck you in so it is very difficult, if not impossible, for your brain to have any independent thoughts in the same manner that light rays can’t escape from a black hole.   Hitler, Mussolini, Putin, Kim Jung Un are all examples of modern ‘human black holes.’  And just like for galaxies that have the misfortune of getting too close to a Black Hole, it isn’t going to end well for a United States sucked into the Trump orbit.

I have been offline for the past few days because I have been somewhat computer challenged.  I have a very bad habit of leaving my laptop, which is essentially my desktop computer, on all of the time.  That is a bad habit which I will now work to correct.  Leaving the laptop on all of the time, results in the lithium battery getting ‘overcharged’ to the point that it starts to expand which causes the case of the laptop to open up.  There is, I suppose, I danger of the battery actually catching fire at some point.   I will now be shutting my laptop off at the end of everyday.

To add to the chaos, my hot water heater went out yesterday.  Given the huge building boom in the Gallatin Valley, trying to get contractors is challenging.  The first plumber I called said they could get to me in three weeks!!  No hot water for three weeks – no thank you.  I finally got someone who will be here tomorrow.  We’ll see.

In the ‘old days’, I would just go get a new water heater and install it myself.  However, my current water heater is under the house, so it will take some manhandling to get the new unit into place and the old unit out.  Given that, plus the knee surgery earlier this year, I am not very inclined to undertake this project myself.  I will have to pay someone else to do the suffering.  Hopefully, I will have hot water soon!

However, even with all of my problems, I think they pale in comparison to the recent FBI raid on Trump’s home at Mar a Lago in Florida.   One has to assume that, given the unprecedented nature of this raid that had to be approved by a Federal judge and at the highest levels of the FBI, there is something more here than just a mishandling of classified documents.  It is a crime to not turn over ALL presidential records to the National Archives and to improperly remove classified material.  However, given the size and nature of the FBI raid, I have to believe that the FBI and the Federal judge that approved it have enough evidence to believe that there are other and far more egregious crimes that have been potentially committed.

I have my own thoughts about what those crimes might be but I will keep those thoughts to myself for the time being.   I will say, however, if my speculation is correct, Donald J. Trump is in a LOT of trouble.  We’ll see how it plays out.

What amazes me more than anything else is the number of Republican politicians and members of the public who continue to support this man in spite of a long, documented history of lying, being impeached twice, and who is under investigation for multiple crimes in multiples jurisdictions.  What the hell is wrong with these people?  Surely, there are other Republican politicians who are orders of magnitude ‘cleaner’ than Trump who could carry the party banner and yet people continue to support Trump.  It just boggles my mind.

While Trump keeps grabbing headlines for all of the wrong reasons, Biden continues to rack up more victories, passage of the Inflation Reduction Act, being the most recent.   This is the largest bill to attack climate change in American history and, in addition, it has provisions to try to reduce the costs of drugs for Americans and raise the taxes on corporations that get away with paying very little tax.

Republicans were universally against it and it passed because of the tie breaking vote cast by Vice President, Kamala Harris.   I heard a clip of Mitch McConnell (and other Republicans) railing against this bill saying that the Democratic party was way out of touch with what Americans want and that this ‘tax and spend’ bill would not help reduce inflation. 

This from the same party who are passing laws right and left to restrict abortion in spite of the fact that the majority of Americans did not want Roe v. Wade overturned.  This from the same party that passed the Trump tax cuts that primarily benefited corporations and the wealthy and resulted in a huge increase in the national debt.  This from the party that has universally blocked every effort to address climate change in spite of the extreme weather events that have been ravaging the country for the last few years.  This from the party that routinely blocks almost all sensible control legislation in spite of the fact that the majority of Americans are in favor of reasonable gun control laws.  This from the party who constantly screams ‘law and order’ and yet continues to support Trump, who has a long history of flaunting and breaking laws in this country. 

Out of touch?  Who the hell is out of touch?

I am Mike Miller.   My preferred pronouns are him and he.  I am a man. And I am sitting here writing this wearing khaki shorts and a blue T-shirt!   

Does anyone really think that intro deserves to go viral?  Given, some might think it is a bit strange, without the proper context but it’s hard to understand how it is controversial in almost any context.  And yet, that is what happened when Vice President Kamala Harris, made a similar statement at the beginning of her remarks to meeting to discuss disability rights.  You would have thought that VP Harris said something akin to “George Washington was a traitor,” the way the right-wing media went viral with a video clip of her remarks.

Now the context.  She was speaking at a group to discuss disability rights.  Some members of the audience were blind.  Some members of the community were members of the LGBTQ community.  The introductory remarks that she used to introduce herself were perfectly appropriate given the audience to whom she was speaking.  The people in attendance at the meeting didn’t go nuts because of the remarks – it was the Republican National Committee and the right-wing media.  No doubt it was an effort to continue beating the drum about ‘the radical left.’

The conversation should have been about ‘disability rights’ and how the government can ensure and help expand those rights.  However, it is very clear that the Republicans and the right-wing media are more interested in fomenting more cultural wars than addressing real issues that affect millions of Americans.  What this tells me is that the Republican party and the conservative media are not really ‘pro-life.’   If they were really ‘pro-life’ they would want to engage the disabled community in talks to find solutions to problems rather then embark on a senseless media blitz over innocuous remarks made by the Vice President.

This is all part of a larger theme within the Republican party and the conservative media who continue to bang the drum and shout slogans about being ‘pro-life.’  The country (and the globe) is being ravaged by unrelenting heat waves, wildfires, flooding and droughts, all of which have been scientifically linked to climate change.  And what are the Republicans and the right-wing media doing about it?  Nothing.  They are blocking virtually every effort to enact legislation to address this existential issue facing the world.   If this problem is not addressed – more people will die.

Gun violence has infected our society like a virus.  Assault rifles and high-capacity magazines, which in my opinion, have no business in a civilized society, are available to almost anyone over the age of 18.  In states like Montana, no permit is required to carry a concealed weapon, and the consequences of that law played out last night here in Bozeman.  Two men got in an argument at the local Walmart. One of the men pulled a gun and shot the other.  In the ‘old days’ they might have gone out to the parking lot, gotten in a fight, and walked away with bloody noses, black eyes and possibly a citation for disturbing the peace.   Now there is one man in the hospital and another man probably facing a prison sentence.  

In spite of the spate of mass shootings in this country and this plague of gun violence that is resulting in more than 100 Americans dying every single day from firearms, the Republicans and the conservative media go absolutely apoplectic at the mere mention of any type of control law at all.   They have blocked almost every common-sense gun law that has come up and continue to be adamantly opposed to a ban on assault rifles and high-capacity magazines.   Given the unwillingness of the Republican party and the conservative media to address this problem – more people will die.

While the Republicans and the conservative media dance the ‘happy dance’ due to the overturning of Roe v. Wade, the maternity mortality rate in the United States is amongst the highest in the industrialized world.  What is being done to address that problem?  Exactly zero.  The same people who are overjoyed because Roe v. Wade was overturned are the same people who are absolutely opposed on spending money on social issues such as how to improve the maternal mortality rate in this country.  The net result of overturning Roe v. Wade is that – more people will die.

It is very clear to me that the Republican party and the conservative media are not ‘pro-life’ as they claim.  If there were really ‘pro-life’ they would be more amenable to addressing some of these problems that are resulting in thousands of American deaths.  The continued focus on starting and fueling these senseless cultural wars are nothing more than a thinly veiled effort to grab and retain power.  And the Republican attitude seems to be that if it cost thousands of lives to accomplish their goals its just the ‘cost of doing business.’  Americans have become no more than cannon fodder and collateral damage. 

Pro-life my ass!!!

Today I just want to relay a personal experience regarding financial fraud that I just experienced to make everyone aware that there are some really slick operators out there and we all need to ‘trust but verify’ constantly.  It is a very sad commentary on our society when it has become so difficult to trust anyone.

I have a 2010 Ford Ranger pickup that only has 39,000 miles on it.  I inherited from my dad, and I used it extensively when I was doing some major remodeling at my house but since most of that is done, it now sits idle most of the time.  I occasionally take it to Home Depot and once in a while I will go to the dump but, other than that, I don’t really use it.  It’s in great shape.  Like I said, it only has 39,000 miles on it. In any case, I decided to sell it.

I place an ad in the local paper.  A couple weeks after I placed the ad, I took off on my great road trip down to Arizona and Southern California.  While I was gone, I got a text message indicating interest in the truck. I responded and the other party and I exchanged several emails, including a picture I sent them, before agreeing upon a sales price.  I explained that I was out of town and when I would be home.  The ‘buyer’ said that wasn’t a problem and to let them know when I was home, and they would then deliver a cashier’s check.

When I got home, I texted the ‘buyer’ that I was home.  They stated that they were sending the check and when I received it and the funds had been deposited into my account, they would arrange to have the vehicle picked up and whatever documents needed to be signed would be signed by the shipper (Red Flag!).  They also said they would include the shipping costs in the check that was delivered to me. (Red Flag!).

I received a USPS priority envelope with the check a couple of days later.  I looked at the return address on the envelope and it was from a company in Columbus, Ohio! (Red Flag!).  The check looked like a legitimate check, but I noticed that it was issued by the Banc of California by a different company than what was on the return label on the envelope. (Red Flag!).

I went down and immediately deposited the check and asked the bank when the check would clear.  They told me the funds should be available and credited to my account the next day.  After all of these red flags, I went home and Googled both the company on the return address label on the envelope and the company whose name was on the check.  They both checked out as legitimate entities.   It still didn’t feel right.

The next morning, I received a call from the ‘buyer’ but did not answer it.  I wanted to talk to the bank first.  I went down to my bank right after they opened and asked to speak to someone about the check I had deposited the previous day because I had a strong suspicion it might be fraudulent.  By this time, the funds had already been credited to my account and were available for my use. 

I sat down with one of the bankers and explained the whole situation and why I was suspicious.  We decided to call the bank issuing the check to see if the account was a legitimate account.  We verified the account upon which they check was written was an active, legitimate account.  We then called the company that ostensibly issued the check.   We told them the account number on the check so they could verify that it was, in fact, their bank account, which it was.  We told them to whom the check was written (me) and they immediately responded that they had NOT issued any such check.  They did not issue checks to private parties for the purchase of vehicles. Clearly, someone was fraudulently using their legitimate bank account.

When I was talking to the banker after these calls, it was apparent that these idiots were counting on the lag in time between when the funds were credited to my account until the fraud was detected by the company whose bank account was being fraudulently used.  That could have been up to two weeks.

Had I not been suspicious and decided to start peeling the onion on this whole thing, I could have signed over the title of my truck to ‘someone’ and spent some of the money that was falsely credited to my account.  When this fraud eventually came to light, I would have lost my truck and would have had to reimburse Wells Fargo for any of the money that I had spent.  It could have been a very expensive lesson.

The bottom line is simply that even if someone gives you a ‘legitimate’ check drawn on a real bank account, that is still not a guarantee there is not fraud at work.  We all need to be very, very careful because these people are getting very sophisticated in how they prosecute these frauds.   They know that the law says that a bank must credit the funds to your account within 1 to 5 days.   But the fact is, it may take a week or two for your bank to get paid by the bank issuing the check.  And, if your bank doesn’t get paid because of fraud, you are liable for any of the money you spent!! 

If I choose to sell the truck (or anything else) again, it will be cash, or a check drawn on a local bank so the buyer and I can go to the bank together and get the funds.  Beware! There are some real slime balls out there!!

I read two articles yesterday that scared the hell out of me.  First of all, there was an article discussing how Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene has come right out in a recent speech and stated that she is a ‘Christian nationalist.’  Similarly, Lauren Boebert, a fellow Representative, stated in a recent speech that she was tired of all of this separation of church and state nonsense.  I would remind everyone that Viktor Orban, president of Hungary, is a ‘Christian nationalist.’

The founders of this country made a very concerted effort to build a wall between church and state, but this wall is slowly being torn down brick by brick.  And if people like Green and Boebert have their way, along with a seeming growing number of Republicans, that wall will be completely demolished, in an effort to create the United States of America as a society dominated by a white, Christian ruling class. (Can you say, ‘Handmaid’s Tale’?)

First of all, the United States of America has NEVER been a ‘Christian nation’.  This country was founded, and the words are enshrined in the U.S. Constitution, on the principle of ‘religious liberty.’  Religious liberty, the freedom to worship as one chooses (or not worship at all), is far different than a nation driven by Christian principles.

And for those who try to make the argument that the U.S. is a ‘Christian nation’ and government policies should be driven by that ideology, it begs the question, “Which Christians are the ‘right’ Christians?  A ‘Christian’ is defined as anyone who believes in the principles of Christianity, i.e., believes in Christ as the savior.  That would include Catholics, the many sects of Protestants, the Greek Orthodox, and perhaps the Mormons (depending upon who you talk to).  Some of these branches of Christianity are much more liberal than others and, for example, approve of and sanctify same-sex marriages.  I would suspect that those are not the Christians that Greene and Boebert are talking about.

So, let’s just get this straight.  When people like Greene and Boebert talk about wanting a ‘Christian nation’, what they are really saying is that they want their particular interpretation of Christianity to become the law of the land for everyone else.  The fact is, moving toward a ‘Christian nation’ will not be any kind of a unifying movement but will create even more polarization.   The Sunni and Shia Muslims have been fighting for generations.   There are huge differences between the Hasidic Jews and the reformed Jews.  A move toward ‘Christian nationalism’ just means that a very small minority of the population wants to control things for the rest of the country. 

History is replete with examples of religions run amok and causing wars and persecuting millions of people.  People in this country are very familiar with the term ‘jihad’ which is associated with Muslim holy wars.  What people like Boebert and Greene are advocating is nothing short of a Christian ‘jihad’ which is essentially a war on all non-believers.

To me, there is nothing scarier than a movement fueled by religious fervor and bigotry.  People caught up in these movements, whether they are Muslim, Christian, Jewish, Hindu or whatever, are able to justify whatever actions they take under the banner of ‘in the name of God!’  It’s basically a license to do whatever the hell the feel like as long as it furthers their ‘cause.’  To me, this is more frightening than some dictator like Putin who is just making a bold land grab.

One just has to look at the freedoms that have been stripped away from the population of Hungary under Viktor Orban’s movement toward Christian nationalism to understand what will happen in this country if people like Boebert and Greene get their way. 

I defy anyone to identify a movement driven by religious fervor throughout history that has left behind a better nation.  It usually looks more like the aftermath of a swarm of locusts that has swept across the land and left a path of destruction and devastation in its wake.

I personally don’t give a damn what anyone believes or how they choose to worship but I am absolutely adamant that religion and government should be completely and totally separate.  Unfortunately, the wall that used to stand between religion and government in this country is continuing to be weakened.  And we ignore that trend at our own peril.

I am continually surprised at the hypocrisy from many red states like Montana where I live.  There is a constant stream of rhetoric about ‘government overreach’ and ‘States rights.’  There is a cacophony of voices talking about ‘freedom’, ‘Montana values’, ‘independence’ and ‘individual choice’.  And yet here in Montana during the last legislative session, our Republican controlled legislature passed something known as House Bill 407.  I didn’t even know about it.  My bad I guess for not keeping a closer watch on the State legislature.

This innocuous sounding bill basically strips ALL local municipalities of almost any ability to enact local laws that differ from what the State legislature deems appropriate.  That sure sounds like ‘government overreach’ to me. 

The first part of the bill simply refers to auxiliary containers, e.g., plastic bags.  If a city like Bozeman or Missoula which tend to be a bit more liberal leaning than the rest of the state wanted to enact a law prohibiting the use of plastic bags in supermarkets, for example, as a nod toward environmental responsibility, they are precluded from doing that.

One might think that since we’re just talking about plastic bags, it’s no big deal.  However, the real meat of the bill doesn’t show up until the second section of the bill.  In that section of the bill it states:

“7-1-111. (Subsection (21) effective October 1, 2021) Powers denied. A local government unit with self-government power is prohibited from exercising the following:

• Any power that applies to or affects any private or civil relationship, except as an incident to the exercise of an independent self-government power.
• Any power that applies to or affects the provisions of 7-33-4128 or Title 39, except that subject to those provisions, it may exercise any power of a public employer with regard to its employees;
• Any power that applies to or affects the public school system, except that a local unit may impose an assessment reasonably related to the cost of any service or special benefit provided by the unit and shall exercise any power that it is required by law to exercise regarding the public school system;
• …..”

It goes on but the bottom line is that it prohibits any local government entity from enacting any law in contradiction to what the State legislature deems acceptable.  A local municipality cannot enact any type of firearm restriction.  They can’t enact any law affecting landlords and housing.  They can’t enact local laws prohibiting or penalizing vagrancy.  Basically, the State legislature has emasculated all municipalities within the state of Montana and now all governance will come from the state capitol in Helena.  How the hell is that not government overreach?  Once again, the hypocrisy is deafening!

The state legislature has already stripped county health boards of the ability to impose any kind of restrictions in response to a pandemic such as COVID. 

This is not only a problem in Montana.  It is happening around the country, particularly in red states where the Republican-controlled state legislatures are consolidating control over almost all aspects of what is going on within a state within the state legislatures.  Many states have moved control or are trying to move control over elections away from election officials and into the halls of the state legislature.

This is a very dangerous trend and my guess is, like this HB 407 in Montana, that most state residences are unaware of this power grab taking places right under our noses.  Like I said yesterday, democracies generally don’t become autocracies because of violent coups, but succumb to and are weakened from pressures internal to the State.  HB 407 in Montana and similar legislation in other states is just another example of how our democracy which is supposed to be based upon the will of the majority of the electorate is being undermined one brick at a time.

I try to keep up on what is going on but I was certainly caught unaware that this bill had passed and had become law.  This is exactly why we all need to pay very careful attention to what is going on at the state and local levels.  The politicians who are enacting these types of laws are counting on the fact that we are not paying attention!   And right now, they are winning!!

As I have pointed out before in these posts, democracies usually don’t descend into totalitarianism via violent coups or civil wars.  Democracies usually transform into autocracies from within.  Leaders are elected through the normal electoral process used in a particular country.  However, once certain leaders come to power, they begin the process of dismantling the democratic government that got them elected in the first place.

In the normal course of events, courts are generally filled with judges whose rulings tend to favor the government of the leader trying to change the system to stay in power.  The prospective autocrat will then begin purging the government of people who are not deemed loyal enough to the leader – not to the prevailing constitution, but to the leader themselves.  Once the judges and loyalists are in place, the next step is usually to change the existing constitution to: 1) lengthen the nominal term of the leader, 2) eliminate the number of terms that any given leader can serve, and 3) introduce whatever modifications are required to ensure any opposition party has virtually no chance of winning future elections.

This pattern has played out over and over again.  There are many modern-day examples.  Recep Erdogan of Turkey.  Viktor Orban of Hungary (the new darling of the Trump wing of the Republican party).  Lukashenko in Belarus.  And, of course, Trump’s BFF, Putin in Russia.  None of these authoritarian leaders got to where they are in violent coups.  They were all elected and then began following the playbook outlined above.  And if anyone is naïve enough to think that this could not happen in the United States of America, I say, once again, you are not paying attention.

The Federal judiciary under the Trump administration, with the help of Mitch McConnell, was packed with conservative jurists who have routinely ruled in favor of the conservative agenda on all kinds of issues from religion, to gun laws, to decisions favoring big business over consumers.  The latest example, of course, is the packing of the Supreme Court with ‘originalists’ like Clarence Thomas which resulted in the recent overturning of Roe v. Wade, striking down gun control laws in spite of the spate of mass shootings plaquing this country and the emasculation of the EPA.

Trump started the process of purging the government of people who he felt were not sufficiently loyal to him personally – laws and the Constitution be damned.  There are current reports that if Trump is re-elected, he will reinstitute this effort with an even greater urgency and purge the government of thousands of professional bureaucrats and replace them with people whose main qualification is loyalty to Trump.  This is right out of the authoritarian playbook.  If this happens, I think democracy in this country will be on the ropes.  So, for all of those who continue to have the mindset, “that could never happen in the United States,” it is happening.  And unless, We The People, wake up, this country will begin to look more and more like Hungary and less and less like a Western democracy.

This threat to democracy is not just occurring at the Federal level, it is happening at the state level.  How democratic is it for a state to restrict the travel of a resident who wishes to seek healthcare (abortion) in another state?  Authoritarian countries restrict travel.  Democracies do not.  This kind of thinking should scare the hell out of every American who believes in the US Constitution. 

I wonder how these same ‘pro-life’ fanatics who feel if states began to restrict travel or prosecute people who crossed state lines to buy a firearm?  Montana, for example, has some of the most permissive gun laws in the country.  It would be very easy for someone from a state like California which has strict gun laws (for the time being) to travel to Montana and buy virtually any kind of a firearm (including an assault rifle) from a private party.   

These same ‘pro-life’ idiots who want to be able to prosecute women who cross state lines to obtain an abortion, also want to have universal reciprocity for carrying concealed weapons anywhere in the United States.  The hypocrisy when people scream ‘pro-life’ is just mind boggling.

The bottom line, however, any kind of travel restrictions imposed by states are anti-democratic.  What will be the next step – will we all need an internal passport?  Will the Federal and State governments have checkpoints at all state borders.  The way things are going, if you are found to be transporting weapons, that will be fine.  If you happen to be pregnant or have an ‘abortion pill’ in your possession – off to jail!!  Authoritarian regimes restrict travel.  Can’t happen?  Don’t bet on it.