A conversation about what's going on in the world at any given point in time…and what I think about it. Occasionally, guest bloggers may appear. Viewer comments are welcome. Peace! Alpha Heel
Urban legends, mythology, and conspiracy theories to the contrary, Lesane Parish Crooks, aka Tupac Shakur, aka 2Pac, aka Makaveli, was murdered in Las Vegas, Nevada (NV) in September, 1996. Shakur was shot while riding in a vehicle with Death Row Records CEO, Suge Knight, after having attended the Bruce Seldon vs. Mike Tyson boxing match on September 7, at the MGM Grand Hotel. Six days later, he died from internal bleeding, while in the intensive-care unit at the University Medical Center of Southern Nevada.
To some observers of the Hip Hop Community, the saga of Tupac is akin to that of JFK or Elvis, or Michael Jackson. Translation: Despite a preponderance of evidence to the contrary, there are people who argue they are alive. Suffice it to say, this content creator does not make that argument. Not for JFK, not for Elvis, not for Michael Jackson…and not for Tupac.
The Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department (LVMPD), in an appearance yesterday on CNN, indicated that it executed a search warrant Monday in Henderson, NV, in connection with the ongoing investigation into the 1996 murder of Tupac Shakur.
The LVMPD statement reads:
“LVMPD can confirm a search warrant was served in Henderson, Nevada on July 17, 2023, as part of the ongoing Tupac Shakur homicide investigation. We will have no further comment at this time.”
Shakur was shot multiple times. The LVMPD has not disclosed the location of the search. Back in 1996, it was widely reported that authorities believed Shakur was the intended target of the shooting. Nevertheless, the case has remained unsolved for 27years…”Tupac: The Saga Continues!”
This week I was reminded that my topics of choice have trended heavily toward politics in recent weeks. While I do understand that’s not for everyone, one of my friends and mentors advised me decades ago, that virtually every experience in life, after leaving the birth canal, until we are entombed, and everything in between, is touched by politics. When we are born, we get a Birth Certificate, when we die, we are assigned a Death Certificate. When we drive a vehicle, we’re required to secure a Driver’s License. When we purchase a home, we get a Mortgage, and eventually a Deed. Renovate that home, and a Permit is required. In an America, increasingly leaning towards the standards of the Wild, Wild, West, almost everything, with notable exception of acquiring a gun, in some places, requires a record, a seal, a permit, a certificate, or a license of some sort. And no, before you ask, this post is not about expanding/reforming gun laws, though for the record, I think that’s a good idea.
I thought I’d pen something light. With all the hubbub of the emergence of the Electric Vehicle (EV) Market, which for app practical purposes, is dominated b Tesla, I saw something recently that reminded me that when I was a kid, the really forward-thinkers presaged that we would one day travel via the benefit of flying cars. Even recently, the prospect of that decades old dream has seemed, at the very least, far-fetched.
But then…
Then, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) announced it has certified for testing a vehicle that California startup, Alef, describes as a flying car – the first fully electric vehicle that can both fly and travel on roads – to receive US government approval.
Alef Automotive, which dubbed the vehicle/aircraft the “Model A,” said it is the first flying vehicle that is both drivable on public roads, and able to park like a normal car. The “Model A” also has vertical takeoff and landing capabilities. The current design allows for one or two occupants, with a road range of 200 miles, and a flying range of 110 miles. Now before you plan to just run out and get one, with the first delivery projected to be by the end of 2025, do recognize, this scientific and engineering marvel is expected to be priced at around $300,000 per vehicle.
The company’s current FAA certification provides for a special airworthiness certificate for limited purposes, which permits exhibition, research, and development. The vehicle is categorized as an all-electric VTOL, which stands for Vehicle Takeoff and Landing Aircraft. Numerous companies are working on similar concepts. The FAA indicated Alef is “not the first aircraft “of its kind” to get a special airworthiness certificate. However, Alef noted that its vehicle is different because of its ability to function both on roads, and in the air, to appear like a normal car, and to park in a normal parking space.
The vehicle will be certified as a “low speed vehicle,” which means it won’t be able to go faster than 25 miles per hour on a paved road. According to Alef, it is assumed that, if a driver needs a faster route, the driver will use the vehicle’s flight capabilities. Of course, it should be added, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration approval will also be required to operate on roads.
The “Model A” has been under development since 2015. Four friends, Constantine Kisly, Pavel Markin, Oleg Petrov, and Dukhovny, inspired by the “Back To The Future” movies (which foresaw flying cars being available by hat year), decided to form a company to develop them.
The company said an initial automated test flight of a skeleton version of the vehicle was conducted successfully in 2018, with a full-size prototype flown the following year. But they needed FAA special airworthiness certification to continue research and development.
Alef has taken refundable pre-orders for more than 400 vehicles, at a cost of $150 to be in the general queue, or $1,500 for the priority queue. They are running about a decade behind, but, if you fancy yourself as the next Dr. Emmett Brown, or Marty McFly, dial up Alef, and get yourself in one of those queues. “Back To The Future: Better Late Than Never!”
In as much as this is a holiday week, I would normally repost a previous edition of “Break It Down.” However, since time and attention to issues shifts swiftly, and since the Supreme Court (SCOTUS) rendered another momentous decision Thursday, June 29, 2023, striking down affirmative action in college admissions, declaring race cannot be a factor and forcing institutions of higher education to look for new ways to achieve diverse student bodies, I am opting to take a swing at weighing in on the matter today. Who knows what the compelling news of the day will be this time next week?
How did we get here?
Forty-five years and one day earlier, (June 28, 1978), SCOTUS ruled on the Bakke Case, finding that affirmative action was constitutional, while invalidating the use of racial quotas as part of the process. Allan Bakke, a 30-year-old engineer, and former marine had been twice rejected for entry in medical school at the University of California, Davis, (UC-Davis), at least in part, due to his age. After his second rejection, he filed suit against UC-Davis, challenging the constitutionality of the school’s affirmative action program.
The California Supreme Court struck down the program as violating the rights of Whites, and ordered Bakke admitted. Inevitably, UC-Davis appealed, and the case was heard by SCOTUS, where the California Court’s ruling was overturned with conditions; namely that racial quotas could no longer be used. Just as with Roe vs. Wade, which preceded Bakke by 5 years, opponents of the Bakke ruling had been fighting since the day of the case became law, to get it overturned.
Since that time, the SCOTUS twice upheld race-conscious college admissions programs, including as recently as 2016. Of course, that was prior to the arrival of the three Trump appointees, all of whom voted to end the program. At arguments in late October, all six conservative justices expressed doubts about the practice.
The petitioner in this case, Students for Fair Admission (SFFA), a nonprofit organization describes its stated purpose as, “to defend human and civil rights secured by law, including the right of individuals to equal protection under the law.” They were also the petitioner in the 2016 case. That case, which failed to prevail, included White and Asian students. In the current case, with only Asian students, SFFA filed separate lawsuits against Harvard and UNC, arguing that their race-based admissions programs violate, respectively, Title Nine of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. On Thursday, SCOTUS held: Harvard’s and UNC’s admissions programs violate the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.
This ruling is an example of relentless persistence. I’m reminded of the Jim Valvano ESPN Speech, when imploring folks to fight the good fight for cancer research, he proclaimed, “Don’t give up. Don’t ever give up.” Broadly speaking, opponents of affirmative action, like those of abortion last year, never did. Their conviction, similarly, resulted in another hard-fought, long sought after victory. This is where I note how the advocates of both abortion and affirmative action let their self-satisfaction, and their high-minded principals get in the way of maintaining their ultimate objective.
First, Democrats and liberals stayed home in midterm elections during Obama’s tenure. This voting malpractice enabled the GOP to retake the House of Representatives, and then the Senate. Result: McConnell denied Obama a 3rd SCOTUS pick.
Then, in 2016, the uber so-called woke crowd, determined that Hillary Clinton was merely Trump in a dress, or a pantsuit, and was fundamentally, no better candidate. Result: Donald Trump was elected POTUS, and then appointed 3 rightwing Justices to the SCOTUS. Voila, good-bye abortion rights last year, and affirmative action last week. Next? “Adios Affirmative Action: That’s How The Long Game Is Played!”
June, is, in a manner of speaking, Supreme Court of the United States, aka SCOTUS, Month. As is customary, the High Court is finishing its judicial year with a flourish, rendering historic and/or landmark decisions. Yesterday, SCOTUS dealt a blow to the far right. In an unanticipated twist, a Trump-heavy Court, including two of his three appointees weighed in to deliver a blow to those who would blow up democracy as we know it, and make it easier for state legislatures to invalidate elections. That was the gambit the former president attempted to pull off after the 2020 Election, culminating in the events of January 6, including an insurrection at the Capitol, and a move by a contingent of GOP Congressmen to refuse to certify election results.
Trump along with his associates and supporters continue to enthusiastically argue that he did nothing wrong. Not on January 6, not when he took and refused to relinquish classified documents, and not when he claimed to brandish Top Secret documents before a group of people, none of whom had clearance to see secret or classified documents. It is all, according to them, a witch hunt, conducted by Democrats, the liberal left, and of course, the (enemy of the people) media.
As the 2024 Campaign Season begins to take shape, Trump has seemingly secured the frontrunner role in the bid to obtain the GOP Nomination. While current polls show him with over 50% of GOP support, and a lead of 20 points or more points over his closest challenger, while his competitors not named DeSantis are looking up at double digits. There’s still a lot of time, of course. Especially, as Mr. Trump is juggling a couple of felony indictments, with more to come. Yet, if past is prologue, it is logical to impute that Trump’s support, at least among the Republican base, is solid.
Yesterday’s ruling by SCOTUS squarely rejected the fringe legal theory that Trump supporters hoped could be used to ignore, and if necessary denounce and reject election outcomes.
While I wholeheartedly submit, that was a positive development, there are other developments of note.
Congress last year passed a law clarifying that as VP Pence concluded, no, the vice president cannot throw out electoral votes the president doesn’t like.
Special Counsel Jack Smith appears to be refocused on the Trump supporters who signed false certificates to the federal government, asserting they were the rightful elections for Trump in seven battleground states won by Joe Biden.
Of the current SCOTUS’s nine Justices, six are of the conservative bent, and three were appointed by Donald Trump. In yesterday’s ruling, three conservative members, including the Chief Justice, and two members appointed by Trump, joined the three liberals in an effort to disabuse one and all, of the idea that for hundreds of years, Americans have been misinterpreting the word “legislature.”
The reliable right was comfortable with the notion that the U.S. Constitution’s elections clause stipulates that federal “shall be prescribed in each State by the Legislature.” Under the independent state legislature theory, now debunked by SCOTUS, that means that state legislatures alone oversee federal elections and therefore are unaccountable to state courts.
The case serving as the basis for this ruling – Moore v. Harper – had to do with a 2022 North Carolina congressional map rejected by the State’s Supreme Court. Had SCOTUS agreed that state legislatures were immune from State Courts on these questions, it would have validated the idea pushed by Trump in 2020 that state legislatures could ignore election results and install their own personal electors.
One might argue, the Court (not to mention the country) did not want to see a repeat of 2020. SCOTUS could have declined to hear the case. Instead, they chose to act like grownups and ruled accordingly. Meanwhile, Trump will do, as Trump does; he’ll ignore the facts on the ground, and persist, as he always does, that his actions were perfect. Even though Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin, all rejected the madness in 2020, Trump and the voters who love him will persevere. Because, as we all know, today, and every day, Trump still believes Pence could, and should have overturned the election.
On Monday, CNN broke a story with Trump, on tape, rustling papers he said were an Iran battle plan. His loyal adherents, who believe everything he says, even when what he says contradicts what he said, before he said what he’s saying at the time. It would be cute…if it weren’t so existentially threatening.
As CNN’s David Chalian put it yesterday on “Inside Politics,” “We have to be able to see the reality that two things are true at the same time. This can be a dangerous, reckless, perhaps criminal bit of behavior by a former president of the United States, and it may not actually damage him politically – may not – inside the context of a Republican nomination race.
“The people of Texas are informed that, in accordance with a proclamation from the Executive of the United States, all slaves are free. This involves an absolute equality of personal rights and rights of property between former masters and slaves, and the connection heretofore existing between them becomes that between employer and hired labor. The freedmen are advised to remain quietly at their present homes and work for wages. They are informed that they will not be allowed to collect at military posts and that they will not be supported in idleness either there or elsewhere.”
In about two weeks, on July 4th, America will commemorate Independence Day. Two days ago, African Americans observed Independence Day delayed. The celebrations, parades, barbecues, speeches, and TV specials are in-the-books. Juneteenth ’23 is officially done and over. Except…in this space. Marching to my own drummer, as I am wont to do, I’m taking one more bite of the apple…for your edification.
For some it may seem that a lot is made over the phenomenon familiarly known as Juneteenth, aka Freedom Day. Indeed, a lot was earned; nothing, and I mean, nothing was unduly given. Juneteenth (officially Juneteenth National Independence Day), is a federal holiday in the United States commemorating the emancipation of enslavedAfrican Americans. Deriving its name from combiningJune and nineteenth, it is celebrated on the anniversary of the order by Major General Gordon Granger proclaiming freedom for enslaved people in Texas on June 19, 1865 (two and a half years after the Emancipation Proclamation was issued).[7] Originating in Galveston, Juneteenth has since been observed annually in various parts of the United States, often broadly celebrating African-American culture. The day was recognized as a federal holiday in 2021, when President Joe Biden signed the Juneteenth National Independence Day Act into law.
There is so much about Juneteenth that epitomizes and/or parallels the relationship between African Americans and America, and that strikingly elevates for all to observe, the travesty of promises made, by our founding documents, yet denied for centuries to men and women of the African diaspora. On one hand, whether, as a matter of political expediency, one’s point of reference is 1619, or 1776, there is nothing to debate about the existence of slavery on the land we call America, dating back to 1619. On the other hand, whether one claims 1863, or 1865 as the end of slavery, the span of time during which slavery was a thing on these shores is more than two centuries, and roughly 10 generations. For a nation that many characterize as exceptional, ordained by God, and a host of other similarly high-minded, and some would argue, undeserved, appellations, that’s one hell of a blot.
On January 1, 1863, Lincoln issued the final Emancipation Proclamation.[5] After quoting from the preliminary Emancipation Proclamation, it stated:
I, Abraham Lincoln, President of the United States, by virtue of the power in me vested as Commander-in-Chief, of the Army and Navy of the United States in time of actual armed rebellion against authority and government of the United States, and as a fit and necessary war measure for suppressing said rebellion, do … order and designate as the States and parts of States wherein the people thereof respectively, are this day in rebellion, against the United States, the following, to wit:
Lincoln then listed the ten states[6] still in rebellion, excluding parts of states under Union control, and continued:
I do order and declare that all persons held as slaves within said designated States, and parts of States, are, and henceforward shall be free. … [S]uch persons of suitable condition, will be received into the armed service of the United States. … And upon this act, sincerely believed to be an act of justice, warranted by the Constitution, upon military necessity, I invoke the considerate judgment of mankind, and the gracious favor of Almighty God.
On September 22, 1862, President Abraham Lincoln announced that the Emancipation Proclamation would go into effect on January 1, 1863, promising freedom to enslaved people in all of the rebellious parts of Southern states of the Confederacy including Texas.
The Emancipation Proclamation did not free slaves in border states, such as Delaware, Maryland, and West Virginia, nor in certain counties or parishes in otherwise rebellious states because, although the Emancipation Proclamation declared an end to slavery in the Confederate States, it did not end slavery in the states that remained in, and loyal to, the Union. As a result, for a short while after the fall of the Confederacy, slavery remained legal in Delaware and Kentucky.[27][28][29][30][c] Those enslaved people were not freed until the ratification of the Thirteenth Amendment to the Constitution, which abolished chattel slavery nationwide, on December 6, 1865. Enforcement of the Proclamation generally relied upon the advance of Union troops. Texas, as the most remote state of the former Confederacy, had seen an expansion of slavery because the presence of Union troops was low as the American Civil War ended; thus, the enforcement of the Emancipation Proclamation had been slow and inconsistent there prior to Granger’s order.[7]
In other words, The White men who ran Texas, and in those days, the public officials who called the shots in Texas, and in all the other states, were all White and all male, said thanks, but no thanks, Abe. It was not until Lincoln pulled the military trump card that Texas complied. In a not difficult to see way, that scenario explains why so many White people in America love their guns…and hate their government. They believe, were it not for the infernal government, they could have successfully resisted emancipation, in perpetuity, and they are certain that had they not been outgunned by Lincoln’s Union Army, they could have taken on the military and won.
These two sentiments undergird a smoldering urge to reprise the Civil War. Doubt it at your own peril, but there is a substantial, and I believe growing urge in this country to transform the current culture war into an armed conflict. But that’s a post for another day. Right now, one last time, I implore you, commemorate…”Juneteenth: An American Celebration!”
Since 2016, America, also known in some circles as America the Exceptional, or words to that effect, has been confronted time and time again by a now former President executing or undergoing a series of shenanigans never seen expedited by a Commander-in-Chief, or anyone who formerly held the title.
On May 9th, a NY jury found Mr. Trump liable for sexual assault and defamation and ordered him to pay Ms. E. Jean Carroll $5 million in damages. I posted about it on May 10th (https://thesphinxofcharlotte.com/2023/05/10/another-day-another-first-as-usual-not-a-good-one/). Carroll alleged that Trump assaulted and raped her in a Bergdorf Goodman department store in 1996. The jury, which unanimously found Trump liable on the charges of assault and defamation, did not find him culpable for rape.
Yesterday, Trump breezed into South Florida, where he caught another 37 counts, generated by a federal grand jury in Miami. The charges, which centered on Trump’s alleged mishandling of classified documents, made for another first; a former president being charged with federal crimes. After being arraigned, pleading not guilty to all charges, and spending a couple of hours in a Miami courtroom, he made a pitstop in Little Havana, for a photo-op with supporters, before heading back to New Jersey where he held a fundraiser at his Bedminster Golf Club. Coincidentally, today is Mr. Trump’s 77th birthday. Happy Birthday Don!
After learning he would be required to submit to arraignment Tuesday, Trump found defaulted to his primal tendency and commenced spinning some of his more popular yarns.
In a Georgia speech Saturday evening, he said of a photo included in the indictment, of an overturned box, the FBI may have tipped over the box.
Nope. According to the indictment, the photo was taken in December 2021 by Trump aide and accused co-conspirator Walt Nauta, who the indictment says texted the photo to another Trump employee with the words ”I opened the door and found this…” The FBI did not execute its search warrant at Mar-a-Lago until August 2022, eight months later, so it could not possibly have done the toppling.
Known as the author of the perfect call, Trump also claimed the overturned box held no documents; only newspapers.
Uh, no. Though the photo did show newspapers and pictures among the spilled materials, the photo also clearly showed other unidentified papers in the pile – one of which prosecutors allege was classified and labeled with markings making it clear it was releasable only to the members of an intelligence alliance comprised of the U.S. and four other countries.
Finally, he said, of the 37 federal charges, officials took one charge, and repeated it 36 times.
In actuality, of the 37 charges, 31 are for allegedly violating the same statute each with a different classified document. The other six offenses are different: conspiracy to obstruct justice, withholding a document or record, corruptly concealing a document or record, concealing a document in a federal investigation, scheme to conceal, and making false statements and representations.
More than anything else, Donald Trump tells a story, without merit, and with max defiance, that he’s a victim. He maintains that a Marxist, lawless, Joe Biden is trying to take down a political enemy. He;s arguing judicial misconduct, a deep state conspiracy, etc., etc. All of this belies the fact he’ll ultimately appear in a court, before a judge whom he appointed, in a state he won twice, in a town that has hordes of adoring fans. Moreover, the Justice department appears to have methodically chosen those dynamics, rather than try the case in Washington, DC, where he got only 5% of the vote. Not to mention, a grand jury, comprised of local citizens, not Joe Biden, decided to indict the former president. Methinks, he doth protest too much. Oh yeah, and it doesn’t end here.
There are more pending cases in the queue, including a Georgia case involving allegations of trying to overturn the vote, a NY case on alleged financial fraud, and of course, the potential for a case stemming from the January 6 probe.
There’s more. There is always more. Much more. Hopefully, however, that’s enough to convey the point. Trump was being Trump. “Here We Go Again. Again!”
There is bourgeoning movement fanning out across the American landscape. School Boards, librarians, impassioned parents, and a cacophony of conservative politicians are leading a contemporary book burning, or at least, banning, craze. Much of this fanatical action is done in the name of the anti-CRT movement.
Early on, the promoters, while maneuvering to gain a foothold, alleged that the effort was intended to protect young impressionable elementary schoolers from topics too advanced for their tender years. Like many insidious gambits, once the notion was translated into policy and legislation, the scope magically and instantly expanded to all ages, in all schools, up to and including public colleges.
Many of the zealous advocates for this anachronistic practice would be more than mildly surprised to learn that as early as 1953, a Republican icon totally disavowed “book burning” (banning). At the Dartmouth College commencement address that year, June 14, 1953, President Dwight D. Eisenhower decried censorship. In the first year of his presidency, Eisenhower noted in his ten-minute speech, American History is steeped in a conundrum, vacillating between the democratic ideal of free speech and its antediluvian polar opposite, censorship. He noted that this conflict has surfaced again and again over the course of time.
The President advised that we look at America. He courageously called out our simple and small-minded tendency to resist admitting self-evident truths.
“Look at your country. Here is a country of which we are proud, as you are proud of Dartmouth and all about you, and the families to which you belong. But this country is a long way from perfection—a long way. We have the disgrace of racial discrimination, or we have prejudice against people because of their religion. We have crime on the docks. We have not the courage to uproot these things, although we know they are wrong. And we with our standards, the standards given us at places like Dartmouth, we know they are wrong. And pert of being able to look at one’s country with honest eyes, is not siding with “Book burners.”
Reflecting on Eisenhower’s remarks must certainly cause contemporary proponents of America the exceptional to wince. Seven decades ago, in addressing the academy, an institution many of today’s conservatives look upon with disdain, the Republican President of the United States called upon soon-to-be graduates to reject the tenets what we know today as anti-CRT.
More specifically, he said, “Don’t join the book burners. Don’t think you are going to conceal faults by concealing evidence that they ever existed. Don’t be afraid to go in your library and read every book, as long as the document does not offend our own idea of decency. That should be the only censorship.”
Nearly eight years later, in his final address, Ike warned against the Military Industrial Complex. These two philosophical capstones say about as clearly as can be stated that the core values of the GOP have changed dramatically. I’ll leave the discussion of the arms race for another post. Today, the emphasis is and shall remain, “Book Banning Is Passé: A Republican President Said So…Seventy Years Ago!”
OK, so Memorial Day was earlier this week. You may be familiar with my holiday week philosophy, which is: make it easy on the readers, who are always otherwise engaged, no matter the holiday. Of course, in the process, I am also giving myself a break. That makes for a natural win-win scenario.
With that overarching thought in mind, I will endeavor to apply three elementary rules of communication:
Utilize the KISS Principle, AKA, Keep It Short & Simple (also Keep It Simple Stupid).
Convey new or “not widely circulated” information.
Always remember to emphasize points 1 and 2 above.
Memorial Day is a federal holiday to honor America’sfallen soldiers. It originated after the Civil War. Falling between Easter and Independence Day, it is often equated with a late spring break, or a pre-summer respite.
Historically, there have been a plethora of activities thrown into the mix. As a result, the holiday is sometimes almost lost in the shuffle. That was less problematic this year. But wait; Memorial Day has a special cultural significance. In fact, it is because of that nexus we should pay special homage to this late spring holiday.
The first well-known observance of a Memorial Day type was held May 1, 1865, in Charleston, South Carolina. Over 250Unionsoldiers that had been prisoners of war, died in Charleston, and were quickly buried in makeshift graves. A group of blacks, mostly freedmen, organized the observance and led cleanup and landscaping of the burial site.
Most of the nearly 10,000 people who attended were freedmen and their families. Of that number, 3.000 were children, newly enrolled in freedman’s schools. Mutual aid societies, black ministers, and white Northernmissionaries were also in attendance.
“This was the first Memorial Day. African Americans invented Memorial Day in Charleston, South Carolina. What you have there is black Americans recently freed from slavery announcing to the world with their flowers, their feet, and their songs what the War had been about. What they basically were creating was the Independence Day of a Second American Revolution.”
Professor Blight conceded there is no evidence that the Charleston event led directly to the establishment of Memorial Day across the country. But the record is clear they formed the earliest truly large-scale event, complete with media coverage. Their effort was the prototype, if not the catalyst.
Having said that, I believe I honored the rules established above for this post:
Told this story in a direct and uncomplicated fashion
Presented information I am confident most readers did not know
Recognized points 1 and 2, were accomplished and closed the post
This one is short and sweet. Eric Swalwell, a Democrat, a Californian, and a politician, aka, the Triple Crown of Republican/neoconservative angst, found himself under investigation, after an inordinate amount of GOP hand wringing, and more than a little bombast. To wit, Swalwell occupied the sweet spot of targets when an Axios report named him in what U.S. officials believed to be an intelligence operation run by China’s main civilian spy agency between 2011 and 2015. It should be noted at the top that Swalwell was never suspected of any wrongdoing.
However, the House Ethics Committee opened an investigation into Swalwell in April 2021, following claims that he had been targeted by Chinese operatives as part of a broader effort to establish ties with US politicians. The Committee had previously cautioned that Members should be conscious of the possibility that foreign governments may attempt to secure improper influence through gifts and other interactions.
A woman at the center of the operation, Fang Fang or Christine Fang, took part in fundraising activity for Swalwell’s 2014 reelection campaign and helped place an intern in Swalwell’s office. According to a letter obtained by CNN, the House Ethics Committee has ended its investigation into Swalwell. “The Committee will take no further action in this matter,” the letter to Swalwell stated.
Swalwell made a statement after receiving the letter, in which he said, “It’s time to move on. The bipartisan House Ethics Committee had this case for over two years. They had the power of subpoena. They received answers from me in response to requests for information. Today, they are closing this matter and did not make a finding of any wrongdoing.”
Not surprisingly, House Republicans seized on the allegations and used them as a pretext/motivation to remove Swalwell from the House Intelligence Committee at the start of the current Congress, when they gained a House Majority, and control of Committees. Still, with two years plus, and full investigative power, in finding no wrongdoing, it was, for the GOP, a case of, “Another Swing; Another Miss!”
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This is a brief one. All opinion, no research. Moreover, if you don’t know who Ja Morant is, don’t worry about it. This post, short though it is, is probably not for you.
A couple of months ago, Morant, one of the most luminous stars in the NBA; owner of a contract worth hundreds of millions of dollars, was featured in a video waving a gun. Not a look the NBA wants to have associated with someone purportedly with the potential, if not actually being groomed to be a candidate for next face of the League.
He was forthwith suspended for conduct detrimental to the League and would miss at least 8 games before returning to his team, the Memphis Grizzlies. While away, he went to counseling, or rehabilitation, or something of the sort.
In the aftermath of that episode, there were howls of derision aimed at the NBA for being overly aggressive in punishing the young man. There were folks who actually sounded as if they felt Morant was somehow a victim, being needlessly harassed by the big bad NBA.
Fast forward to this past Sunday; Ja was suspended again. Similar to the previous time, after appearing in an Instagram Live video, wielding a gun. Suffice it to say, those who tried to ascribe victim status to Ja were mistaken. If anything, the first suspension was an intervention. A little digging revealed the League had unearthed a pattern of dangerous and destructive behavior by Ja…before the first suspension.
In the wake of the most recent travail, I’ve heard some folks ask what’s the big deal? There are politicians who make ads for their election/re-election campaigns featuring themselves firing weapons. This is both true, and unfortunate. The NBA has a higher standard of decorum than say, the U.S. Congress. To be clear, the League is a business, and it has decided it is not in their best interest to condone or promote a group of mostly young Black men feigning gun play. Consider it a lesson learned from the 70’s and 80’s when even the League’s premier event, the NBA Playoffs was shown on tape-delay, and attendance and ad revenue was down, because the League and its players were deemed to reflect, or closely associated with the drug culture and gang violence of that era.
The cohort of players that represent the predominate contingent of the League will never be viewed as totally pristine. That’s not how 19-30-year-olds roll. But, since Magic and Bird arrived on the scene, The arbiters of League policy and procedure have re-imagined the operation and made the NBA a featured player in the American sports landscape. The League routinely plays a few games internationally, and the playoffs are viewed worldwide…in real time. No one wants to go back. And you can be sure, Ja Morant will not be the catalyst for a reversal of fortune.
I hope the young man, who claimed he learned his lesson after the first time…he didn’t…figures out he;s not about that life, pulls it all together and goes on to have the career that his immense talent suggests he’s capable of achieving. Until then, “Never Mind Déjà vu: Just “Ja,” All Over Again!”
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