THE DE NIRO FACTOR

 

                                        BY BILL JUNEAU

                           I am lacking for any real credentials which would allow me to assess the character of actor, Robert DeNiro. He is 80- years-old and has been around Hollywood for many years and has starred and appeared in many award winning flicks.  He is the winner of two Oscars and a number of Golden globe awards. He is said to be worth $500 million. 

                           No mention that I can find of any military service by him, and his formal education consisted of two years in high school. As a boy in school, DeNiro had become known to his young friends as "Bobby Milk" because of his pale complexion. He has been married twice and has seven children. His 7th child was born last year with a young girl friend; and he was 79. 

                          Checking available records, there are a heavy number of negative comments about his on-the-set movie making demeanor with opinions that he possesses a crude, vulgar and annoying persona.  Some years ago, a doctor friend of mine told me that De Niro was a dumbo who could barely communicate without a script. I do not know how my physician friend had gained that information, but he apparently trusted his sources.  

                           Lately, there have been stories on Facebook that actors Kevin Costner, Sylvester Stallone, James Caviezel,  Denzel Washington and Keanu Reeves  have declined to appear in movies with DeNiro, and have scored him with denigrating comments. Reportedly, some actors have turned away from million dollar movie contracts rather than appear on screen with the unlikeable De Niro. 

                            Caviezel, well known for his appearance in the movie, "The Passion of  the Christ," allegedly has referred to DeNiro as an "awful, ungodly man;"  and  Sly Stallone has objected to the mouthy DeNiro as "too woke." Kevin Costner reportedly has said that DeNiro is "disrespectful and doesn't know when to shut up."

                           Also,  it is alleged that Keanu Reeves described DeNiro as a "Grade A" Jackass;  and that Denzel Washington referred to DeNiro  as a "creepy old man." 

                           NBA great Shaq O'Neal allegedly ejected De Niro recently from his LA restaurant, Shaquille's, describing  him as a "creepy woke jackass."

                           I read the newspapers and various magazines and  listen to the "all-knowing" talking heads of television fame, and I am amused at the reported conduct of the wealthy De Niro who loudly proclaims himself to be a "Trump-Hater;"  and is a long time member of the Democratic Party which also is known as the "Party of the Jackass." 

                            The Democratic party was originally named the Party of the Jackass when  it was formed in the 1800s in the days of  President Andrew Jackson. In those times, calling an associate a "Jackass"  was said to be a compliment  and a term of affection. Through the years it became the party of the mule and then the Democratic Party. Nowadays, comparisons of an individual to a Jackass is no longer regarded as a warm handshake.  

                         With the backing of the Democratic party, and introducing himself as a proud supporter of the Biden-Harris ticket seeking reelection in next November's election,  Hollywood's De Niro was called upon to host a news conference outside the Manhattan courthouse where the jury trial of former President Trump was in its final days. Very likely, friends in the Department of Justice told the veteran actor to "take him down."

                           De Niro wore dark glasses similar to those often  worn by President Biden.  Many will recall seeing Biden with his aviator glasses on as he watched and applauded bare-chested, transgender women dancing on the White House lawn, during a  salute last year to the "Courageous Pride" community. 

                           With Biden's encouragement, DeNiro had a PR job to do and he stood with his mike in the center of a small group on the pavement outside the New York courtroom where a jury was listening to the case against ex-President Trump. He called the former President by a variety of names and said that he did not belong in "my city." 

                          In early June, jurors returned a guilty verdict in the peculiar case against Trump.  I am guessing that almost no  one, and that would most certainly include the slow thinking and uneducated De Niro,  really understood what the charges were against Trump.  They dealt with "hush money" paid to a woman to keep quiet about a tryst she had with the ex President some 18 years ago.  The payment somehow qualified as the falsification of business records. 

                         Fudging on records is generally considered a misdemeanor, but in Trump's case, the allegations mysteriously got upgraded to a felony.  Trump will be sentenced in July by Judge Juan Merchan, a handpicked democratic judge whose conflict of interests, and his daughter's allegiance to the democratic party,  should have proscribed his sitting as the trial judge. 

                          De Niro's ranting outside the courthouse in Manhattan did not last long as Trump backers began screaming at the Biden activist from Hollywood.  Actually, I think that the tough- acting De Niro was scared off when Trump supporters challenged him about his name calling and were angered over garbage about Trump that he was spewing.     

                         De Niro called the former President a "clown" and said he doesn't belong in "my" city.  This "grubby real estate hustler is masquerading as a big shot." said DeNiro as he looked over the crowd of citizens for and against President Trump. His rhetoric made little sense and was more about the actor himself and how he grew up in an Italian neighborhood in Manhattan.  His comments also were highlighted by his apparent inability to speak without a script in his hands. 

                           Said DeNiro: "Trump wants "to destroy not only the city, but the country....and eventually, he could destroy the world." DeNiro was the buffoonish center of attention near the courthouse for only a short while.  Some analysts believe that his presence and conduct may motivate TV watchers to vote for President Trump rather than for Biden.  The basis for that judgment is that  anyone endorsed by De Niro should never be President.                            

                         In 2016, when Donald Trump was a candidate for President against Hillary Clinton, De Niro, who apparently was still caught up in his roll as boxer Jake LaMotta, in the movie, "Raging Bull," was asked for his opinion of Donald Trump the candidate.    

                         DeNiro replied that he would like to "punch him in the face."......"Trump is a punk... He's a dog... He's a pig. He's a con, and a bull s--- artist."

                           Former President Trump is the presumptive GOP nominee in the November 5 Presidential election, and will face Joe Biden who is seeking a second term as the nation's President.  Biden and Trump are scheduled to debate on June 27 and on September 10. Current polls place the ex-President with a commanding lead over Biden. 

                          When the former President was asked recently for his reaction to De Niro's tirades against him, he said that "I never knew that Mr. DeNiro was so small--physically and mentally." Sad to say, but De Niro is proving to be as much of a  "whacko" as is his hero, Biden, said Trump.

                                              xxx

 

A DRUG TEST FOR JOE BIDEN?

 

                                                          BY BILL JUNEAU

                                      Frozen in the eyes and minds of many Americans is the bumbling and fumbling public appearances of President Biden.  There were times when on a public stage, the President seemed to be wandering about, ignored by others.  At other moments, he seemed to be searching for an exit.  At news conferences, his rhetoric is often gaffe-ridden, and he appears to rely on crib notes for  answers to questions. 

                         Citizens have seen films of the 81-year-old President  falling upon steps when boarding airplanes.  Democratic Political Commentator Bill Maher has compared his walking gait over the plush green White House lawn to his waiting helicopter, as resembling a toddler with a load in his pants. 

                         The Washington Post has described Biden as the "Lamborghini of Gaffes," and has often awarded him "Pinocchios" for his lies to the public.  

                         For some three years, he has been sitting on a letter from a large contingent of GOP Congressmen requesting that he take a cognitive exam aimed at his ability to carry out the duties of America's chief executive and as the image of hope for the free world.  Biden has declined to take the test. Former President Trump, his challenger for the office, was besieged by reporters demanding that he take a cognitive test. He did and passed with a perfect score. 

                        In August of 2020, as a candidate for President, Biden was asked during an interview with the National Association of Black Journalists  if he had taken a cognitive test.  Snapping back testily,  he said the question was "unfair," and "no, I haven't taken a test...Why the hell would I...that's like someone being asked if he was a 'junkie.'" His answer made little sense, but he did not elaborate.

                         Following his election, Biden has on one or more occasions referred to his Vice President as "President Harris." Asked a question concerning America's military, he forgot the name of his Secretary of Defense ( Gen. Lloyd J. Austin III) and said, "I want to thank the Secretary---- the ah former general. I keep calling him general, but my, my — the guy who runs the outfit over there." 

                          " Let's be honest here," said Sen. Rick Scott of Florida  in a televised appearance.  "Joe Biden is unwell.  He's unfit for office.  He's incoherent, incapacitated and confused.  He doesn't know where he is half the time.  He's incapable of leading and he's incapable of carrying out his duties-- period.  Everyone knows it.  No one is willing to say it, but we have to for the sake of the country.  Joe Biden can't do the job." 

                      This is the man with his fingers on the nuclear code.  How scary is that, observed Fox News' Laura Ingraham, a news analyst and a trained lawyer.  

                  In recent months, President Biden was interviewed by a special counsel checking into his possible criminal conduct for leaving  classified documents strewn about in his oily garage at his fancy lakeside home in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware. The investigator, Robert Hur, reported that the President lacked the brainpower to defend himself against criminal charges, and therefore  would not be charged with a criminal offense.  

                            Hur assessed the President as a  pathetic, "elderly and forgetful" man who had broken the law,  but should not be put on trial because of his reduced mental capacity.  Hur's description of Biden's abilities and senility seemed to fit the description and abilities of that belonging to a moron. 

               .            Last March, Biden delivered the State of the Union Address and he was exploding with energy.  He read his prepared speech with incredible enthusiasm and was full of vim and vigor when he denounced former President Trump, who is his presumptive opponent for the job of President in the election scheduled for next November. 

                           Rep. Greg Murphy, a physician serving as a U.S. Congressman from North Carolina, said during a recent interview with newslady Maria Bartiromo  that "I believe that for the State of the Union address of last March, they gave him (Biden) something to cope with the lights and sustain the vigor that he had. That was not Joe Biden. I was in there. He screamed for two hours....  He was "jacked up" and had been given something."  Dr. Murphy is a Urologist and the co-chair of the House GOP Doctors' Caucus. 

                                Bartiromo asked Murphy what specifically he was referring to “in terms of medicine,” but Murphy would not elaborate, only saying the President is being “manufactured” and “puppeteered"....and that he (Rep. Murphy) was in possession of evidence which would support his comments.  However, the GOP representative  declined further explanation for what he had said.                                

                                Recently, President Trump said that he shared the opinion of Dr. Murphy and that the fumbling Joe Biden was indeed "jacked up" for the SOTU address last March.  No one had ever seen him with that energy....."he was high as a kite," said Trump.                              

                                 Democrat Biden and former President  Trump, a Republican,  are scheduled to debate the issues on television before interested Americans. Trump said that he will insist that President Biden submit to a drug test prior to the debates.  

                                The test is simple and quick and will guarantee that it is the real Biden on stage, and not the "jacked up" version.  Refusing to do so would also send a message. For certain, Trump also will be taking the test.                         

                                 President Biden has not directly responded to Donald Trump’s demand that he undergo a drug test before the upcoming debates. However, according to news reports, when asked about Trump's demand during a press conference, Biden stumbled and replied,  “He’s almost— no--I have no comment."                 

                                 President Biden and the former President  are scheduled to debate the issues on June 27 and September 10. The election will be held on Tuesday, November 5.  

                                                            xxx

WHAT HAPPENED TO JUSSIE?

 

                                                       BY BILL JUNEAU

                                       I have been wondering and maybe others have been too as to the outcome of Jussie Smollett's appeal after being found guilty of inventing a story of a physical attack on him by Trump-lovers on a below zero morning on an Old Town street in Chicago back in 2019.  

                          This fine, "French" thespian who was one of the stars in  the TV series, "Empire," shook up Chicagoland and much of the country with his bizarre story of being attacked and whacked around and called a "black faggot" by white skinned Trump-lovers wearing red  "MEGA" caps. He was interviewed many times, and before cameras tearfully recounted the incredible hate-crime.  His story excited  Hollywood and Black Lives Matter; and the Rev. Al Sharpton demanded "Justice for Jussie." 

                           His story was checked and rechecked and eventually it was determined that Jussie Smollett had staged the "attack" as a way of bringing attention to him and his acting and singing talents, and on behalf of his black brothers who have been mistreated in society. 

                          It took a couple of years, but Jussie's story was debunked as the attackers came forward and confessed to the fairy  tale attack; and that Jussie paid them handsomely for their participation. 

                          In March of 2022, following a trial before a jury, Smollett was found guilty of  perjury and Judge James Linn sentenced him to to 30 months probation with the first 150 days in a jail cell. Additionally, he was ordered to pay a fine of $25,000 and restitution of $120,106 to the city of Chicago. 

                           Jussie was handcuffed following sentencing and taken to the Cook County Jail to begin serving his time behind bars. His attorneys quickly appealed the conviction and sentence, and after spending six days in a cell, he was freed on an appellate bond pending review of the conviction by a higher Illinois court. 

                           The Illinois Appellate Court affirmed the conviction last year  and the case has been appealed to the Illinois Supreme Court.  If the states highest court again affirms the conviction in Judge Linn's courtroom, Smollett, 41, will be made to pay his fines and serve his five months in the county jail where he can show off his singing voice to the jail guards. 

                             It was an ugly hate crime and sympathy ran deep for the actor who is gay and biracial; the son of a white Jewish man and an African American mother.  Many have believed that Jussie was of French ancestry, given the sound of his name, and misinformation on the street. 

                              His blackness gave him ties to former President Obama, who reportedly made calls on his behalf.  The Rev. Jesse Jackson was outraged, and so was the NAACP. "Justice for Jussie" was screamed throughout the world, and Jussie recounted  on Good Morning America, with tears in his eyes, the horribleness of the homophobic assault.

                             Comedian Dave Chappelle featured Jussie in one of his stand-up appearances. He said that the truth of the matter was that the Black community did not and could not support the gay, black actor because they "knew that that (N Word) was clearly lying." 

                                                   xxx

                             

                               

                         

PULITZER PRIZES MAY RAISE QUESTIONS

 

                                                       BY BILL JUNEAU

                          The 2023-24 winners of Pulitzer Prizes for outstanding reporting of the news have been announced and the pace-setters in the hard news category were the New York Times and the Washington Post.  The acclaimed winners from the nation's most powerful left wing newspapers took their bows and slipped fresh cash into their wallets.

                             The Pulitzer Prize is the the most prestigious award in all of journalism. The award carries the name of Joseph Pulitzer, Publisher of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch newspaper who was a fierce believer in newspapers and their role as a watchdog in a free democracy in the greatest country in the world. Besides NYT and WAPO, Pulitzer awards went to winners in some 15 other categories, including photography, commentary and personal profiles.

                              Pulitzers have been awarded to journalists since 1918, and in that period the Times of New York has won 132.  The Washington Post has been recognized on 68 occasions. The NYT has won more Pulitzers than any other newspaper in the country.  This years' Pulitzers actually included three for the Times and three for the Post; and the focus of their reports was on immigration, the Israeli- Gaza war and gun violence. 

                              But still in all, amidst the applauding and kudos, there is no forgetting the controversial awards of 2018-2019  pulled down by the Times and the Post. In that year, the NYT and WAPO  received recognition for 10 stories published by each newspaper which castigated President Trump for his collusion with Russian President Vladimir Putin who allegedly had helped him win the 2016 election over Hillary Clinton. Trump's conduct and hand-holding with Russia, the papers implied, bordered on sedition. 

                            The Pulitzer Board handed out the awards a short time after the announcement that President Trump had never colluded with Russia in any way, and that allegations that he had done so were political lies and trash talk. That finding exonerating  President Trump came following a $33 million dollar congressional-authorized investigation into allegations that the 45th President, elected in 2016, had "colluded" with Russia. The investigation was conducted by the respected former FBI Director, Robert Swan Mueller. 

                                President Trump and his supporters demanded that the Times and the Post apologize for their journalistic lies in pumped-up news stories. The dishonest reporting was based upon the papers' personal animus and disdain for the Republican President who had beaten Democrat Hillary Clinton. Many of the stories attacking Trump were based upon "anonymous sources."  

                              The recipients of the Pulitzers declined to apologize for their lies, and held tight to the thousands of dollars in cash awards and certificates. 

                               The Pulitzer Committee which picked the winners, was importuned by Trump and various institutions to rescind the awards, but the committee, made up of prominent news persons, including editors and former editors of the Times and Post papers, refused.  

                               In a statement, the Pulitzer Prize committee, following "independent reviews" rejected calls to rescind  and devalue the 2018 prizes or apologize. Instead, the board upheld the awards stating that the "reporting was deeply sourced and furthered the public's understanding of Russian interference."

                               "We  stand behind the Pulitzer selection process which has endured for 103 years," asserted Dana Canedy, Pulitzer administrator. "The winning work speaks for itself.  Beyond that, this simply doesn’t deserve comment."

                                After the 2018 disgraceful conduct and its determination not to rescind the awards and apologize, journalistic aficionados must now wonder about other awards and if politics was a key factor in making the selections. 

                                To some,  the 2018 Pulitzers awarded to NYT and WAPO is seen simply as a blip on the screen of the country's most liberal and woke-minded newspapers.  Harsh critics believe that the papers were simply overcome by the desire to bring down President Trump and no tactics were out of bounds. For them, the awards of 2018-19 will always be remembered as the "Purloined Pulitzers." 

                            The Times is the nation's most prestigious newspaper and perhaps the adage that it publishes "all the news that is fit to print" has been sullied a bit, but the paper continues in a fast moving society where newspapers are being challenged by the  electronic press and the talking TV heads for providing the news of the day. 

                             Since 2004, some 2,400  newspapers have terminated operation. Included were 70 dailies. At the latest counts, there are 171 counties in America which do not have any newspaper. 

                                               xxx

                            

THE GAGGING OF PRESIDENT TRUMP

 

                                             BY BILL JUNEAU

                         The "hush money" trial of former President Trump is underway in the criminal courthouse in Manhattan, comfortable home for "Never Trump" Democrats.  The trial is presided over by Judge Juan Manuel Merchan who President Trump charges is "conflicted."  Says Trump:  "He should recuse himself, and cut out the pretense of  being fair-minded.....He is a "certified              Trump-Hater." 

                         Merchan, 61, is presiding over the trial and according to the ex-President and his lawyers, was ushered onto the judge's chair by arrangement of  District Attorney, Alvin Bragg, who, Trump asserts, is a "thug" and a "degenerate psychopath" doing the bidding of the Democratic national committee and the Joe Biden Justice Department.   

                        Bragg's mission is the conviction of the former United States President; and the free sailing to a second term for the befuddled Joe Biden.  Upon the selection of the Columbia-born Merchan as trial judge, the Trump team of attorneys filed a motion demanding that he recuse himself because of a serious conflict of interest.  Judge Merchan, however, has declined to allow for a substitution of judges and to leave the  litigation.  

                         It is no secret---the Democratic Party, often referred to as the Party of the Mule or the Jackass, is determined to destroy Donald Trump with a guilty verdict and make him into a felon whose chances for a second term next November will be diminished. The entire case against Trump has been called legally defective in a variety of ways by nationally prominent lawyers. 

                          Using his "Truth" social media platform, Trump upbraided the judge for his relationship with his daughter, Loren,  whose company lists Adam Schiff and the Democratic Political Action Committee (PAC) as clients. Both have targeted and attacked President Trump.  Trump said that he has the right to speak out in accord with the Bill of Rights and the First Amendment to the Constitution. 

                          According to records, Loren Merchan, 35, is the president of Authentic Campaigns, a progressive political consulting firm based in Chicago.  The firm has two major clients, Schiff, a California congressman, who was the lead prosecutor in Trump's first impeachment trial, and now is running for a U.S. senate seat; and the Senate PAC (Political Action Committee), which is a major fund raiser for Democratic senatorial candidates. 

                         For all four years of the Trump presidency beginning in January 2017, Schiff, who Trump has referred to as "Shifty," lied continually and said that Trump was a pawn and a  water boy for Russian President Vladimir Putin.  Eventually, a $33 million investigation cleared Trump of colluding with Russia, and subsequently, Schiff was censured by the House of Representatives and described by his peers as a "liar" and a "crook." 

                 With Ms. Merchan as adviser to "Trump-haters" and with her father presiding at the Trump trial now underway, Schiff has been  campaigning for a California senate seat.  He has pulled in  $20 million in donations, using Merchan campaign literature excoriating President Trump as he faces the  criminal trial. 

                Along with counseling  and advising the mendacious Schiff and telling him what to say,  Ms. Merchan supports democratic candidates seeking election to the Senate.  According to the New York Post  newspaper, the PAC generated $73.6 million since it began firing off fundraising emails following the ex president's indictment. 

                   To rein in President Trump from voicing criticism of Loren Merchan and her Democratic ties, Judge Merchan has issued a "gag" order on the ex-President which bars him from making statements about attorneys, court staff or family members of prosecutors, lawyers and court personnel. Also, the gag order proscribes Trump's criticism of his former personal attorney,  Michael Cohen, who is slated to be a witness against the ex-President, and who has been badmouthing Trump to the media at every opportunity.  

                   On April 30, Judge Merchan found Trump in contempt of his "gag" order and at the request of Prosecutor Bragg fined him $9,000 for nine comments on his Truth platform in which he had excoriated the judge's daughter for her Democratic work in helping to take down the former President Trump.

                   In finding the ex-President in contempt, he warned him that he could go to jail if he continues to ignore the orders of his court. 

                  Why is Judge Merchan resisting the defendant's demand that he recuse himself as the presiding judge based upon clear evidence of his partiality on behalf of Democrats, and against Trump; and with full awareness of his daughter's democratic party affiliations and connections? He is presiding at the trial because he wants to do his part as a Democrat and a "certified Trump Hater."

                   Has the Democratic Party become so strong in New York City, and particularly in the borough of Manhattan that the words "honesty and fair trial" are lost completely?  "It's the Democrat's way or the highway," or so they say.   

                  Republicans are virtually non-existent in Manhattan and the Democratic Party there is bulging with "never Trump" members.                  

                   In Manhattan, for example, not a single elected office holder is a Republican. In fact, according to 2023 records, Manhattan Republicans are absent entirely from the New York Senate and House; and have no presence in the New York City Council. Also, no Manhattan based republicans have been elected to the U.S. House of Representatives.

                 As of the end of 2023, records reveal that there are  106,000 registered Republicans  and 878,000 Democrats signing in from Manhattan.  In the 2020 presidential vote in that borough, Biden got 88 per cent of vote to Trump's 12 per cent. You can be pretty sure that the jurors picked in the trial, whose names are not being released,  share the political views  harbored by the  judge and the dishonest prosecutor.  

                With those majorities, common sense tells you that the idea of "fair" treatment for Republican Donald Trump is simply not going to happen.  Believing in Manhattan honesty and a fair trial for the ex-President is simply fodder for fools. 

                                                 XXX

PROTECTING MAYORKAS

 

                                              BY BILL JUNEAU

                           He is an obedient and obsequious Democrat with full protection from the Party of the Jackass and its head mule, the lame-thinking and befuddled President, Joe Biden.

                          And so, the deserving impeachment trial of Alejandro Nicholas Mayorkas by the House of Representatives has been trashed and rejected by the Senate, depriving the citizenry of hearing how the Cuban-born, and law-breaking Mayorkas, opened up America's borders to everyone, including drug pushers, felons, general trouble makers and USA haters. 

                           Pursuant to the Constitution, impeachments are proposed and set forth in articles voted by the U.S. House, the lower body of Congress.  Those articles are then sent to the Senate for trial and vote.  Conviction and removal of cabinet members require a two-thirds guilty vote of sitting senators  which today has 51 democrats and 49 republicans. Also, the Senate has the power to preclude a trial by a majority vote of senators

                           Mayorkas, 64, is the nation's Secretary of Homeland Security, and his outrageous open-border conduct has pleased the brain-damaged President Biden who appointed him to his cabinet after taking office in 2021.  Under Mayorkas and Biden, some 8 to 10 million uninvited and illegal immigrants have come onto American soil in three-plus years.  They have waded across the narrow Rio Grande river alongside the southern section of Texas; and they have snuck in from behind bushes and crawled over rocky sections of the terrain.

                          Border horsemen who tried to discourage their arrival were disciplined by Mayorkas and accused of using their reins as a whipping instrument on immigrants fording the river. Subsequently, an investigation determined that the border squad using horses had acted properly and the use of reins was to control the horses and was not out of animosity and was not wrongful.   Nevertheless,  Mayorkas, with Biden's approval,  disciplined them with a suspension accusing them of using "harsh" language on black interlopers from Haiti.

                         Generally, illegal immigrants are detained and interviewed when nabbed by border agents and told to report back for a hearing on their asylum claims.  At the same time, hundreds of thousands, maybe millions,  paid their cartel chauffeurs, and sneaked into America untouched, and then made their way to unknown destinations. Illegals given court dates seldom return for a hearing, and simply blend in and hoodwink authorities into giving them  green cards allowing for permanent residency. 

                         They are "non-citizens and we respect them," said the smug, shiny-pated Mayorkas.  The word "alien," and "illegals" has been scrubbed from all USA forms and is not to be used, he explained.  Shelter and transportation is often provided to these   "non citizens."  Some are bussed to army barracks or upscale  hotels or put on air planes destined for requested cities. There is no vetting and new "non citizens" are never checked for possibly carrying the covid virus.  

                         Mayors from major cities like New York and Chicago are complaining that they are being inundated with illegals creating problems and requiring millions of dollars to accommodate them. The illegal immigrants are committing crimes and pushing fentanyl and innocent persons are dying at their hands.  

                          Pregnant migrants are taken to hospitals where they deliver, and the new infants immediately become American citizens deserving of social security benefits; and the attending family is provided shelter and sustenance.  Women who want abortions are accommodated by trained physicians.  Illegals have come to the United States from scores of different countries, with all continents well-represented.  Chinese immigrants, in escalating numbers, are among new residents.

                           On February 13, in a 214 to 213 vote, the U.S House voted two articles of impeachment against Mayorkas in the face of the 8 to 10 million illegal entries over the past three-plus  years.  In addition to disregarding provisions of the Immigration and Nationality act, and in disregard of border crossing laws, Mayorkas had directed that persons unlawfully present in America is not of itself  sufficient reason for their removal. Criminal convictions, he said, are not enough to warrant arrest. 

                           At hearings last year before committees of the  House, Mayorkas testified that "Yes, the southern border is secure."  That was a demonstrable lie to Congress and when he told it, North Carolina Representative Daniel Bishop was infuriated and told the  stone-faced Mayorkas that "you are a sure fire candidate for impeachment." 

                          After the Biden election in 2020, Mayorkas was nominated to take charge of the border as Secretary of Homeland Security. Under President Obama, he had served as a deputy secretary of the department.  Despite some opposition questioning his fitness for the position, the Senate approved the new cabinet member by a vote of 56 to 43.   

                         Some anti-Mayorkas congressmen and women have recalled how the late Sen. John McCain and Oklahoma senator Tom Coburn had opposed his appointments in the Obama administration where he had served as deputy Secretary of Homeland Security and as Director of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.  Senators  McCain and Coburn opposed Mayorkas claiming that he had mismanaged the operation of a visa program for wealthy foreign investors and that the matter had been flagged by the Inspector General.

                         Mayorkas was only the second impeachment of a cabinet member in U.S. history.  The first was in 1876 when the House impeached Secretary of War William Worth Bellnap for  bribery and other misdeeds.  Bellnap resigned upon passage of the articles, but the Senate nevertheless held a trial, and acquitted him of all charges. 

                          To Democrats, it is all a political game, and right and wrong conduct is irrelevant. Majority Leader of the Senate, Chuck Schumer of New York, the same Democratic boss who insisted on two impeachment trials of former President Trump when there was no evidence of any misdeed or misconduct by him, had the Senate which is controlled by a narrow Democrat majority,  vote to reject both articles of impeachment against Mayorkas.  The action proscribed a trial in which there would be evidence of the Mayorkas open border incompetence and of his lying to Congress.  Also, the Democrat majority foreclosed on any debate for Americans to hear, weigh and consider concerning the secretary's alleged misfeasance and malfeasance.   

                          Schumer said that articles did not meet the standard of high crimes and misdemeanors set forth in the Constitution, and that going ahead with a trial would "set a dangerous precedent."  Votes defeating each article of impeachment were cast on a partisan line.

                        It was ugly, raw politics with Schumer doing the bidding of Biden so as to protect Mayorkas and the open border policies. It effectively concealed Mayorkas' lying to Congress, law breaking and the open border policies endorsed and pushed by the corrupt, slow thinking 81-year-old Biden. 

                      

                                                 XXX

                         

THE BOWE BERGDAHL STORY CONTINUES

                                                       

                                   BY BILL JUNEAU

                            You may have figured that you'd heard the last of Bowe Bergdahl, the soldier who deserted his regiment in Afghanistan and subsequently was convicted of the offense in a court martial at which he plead guilty.  But the story of the ex-sergeant has taken a new turn as Bergdahl is doing his best to shake loose of his mistakes and misconduct.

                            Last July, a district judge in Washington D.C. vacated the conviction and dishonorable discharge ordered against Bergdahl because of a "conflict of Interest" on the part of the  sentencing military judge, Col. Jeffrey Nance. 

                            The government and the army is appealing, but in the meantime, Bergdahl is just another ex soldier entitled to  medical and real estate benefits and backpay.  He is at present a deserter in a time of war who walks free  

                            After joining the army, Private Bergdahl was deployed  to Afghanistan as war with the Taliban raged. On a cold night in 2009, he abandoned his post and fellow soldiers and surrendered  himself to America's enemy, the Taliban. Held in Taliban shelters for the next five years, he learned to speak the Arabic language and found ways to stay on the good side and mingle with America's enemy in the country which was a training center for terrorists in the 9-11 attack in New York. 

                          Reportedly, he became fluent in the Arabic language, and seemingly was treated with tender hands for his five years in their campgrounds in the mountainous country in the Middle East.  

                           Bergdahl's desertion became the subject of massive publicity in America and was scorned by patriots and other soldiers.  In 2014, President Obama arranged to bring the soldier home after negotiating with the terrorists.  In return for releasing Bergdahl, America released five terrorists being held at the Guantanamo Bay prison in Cuba.  The five returned, it was reported, to the battlefield and resumed the Taliban mission to kill Americans. 

                           Obama was commended for bringing Bergdahl home, though the fact that he had negotiated with the terrorists and had failed to inform Congress of his backroom deal brought calls for  Obama's impeachment by prominent Republicans and GOP reps in the lower House of Congress. 

                            Now holding the rank of Sergeant, Bergdahl was welcomed home in 2014 in a ceremony and party on White House lawn. The soldier's parents from Hailey, Idaho, were among guests.  Bergdahl's father, John, had grown a thick, Taliban-style beard and speaking with emotion in the Arabic language, praised Allah for his mercy in bringing his son home.  As he spoke, President Obama reacted by laying his hand affectionately on his shoulder.  

                              Shortly thereafter, Obama's  National Security Adviser, Susan Rice, appeared on network television stations and lauded Sgt. Bergdahl by telling Americans the fiction that the non- commissioned officer had served his country with  "honor and distinction." This, of course, was an enormous lie, but reportedly had been okayed by President Obama whose concern for the nation's military has always appeared questionable.   

                          In December, 2015, Bergdahl was charged with desertion, and  misbehavior before the enemy and a general court martial at Fort Bragg was scheduled. He awaited trial while working at a desk on a Texas army base.  Army Col. Jeffrey Nance, who was nearing retirement, was named as the presiding judge at the upcoming military tribunal.  

                                 As the trial approached in the fall of 2017, President Trump called Bergdahl a traitor and opined that he ought to be shot.  Also, the late Arizona senator, John McCain, who spent five years as a prisoner of war during the Viet Nam fighting, and was considered a true american hero, lambasted Bergdahl for his  dishonor to America and called for his punishment. 

                                  On October 17, 2017, Bergdahl pleaded guilty to all charges against him and in emotional testimony explained that he regretted his actions and would be forced to live his life in the face of being a deserter.  Judge Nance entered a conviction against Sgt. Bergdahl for desertion and ordered him dishonorably discharged and fined $10,000.  Also he stripped the soldier of all benefits given to veterans who have served their country. 

                                  But Judge Nance was merciful and kind in pronouncing the sentence. Rather than send the young soldier to prison for life or for many years, he allowed him to go home and rebuild his life.  

                                 Judge Nance who was on the verge of retiring from active duty as a soldier had applied for a job with the Justice Department under President Trump who had railed against Bergdahl as a "traitor," even suggesting that he be executed.  Nance's application for the job had not been disclosed publicly.

                                 In June of 2020, attorneys for Bergdahl filed a lawsuit in the district court in Washington seeking to have  the  convictions vacated since Col. Nance's application for a job in the Trump government constituted a conflict of interest which threatened his ability to be impartial.

                                Last July Judge Reggie B. Walton , in a 563 page ruling, agreed with the petition, and vacated all charges against Bergdahl, allowing him to walk free with credentials as an ex-soldier, entitled to benefits and backpay.  

                              Bergdahl's motion for dismissal "specifically referenced the former president’s desire that the plaintiff be convicted and how he should be punished," Walton wrote.

                             "Thus, the Court concludes that, based upon the military judge’s job application to an executive branch position -- a situation in which he might reasonably be expected to appeal to the president’s expressed interest in the plaintiff’s conviction and punishment -- 'it would appear to a reasonable person,' 'knowing all the circumstances,' 'that [the judge]’s impartiality was in jeopardy,'" Walton wrote, citing in quotes precedents from previous decisions.

                              Actually, the question of Nance's impartiality was answered in the punishment he imposed, which included no jail time, and was merciful, and allowed for Bergdahl to return home and rebuild his life. Very likely, President Trump was in favor of a much tougher sentence. 

                             According to records, it appears that the justice Department's efforts to reinstate Bergdahl's  convictions are ongoing.                                     

                                                  xxx