On Sovereignty...

Sovereignty is Destiny.

It is also at once, intangible and ineffable and vitally necessary to the success of the American Experiment.
"I am born in freedom therefore I intend to remain free."
Sovereignty therefore is our innate will to self governance, we govern no one but ourselves either as individuals or as citizens in the aggregate.
Sovereignty is expressed constitutionally, legally and with full knowledge of all obligations & rights as citizens.
We have chosen to express sovereignty via a somewhat convoluted but sturdy matrix of representative government, federalism, deeded to said institutions via frequent elections, carefully administered to ensure complete legitimacy of outcomes.
Representative government is never direct government by the electorate over the electorate, at best its a hazy rhetorical compromise that The Elected will in some fashion reflect the Electorate's Interests once they pass into the public sphere.
That can lead to all kinds of confusion, a condition better known as "politics".
There is therefore, a natural, ongoing and expected "gap" between that deed of sovereignty and the act of representation.  But, due to its inalienable nature, the act of "deeding" sovereignty does not compromise  sovereignty in any way. It goes its merry way regardless of the malevolence and or hackwork of it's representatives, said deed is entirely temporary and is subject to revocation of a constitutional type when necessary.
But, if the inherent disconnect becomes too vast or becomes tinged with gruesome intentions or outright corruption, if the deed of sovereignty is repudiated or rankly manipulated by The Elected, then the Sovereign Electorate has recourse to correction & stern measures.
The most obvious recourse is at the ballot box, nothing so humbles the mighty as the sudden deprivation of office, the light that plays about the great and the mighty is snuffed out completely.
There are also the courts, plotters and cabalists all hate the courtroom, the current administration in Washington exhibits all the symptoms of an ongoing judicial-phobia, the reasons for that fear is simple courtrooms are great humblers of the proud and the pathologically proud have but one goal to stoke their pride to an everlasting expansion.
These are relatively slow moving options by our digital age, they have the virtues of legitimacy and irresistible "weight" when they hit, they hit hard.
But that measured pace is alas, a drawback, the proud, the criminal and the elected have the advantage of speed and surprise when they seek to undermine or abolish  our rights & our sovereignty.
Even so, The Electorate has Recourse, pressure can be brought to bear in a number of ways, some of it quite rough, sufficiently ignored the wrath of the citizenry can be a terrible thing indeed.  Frankly only a fool or a gambler in the full flood of their mania would ever risk it.
We are in the USA at one of those critical moments when the gap between the Elected and the Electorate is wide and getting wider, with many self evident indications of criminality being perpetuated in the name of that "deed of sovereignty".
Steps may have to be taken over the short term.  We are "in between" the standard "accountability moments" better known as elections, the issues at hand from retention of our rights, the despoliation of certain classes of citizen, the prospect of a foreign despot's intervention in our sacred electoral process...are all distressing to contemplate.
We must resist the emotion that tells us our options are shrinking, we are losing advantages and are overmatched, that is panic, panic helps the enemy. Refrain from panic and you deny him an important weapon.
At the moment we must move on two fronts, where action is moving forward, encourage further action, support & engage where the activity is felicitous.  Where inactivity reigns or worse action is retrograde, thats where all due legal transparency with protest and pressure must be brought to bear.
The Sovereign Electorate has the advantage of "size and weight" in all these matters, If We Lean, the Elected Must Bend, but the pressure must be inexorable...only that weight, will make them panic - when the time comes.
If certain malevolent personalities on the other side of this lamentable gap, seek to aggrandize themselves and make a play for tyranny then matters must escalate and escalate swiftly. Sovereignty can, will and must reclaim its legacy & centrality in this republic. The power to act in this regard is entirely inalienable in all citizens of these United States, such is self governance, such is sovereignty.

Mary Anne Stewart....

Former Chair of the Lexington School Committee, has apparently pulled papers to challenge State Representative Jay Kaufman in next year's primary.  Stewart was last seen impressing exactly no one in the fourth middlesex special state senate primary last year.  Why she has opted for a very long shot primary challenge to Jay Kaufman remains a mystery to me, I do know some very disgruntled democrats in Arlington all backers of Sean Garballey's failed state senate last year are all "hell yeah" with it.
So that makes me wonder, as best I can I'll try and keep an eye on this one. I don't even know if Stewart has started gathering the necessary signatures or what her fundraising profile looks like (it costs oughly 50,000.00 vigorish to make a credible state rep's race in Massachusetts, more likely if you are a primary challenger) but I'll look into it all the same.
The ironic thing is, Mary Anne Stewart was a problematic candidate for state senate last year, but given the primary dynamics in the state democratic party she could easily be running high wide and handsome for the Lieutenant Governor's nomination.

Matthew S. Petersen...

A Trump nominee for a Federal Judgeship, apparently does not understand basis jurisprudence of a type one could easily learn from binge watching "Perry Mason" on Decades TV.

I swear to Ghod, Don Junior had to troll Homeless Shelters to Find this Poor Slob, he has the addled beaten look of a man who can hardly remember his favorite panhandling spot.  Look at this guy, he is positively...seedy.

The Fall of Omarosa....

Omarosa Manigault Stallsworth whozis a "Top White House Aide", under circumstances mysterious and therefore no doubt hilarious was abruptly fired by the Trump Admin last week.  We read delightful rumors of cringeworthy "exit interviews" with Chief of Staff John Kelly as well as the image of Omarosa being dragged off the premises by the White House Uniformed Police Detail.
Who knows what happened...it all waits on TMZ I am sure.
Black Conservatives (yes that is a thing) are all disquieted because one of the few non white voices in the White House has been heaved over the side....but that just illustrates black conservatism's thin bench. Let's face it, Omarosa is an ideological eunuch, she started out working for then Vice President Al Gore after all, she segued into reality television via "The Apprentice" and her drift into conservative politics is pretty much a precise function of Trump's journey into wingnuttery over the last decade. Trump demands complete ideological fealty from his employees and Omarosa is very much a paid member of the President's personal pool of "celebrities".
Her sudden fall from grace cuts her off from a 180K public salary and likely leaves her wa-ay off the GOP Reservation, no doubt she'll trudge off to the left and peddle her personal staff of administration gossip to the highest bidder...again we wait on TMZ one and all.
I just think its hilarious is a very reality show sort of way, we all want Donald Trump out of office and instead we get his token black lackey tossed into the street.

The Damn Tax Bill Edges Closer to Passage

dropping the corporate tax rate to 21% sans any reciprocal obligations only incentivizes US Corporates to accelerate exporting US Jobs to low wage offshore providers. A generation ago, the process began under Ronald Reagan with the wholesale decimation of the manufacturing sector (in part to destroy "the tyranny of the closed shop") now that same "ship em' out" ethos is denuding the financial sector of thousands of mid level jobs.  A 21% corporate tax rate is nothing but a bright clear blood red signal for one last apocalyptic impoverishment of the working & middle classes in the USA and once the dust settles pull up the ladders lock the doors and shoot anyone who dares cross the moat without a signed pass.
A Cheeful Little Earful, Happy Holidays to All.

Congrats to Senator Elect Doug Jones of Alabama!

A pro-choice democrat elected to the US Senate last night over an alleged pervy wingnut...oh how Justice Grinds Slow But Pure.
Frankly I had my doubts which I freely shared with all seven of you out there, so this is as good a christmas gift as one could have hoped for since Trump's election.
Social media is of course awhirl with malign revisionism asserting Jones won simply because Roy Moore's alleged perversity was too much for the famously conservative Alabama electorate. That is likely the primary factor behind the win, it will be conceded, BUT you don't pull off upset wins like with without a massive GOTV campaign, party unity, a positive message and candidate prepared to fight to the last ballot and the last voter.
THAT is Doug Jones in a nutshell he made a magnificent fight and reaped the benefit. And while we are at it, kudos to Former Governor Patrick, Former President Obama, Charles Barkley (a sonorous baritone seemingly made for public life) & Senator Booker all of them made time resource or their very selves available and can rightly share in the victory.
I don't know how long Jones can stay in the US Senate, he was elected to serve out Jeff Sessions term which I believe runs out ioon 2020, there is likely already a daunting fundraising challenge for Jones should he opt for reelection. Moreover the local GOP seems pretty well schooled in the pitfalls of nominating an alleged pederast for a High Public Trust....but all that in God's Good Time.
Hoepefully Jones can use his new venue to press for fair voting laws and easier ballot access initiatives, there is no point in not staying in their faces, he has nothing to lose believe me.

But let us take a moment, to fall to our knees and humbly raise our eyes to a Just and Almighty God & Gloat.....

Good Luck to Doug Jones today

Down in Alabama, I still think he faces long odds, but he has made a brave and honorable fight of it right down to the Last Ballot and in the very best democratic tradition.
Whatever happens tonight or tomorrow let us all remember that sometimes morality and human rights intersect and when they do, we must not compromise or permit retreat.
And as always, "We Must Be Equal to Our Times".