Despite having just bought a new Sig P226 Legion and a Sig P365 (both excellent), I spent much of the day listening to the so-called impeachment hearings . . . sigh . . . gotta get a life.
I don't know what was more depressing, the hearings themselves or the comments afterwards by the so-called punditry class. These pundits, left and right, were chattering on and on about "take-aways" from the testimony. Yes, Bill, there was this and there was that, and, of course, that there . . . PLEASE STOP!
Let me give you the one take-away y'all need, and remember this comes from a former denizen of the Foggy Bottom Swamp, one who used to swim and crawl with all them swamp creatures.
What you saw were a couple of career dips--neither of whom I know personally--whining a familiar whine that one can hear echoing in the halls of Foggy Bottom and just about anywhere else where "PROFESSIONAL" civil servants congregate. What is it? Simple: THEY are not paying attention to us!
You saw Ambassador Taylor and Deputy Assistant Secretary Kent all in a knot because the President had an "irregular" channel he used to conduct foreign policy in Ukraine. Wow! I didn't realize that we had elected Taylor and Kent!
Let me put it in nice simple terms so that the Swamp Beings will understand: The President sets and conducts foreign policy, not State, not the NSC, not the DOD, not any other alphabet agency. He does not have to go through State or NSC to conduct said policy; he does not have to consult with Kent or Taylor or anybody else on Ukraine or any other aspect of foreign policy.
All Presidents have used "irregular" channels going back at least to Woodrow Wilson and Colonel House. All have used messengers and negotiators outside the established bureaucracy for different diplomatic missions. There is nothing unusual or illegal or impeachable for doing this. The bureaucracy doesn't like it, so what?
More of this "impeachment" nonsense to come.
I have a Sig P365 for my carry now. I did change it recently to the manual safety model. The trigger on the Sig is pretty light, and I had concerns about snagging and discharging accidently. With the manual safety, no more worry. I also bought the redheaded stepchild of the 1911 family, the hated "Double Eagle". I like quirky pistols, and that is a quirky pistol. I'll have to find some 1911 purist to show it to, so I watch watch them like Dracula and garlic. ;-)
ReplyDeleteI still don't understand the end game of the Democrats here. They know that the Senate will not vote to remove, so the whole thing seems to be nothing more than a show trial for the media.
Double Eagle. Never seen one in real life. Sounds somewhat like a CZ-75. As to carry, I now use the 365 and when I am feeling particularly wealthy, the Wilson EDC. I like the Shield but too few rounds.
DeleteI think they're going to try to keep draggin' it out and try to take the Senate by fair or foul (more likely the latter)
DeleteAs an aside on whatever endgame Schiff thinks he's creating....with RBG again on Death Watch you can also expect the Democrats to create a Constitutional Basis that a President under Impeachment Proceedings can not legitimately select a SCOTUS Justice.
DeleteBut in regards to this farce...I think the plan was thinking Trump would not release the transcript of the call so they could pull an Obstruction charge and run with that. Then Trump released the transcript before the Dems released the whistle-blower report and foxed them.
I have a Sig P220, (.45). I've been looking at the P226. Does that model come with the Short Reset Trigger as part of the package or just the standard? I went up to the Sig Store in Exeter after I bought my P220 and it was the best $100 I've ever spent.
DeleteYes, Sig is in NH and so am I. Life is good. :D
On the Rifle side, I recently acquired an IWI X95 with a Mepro optic. (Triangle) I love it. The bullpup configuration takes a bit of getting used to.
Finally, wouldn't it be poetic justice if John Durham indicted Schiff as a con-conspirator? :D
When the family unit breaks down, fascism steps in. We've seen the concept of family broken, and then smeared into the feces at the bottom of cesspool of political shame.
ReplyDeleteHaving no family, many Americans are *begging* to turn their lives over to anyone else who will tell them simply: "we are professionals, you can trust us".
The anger of such people is stoked when conservatives attempt to prevent governmental overreach. Because these progressives are stupid? No. Because these progressives have needs which are neither being met by church nor by family. So who is left?
The government.
Children of Men.
- reader #1482
Agreed.
DeleteExactly what I have been preaching to anyone who would listen for 15 years.
DeleteGlad you brought it up once more.
Democrats also know that the Barr investigation in to the FISA warrants is coming soon.
ReplyDeleteYes, it is imminent. Just as the return of the Messiah and the Rapture has been imminent...for the past 1989 years. We are being played.
DeleteCalm down Francis. The report is currently being subject to comment by the people interviewed within the report. That's historically been a 2 week process. We'll have the report by the end of the month. Cheers
DeleteAs a former (temporary) inhabitant of the swamp/Foggy Bottom, hear hear! Also, anyone who bemoans Marie Yanovich losing her job and worrying about her retirement/pension....it's a bunch of hogwash. She's still with the DoS, now as visiting Diplomat in residence or some such thing. I guess she forgot a vital fact...ALL Ambassadors, political or career, serve at the pleasure of the President and can be removed at any time for any reason. She DID NOT lose her job - she's still gainfully employed!
ReplyDeleteWhat IS the point of her testimony? Some MSNBC sputterer said the Dems want her there because she cried in the closed-door session. Helps put a human face to Trump's awfulness or somesuch. Does she have anything to add other than Orange Man Bad?
DeleteWell, I'm worried. Why isn't she going to lose her pension? She should lose her pension. Why do ambassadors have pensions? Why do government workers have pensions? The number of government workers who should have 20 years in service are probably numbered on both hands.
DeleteGiven Mr. Amselem your ... well I'm inclined to the word "unprecedented" but seeing as how I'm not especially confident that I've read enough of your stuff to have, with a high degree of confidence, any certainty where you speaking directly on individuals at State is concerned - so allow me to use the word "unusual."
ReplyDeleteGiven your unusual candor Mr. Amselem I'd appreciate any comment you might care to make as regards this article:
https://johnsolomonreports.com/the-real-ukraine-controversy-an-activist-u-s-embassy-and-its-adherence-to-the-geneva-convention/
Is it relevant to how "our" current understanding should be?
JK
I should probably qualify Mr. Amselem the "when" part of the timeline I might be expecting any 'comment you might care to make' because there's alot of linked stuff that; at any rate I unfamiliar with how, exactly, State operates.
DeleteTake for instance page two of four of this from Victoria Nuland (Date:June 9th, 2016) I note on the "To" line the name Eric Ciaramella. That seems to ring a bell. Now where have I run across that name recently ... (sounds of mouseclicks ensue) ...
https://www.scribd.com/document/421081036/SorosNulandUkraineVisaMemosJune2016
Oh yeah here it is:
https://thefederalist.com/2019/11/10/schiffs-committee-published-name-of-alleged-whistleblower-last-week/
How unusual is that, Mr. Amselem somebody 'To'd' on an email from Victoria Nuland and dated way back from 2016 would bear so similarly named as [who it has been alleged] is the whistleblower that's started just yesterday the first public hearings in an impeachment?
Somehow at least to this pore ol' dumb hillbilly that don't seem a likely coincidence.
But I could be misguided I suppose.
Take your time Mr. Amselem.
JK
The argument that the president is required to conduct discussions with foreign leaders through bureaucratic channels isn't merely incorrect, it is a lie.
ReplyDeleteThe enemy has no valid arguments to make. So they lie.
This is what evil looks like.
Been away for awhile, see you are cooking, the move across the country seems to have agreed with you, good.
ReplyDeleteThe Dems are making the political mistake of the ages. They shall pay heavily for this. I think we've witnessed the demise of both parties as we've known them for 40+yrs.
Diplomad, I see this blog post has shown up over on Instapundit.
ReplyDeleteIs there a reporter or a Democrat politician anywhere who paid the slightest bit of attention during high school government class, or did they stop teaching that? Maybe I'm just too damn old.
ReplyDeleteI'm afraid a lot of us are "too damn old".
DeleteThanks Diplomad for your insight. I'm glad you're increasing your armory and in general enjoying life.
ReplyDeleteSitting here witnessing the audacity of former Ukie Amb YovanoWitch and her self professed exclusive ability to resolve America's foreign policy goals in Ukraine. I shudder to think of how many other parasitic swamp dwellers are in concert with her sedition.
Someone once said "People are Policy". It seems that President Trump has been stuck with a whole lot of non-dismissable people whom he would not have selected if he had been given the opportunity.
ReplyDeleteIt is another example of the Road to Hell being paved with good intentions. It must have seemed like a good idea decades ago to set up a non-partisan permanent civil service where bureaucrats were protected from vengeful political bosses. But did anyone realize this could end up with unfireable vengeful bureaucrats undermining their democratically-elected political bosses?
To answer my own question: Yes! Of course the Political Class wanted an untouchable bureaucracy which would do their bidding. That was the plan all along.
It's just naivety in the extreme, isn't it?
DeleteI used to fall prey to it myself.
"Oh yeah... that's non-political, so we can simply appoint a technocratic body to manage this particular area, without political influence."
Now: All Hail the Federal Reserve Bank! Who should we vote for this time?
- reader #1482
I linked this post at my recent Ricochet post: Regular and Irregular Channels
ReplyDeletehttps://ricochet.com/696389/regular-and-irregular-channels/
(1) Hello, after a long interval, Diplomad. I used to be a6z in LiveJournal, before it was sold to the Russians.
ReplyDelete(2) For simple plus authoritative, I don't think one can top this:
Constitution Article II section 1: "The executive Power shall be vested in a President of the United States of America."
In 1219, in an attempt to win the Crusades in the favor of Christianity, St. Francis Assisi traveled to Egypt to convert the caliph to Christianity.
ReplyDeleteYes, San Francisco is named in honor of a forerunner in 'cultural imperialism'. It's shocking that people have such disregard as to live in a city bearing the name of such a despicable perpetrator!
The people of the city must rise up to stop the endorsement of such crimes against humanity! Change the name of San Francisco, or be culpable in Assisi's numerous crimes!
W. Lewis Amselem, you are guilty of crimes in Guatemala, and elsewhere that, if your wife and children knew about, they would no longer be able to look you in the eye. I know because I was there for some of them. I know that your hateful mind and appetite for certain unmentionable things have led to a life which, if you were willing to truly examine, you would be ashamed of. And your asinine, hypocritical, bad-faith arguments here are too sad to be the joke they deserve to be.
ReplyDeleteAnonymous, presumably you are posting here so as to enlighten the rest of us that we should stop reading this blog and condemn Mr. Anselm forthwith. If so, speak up with details/sources including your name and how you know this. Otherwise, please go away.
Delete"Anonymous" -- you are doing this all wrong! For Goodness Sake, pay attention to how things are done in the US today.
DeleteFirst, you contact some Congressional Democrat and tell him about the rumors you heard years ago about the Diplomad. Then the Democrat will call you a "whistleblower" -- don't worry, you can keep your name as "Anonymous". Next the Democrat will waste everyone's time with hearings into how bad Diplomad was to … someone, somewhere, long ago.
After that, you will probably get a lucrative book deal and maybe even your own TV show. Don't worry about the fact that no-one buys your book or watches your TV show -- magic money will still show up in your account.
I have no illusions that anything I say or reveal will make any of you believe me, so no, I will not reveal my identity to a group of spiteful, presumably well armed, ideologues. As for what it is that I know about Mr. Amselem, perhaps he would be willing to share it with you all... If he is not willing to, then it is he who is the "bitch," not I.
DeleteOk, so in short, you don't have the balls to state who you are, what your credentials are, how you know all this terrible stuff, etc. etc. And you will resort to insults rather than providing any facts. Standard leftist stuff. Good day to you, sir/ma'am. (And for the record, I own zero guns.)
DeleteTry shooting a CZ 75B. IMHO best handgun available
ReplyDelete