HALF-FULL REPORT 12/25/20
And yes, for us as Andy Williams immortalized it in 1963, this is The Most Wonderful Time of the Year – which we get to and will celebrate despite any attempt to stop us.
So before we go any farther, let’s take a moment to appreciate the joyousness in our hearts on this Christmas Day. Feels glorious, doesn’t it?
It’s a sorrowful tragedy that many of our fellow Americans are suffused with such a depth of fear and anger that they resent our joy – to the grotesque extent of wanting government guns pointed at us to stifle it.
That fear and anger causes the abyss between us and them – we are pro-freedom, they are anti-freedom; pro-America, they are hate-America; pro-honesty, integrity, and moral decency while they have contempt for all three.
Given that, here is the most critical distinction between us and those of the Left:
WHERE JESUS WAS BORN
The exact spot where Jesus was born is marked by this 14-pointed silver star with the Latin inscription Hic De Virgine Maria Jesus Christus Natus Est- "Here Jesus Christ was born to the Virgin Mary."
This is in a cave known as The Grotto of Nativity, enshrining the traditional site of the manger in Bethlehem, over which the Church of the Nativity was built, originally by Constantine the Great after his mother St. Helena visited the Holy Land and confirmed the site in 326.
It is only appropriate to commemorate what happened here over 2,000 years ago on this Christmas Day, 2020. (Glimpses of Our Breathtaking World #107 Photo ©Jack Wheeler)
IS SANTA LIBERAL OR CONSERVATIVE?
SKYE’S LINKS 12/24/20
Delingpole: Eric Clapton Sings Anti-Lockdown Song; Trolls Mock His Dead Kid
The compliant response of state and local officials to Antifa and BLM violence and threats of violence has taught a dangerous lesson. Since politically motivated violence by the left has generally been rewarded by 'Crat politicians and elites, we can expect to see more of it, and not just from the left.
Anti-Lockdown Protesters Force Way into Oregon Capitol, Some Armed
When seven Supreme Court Justices decided to wash their hands of ruling on clearly unconstitutional state and local voting processes in Texas v. Pennsylvania, they unleashed the most obvious and immediate alternative: escalating political violence.
Here we go for the best Skye’s Links ever.
THE PENCE CARD
Y
esterday (12/23), President Trump played “The Pence Card” with this tweet. Attached to it is a memorandum appended below.
For the most part, Americans assume that the Vice President lacks power. The President may assign him responsibilities, but the Constitution does not. Instead, he’s the understudy, there just in case something happens to the president.
Except that, in this strange year of 2020, we may learn that the Vice President is the most powerful man in America. Ivan Raiklin, a constitutional lawyer, claims that the Constitution grants Mike Pence the power to overturn a manifestly fraudulent election.
Here is what POTUS is asking Pence to do.
WHY I WILL NOT ACCEPT A CHEAT AS PRESIDENT
[Newt speaks for me, and every patriot in America – JW]
A smart friend of mine who is a moderate liberal asked why I was not recognizing Joe Biden’s alleged victory.
The friend made the case that Mr. Biden had gotten more (electoral) votes, and historically we recognize the person with the most. Normally, we accept the outcome of elections just as we accept the outcomes of sporting events.
So, my friend asked why was 2020 different?
HAWAII IN EUROPE
Equivalent to the Hawaiian Islands in the Pacific are the Azores in the European Atlantic. You’re looking at Lagoa das Sete Cidades (Lagoon of the Seven Cities), an example of the Azores’ astounding beauty. As Hawaii is a part of the US, the Azores are a part of Portugal – since the 1430s first discovered uninhabited.
Everything grows here, cedar forest to giant tropical tree ferns, fruit from citrus to tropical, plants from corn to taro. Flowers are riotously everywhere. The sea swarms with fish being on the main Atlantic migration route for whales and dolphins. The islands are immaculately cared for by Azoreans, no pollution, air sparkling clear, weather in the 60s in winter, 70s in summer, so peaceful they are virtually crime-free.
Azoreans love drinking parties, cheerful festivals, and bright colors – with their charming homes painted the color of key lime pie, raspberry mousse, or oceanic blue. They love liberty so much they’ve had this motto emblazoned on their coat of arms for centuries: “Antes morrer livres que em paz sujeitos”—" Rather die free than live in peaceful subjugation.”
This is one of our planet’s truly magical places. (Glimpses of Our Breathtaking World #11 photo ©Jack Wheeler)
THE MOST IMPORTANT MAN IN THE WORLD RIGHT NOW
Yes, he’s Mike Pence. Here’s why and how.
As we all know, the President of the United States isn’t actually elected by the popular vote. He’s elected by the college of presidential electors from each US state. The important question then is: Who counts the votes cast by the presidential electors?
That is clearly specified by the 12th Amendment of the Constitution:
“The President of the Senate shall, in the presence of the Senate and House of Representatives, open all the certificates and the votes shall then be counted.”
And who, then, is the President of the Senate? Article 1, Section 3, Clause 4 of the Constitution answers it clearly:
DOES HISTORY SAY AMERICA WILL SPLIT INTO SEPARATE NATIONS?
The nation’s current divide is partly geographic but mostly cultural and juridical.
The Texas-led states now stand for the rule of law and the civil rights protections of the 1868 14th Amendment. The California-led states now seek to undo over 150 years of human rights laws so that they can override the suffrage and petitions of a “suspect class” (Republicans).
Half the country believes the Nov. 3 election was illegitimate because they share Texas’s understanding of what citizen rights are and what constitutes evidence.
Half the country believes the election was legitimate because they share California’s understanding of citizen rights as framed by context and by goals, with any means being justified by the right goals, depending on the group involved.
For the first time in anyone’s living memory, we have to contend with the real possibility that the United States will split into separate nations. Looking at history, I’ve come upon the following possible precedents in history that may help us understand the potential outcomes.
RUNWAY ABLE
It is a profoundly somber experience to stand here on this abandoned weed-strewn airstrip. For this is Runway Able on Tinian Island in the Northern Marianas, where 75 years ago today, on August 6, 1945, a B-29 nicknamed Enola Gay piloted by Col. Paul Tibbets took off with Little Boy in its bomb bay bound for Hiroshima – and three days later on August 9, a B-29 nicknamed Bockscar piloted by Maj. Charles Sweeney flew off with Fat Boy in its bomb bay headed for Nagasaki.
This lost bit of tarmac is the most consequential airstrip on earth. Be prepared for a deep complex of swirling emotions if you ever stand here yourself. (Glimpses of Our Breathtaking World #14 photo ©Jack Wheeler)