Tick, Tock
TikTok, scheduled to shut down on Sunday, the 19th, went dark early. In an effort to stop Chinese intel gathering on American citizens, the government ordered it shut down and it has shut down. For reasons I don't quite understand, Trump would like to reinstate it (ironic itself because he tried to ban it when he was in office) and people are outraged that the government would try to protect itself and them from having their personal info stolen, but, hey, I think we've already established this is a crazy world. (By the way, TikTok was up and running again before Sunday passed.)
Unpardonable
In a dazzling display of absolute stupidity, Joe Biden pardoned people who were not criminals. They were "preemptive pardons." People like Fauci, Schiff, Cheney, Biden's entire family, and more were pardoned without every having been accused, let alone convicted. A phenomenal violation of any sort of justice. We started with "innocent until proven guilty" but, of late, have preferred "guilty until proven innocent," and Biden has given us "innocent and you can't even think otherwise." I understand a preemptive pardon is legal, but it's not sane. Why did he do it? He's afraid Trump will weaponize the justice system ... you know, like the administration of the last four years has done.
This is News
The headline reads, "Pastor Found Guilty." Uh, oh, we're going to be embarrassed again. Except, it turns out he's guilty of violating fire codes in the shelter he was running for homeless people. Sure, sure, he shouldn't violate fire codes. Yes, indeed, he ought to remedy this. But ... is this the kind of thing we need reported? A pastor doing good for his community while not meeting ... fire code? It looks a lot like an attempt to smear Christ's name ... again.
Not Really a Surprise
Biden issued preemptive pardons to a whole group of family and friends on his last day. Not to be outdone, Trump pardoned some 1500 people accused and/or convicted in the January 6 fiasco. Most of us thought the whole thing was not handled well and there has been a sense among many that 4 years of holding all those people without trial seemed ... I don't know ... illegal, but you'll have to determine whether clemency is the right choice. He is starting with a bang, isn't he?
The Heart Hates
CBS fired the weather reporter who criticized Elon Musk for waving to a crowd, comparing it to a Nazi salute. Good. Because it was clearly a wave to a crowd and not a salute. So why did this become an issue? Because the reporter clearly hated Musk and chose to interpret whatever she saw as bad simply because she hated Musk. We say, "The heart loves what the heart loves." The reverse is also true.
Your Trusted Source for Fake News
The whole Elon Musk Nazi salute thing was fodder for the Bee's cannons. Apparently hundreds of images have surfaced of Superman giving Nazi salutes. Journalists were horrified when the Village People performed a double Nazi salute. And the Bee included a series of photos of Nazi symbols from Trump's inauguration. What a world! What a world!
Must be true; I read it on the Internet.
4 comments:
The preemptive pardon thing is interesting. I can see some limited, specific circumstances where it might be appropriate for intelligence or military members, but not so much otherwise.
It seems as though there is a prevalent view that accepting a preemptive pardon carries with it an acknowledgement of guilt, and it removes the 5th amendment privilege which might be used to force people to testify in court of congress.
If only Biden hadn't chosen to use lawfare for the past 4 years, and open this Pandora's Box.
I was actually surprised to learn a preemptive pardon was legal for exactly the reason you give. How can the be "not guilty" if they weren't ever "guilty"?
That's interesting. I'm not sure Biden planned on admitting the guilt of so many people.
I could be wrong, but a pardon doesn't seem like a "not guilty", but a "guilty but forgiven". Kind of like The gospel.
Tick, Tock
The off again, on again nature of this while thing is just being annoying. But many people were so insistent on providing their personal information to China that they moved over to an even more directly controlled by the CCP app, many of whom quickly got banned from because of their content. No TikTok definitely isn't a Chinese operation to collect data and undermine social coherence.
Unpardonable
How better to admit guilt than to pardon people that haven't even been investigated for a crime?
This Is News
Must have been a show news day. Next you'll get a similar headline because a pastor was pulled over for speeding.
Not Really A Surprise
I'm wondering if we've outlived our time as a democratic republic. Every 4 years now we simply get a string of executive orders undoing much of what the previous president did, just to be reinstated the next go round. Combined with a legislative branch that can't seem to do anything because every single law that gets introduced has so much unrelated stuff that it can't pass, and then the no voters get accused of not wanting the original thing it was up for.
The Heart Hates
Even the still images of his "salute" don't even look like the Nazi salute. Apparently now if you do much put your arm in a vaguely upward direction, you're a Nazi. Nevermind that it is the stupidest idea to think he is or that he would be dumb enough to expose himself as one like that. One of the smartest people on the planet and he just forgot there were cameras and thousands of people looking at him?
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