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The Morning Rant

TRIAL BY JURY: THE NEXT 'WOKE' TARGET?
When progressives talk about 'reimagining' or 'reinventing' or 'rebuilding' such-and-such a thing or how some institution needs to be 'fundamentally transformed', you can be sure that this is because they're not getting their way in some fashion, meaning: the outcome(s) they desire is not happening. You can see this happening in the last couple three years as they have started to whine about 'court reform', as if it was some long-standing issue that now needs to be addressed. Of course, all of you morons know that 'court reform', is just an 'umbrella' term used by progressives that encompasses the various court packing/modification/abolishment schemes they've proposed.

It didn't used to be this way. Progressives used to love the courts. Because they discovered, I think in the 70s, that if they lost a fight in the legislature, they could always scurry off to the courts and shop around for a liberal judge who could be depended upon to find some reason to overturn the legislature and impose the liberal agenda by judicial fiat. And this was an increasing source of concern for conservatives, that resulted in the creation of The Federalist Society which promoted and encouraged the appointment of constitutionalist justices. The results were a mixed bag at best. For all the battles conservatives have fought over judges, the judicial branch has remained a more or less reliable path by which the progressive agenda is continued to be implemented.

So why is 'court reform' now, 2019-2021, suddenly, A Thing with progressives?

I think what triggered this was, as you might guess, the Bad Orange Man. Progressives could only watch helplessly from the sidelines as Donald Trump, whom they believe never should have been president to begin with, was able to appoint first one, then two and then three justices to the Supreme Court, appointments which should have rightfully been filled by President Hillary. And he appointed all three in one term, which is really quite remarkable, historically speaking. Few presidents get so many opportunities for SCOTUS appointments. Not that the "Trump court" has done much to roll the progressive agenda, but regardless, progressives have clearly been badly spooked. In particular, they feel that their precious idol, Roe v. Wade, is in danger of being toppled. I doubt this will happen, but they're running around with their hair on fire about it, so why should I correct their misperceptions?

Anyway, the reason I'm bringing all of this up about progressives and the courts is because a couple of recent high-profile court cases didn't go their way. First, the evil white supremacist Kyle Rittenhouse took out a couple of their (white) foot soldiers and put a third out of action, and the jury had the audacity to agree that this was clearly a case of self-defense. And then, in Chicago of all places, a jury determined that Jussie Smollett, a gay black actor from a mediocre TV show, was indeed guilty of faking a hate crime.

Progressives went all in on both of these cases -- and lost.

An article in the Daily Beast (archive.is link) excerpts an interview with one of the Smollett jurors who discussed the deliberations:

The female juror, who declined to be named, told the Chicago Sun-Times that the jury of six women and six men didn’t have any major disagreements but they took nine hours to deliberate because they wanted to properly consider all the evidence.

Some doubted that prosecutors had proven their case beyond reasonable doubt when deliberations began, she said. But those people just wanted more time to look over all the evidence again...

She added: “...I listened to both sides. We wanted to make sure that those who had doubts didn’t feel pressured.”

This sounds to me a perfect description of how juries are supposed to work. That is, they dispassionately evaluated the available evidence and concluded that Smollett was guilty. But this is precisely the sort of thing that progressives have been hating on lately. Things like "color-blindness". Equality of opportunity. Treating both sides the same. The scientific method. Even mathematics. Anything that smacks of objectivity. Progressives dislike all of these things, because they are forced to have to deal with an objective reality that they cannot control. This drives them nuts. And their voices expressing their disdain are getting louder and louder as time goes on. So I think it's only a matter of time before we start seeing think pieces claiming that, for example, due process is white supremacy or that jury selection needs to be, you guessed it, 'fundamentally transformed'. No, packing the courts with progressive justices isn't good enough. They'll propose racial/gender quotas to be imposed on juries, in fact, why not the entire LGBTQ+ rainbow? All in the name of 'equity', of course.

In this NRO piece (archive.is link) praising the Smollett jurors' decision-making process, the author says:

You will have noticed, I hope..that it does not, at any point, mention Smollett’s race, sexual orientation, or work on network TV. It does not, at any point, inquire as to his pronouns or his politics or his tax bracket. And it does not, at any point, try to set the case within the broad sweep of American history.

See, under the new 'woke' justice system, this would be grounds for a mistrial. *All* of these things would be considered relevant and important. Assuming, of course, that the defendent has an accredited victim status.

And the rules of evidence will be condemned 'problematic' and will have to be 'reimagined'. Not sure I want to think about what that will look like.

As an example of what progressive judicial 'reform' might look like, here is race-baiting mid-wit ideologue Ibram X. Kendi proposing to amend the constitution to set up what amounts to a Committee of Public Safety to stamp out opinions he doesn't agree with. Yes, he really is that ignorant of history:

To fix the original sin of racism, Americans should pass an anti-racist amendment to the U.S. Constitution that enshrines two guiding anti-racist principals: Racial inequity is evidence of racist policy and the different racial groups are equals. The amendment would make unconstitutional racial inequity over a certain threshold, as well as racist ideas by public officials (with “racist ideas” and “public official” clearly defined). It would establish and permanently fund the Department of Anti-racism (DOA) comprised of formally trained experts on racism and no political appointees. The DOA would be responsible for preclearing all local, state and federal public policies to ensure they won’t yield racial inequity, monitor those policies, investigate private racist policies when racial inequity surfaces, and monitor public officials for expressions of racist ideas. The DOA would be empowered with disciplinary tools to wield over and against policymakers and public officials who do not voluntarily change their racist policy and ideas.

What could possibly go wrong?

They should just come out and say "we want to turn America into a third-world country", because that's where the progressive vision will ultimately lead.

In the meantime, be on the lookout for 'jury equity' or 'jury reform' as a progressive talking point.

"Equity"

See, under the new 'equity' regime, convicting Smollett of faking a hate crime would violate the greater political context and hurt other members of the LGBTQ group, so... case dismissed!

Cribbing:

"The Party of Tolerance":

Well, Let's See What My Genius Governor Has Been Up To:

Dumbness level = 990 millikohns

Glad It Wasn't An Insurrection:

Update: I have been told that the above photo is a protest in Madison WI, not DC. So here's a shot of the DC riot from the 2016 inauguration, which was not an insurrection:

Historical Artifact From A Bygone Era:

AoSHQ Weekly Prayer List

Prayer Requests:

10/17 – Pollywog the ‘Ette passes along a prayer request for Brother Tim, who was admitted to the hospital Sunday for kidney stones and UTI. He needs both full healing, since this isn’t the first time he’s had these problems, and financial blessings. Prayer that he be able to have rest and peace, not something hospitals are known for, would be helpful as well.
11/16 Update – Brother Tim is healing, but still needs prayers for his job situation.

10/22 - Pookysgirl asks for prayers for Pooky, as he is going in for extensive neuropsychological testing for 4-8 hours on Oct 27, so he could really use prayers today. He’s had issues with similar testing in the past, so prayers for calming and peace would be appreciated.
11/29 update – The results were not what they were hoping for. Pooky did not get any specific diagnoses but got put into 4 different “unspecified” categories. He sees his therapist and his med manager within the next month, and hopefully they can help them understand the diagnoses and any medication changes. This news has been very difficult to handle.
12/14 Update – Yesterday morning, Pooky’s mental health team had a conference call and decided that Pooky needed to be evaluated immediately. Pookysgirl took Pooky to the local VA (1.5 hours away) and he was admitted to the psych ward. He will probably be out by Christmas. Please pray that they get all the logistics figured out and this his meds can be properly adjusted.

11/5 – Eeyore mood has an update:
I wrote you a couple of times about my friend's 4 year old grandson who was killed by the child's mother's boyfriend. He got out on bail because he was only charged with Negligence Resulting in Death. The autopsy report has not been formally released. The results could bring an increase in charges. The man is due back in court for a preliminary hearing on Nov. 15th. I would ask for prayer that the man who killed my friend's grandson be charged for the crimes he committed and justice be done. Also that God's peace be for the child's father, siblings and grandmother so they know He cares for them. Understandably, they are still devastated by this tragedy. Compounding this is that the child's mother is still defending her son's killer, saying it was an accident. If you are on Facebook and want more information, you can go to the Justice for Brantley page or go to the justiceforbrantley.com Thank you for your assistance.
11/18 Update – The mother’s boyfriend is still out on bond. No new charges were added. The tentative trial date is June 22.

11/16 – Inspector’s best friend Tom was diagnosed with Covid last week. It’s been like a nasty flu, but he is recovering. Prayers for his continued recovery, that it not affect his job.

11/16 – Inspector’s co-worker Marie was diagnosed last week with uterine cancer. It was caught early, so they’re hopeful for the prognosis, but prayer for healing, and strength for her and her family would be very appreciated.

For Healing:

11/3 – MammaBonita is asking for prayers for her father who is 84 and having kidney failure.
12/8 Update – It looks like her father will be starting on dialysis soon, hopefully the kind that he and his wife can manage at home.

11/9 – Weak Geek asks for prayers for his father, who is recovering from surgery. He is out of intensive care but drops into bouts of defeatism. Also prayers for WG’s sister, who is on site and therefore shoulders the brunt of this burden.
12/14 Update – Weak Geek asks for continued prayers for his father, who is still recovering from intestinal surgery. He’s in a nursing home now. Your prayers are working; he beat back pneumonia. This will be his first Christmas without his wife. Prayers for comfort will also be appreciated.

11/24 – commissar of Plenty and Lysenko gender fluid requests prayers for healing and no surgery required (20% odds) for a medical problem he is experiencing.

11/28 - Ladyl asks for complete healing for Hattie, a 3 year old who is undergoing multiple complex surgeries for a congenital skin condition. Brad, a middle-aged man diagnosed with colon cancer who may end up with a colostomy bag needs prayers as well, that his physicians find the best possible solution and cure his condition. And DR, a 65 year old man who also requested prayers for an undisclosed situation.

11/28 – JerseyDevilRider requests prayer for his son’s best friend, Ben (age 24), who has been hospitalized and diagnosed with Hodgkin’s lymphoma. He also has Crohn’s disease, so the doctor thinks there is a 1% chance he will get sick from the treatment. He has been started on chemo.

12/8 – Mammabonita asks for prayers. She just had a lesion removed from her ear that might be melanoma and she has to go back for further surgery.

12/8 – CC requests prayers for his friend, Dave (the best friend a man could ever have) and Dave’s wife Michelle. Pray for remission. Pray for strength. Pray for Michelle’s heart so she can bear this burden as his caretaker.

For submission guidelines and other relevant info, please contact Annie's Stew, who is managing the prayer list. You can contact her at apaslo at-sign hotmail dot com

If you see a prayer request posted in a thread comment, feel free to copy and paste it and e-mail it to Annie's Stew. She tries to keep up with the requests in the threads, but she's not here all of the time, so she may not see it unless you e-mail it to her. Please note: Prayer requests are generally removed after five weeks or so unless we receive an update.

Romans 8:26-27
[26] In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans. [27] And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for God’s people in accordance with the will of God.

Who Dis:

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Photo 4 (leggy!)
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Photo 6 (leggy!)
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For the 'Ettes:

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Monday Who Dis: Mrs. Zubin Mehta (AKA Nancy Kovack) got into TV acting in the early 50s and did guest roles in any number of shows. But she also did a few 'B' movies along the way, including the fantasy adventure film Jason and the Argonauts with Todd Armstrong, and this was his first lead role. He did mainly supporting roles afterwards and committed suicide in 1992 at the age of 55.

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