BIDEN SAYS-- NO TIME FOR HEALING,

 

                                BY WILLIAM JUNEAU                              

                                After a bumpy road, the trial of Policeman Derek Chauvin is over and the Minneapolis officer has been convicted of murder and manslaughter by a jury of  six whites, four blacks and two biracial individuals. The sentencing by Judge Peter Cahill will be in eight weeks, though no precise date has been set. 

                                 With announcement of the verdict, there was a distinct sense of relief that it was all over and that the inevitable jury determination was now history, and that it would lay the carpet for an era of healing.  It would diminish the enmity which blacks have for white-skinned residents who they accuse of being supremacists imbued with privilege and an inborn feeling of superiority over their black and brown brothers and sisters. 

                                  It would serve to recognize  that all policemen are not evil and racist, and that a bad policeman will be dealt with by law, and that law enforcement is an integral part of the society in which we all live and on which America was built.  

                                  The opportunity to encourage healing  belonged to President Joe Biden who was elected last November on his promises that he would bring unity to a divided and racially troubled United States.  His comments, however, did more to allow racial tensions to continue, rather than to heal and bring peace.    

                                  He could have used the healing words of the President with whom he (Biden) had partnered for eight years---who said that we do not live in a Black America or a White America. No, cautioned  Barack Obama, there is not a liberal America and a conservative America.  There is the United States of America, period. 

                                    But Biden,  whose temperament and mental agility is clearly challenged  and dented by his apparent senility and memory lapses, told the country what no one, except perhaps far left progressives, wanted to hear.  

                                   The nation, whispered Biden in low tones into a microphone, is a "systemically racist"  country and the verdict by a Minneapolis jury against a racist cop does not cure the problem.  It  was a giant step forward ---but much too rare a step for Black Americans who have been killed or abused during interactions with police.  "Systemic racism  is a stain on our nation's soul; a knee on the neck of justice for black Americans," he intoned. 

                                   On April 20, after three weeks of an emotional trial and 10 hours of deliberation, Officer Chauvin, an 18-year police veteran, was found guilty of the murder and manslaughter of George Floyd, a 46-year-old black man, by detaining him with a knee to his throat for nearly nine and one-half minutes, allegedly depriving him of  oxygen for his lungs,  heart and brain. Chauvin's attorney, Eric Nelson, argued that Floyd's death was due to a combination of other causes including  a sick heart, blocked arteries and a system sated with drugs,  and that the policeman had used techniques for controlling the resisting Floyd taught  in the Minneapolis police academy. But the jury did not accept the defense explanation. 

                                    In trial and pretrial motions, Defense Attorney Nelson had  contended that Officer Chauvin could not receive a fair trial in Minneapolis given the saturation of negative publicity against him. Pre-trial motions for changing the venue of the trial were denied by Judge Cahill.  While testimony was being heard by the un-sequestered jury, the city of Minneapolis announced that it was awarding the Floyd family $27 million dollars as damages  caused by the arrest and death of Floyd.  New motions for a mistrial and for changing the venue or for delaying the trial were filed and argued by defense counsel, but were again  denied by the trial judge.  

                                     As the criminal litigation went forward, Floyd, an ex- convict who had served five years in  prison for home invasion, was being hailed by the media and throughout the city and on busy streets as a hero who was deserving of justice with a jury decision that he was murdered by a white policeman.   

                                     During deliberations,  President Biden, who holds a law degree from Syracuse university, weighed in publicly and said that he was "praying that the jury would do the right thing," and that the evidence was "overwhelming."  His involvement in such a manner while the case was in the hands of jurors was contrary to legal ethics and protocol. 

                                     Even though the jury was sequestered for deliberations, Biden should have known better.  Yes, he has credentials as a lawyer, but his legal acumen is questionable. In law school, Biden finished near the very bottom of his class, and classmates have been quoted as saying that Joe Biden was the "dumbest S.O.B. in the class."

                                     Taking Biden's lead, Los Angeles  Congresswoman Maxine Waters threatened that if Chauvin is not found guilty of "first degree murder," (with which he was never charged,) there would be retaliation. 

                                     "We have got to get more confrontational," she stormed out over the airwaves. "We’ve got to make sure that they know that we mean business.”  Subsequently, Waters was asked to apologize for her threats, but she refused to do so. 

                                      Comments by Biden and Waters made as the jury deliberated found their way to the court, and Judge Cahill predicted that the remarks of Biden and Waters, and the public airing of the settlement of $27 million awarded to the Floyd family would very likely be part of an appeal by Officer Chauvin.  He opined further that it could result in an order for a new trial.   

                                      Millions of Americans, white and black, do not believe that America is a "systemically racist"  nation with the arms of prejudice against blacks reaching into every corner of society as Biden has indicated. The President has  a "misperception" that bigotry is everywhere, even as real data tells the story that "racism exists, but there  has never been less racism in the USA than there is now," a newspaper columnist recently wrote.                                                                 But what about Biden's personal conduct as he accuses citizens of the United States of being racists? Is that "stain" of which he speaks,  something with which he has personal experience? Maybe he should explain his biased comments during the 1970s and 1980s when he took a stand against the desegregation of public schools, and bragged of his close friendship and admiration for Alabama Governor George Wallace.

                                   On the debate stage last year when he was seeking the nomination of his party,  Sen. Kamala Harris, now his Vice president, but then a presidential wannabe, called out Biden for his past conduct as a racist and his close associations with southern Democrats who had nothing but contempt for Blacks. 

                                    Records tell us that Biden counted himself as a friend of Alabama Governor George Wallace who ran for President in 1964, 1968 and 1972. Wallace's campaign rallying cry was "Segregation Now, Segregation Forever."  During many of his speeches, he boasted of an award he had received from Governor Wallace who had lauded him as "one of the outstanding politicians of America." In a speech to a southern audience, Delaware Sen. Biden once said that "we Delawareans were on the side of the south during the Civil War." 

                                  .   In 1975, he told the Philadelphia Inquirer that "I think that the Democratic party could stand a liberal George Wallace--someone who is not afraid to stand up and offend people and someone who wouldn't pander, but would say what the American people know in their gut is right."

                                       Back in 2008 after Barrack Obama was a candidate for president, Biden described the  candidate to a gathering as a "mainstream African American who is articulate and bright and clean and a nice looking guy.  I mean that's a storybook, man."  At the time, Biden was severely criticized for the comment.                                            In the 1990s, Sen. Biden was an enthusiastic law and order supporter and he spearheaded enactment  of the 1994 Federal Crime bill.  African American Cory Booker, a New Jersey Democratic senator and a former mayor of Newark was a critic of Biden's crime bill.  The Biden backed legislation, he has said,  "inflicted immeasurable harm on black and brown and low income communities."  

                                      Joe Biden has been around government for about a half century.  He has been accused of being corrupt and that he arranged for his son, Hunter, who had been kicked out of the navy because of a cocaine addiction, to get high paying jobs for which he wasn't qualified; and allegedly facilitated Hunter's million dollar contracts with Chinese officials.  

                                    But suddenly, none of that ever happened. If Joe Biden  is indeed slipping, as many people believe, his memory is failing in a very convenient way.

                                           

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SCRAPPY DAN BONGINO

 

                                                          BY BILL JUNEAU 

                                                Dan Bongino is an ex New York policeman and a former Secret Service agent who guarded Presidents Bush and Obama---and he comes down hard on the side of law and order. 

                                   Recently, he bumped heads with Geraldo Rivera, whom he accuses of  using the race game to rile up the masses.  

                                   Rivera has said that he favors law and order, but that the police have brought fear to the Black and Brown communities in America, and something has to be done to assure minorities that police are not their enemy.  Too many black mothers are more fearful of the police then they are of  gang bangers when their sons leave home, he said. 

                                   The accidental killing of 20-year-old Daunte Wright by a white police woman who fired her pistol thinking it was her taser gun, has set off Rivera. He seems to equate the shooting, which the officer swears was a tragic accident, with the concept of white supremacy and the denigration of black Americans. The officer, Kim Potter, a 26-year veteran of the department, has been fired and charged with second degree manslaughter. 

                                  The taser gun, says Rivera,  should be carried on the officer's favored side and the gun with bullets on the other side. That way, says Rivera, the officer will not be making deadly mistakes, and young black men who get stopped for license violations in their car won't end up dead.   

                                   Bongino, who is not the type to back down,  let Rivera know what he thought of his opinion, though he refrained from being too direct.  Police need to have immediate access to their guns when they are being attacked and threatened, but then, he pointed out, "you (Geraldo) have never been a policeman."

                                You report stories about the police but you don't know squat about the the actual threat the police face every day,  he told Rivera a few days ago during their joint appearance on the Sean Hannity show.

                                 Both Rivera and Bongino are  contributors to Fox News.  When the Hannity segment turned to the recent tragic shooting in Brooklyn, near Minneapolis, the  77-year-old Rivera thumped his chest and said that hereafter the rules ought to be changed so that tasers and not guns with bullets become the "the first weapon of choice for a cop." 

                             Drawing a pistol was "reckless or grossly negligent behavior ” in shooting the 20-year-old unarmed black man, said Rivera --his handlebar mustache twitching with self righteousness.

                             Glaring at the virtual face of Bongino as though he were a rookie policeman when it comes to street crime, Rivera felt the need to produce his own lengthy resume as a professional observer. 

                       "I  have been covering cops for over 50 years. I am perhaps the most deeply experienced reporter in television history," he said of his background.   “I have done hundreds of stories over thousands of hours with cops. Everything from shoot-outs to executing arrest warrants, to roadblocks to drug raids. You name it.  I like cops and the cops like me." 

                                Somewhat taken aback by Rivera's rant and self praise, along with his promotion of a race narrative, Bongino shook his head and observed, “I don’t even know how to respond. Give me a second to digest the stupidity of that.

                               " ---- Geraldo, take a Valium,” Bongino told Rivera after a pause. “You’ve been talking forever. You really gotta pipe down.  Calm down. Get a hold of yourself.”

                           Reporters (like you) are supposed to deal in facts and you brought in the race card despite having no facts to back it up, blasted Bongino, adding  "contrary to your narrative, 'systemic racism' does not exist in police departments. Stop pretending to be a policeman."    

                          If  white officers are hunting down Black men every night, where is this massive body count? Bongino stormed.  The crossfire continued, and Bongino told Rivera: "You just want to see the country burn."

                           Rivera came unglued and shouted:

                          "I want to see the country burn?...You son of a bitch. I want to see the country burn? ...you punk.  You're nothing but a punk, Bongino, You're a punk,"  he yelled.

                           Bongino fired back, "You wouldn't tell me that to my face," but before he could say more,  Hannity cut to a commercial.  After the break, the combatants were gone and Hannity continued on with news of what he perceived as the  stumbling and inefficient policies of  Joe Biden.   

                           Bongino, 46, was a New York policeman for four years in the late 1990s, and was a secret service agent from 1999 to 2011. He has a master's degree in business from Pennsylvania State university, and has bachelor's and master's degrees in psychology from Queens college in New York. He ran unsuccessfully for congressman and senator from Maryland, and is the author of  several books. 
                          As a conservative commentator, he has a strong following. On May 24, he is scheduled to begin a radio show in some time slots left vacant by the death of conservative talk show icon Rush Limbaugh. 

                            Geraldo Rivera,77, is a journalist, and lawyer and  has been a political commentator for many years.  He hosted the television show, "Geraldo" from 1987 to 1998. Although a registered Republican, he sometimes lines up with liberal causes, which often generate discord with other conservatives.  He is the author of        several books.  

                           

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KILLER CLOWN GACY ON PEACOCK

                     

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                                                 BY BILL JUNEAU 

                                Peacock is now streaming a six-part series on John Wayne Gacy,  the politically active contractor who killed 33 teen agers and buried 29 of them in the crawl space under his home in the Norwood Park region of Chicago in the 1970s. 

                     I was a Chicago Tribune reporter in those days and part of my beat was the office of the Cook County Medical Examiner,  Dr. Robert J. Stein, the forensic pathologist for whom the Institute of Forensic Medicine, formerly the County morgue, is now named. I was with Dr. Stein at the Gacy home in 1979 when Dr. Stein donned full body work clothes and  climbed down into the crawl space and supervised the removal of bodies which were immediately bussed to the morgue for further examinations and identification whereever possible.

                      Though the six-part series is vague on the fact that by law the medical examiner is among principals in murder investigations, it was Stein, and not the prosecuting lawyers led by Terry Sullivan and Bill Kunkle, who were hands-on in seeking the identifications of the skeletal remains of Gacy victims uncovered in mud and soil under Gacy's small, ranch style home.  All but a few of the victims were positively identified.  

                      Dr. Stein, a past President of the National Association of Medical examiners, coordinated efforts to identify the victims and brought in dental and bone experts to get the job done.  Stein worked tirelessly in making the identifications and was aided by investigating detectives from Des Plaines and many other communities in the Chicago area, and from officers from the ranks of the late Sheriff Richard Elrod.

                      The Peacock series is informative and worth watching.  It's even a bit creepy as there are extensive interviews with Gacy, truly a psychopathic monster.  Listening to him boast of his talents and connections will have you shaking your head at his open and nonchalant attitude. Gacy, after his arrest, busied himself painting in his prison cell while awaiting his trial.  One of his paintings was that of a clown, dressed in garb similar to that which he wore while entertaining children.  He dedicated his creation to Dr. Stein and then sent it to him so as to impress him with his artistic talents.  Dr. Stein died in 1994 and the whereabouts of the painting is not known. He may well have trashed it. 

                       Personally, I  thought that the TV show, while well done, missed a good deal of information which would have been available from Gacy's defense attorneys, Sam Amirante and Robert Motta, to whom Gacy detailed his killings and the tricks he used with handcuffs to take control of his young victims, prior to strangling and burying them in trenches under his home.    The story of how Amirante and Motta came to serve as counsel to Gacy is fascinating and is recounted in Amirante's book, "John Wayne Gacy: Defending a Monster," which was published in 2015.

                       In the TV series and in the Amirante book, Gacy is seen as a heartless individual who never regretted anything that he had done.  He would bury his victims, Bob Motta has said, and then go about his daily routine as a maintenance contractor who claimed he had important connections. He was a Democratic precinct captain who ingratiated himself to merchants, politicians and businessmen and would throw parties and even entertain children in his clown suit. Frequently, he managed to have his picture taken with prominent people.  In one he is seen smiling alongside the wife of former President Jimmy Carter.                                                                                   Following the Gacy sentencing and execution, Amirante was appointed an Associate Judge in Cook county and he served as a jurist for some 18 years.  At one point, because of his personality and credentials, he was pursued by television scouts seeking to make him a TV judge (like Judge Judy), but Amirante declined.                

                          In much of the six part series on Peacock, little emphasis is given to the tireless work by Motta and Amirante who were defending perhaps the greatest mass murderer of young boys in the nation's history.  Both lawyers are strong subscribers to the right of defendants to receive a fair trial, even sociopaths like Gacy. The attorneys presented medical evidence that Gacy was insane when he committed the killings, but was adjudged capable of standing trial and aiding in his defense.  After a trial of several weeks, Gacy was found guilty by a jury and sentenced to death and the execution took place by way of lethal injection on May 10, 1994.   Gacy was 52 years old.  

                           After leaving the bench, Amirante opened a  law office in the northwest suburbs of Chicago and continues to represent defendants accused of breaking the law. 

                           Robert Motta also continues to defend clients accused of crimes as a senior partner in his firm in the western suburbs of Chicago. His son, Robert Motta Jr., is also a partner in the firm which is among leading criminal law offices in the Chicago area. 

                            The Mottas are highly respected in the legal community for their skills in the practice of criminal law and for their respect and adherence to the constitution and to legal ethics and morals.

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NOAH GREEN'S ALLEGIANCE TO LOUIS FARRAKHAN

   

                              BY WILLIAM JUNEAU

                                On Good Friday of Easter week, 25-year-old Noah Green, a devotee of Minister Louis Farrakhan and the Nation of Islam, crashed his automobile into a barricade set up for protection of the Capitol building, and killed a veteran police officer and injured his partner. 

                            Green emerged from his car with a large, bladed knife in his hand and charged into converging policemen in an  apparent attempt to assassinate more uniformed officers.  But policemen closed in and shot and killed  the assailant.  

                            William "Billy" Evans, the slain officer, was an 18-year veteran of the Capitol force, well known and with a family and many friends.  President Biden ordered flags at the White House  lowered in remembrance of the courageous officer who was a first responder in the riots in the Capitol on January 6.  

                             Media reports have attempted to link the conduct of Green to the "insurrection" of January 6 in the capitol, and to supporters of former President Trump, but have been unable to do so.  Virtually all reports advise that Green was a troubled and depressed person who acted on his own and that  investigators are searching, but have been unable to identify any motive for his targeting of policemen. 

                              But how hard did the media and authorities look for Green's possible motivation and inspiration for taking down policemen?  How did the idea of police evil get  planted in his mind?  Could it have been the words of the iconic Minister of the Nation of Islam, who the impressionable Green considered a Messiah?  Could that have been the "unknown motivation"? 

                                  In speeches a couple of years back, Farrakhan contended that the police were not being held accountable for their racist and indiscriminate shootings and killings of young black men. In a speech at the D.C. Episcopal church, he said:

                                "If the federal government will not intercede in our affairs, then we must rise up and kill those who kill us.  Stalk them and kill them and let them feel the pain of death that we are feeling." 

                                Green was a 2019 graduate of Christopher Newport University in Virginia,  and reportedly hoped to go on for a master's degree in finance.  His dedication to Islam and to Minister Farrakhan is  clear.  In one of his many Face Book postings, he wrote that he believed that Minister Farrakhan was the "Messiah," and that "without his guidance, his word and his teachings that I have picked up on, I would be unable to continue."

                              He had filed a petition in a court in Indiana, where previously he had been a resident, to change his name from Noah Ricardo Green to Noah Zaeem Muhammad, a new name which would signify his allegiance to the Nation of Islam and Minister Farrakhan,  but he missed his hearing in late March and his name-change application was dismissed.

                               The NOI, also known as the Back Muslims, is headquartered in Chicago, and is a powerful force inside the black and brown communities.   Farrakhan, 87, is a close friend of former President Obama, and the Nation supported him in his rise from that of an Illinois legislator to the U.S. Senate and then to his two terms as the nation's 44th President. Insiders and politicians have said that Black candidates will go forward in Illinois, but only with the support of Farrakhan and the Nation of Islam. 

                               Minister Farrakhan is outspoken in his anti-Semitic views, and in his continuing derogation of Israel and Jews. In the eyes of the ADL, (Anti- Defamation League) Minister Farrakhan is the country's leading voice in that  category. In speeches, which can sometimes last three hours or more,  he has referred to  Jews as "bloodsuckers," and has characterized Adolph Hitler as "a very great man." 

                               His venom, however, is not reserved only for Jews and racist policemen. The NOI has long tagged the white man as the "blue-eyed devil" on earth and in one speech Farrakhan has been quoted as saying that "white people deserve to die." His incendiary comments are ignored by the the Justice Department and other authorities, and it appears that Farrakhan is untouchable for his rhetoric, although there have been demands that the Department of Justice ask him to tone down his rhetoric.           

                               Following Green's attack on police, the  Nation of Islam  issued a statement in the name of Minister Farrakhan in which it asserted that Noah Green was not a member of the NOI and had not made donations to it.  Apparently he had initiated an application for membership but failed to complete the process.  

                                The statement asserted that "Green’s alleged use of an automobile as a weapon and the alleged possession of a knife as reported, violates our teachings.  We absolutely disavow this act that resulted in the senseless loss of life. It is shocking for us to learn that someone who was attempting to be a part of our ranks may have been involved in something as tragic as this."

                             Farrakhan succeeded Elijah Muhammad as leader of the NOI in 1976 following Muhammad's death. Elijah Muhammad had been recognized as a Messenger of Allah, and had personally given the late Cassius Clay the name of Muhammad Ali after Clay committed to the teachings of Islam and the Nation. The NOI today counts as members well known athletes like Shaquille O'Neal and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar; entertainers, including Ice Cube, Kanye West  and Snoop Dog and the well known television personality Dr. Oz and political writer and commentator, Fareed Zakaria.  Actors Will Smith and his wife, Jada, have in the past made a donation of $150,000 to the NOI.

                                Born Louis Eugene Wolcott, Farrakhan  was a talented violinist and calypso singer before he dedicated his life to the Nation and to the teachings of the Prophet Muhammad.  He became a foot soldier to the Honorable Elijah Muhammad who changed his deputy's name to Farrakhan.  At one point he  functioned as an assistant to Malcolm X, who was assassinated in 1965.

                                         

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THE PARTY OF THE MULE

 

                                BY WILLIAM JUNEAU                            

                             Some political observers may well wonder how the Democratic party, whose members seem so ready to take offense at the first hint that anything is not politically correct, seems to tolerate being known as the Party of the Mule.  Political legend tells us that in the 1800s,  when the party was first organized, it was known as the party of the "Jackass." In those days, references to a "jackass friend" was a demonstration of respect and affection for an associate. 

                    Legend also has it that the word "jackass" or "male ass" became a part of the new nation's lexicon way back in 1727 when the USA was not even up and running, but there were farmers with their braying animals pulling earth gauging equipment.  As the years hummed along, the use of the word "jackass" became popular in describing a stubborn, stupid and backward person.                             

                    But it in 1828, a hundred years  after the familiar use of the word had settled in,  politicos began referring to the quick-tempered lawyer and politician, Andrew Jackson as a "jackass," after Jackson announced his candidacy  for President of the United States. Often in political attack literature, Jackson's face would be pictured next to a photo of this ridiculed member of the horse family.  In some cases, the head of a jackass would be attached to the body of the war hero and former congressman and senator from Tennessee.   

                    In the war of 1812, Gen. Jackson won status for his heroic actions  and had a vast following. When attack literature described him as a blood brother to the "jackass,"  Jackson declined to reject the caricature as the insult for which it was intended.  Surprisingly, we are told, he found the caricature to be amusing and he had the face of the donkey included in his fiery campaign literature and posters. His campaign slogan was "Let The People Rule" reflecting his populist views and stubborn nature, akin to that  of a donkey.  In November of 1828, he was elected the nation's 7th president and its first Democrat; and he defeated the incumbent, John Quincy Adams, son of John Adams, the nation's second President.

                   Incumbent president, Quincy Adams, was himself an animal lover, but Jackson did not attempt to use it against him.  President Adams had at one time received an alligator as a gift, and he kept the animal in a bath tub in the East Room of the White House, and often surprised his guests with an introduction to his toothy pet. When Adams vacated the White House, so the story goes, he took the gator and the tub with him and his successor used the room for storage.        

                     The image of the recalcitrant donkey stayed with the Democrats and in the 1870s, influential cartoonist Thomas Nast helped popularize the donkey even more as a symbol for the entire Democratic party. In fact, Nast is considered the one who really labeled the Democrats as the party of the mule for all time, since he used it relentlessly in his immensely popular cartoons, often seen in the New Yorker Weekly.

                    In today's political circles, a donkey always refers to a Democrat, but now when a Democrat is called a big jackass, that appellation is never considered a friendly comment. Generally speaking, it is the other political party, the Republicans, who continue to look upon Democrats as jackasses. 

                       In 2008, the symbol was still prominent after more than a century. When Democrats gathered for their convention in Denver, they included in the festivities a live donkey, named "Mordecai."  Pundits said it was there to lick hands and lighten the atmosphere and promote conviviality. Apparently it did the trick, because the party's candidate, Barack Obama, went on to become the nation's 44th president. 

                       Republicans too ,have a symbol and a mascot--the ivory tusked elephant.  During the Civil War, the image of the pachyderm was featured as a party symbol and reportedly was intended to connote dignity, intelligence and power--with Republicans themselves making the favorable connection.       

                      Officially, the Democratic Party has never adopted the Mule as its mascot, but the Republicans have made the elephant its official logo.

                     The GOP still uses the elephant  and it shows up on its web sites and on Republican merchandise. The mule, never the official mascot of the Democrats, is mostly used by the media and reportedly is only found here and there on bits of Democratic Party merchandise.                            

                      In 1984, President Reagan was gifted a baby elephant  by the Sri Lankan President during a state visit.  Though much appreciated by Reagan, the animal ultimately found a good home, but it never became a pet in the White House or at the Reagan ranch in California. 

                      Again, it was Thomas Nast who gets much of the credit for linking the big elephant with the Republican party. In addition to being the nation's first great political cartoonist, he was one of its toughest and most prominent critics, with his work appearing in Harper's Weekly from 1862 to 1886. 

                          Some have suggested that the word "nasty" derives from the artist's surname.  That's doubtful, but a look back at his cartoons might suggest that there could be  something to the link.  Apparently, Nast was a Republican, but analysts tell us that he was never slow in ridiculing his own side sometimes painting the ivory tusked elephant as a lumbering fellow often heading in the wrong direction. 

                         After all this time, it seems unlikely that either party will ever be able to disassociate themselves from their  namesakes, whether used in a flattering way or not. 

                                          

                                         XXX