As we move through these tricky times, we find people picking and choosing which bedrock principles they will choose to follow. These choices are based on fear. They are based on things that aren’t real and have never been real. Some of these choices are based on bedrock principles that are invisible.

Keep in mind, these were the jackasses that saw a group of protesters walking down their street. None of them actually came on the property, but what the hell, the second amendment saved their lives. Those protesters kept going after the McCloskey’s were standing on their porch with their ridiculously huge guns. Someone might take their guns from their cold dead hands, but it will be after they’ve accidentally shot each other.

Listen to any second amendment fanatic long enough and you will hear two inevitable “truths”. They need those big guns to protect them in case of a home invasion. They need those guns to protect them when the government goes rogue. Lost in the translation is the extreme unlikelihood of either of those things actually happening.

Lost in the translation is the near complete cancellation of portions of the first amendment. In particular, movement conservatives now want to cancel the establishment clause and want to tear down the walls between church and state. This isn’t rumor. This isn’t innuendo. They are saying this explicitly out loud.

We’ve discussed gun control and gun rights before. Certainly we can produce commentary from the framers that would seem to indicate a desire for unfettered access, but a broader look at history doesn’t back it up. Boil it all down and it’s all pure fantasy. It is about as meaningful as the need to protect ourselves from a rogue government or rogue home invader.

What we haven’t touched on is the seemingly randomness of holding some rights sacrosanct while others are ignored. Freedom of speech, religion, expression, and assembly is at the very heart of our political culture. The ability to travel freely and unfettered is there too. But by all means let’s have those big guns so we can protect ourselves from our neighbors and “others.” By all means, let’s protect us from a rogue government that would attack us while opening the door for them to take away our privacy and dominion over our bodies.

We’ve discussed this before to the point of obsession. It’s the space between what people want and what they ultimately get. It is the space between popular opinion and what actually happens. I simply don’t have a good name for the gap. Describing why it happens is the easy part. People simply vote against their own interests and beliefs far too often. Sometimes they don’t know what their beliefs are as presented in the political realm. Sometimes they are led by their emotions to become captive to their fears and prejudices. Sometimes they know exactly what they are doing and simply want to punish their own side for their failures to implement the policies they want.

Reports are that nearly two million people that normally would have voted Democratic in 2016 refused to punish Hillary. Add almost two million votes to her ledger and she likely would have won five additional states. Plus, it’s harder to ignore an election where she won the popular vote by five or six million instead of three. The simple fact that we have seen this happen twice in the span of 16 years and that it happened to the Democrats both times kind of tells you something.

If you do nothing but add the judges that George W. Bush appointed along with Donald Trump and then add in the judges blocked by Senate Republicans during Obama’s presidency the results are quite frankly staggering. That literally flipped the Supreme Court from 6-3 one way to 6-3 the other way. What it has done to the entire federal bench is overwhelming.

That’s just the judiciary. Imagine what it has done legislatively. Imagine what it has done in the day to day mechanisms of government. Bureaucracies have been impacted. Day to day regulations have been impacted. Executive actions on weather and natural disasters have been impacted. Just imagine competent assistance during Katrina and Maria. Imagine better assistant during the California wild fires. Imagine what might have happened during the COVID pandemic. What would have happened had we handled the pandemic as most of Europe and Asia did?

It is quite simply a ripple effect. A plurality of people identify as Democrats. Again, national elections are fairly close, but under a parliamentary system Congress would have been under consistent Democratic control. These are just facts. The current exploits of Joe Mancin and Kirsten Synema certainly demonstrate that majorities aren’t a guarantee of anything and yet they highlight the problem. We have a 50-50 Senate. If the Senate reflected even the advantage in the House it would likely be a 52-48 Senate. That’s simply assuming the Senate goes as people have actually voted nationwide. Imagine if we add the million here or there that wanted to punish the Democrats.

This all pays off with the gap. We look up and we get the 21st century version of the apartheid. We get climate change unabated. We get gross incompetence in times of crisis. We get a larger wealth gap. We get fewer consumer and employee protections. We get a cold and uncaring world that most of us can’t recognize. The gap between the world we want and the world we see is real. We should be angry. We just need to remember who to be angry at.

I don’t know much but I know more than you do.

It appears that the case will actually go to trial week after next – the last week of July.  It will start with jury selection, then opening statements, and finally the trial.

Here’s where we are.  Jones has already been found “guilty” of defamation so now a jury must decide what the punishment should be.  And in civil cases, punishment means money.

I was able to watch a pre-trial motion hearing all day on Friday on You Tube.  The video was fine but the audio was awful.  HBO has been given special permission by the judge to video the entire trial.  I do not know if they will put it on YouTube for the trial or not.

You will know all the details when I do.  Meanwhile, Mark and his partner Bill handled the press inquires after the hearing.  You can watch it here.

The two senior partners in the firm have decided to help with the trial because they have gotten so involved.  Mark and Bill are so relieved to have the experienced help.  They are a band of brothers.

If I am counting correctly Jones is on his 12th lawyer since this all began. His lawyers would not talk to the press.  I simply cannot imagine why.  Are they not proud of their client?

After the last month, this one speaks volumes about our plunge backwards to the 1940s.  The court was our last line of defense against fascism.  Now that it’s now a tool of extremists, we’re on our own.

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I would like to discuss this tweet in a calm, logical, and rational manner …

This is an invasion. https://t.co/oNckBgjSzD

— Rep Andy Biggs (@RepAndyBiggsAZ) July 13, 2022

… but I can’t. There is a limit to stupid, mean, and prevarication allowed under the Juanita Jean limits for what does not honor the right of free speech. Look, I know this is free speech but, Honey, it does nothing to honor that right.

First off, look who wrote it. Andy Biggs has no damn moral right to question the legality of anybody’s actions. The people in this picture did not seek a Presidential pardon, you withering little Arizona belch.

Second off, these people are coming to America for a better life and that’s the same reason my family came here. And in all honesty, some of my family did not behave as they should have. Four generations back one of my relatives broke about half the commandments in one day. He lusted after another man’s wife, shot him dead in a duel, and then announced he’d do it again except next time it wouldn’t be a duel, but an ambush. And that’s why we don’t talk about Uncle Melvin much. In his defense, it was awful hot that day.

Third off, you know, if Mexico would only help … whoa, wait never mind. Mexico just pledged $1.5 billion to help with border security and processing. I didn’t see Trump get a damn dime from Mexico.

Next off (hell, I’m losing count), it is perfectly apparent that current policy is working because these people were caught and are being immediately processed.

And … if this reporter can identify coyotes by just looking, he’s wasting his life working at FOX News in El Lay.

Last off, man’s first question to God was – am I my brother’s keeper? God answered. Jesus also answered in Luke 10:29-37. So Biggs, I’m talking to you. You better check the score. You’re not the priest, nor even the Levite. You’re the thieves.

And that’s as civil as I can be. In my defense, it’s awful hot today.