Do GOPers now blow off Ronald Reagan's stirring words on D-Day anniversary, in favor of Donald Trump calling military heroes "suckers and losers"?

D-Day anniversary

 

When we published our June 6 post on the 80th anniversary of  D-Day, the primary purpose was to remember the extraordinary sacrifices of ordinary Americans -- now known as "The Greatest Generation"  -- who came together to eject Hitler and his Nazi forces from France and Western Europe in what would become the decisive battle of World War II. 

The US Department of Defense calls D-Day the “successful beginning of the end of Hitler's tyrannical regime. Without victory in that bloody battle -- which began in the early hours of June 6, 1944, and was recreated by Director Steven Spielberg in the opening scenes of his epic film, Saving Private Ryan -- we likely would have been living in an America, for the past 80 years, that hardly any of us today would recognize.

D-Day resonates deeply here in our Legal Schnauzer household for several reasons. My father, William J. Shuler, was part of a squadron that arrived  on the Normandy beaches three days after the D-Day battle. Here is how I described it in our June 6 post:

How significant was D-Day? It's almost impossible to overstate it. The US Department of Defense calls D-Day the “successful beginning of the end of Hitler's tyrannical regime.” How different would life in America be if Allied troops had not been able to liberate France? That is a disturbing question to contemplate, but my father, William J. Shuler, was there, and he played a role -- I'm quite sure it was a dangerous role -- in securing the freedoms we enjoy today.

William J. Shuler

As I was growing up, I knew about my dad's military service, but I did not know many details. He had a Luger, the distinctive-looking pistol German troops used, and he showed it to me one time. It looked scary to my eyes, and I've never been much of a gun guy, so I did not ask to see it again and did not want to know where he kept it. I think he might have had a Nazi arm band, but I'm not sure about that. (The Luger and arm band, if it actually existed, were part of my family's war-related artifacts mentioned earlier.) As for the Luger, my brother, Paul, almost shot his foot off with the thing, so I was glad we all survived that episode -- especially since the bullet went through our parents' bedroom floor and landed in the basement, barely missing our fish aquarium, which was a heavily trafficked area, where quite a few folks (including me) made a habit of gathering to watch the fish.

My dad died in 2008, and about 10 years later, as my mother was nearing the end of her life, she told me that Dad was in a unit that landed on Normandy beach three days after the D-Day invasion. I've looked online several times for information about Dad's unit, but I haven't found anything so far. My best guess is that they were on what might be called a "recovery mission," to recover bodies, equipment, perhaps German intelligence. I can only imagine the kind of danger my father was in on that mission.

I imagine that unexploded land mines and other munitions dotted the beach. One wrong step, and my father's life would have been over -- and the lives of my siblings and I never would have started.

My story is not the only one in our household that connects to World War II. My wife, Carol, had an uncle (her mother's brother) who was captured and was held in a German prison camp. The trauma of that experience as a POW led to struggles with alcoholism for the rest of his life.

Carol's father, Mark Tovich, was in the South-East Asian theatre of World War II, serving in India, Burma, and nearby locales. To our knowledge, he was not wounded in action, but he did  contract a near-fatal case of yellow fever or malaria. 

As for the troubling current events  noted above, they come with dark irony that should cause all Americans, of whatever political persuasion, to ponder the direction our nation is headed.

The D-Day anniversary is a time to honor those Americans who risked everything to secure the freedoms we enjoy today. How significant were the contributions of Americans to defeating Hitler, his Nazi troops, and the fascist ideology they represented? Perhaps we can answer that question by noting the 80th Anniversary commemoration was held at  Normandy American Cemetery.

What about those of us living on U.S. soil today? Do we ever consider the sacrifices our forebears made to defend our Constitution and the rule of law that is found therein? Do we ever stop and think that the relative peace and stability the United States and Europe have enjoyed since the end of World War II came at an extremely high price? 

If the answer to those questions is yes, how do you explain polls that show a significant chunk of Americans support Donald Trump in our 2024 presidential election?

After all, Trump has made it clear that he does not support American democracy and intends to usher in an authoritarian regime that borrows from dictators and fascist regimes, both past and present. Trump has openly stated that he might suspend the constitution and act as a supreme ruler in the mold of Hitler, Mussolini, Putin, and other "strong men." Trump repeatedly has stated his admiration for dictatorial rulers. We encourage readers to check out The Washington Post op-ed piece by Robert Kagan under the title "We have a radical democracy. Will Trump voters destroy it?

By the way, Trump even has praised Hitler,  and a noted historian says his campaign rhetoric sounds like that of a fascist.

This is what I meant in the earlier references to troubling current events, filled with dark irony. After all, the United States has been a beacon for democratic principles since many of us have been alive. So, how can any of us actually think a Donald Trump presidency would be a good idea? This is the guy who has repeatedly said he could prosecute his political enemies, which would be unlawful on numerous grounds.

The November election is going to be unlike any we have seen before. It will not be about Democrats vs. Republicans or progressives vs. conservatives. It will be an existential moment, with the incumbent (Joe Biden) favoring democracy and the challenger (Donald Trump), touting authoritarianism, featuring his own brand of scatter-brained, dysfunctional "leadership" -- and we have seen in his first term how that worked out, with Trump's botched handling of the coronavirus pandemic leading to more than 1 million American deaths and leaving our economy in dire condition, as outlined in this 2020 article.

Since this  election, unlike any in our history, will be about democracy vs. authoritarianism, does that mean Trump supporters believe our country would be better off to usher out 250 years of democracy in favor of a glorified dictatorship, one built according to Donald Trump's whims. Since Trump is a liar of epic proportions, does anyone trust a single word he says? I find it hard to believe anyone would trust him with a corner lemonade stand, much less the presidency. I encourage readers to check out this post, which spells out the plusses and minuses of a Biden-Trump matchup.

So, how to explain the support Trump seems to enjoy? A simple answer might me to say all MAGA Republicans are stupid. But I know a number of Trump supporters, and I know they aren't stupid. What IS going on with them? I can only speculate, but my best guess is that they haven't thought through the repercussions of turning the wheel over to Donald Trump. Since Trump gained nationwide fame as a reality game-show host, it's possible his followers are start-struck and delusional about who he really is. Trump's "birther" attacks on former President Barack Obama might appeal to some dark impulses in his followers.

It's also possible Trump followers could benefit from examining their own family histories to learn about the sacrifices their forebears have made. I only know about my family's military service, some of it dating to the 1860s and the Civil War, because my mother and father preserved communications and artifacts that they instinctively seem to know had value for future generations. Many Trump supporters undoubtedly have similar family histories, and examining those might cause them to reconsider their support for Trump, who shows growing signs of being unfit (both mentally and physically) to serve in high office.

With the D-Day anniversary having just passed, now might be an appropriate time for all Americans to give serious thought to what is at stake in the 2024 election. The future of our country depends on it.

One final thought: Let's consider this account from the Washington Examiner of Ronald Reagan's speech from the  1984 D-Day anniversary:

In commemoration of the 40th anniversary of the invasion of Normandy during World War II, President Ronald Reagan spoke from Point-du-Hoc on the Normandy shores, praising those who risked their lives to “fight for all humanity.”

“The men of Normandy had faith that what they were doing was right, faith that they fought for all humanity, faith that a just God would grant them mercy on this beachhead or on the next,” he said. “It was the deep knowledge — and pray God we have not lost it — that there is a profound moral difference between the use of force for liberation and the use of force for conquest. You were here to liberate, not to conquer, and so you and those others did not doubt your cause. And you were right not to doubt.”

“You all knew that some things are worth dying for. One’s country is worth dying for, and democracy is worth dying for, because it’s the most deeply honorable form of government ever devised by man. All of you loved liberty. All of you were willing to fight tyranny, and you knew the people of your countries were behind you,” he added.

Let's compare those words to those of Donald Trump, who has called military heroes "suckers and losers." 

Is that what MAGA Republicans, Trump supporters, think of those who served in our military? Are they OK with Trump's words?

And what about Ronald Reagan, who spoke eloquently about the sacrifices that helped secure America's freedoms. Republicans used to lionize Reagan, wanted to name numerous federal buildings after him. Is Reagan just a relic of the past to postmodern Republicans? Does he stand for anything in their minds? Have the nonsensical rantings of Donald Trump replaced the beautifully written words and heartfelt delivery of Ronald Reagan? Maybe MAGAs should take a hard look at their priorities.

As we commemorate the 80th anniversary of D-Day, I confront mortality and existential questions raised by my family's service in World War II and the Civil War

(imdb.com)

 

Today marks the 80th anniversary of the D-Day invasion on Normandy Beach, which began the liberation of France and the rest of Western Europe, laying the foundation for the Allied victory over Nazi Germany in World War II. The D-Day anniversary will be commemorated today at Normandy American Cemetery. 

The event hits close to home for my wife, Carol, and me -- plus our extended families. It also raises unsettling questions about current events in our nation. We will address those issues later, but first, let's examine the personal journeys of my family members, which raise existential questions about my presence on this earth -- why I am even here.

I never served in the military, but in what you might call a celestial sense, my premortal life was marked by ties to two, bloody, world-changing wars, one dating to the 1860s. Without getting too "heavy," I owe my existence to the ability of my forebears -- on both sides of my family -- to survive two of the most dangerous conflicts in human history.

I know about my ties to war only because my family has possessed and preserved communications and artifacts from WW II and the Civil War for decades. In fact, my mother possessed the original copy of a letter from a relative on her side of the family who fought in the Civil War. She eventually donated the letter to the visitor's center and museum at the Wilson's Creek National Battlefield, where it is part of the historical record.

Millions of Americans, I'm sure, have similar stories, but this is my story, which seems appropriate to share as we commemorate D-Day and remember those who gave (or risked) their lives to defend our Constitution and beat back the scourge of Adolf Hitler and the Nazis.

William J. Shuler

How significant was D-Day? It's almost impossible to overstate it. The US Department of Defense calls D-Day the “successful beginning of the end of Hitler's tyrannical regime.” How different would life in America be if Allied troops had not been able to liberate France? That is a disturbing question to contemplate, but my father, William J. Shuler, was there, and he played a role -- I'm quite sure it was a dangerous role -- in securing the freedoms we enjoy today.

As I was growing up, I knew about my dad's military service, but I did not know many details. He had a Luger, the distinctive-looking pistol German troops used, and he showed it to me one time. It looked scary to my eyes, and I've never been much of a gun guy, so I did not ask to see it again and did not want to know where he kept it. I think he might have had a Nazi arm band, but I'm not sure about that. (The Luger and arm band, if it actually existed, were part of my family's war-related artifacts mentioned earlier.) As for the Luger, my brother, Paul, almost shot his foot off with the thing, so I was glad we all survived that episode -- especially since the bullet went through our parents' bedroom floor and landed in the basement, barely missing our fish aquarium, which was a fairly heavily trafficked area, where quite a few folks (including me) made a habit of gathering to watch the fish.

My dad died in 2008, and about 10 years later as my mother was nearing the end of her life, she told me that Dad was in a unit that landed on Normandy beach three days after the D-Day invasion. I've looked online several times for information about Dad's unit, but I haven't found anything so far. My best guess is that they were on what might be called a "recovery mission," to recover bodies, equipment, perhaps German intelligence. I can only imagine the kind of danger my father was in on that mission.

I imagine that unexploded land mines and other munitions dotted the beach. One wrong step, and my father's life would have been over -- and the lives of my siblings and I never would have started.

When you know that a loved one has faced danger and taken great risk to protect our country, our Constitution, our democracy,  you have extra appreciation that we are a nation of laws, and you want to see those laws faithfully upheld, not trampled by corrupt judges, lawyers, law-enforcement officials, and other rogues who seem to have no respect for the sacrifices so many have made to protect the country we enjoy today. In fact, exposing such corruption, which essentially spits on the graves of brave men like my father, is why I started this blog, Legal Schnauzer, in 2007 and have written it continuously for 17 years. Along the way, we were ranked in 2013 among the top 50 independent law blogs in North America. That suggests, to me, that the subject matter here resonates with many of my fellow Americans.

My story is not the only one in our household that connects to World War II. My wife, Carol, had an uncle (her mother's brother) who was captured and served in a German prison camp. The trauma of that experience as a POW led to struggles with alcoholism for the rest of his life.

As for my premortal ties to war in the 1860s, it involves the Battle of Wilson's Creek, which was the first major battle of the Trans-Mississippi Theater of the American Civil War. It was fought on August 10, 1861, near Springfield, Missouri.

A man named Elijah Stamps, a relative from my mother's side of the family, was among the 12,120 troops in the mixed Missouri/Arkansas/Confederate force that wound up fighting in the Battle of Wilson's Creek, which produced an estimated 2,550 casualties (killed, wounded, or captured) and was the second major battle of the Civil War, the first fought west of the Mississippi River.

Elijah Stamps, while on the battlefield, wrote a letter to his wife, Elvira. Based on my knowledge of our family history, which can be sketchy in places, Elijah Stamps survived the battle, and his letter somehow wound up with my mother, who treasured it for decades and ultimately made sure it became part of the battlefield's museum collection.

Writing this post has caused me to do the kind of high-minded thinking that I generally try to avoid -- especially when it involves an outcome that could have been not too positive for me, at least when it involves earthly life. Many of you probably have similar stories in your background, some you might not know about. I only know about mine because my mother and father seemed to understand certain items in our household had historical value and helped tell stories that were worth preserving. All of that rolls through my mind today as we remember the 80th anniversary of D-Day. I wonder about what horrors my Dad must have seen, remnants of man's inhumanity to man, a reminder of the wreckage tyrants can wreak. I marvel at his ability to process these images and become a valuable member of society -- a wonderful father and husband, providing lasting examples of a life well-lived.

As for my own efforts at high-minded thinking, these thoughts come to mind:

* What if my father had not survived at Normandy beach? My life, and the family I grew up in, never would have existed;

* As for the Civil War part of our story, that is a bit more complicated. I've never known Elijah Stamps' exact place in our family tree. But it appears he is on the same branch as my grandfather Chess Stamps. Had Elijah Stamps not survived at Wilson's Creek -- in a battle so violent the site now is known as Bloody Hill -- Chess Stamps would have never been born -- and that means my mother never would have been born. That, of course, means my siblings and I never would have taken our places on the stage of life.

I'm grateful to be here, to be able to write this post -- even though writing through tears is not a joyous experience. But I hope readers might find insight in the words I share this day.

As for the unsettling current events mentioned earlier, we will examine them next.

(To be continued)

As America tries to recover from a hellish week of gun violence, the gun industry is set to flood the market with deadlier weapons -- for the inner sniper in us all

A sniper's fantasy

 

A review of social media yesterday indicates many people in the United States support action to limit access to guns, especially in the wake of a week that was a horrific blood bath -- even by American standards. On the flip side, many Americans still resist any restrictions on the relatively free flow of guns -- in the name of religion, freedom, the Second Amendment, and a host of other reasons.

Perhaps the most important members of the resistance are executives at gun companies. After all, they tend to benefit financially from efforts to turn America into a shooting gallery -- and they are preparing to flood the market with guns that are more powerful and deadly than what we've already seen, according to a report from The New Republic (TNR).  Under the headline "The Gun Industry Wants America’s Malls and Schools to Be War Zones; The bodies pile up. Republicans say it’s in God’s hands. And the new weapons coming to market are even deadlier. There’s only one logical conclusion, TNR editor Michael Tomasky writes:

Steven Spainhouer’s son worked at the H&M at the Allen, Texas, outlet mall and called his father Saturday night when the shooting started. Spainhouer raced to the scene and arrived before the first responders. And here is the sight that greeted him: “The first girl I walked up to was crouched down covering her head in the bushes, so I felt for a pulse, pulled her head to the side, and she had no face.”

That’s not a scene from a shopping zone. That’s a scene from the Normandy invasion recreation in Saving Private Ryan. It’s a scene from a war zone. But lately in the United States of America, shopping zones are war zones. 

For the record, it’s the 199th mass shooting this year, according to the Gun Violence Archive. The 200th will happen today, or maybe has already happened by the time you’ve read this. We’re on pace for close to 600 shootings, and perhaps 60,000 willful, malicious, or accidental deaths (there’ve been 20,200 so far this year, according to the GVA, in the first four months and one week of 2023). That 60,000 is roughly equal to the number of Americans who died in Vietnam in nearly a decade. We’ll witness the same amount of carnage in one year. Shopping zones are war zones.

Those numbers are staggering, but it did not take long for a familiar pattern to unfold from the right side of the political spectrum, where guns seem to be sacrosanct. Writes Tomasky:

But it would seem that little girl getting her face blown off, as if she lived in Stalingrad in 1943, is just God’s will. This was the verdict of the congressman who represents Allen, Republican Keith Self, who went on CNN after the shooting. He offered his prayers. The anchor interjected that some people think “prayers aren’t cutting it.” Self responded: “Well, those are people that don’t believe in an almighty God who is absolutely in control of our lives. I’m a Christian. I believe that He is.”

Self, we should note, is about as accidental a congressman as a person can be. In 2022, he challenged GOP incumbent Van Taylor in the primary. Taylor was seemingly headed toward a win when, two days before the primary, an Alex Jones–founded far-right website published an interview with a woman who claimed that she and Taylor had been having an affair. The woman was the wife of an American who had joined the Islamic State in 2013 and had been dubbed the “ISIS bride” by British tabloids. The revelation helped keep Taylor just below the 50 percent threshold required for a primary win. The next day, he withdrew. (I’d love to know the details behind all that!) Self cruised to victory.

And now Self gets to use his perch as a duly elected member of the U.S. House of Representatives to say with a straight face that there is nothing we can or should do about these massacres. God will sort it out.

Self was not the only politico to more or less offer a shrug of the shoulders:

Governor Greg Abbott, meanwhile, offered the usual pointless bromides: “unspeakable tragedy,” “our hearts are with” the people of Allen. Well, at least, as of Sunday afternoon, he hadn’t gone out of his way to discuss anyone’s immigration status, as he did the previous week after the Cleveland, Texas, shooting, when he took pains to note the status of both the shooter and the victims.

Yes, that shooting, which left six dead, was just eight days before this one. What thoughts are exploding in the mind and conscience of a man who presides over such carnage and does nothing? From the evidence, Abbott’s only thoughts are in the direction of how he can create the conditions for more girls to get their faces blown off. In 2021, Texas passed a law allowing Texans to carry guns in public without a permit or the licensing a permit would require and another law prohibiting state agencies and local governments from enforcing new federal gun rules (you read that right—prohibiting).

He called this “freedom.” I wonder what that little girl’s parents think of this definition of freedom.

There’s a bill pending in the current session that would actually close a small loophole in teen mental-health reporting that might have some vague impact on gun accessibility. The Senate passed it, but it languishes in the House. The legislative session ends May 29.

Meanwhile, newer and deadlier guns are coming on the market at a steady pace. That’s right: If you thought gun manufacturers might hit pause on all this, think again. After all, there’s a market out there, and it’s booming.

Translation: America's crisis of gun violence might get worse before it gets better -- if it ever does get better. Writes Tomasky:

Last year, for example, saw the introduction to the U.S. market of the Sig Sauer MCX Spear, the “civilian version” of the U.S. Army’s new XM7 rifle. Have a gander at this beast. It retails for $4,200, so it’s probably not within the reach of your average mass murderer.

But your mass murderer of above-average means will find a lot to like. It is, according to some reports I read, twice as powerful as an AR-15, and it’s specifically designed to tear through Kevlar or any other supposedly bulletproof material. (If the Uvalde police were too scared to intervene in that town’s school shooting, just wait until this weapon permeates the market.)

The great Michael Daly of The Daily Beast was on this story last year. This lengthy quote he extracted from a former firearms executive turned policy analyst is worth taking in: “There’s been this huge craze in shooting competitions to become a thousand-yard sniper. A lot of people want to be that long-range, thousand-yard sniper. Like they literally fantasize about taking some guy out from a mile away, because the gun will shoot a mile. You don’t hear it coming, you don’t see the shooter. The bullet just hits somebody. And this MCX Spear will essentially introduce that kind of capability to the semi-auto AR-15 world. All of a sudden, people will be able to kind of live out their fantasy of becoming a long-range sniper with an AR-15-style gun.”

Have people gone nuts, their brains saturated with gun fantasies? Whatever happened to fantasizing about Christie Brinkley? Maybe we should all step back and take a lesson from Clark Griswold in National Lampoon's Vacation -- assuming we can avoid being gunned down in a shopping mall, or God help us -- a church. Tomasky concludes with more chilling words:

This is the truth about where we are. The gun industry is bringing to market weapons capable of dispensing more death, in more violent fashion. Republican members of Congress say it’s in God’s hands, not theirs. And malls and schools are war zones. One witness in Allen was quoted by The New York Times as saying: “It was just kind of chaotic for a second. Then when someone said, ‘shooter,’ we all ran to the back of the store. As Americans, we’re used to this, because everyone knew exactly what to do.”

There’s only one logical conclusion to be drawn from all this. This is what the America gun manufacturers, the NRA, and right-wing politicians want: a country where we know that any trip to the mall involves a certain rolling of the dice. After all, that’s freedom.

Alleged sleaze connected to Southern Company has left Alabama with a rigged judicial system that harms ordinary folks -- including my wife -- in myriad ways

Abdul Kallon

 

Allegations of misconduct that have been swirling around Alabama Power; its parent firm, Southern Company; and related entities, such as Matrix LLC, could wind up shining much-needed light on the judicial corruption that has plagued Alabama for years, according to a report this morning from banbalch.com, which operates under the banner of the CDLU public charity and advocacy group.

Southern Company has a vice-like grip on the Alabama judiciary, resulting in unlawful rulings that benefit the company and its associated entities -- with all of this often going unnoticed by the public or the press. Writes K.B. Forbes, CEO of the CDLU and publisher of Ban Balch:

With the numerous documents, financial records, and insurmountable evidence of Southern Company’s criminal enterprise, now the greasing and corruption of the judicial branch of Alabama is under scrutiny.

 This is a profoundly important issue, one that hits close to home in the Schnauzer household. In fact, we've had an up-close view of courtroom activities that provide a distressing answer to this question: How does judicial corruption (or incompetence, or both) affect everyday Americans? Consider my wife, Carol. Crooked federal-court rulings, in the Northern District of Alabama, robbed her of full ownership rights to her own house. No, kidding. And Carol's experience ties in with the bigger picture that K.B. Forbes examines. How? The judge who butchered the ruling against Carol was Abdul Kallon, the same judge who oversaw the North Birmingham Bribery Trial -- and when reports surfaced about apparent corruption in that case -- gave up his lifetime appointment and bolted for Seattle, seemingly hoping no one could find him there.

We will have more in upcoming posts on the unpleasant -- and exasperating -- experiences Carol and I have had with judicial corruption. We also will examine this question: Are some of the cheat jobs we've experienced tied to Southern Company and affiliated entities, such as Alabama Power and the Balch & Bingham law firm? At the moment, we can think of at least one instance where there is a possible tie. I would not be surprised if we think of more -- either tied to Balch or a similar "big law" firm, such as Bradley Arant.

For now, let's turn to K.B. Forbes' analysis, which also points to baffling and brazen examples of judges acting with seemingly little, or no, respect for the rule of law. Writes Forbes:

A simple case of breach of contract and misrepresentation was sealed in its entirety. No minors, or victims of sexual assault or domestic violence were involved.

So why was the case sealed then?

Because the case was tied to Southern Company, its subsidiary Alabama Power, and/or sister-wife Balch & Bingham.

Observers have been stunned by the sheer control that Southern Company has over judges and the judicial branch in Alabama.

The Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO) provides for extended criminal penalties and a civil cause of action for acts performed as part of an ongoing criminal organization.

With the numerous documents, financial records, and insurmountable evidence of Southern Company’s criminal enterprise, now the greasing and corruption of the judicial branch of Alabama is under scrutiny.

In our view, the scrutiny cannot come too quickly -- or with too much intensity. Much has been written lately about threats to democracy. But it's possible that nothing threatens democracy quite like judicial corruption. As the son of a World War II veteran who landed on Normandy Beach three days after D-Day, I know men like my father put their lives on the line to protect the U.S. Constitution. But judicial corruption turns the Constitution on its head, often so the privileged and powerful can benefit -- with rulings coming out of the shadows, outside of public view. Here is more from K.B. Forbes about the breach-of-contract case:

The simple case of breach of contract and misrepresentation is ex-Drummond executive David Roberson’s $75-million civil lawsuit against Drummond Company and Balch & Bingham.

No developments in the case are currently available because of the gag order, sealing of the case.

And the motions to seal the case were made shortly after disgraced ex-Alabama Power CEO Mark A. Crosswhite was subpoenaed to testify. (Gee, is Crosswhite among the privileged?)

Known as the rebirth of the North Birmingham Bribery Trial, the case caused uncontrolled panic by Alabama Power, Drummond, and Balch before it was sealed.

And why does Southern Company seal a case?

So it can cheat and hide high crimes and misdemeanors.

Forbes brings another case to the forefront:

Look at the Newsome Conspiracy Case, where Southern Company’s attorneys at Balch & Bingham sealed the case in its entirety, known as a secret Star Chamber.

The entire case was “won” on a counterfeit order that even Balch admitted was counterfeit.

The counterfeit order was embarrassingly affirmed by the Alabama Supreme Court after contradicting an earlier, split-decision.

Judge Carole Smitherman, who presided over the Newsome Conspiracy Case, was completely biased, calling Newsome’s pleadings an attack on her family.

Why would she allude to her family?

Because her husband, Alabama State Senator Roger Smitherman, received more than $30,000 in legal bribes contributions from Southern Company-linked PACs and donors at critical junctures during the case. Senator Smitherman even sat in on the secret Star Chamber hearings of the Newsome case when no one outside of the case was supposed to be in the courtroom.

Let's return to the issue of privilege, and the price rogue judges extract from everyday Alabamians:

Crosswhite’s inappropriate relationship with disgraced ex-U.S. Attorney Jay E. Town helped Alabama Power to be “unmentionable” during the North Birmingham Bribery Trial and allegedly prevented a broader investigation after the convictions, that could have led to indictments of Southern Company employees.

Except for Regions Bank in Birmingham, Alabama has no Fortune 500 companies headquartered in the state.

Why?

Because of the high risk of a failed and compromised legal system.

What company CEO would want to deal with a corrupt and biased “system of justice” controlled and manipulated by a compromised few in Jefferson County and Montgomery?

The rule of law and the people’s court sadly does not exist, but RICO actions against Southern Company and its criminal enterprise can bring an end to an era of uncontrolled corruption and flagrant miscarriages of justice.

Hear, hear!

How bad is the judicial crisis in Alabama? Well, a judge signed off on what was essentially a state-sanctioned kidnapping in my "arrest for blogging" case. And yes, I spent five months in jail because of a blog post that never has been proven false or defamatory in a court proceeding that included minor details, such as discovery, a jury, a trial. This taste of "Alabama justice" made international news and caused me to be designated the only journalist in the western hemisphere to be incarcerated in 2013 -- all because of a judge (Claud Neilson) granting a prior restraint that has been held unconstitutional under more than 200 years of First Amendment law. That action put Alabama in company with countries such as Iraq, Russia, Iran, Turkey, and Uganda.

Speaking of sealed court cases, my "arrest for blogging" case was sealed, and I've never seen the file to this day. And I was a party! How does that happen? Hey, we're talking "Alabama justice" here.

The Watkins and Shuler families know this: When a loved one risks all to protect our Constitution, injustice and the rule of law become deeply personal matters

Joseph T. Watkins

What would it feel like to put your life on the line for your country only to return home as the target of racial discrimination? As a White American, I struggle to conjure up an answer to that question. But the family of longtime Alabama attorney and civil-rights advocate Donald Watkins (who is Black) has faced it in a close-up way. That's because his uncle, Joseph T. Watkins, lived it.

I suspect that experience helped Donald Watkins fight for the rule of law -- including publishing a Web site about justice issues (donaldwatkins.com) -- in a legal career of almost 50 years. It also might explain my desire to start the Legal Schnauzer blog in 2007 and keep it going continuously for 23 years.

How is that? Watkins helps explain it in an article published yesterday under the headline "Joseph T. Watkins: This Soldier Fought America’s Foreign and Domestic Enemies." Donald Watkins writes:

Joseph T. Watkins was my father’s youngest brother. He was smart, strong, and brave.

We called him “Uncle J.T.”

Uncle J.T. was a World War II veteran who served as a corporal in an all-black Army unit that fought in the campaign to liberate France from Nazi occupation. He was proud of his military service for America, and the Watkins family was proud of him.

Uncle J.T. would later become an effective fighter in another kind of war -- the never-ending battle for the protection and advancement of civil and constitutional rights in America.

After the War, Uncle J.T. moved to Washington and became a housing inspector for the District of Columbia government. He also rose through the ranks to become president of his local federal employees’ union.

The racial discrimination Uncle J.T. faced in Washington during the late 1940s, 1950s, and 1960s was heartbreaking. Uncle J.T. had put his life on the line in France for a nation that despised him at home.

I've known Donald Watkins for 8-10 years -- in fact, we were the two online journalists who wrote about "Luv Guv" Robert Bentley and the "Girlfriend Scandal," featuring senior aide Rebekah Caldwell Mason, that eventually forced Bentley to resign, drawing national news coverage in the process. Donald and I wrote about the Bentley scandal for roughly seven months before the mainstream press began to give it serious attention -- and we received relatively little credit for it.

AL.com columnist John Archibald appeared several times on The Rachel Maddow Show and was wrongly credited with "breaking" the Bentley story. The truth? Watkins and I wrote about the Bentley scandal, with depth and detail, for seven months before Archibald or anyone in the mainstream press gave it a serious look.

Bentley's own words and actions indicate he considered Watkins and me to be the central drivers of the "Girlfriend Scandal" that brought down his political career. Documents from a lawsuit involving Spencer Collier, former head of the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency (ALEA), show that Bentley asked multiple subordinates to unlawfully use state and federal criminal databases in an effort to retaliate against us for our journalism.

While I have known Donald Watkins for a number of years, I did not know the story of his Uncle J.T. until yesterday. I've never encountered anything approaching the racial discrimination Uncle J.T. experienced. But I did work one summer in a rubber factory -- making V-belts for domestic vehicles, appliances, military equipment, and more -- and I remember working on the line with Vietnam veterans who said they felt the American public never appreciated their service in what proved to be an unpopular war.

I thought of that when I read about Uncle J.T., and it helped me realize that, in a roundabout way, my family's story intersects with that of the Watkins family. Here's how: Uncle J.T.'s military service centered around the effort to liberate France from Nazi occupation. My father, William J. Shuler was involved in that effort, too.

William J. Shuler

As I was growing up, I knew about my dad's military service, but I did not know many details. He had a Luger, the distinctive-looking pistol German troops used, and he showed it to me one time. It looked scary to my eyes, and I've never been much of a gun guy, so I did not ask to see it again and did not want to know where he kept it. I think he might have had a Nazi arm band, but I'm not sure about that. As for the Luger, one of my brothers almost shot his foot off with the thing, so I was glad we all survived that episode -- especially since the bullet went through our parents' bedroom floor and landed in the basement, barely missing our fish aquarium, which was a fairly heavily trafficked area, where quite a few folks (including me) made a habit of gathering to watch the fish.

My dad died in 2008, and about 10 years later as my mother was nearing the end of her life, she told me that Dad was in a unit that landed on Normandy beach three days after the D-Day invasion. I've looked online several times for information about Dad's unit, but I haven't found anything so far. My best guess is that they were on what might be called a "recovery mission," to recover bodies, equipment, perhaps German intelligence. I can only imagine the kind of danger my father was in on that mission.

I imagine that unexploded land mines and other munitions dotted the beach. One wrong step, and my father's life would have been over -- and the lives of my siblings and I never would have started.

When you know that a loved one has faced danger and taken great risk to protect our country, our Constitution, our democracy, it tends to make you want to expose the kind of judicial, legal, and law-eforcement crookedness I've witnessed in two states (Alabama and Missouri). It makes you appreciate that we are a nation of laws, and you want to see those laws faithfully upheld, not trampled by judges who have no qualms about violating their oaths of office. I know that is the case with me, and I suspect it drives Donald Watkins, knowing what his Uncle J.T. went through. Writes Watkins:

In 1966, Uncle J.T. initiated an Equal Employment Opportunity Act administrative complaint on behalf of himself and others similarly situated that challenged the District of Columbia's widespread employment discrimination against blacks in hiring and promotional practices. Taking this bold action unleashed pure hell against him as a black employee.

In 1969, Uncle J.T., having exhausted his EEOC administrative remedies, filed a class-action lawsuit alleging that the District of Columbia's unlawful employment and promotional practices violated his civil and constitutional rights, as well as those of the class of blacks he represented.

In 1971, Uncle J.T. won his lawsuit after proving a pervasive pattern of racial discrimination against African-Americans in the District’s employment practices.

However, the trial court declined to grant certain relief requested by Uncle J.T., including (a) an immediate promotion for himself and another nonwhite employee named Somera, the only two employees who had been denied promotions because of race and were still employees; (b) rescission of a specific promotion of a white employee; (c) disciplinary action against persons still employees who were found to have perpetrated the system of racial discrimination; and (d) an injunction against further acts of discrimination and retention of jurisdiction.

Uncle J.T. appealed the trial court’s denial of the promotional relief for himself and Somera and denial of the requested injunctive relief.

On December 29, 1972, Uncle J.T. won the requested equitable relief that had been denied to him and Somera by the trial court.

Black federal employees in the District of Columbia were ecstatic. It was the first major employment-discrimination victory for the plaintiffs' class in the District in the early 1970s.

In making its ruling, the Court of Appeals stated:

“Appellant Watkins, who has for six years waged an almost single-handed battle against racial discrimination in the Housing Division, deserves a clear response from the courts……Accordingly, …… [t]he District Court is directed to remand the question of the promotional status of employees Watkins and Somera to the Hearing Committee or other appropriate administrative forum. The court is also directed to issue an appropriate order enjoining the Housing Division from further acts of racial discrimination and ordering the Division to take steps necessary to ensure that the effects of past discrimination will be eliminated and that there will be no discrimination in the future, the order to provide that the court will retain jurisdiction to enforce its order.”

After I graduated from the University of Alabama's law school in 1973 and passed the Alabama Bar exams several months later, I joined Uncle J.T. on the front lines of the fight against racial discrimination in employment practices in the District of Columbia and other federal agencies in Washington.

With Uncle J.T.’s help, I secured a nice office in a building at the corner of Albemarle St. and Wisconsin Avenue in the Georgetown area of Washington. I represented unionized federal government employees in Washington from 1974 until I was elected to the Montgomery, Alabama, city council in 1979.

Uncle J.T. continued to wage a passionate fight against racial discrimination within a number of federal agencies in the District of Columbia. His passion for the fight was exceeded only by his commitment to the cause of freedom and equality for all.

On June 8, 1973, Uncle J.T. won another round of sweeping injunctive relief for the plaintiffs' class of black District of Columbia employees after the trial court described the government's massive resistance to its anti-discrimination orders as "unreasonable, obdurate obstinacy."

By 1974, Uncle J.T. had achieved as much judicial relief as the courts would grant him and the class he represented. During the pendency of his last motion to enforce the prior court orders regarding the denial of a personal promotion to a GS-12 position, Uncle J.T. received a promotion to a GS-11 position, and later to a GS-12 job, before the Court of Appeals could issue a final ruling on his motion.

With this favorable personnel action and years of accumulated back pay, Uncle J.T. shifted his focus to securing upward mobility for a host of other black employees by establishing an aggressive and well-funded litigation support network.

Uncle J.T. died on November 3, 2005. He fought for equal opportunity until the last breath of life left his body. Uncle J.T. died on his feet fighting like a real soldier. He never got on his knees and surrendered his manhood to anybody.

Missouri Deputy Jeremy Lynn deems me an "anti-government" blogger during Carol's trial, and Judge Jerry Harmison allows the absurd statement to stand

Jeremy Lynn

A Missouri deputy at my wife Carol's recent "assault" trial referred to me as an "anti-government" blogger. No kidding -- and Judge Jerry Harmison Jr. allowed the false, nonsensical, and prejudicial statement into the record. In Right-Winger World, if you take a stand against corruption -- especially the Republican variety -- you get labeled "anti-government." Such is the perverse, postmodern world in which we live.

The statement came from Greene County deputy Jeremy Lynn, who claimed under oath that Carol had pushed him as he burst into our apartment for an unlawful eviction in September 2015. This is the same Jeremy Lynn who made no mention of Carol pushing him in written incident reports -- and admitted, both in court and in written reports, that he grabbed Carol immediately upon entering our home. The key question under Missouri's "assault on a law enforcement officer (LEO) statute" (RSMo 565.083) is "who caused or attempted to cause physical contact?" Missouri case law has held that the key issue is "who initiated physical contact?" (See State v. Armstrong, 968 SW 2d 154 - Mo: Court of Appeals, Southern Dist., 1st Div. 1998.)

Who, then, initiated physical contact in this instance? Jeremy Lynn admits, twice, that he did. That means Carol, as a matter of law, is not guilty. That Judge Harmison ruled otherwise suggests he is ignorant, incompetent, compromised -- or some combination of all three.

As for Lynn, he said one thing in writing and then changed his story, under oath, on the stand to ensure Carol's wrongful conviction. That suggests he committed perjury or falsified a police report. Either is a crime, meaning Carol's case was decided on fraud, and her conviction is due to be overturned on post-judgment motions.

What do we learn from Lynn's claim that I am an "anti-government blogger"? Here are a few things that come to mind:

* Lynn has mostly horse feces between his ears;

* We live in a dysfunctional era where -- if you don't toe the corrupt Bush, Trump, Rove, Sessions line of corrupt thinking -- certain white people (probably driven by their own race-based fears) think you must be "anti-government."

* Lynn's reading-comprehension skills are so limited that he can't grasp this is an "anti-corruption blog" -- it focuses on actual law, and how judges routinely butcher it, and that's about as far from being "anti-government" as you can get. More than anything, our blog promotes honest government and the rule of law, a concept with which Jeremy Lynn likely is not familiar. Legal Schnauzer has been ranked among the top 50 law blogs (No. 37) in North America, by a Chicago-based Web research and marketing firm called Cision. Ours was the only blog on the list not affiliated with a law firm, law school, legal society, media conglomerate, or social-welfare organization -- the only truly independent blog so honored.. That makes Legal Schnauzer the No. 1 law blog of its kind in North America. That kind of recognition likely does not come for a wild-eyed blogger who churns out anti-government screeds (whatever those are). It comes from being a real journalist, with a degree from one of the top journalism schools in the world. It comes from producing the kind of accurate, hard-nosed reporting and analysis that is found hardly anywhere else on the Web.

* Why did Judge Harmison allow such an improper statement into the record? It suggests he was not even trying to be fair. While I was on the stand, I repeatedly was not allowed to make legal conclusions -- even though they were correct -- because, as a non-lawyer, I'm not considered an expert in the field. I understand those rulings, but why was Lynn allowed to make a conclusion about the nature of a blog, even though he clearly has no expertise on the subject?

What exactly did Lynn say. It comes straight from page 3 of Harmison's judgment. (The judgment is embedded at the end of this post.):

Captain Jeremy Lynn testified on behalf of the state. He was assisting the civil division with the eviction because of concerns about Roger Shuler. Lynn was made aware that calls had been made to the Sheriff's Office from Shuler's family members, expressing concerns for the safety of law enforcement, and he was aware of anti-government blogs posted by Roger Shuler.

Did I ever say a threatening word about law enforcement to a family member -- or anyone else? Nope. This fable apparently was the work of my lawyer-brother, David Shuler, in an attempt to get Carol and me unlawfully evicted, hurt, killed -- or all three. As for Lynn, his ignorance does not stop there. Let's examine it from a broader view:

(1) I'm a liberal; anyone who reads this blog regularly knows that. Liberals, by definition, are for a strong central government -- and that describes me, the opposite of a "states' rights" Reaganite. I'm "pro government."

(2) My late father worked for 26 years as a clerk for the U.S. Post Office. That's a federal government job, one that fed, clothed, and housed, our family of six for a long time. Am I "pro government?" Absolutely.

(3) My dad's job came with federal government benefits, which gave us health insurance, access to a credit union, paid vacation (where we actually could see him from time to time; his working hours mostly were in the evenings), and union protection that kept him from being fired on someone's whim. Me, pro government? Darned tootin'.

(4) During World War II, my dad (Bill Shuler) arrived on Normandy Beach three days after the D-Day invasion. One can only imagine the horrible sights he must have seen and the danger he and his company were in. He put his life (and my life) on the line to help save democracy as we know it. My dad was in the U.S. Army, serving the government in perhaps the most dangerous way possible. A puss like Jeremy Lynn likely can't comprehend making that kind of sacrifice. I can because my family is filled with individuals who honorably served their "government" via the military.

(5) One of my uncles (Carl Stamps), after serving in the WWII, worked for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, helping to design dams and locks and such. He worked for the government and was a wonderful uncle. Through his example, I'm pro-government.

(6) One of my aunts (Imogene Stamps) served both in WWII and the Korean conflict, and worked for the U.S. Veterans Administration in Little Rock, AR, for 33 years. Her work focused mostly on rehabilitation of disabled veterans. She worked for the government and was a wonderful aunt. Through her example, I'm pro-government.

(7) Before corrupt political forces cheated me out of my job at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) (because I dared write about corruption on this blog), I worked 20 years at an institution that long has been the No. 1 economic driver in Alabama and one of the great education success stories in the Deep South. UAB is a state institution, which means I was a state-government employee -- and a darned good one. It was not unusual for me to do the work of two or three people in our understaffed, underpaid, and unappreciated editorial office. I routinely got a heavy workload completed in a timely and a high-quality fashion -- and I've got the strong performance reviews to prove it. I was one helluva bargain for the State of Alabama, and until the cheat job kicked into high gear in my final six months on the job, I enjoyed my work and was proud to call myself a UAB employee -- a state employee; a government employee; a loyal, "pro-government" employee.

Here is the difference between me and Jeremy Lynn, a marshmallow with a badge who lied under oath and claimed a 58-year-old woman pushed him and hurt his wittle feelings. A term like "pro government" is an empty phrase to a  puss like Jeremy Lynn; he likely uses it only to lick the ass crack of his corrupt boss, Sheriff Jim Arnott.

It's not an empty phrase to me. I've come from a long line of individuals who actually have stood up for their government -- and gave us the democracy we know today, at least until Donald Trump is able to destroy it.

Jeremy Lynn wouldn't know an "anti-government blogger" if one kicked him in the crotch. He's too stupid to know any better than to make statements on topics about which he is clueless. That Judge Jerry Harmison Jr. allowed such an absurd statement into a court record suggest he's not much smarter than Lynn. After all, Harmison was appointed by Eric Greitens, perhaps the most corrupt governor in Missouri history -- and Harmison is doing his best to live up to Greitens high "ethical standards."

And yes, I'm against having scum bags like Greitens in elective office -- as my reporting here has shown. And yes, that makes me "pro government."

Donald Trump's latest insult to military personnel has drawn the wrath of the VFW and should enrage all would-be voters who have a functioning conscience

Donald Trump shakes hands with D-Day veterans (U.S. DOD)

 

One of America's largest veterans-advocacy groups has called Donald Trump's comments "asinine" after the Republican presidential candidate compared various medals and concluded that the best ones are those that go to civilians because those recipients tend not to be injured, disabled, or dead. A reasonable person might conclude this is a controversy that easily could have been avoided. After all, is there any need to compare such medals? Is there any reason to declare that one is better than the others? Isn't it an issue that is sure to launch discord and would best be left untouched?  But this is Donald Trump we are talking about here, so he avoided any sign of rational thought, dove headlong into a non-issue, and left a smoldering pile of discord in his wake. 

How did such an unnecessary blowup come to pass? Reporter Eden Teshome, of The Hill, provides insight  under the headline "Veterans of Foreign Wars blasts Trump’s statement as ‘asinine’ Teshome writes:

Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW), one of the nation’s largest and oldest veteran advocacy organizations, on Friday condemned former President Trump’s recent statement comparing the Medal of Honor to a presidential award for civilians, calling his remarks “asinine.”

“These asinine comments not only diminish the significance of our nation’s highest award for valor, but also crassly characterized the sacrifices of those who have risked their lives above and beyond the call of duty,” wrote VFW National Commander Al Lipphardt in a Friday statement.

The VFW’s reaction comes after Trump equated the Presidential Medal of Freedom, awarded to civilians, to the Medal of Honor, which is awarded to soldiers wounded in the line of combat.

“That’s the highest award you can get as a civilian. It’s the equivalent of the congressional Medal of Honor, but civilian version,” Trump told attendees at an event at his Bedminster, N.J., club, attended by GOP mega-donor Miriam Adelson, who was awarded the Medal of Freedom in 2018.

“It’s actually much better, because everyone who gets the congressional Medal of Honor, that’s soldiers, they’re either in very bad shape because they’ve been hit so many times by bullets, or they’re dead. She gets it, and she’s a healthy, beautiful woman,” Trump said in reference to Adelson. “And they’re rated equal.”

The moment sparked an onslaught of condemnations from veterans-rights advocates and allies.

The words above were not coming from just any politician -- they came from a man who, as of January 2025,  hopes to be commander in chief -- even though he has a long history of insulting officers, rank-and-file troops, prisoners of war, the military dead, just about anyone who ever has worn the uniform. (See here, here, here, here, and here.) Trump even has suggested a high-ranking official should be executed for displeasing him as president.

Trump seems to have a knack for showing disrespect toward military personnel. Teshome writes:

This is not the first time the former president has attracted attention for disparaging comments about wounded veterans. In 2020, the VFW demanded an apology from the president after Trump downplayed the injuries to 34 service members who suffered traumatic brain injuries as a result of retaliatory Iranian airstrikes by saying that they had “headaches.”

“[Traumatic brain injury] is a serious injury and one that cannot be taken lightly,” the organization wrote at the time. “The VFW expects an apology from the president to our service men and women for his misguided remarks.”

The Trump camp has not backed away from the former president’s most recent comments.

In an interview on NewsNation with Leland Vittert, Trump campaign senior adviser Corey Lewandowski defended Trump’s remarks as Vittert asked whether he was doubling down on them.

“Because there are some people who don’t serve in our military but should still be recognized with the highest honor our country has to offer them,” Lewandowski told NewsNation on Friday evening in response to questions from Vittert about Trump’s remarks.

The clip was reposted by Kamala HQ, the Harris campaign’s rapid response team. The Trump campaign did not immediately respond to requests for comment from The Hill.

The controversy comes as Republicans attempt to attack the service record of Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, Vice President Harris’s running mate, alleging that discrepancies in his public comments amount to stolen valor. Walz served as an enlisted member of the Army National Guard. Republican Sen. JD Vance, Trump’s running mate, is also a veteran, having served in the Marines during the Iraq War.

Following Harris’s VP announcement, Lipphardt lauded both campaigns for selecting veterans. Ahead of the election, however, VFW’s confidence in the Republican campaign appears to have soured.

“When a candidate to serve as commander-in-chief so brazenly dismisses the valor and reverence symbolized by the Medal of Honor, I question whether they would discharge their responsibilities with the seriousness and discernment necessary,” Lipphardt concluded in his statement. 

“It is even more disappointing when these comments come from a man who has  served in this noble office and frankly should already know better.”

For several months, I've been wondering how any American with functioning brain cells could support Trump. Following Trump's most recent insults toward military personnel, I don't see how a single American could vote for the guy. His disrespect toward the military, in my view, make him unfit to serve as president. How bad have Trump's words and actions been? He reportedly called American dead, buried at a cemetery in France, "suckers" and "losers."

I've never served in the military, but I find such language highly offensive. Like many other American families, the Shulers have skin in this "game. As I reported in June, my father, William J. Shuler, was in a squadron that arrived for a recovery mission at Normandy three days after the D-Day Invasion. 

Another relative, a man named Elijah Stamps from my mother's side of the family in Arkansas, fought in Southwest Missouri for the Confederate Army at the Battle of Wilson's Creek, which was the first major battle of the Trans-Mississippi Theater of the American Civil War. 

 Elijah Stamps, while on the battlefield, wrote a letter to his wife, Elvira. Based on my knowledge of our family history, Elijah Stamps survived the battle, and his letter somehow wound up with my mother, who treasured it for decades and ultimately made sure it became part of the battlefield's museum collection.

 As for the 2024 election, I don't see how any American could cast a vote for someone as despicable as Donald Trump. That decision, of course, rests with the would-be voter, not me.

But in my view, you cannot be a Donald Trump supporter and a patriotic American. He has stated many times that, if elected, he intends to act outside our constitution and usher in an authoritarian regime that might end American democracy forever. (See here and here.) Vote for Donald Trump, if you must, but don't try to con the rest of us into believing you are  a patriot. Your vote will mark you as not even close  to being a patriot.

For those who are interested in digging deeper into issues raised in this post, I highly recommend an article by Robert Kagan, in The Washington Post under the headline "We have a radical democracy. Will Trump voters destroy it?" (April 24, 2024). Trump and his supporters certainly would be wise to read Kagan's piece. They might discover that achieving his stated, undemocratic, goals, will be far more difficult than they might have imagined. 

If you care at all about your country, I have a suggestion. Save all of us a lot of time and trouble and cast your vote for someone who actually is fit to serve as president . . .  someone like Kamala Harris.