The US verison of the English Civil War has begun

Or really "no kings".

Simple form: The English civil war was between the Royalists and Parliamentarians because the "executive" (King) needed to be reined in by Parliament. It's the reason in an Anglo-American context "no kings" is nonsense.

Anyway, this is long overdue since the US really is a de facto Parliamentary system and the executive should be subservient to it. The French change their republic by rewriting the Constitution. Unfortunately, unlike France, the US needs to have the Constitution amended, since rewriting the thing would be difficult.

But the myth of "checks and balances" is going to be put to the test in the next few years.

An American on the French protests and the reality.

Doggone did a post on the protests complaining that some right winger was saying the protests were caused by immigrants. Here's an  American woman who lives in Lyon talking about how the protests went down.

 

My reaction is that she's pretty much right, riots usually don't take over entire cities (although US cities can suffer from them: e.g. Detroit). And protesting in various forms, such as strikes, are the French national sport. As the woman says, "France has a history of it (protesting)".

In contrast, this clip came up of a Canadian journalist in Saint-Denis, one the banlieues (suburbs) of Paris.

 

I think I've mentioned before that I like how Europe has its slums in the suburbs and the Centre Cities are nice places to live, which is the opposite of the US.

The "smokes" being sold are probably black market and why the locals are getting upset.

So, this is a pretty realistic view of what is going on in France.

Pas grand chose. Cherchez ailleurs.

Trump proves that the US version of the English Civil war is over, and Parliament wins again, but...

Let's fact it, the executive in the US is something which can be done without. Especially since it needs to be made clear that the executive is not above the law. 

But in the US's dysfunctional democracy, no one is stopping Trump from violating the law.

 

Among Doggone's afflictions is a strong case of Trump Derangement Syndrome made worse by a diet of US media, but Mallen Baker pretty much points out Trump's delusions about the world. 

The electoral college, yet another symptom of the US's dysfunctional democracy, was put in place to keep somebody like Trump from gaining office. Yet it is the reason he became president in the first place. And the lack of a serious alternative has led to his becoming president for yet another term despite his many disqualifying characteristics.

The problem is that the legislature needs to provide an adequate check to balance the maniac in the White House. As I said, the US is not fascist: it's a dysfunctional democracy.

Plantations and the Eagles Nest.

I heard about this on the news about the same way I did about Nottoway Plantation. And while I have never visited either one, my feelings about both are pretty much the same.

Their loss is a tragedy.

And while no one in my family was a slave, at least not within the last millenia or so, my father lived through the Second World War. He had a front row seat in it. And could probably be called a participant even though he was 16-17 when it ended. It was a war where the civilian populations were displaced, or interned, by the war. Civilians were bombed and their cities and towns were battlefields.  

Despite that, the Kehlsteinhaus, commonly known in English as the Eagle's Nest, is more of a mountain chalet than a war relic for me. True, it's more interesting than some of the ones I've been in, but it's more civilianised than politicised these days. Yes, one can remember that it was built by the Nazis.

But, are you going to stop driving a Volkswagen because the Volkswagen Type 1 (AKA the "beetle") was designed by the Nazis?

I would add that this building has a lot more history to it. It wasn't used by Hitler very much since he was an acrophobe, but the Allies did occupy it. Here's the clip from Band of Brothers where Easy Company captures it.

US troops did a job of de-Nazifying the building, and the general area, by grabbing bits of it as war trophies!

And the area was used by US occupation forces for "R&R" up until 1995.

Given one of my great-grandfathers came from Meerane,  Both of us don't (didn't) have a lot of love for the Nazis,or Bavarians. He was a draft-dodger avoiding service in the Kaiser's Army. He volunteered for service during the 14-18 War for the united States, but was too old.

But, the bottom line is some of my relatives lived through Nazisim and Communism. So... 

Anyway, despite its history,  the Kehlsteinhaus is probably more of a tourist site for its mountain view than the other bits. But, I do understand US vets come through on tours.

Rebuild it for its economic benefits.

I would add that destroying history leads to its being forgotten, which is why both the Kehlsteinhaus and Nottoway Plantation should be rebuilt.

Unless, you want to forget these events only to repeat them again?

Pardon My French, S'il vous plait

 My colleague, Laci, is currently more French fluent than I am. My French is admittedly rusty, but still adequate to understand French protesters on the news.

Katie Miller, un-elected meddling wh*r* in extremist right wing policies, spouse of little Nazi swine -- a Jewish Hitler wannabe, Stephen Miller -- just made a clear lying and fear-mongering public statement from her role as White House propagandist extraordinaire.

Her grotesque lie was that the protesters in France are immigrants, illegal aliens. And that if Trump and his evil servitor fascists do not win in the midterms, the same destruction will occur here.

To borrow a few lines from the French National Anthem, La Marseillaise, (yes I know it):

Allons Citoyens! (Let's go citizens / patriots!)

Marchons marchons! (March march!)

Un Sang Impur... (An impure blood)

Nos SILLONS...(Our soil)

There's also language in there about slitting the throats of our children and friends. No pont belaboring lyrics from 1789.

I just hit the high points, but the parallels are unmistakable. The national anthem dates back to the French Revolution and the storming of the Bastille. But it applies surprisingly well to legitimate causes of unrest now and to propaganda manipulating the unrest and scapegoating.

But listening to Bitch Miller, and listening to the audio of the unrest in French, that is massively NOT true. These are not illegal aliens, they are legal French born citizens of that country. The lie is amplified manipulation with inserting fake video into the real coverage by right wing media.

And it turns out, the cause of the violence, similar to our own January 6th, 2021 violent and damaging right wing extremist manipulated insurrection, was from right wing extremist funding and manipulation to ignite it. Not direct funding, but massive money to influence and misdirect valid grievances into conflagration. 

This will be a follow up post with what at the moment appears to definitely be big Russia /US spending, possible (probable) collusion and coordination between the two, 

Involving definitely Russian money and influence, and quite possibly US as well, and other lesser players or involvement and the intelligence and non-governmental sources independently investigating.

Oligarch right wing extremists will do what they do. More anon.

Doggone: I'm back! Part 1

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Ending a big Juneteenth myth

OK, the premise of it being "celebrated annually on June 19 to commemorate the end of slavery in the United States" is plain off wrong.

There were two documents "ending" slavery: The Emancipation Declaration of 1863 and the Thirteenth Amendment.  

Slavery in the United States was officially abolished with the ratification of the Thirteenth Amendment on December 6, 1865. However, the Emancipation Proclamation issued by President Lincoln on January 1, 1863, declared freedom for slaves in Confederate states, but did not end slavery nationwide.

On September 22, 1862, President Lincoln issued his Preliminary Emancipation Proclamation, which stated that enslaved people in those states or parts of states still in rebellion as of January 1, 1863, would be declared free. One hundred days later, with the rebellion unabated, President issued the Emancipation Proclamation declaring "that all persons held as slaves" within the rebellious areas "are, and henceforward shall be free." 

Because it was a military measure, however, the Emancipation Proclamation was limited in many ways. It applied only to states that had seceded from the Union, leaving slavery untouched in the loyal border states. It also expressly exempted parts of the Confederacy that had already come under Union control. Most important, the freedom it promised depended upon Union military victory.

Although the Emancipation Proclamation did not end slavery in the nation, it did fundamentally transform the character of the war. After January 1, 1863, every advance of federal troops expanded the domain of freedom. Moreover, the Proclamation announced the acceptance of Black men into the Union Army and Navy, enabling the liberated to become liberators. By the end of the war, almost 200,000 Black soldiers and sailors had fought for the Union and freedom.

In the slave-owning areas controlled by Union forces on January 1, 1863, state action was used to abolish slavery. The exceptions were Kentucky, Delaware and New Jersey [1], where chattel slavery and indentured servitude were finally ended by the Thirteenth Amendment in December 1865.

“The Emancipation Proclamation did not lead to widespread freedom of African Americans,” says Berry. “It didn’t change that many people’s lives. Very few enslaved people were given their freedom after the Emancipation Proclamation.” --Time Magazine,When Did Slavery Really End in the U.S.? The Complicated History of Juneteenth

The Thirteenth Amendment:

Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction.

So, the Emancipation Declaration of 1863 freed slaves in Confederate states but did not apply to border states or areas under Union control. That meant that slavery was still practised in Kentucky, Delaware, and New Jersey up until 6 December 1865.

Juneteenth was not in any way the end of slavery in the United States.

That's because the Thirteenth Amendment, which was passed on  6 December 1865 officially abolished slavery in the U.S.

The Emancipation Proclamation only applied to the states which were active members of the Confederate States of America. I couldn't get an accurate number on the amount of enslaved people in Delaware, Kentucky, and New Jersey at the time of the 13th Amendment, but I would guess it was more than heard General Order #3 in Galveston, Texas on "Juneteenth".

The final nail in the coffin for this nonsense is:

But even when slavery did end in Texas, formerly enslaved people still had a long road to freedom ahead of them, as they faced inadequate infrastructure to support them as they started new lives. As Laura Smalley, who was born into slavery in Texas, recalled that bittersweet moment in a 1941 interview, “We didn’t know where to go. They turned us out just like, you know, you turn out cattle.”  

Even more cold water: Furthermore, thousands of black slaves were not freed until after the Reconstruction Treaties of late 1866, when the Cherokee, Creek, Chickasaw, Choctaw, and Seminole tribes were forced to sign new treaties that required them to free their slaves.

So much for Juneteenth ending slavery in the United States. 

Footnote: there were 16 people enslaved in New Jersey when the 13th Amendment was passed! 

I don't agree with Thomas Massie about a lot of things, but

 I totally agree with him on this point

 There need to be alternative parties that truly represent the people.

My idea of how prayer in school should be

 OK, I'm not a great artist and I decided to use AI (craiyon) to create an idea I've have in my head.

The US is supposed to not favour one religion in the public sphere--so, this is my take on prayer in school.

Sorry if I left anyone out! It's not intentional. I want to be as inclusive as possible.

Especially since I imagine it to be pretty chaotic if you consider religious diversity. You really shouldn't be excluding ANY spiritual belief.

This seems particularly appropriate given that another airliner was diverted due to prayer recently.

Oh, and the prompts were:

A cartoon classroom full of children, five of them are in christian prayer, a couple are in Muslim prayer, a hasidic jewish boy is praying wearing tefillin, there is a boy who is an Appalachian snake handler, a hindu boy is meditating while levitating a foot off the floor, there are 3 dervish children dancing, native american and african children are dancing wildly.

A cartoon classroom full of children, five of them are in christian prayer, a couple of boys are in Muslim prayer, a hasidic jewish boy is praying wearing tefillin, there is a boy who is an Appalachian snake handler, a hindu boy is meditating while levitating a foot off the floor, there are 3 dervish children dancing, native american and african children are dancing wildly.

A cartoon classroom full of children, five of them are in christian prayer, a couple of boys are in Muslim prayer, a hasidic jewish boy is praying wearing tefillin, there is a boy who is an Appalachian snake handler, a hindu boy is meditating while levitating a foot off the floor, there are 3 dervish children dancing, a couple of rastafarians, native american and african children are dancing wildly.

 Prayer in school shouldn't be peaceful and serene: it needs to be inclusive.

Now, you do understand why the US needs to adopt laïcité?

Why New York Cops Thought Britain’s Unarmed Police Were “Ridiculous”.

 Ok, one thing which sort of makes me different from a lot of people on the "left" is that I have a more pragmatic view of defence and justice issues. So, I thought I would share this clip from Britain's ITN (Independent Television News) news from 1966.

 A lot has changed in 50 years and British police can be seen carrying guns, or have access to firearms.

Let's not forget that not only can we see the police improperly using their firearm, but we can also see civilians using firearms on the police. So, it's not a one way street. 

If people won't amend the constitution, it should be followed to the letter!

 In this case the war powers act,  As I have already pointed out, under the United States Constitution, war powers are divided. Under Article I, Section 8, Congress has the power to:

•     declare war
•     grant Letters of Marque and Reprisal (i.e., license private citizens to capture enemy vessels)
•     raise and support Armies (for terms up to two years at a time)
•     provide and maintain a Navy
•     make Rules for the Government and Regulation of the land and naval Forces
•     provide for calling forth the Militia
•     make Rules concerning Captures on Land and Water
•     provide for organizing, arming, and disciplining, the Militia; and
•     govern such Part of [the militia] as may be employed in the Service of the United States.

Section 8 further provides that the states have the power to:

•     Appoint the Officers of the Militia; and
•     train and equip the Militia according to the discipline prescribed by Congress.

I have an interest in comparative constitutional law, and France's interpretation of the separation of church and state: Laïcité, which got me looking at the  constitution of the Fourth French Republic (1946), Article 7, which deals with declaring war:

War may not be declared without a vote by the National Assembly and the preliminary opinion of the Council of the Republic.

I've already pointed out that the executive, or the commander in chief of the military, should not be charged with this ability, which was something which concerned the founders. They expressed a dislike for a standing military.

Unfortunately, their fear has come to pass and the US has a large, standing military. And it is being used to pursue "forever wars".

Recent events have highlighted that the founders were right and some sort of legislation with teeth should be put in place to prevent military adventures. 

Why I think Juneteenth is nonsense

No one really cares about it. In fact, it kind of reminds me of the Greaseman's reaction to another black holiday.

On the other hand, there are things like Odunde and Notting Hill Carneval that have people who really get into them.

 Notting Hill Carneval has been in the public eye for a lot longer than Juneteenth: Sixty years!

Not that many people had heard about Juneteenth before 2020, let alone 1966!

HE'S GUILTY

The trial is ending with an admission. 

 Live with it.

Especially since you wasted your money on his defence:

This is what Karen Agnifilo Friedman had to say about him on the Anderson Cooper 360 Degrees That was aired December 10, 2024 - 20:00 ET  https://transcripts.cnn.com/show/acd/date/2024-12-10/segment/01:

And I agree with much of what everybody is saying. But I think one thing I just want to point out is it looks to me like this -- there might be a not guilty by reason of insanity defense that they're going to be thinking about, because the evidence is going to be so overwhelming that he did what he did.  

Your energy would have been better spend trying to change the system through legal means: not violence. 

Former republican makes a shocking confession

 Back to what I have been saying about Bernie Sanders and his politics being popular if it was given a chance.

 

Presidents are not kings

I'm not sure how to characterise this slogan since pretty much all of the current monarchs are constitutional monarchs. The current batch are under significant constraints to ensure that constitutional monarchs serve as symbols of national unity rather than as active rulers, reflecting a balance between tradition and democratic governance. And this has been pretty much the case since the 17th and 18th Centuries.

I probably should define "constitutional monarchy" since it seems most people who chant this slogan are ignorant of this system of government where a monarch serves as the ceremonial head of state, with their powers defined and limited by a constitution. This allows the monarch to perform official duties while the legislative body holds the authority to create and repeal laws. Countries with constitutional monarchies often blend traditional royal ceremonies with modern democratic practices, providing a sense of stability amid political changes. 

In 2025, there were forty-three monarchies in the world, most of which were categorized as constitutional monarchies; fifteen of those shared King Charles III as their monarch, including the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, and several Caribbean nations.

A defining feature of a constitutional monarchy is that the monarch respects the limitations set forth by the constitution and rarely seeks to alter such a document in his or her favor. Even in the United Kingdom itself, which has no written constitution but rather a series of foundational documents, the king or queen remains within the bounds set by customary rules.  This characteristic is the important one if one is going to run around ignorantly saying "no kings".

Monarchs don't act like Trump.

On the other hand, the United States is a dysfunctional democracy. Dysfunctional democracy refers to a political system where democratic processes fail to effectively represent the will of the people, often leading to dissatisfaction and instability among citizens. This can occur due to issues like ineffective governance, lack of accountability, and the erosion of civil rights.

A dysfunctional democracy can appear to have democratic institutions, but those don't really represent the will of the people. For a democracy to work, the democracy needs to be properly functioning.

This is a good transition to how the current duopoly system doesn't represent the people:

Very few people are talking about how Amazon came into existence during the Clinton administration with its intent of at least cornering the book market. Or to quote what the search came up with "mazon was named after the Amazon River, which is the largest river in the world, reflecting Jeff Bezos's vision of making his store the biggest bookstore."  Amazon has made it clear that it aims to dominate the e-commerce market by offering "a wide range of products and services".

Like Walmart, Amazon is good at killing small businesses and preventing the rise of competition.

But, to get us back to the subject of monarchs: which system has universal healthcare, housing, and works for the people: the US's "Democratic-republic" or a constitutional monarchy?

I'll take a monarchy if that's what it offers. 

Trump proves that you can't run a country like a business.

 Unless you want to see what happens when you elect someone who has had several bankruptcies.

 

El Salvador's Nayib Bukele shows why believe Bernie Sanders would have been popular and shaken up US politics if he had a chance

Lina Seiche on El Salvador's Nayib Bukele with a story which sounds a lot like Bernie Sanders.

On thing people neglect to mention is that "Socialist" Bernie represents a historically red state. Bukele's rise reminds me of Sanders since they both started as "leftists" who managed to unify a politically polarised nation. I think Sanders would have done so if he were given a chance.

Unfortunately, Sanders' time was 2016. 

I'm of the opinion that the duopoly won't let anyone vaguely like a Sanders or Bukele get anywhere near the American people. Also, the people who truly influence politics don't want someone like a Bukele in power.

I don't agree with Bukele's positions on a few things, but he proves that a polarised political climate can be changed. 

A repost of Bernie in a deep red state. 

 

Why the Westminster system really beats the US model.

 I was talking with Doggone and she commented about the ability to change governments in the Westminster system. When a government loses the ability to legislate, it also gets tossed out (vote of no confidence).  I've pointed out before that 

I like it because the power is where it belongs: in the lesiglature. Additionally, because of that, there is an absolute necessity for political cooperation. One needs to come up with a consensus for a parliamentary system to work. The government literally falls if there can't be a consensus, which is why it is necessary. A lower house of parliament with an ability to dismiss a government by "withholding (or blocking) supply" (rejecting a budget), passing a motion of no confidence, or defeating a confidence motion.

Loss of supply occurs where a government in a parliamentary democracy using the Westminster System or a system derived from it is denied a supply of treasury or exchequer funds, by whichever house or houses of parliament or head of state is constitutionally entitled to grant and deny supply. A defeat on a budgetary vote is one way by which supply can be denied. Loss of supply is typically interpreted as indicating a loss of confidence in the government. Not all "money bills" are necessarily supply bills. For instance, in Australia, supply bills are defined as "bills which are required by the Government to carry on its day-to-day business".^[1]

When a loss of supply occurs, a prime minister is generally required either by constitutional convention or by explicit constitutional instruction to either resign immediately or seek a parliamentary dissolution.

Some constitutions, however, do not allow the option of parliamentary dissolution but rather require the government to be dissolved or to resign.

Comedian George Hargreaves on the Seven PMs in the last 10 years: 

I should say that the changes of government are due more to the mistake called Brexit.

Anyone who knows me will tell you that I was a very staunch remainer, but in the EU, not Britain. 

Of course, as I have also pointed out that the US would probably go through governments faster than Italy or Belgium. In fact, I would guess that it would make Belgium look relatively stable.

My voting third party has nothing to do with a protest vote other than to possibly say the US system is very broken. 

Why have Juneteenth when you can have Odunde?

https://www.odundefestival.org/ 

Once again it's time for the "woke" holiday that was adopted after the BLM riots.

And it seems that a majority of people are ignoring it, which makes sense since it really isn't that much of an event.

It's way more hype tied with a desire to appease the people who went wild in 2020.

On the other hand, Philadelphia's Odunde actually gathers a crowd. Toss in that it has a lot of community support.

"Jane"

So, maybe we should have gone with Odunde which is a thing as opposed to Juneteenth which was pretty much a non-event along the line of the Plymouth Plantation crowd and thanksgiving. 

Who hears about Jamestown's starving time?

Jane needs to be recognised for her struggle in the creation of America!

She needs to be an "American Girl" doll!

We need to know the story of Jane! Who was she? Did she have a say in her ultimate fate?

So, I propose that we need a holiday to remember Jane while we're doing away with Juneteenth and Thanksgiving.

Let's study America's REAL history!

250th anniversary of the United States? Not at all.

Americans love to take quotes out of context rather than look at the whole picture.

Also, the period between 1775 (and maybe earlier) to 1790 is not much of anything since the Articles of Confederation were what was running the show. It also means that the "United States" didn't really exist until the Constitution was ratified. That's another section of ignorance in US history which needs much greater study. 

In fact, thinking about it the early republic wasn't in too hot a condition with a low level civil war that finally broke out into a full scale one in the 1860s.

Perhaps, rather than pretend that the war for independence created a country, we should look at what it was actually created by war. The US should look at how its bellicose nature has put it into the current mess it is in.

This is a real case where war is not the answer and the real one needs to be found.