FORT HOOD KILLER STILL ON DEATH ROW

 

                           By Florida Bill

                                     While campaigning for President in 2020, Joe Biden promised that he would end death sentences on the federal level and that he would work to persuade states allowing for that  punishment to change directions.

                                       Under federal and military law, a President must sign off before a federally authorized execution can go forward.  Death sentences in states allowing the death penalty, require a final signature and approval by the governor of the state before administering the punishment. 

                                      Could it be that Biden's progressive thinking rubs off on his subordinates and has  triggered a hold on the court- ordered execution of the treasonous army Major Nidal Hasan who on November 5, 2009 exploded in Islamic rage during an assembly meeting at the Fort Hood, Texas installation and killed 13 fellow soldiers and one civilian, and wounded 32 other persons. 

                                      It is now 14 years since the army doctor  with golden oak leaves on his shoulders shouted "Allahu Akbar," the Arabic phrase for Allah is Great, and mowed down his army buddies with gunfire. It was the worst killings at a military installation in U.S. history. 

                                     He was sentenced to death at an army court martial in 2013.  He declined representation of counsel, offered no defense and opted to not testify at his trial as witnesses recounted the horrible moments when the amy major came unglued and shot their loved ones. In various interviews, the now 52-year-old killer, who is paralyzed from the waist down, has said that he acted in accord with his Islamic beliefs, and as a way of protecting muslims in Iraq. He portrayed himself as a dedicated  "Soldier of Allah," and asserts that he has no regrets, and would do it all again.  It will be his honor, he said,  to die as an Islamic "martyr" entitled to special rewards in the hereafter.  

                                      Some see the woke fingers of President Biden holding up the execution of the murderer who has no regrets and would do it again.  Does the weak-kneed Biden, whose basic mental acuity is questioned by doctors who know him, figure that there was racial bias against Major Hasan because of his Islamic beliefs? 

                                      Generally, the question posed as to why the execution is taking decades, gets  the answer that there are "mandatory appeals" and that the process takes time. Under President Trump, 13 federal executions were approved.  There were no federal executions during the eight years of the Obama-Biden administration, and in the George W. Bush years as President, one  federal defendant was put to death in 2003. 

                                      So you may ask, "what are the issues raised in the  "mandatory appeals," and who is prosecuting the matter?" Are there any briefs posted on line which may be read by citizens?  The answer is that the Hasan "appeal" is an illusion as there are no discernable issues.  The court ordered execution is being held up for no articulated reason; and some believe that it is the fumbling President Biden who will not sign off on the execution contending that the sentencing was connected to anti-Muslim bias.                                

                                        Since 2009, the year of the Hasan assassinations of soldiers,  there have been 425 executions in the USA, but none by the military.  Four ex-servicemen, including Major Hasan, are imprisoned on death row at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. The courts have held that the death sentence for a capital crime is constitutional. 

                                         The last military person executed was  Army Private John Bennett on April 13, 1961. Convicted in 1957 of a savage  rape and the attempted murder of an 11-year-old girl, the 25-year-old  Bennett was put to death by hanging four years later following review and signature by President John F. Kennedy. 

                                          The need for "mandatory appeals"of death sentences makes sense and defendants must have every opportunity to offer their defense and to explain the circumstances surrounding the killing. The chance that an innocent man might be put to death must never be allowed to happen. 

                                            But "mandatory appeals" make no sense in the case of Major Hasan, a convicted mass murderer who has stated repeatedly he wants to be executed.

                                              Hasan is paralyzed from the waist down from bullets to his spine inflicted by other soldiers who responded at his shooting of fellow soldiers. He is cared for daily by army nurses and doctors and  employees who provide for his needs and sustenance.  Reportedly, he spends much of his time reading and writing letters. He has written some notes to Pope Francis in which he praises Islamic Jihad. 

                                             He  corresponded regularly with ISIS leader, Abu Bakr al-Bagdadi in which he asked to be made a member of his organization. The terrorist granted his request in a return communication, but al-Bagdadi will not be around to applaud at Hasan's execution, if it ever occurs.  Al-Bagdadi committed suicide as Americans were preparing to apprehend him for his criminal and murderous plans to kill Americans and create a global caliphate.      

                                               Families of Dr. Hasan's victims, and other Americans are asking when Major Hasan will receive the punishment ordered by the court.  It is a very fair question to ask and families  of the victims are not likely to forget Hasan's hateful and cruel actions.  

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THE DEMISE OF DILBERT

                      By Florida Bill

                                            The cartoon character "Dilbert," which has always ranked high on "favorite comic lists," has been excised from thousands of newspapers.  The block-headed Dilbert, a  crotchety yet fan-favorite engineer, who often picked at the inadequacies of his fellow workers and could be sarcastic in upbraiding them, has been kicked aside after some 35 years as a comic strip.  

                              The cartoon character has been given his pink slip by publishers because his creator, Scott Adams, recently spoke out in a way that got him tagged as a white racist, and today's woke culture has mandated he must be punished.  

                              In the comic strip, Dilbert could be impatient with his fellow workers,  and some even say "mean," but there was no denigration of blacks and no punching at the black man through innuendo. To say Adams used Dilbert to spread his so-called racism is simply fiction, but who cares-- Adams must be punished, even though the focus of the comic strip was the shortcomings of corporate America.

                              The 65-year-old Adams has been drawing his sharp-edged satire on the the foibles of the workplace through the travails of Dilbert since 1989 and the comic has been carried in more than 2,000 papers and published in many different languages. The comic strip was incredibly popular in the United States and it has been  described as the "the most photocopied, pinned-up, downloaded, faxed and emailed comic strip in the world."  Seeing what Dilbert and his "pointy-haired boss" were up to every morning was as essential as that first cup of coffee for devoted fans.  Chuckling at the satirizing rhetoric of the square-topped Dilbert was a great way to start the day. 

                                 Scott Adams has been a conservative supporter of the nation's "Make America Great" 45th President.  That political allegiance to  Donald Trump, no doubt, weighed heavily in favor of the decision to cancel Dilbert and to excoriate the Republican Adams as a white racist, punishing him and torching his income.   

                                 Adams has never been one to remain silent when he sees or hears of comments and activities of which he takes exception.  He frequently has posted comments and opinions on social media outlets.  Last year, when talk of diversity and LGBTQ in the workplace was streaming,  Adams introduced the first black character in Dilbert. He was dubbed Dave, the black engineer.  "I identify as white," Dave said in one strip

                                   Last year President Biden said that the next Supreme Court Justice he will appoint will be African American and  a woman.  Race and gender were the starter basics, and legal skill and brains were secondary as credentials.  Adams saw the nonsense in the president's thinking.  Responding in January, Adams tweeted:

                                   “I’m going to self-identify as a Black woman until Biden picks his Supreme Court nominee. I realize it’s a long shot, but I don’t want to completely take myself out of the conversation for the job.”   

                                    On his YouTube show on Wednesday, Feb. 22, Adams reported that a recent Rasmussen survey found nearly 26 percent of blacks surveyed do not agree with the statement, “It’s okay to be white.” Another 25 per cent said they were "unsure" as to their feelings; and about 50 per cent said that statement was fine with them.  The Anti-Defamation League had already classified the statement as a "hate symbol." Blacks in the USA account for 13.6 percent of the America's 332 million persons.  

                                     Adams had a response and he focused on  blacks who objected to the phrase, "it's okay to be white."  Those black Americans who find fault with whites just for the mere fact that they are white comprise a "hate group" and white Americans ought to "get the hell away from those black people," Adams stated.  "If nearly half of the blacks are not okay with white people ...that's a 'hate group,' and I don't want to have anything to do with them," he said. 

                                   That was enough to put an end to the whole Dilbert-sphere.  Like lightning, his comments were vilified as racism. Publishers including the Washington Post, New York Times and Chicago Tribune announced that they were deleting the comic strip from their papers. Swiftly, the number of "me too"papers dropping "Dilbert" spiraled into the hundreds and then into the thousands. Poor Dilbert never even  opened his mouth.

                                  " I discovered that the price of free speech is really high and there are only a few people willing to pay it,” said Adams. “So I decided to pay it, so that I could extend the conversation to something that everybody needs to hear."  He added that his comments about black Americans "hold up the mirror to what the U.S. really thinks. "                            

                                 Elon Musk, the billionaire who has brought sense and openness to Twitter, which he now owns, has been a friend of Adams. He noted that while Adams' assessments may not be popular, there is much truth in what he said. 

                                  "For a very  long time," said Musk, "the U.S. media was racist against non-white people.....now they're racist against whites & Asians.  Same thing happened with elite colleges and high schools in America. Maybe they can try not being racist."                                 

                                       President Biden and disingenuous Democrats  continually charge that America and its policemen, local governments, business establishments, not to mention all Republicans are "systematically racist."  Prominent black faces in the news, like Chicago Mayor Lightfoot and the Rev. Al Sharpton, "squad members" in Congress, and looney celebrities in Hollywood find racism behind every rock and bush in arguing their positions in  whatever controversy is on the table.                                              .    

                                            Adams grew up as a fan of "Peanuts" and started drawing his own comics at the age of 6.  To date, more than 40 "Dilbert" reprint books have been published with the "Dilbert principle" becoming a New York Times best seller, according to Andrews McMeel, Dilbert syndicators. 

                                        Newspapers should have more sense than to mess with one of the few features left that attract people to their pages.   To deep-six their best comic in an era when there are so few top notch strips that many papers rerun quality oldies like "Peanuts" and "For Better or for Worse" is just another blow to the media's future.      

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LIGHTFOOT CANCELED

 

                      By Florida Bill 

                  With the counting over in Chicago's mayoral primary, I confess to feeling elated that Lori Lightfoot, the city's first black, gay, female chief executive, is out after a four-year term. Using idioms so dear to the progressive, white-hating crowd to whom she played her "woke" violin, she has been "canceled."

                       The diminutive, 60-year-old mayor who was often pictured under a big cowboy hat and wrinkled clothes, was known locally and nationally for her disdain for white newsmen, and for white skinned citizens in general. She always looked the other way as shootings, killings, carjackings, gang violence and any other kind of violent crime you can imagine spiraled upward under her watch, more concerned with racial nonsense and the denigrating of hard working policemen trying to do their jobs. Frequently, Chicago's outrageous weekend shooting totals made headlines all over the country.

                        Now an octogenarian, I was, for most of my working years, a newspaper reporter for the Chicago Tribune and later was an attorney representing clients. I was a Chicagoan who saw the city as the greatest in the world and the conservative Tribune  as the "World's Greatest Newspaper," a description once carried on the masthead of the paper--which incidentally, is no longer conservative, but still did not endorse Lightfoot.  With this city's proud history in mind, Lightfoot is and was a disaster as mayor, and her exit is good news for me and based upon the vote against her, a satisfying day for the citizens of Chicago.  

                         Lightfoot has certainly claimed the title of the mayor with the dirtiest mouth.  At one meeting with park district lawyers,  Lightfoot lashed out at district attorneys and Italian lawyers who  had been critical of her for denigrating Christopher Columbus as a racist, and the statues in his honor. She accused the attorneys of stroking their private parts, and she used all the words for genitals normally heard in the barnyard or in the verbiage of porn movies, asserting that "my ....." is the biggest around. . 

                           There were nine candidates running in the February 28 primary.  After counting, Paul Valas, the white-skinned former schools CEO, received 34 per cent of the votes cast, and Brandon Johnson, a cook county commissioner, won 20 percent of the ballots.  The incumbent Lightfoot received 17 percent.  The rally eliminated Lightfoot from a second term, and Valas and Johnson, as the top vote getters in the field of nine candidates,  will face off in a  special election for mayor on April 4. 

                            Lightfoot became the first elected Chicago mayor to be denied reelection to a second four years since Jane Byrne was ousted in a Democratic primary in 1983 after her four year term in office. She was succeeded by Harold Washington, a Black U.S. Congressman, who died in office in 1987. Richard M. Daley followed Washington, and he served until 2011 when Rahm Emanuel was elected and served two terms as the city's chief executive.  Lightfoot replaced Emanuel in 2019.  

                           Reportedly, most aldermen on the 50-member city council declined a vote for Lightfoot because of her mismanagement and prejudicial policies and rulings detrimental to  policemen.  The Fraternal Order of Police (FOP) had endorsed Valas for the job and had voted a "no confidence" resolution against Lightfoot and her Police Superintendent David Brown, appointed in 2020..

                          Alderman Sophia King who had eagerly supported Lightfoot when she was elected mayor in 2019, declined to support her for reelection, noting her incompetence and inability to deal with crime problems.  Alderman Raymond Lopez, a Democratic member of the Chicago city council, asserted that Lightfoot was "incompetent" as mayor and draws the race card in the face of challenges to her often loony plans. 

                          Lightfoot who has a wife and an adopted daughter, had promised to focus on burgeoning crime and gang violence when she ran for mayor in 2019, and she won overwhelmingly in a run-off election against Toni Preckwinkle,  President of the Cook County Board of Commissioners.  The progressive Lightfoot had been a federal prosecutor and had served as President of the Chicago Police Board and as Chairman of the Police Accountability Task Force.  

                            In the early days after taking office, she announced that there were too many white reporters in the city hall press corps and to fix that she said that she would only allow one-on-one interviews with reporters "of color."  Her recalcitrance and abhorrence of white-skinned newsmen in the Chicago City Hall became known nationally. One former Democratic congresswoman, Tulsi Gabbard, called for her resignation, and implored President Biden and Vice President Harris to join her in pushing for Lightfoot's exit. Tucker Carlson of Fox News described her as a "lunatic and a racist" who should not serve in  a public office.  

                               In another episode displaying her racial animus, she engineered the payment of $2.9 million dollars for a black woman whose home had been mistakenly targeted by police as the residence of a drug dealer.  Police obtained a legal warrant and stormed the residence and encountered the woman resident naked and preparing for bed.  She was without clothes for an estimated six seconds before she was given a blanket by a policemen.  Police and city lawyers apologized and recommended that the woman be given $50,000 as compensation for the embarrassment. 

                             But lightfoot arranged for the city council to approve payment of $2.9 million dollars to the 51-year-old woman and she noted that the raiding policemen were white, and the victim was black. Corporation Counsel Mark Flessner complained that the award of nearly $3 million was out of line and that the police were acting pursuant to a warrant and had done nothing wrong.   When  he persisted in resisting the huge award, Lightfoot fired him. 

                              After his discharge, Flessner slammed Lightfoot in an OpEd piece and said her tenure as mayor was a "disaster" for the city.  Pushing the huge settlement, said Flessner, was part of a deal she had made with the National Civil Rights Movement.

                               After the election in 2019, President Trump offered to send in federal officers to help in bringing down the crime and gang shootings on Chicago streets. Lightfoot refused and accused the President of being a "racist."

                               After the recent vote ending the Lightfoot years on the fifth floor of the City Hall in the Chicago Loop,   Lightfoot telephoned Vallas and congratulated him.  She later told supporters at a rally that serving as mayor was "her honor of a lifetime......we fought the right fight, and we put the city on a better path."

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