Friends, while Brian and I delve into the history of the Pearl Harbor attack of December 7th, 1941 ever so briefly on this week's Newsmaker Show, most of our incisive commentary instead focuses on current events, including: the stakes in the Pete Hegseth nomination, which I view as a lot lower than some conservatives suggest; the chances that China or North Korea will take advantage of recent political instability in South Korea; presidential pardons and their political ramifications; the rapprochement between Meta and DJT; and the fall of the French government and what it suggests about the strength of populist conservatism in Europe. It's an in-depth exploration of some very weighty topics that you won't want to miss!
***
In other news, we here at WaddyIsRight wish to be among the first to congratulate Bashar al-Assad and his family, who have made the understandable decision to relocate to the beautiful and culturally vibrant city of Moscow, the charms of which are particularly notable at this time of year. May you prosper in your new abode, Assads, and may you never trouble the people of Syria again!
https://www.bbc.com/news/live/cwy8xzxe0w7t
Events are unfolding incredibly rapidly in Syria, and we hope that they will bring the long-suffering people there some relief, but interestingly DJT has used the opportunity of Assad's ouster to advocate for a ceasefire between Ukraine and Russia. It's a concept that I have long believed would be in the best interests of all concerned. It would be a great start to a peace process that, admittedly, won't be easy, but needs to begin ASAP.
https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/113615912452824634
Finally, now that Sleepy Joe is the Pardoner-in-Chief, lefties are lining up to receive the sacrament of the presidential pardon. Who can blame them? Being included on Biden's list means that he perceives you as one of Donald Trump's most fearsome and implacable enemies, and what progressive and/or Democrat would not wish to be on such a list??? My guess is that the pardons will come thick and fast, but my guess would also be that Kamala Harris, Nancy Pelosi, and Chuck Schumer will be left out in the cold, for reasons that I'm sure you can guess...
Dr. Waddy from Jack: Re the Newsmaker broadcast: the Steuben Co, N.Y (a conservative rural county)DA's remarks were compelling for me in that in 20 years as a state prison law librarian I had worked closely in helping to administer mandated inmate legal services and had much contact with inmate "jailhouse lawyers". So I'll make my comments on his remarks while they are still fresh in my mind and will then return to your portion of the broadcast.
ReplyDeleteHe lamented an astonishingly high rate of shirking among people called to jury duty in his county. A County Judge has had the Sheriff haul some of them into court and put them on juries. With respect: that's a good step but do we want people like that on juries in the first place? Such an offense can result in criminal conviction and one must wonder about some people who blithely risk such a dishonor and intense inconvenience. Perhaps it would be best to charge them so.
NY State has legislated an ever increasing" indigent" defendants law which makes taxpayers pay for some inmates' legal efforts. I saw much abuse of well intended similar provisions in Federal and state law which enabled inmates to become "litigating engines" producing many frivolous criminal defenses and lawsuits at taxpayer's expense. I know that some them, after a fashion well known to all who work in corrections, came to assume this as a right and prosecuted it as such when their overwrought presumptions on the extent of such laws were denied. And delighted in it as yet another "game" won with the aid of compassionate far left "chumps"in government.
The DA said NY state did not think this out well. Perhaps not but ,with respect, I'd suggest there was and continues to be much intent to empower criminals in N Y state's one party NYC dominated far
left dictatorship. He said the state has administratively expanded its powers under this law to exercise ever more centralized control over county's legal functions by "over managing" local cases. This is of course a commonly seen fundamental injustice in a state where a lala land enormous metropolis forces its views on common sense 'provinces" which lack the electoral power to counter it. In NY's case you have a city which has been shamefully reduced by insane emphasis on forgiveness and benefits for criminals to near anarchy, riding herd on sane areas which attempt to hold criminals responsible for their offense.
The DA noted much increased rates of assault on retail employees who attempt to thwart shoplifters, including barbarian "smash and grab" mobs. I ask: who the deuce is going to chance now the unshirted hell worked on Daniel Penney for extending himself to stop a thug? Even if he is acquitted , he faces civil suit and has had his life perhaps irreparably damaged. An absolutely unhinged and unrestrained, purely partisan Manhattan DA is to blame for this towering injustice. His presumption could be imitated by any DA who sees vindication and personal political advantage in doing so.
RAY TO DR. WADDY
ReplyDeleteAnd when you talk about Pearl Harbor, don't forget to mention the late Admiral Harry E. Yarnell and the 1932 war games.
RAY TO DR. WADDY
ReplyDeleteNow that one murderous dick-brain dictator has departed Syria, who will the next dick-brain dictator of Syria be?
RAY TO DR. WADDY
ReplyDeleteFor the origins of Leftism is South Korea now, take a look at the President of Korea from 1998 to 2003, Kim Dae-Jung, and draw your own conclusions. Then take a closer look at the political history of South Korea's biggest Lefty area, Cholla (also spelled Jeolla).
Dr. Waddy from Jack: France: on the one hand, I'm glad England won the Battle of Trafalgar but on the other hand its parliamentary system may well be working in creditable manner now, contrary to so many other French upheavals in the last 240 years. And if it leads to the ascension of a common sense oriented "far right" regime, then good for.
ReplyDeleteYou have noted that the effete far left elite may be on the slippery slope in many countries. If it has worn out its welcome with its insane policies and if it concedes peacefully, that is a joyous development for sure.
A tendency to reluctantly accede to the victory of common sense manifesting itself in American social media and even, PERHAPS, the MSM? Have I died and gone to heaven?! That this may be happening might have been unimaginable a year ago.
Drones being used in a Chinese attempt to conquer Taiwan? Unless they can land, sprout horrid arachnid legs and stalk the country balefully, they cannot finish the job. And the Chinese have no experience bringing to bear the sea borne forces which still must be the backbone of an effort as massively demanding as an invasion of that fortress island.
Jack, I didn't listen to the part of the broadcast that didn't feature me -- since I assume it was FAR less compelling -- but I agree that more people ought to be willing to serve, indeed ought to honored to serve, on juries. As for state funds that are being used to pay for inmates' legal expenses, that is a tough issue, because everyone is entitled to a sound legal defense...but few defendants actually get one.
ReplyDeleteRay, you know a lot more about Pearl Harbor and South Korean politics than I do. I suggest that you write an article about either subject, and I would be thrilled to publish it here on the blog...
Yes, we are seeing cultural shifts in the media and social media that seemed unthinkable when Biden came into office, and everything got considerably worse for dissidents like ourselves. Possibly, though, it was the censorious bullying that the social media companies got from Biden and Co. that helped to produce the very backlash we're now enjoying? The Left may have overplayed its hand in 2020/21. They have a tendency to do that.
RAY TO DR. WADDY
DeleteThanks for your generous offer. However, I doubt many people in the general public are much interested in Pearl Harbor. Come to think of it, I doubt that most people in the general public (except those living in Hawaii), even know where it is, much less be able to point it out on a world map.
But then again, lots of tourists go to Honolulu all the time, so more people might know about it than I think, and especially with the Arizona memorial there being so prominent.
But you know, why should the "average" person care about what happened in 1941? Very few people still alive who were their on December 7, 1941, and the lives of people living now (and even then in many areas of the world), are/were affected by what some Japanese pilots did then.
I would certainly be interested in how The Japanese regard this event. I believe, the architect of the Pearl Harbor attack, Admiral Yamamoto is still a national hero in Japan. Certainly he holds some place of honor, unlike our late Admiral Kimmel who was blamed for the attack. And in fact, as I recall, he was reduced from Four Star Admiral to Three Star Admiral, and the U.S. Navy still refuses to redeem his honor, even when the matter comes up in the U.S. Congress.
Dr. Waddy from Jack: Yet another fortunate development today: the acquittal of Daniel Penney. Prison for him would have been doubly hellish; he would have been under unrelenting threat in general population and would probably have had to endure protective custody within the prison - solitary confinement.That has its advantages but its spiritually deadening. Even there he may not have been safe. He's a Marine and a young guy , probably very resiliently tough, but I am so happy for him and for the rapidly ascending return of common sense in our country, that he has been justly spared this ordeal.
ReplyDeleteHe should never have had to face it in the first place. That he did is yet another proof of the , at best, gross incompetence of the Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg, or , more likely, the unapologetic partisan bias with which that lawless man executes his office. Someone who is willing to misuse his power beyond all reason for a purely political prosecution of our popularly redeemed President elect is one who Manhattanites ought to recall. I'm not holding my breath; it will take nothing less than a reprise of Rudolf Guiliani to return that now terribly degraded metropolis to civilization.
Meanwhile, Daniel Penney faces what for his selfless act? If he's a combat veteran he has experienced 24/ 7 personal vigilance but he doesn't deserve to have it forced on him again. Of course any act of self defense might bring upon him the basilisk gaze of the vindictive DA yes? And then there is the civil suit he faces, in which judgement of liability does not face proof as demanding as that of a criminal trial. What then for him and by by extension, us?
America must rally for his defense and assure that he never suffer financial penalty for his heroism. He stood for every person ever harassed unto enervating fear by lawless savages in publicly frequented places. Its time we stand up for him! I'm sure there will be organized efforts to indemnify him for expenses and I know I'll contribute. But just as important could be offers of welcome for him from communities in which he could prosper and live in well deserved peace.
Dr. Waddy from Jack: You have addressed a fundamental factor in our civilization's sincere effort to afford justice to all. Yes! Everyone deserves a creditable defense against criminal charges. Our's has perhaps exceeded any in history in affording this.
ReplyDeleteBut our legality is an ongoing experiment despite its foundation in many painfully well intended principles which have nonetheless exposed our population to shameful predation . Such victimization has been proveable by such as Rudolph Guiliani to be very much controllable IF the political will to control it obtains! But where does it so?
I lived in a country, Singapore, where no such presumption analogous to that which informs our legal system, of the inherent goodness of all people, dominates. Criminals there are treated as the low life victimizers they usually are. The result there was a peaceful community where those most deserving of protection - children and seniors - lived without fear.
We pay a heavy price for the, in many ways, counterproductive honor we afford to those for whom such succor is a laughing matter. There should at the very least be elevation of both sides of this issue to productive dialectic in our country. Compelling FACTS such as the high rate of crime among people presented as always "disadvantaged " must be faced objectively and any effort to suppress such consideration successfully discredited. Enough is enough. The savage, no holds barred attempted summary dismissal of any opposition sure to come from the far left on tired grounds of mindless "discrimination" in such a dialogue must be resolutely denounced.
Criminals take unapologetically inappropriate advantage of most efforts to treat them fairly. There must be full, open honest consideration of the injustice done the law abiding by ill conceived provision of measures seen by criminals only as means for further criminality.
We have made a choice to favor perceived "rights" of thugs and savages. We may have gone too far. Let us make a choice to prioritize the undoubtable rights of the lawful. If that produces injustice in some cases, the onus belongs on the cynical, amoral low lifes who made it necessary. President Reagan once said"there are no solutions, only choices". I think that is not universally so but in the case of criminal justice, let us choose to affirm justice for the law abiding!
Dr. Waddy from Jack:The pernicious wokeness which infects our culture, polity and legality fosters a defacto presumption of guilt when the defendant is of a class or ethnic group perceived by the woke to be oppressive and unjust. Daniel Penney suffers greatly still because of this evil, which was obvious in the DA's intent.
ReplyDeleteNonetheless, a courageous citizen did their duty in reporting their sighting of a man who turned out to be the alleged NYC killer. Kudos to them for doing so, I only hope our too often misused tort system does not expose that person to civil liability prosecuted by vindictive sympathizers with the alleged killer's apparent anti capitalist convictions. The solid citizen could even have been exposed to legal or financial hazard had the sighting they reported NOT turned out to be the prime suspect (false arrest etc ). Tort reform is another field which is in great need of common sense reform. An ill willed person can initiate a frivolous lawsuit with no chance of ultimate success but which still brings the defendant much anxiety and cost. Prison inmates do it all the time. Is the incoming administration prepared to take action on this?
Dr. Waddy and Ray et al from Jack: The Navy ship I was on docked very near the Arizona Memorial. That and the surroundings were an amazing sight.
ReplyDeleteJapan lost the war that day. They never had a chance against us. I've been to Japan many times and I love the place and the people. Given the history of the 19th century savaging of China by the West the Japanese showed great resolve in modernizing their military to protect themselves from similar wrong.
But that eventually required access to raw materials Japan did not have. They decided to ensure their supply by actually taking over most of East Asia. Their military success against Russia and, to a limited extent, later, Germany in WWI, convinced them they could defend such an empire against Great Britain, France and even the U.S.
They exercised unmitigated, gratuitous and insular and ignorant cruelty against the peoples consequently subject to their rule, including prisoners of war. They had to be stopped.
Japan has recovered from its deserved defeat to manifest the best of its hard working and culturally charming civilization.
RAY TO JACK
ReplyDeleteTell me a little (or a lot if you prefer) about your time in the Navy, seriously, because I'm an Air Force veteran myself, and am always interested in how others perceived their experiences in our Armed Forces.
Ray from Jack: I will do so gladly, tomorrow.
ReplyDeleteRAY TO JACK
DeleteOkay. Thanks.
Ray, I think Pearl Harbor is one of the few historical references that most Americans might be able to identify correctly. Whether most are "interested" in it is another story. If you want to write on a subject of universal fascination, write about Taylor Swift and Peanut the squirrel, and the torrid affair they carried on behind Travis Kelce's back.
ReplyDeleteJack, I don't pretend to know if Penney used perfect judgement on that fateful day, but it's highly unfortunate that he could face financial ruin despite his criminal exoneration. That's a serious flaw in our system. Lest we forget, the lefties nailed Trump civilly far more easily and more successfully than they did criminally. My guess would be that they will double down on what works and use civil lawfare against many more of their enemies.
Jack, the only chance the Japanese had against us depended on...America defeating itself, which is never a wholly unrealistic proposition. One wonders whether the psychological dynamic would have been different had they only attacked our far-flung outposts? Of course, Hawaii wasn't exactly Illinois, but still our reaction was one of consummate outrage. My view would be that the best opportunity that the Axis had to win the war was by combining against Russia -- and leaving America well enough alone.
Ray from Jack: I was in from '68-72 and I made 3rd Class Signalman. I was immature and I chafed at the regimentation but I stayed in line and am glad I did now. Vets benefits are pretty good. I was on the carrier Constellation and did three deployments to the Gulf of Tonkin. We visited Japan, Hong Kong and the Philippines frequently and it motivated me to major in Asian Area Studies after I got out. It was right, I think, to fight the expansionist commies; we were undermined by traitors at home but I think we still contributed to eventual victory in the "Cold War". The Soviets knew full well we were not militarily defeated. The widespread respect vets get now is very redeeming ; I hope it helps those who were terribly devastated by the ingratitude the country countenanced then.
ReplyDeleteHow about yourself? What were your experiences.?
RAY TO JACK
DeleteWas in the Air Force the same time you were in the Navy, and spent my time mostly in The Philippines at Clark AB, ending my stint as a Buck Sergeant. Then went back to college and finished that plus more, and then worked Federal Civil Service as a career, and after retiring, taught history part time at a community college.
RAY & JACK: Deepest thanks and appreciation for your service! Merry Christmas to you both!
DeleteRAY TO RICHIE
DeleteThank you. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you. Can hardly wait for Trump to take office! A great relief after being ruled by fools for four years, and dangerous fools at that.
Richie from Jack: Ah, de nada! The best wishes to you for this glowing season, one of the crowning glories of Western civilization.
ReplyDeleteRay from Jack: I got to Clark a couple of times. Looked like it was pretty good duty. Adjacent Angeles City (?)was my first experience of Asia. On the way down to the Navy base at Subic we got in a traffic jam caused by a water buffalo.
ReplyDeleteRAY TO JACK
DeleteAs you know, Clark no longer exists as such since Mt. Pinatubo (spelling?) blew up many years ago. The AF had to evacuate the place super fast when that happened. Don't know what the area is used for now. Before that, it was one of our largest overseas bases. And yes, the duty was great. Consequently, I led a very sheltered life "back in the day".
Dr. Waddy from Jack: Yeah you are right. Civil liability mandates a much lower standard of justification - plausibility? - on the part of the plaintiff. If antiamerica is still resolved to weaponize our legal system to serve their partisan politics that makes it easier. While Penal statutes are necessarily limited in variety and definition, there are probably an unlimited number of torts which can be made to fit the Procrustean bed of the amorally imaginative.
ReplyDeleteRay, I had no idea you were in the civil service. Tell us more -- unless the memories are too painful, of course. Bureaucracy is hell, as we all know...
ReplyDeleteOut of curiosity, have either of you, Ray or Jack, been back to your Asian haunts since your days in the service? It would be fascinating to see how they've changed, no?