Trying to Support Lawful Commerce During the Coronavirus Panic
March 20, 2020 2:13pm
I just finished lunch with some friends. In the two hours we were at the restaurant, it was us plus three other tables. That's it. The waitress said it has been that slow all week. My lunch today was not just to satiate my hunger. I could have eaten the food I have in my house. I went out to eat with the goal of seeing friends and putting some money in the hands of the restaurant staff that desperately needs it since so few people are dining out.
The overreaction to the media-induced Coronavirus Panic is destroying the economy. And for what? For nothing.
I have no fear that I caught the coronavirus today. I am safe because I was wearing a mask!
Understand that I am not mocking the COVID-19 deaths. I am mocking the panic. The coronavirus is real. People ARE getting sick, and people ARE dying. But the U.S. has overreacted to it by massively shutting down commerce. And I see the economic damage as far worse than the biological damage. That's not to say that lives don't matter; clearly they do. But society decides between money and life all the time. And I don't see America's self-inflicted damage as being worth it.
On tomorrow's episode of The Mike Bates Show, I'll go into great detail about how the risk is overblown and why shutting down commerce is the wrong response to it. Listen live from 7a - 8a (CT) at http://www.talk103fm.com/listen-live
The podcast recording will be up shortly after 8:30a (CT) at https://www.themikebatesshow.com/podcasts/200321
ADDITION: March 21, 2020 11:11pm
Soooooo.....
As the above photo shows, yesterday, I had lunch with five friends at a restaurant in Pensacola that was LAWFULLY open and LAWFULLY serving food in the dinning room. One of those friends was Mike Hill, who serves in the Florida House of Representatives. Mike Hill and I get together frequently, but his presence here is germane because...
I posted a photo to Facebook of the six of us eating. And then the internet went completely nuts. My post was set to public, but I didn't understand why so many people I didn't know were commenting on it. Well, as it turns out, a so-called "journalist" from a statewide "news" publisher tweeted out a screenshot of my Facebook photo as an attack on Representative Hill. It was retweeted 3100 times. Apparently, peacefully eating at a restaurant while the rest of the country is panicking is frowned upon.
Anyway, having been alerted to the Crime of the Century, in which I was a participant, the Twitterverse converged on my Facebook page to throw their tomatoes and insults, with a few death wishes sprinkled in. The Twitter comments can be read at https://twitter.com/PeterSchorschFL/status/1241090972878020613
I don't tweet, but I did send the following to the so-called "journalist":
Peter Schorsch, your tweet at https://twitter.com/PeterSchorschFL/status/1241090972878020613 falsely states, "There's Florida State Representative @MikeHillFL (R-Confederacy) having lunch today with friends who say the #Coronavirus outbreak is 'media-induced' and 'nothing.'"
Your description of Representative Mike Hill as "R-Confederacy" demonstrates your irresponsible political bias. And your false assertion that Hill's friends "say the #Coronavirus outbreak is 'media-induced'" is blatantly and provably untrue. If you'll read and comprehend what I actually wrote (and it's still there, so you should), you'll see that I didn't say the coronavirus outbreak is media-induced. I said the Coronavirus PANIC is media-induced, which it is.
If you cared about facts, you would post a correction. But I won't hold my breath waiting for one.
#DishonestJournalism
(END)
Well, I didn't hold my breath, and he didn't correct his fake news.
At the time we were dining, it was legal to eat-in. But Governor DeSantis must have read the comments in that Twitter thread and realized that eating inside a restaurant means certain death for the diners and anyone they'll ever encounter. He issued an order limiting all Florida restaurants to take-out and delivery only.
I didn't address the Facebook or Twitter threads on my radio program this morning. Instead, I explained how I formed my opinion that destroying our economy by shutting down lawful commerce due to the COVID-19 Coronavirus is completely inappropriate and will do more damage than the virus will. After the show aired, it was uploaded to my podcast page. If you'd like to hear it, it's at www.themikebatesshow.com/podcasts/200321
If you do listen, please listen to the entire hour so what will be perceived as my cold-blooded callousness, unbridled greed, and heartless apathy will be heard in proper context. It won't make sense if you don't hear all of it.
How to End the COVID-19 Coronavirus Epidemic in 3 Easy Steps
March 18, 2020 1:40pm
HOW TO END THE COVID-19 CORONAVIRUS EPIDEMIC IN 3 EASY STEPS:
1) President Trump announces that the COVID-19 Coronavirus is an epidemic.
2) President Trump signs an executive order that postpones the November elections and keeps him in office until the epidemic is over.
3) Within hours, the media will declare the epidemic to be over, and we can get back to our lives.
WPNN Radio to Provide Live Coverage of Election Results from 7pm - 9pm Tonight
March 17, 2020 5:18am
Presidential Primaries happen today in Florida, Arizona, Illinois, and Ohio (although Ohio Governor Mike DeWine is still trying to postpone Ohio's vote by ordering the closure of all polling places through a declaration of a "health emergency" after a judge refused an earlier lawsuit's attempt to delay the primary).
Assuming Ohio does vote today, there are 577 Democrat delegates up for grabs, 219 of them in Florida. Republicans will choose 328 delegates, 122 are in Florida.
WPNN Radio (103.7 FM & 790 AM and streamed at www.talk103fm.com/listen-live) will provide live coverage of today's election tallies as soon as the polls close in Pensacola. We'll have interviews with party representatives and newspeople from across Florida.
Chris Bryan and I will anchor the program from 7pm - 9pm on WPNN, where Pensacola listens. Depend on us.
The Politicized Coronavirus Panic is Doing More Harm Than the Disease.
March 12, 2020 7:35am
Stop the hysteria! We have completely lost our minds. The media-induced fear of the COVID-19 Coronavirus has now turned into a full-blown societal panic that will cause far more damage than the disease itself ever could.
This is not the Black Plague! It is a viral respiratory infection that will cause flu-like symptoms for a week or two among young and healthy people. Ninety-nine percent will fully recover. The elderly and infirm do face a higher risk of death. But even that survival rate exceeds 85%.
The government has told us not to go on cruise ships. Airlines have canceled thousands of flights. Travel plans have been canceled. Entire cities are quarantined. Schools have closed. Consumer goods are becoming scarce because of supply chain disruptions and hoarding. The FDA has reported shortages of some drugs. The NBA suspended their season. The March Madness NCAA Basketball Tournament will be played in arenas devoid of fans. Concerts and festivals have been canceled. The National Association of Broadcasters convention, the fourth largest convention in America, previously scheduled for April 19 - 22, was canceled yesterday. It was far from alone. Sunday's Democratic primary debate in Arizona will be held without a live audience. Scheduled military exercises aren't happening. Religious institutions have been shuttered. Even the Haj pilgrimage to Mecca has been seriously curtailed.
The unjustified, media-driven fear has managed to destroy the strong American economy in just a few weeks. Yesterday, the Dow ended its eleven year bull market run by closing in bear-market territory; a 20% decline from its high. The S&P 500 will almost certainly follow suit when markets open today.
Democrats and the media - but I repeat myself - have realized they can use this virus and the massive economic damage the fear is causing to bludgeon President Trump. By hyping the story beyond all reasonable proportions, they believe they can do what the Russian collusion hoax and phony impeachment couldn't do; bring down the President of the United States. With that as their goal, this panic will be encouraged until Election Day. And by then, our economy will make the Great Recession look like the good ol' days.
And no tax cut will cure our economic woes because our problem is not that consumers lack money (at least not yet). The problem is that people are afraid to go out and spend their money going about their daily lives.
It was President Obama's Chief of Staff, Rahm Emanuel, who said. "You never want a serious crisis go to waste. And what I mean by that it's an opportunity to do things that you think you could not do before." This coronavirus "crisis" is certainly causing us to do things we could not do before. A crisis can be natural or man-made.
The proposed "solutions" to this "crisis" all come from a bigger, more intrusive national government. And we seem willing to accept it because we fear we will otherwise die.
I'm not one to believe in conspiracy theories. But the perfectly coordinated worldwide execution of the coronavirus scare makes me wonder. I am not saying the COVID-19 Coronavirus is a global conspiracy. But I am saying such a theory is "not impossible." And if I were to write a novel about a global conspiracy by intelligence agencies - both foreign and domestic - to bring down the President of the United States, it would align with today's real-world events.
As President Franklin Delano Roosevelt said in his first inaugural address, "The only thing we have to fear is fear itself - nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror which paralyzes needed efforts."
Well, I refuse to live in fear. I will wash my hands and carry on. And I'll be on a commercial airplane this afternoon.
Why Should Trump Get Off Twitter? This Retweet is "Exhibit A"
March 9, 2020 11:35pm
This tweet is a perfect example of why President Trump should get off Twitter or employ a censor to review his tweets before he hits the "tweet" button to make it go live.
The image is a screenshot the President's retweet of a tweet posted by Dan Scavino. Donald Trump retweeted it with his added message of "Who knows what this means, but it sounds good to me!"
Has Donald Trump never heard "Nero fiddled while Rome burned"? I've known what that meant since at least the 6th grade! Roman Emperor Nero allegedly played the violin as he watched Rome get destroyed by fire in 64 AD. And while that account is almost certainly historical fiction, the expression has come to mean that a conceited and sadistic ruler is so selfish and heartless that he irresponsibly ignores the perils his people face.
And Trump retweeted that???
For at least four years, I have said that Donald Trump is his own worst enemy, and that his biggest problem is that he always thinks he's the smartest person in the room no matter who else is in the room with him.
His moronic retweet proves he’s not.
You Are 29% MORE LIKELY TO DIE from the COVID-19 Coronavirus in the United States than in China!
March 7, 2020 1:45pm
At this moment, based upon the most recent data available from the World Health Organization, there have been 80,652 people diagnosed with the COVID-19 Coronavirus in China, and there have been 3070 deaths. That's a fatality rate of 3.806%.
Also at this moment, based upon the most recent data available from the Centers for Disease Control, there have been 345 people diagnosed with the COVID-19 Coronavirus in the United States, and there have been 17 deaths. That's a fatality rate of 4.927%.
Since 4.927% is 29.453% higher than 3.806%, YOU ARE 29% MORE LIKELY TO DIE FROM COVID-19 IN THE UNITED STATES THAN IN CHINA!
There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies, and coronavirus statistics.
NOTE: Although the above data is accurate, it should be obvious that I posted this just to mock the media hype. There is no need to fall prey to the media-induced panic. Wash your hands and carry on.
Open the Naval Aviation Museum to the Public NOW!
March 6, 2020 6:51am
Exactly, three months ago, a Royal Saudi Air Force flight student at NAS Pensacola shot eleven people, killing three. And the base has been closed to non-DOD civilians ever since, except under the very narrow circumstance of being escorted by someone with a Department of Defense ID card.
Keeping civilians away from the base's Naval Aviation Museum is unacceptable and inexcusable.
The phony claim of "security concerns" is complete nonsense. It wasn't a civilian visiting the base who murdered people. And the museum is already effectively isolated from most base operations anyway. The Navy could return to the exact same museum access as existed before the shootings with zero adverse consequences. They just don't have the courage to do it. It's easier to sit back and do nothing.
The murderer was motivated by fundamentalist Islam and anti-American hatred. He was not motivated by a desire to see historic aircraft in a museum. But many decent people who pose no danger to anyone at NAS Pensacola do want to see those historic aircraft. And they should be allowed to.
I am fully aware that the mission of the base is not tourism, and that the safety and security of our military personnel is paramount. But the absurd policy of denying public access to the Naval Aviation Museum and the Pensacola Lighthouse is the equivalent of not allowing horses into the barn because a fox got into the hen house.
Actually, it's worse than that. It is the equivalent of not allowing horses into the barn because a rooster who lived in the hen house killed a hen in the hen house.
No, Trump Did NOT Cut Funding for the Centers for Disease Control
March 1, 2020 7:22am
This Chicago Tribune story is FALSE. It is one of many fake news stories that are circulating.
As is so typical, Democrats are lying about President Trump, and the propagandists in the so-called "news" media are amplifying those lies.
Many Democrats - and all Democrat candidates for President - have claimed that Donald Trump slashed the budget for the Centers for Disease Control, and that those irresponsible cuts are to blame for the COVID-19 Coronavirus spreading to the United States. But that is complete nonsense.
The Centers for Disease Control and the National Institutes of Health BOTH have had budget INCREASES during Trump's presidency. But Trump cannot be credited with those increases, however. He wanted Congress to cut CDC and NIH funding, but Congress increased funding instead. Trump did sign the budget into law, but that can't really be considered support for it.
From the debate stage, lying Mike Bloomberg said the U.S. is unprepared for the COVID-19 Coronavirus because Trump "defunded Centers for Disease Control, CDC, so we don’t have the organization we need." NOT TRUE!
And lying Joe Biden said the Obama-Biden Administration increased the budget of the CDC and NIH, but Trump "wiped all that out" and "cut the funding for the entire effort.” ALSO FALSE!
Whether or not President Trump's response to the COVID-19 Coronavirus has been good or not is a matter of opinion. But to quote the late Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan (D-NY), "Everyone is entitled to his own opinion, but not to his own facts." The Democrats are entitled to their opinions, but they are not entitled to their own facts. That the so-called "news" media allows such provably false statements to go unquestioned is disgraceful.
Bloomberg is also lying in his advertising by making the charge that the U.S. is unprepared for the virus because Trump made “reckless cuts” to the CDC. That statement is false and therefore inappropriate. But at least that dishonesty is done in Bloomberg's paid advertising - a platform where candidates play fast and loose with the facts all the time.
If I know the Democrats are lying, why don't the "journalists" know? They do know. They just aren't going to let facts get in the way of a political attack on President Trump.
The dishonesty is disgraceful.
Fake news like this is everywhere. This particular fake news story is at https://www.chicagotribune.com/columns/clarence-page/ct-column-trump-coronavirus-cdc-page-20200228-25n2oswzanbzdbvj27mhl5w77a-story.html?fbclid=IwAR0PZ27Q-UZLszdMzBlsB4MHLE8DcW-RHHvPmlYvosksN1p7ZrBnVgZxrNs
The Worldwide Panic Over the COVID-19 Coronavirus is Unjustified.
February 27, 2020 11:32pm
I'm no epidemiologist, but I do want to weigh in on the worldwide reaction to the COVID-19 Coronavirus. Let me change a word in that sentence. I want to weigh in on the worldwide OVERREACTION to the COVID-19 Coronavirus. It is an unjustified panic.
In the last four days, the Dow Jones Industrial Average plunged 3226 points. Is that drop of 11.1% justified? Not in my opinion. But markets can be motivated by both irrational exuberance and by irrational fear.
People are acting as if COVID-19 is a painful, super-contagious, extremely deadly, incurable disease. It is not. The official fatality rate is less than 3%. But it's probably lower than that because there are certainly more infections than are officially tabulated. For comparison, the flu's fatality rate is about 0.2%
But who is dying? The elderly and people with preexisting health problems such as heart disease or diabetes. Fully 99.8% of the young and healthy who contract the coronavirus survive.
People aged 80+ have an official fatality rate of 14.8%. But the official fatality rate for people under 50 is less than 0.5% (with 10-39 year-olds dying at a rate of 0.2%). I'm 54, which means I have a 98.7% statistical probability of surviving a COVID-19 infection. And even an 80 year-old has a 85.2% chance of NOT dying. So what the hell are we so afraid of?
This is a situation where the fear is worse than the disease. I would travel to Wuhan, China tomorrow without any concern that I would get sick and die. The symptoms, while not pleasant, are no more severe than many other illnesses that infect our bodies.
Worldwide, the coronavirus will cause far more economic damage than biological damage. With businesses in China closed, the pipeline for parts and manufactured goods around the world is in the process of being seriously disrupted. Chinese companies face bankruptcy and may never reopen. The ripple effects are being felt across the entire globe.
Airlines have reduced services. Cruise lines have canceled cruises. Entire towns in Asia and Europe are quarantined. Many sports leagues in Asia are playing games in deliberately empty stadiums. Schools have closed. Festivals were canceled. Religious facilities have been shuttered. Saudi Arabia has prohibited Haj pilgrimages. There is even talk of Tokyo not hosting the 2020 Olympics.
With people afraid to travel and congregate, the flow of money will dramatically slow. And it is the speed of money changing hands that fuels the economy. Fast cash flow is good; slow cash flow is bad. And credit defaults have a cascading negative effect even on businesses with strong balance sheets. Fear resulting from the media's hype will do more damage than the virus.
Symptoms of COVID-19 range from mild to severe fever, cough, and shortness of breath. In other words, it's just like most respiratory infections. I acknowledge that COVID-19 is worse than the common cold. But it's not the Black Plague either. Be reasonable. Wash your hands. Cover your coughs and sneezes. SARS, MERS, Ebola, H1N1, and the West Nile Virus didn't kill anywhere near as many people as the alarmists predicted. And neither will COVID-19.
And now to get political (because in 2020 EVERYTHING is political). If the American economy tanks as a result of this media-induced panic, and people become concerned about their access to health care, who benefits from that? The candidate promising the most free health care. And that ain't Trump.
As the curse claimed to be of Chinese origin says, "May you live in interesting times." These times are certainly interesting.
TripAdvisor Ranks Pensacola Beach as the 4th Best Beach in the United States!
February 27, 2020 9:02am
TripAdvisor ranks Pensacola Beach as the 4th best beach in the United States! With our sugar white sands, undeveloped stretches of the Gulf Islands National Seashore, warm waters, and plenty of public access, Pensacola Beach is certainly one of the finest beaches in the world.
Full rankings are at https://www.tripadvisor.com/TravelersChoice-Beaches-cTop-g191
Go, Bernie, Go!
February 25, 2020 10:25am
It is best for our country if Bernie gets the Democratic nomination. Every other candidate would publicly but deceptively move toward middle ground on policies immediately after securing the nomination. But Bernie would continue to state his real socialist policy intentions.
Fortunately, a majority of Americans don't want his economy-damaging and constitution-shredding policies that would destroy this country, so he'd be the easiest candidate to defeat.
However, I acknowledge there is significant risk in a Sanders nomination. Due to the constant negative propaganda about Trump in the so-called "news" media by activists posing as journalists, hatred of Trump based mostly on lies, and the possibility of a black swan event damaging our economy before Election Day, there is always a path to the Democrat nominee winning in November (which would be a huge loss for the country and the world).
But as things stand today, Go, Bernie, Go!
The Call of the Wild
February 22, 2020 9:31pm
I saw "The Call of the Wild" tonight.
As is so typical, the movie version was not as good as the book.
Probably because it was a Disney film, the violence that Buck (the lead character dog) experienced after his kidnapping was much milder than what Jack London wrote. The harsh reality of life in the Yukon was minimized, the horrors of the Klondike Gold Rush were romanticized, and many critical scenes from the book never made it to the screen. Remember that Jack London got the idea for the book during his time searching for gold in the Klondike - a journey that took him through Skagway in 1897.
The film's fabricated character of the rich villain was added to the storyline so viewers could be spoon-fed conflict without exerting the energy of a single neuron to contemplate the philosophical battles of man and beast.
In the book, Buck adopts an attitude of kill-or-be-killed as he evolved from the pampered life of a ranch dog to the Alpha Male of a wolfpack. Buck's metamorphosis in the film failed to capture the intensity of that experience. Wile E. Coyote & Road Runner cartoons portrayed better conflict.
Others in the theater laughed at the unnecessary and simple comedic moments, but I found them to be distracting and pointless.
I'm glad I saw it. It wasn't a terrible movie. The bond between man and dog can certainly be appreciated. So if you want the Disneyfied "Call of the Wild," then see the film. But if you want the original - and better - Jack London version, read the book.
Appeals Court Improperly Restores Voting Rights to Convicted Felons in Florida
February 19, 2020 3:12pm
This is a terrible decision by the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals. If this decision is not overturned, the ONLY proper remedy is to throw out the results of the Amendment 4 vote and remove it from the Florida Constitution.
Florida voters approved 2018's Amendment 4 which very clearly restored voting rights to felons "after they complete all terms of their sentence including parole or probation." That quote is directly from the ballot. "All terms" means ALL TERMS. And those terms include payment of fines, fees, restitution, etc.
If the courts subsequently decide that "all terms" doesn't (or can't) include payment of fines, fees, and restitution, then a re-vote with new ballot language that properly describes the amendment's criteria is necessary.
I'll address this in greater detail this Saturday on The Mike Bates Show.*
https://www.tallahassee.com/story/news/2020/02/19/court-florida-cant-bar-felons-vote-over-fines-fees/4806809002/?fbclid=IwAR13QuCYomPgQT5pYHxm8NOBJ_jrKBDeHg8cz0-qodQt510JQO259nBwYKI
* Updated at 7:07am on 2/22/2020: I didn't get to this topic on this morning's program, so I'll be sure to address it next week.
Did You Know RU486 Abortions Can Be Reversed?
February 15, 2020 7:24am
Did you know RU486 abortions can be reversed if the woman chooses within 72 hours to let her baby live?
Neither did I until I interviewed Dr. William Lile on my radio show. You can link to that interview from https://www.facebook.com/Talk103fm/photos/a.552602778090615/4174642669219923/?type=3&theater
Forty percent of abortions in America are done using the RU486 abortion pill. 70% of those could be reversed.
Please share that Facebook post or this blog post, so others will know they can potentially save a baby's life.
Thank you,
Mike Bates
The Democratic Party's Hypocrisy is on Parade in Iowa
February 12, 2020 11:11pm
There is tremendous irony in the fact that Democrats continue to complain about how Hillary Clinton received more votes in 2016 than Donald Trump, but Trump got more Electoral College votes - and thus won the presidency.
In the Iowa Caucuses, Bernie Sanders received 2568 more votes than Pete Buttigieg (45,842 - 43,274). But Buttigieg got 14 delegates, and Bernie got 12.
Now let's have some fun with history and math:
Buttigieg got 5.6% fewer votes, but he was allocated 16.6% more delegates.
In 2016, Trump got 4.3% fewer votes than Hillary (65,853,516 - 62,984,825), but he was allocated 29.9% more Electoral College votes (304 - 234*).
And yet Democrats think the Constitution of the United States is unjust, but their party's caucus rules are fair?
Oh, the hypocrisy!
* This is the total earned on Election Day. Since seven Clinton electors didn't cast their electoral ballots for Clinton or Trump, the actual Electoral College victory for Trump was 304 - 227.
RAW DATA SOURCE: Federal Election Commission Official 2016 Presidential General Election Results
My Second Amendment Speech at Escambia County Chapter of Trump Team 2020
February 12, 2020 6:06am
The Fetke Report streamed my Second Amendment speech at last night's meeting of the Escambia County Chapter of Trump Team 2020. It is now archived at https://www.facebook.com/TrumpTeam2020Pensacola/videos/189034405525450/
B-17 Flying Fortress "Ye Olde Pub" at Pensacola Airport
February 11, 2020 5:31pm
I interviewed Ray Fowler, a pilot with the Liberty Foundation this afternoon.
The foundation's B-17 Flying Fortress "Ye Olde Pub" is at Pensacola Aviation Center on the east side of the airport (on Jerry Maygarden Road). You can take to the skies in a ride aboard this vintage warbird this Saturday and Sunday. For information about times and pricing, visit www.LibertyFoundation.org
You can also tour the plane on the ground this weekend at no cost. The public is invited.
The interview will air this Saturday morning at 6:00 on The Mike Bates Show on WPNN 103.7 FM & 790 AM.
I'll Be the Speaker at the Trump Team 2020 Meeting Tomorrow
February 10, 2020 6:56am
I'll be the featured speaker tomorrow evening at the monthly meeting of the Escambia County, Florida Chapter of Trump Team 2020. I was asked to cover Second Amendment issues, so that will be my primary focus.
The event is Tuesday, February 11th at 6:30pm in the banquet room of Calvert's in the Heights restaurant located at 3102 E. Cervantes Street (just west of Scenic Highway) in Pensacola. The event is free and open to the public. I hope to see you there.
Details at https://www.facebook.com/events/521916228677453/
Commemorating the 100th Birthday of General "Chappie" James, Jr.
February 9, 2020 6:06pm
My wife and I attended tonight’s dinner commemorating the 100th birthday of Daniel "Chappie" James, Jr. (born February 11, 1920).
Chappie James was one of Pensacola's most esteemed men. His father worked for the gas company, and his mother was a school teacher. As a child, he would look up and see Navy pilots from NAS Pensacola flying overhead.
He aspired to become a pilot, but he was told that black men can't be pilots. So what did he become? A pilot! And not just any pilot. He trained the Tuskegee Airmen during World War II, flew combat missions over Korea & Vietnam, was promoted to General, and became the Commanding Officer at NORAD where he oversaw all strategic aerospace defense forces of North America. He was the first African-American to achieve the rank of 4-star General in any of the U.S. Armed Forces.
Last year, I visited his grave at the hallowed grounds of Arlington National Cemetery. https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=2550816588269070&set=p.2550816588269070&type=3&theater
Cris Dosev is leading the effort to get the new bridge named for General James. Cris has succeeded at all the necessary local levels and is now working with the Florida Legislature in Tallahassee to make it a done deal. I interviewed Cris Dosev about Chappie James on The Mike Bates Show yesterday. That interview can be heard at https://www.themikebatesshow.com/podcasts/200208 (segment 4).
This dinner is a fundraiser for the Chappie James Museum and the General Daniel "Chappie" James Flight Academy.
Hanging Out with Nancy Pelosi in Havana, Cuba
February 7, 2020 at 8:23am
Hanging out with Nancy Pelosi in Havana, Cuba (March 2016).
I haven't spoken to her since she disgracefully and childishly tore her copy of President Trump's constitutionally-mandated State of the Union address. But if we speak again, I will tell her what a disgusting person she is.
A few people have asked me if Pelosi's destruction of Trump's written address was illegal.
As I read it, 18 USC § 2071 would be applicable only if the copy President Trump handed her was the official copy the Constitution requires the President to deliver to the House. If it was, she's guilty of a crime. But if the official copy was delivered to the House by some other means (and I have no idea how the official document is transmitted), then she is innocent.
Regardless of whether she violated any criminal statutes, it was definitely a violation of the first two clauses of House Rule XXIII, which dictates the House’s official code of conduct. But the penalty for violating those rules is imposed by the House itself, which is controlled by Democrats, so she will suffer no consequences.
That she did it is disrespectful to the Constitution. That so many Democrats have applauded it is disgraceful but not surprising.
Today's Democrats are dangerous enemies of our Republic.