FBI ACKNOWLEDGES NEGLIGENCE

 

                                    BY BILL JUNEAU

                                        After dallying around and maneuvering politically on behalf of far left progressives, and having admitted to  significant lying about former President Trump, the once trusted and esteemed FBI has gotten nailed for gross negligence.  It will be paying mightily to settle school shooting lawsuits filed against the agency in south Florida.   

                                        Recently, it has been reported that the federal police department will be paying  $125 to $130 million in damages to the families of students slain and wounded by a former classmate in the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High school in Parkland, Florida. The explosion of violence occurred on Valentine's Day in 2018.  It was carnage which would not have happened, save the yawning ineptitude of the FBI.

                                        The incredible dereliction of the FBI cannot  be disputed as the agency had been told on two occasions that Nicholas Cruz of South Florida was planning a shooting at the Stoneman Douglas high school from which he had been expelled.  Cruz was well known to the sheriff's office in Broward county as a trouble maker and had been the subject of some 20 investigations in recent  months and years in upscale Parkland.  

                                         Information for the FBI came from tipsters and from a youth who knew Cruz personally, and from postings by Cruz himself on the social networks.  Topping it off, agents were advised on January 5, that Cruz had intentions to shoot up the school which had expelled him for disciplinary problems. The informant provided to the FBI the name "Nicholas Cruz" and his address in Parkland where he resided with his stepmother.  The tipster even advised the G-men that the 19-year-old youth  had acquired guns and ammunition which he kept in his home.  "I know that he is going to explode," the informant told the FBI.

                                        Instead of investigating and interviewing  Cruz, the FBI junked the information. 

                                        Five weeks later, on the sunny afternoon of Feb. 14, 2018,  Cruz went to the high school, climbed onto the third floor with his rifle in a back pack, and began mowing down students mulling about.  Sixteen teen agers and a faculty member were fatally shot, and some 17 others were wounded, but survived following hospital care. After finishing, the teen assassin went to a nearby fast-food restaurant, had a hamburger, and subsequently was arrested there without resistance.                                                                                                                      He has pleaded guilty to 17 counts of first degree murder and other counts of attempted murder.  Next January 4, a jury will be impaneled and asked to determine his sentence. He faces a possible death sentence or a minimum of life in prison.  

                                      The negligence of the FBI was so egregious that then Florida Gov. Rick Scott, now U.S. Senator Scott, called immediately for the resignation of FBI Director Christopher Wray, but Wray's deputies apologized on his behalf and he retained his job. Wray had been appointed director, succeeding James Comey, in June of 2017,  by President Trump and he took office the following August 1.  

                                      Faced with accusations of negligence which allowed the slaughter of the teen agers, FBI Deputy Director David Bodich posted some hollow words.  "Under established protocols," he said, " the information  provided by the caller should have been assessed as a potential threat to life.......and the tip should have been forwarded to the Miami field office......we clearly should have done more."

                                   Andrew Pollack, whose 18-year-old daughter, Meadow, died in the shooting, commended the FBI for accepting responsibility for its inaction  Also contributing to the negligence, said Pollack, were the Broward County school district and sheriff’s office, the school security staff and the psychologists who treated the shooter.  They all failed to stop the shooter and have ducked responsibility for the school shooting, he said. 

                                   Tony Montalato, whose 14-year-old daughter, Gina, died, said no settlement will "replace my bright, bubbly daughter."  While other families will be celebrating thanksgiving and Christmas, he added, Gina's chair will remain empty. 

                                    The FBI is and has been the foremost investigating agency in the world. Its credibility took a real hit under James Comey's supervision in which agents lied about President Trump, and fabricated information of his ties to Russia. Its performance in Parkland was both destructive and pathetic.   Christopher Wray's appointment as director was confirmed by the Senate with a 92 to 5 vote, but his positive influence on the agency remains in serious doubt. 

                                                 XXX

                                                                           

IT'S NOT BIDEN BEHIND THE WHEEL

              

           

                                     By BILL JUNEAU   

                                    At a recent hearing of the Senate Foreign Affairs  Committee, Idaho Senator James Risch questioned Secretary of State Antony Blinken and demanded to know, ""who is telling Biden what to do."  Who is behind the curtain telling Biden when he can answer a question?  Who cuts off Biden's mike when he does not want him to speak?  Who speaks for him?

                                  A nervous looking  Blinken replied that President Biden speaks for himself.  But the agitated and annoyed Sen. Risch  wasn't finished and he dug in. 

                                  "We’ve all seen this-- as recently as yesterday when someone cuts off Biden  as he speaks at a wildfire briefing,"  asserted the senator.  Somebody in the White House has authority to press the button and stop the president, and cut off the president’s speaking ability. So who is that person?  

                                   Blinken stuck to his guns, noting that he has known and worked with Biden for years, and that the President speaks for himself.   Risch had put his finger on a subject which is on the table and very likely is puzzling millions of American, both Republicans and those Democrats with thinking caps.  

                                    The mental acuity and cognitive ability and seemingly low IQ of President Biden has become a topic for discussion in the USA. Seventy-nine year-old Joe Biden has been on Washington payrolls for nearly a half-century.  He was a U.S. senator from Delaware for 36 years, and then a Vice President to Barack Obama for eight years.  He moved into the Oval Office on January 20, of 2021, as the nation's 46th President.

                                  Some 14 congressmen have signed a letter to President Biden importuning him to undergo a supervised mental exam to allow citizens to know of his cognitive ability and if he is capable of serving as President. In the past, Democrats demanded that President Trump take a cognitive ability exam, so he did, and he  passed with a perfect score.  

                                  Congressman Ronny Jackson of Texas, a physician, served as the White House doctor to Presidents Obama and Trump, and he knows Biden well.  He has said that Biden is missing a beat and is "dangerous,"  and that someone else is telling him what to do. 

                                   Too often, President Biden, with his horse-whispering talk and foolish comments, has been observed in televised hearings stumbling and bumbling at the microphone while shuffling crib notes in his hands in an attempt to respond to questions.  Is this truly a capable chief executive?  Is he that special somebody who stands as the most  powerful person on Planet Earth?  Is he the hope for the free world? Citizens want to know.                                  

                                   Behind the dais and before cameras, he has himself  made surprising admissions that he follows the instructions of someone else. On one occasion he told a crowd that "I am not supposed to be answering your questions, ...I am supposed to leave." At a press briefing,  Press Secretary Jen Psaki has noted that handlers have advised the President not to take questions. 

                                    A video clip from a Democratic caucus has made the rounds and has citizens shaking their heads.  In it, President Biden, in a boot-licking manner, tells Speaker Nancy Pelosi that “I’m happy to take questions, if that’s what I’m supposed to do, Nance — whatever you want me to do,” And Pelosi is heard saying to an aide: “No, we don’t want him to talk."

Is Joe Biden actually subordinating himself to the progressives who constantly scream "white supremacy," and "defund the police." We know that Sen. Bernie Sanders is a socialist and a marxist, but is he, with his gopher, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio Cortez at his side, sending dos and don'ts to the President of the United States, directing him to propose multi trillion dollar plans which will save the climate and implement the Green New Deal which calls for retrofitting every structure in the country with an electrical system.

For years Sanders has been calling for a revolution as a means of transforming the United States into a socialist country like Norway and Sweden with a touch of Russia, with the government in full charge of everything. On television, Biden once asked citizens if they believe him to be a socialist. Nowadays, it appears fairly certain that the answer is "yes."

For all of his years in Washington, he has always offered himself as "Plain Old Joe" the people's man. He has always been a "touchy-feely" person with the ladies, and while most women simply laughed off his petting and hair-sniffing antics, some nine women registered complaints of his inappropriate behavior  during the 2020 campaign--after which House Speaker Nancy Pelosi told him to keep his hands to himself.

                                       Joe Biden, the man and the politician, has been a liar and a plagiarist, and that track record is not in dispute. He has been dubbed the "Lamborghini of Gaffes" by the Washington Post. He tells goofy stories about a bully named "Corn Pop," who he says he put down physically. He declares that the USA is a systemically racist country, with cops regularly killing black men; and that racism today is bad or even worse than during the Civil War, and that Jim Crowism has reemerged in election procedures.                               

He claims to be a devout Roman Catholic, yet he promotes abortions, and shows no concern for the rights of the fetus; and he wants the government to fund all abortions for poor women. He endorses homosexual activities which run counter to Catholic tenets. He has said he wants policemen to answer calls without sidearms and that the officer should be accompanied by a trained psychologist or a medical doctor so as to resolve disputes without force.   

                                       At his inauguration as Vice President in 2008 he had a net worth of $27,000, and now 14 years later, financial    experts tell us he and his wife, Dr. Jill, are now worth around $11 million, and have two multi million dollar homes in Delaware.  Former President Trump and his attorney, Rudy Giuliani, a popular and admired former New York mayor, and many others, have accused Biden of being "stone corrupt." Giuliani has charged that Biden has feathered rich nests for his son, Hunter, and his brother James, and took kick backs from Hunter and James for huge contracts negotiated with Red China and the Ukraine.  

                                        How do citizens feel when they come face to face with Biden's lying nature. At political rallies he has said that he attended law school on an academic scholarship and finished high up in his class.  The truth is that he finished 79th in a class 85, had no scholarship, and was accused of plagiarizing pages from law articles and offering them as his own.  We have been told that former classmates at the Syracuse Law school have described him as the "dumbest s.o.b. in the school."             

                                      As a Delaware senator running for President in the l980s, Biden borrowed speeches from British labor leader, Neil Kinnock, but got caught doing so, and had to drop out of  the presidential race because of his plagiarism.                                   

                                      In 1972, Biden's 30-year-old wife and infant daughter tragically were killed in an auto-truck  accident. For years, and into the millenium, in political speeches, he cruelly blamed the accident on the truck driver whom he said "drank his lunch." Factually, the truck driver was without fault in the collision and there was no evidence of his having been intoxicated or of having consumed any alcohol.  The false accusations from Biden caused him severe mental anguish for the following 25 years, according to his daughter who accused Biden of telling a "blatant lie which devastated our family."  The daughter said her father died in 1999, torn apart by the false narrative delivered over and over by Biden. 

                                      His gaffes have become legendary. After his selection as President Obama's running mate in 2008, Biden got carried away praising the presidential candidate with whom he had served in the U.S. Senate. He heralded  the aggressive nature of Obama and noted that the future African American president was cut from the same cloth as Republican President Teddy Roosevelt.  "I can  tell you this," said Biden:  "Like Teddy, Barack has a big stick." 

                                     Again, eager to please Obama, he told a rally that Barack was " a mainstream African American who is articulate and bright and clean and a nice looking guy.  I mean that's a storybook, man." He was widely criticized for his racist remarks.  

                                     In another legendary gaffe, Biden told a gathering to applaud a particular guest seeking a public office.    "Stand up Chuck and take a bow," he called out to the paralyzed man who was in a wheelchair.  In another rare moment, he mourned a woman ("God rest her soul") who hadn't died.  

                                       But Sen. Risch is not pointing to the lies, gaffes and racist remarks of Biden, or to his misconduct with women, or to his corruption, but rather to his apparent stupidity and cognitive impairment and his clear inability to function as President of the United States. He believes him to be a puppet with others pulling his strings.   

                                      Currently President Biden is pushing  spending plans which are in the trillions of dollars, and asserting that it will not cost anyone a dime more in taxes.  "It is all paid for," he says.  Recently the House of representatives led by Speaker Pelosi who Biden calls "Nance," has passed a $1.2 trillion dollar spending bill, and critics predict that Biden wants to spend many trillions more, blind to the inflation now sweeping the nation.   

                                      It is believed by many that Joe Biden will eventually be persuaded by Democrats controlling him to resign or be removed from office  pursuant to the 25th amendment.  In the event of his exit from the oval office, Vice president Kamala Harris will become President, and will select a new Vice President, who some pundits predict, because of Harris' unpopularity,  will be backed by Democrats in the 2024 presidential election.  

                                                   XXX. 

                                    

THE STORY OF RODGER YOUNG

 

                 By BILL JUNEAU

                         Way back in the 1940s, as World War II was raging in the Pacific,  Private Rodger Young became nationally known for his heroism on the God-forsaken island of New Georgia in the Solomons.  Perhaps Veterans Day this November is a good time to remember this veteran and how he gave his life for his fellow soldiers and for the country he loved.

                                                  Maybe only about one in every 10,000 have ever heard the name of  Rodger Young or know of his valor and how he saved 19 other members of his platoon which had been ambushed and hemmed in by the Japanese on the jungle-like island for which the Japanese were fighting for control.  

                                                  Roger was  five-feet, two-inches tall, afflicted with severe vision and hearing losses when he destroyed an enemy machine gun pill-box.  He was killed on July 31, 1943, and in the days and months following, as America learned of his bravery, he was posthumously awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor.  In his home state of Ohio, Governor Frank J. Lausche  declared March 25 as "Roger Young Day,"  and the city of Fremont,  renamed its Water Works Park the "Rodger W. Young park." The Night Infiltration Course at Fort Benning, Georgia also is named for Rodger as is a small arms firing range at Camp Perry in Ohio.  

                                                The "Ballad of Rodger Young" was written by a fellow soldier, Pvt. Frank Loesser, and the ballad was recorded by several popular singers of the day. Loesser subsequently achieved broad notoriety for his lyrics in various musicals, including Guys and Dolls, and How to Succeed in Business without really trying.

                                    Born in Tiffin, Ohio, Rodger Wilton Young was small in stature, just 62 inches in height. Growing up, more than anything, he wanted to be an athlete.  In his sophomore year in high school, Rodger made the basketball team, but being exceptionally short, sat far down on the bench. He got into a game that year, but suffered a serious head injury which impaired his vision and his hearing.  Those senses deteriorated as time passed and troubled by the injury, he left high school after completion of his second year.                                          In 1938, at 20 years old, Rodger attempted to join the army, but his height, sight and hearing did not bode well.   "Sorry Rodger," he was told, your eyes, and ears are sub par and your height of just over five feet is problematic. 

                                    Though discouraged, and wanting to earn a salary, he offered himself to the Ohio National Guard and to his surprise, was accepted. Others chided him as being a little squirt with problems, and he was sometimes called "old 62," as a reference to his height, but other soldiers liked him and the nickname was delivered with affection. As the months and years passed, he was promoted to corporal and then to staff sergeant, and he wore the  chevron. "three up and a rocker," on the sleeve of his uniforms with pride.   

                                    The Japanese attacked the United States on  December, 7, 1941, and in 1942, Sgt. Young's national guard unit was activated and deployed to the Fiji islands and in 1943, his platoon was sent to the Solomon Islands to engage the Japanese in the swampy, jungle-like terrain  on the island of New Georgia. 
                                    Rodger was a non-commissioned officer who possessed a lion's love for the military. The war was raging and soldiers sailors and marines were dying in bloody battles to prevent advances by the armies of Japan which designated New Georgia as a key location to have and hold. 
                                     Young was reluctant to serve in a position of command because of his concern that his sight and hearing was deteriorating and would be a detriment to his leadership, and would be a liability for fellow soldiers under his command. The army doctor agreed and reported that his impairment was severe. To compensate for this,  he requested a demotion to the rank of Private, to allow him to fight, but under the command of other non-commissioned and commissioned officers.
                                    Reluctantly, his commanding officer granted his requested demotion, but there was concern that the unit's most diminutive soldier was angling to avoid dangerous combat. Other enlisted men felt the same, and often let him know of those feelings.  But they were wrong about Rodger Young. 
                                    On the 31st of July, 1943, Young's company of 20 soldiers was hemmed in by an enemy machine gun 75 yards away, and a bullet had struck and wounded Young. The platoon appeared to be  doomed and had no where to go. Though wounded,  Young had other thoughts as he plunged onto the swampy waters with his heavy backpack and a rifle and a pocket full of grenades and began moving toward the pillbox..  
                                    He was hit again with bullets as he maneuvered his way, and he seemed done, but then he began moving and he kept going. He was hit again and though mortally wounded,  began lobbing grenades which took down the machine gun. He gave his life so that other soldiers could survive and eventually defeat the Japanese on  that bleak, desolate chunk of land in the Solomons.

                                   His platoon was safe, but comrades  were saddened by the death of "old 62".  A simple wooden  cross was affixed on a rocky slope near where he was killed on New Georgia, and some say that the cross or reportedly, some artifice, remains there for visitors (if there are any) to see.  

                                    The story of Rodger Young was in headlines though out the nation and the Ballad  by Frank Loesser  was played often on the radio.  A short film was made depicting the story of Rodger Young, and it was accented with the memorable words of the ballad sung by Burl Ives. The ballad has also been recorded by Nelson Eddy and Jim Reeves. 

                                     Those interested can hear the "Ballad of Rodger Young" today on "You Tube."  The words of the famous song follow:                                   

                      THE BALLAD OF RODGER YOUNG

                                            Oh, there is no time for glory in the infantry
                                            There is no time for praises loudly sung
                                             But in every soldier's heart in all the infantry
                                             Shines the name, shines the name of Rodger Young.

                                             Caught in ambush lay a company of riflemen,
                                             Just grenades against machine guns in the gloom,
                                             Caught in ambush till one of twenty riflemen
                                             Volunteered, volunteered to meet his doom                                          
                                               
                                             It was he who drew the fire of the enemy
                                                       That a company of men might live to fight
                                                       And before the deadly fire of the enemy 
                                                       Stands the man, stands the man we hail tonight. 

                                                       On the island of New Georgia in the Solomons,
                                                       Stands a simple wooden cross that's there to tell 
                                                        That beneath the silent corals of the Solomons 
                                                        Sleeps a man, sleeps a man, remembered well. 

                                                       Sleeps a man, Rodger Young,  
                                                       fought and died for the men he marched among
                                                       To the everlasting glory of the infantry, 
                                                      Shines the name, shines the name of Rodger Young.

                                                XXX