And, So it Begins - The Takeover - UPDATE

I found this link on Instapundit - it's chilling.

The Bill would turn the USA in a Hard-Core Democratic Enterprise. It will make it IMPOSSIBLE to mount any challenge to rule by the Dem Mob.

Worse, it will categorize any resistance to that control as terrorism.

(b) Considerations.—The national strategy required under subsection (a) shall include consideration of the following:

(1) The threat of a foreign state actor, foreign terrorist organization (as designated pursuant to section 219 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1189)), or a domestic actor carrying out a cyber attack, influence operation, disinformation campaign, or other activity aimed at undermining the security and integrity of United States democratic institutions.

(3) Potential consequences, such as an erosion of public trust or an undermining of the rule of law, that could result from a successful cyber attack, influence operation, disinformation campaign, or other activity aimed at undermining the security and integrity of United States democratic institutions.

How DARE you imply that we are stealing the election! To the Gulag with you!

Some of the other parts of the bill are said to have OTHER worthy causes, such as:

 reduce the influence of big money in politics, strengthen ethics rules for public servants, and implement other anti-corruption measures for the purpose of fortifying our democracy, and for other purposes.

 (Link is to the full bill on Thomas.gov). I've downloaded the pdf, and will be looking at it over the next week. So far, it looks as bad - if not worse - than the bill is reported to be.

And, in other news, it's official - we are Seditionists.

What the hell is that?

From The Atlantic (Anne Applebaum):

As a group, it’s hard to know what to call them. They are too many to merit the term extremists. There are not enough of them to be secessionists. Some prominent historians and philosophers have been arguing for a revival of the word fascist; others think white supremacist is more appropriate, though there could also be a case for rebel. For want of a better term, I’m calling all of them seditionists—not just the people who took part in the riot, but the far larger number of Americans who are united by their belief that Donald Trump won the election, that Joe Biden lost, and that a long list of people and institutions are lying about it: Congress, the media, Mike Pence, the election officials in all 50 states, and the judges in dozens of courts.

Sedition? Isn't that one of those old-fashioned words, last used in the early days of our participation in WWI?

Yes, it is - AND it is defined below:

Sedition the federal crime of advocacy of uprising or overthrow against the government or support for an enemy of the nation during time of war, by speeches, publications and organization. Sedition usually involves actually conspiring to disrupt the legal operation of the government and is beyond expression of an opinion or protesting government policy. Sedition is distinguished from treason, which requires actual betrayal of the government, or "espionage."

The federal Sedition Act of 1918 states, in part, as follows:

"Whoever, when the United States is at war, shall willfully make or convey false reports or false statements with intent to interfere with the operation or success of the military or naval forces of the United States, or to promote the success of its enemies, or shall willfully make or convey false reports, or false statements, . . . or incite insubordination, disloyalty, mutiny, or refusal of duty, in the military or naval forces of the United States, or shall willfully obstruct . . . the recruiting or enlistment service of the United States, or . . . shall willfully utter, print, write, or publish any disloyal, profane, scurrilous, or abusive language about the form of government of the United States, or the Constitution of the United States, or the military or naval forces of the United States . . . or shall willfully display the flag of any foreign enemy, or shall willfully . . . urge, incite, or advocate any curtailment of production . . . or advocate, teach, defend, or suggest the doing of any of the acts or things in this section enumerated and whoever shall by word or act support or favor the cause of any country with which the United States is at war or by word or act oppose the cause of the United States therein, shall be punished by a fine of not more than $10,000 or imprisonment for not more than twenty years, or both...."

The earlier Alien and Sedition Acts were passed by President Adams, a proponent of a strong Federal government.

With the Naturalization Act, Congress increased residency requirements for U.S. citizenship to 14 years from five. (Many recent immigrants and new citizens favored the Republicans.)

The Alien Enemies Act permitted the government to arrest and deport all male citizens of an enemy nation in the event of war, while the Alien Friends Act allowed the president to deport any non-citizen suspected of plotting against the government, even in peacetime.

Most importantly, Congress passed the Sedition Act, which took direct aim at those who spoke out against Adams or the Federalist-dominated government.

Even as the bitter debates between the two fledgling political parties were being played out in rival newspapers and other publications, the new law outlawed any “false, scandalous and malicious writing” against Congress or the president, and made it illegal to conspire “to oppose any measure or measures of the government.”

Could the Federal government make such commentary as we post on this blog illegal? Sure they could. By use of the term 'sedition', the Left has clearly indicated their aim to Shut Us Up! (this calls for the addition of that famous phrase - By Any Means Necessary).

Surprisingly, after that stormy beginning, Applebaum calms down, and suggests that toning down the rhetoric, and finding things to talk about other than divisive politics might be a move that could lead to the opponents integrating and working together.

But, when she makes that suggestion, she ignores some things:

• She suggests using this as a ploy, enticing those awful seditionists to work on community projects (Willingly? Unwillingly? She doesn't say).
• She talks of the violence of the 'Seditionists' but never once acknowledges that the Left has its own 'Resistant' folks - and, ones that have shown considerable violent activities over the last few years. Totes different.
• "Clearly we need regulation of social media, but that’s years away."
• Her last few sentences are the most chilling:
• Some might even prefer an American version of de-Baathification: track down every last Capitol-riot sympathizer and shame them on social media, preferably with enough rigor that they lose their jobs.
• I know how they feel, because I often feel that way too. But then I remember: It won’t work. We’ll wake up the next morning, and they’ll still be there.

Somehow, I fear that she wishes she could wave her hand, and - Poof! We'd disappear.

UPDATE: I found this piece about the proposed censure and removal of Senators Cruz and Hawley, for the high crime of questioning the validity of the 2020 presidential election. The writer makes a good argument for fighting this effort.

The Dems are FURIOUS - how DARE anyone question the rightness of the vote?

And, from their viewpoint, they are correct. We, the American people, have allowed that sad state of fraud, corruption, and Plantation Politics to occur; we failed to uproot it when it reached the blatant levels that it hit in 1964, when LBJ "won in a landslide". He did not. Fraud was obvious and on record - as it had been in every election he'd ever been since he first took office.

Election after election, the GOP squeaked out some victories, while conceding the effort in city after city. Over time, their FAKE voters rolls grew, until the numbers reported were so at variance with the numbers of actual residents, that the Census figures had to be 'adjusted', lest the fraud become even more obvious.

We let it happen. We shrugged, moved to the suburbs, and tried to ignore the corruption, abuse, and dirty politics of the city.

And, the cities descended into the hellholes/shitholes they have become.

In some cities, there are "good neighborhoods" and "bad neighborhoods" - in Charlotte, NC, Cleveland, OH, and Chicago, IL (3 cities I know something about) - you can see where the crime, the poverty, and the shady deals that enrich the councilmen/women without touching the lives of their residents are the most concentrated.

Look. Lots of very good people also live in those neighborhoods that have been written off. If the cops and the council are not going to do their jobs, let's stop pretending that they are part of the USA. Let's declare them independent nation-states, with the right to govern themselves as they please. But, let's also stop the flow of money to those places, as it never reaches the people who need it. Maybe that will encourage the leeches who live off the blood of their fellow citizens to leave.