Question For U.S. Supreme Court

After a day of hearing United States Supreme Court Justices question lawyers about Presidential Immunity, I have a really basic question for all of the Justices. 

Where were you all during the 3 hours 11 minutes of the January 6th Attack On The U.S. Capitol?

Were you all still in your Washington D.C., Supreme Court Building chambers doing business as if the attackers were not there for you? Could you see or hear the mob, or did you tunein to live coverage of the attack? Did you all have or need additional security? Were you all escorted to a secure alternative location? Were your families worried for your safety? 

I am trying to understand how you Justices could have been 1,523 feet from the Violently Attacked Capitol on January 6, 2021, a five minute walk, and not feel it your duty today to protect the U.S. Constitution from an criminally indicted former President, instrumental in planning, inciting, and supporting the attack by refusing to order any combative response to the attackers. The National Guard were on standby waiting for the order to deploy.

Do the Justices not see the fault of their not wanting today to address a Presidential coup immunity question? Why are they tiptoeing around what the entire country and world witnessed on “Live TV” when this former President’s supporters, at his direction, marched to and stormed the U.S. Capitol not 5 minutes away from them.

I want to believe the Supreme Court Justices take their duty of interpreting the meaning of law, finding relevancy in the law to a particular set of facts, or ruling on how laws should be applied, very seriously and professionally. But much of what I heard today makes me question if perhaps the Supreme Court is compromised in some say. Something to me just didn’t feel genuine and sincere in the way many of the Justices, not all, were carrying out their duties. It almost felt like a staged production of “Inherit the Wind” or “12 Angry Men.”

I, and I am sure many of my fellow U.S. citizens are left feeling as if today’s Supreme Court Justices’ questions on Presidential Immunity was a farce. Why? What is behind the decision for the highest court in the land to ignore the obvious Presidential coup of Jan. 6th, and choose instead to debate Immunity of hypothetical official and unofficial Presidential acts. And then take weeks/months to decide on a ruling or no ruling. One must ask if they are serving the country or the individual who was named Wednesday as an “unindicted co-conspirator” in the Michigan fake elector scheme.

Maybe it is time to seriously consider term limits for Supreme Court Justices. When the wife of a Justice is in touch with some of those indicted for trying to overturn the election, and said Justice does not recuse himself from hearing any arguments related to the case, it’s time for a change.

U.S. Supreme Court Could Soon Face Key Trump Decisions,  

                                                                         VOA News  Jan. 01, 2024

Supreme Court Hears Arguments On Trump Immunity Case,

                                                                         CNN Politics  April 25, 2024

                                                           Bill Hennessy

 

Twas The Night Before Draft Day

 A Visit from St. Nicholas

BY CLEMENT CLARKE MOORE

'Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house

Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse;

The stockings were hung by the chimney with care,

In hopes that St. Nicholas soon would be there;

The children were nestled all snug in their beds;

While visions of sugar-plums danced in their heads;

And mamma in her 'kerchief, and I in my cap,

Had just settled our brains for a long winter's nap,

When out on the lawn there arose such a clatter,

I sprang from my bed to see what was the matter.

Away to the window I flew like a flash,

Tore open the shutters and threw up the sash.

The moon on the breast of the new-fallen snow,

Gave a lustre of midday to objects below,

When what to my wondering eyes did appear,

But a miniature sleigh and eight tiny rein-deer,

With a little old driver so lively and quick,

I knew in a moment he must be St. Nick.

More rapid than eagles his coursers they came,

And he whistled, and shouted, and called them by name:

"Now, Dasher! now, Dancer! now Prancer and Vixen!

On, Comet! on, Cupid! on, Donder and Blitzen!

To the top of the porch! to the top of the wall!

Now dash away! dash away! dash away all!"

Football fans will tell you; NFL Draft-Eve can be the most exciting anticipation since waiting on Santa Claus to deliver Christmas Eve gifts when you were a kid. Questions swarm around in your head about what impressive new toys will be left under the Christmas tree for you. Will you get Tonka, GI Joe, Rock'em Sock'em robots, or what. Perhaps a Hot Wheel racing car track.

Mind you I'm a child of the 60's-70's era. Tonight is the night that grown men like me become as children, hoping and praying for that special gifted football player. For tonight is the eve of the NFL Draft, and if I don't get a top prospect added to my teams' roster, it'll feel like a Charlie Brown Christmas or Halloween, choose your pick.

The difference between Christmas and the NFL Draft is the drawn-out anticipation. Because you don't get to play your new toys on Draft Day. You see, after the draft, the gifts your team acquires will not play in a meaningful NFL game for another six months. So, you are left waiting to see if the toy you got can actually satisfy and fulfill you and your teams' needs. Can it take the bruising playing of NFL football, or will it break easy and be useless after one or two games. Or worse, will it not make the cut.

Whether he be a lineman, running back, wide receiver, quarterback or defensive player, your gifted player is all hype and speculation until he suits up and participates in live game action. Until then, all you can do is talk about what Santa delivered on Draft Day. Until then, you are back to hoping and praying that your gift will be as good or better than predicted. And unfortunately, like Christmas, there's always a mean Grinch in the equation just begging to trade away or steal your joy.  

So, for now, enjoy the hype, the promise, the anticipation, the dream. For tomorrow is "the day the lord hath made, let us rejoice and be glad in it." Tomorrow is Draft Day!

April 25 - 27

Nuggets Buzzer Beat Lakers

Nugget’s beat Lakers on buzzer beater by Murray

Footage of shot seen from every angle

Incredible!

What I enjoy from every angle isn’t just Jamal Murray’s buzzer beating walk-off, but also Lakers Antonio Davis getting gobbled up in the Denver Nuggets bench afterword. Some angles look as if the whole Arena mobs AD, swallowing him up like some alien Blob monster. The shot sent Ball Arena into such pandomonium that any visiting opponent could easily have been trampled and buried in the celebration. 

Davis survived the celebration, but the Lakers go home defeated and down 0-2 in the series, to face a charged up Nuggets team. If Jamal Murray continues to bring clutch shooting fire like he displayed in this comeback win, no Lakers lead is safe. Lebron and AD are gonna need more than homecourt advantage to stop this determined defending champion. Denver is on fire!

Final Score

Lakers 99

Nuggets 101

Knicks rally to beat Sixers 104-101

Great Quarterback Roman Gabriel

 

NFL's First Filipino-American quarterback, dies at 83

I remember the name more than watching him play in the 1970's. It's a name when spoken or heard, automatically exudes strength and heroism. Who knew back then that Roman Gabriel had Filipino roots. And to be honest, who really cared just as long as he could sling the football and lead his teams to victory. 

2018 NBC News Article by Sheng Peng:

Gabriel headlined at North Carolina State before being drafted second-overall by the Los Angeles Rams in the 1962 NFL Draft.

"Once you become an athlete, you're a little more accepted," Gabriel said. "As I became more proficient as an athlete, I wasn't a Filipino, I was just an American."

But he was more than just any All-American athlete. At 6'5", 220 pounds, Gabriel was the tallest quarterback in the history of the NFL when he started playing in 1962, according to data from Pro Football Reference. Cont'd . . .

When you think of a Roman Gabriel you think of a courageous man standing strong in the face of oncoming danger and fighting the good fight. You think of someone gifted with the skills and mindset to lead men to victory come hell or high water. You think of someone with a "never retreat, never surrender" competitive philosophy, and you are motivated to follow his lead without question.

Roman Gabriel, there's just something in the name that begs honor and reverence. And the man who made the name recognizable, lived up to the respect and admiration of its thundering mythological sound.

            Roman Gabriel

         1940 - 1924

A Union Soldier Asks Equality & Protection For Southern Blacks

Excerpts from the book "A Private's Reminiscences of the Civil War," written in 1882 by Rev. Theodore Gerrish. The book chronicles his experiences as a Union Soldier during the American Civil War. Here in the final Chapter XXII, it appears he wrote to the U.S. Government asking/demanding equal rights and protection not be deprived the blacks who did all they could to save the nation and help its Union Army defenders against Confederacy rebels who fought to destroy it from 1861-65.

Chapter XVII

Pages 364-65

“OUR BROTHERS IN BLACK.”

There were some facts developed in regard to the negroes in that bloody strife which appear remarkable when we consider their moral condition and the positions in which they were placed. When our white brothers in the South look in haughty disdain upon the negroes, and question as to what rights they should expect to exercise under our Government, I think it would be wise for “Uncle Sam” to whisper these facts, thus developed, in the ears of his proud spirited sons. In all those eventful years no negro was ever found in a traitor’s uniform. The “stars and bars” had no beauty for them; they had not forgotten the old “stars and stripes.”

There were plenty of white men in the South who were willing to shoot and starve Union prisoners, but no black man was found base enough to do such work, although slavery had kept them in ignorance and degradation, although their virtues had been debauched to gratify the passions of their owners, although the Government itself had allowed them to be placed on a level with the common animal. But notwithstanding all this, beneath each black skin there was a human heart that disdained to descend to depths of infamy that would permit them to so treat their fellow creatures.

They never misused a Union prisoner, but were to them angels of mercy, aiding them in their terrible flight for life from those prison pens, giving the last crumb of bread and meat in their possession, guiding them through the trackless forests and across the bayous and rivers, concealing them by skillful devices when the hoarse deep baying of the pursuing blood-hounds came too near. They fought heroically when marshaled under the stars and stripes, so that, when the war closed, they had nobly earned the ballot that the Government placed in their hands.

With deep interest and much gratitude the old soldiers have watched their struggles and rapid development in all the elements of good citizenship since the close of the war. As these two races march beside each other in the struggle of life, we only ask and demand that those who, in their poverty, did all they could to save the nation and assist its defenders, shall not be deprived of their sacred rights by those who fought to destroy the nation, and rejoiced in the death of its soldiers.

Give the “brothers in black” an equal chance with other citizens. Let the general Government protect the rights of every citizen, without regard to color or race. That is all we ask, and that we have a right to demand.

Chapter XVII

A Review

Page 350

It is fitting that one chapter in this volume should be devoted to a review of the record that our soldiers made through those eventful years of the war. This is of special importance, as we are living in an age that is concentrating its thoughts and energies in the present and the future, and is too rapidly forgetting the events of the past, while, consequently, the rising generation is but very imperfectly informed as to the great events of the civil war, of the situation in which the government was placed at its outbreak, and the sacrifices that were made to preserve its life.

About the Author:

Theodore enlisted Company H of the 20th Maine Regiment when he was just 16 years old. He was with the regiment from its founding in 1862 through its mustering out in 1865 except for the summer of 1863 when he was sick in a hospital in Philadelphia and in 1864 when he was recovering from a wound suffered in The Wilderness. After the war he wrote several books including "Army Life: A Private's Reminiscences of the Civil War" which is the only history of his famous regiment written by a member of it.

After the Civil War, he became a minister before moving to the Dakota's where he became wealthy through land speculating. He died in Tennessee in 1923.

The Black Congressmen of Reconstruction: Death of Representation - Mobituaries

Army life in a black regiment : Higginson, Thomas Wentworth, 1823-1911 : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive

A Great Running Back Passes

Today it was announced one of the best running backs in football history passed away. Orenthal James Simpson played professional football nine seasons for the Buffalo Bills, during which he executed some of the most amazing, jaw-dropping runs ever recorded by NFL Films. He was the first running back to rush for 2,000+ yards in a season and is one of only nine Heisman Trophy winners to win an NFL MVP.

I grew up in New York State watching #32 O.J. run around and through defenses as if he were a sleek cat gracefully alluding wild dogs. He was built to run in the mode of a Gale Sayers before him, and a Barry Sanders to follow. Throw in Adrian Peterson down the road and you have the gift that is a once in a generation running back. 

And we're not talking unstoppable power and size like Earl Campbell or Derrick Henry. We are talking juke-spinning, tackle-slipping quickness and finesse. There's no real name for it, but you know it when you see it. Call it field vision with instinctive presence. They had moves! And the guys I'm talking about consistently delivered those moves.

To watch these athletes create spectacular, escape artist runs on the football field was like watching poetry in motion. I'm sure there are others who could and should be included, but these four, playing mostly on bad teams, were undeniably the most entertaining and untacklable (if such a word exists) running backs to ever step on the gridiron. 

Thanks for all you gave us on the field of football OJ. 

Rest Juice, Rest!

July 1947 - April 2024

Was OJ Simpson THAT Good? - Heisman Season USC Football Highlights - YouTube

Buffalo Bills player will wear O.J. Simpson's No. 32 for first time in more than 40 years | Fox News

Warriors 26-Threes Eclipse Lakers

One day after a rare Solar Eclipse blotted out sunshine across the globe, the Golden State Warriors darkened Crypto.com Arena with a historic long-range shooting performance over Lebron James and his Lakers in Los Angeles. 

The Warriors shot an historic 63.4% from 3-point range on 26-of-41 shooting against Lebron and company minus Anthony Davis. They led by as many as 18-points and although ‘King James’ put up 33-points, his efforts were OVERSHADOWED / ECLIPSED by a full cast of Warriors dropping threes in front of all the bright and glittery stars who come out to be seen at Lakers games.

It was a disappointing night for Lakers fans at Crypto.com Arena. They should of brought specially made eclipse sun glasses to experience a rare blotting out of L.A. stars and star athletes by a Warriors full moon.  When Warriors bad boy enforcer Draymond Green is hitting five threes in the first half, you knew the visiting team from the SF Bay Area was on a mission.  Steph, Klay, Wiggins, Podziemski all had long-range success to pressure the Lakers and spoil any talk for now of Lebron moving his team to up to 8th-seed.

As of this win the Warriors are the 10th-seed, a half game behind the 9th-seed Lakers. With the win the Warriors own the head-to-head win/loss record over the Lakers and will get the better (lower) seed should they end the season tied. The Warriors are a full game behind the 8th-seed Sacramento Kings. They need to win their remaining three games and have the Kings lose two out of three games left in order for the Warriors to grab the 8th-seed.

The 7th & 8th seeds need only to win one Play-in game, while 9th & 10th seeds must win two games. The Phoenix Suns are currently the 7th-seed, with a one game lead over the Kings.

The NBA Playoffs are right around the corner. And the Warriors have an opportunity to put on more rare and stunning performances as they focus their sights on another championship. They know they have a long road to travel to get there. No Play-in tournament team (7th-10th seed) has yet to win a championship.  The Miami Heat did reach the Finals last season as a 7th seed, but lost to the Denver Nuggets. 

Whatever is in the stars for the Warriors, I expect them to put on a show(s) to match or outdue last night’s galactic show in Los Angeles. The Playoffs are coming, time to get out the special viewing spectacles if your team is playing the Golden State Warriors. Because this Bay Area basketball team darkens skies and causes stars to magically disappear.

Final Score

Warriors 134

Lakers 120

https://fanarch.com/blogs/nba/has-an-nba-play-in-team-ever-won-the-finals