2020 Annus Horribilis

  By Timothy D. Naegele[1]

As 2020 draws to a close, many Americans will be thankful that they have survived the Annus Horribilis[2], or the “horrible year” of 2020, one of the worst years in their lives.  China launched its deadly Coronavirus (or COVID-19), which has decimated the United States and other countries globally.[3]  Many of us know people who have died, or have been at “death’s door” before recovering.  Yet, there are reasons to believe that the virus is mutating, and that it may be even more devastating in 2021 and beyond, notwithstanding the presence of one or more vaccines.[4] 

Pat Buchanan—an adviser to Presidents Richard Nixon, Ronald Reagan and Gerald Ford, and a former GOP presidential aspirant himself—has discussed the schisms in America today, in an article entitled “Can Democracy Hold Us Together?”:

If America were a company and not a country, we would have long ago dissolved the corporation, split the blanket, and gone our separate ways.

What still holds this disputatious and divided people together?

Consider. In announcing the $900 billion stimulus bill to deal with the pandemic, Speaker Nancy Pelosi did not mention that the gifts for her distressed countrymen and women at Christmas would have been twice as large had she taken President Trump’s offer of $1.8 trillion in October.

Why did the speaker slap that offer away?

“The President only wants his name on a check to go out before Election Day and for the market to go up,” she told House Democrats.

Rather than let Donald Trump take credit, Pelosi stiffed millions of Americans.

Sunday, however, the speaker took time for a statement to hail the removal of Robert E. Lee’s statue from Statuary Hall. “Welcome news,” said the speaker. “Congress will continue our work to rid the Capitol of homages to hate.”

Lee had stood in a place of honor in the Capitol for decades. When exactly did the statue of the general become a homage to hate?

Both episodes point up an unpleasant truth.

Our dysfunctional American family agrees upon less and less.

By mid-November, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll, 52% of Republicans thought Donald Trump had “rightfully won.” Sixty-eight percent of Republicans thought the election was “rigged.” A third of independents, and even 10% of Democrats, agreed.

This month, a Fox poll found that a third of all registered voters believe the 2020 election was stolen from Trump, with 78% of those who voted for Trump expressing that view.

In the long term, not only is the election of 2020 going to be suspect. Also, belief in one of the sacraments of secular democracy, universal suffrage, is going to suffer.

Moreover, the issues that divide us now go increasingly to the faith of what defines us as a nation and a people.

A slice of our intellectual elite emphatically agrees with the New York Times’ Project 1619, which decrees that the real birth date of this nation was neither 1776 nor 1789, but the year that the first slave ship arrived in Virginia.

To this influential cohort, enslavement of Black people brought from Africa and dispossession and destruction of the indigenous tribes that European settlers found here are the defining events of our history.

And all who participated in these crimes against humanity or refused to condemn them are undeserving of exaltation.

Not only Lee, but Columbus and Presidents Washington, Jefferson, Madison, Jackson, TR and Wilson are all racist white men whose disgraceful and even criminal conduct disqualifies them from a place of honor in the American pantheon of 2020. All statues of such men need to come down to cleanse us of the stain of having honored them.

Pelosi says that such statues are “homages to hate.”

She may not have thought so five or 10 years ago, but she believes that now.

What has taken place is a mass conversion.

Yet, there is another America that still cherishes the nation these men created. And, as did their fathers, grandfathers and ancestors, these Americans have shown a willingness to fight and die in her defense.

Thus do we Americans disagree on the most fundamental of issues.

Was America, is America, with all its sins and virtues and all its achievements, a country to be cherished, loved and defended? Or is America a country of whose history we should all be ashamed?

Part of America also believes that discovery in the Constitution of a woman’s right to an abortion and a right of homosexuals to marry were major milestones of progress toward a more moral America.

Others see these as long strides away from the Christian country we used to be, a social and moral decline toward the same quiet death that has come to other civilizations and nations that went before us.

In short, we Americans disagree on whether our country is a good and great nation worth defending, or a place that needs a deep cultural cleansing of its sins.

And we have no common code of morality. One side is rooted in modernism and secularism and the other in the teachings of the Old and New Testament, Christian tradition and a natural law written on the human heart that is superior to man-made law.

People who disagree upon such basic beliefs naturally drift apart, as we Americans are doing today.

Political questions arise out of these fundamental differences, and they are not insignificant.

Can a republic as fractured and splintered as ours is — racially, ethnically, politically, culturally, morally — with a population who do not share the same belief about whether their nation is good and great or failed and evil, endure? And for how long?

What successful models from history do we see of nations that took the kind of risks we are taking with our republic?[5]

The only successful models in American history are our Revolution and our Civil War, both of which resulted in enormous carnage.[6]

© 2020, Timothy D. Naegele

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[1]  Timothy D. Naegele was counsel to the United States Senate’s Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, and chief of staff to Presidential Medal of Freedom and Congressional Gold Medal recipient and former U.S. Senator Edward W. Brooke (R-Mass). He and his firm, Timothy D. Naegele & Associates, specialize in Banking and Financial Institutions Law, Internet Law, Litigation and other matters (see www.naegele.com and Timothy D. Naegele Resume-20-6-30). He has an undergraduate degree in economics from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), as well as two law degrees from the School of Law (Boalt Hall), University of California, Berkeley, and from Georgetown University. He served as a Captain in the U.S. Army, assigned to the Defense Intelligence Agency at the Pentagon, where he received the Joint Service Commendation Medal (see, e.g., https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commendation_Medal#Joint_Service). Mr. Naegele is an Independent politically; and he is listed in Who’s Who in America, Who’s Who in American Law, and Who’s Who in Finance and Business. He has written extensively over the years (see, e.g., www.naegele.com/whats_new.html#articles and https://naegeleblog.wordpress.com/articles/), and can be contacted directly at tdnaegele.associates@gmail.com

[2]  See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Annus_horribilis (“Annus horribilis“)

[3]  See Timothy D. Naegele, The Coronavirus and Similar Global Issues: How to Address Them, 137 BANKING L. J. 285 (June 2020) (Naegele June 2020) (Timothy D. Naegele) [NOTE: To download The Banking Law Journal article, please click on the link to the left of this note]; see also https://naegeleblog.wordpress.com/2010/02/06/the-silent-voices-of-stalin%E2%80%99s-soviet-holocaust-and-mao%E2%80%99s-chinese-holocaust/ (“The Silent Voices Of Stalin’s Soviet Holocaust And Mao’s Chinese Holocaust”) and https://naegeleblog.wordpress.com/2020/06/20/can-we-coexist-with-asias-communists/ (“Can We Coexist with Asia’s Communists?”) and https://naegeleblog.wordpress.com/2020/05/12/coexistence-with-china-or-war/ (“Coexistence With China Or War?”) and https://naegeleblog.wordpress.com/2020/04/16/the-coronavirus-must-become-chinas-chernobyl-hastening-the-collapse-of-its-evil-regime/ (“The Coronavirus Must Become China’s Chernobyl, Hastening The Collapse Of Its Evil Regime”) and https://naegeleblog.wordpress.com/2020/04/07/why-should-the-world-trust-china-ever-again/ (“Why Should The World Trust China Ever Again?”) and https://naegeleblog.wordpress.com/2020/03/25/china-infects-the-world-then-lies-and-blames-america/ (“China Infects The World, Then Lies And Blames America”) and https://naegeleblog.wordpress.com/2020/02/20/expert-warns-quarantine-process-failed-as-china-stands-ready-to-crash-world-economy/ (“Expert Warns Quarantine Process Failed, As China Stands Ready To Crash World Economy”) and https://naegeleblog.wordpress.com/2019/08/13/china-is-americas-enemy-and-the-enemy-of-free-people-everywhere/ (“China Is America’s Enemy, And The Enemy Of Free People Everywhere”) and https://naegeleblog.wordpress.com/2011/01/13/china-is-americas-enemy-make-no-mistake-about-that/ (“China Is America’s Enemy: Make No Mistake About That”)

[4]  See, e.g., https://news.yahoo.com/were-going-york-l-hospitals-120027340.html (“‘We’re going to be New York’: L.A. hospitals brace for the worst”) and https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9068223/Italy-fourth-country-spot-mutated-Covid-virus-British-traveller.html (“Expert warns new mutant Covid will likely become the ‘dominant global strain’ as Gibraltar becomes FIFTH place outside UK to confirm a case”) and https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9074371/Scientists-Walter-Reed-examine-new-UK-Super-COVID-strain-vaccine-resistant.html (“US Army scientists at Walter Reed begin examining genetic profile of new UK ‘Super-COVID’ strain to see if it’s vaccine resistant – as deaths in the US increase by 1,618 and new cases rise by 195K”) and https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9079119/2020-deadliest-year-history-COVID-19-surges.html (“2020 is the deadliest year in US history with deaths expected to top 3 MILLION for the first time – as COVID-19 fatalities continue surge to record highs with one American dying every 33 seconds in the last week”)

[5] See https://buchanan.org/blog/can-democracy-hold-us-together-142475https://buchanan.org/blog/can-democracy-hold-us-together-142475; see also https://naegeleblog.wordpress.com/2020/12/19/the-high-tech-lynching-of-donald-trump/ (“The High-Tech Lynching Of Donald Trump”) and https://naegeleblog.wordpress.com/2020/12/12/the-u-s-supreme-court-must-be-destroyed-as-a-governmental-entity/ (“The U.S. Supreme Court Must Be Destroyed As A Governmental Entity”)

[6] See https://naegeleblog.wordpress.com/2019/10/09/this-is-war-abraham-lincoln-and-ronald-reagan-understood-this-and-donald-trump-does-too/ (“This Is War—Abraham Lincoln and Ronald Reagan Understood This, And Donald Trump Does Too”) and https://naegeleblog.wordpress.com/2019/09/24/when-will-the-actual-shooting-begin-in-americas-second-civil-war/ (“When Will The Actual Shooting Begin In America’s Second Civil War?”) and https://naegeleblog.wordpress.com/2017/05/16/americas-newest-civil-war-2017-and-beyond/ (“America’s Newest Civil War: 2017 And Beyond”)

The High-Tech Lynching Of Donald Trump

  By Timothy D. Naegele[1]

There was never any hope that the three Democrats on our Supreme Court would seek truth and justice with respect to the 2020 elections, which thus far have stolen the presidency from Donald Trump and given it to Brain Dead Joe Biden and Willie Brown’s ho Kamala Harris.[2]  Similarly, there was never any hope with respect to the despicable John Roberts, the biggest mistake that George W. Bush made as President other than launching our great nation into the tragic Iraq War in which more than 5,000 Americans died and many more were maimed, and trillions of dollars were wasted, for nothing.

But after his “high-tech lynching” during the confirmation process, it was not unreasonable to believe that the Court’s only black Justice, Clarence Thomas, might do the right thing.  After all, under his leadership, there was potentially a 5-4 majority on the Court, consisting of Thomas, Alito and the three Trump appointees—Gorsuch, Kavanaugh and Barrett.  Instead, the criminal Justices disenfranchised 74 million Trump voters[3], and made the un-American racist and anti-Semite Barack Obama proud[4].

He spent more than four years orchestrating efforts to destroy the candidacy and presidency of Donald Trump; and finally, instead of spending the rest of his life in prison for treason, he seems to have been vindicated.  His Vice President is expected to ascend to the presidency, even though Biden’s Dementia is advancing and becoming obvious to the world, and certainly to our enemies.

Thomas has brought shame to himself, his family and the Court, which was wallowing in and riddled with shame and criminality already.  After all, it has blessed infanticide and been a co-conspirator in the deaths of far more than 55 million American babies since the Court’s decision in Roe v. Wade—which exceeds the number of those who were killed in Hitler’s Nazi Holocaust, Stalin’s Soviet Holocaust and Mao’s Chinese Holocaust.[5]

In the final analysis, Thomas might have become a historically-important, de facto “Chief Justice.” Instead, he has given credence to the allegations against him by Anita Hill during his confirmation process, and ingratiated himself with the traitor Obama.  What a coward, at the very least.

As I have written previously:

None of the 74 million Americans who voted for our great President should ever trust the Court or our judicial system again. We live in a nation that is lawless, and no better than Russia, China, North Korea and other totalitarian systems.

George Orwell was correct when he wrote his prescient “Animal Farm” about the Pigs.  All of the animals were equal until the Pigs reigned supreme and subjugated the other animals.  We are inches away from this happening; and the Supreme Court just dealt a fatal blow to free elections and American justice.

They no longer exist.  They are dead and buried.  And let history record that it happened in Washington, D.C., the modern-day equivalent of Sodom and Gomorrah.[6]

Thomas and each of the other so-called “Justices” must be hounded for the rest of their lives, at the very least.  Nothing less will suffice.

 

 

© 2020, Timothy D. Naegele

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[1]  Timothy D. Naegele was counsel to the United States Senate’s Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, and chief of staff to Presidential Medal of Freedom and Congressional Gold Medal recipient and former U.S. Senator Edward W. Brooke (R-Mass). He and his firm, Timothy D. Naegele & Associates, specialize in Banking and Financial Institutions Law, Internet Law, Litigation and other matters (see www.naegele.com and Timothy D. Naegele Resume-20-6-30). He has an undergraduate degree in economics from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), as well as two law degrees from the School of Law (Boalt Hall), University of California, Berkeley, and from Georgetown University. He served as a Captain in the U.S. Army, assigned to the Defense Intelligence Agency at the Pentagon, where he received the Joint Service Commendation Medal (see, e.g., https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commendation_Medal#Joint_Service). Mr. Naegele is an Independent politically; and he is listed in Who’s Who in America, Who’s Who in American Law, and Who’s Who in Finance and Business. He has written extensively over the years (see, e.g., www.naegele.com/whats_new.html#articles and https://naegeleblog.wordpress.com/articles/), and can be contacted directly at tdnaegele.associates@gmail.com

[2]  See https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/wh-adviser-navarro-releases-report-election-fraud-swing-victory-to-trump (“Peter Navarro releases 36-page report alleging election fraud ‘more than sufficient’ to swing victory to Trump”) and https://naegeleblog.files.wordpress.com/2020/12/peter-navarro-report-the-immaculate-deception.pdf (“Peter Navarro Report-The Immaculate Deception”) and https://naegeleblog.wordpress.com/2020/08/11/brain-dead-joe-biden-has-picked-willie-browns-ho-as-our-next-president/ (“Brain Dead Joe Biden Has Picked Willie Brown’s Ho As Our Next President”)

[3] See https://naegeleblog.wordpress.com/2020/12/12/the-u-s-supreme-court-must-be-destroyed-as-a-governmental-entity/ (“The U.S. Supreme Court Must Be Destroyed As A Governmental Entity”); see also https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9044993/Supreme-Court-REJECTS-Texas-AGs-bid-overturn-Joe-Bidens-election-victory.html (“Supreme Court REJECTS Texas AG’s bid to overturn Joe Biden’s election victory in thumping defeat – with Donald Trump’s justices voting AGAINST the president”)

[4]  See, e.g., https://naegeleblog.wordpress.com/2009/12/05/is-barack-obama-a-racist/ (“Is Barack Obama A Racist?”) and https://naegeleblog.wordpress.com/2017/10/20/the-real-russian-conspiracy-barack-obama-the-clintons-and-the-sale-of-americas-uranium-to-russias-killer-putin/ (“The Real Russian Conspiracy: Barack Obama, The Clintons, And The Sale Of America’s Uranium To Russia’s Killer Putin”) and https://naegeleblog.wordpress.com/2018/05/24/should-barack-obama-be-executed-for-treason/ (“Should Barack Obama Be Executed For Treason?”) and https://naegeleblog.wordpress.com/2019/07/29/barack-obama-is-responsible-for-americas-tragic-racial-divide/ (“Barack Obama Is Responsible For America’s Tragic Racial Divide”) and https://naegeleblog.wordpress.com/2019/11/15/when-will-barack-obamas-trial-for-sedition-begin/ (“When Will Barack Obama’s Trial For Sedition Begin?”)

[5]  See https://naegeleblog.wordpress.com/2020/12/12/the-u-s-supreme-court-must-be-destroyed-as-a-governmental-entity/ (“The U.S. Supreme Court Must Be Destroyed As A Governmental Entity”)

[6]  Id. (footnotes omitted)

The U.S. Supreme Court Must Be Destroyed As A Governmental Entity

  By Timothy D. Naegele[1]

Our Supreme Court has rejected the Texas Attorney General’s bid to overturn Joe Biden’s presumptive election victory, in a defeat for our great President, with his three cowardly and despicable appointees to the Court voting against him.[2]

The Supreme Court must be destroyed as a governmental entity.  It has outlived its usefulness, and no longer serves the American people.  Abraham Lincoln took a similar approach during our last Civil War, when he ignored a decision by Chief Justice Roger Taney.[3]  Now we must go farther.

It is unconscionable that the three Trump appointees to the Court—Justices Gorsuch, Kavanaugh and Barrett—did not see fit to join Justices Thomas and Alito; and that the latter two Justices signaled that they would not overturn the rigged election results.

None of the 74 million Americans who voted for our great President should ever trust the Court or our judicial system again. We live in a nation that is lawless, and no better than Russia, China, North Korea and other totalitarian systems.

George Orwell was correct when he wrote his prescient “Animal Farm” about the Pigs.[4]  All of the animals were equal until the Pigs reigned supreme and subjugated the other animals.  We are inches away from this happening; and the Supreme Court just dealt a fatal blow to free elections and American justice.

They no longer exist.  They are dead and buried.  And let history record that it happened in Washington, D.C., the modern-day equivalent of Sodom and Gomorrah.[5]

There are reasons to believe that Joe Biden suffers from Dementia, which is progressing.[6]. These are scary times for so many Americans, who have been dying or hurt by China’s Coronavirus (COVID-19).[7].  And our once-admired Supreme Court has turned its back on history, and does not deserve to exist any longer. 

 

 

© 2020, Timothy D. Naegele

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[1]  Timothy D. Naegele was counsel to the United States Senate’s Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, and chief of staff to Presidential Medal of Freedom and Congressional Gold Medal recipient and former U.S. Senator Edward W. Brooke (R-Mass). He and his firm, Timothy D. Naegele & Associates, specialize in Banking and Financial Institutions Law, Internet Law, Litigation and other matters (see www.naegele.com and Timothy D. Naegele Resume-20-6-30). He has an undergraduate degree in economics from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), as well as two law degrees from the School of Law (Boalt Hall), University of California, Berkeley, and from Georgetown University. He served as a Captain in the U.S. Army, assigned to the Defense Intelligence Agency at the Pentagon, where he received the Joint Service Commendation Medal (see, e.g., https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commendation_Medal#Joint_Service). Mr. Naegele is an Independent politically; and he is listed in Who’s Who in America, Who’s Who in American Law, and Who’s Who in Finance and Business. He has written extensively over the years (see, e.g., www.naegele.com/whats_new.html#articles and https://naegeleblog.wordpress.com/articles/), and can be contacted directly at tdnaegele.associates@gmail.com

[2]  See, e.g., https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9044993/Supreme-Court-REJECTS-Texas-AGs-bid-overturn-Joe-Bidens-election-victory.html (“Supreme Court REJECTS Texas AG’s bid to overturn Joe Biden’s election victory in thumping defeat – with Donald Trump’s justices voting AGAINST the president”)

[3]  See https://naegeleblog.wordpress.com/2017/05/16/americas-newest-civil-war-2017-and-beyond/ (“America’s Newest Civil War: 2017 And Beyond”)

As stated previously (footnote omitted):

During the American Civil War, President Abraham Lincoln suspended the right of habeas corpus. John Merryman, a state legislator from Maryland, was arrested for attempting to hinder Union troops from moving from Baltimore to Washington, and he was held at Fort McHenry by Union military officials:

“Federal judge Roger Taney, the chief justice of the Supreme Court . . . issued a ruling that President Lincoln did not have the authority to suspend habeas corpus. Lincoln didn’t respond, appeal, or order the release of Merryman. But during a July 4 speech, Lincoln was defiant, insisting that he needed to suspend the rules in order to put down the rebellion in the South.”

We may be approaching a series of crises in which President Donald Trump will have to act boldly and defiantly, and adopt harsh measures similar to those of Lincoln.

[4]  See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Animal_Farm (“Animal Farm”)

[5]  See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sodom_and_Gomorrah (“Sodom and Gomorrah”)

[6]  See, e.g., https://naegeleblog.wordpress.com/2020/08/08/biden-is-brain-dead/ (“Biden Is Brain Dead”) and https://naegeleblog.wordpress.com/2020/03/05/the-millennials-may-never-forgive-biden-and-the-democrats/#comment-23417 (“Biden Is In A Steep Mental Decline”)

[7]  See Timothy D. Naegele, The Coronavirus and Similar Global Issues: How to Address Them, 137 BANKING L. J. 285 (June 2020) (Naegele June 2020) (Timothy D. Naegele) [NOTE: To download The Banking Law Journal article, please click on the link to the left of this note]; see also https://naegeleblog.wordpress.com/2020/08/04/chinas-goal-is-global-domination-and-it-must-suffer-the-soviet-unions-fate/ (“China’s Goal Is Global Domination, And It Must Suffer The Soviet Union’s Fate”)

 

The U.S. Supreme Court Is A Tragic, Pathetic Joke

 By Timothy D. Naegele[1]

The U.S. Supreme Court just issued its decision in Gamble v. United States, and “left the door open for state prosecutors to prosecute Trump campaign officials regardless of whether federal officials have already done so.”[2]  In his dissenting opinion, Justice Neil Gorsuch—President Trump’s first appointment to the Court—wrote: 

A free society does not allow its government to try the same individual for the same crime until it’s happy with the result. Unfortunately, the Court today endorses a colossal exception to this ancient rule against double jeopardy.  My colleagues say that the federal government and each State are “separate sovereigns” entitled to try the same person for the same crime. So if all the might of one “sovereign” cannot succeed against the presumptively free individual, another may insist on the chance to try again. And if both manage to succeed, so much the better; they can add one punishment on top of the other. But this “separate sovereigns exception” to the bar against double jeopardy finds no meaningful support in the text of the Constitution, its original public meaning, structure, or history. Instead, the Constitution promises all Americans that they will never suffer double jeopardy. I would enforce that guarantee.[3]

Our Supreme Court has been a tragic, pathetic joke for years, certainly since it blessed infanticide in Roe v. Wade—and the killing of more than 55 million American babies.[4]  Also, Chief Justice John Roberts constitutes the second worst decision that former President George W. Bush made during his eight-year presidency—other than the senseless Iraq War in which more than 5,000 Americans died and many more were maimed, and trillions of dollars were wasted, for nothing.[5]

Perhaps an editorial of The New York Sun described the Gamble decision best:

How is it possible that, after all the tumult over the Supreme Court, the only two justices to grasp the plain language of the Constitution in respect of double jeopardy are — wait for it — Neil Gorsuch and Ruth Bader Ginsburg? It’s amazing enough that there are but two sages for the bedrock prohibition on double jeopardy. More amazing still that the question unites the right- and left-most justices.

The case, known as Gamble v. U.S., involves an ex-con named Terance Martez Gamble. He was pulled over in a traffic stop in 2015 at Alabama. A gun was found in his possession in violation of both Alabama and American law. Gamble pled to the state charges and drew a year. Then the federales turned around and charged him again for the same offense, drawing additional time for the same deed.

The justices rejected his appeal in an opinion — by Justice Alito — that reminds us of President Clinton’s hemming about how it depends on what the meaning of “is” is. In this case, it depends on the meaning of the word “offense.” The justices reckon there were two offenses, one carrying the blasted gun in Alabama and the other the same gun at the same time in the United States. Could the United Nations also charge him?

. . .

Justice Thomas, sage of what Myron Magnet, in his new book, calls the “lost Constitution,” manages to concur with the majority’s ruling against Gamble while attacking stare decisis. The ink wasn’t even dry on his concurrence when the press started warning that Justice Thomas was — yet again — prepping the ground for overturning Roe v. Wade. Others were more focused on the implications of Gamble for Paul Manafort.

New York, after all, is preparing to bring charges against President Trump’s former campaign manager even while Manafort sits in the Big House hoping for a pardon on federal charges. It’s not so clear, though, that New York will throw at Manafort the same charges Mr. Mueller levied. To discern differences between the federal and state cases against Gamble, though, one would need an electron microscope.

Our own interest in this case is neither stare decisis nor Paul Manafort nor Ms. Roe nor Mr. Wade. It is the plain language of the Fifth Amendment, where the prohibition against double jeopardy is laid down. Our national parchment was supposed to be a bar against such injustices as the state appealing acquittals or the law chasing someone from one court to another.

This is beautifully marked by both Justices Ginsburg and Gorsuch in two dissents. Justice Ginsburg, citing precedent about the separateness of federal and state laws, warned of “frittering away” Gamble’s liberty “upon a metaphysical subtlety, two sovereignties.” Thundered Justice Gorsuch: “A free society does not allow its government to try the same individual for the same crime until it’s happy with the result.”

It is not our intention to suggest that there can never be, say, a federal prosecution after a state acquittal. During the Jim Crow era, southern juries often ignored the facts. In those cases, though, the argument would be, and was, that the accused racists were never in genuine jeopardy in the first place. That is not what happened in the case of Terance Gamble.

All the more inspiring that the two dissenting judges from opposite ideological ends of the bench came together on this bedrock. It doesn’t suggest the confirmation battles are about nothing. It does remind all of us not to panic. The thinness of the vapors at the altitude where these justices breathe makes it hard to predict how they will behave. History teaches that great dissents have a way of getting vindicated over time.[6]

We can only hope that Justice Gorsuch’s dissenting opinion becomes the law of the land, which is not very promising given the 7-2 ruling—or for Paul Manafort and others who tried to help President Trump and may be caught in the insidious web of double jeopardy.  We have to thank our Supreme Court again for the perpetuation (or creation) of tragic injustices.[7] 

 

 

© 2019, Timothy D. Naegele

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[1]  Timothy D. Naegele was counsel to the United States Senate’s Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, and chief of staff to Presidential Medal of Freedom and Congressional Gold Medal recipient and former U.S. Senator Edward W. Brooke (R-Mass). He and his firm, Timothy D. Naegele & Associates, specialize in Banking and Financial Institutions Law, Internet Law, Litigation and other matters (see www.naegele.com and Timothy D. Naegele Resume-19-4-29). He has an undergraduate degree in economics from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), as well as two law degrees from the School of Law (Boalt Hall), University of California, Berkeley, and from Georgetown University. He served as a Captain in the U.S. Army, assigned to the Defense Intelligence Agency at the Pentagon, where he received the Joint Service Commendation Medal (see, e.g., https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commendation_Medal#Joint_Service). Mr. Naegele is an Independent politically; and he is listed in Who’s Who in America, Who’s Who in American Law, and Who’s Who in Finance and Business. He has written extensively over the years (see, e.g., www.naegele.com/whats_new.html#articles), and can be contacted directly at tdnaegele.associates@gmail.com

[2]  See https://www.thedailybeast.com/scotus-reaffirms-double-jeopardy-exception-allowing-trump-campaign-officials-to-be-tried-by-state-feds (“Supreme Court Reaffirms ‘Double Jeopardy’ Exception With Mueller Probe Implications”—”The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday reaffirmed a 170-year-old exception to the Constitution’s double-jeopardy clause, and left the door open for state prosecutors to prosecute Trump campaign officials regardless of whether federal officials have already done so. The case, Gamble v. United States, has drawn attention for its potential effect on Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s federal prosecutions on Russian interference in the 2016 election. Had the ‘dual sovereignty doctrine’ been repealed, states would not be able to pursue investigations parallel to the federal government. . . . State prosecutors in New York have brought charges against former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort Jr., who was sentenced to seven and a half years in prison, in the event that President Trump pardons him”).

[3]  See Gamble v. United States, p. 64 (emphasis added), by clicking on the following link: https://naegeleblog.files.wordpress.com/2019/06/gamble-ussc-decision.pdf (or by downloading the decision).

Gamble USSC decisionDownload

[4] See https://naegeleblog.wordpress.com/2012/12/20/abortions-and-autos-kill-more-in-america-than-guns/#comment-17243 (“Finally, More Abortion Bans Are Coming”—”Roe v. Wade unleashed a holocaust of epic proportions, which ranks with the greatest holocausts in human history—including the Nazi Holocaust, Stalin’s Soviet Holocaust and Mao’s Chinese Holocaust. Indeed, more human beings have been killed as a result of abortions—since the U.S. Supreme Court handed down its decision in 1973—than in each of the other three holocausts”).

[5] See, e.g., http://www.wsj.com/articles/trump-and-the-mexican-judge-1465167405 (“[President] Obama . . . contributed to the Democratic intimidation campaign against Chief Justice John Roberts ahead of the 2012 ObamaCare ruling. ‘I’m confident that the Supreme Court will not take what would be an unprecedented, extraordinary step of overturning a law that was passed by a strong majority of a democratically elected Congress,’ the President said at an April 2012 press conference. The Chief Justice ruled as the President recommended”); https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-03-01/hold-the-revolution-roberts-keeps-joining-high-court-liberals (“Roberts Keeps Joining High Court Liberals”)

[6] See https://www.nysun.com/editorials/ginsburg-gorsuch-and-gamble/90732/ (“Ginsburg, Gorsuch — and Gamble“) (emphasis added).

[7] See https://naegeleblog.wordpress.com/2013/07/15/justice-and-the-law-do-not-mix/ (“Justice And The Law Do Not Mix”—”The United States is a nation where rogue prosecutors reign, whose goals in life include the prosecution of even the innocent. Federal, State and local prosecutors ruthlessly and gleefully pursue countless numbers of innocent Americans for a multitude of crimes that were never committed; and the judiciary has allowed this to happen. Corruption is rampant among federal prosecutors and those who work with them, such as FBI agents. No amount of rational thinking or discourse can be applied to a system that is inherently and systemically corrupt”); see also https://www.foxnews.com/politics/supreme-court-ruling-deals-potential-blow-to-paul-manafort-as-he-battles-state-charges (“Supreme Court ruling deals potential blow to Paul Manafort as he battles state charges”) and https://www.nytimes.com/2019/06/17/nyregion/manafort-rikers.html (“Paul Manafort Seemed Headed to Rikers. Then the Justice Department Intervened”).

Will Kavanaugh Prove Disastrous For The Democrats?

 By Timothy D. Naegele[1]

The confirmation of Brett Kavanaugh as the newest Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court has sent shock waves through America[2]; and its effects may be most pronounced for the Democrats—who lost.  And yes, lots of us began as Democrats, but will never vote for one again.

Something similar may be true of the Left’s stalwarts who demonstrated across this country, first for Bernie Sander’s candidacy as the Democrats’ nominee for president in 2016—which was co-opted and “buried” by Hillary Clinton and her thugs—and then to defeat Kavanaugh’s confirmation.  They may feel that they were cheated and sold down the river by the Democrats, who failed to deliver . . . again.

The wind may go out of their sails, while the Republicans—and especially the Trump “faithful”—may be energized almost like never before.  “How sweet it is” (they may say or think) that their efforts proved successful, as they did in the 2016 election.  With the U.S. economy seemingly purring along[3], they may be convinced of their righteousness and of the certitude of their actions, which may propel them on to other and even greater victories.

In retrospect, Kavanaugh may have been a flawed candidate, and perhaps even more of a flawed Justice.[4]  What his elevation to the Court may mean—along with Neil Gorsuch before him, and soon the feeble Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s replacement—is that Donald Trump’s political and legal flanks will be protected against the Democrats’ efforts to remove him from the presidency.  If so, then the elevation of a flawed Kavanaugh to the Court will have served its purpose and satisfied Trump’s faithful.[5]

Aside from possibly defusing the Left’s zeal, the Kavanaugh confirmation fight has exposed its underbelly for all Americans to see.  Dianne Feinstein of California was shown to be an ineffectual, lying senator, who had kept a Chinese spy on her staff for approximately 20 years, despite the fact that she was entrusted with the nation’s most sensitive secrets.[6]  Richard Blumenthal from Connecticut was tarnished again for lying about his military service in Vietnam[7]; and the list goes on and on[8].

The Kavanaugh fight may have served another purpose.  It seems to have strengthened the spine of weak-kneed and often pathetic Republican “Neanderthals.”  They rose to the occasion and defeated the onslaught of the Democrats’ lies and normally-astute political skulduggery, which had been so successful in the past.  The departure of the totally-inept and ineffectual Paul Ryan from the House of Representatives may further this progression.[9]

 

© 2018, Timothy D. Naegele

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[1]  Timothy D. Naegele was counsel to the United States Senate’s Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, and chief of staff to Presidential Medal of Freedom and Congressional Gold Medal recipient and former U.S. Senator Edward W. Brooke (R-Mass). He and his firm, Timothy D. Naegele & Associates, specialize in Banking and Financial Institutions Law, Internet Law, Litigation and other matters (see www.naegele.com and Timothy D. Naegele Resume). He has an undergraduate degree in economics from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), as well as two law degrees from the School of Law (Boalt Hall), University of California, Berkeley, and from Georgetown University. He served as a Captain in the U.S. Army, assigned to the Defense Intelligence Agency at the Pentagon, where he received the Joint Service Commendation Medal (see, e.g., https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commendation_Medal#Joint_Service). Mr. Naegele is an Independent politically; and he is listed in Who’s Who in America, Who’s Who in American Law, and Who’s Who in Finance and Business. He has written extensively over the years (see, e.g., www.naegele.com/whats_new.html#articles), and can be contacted directly at tdnaegele.associates@gmail.com

[2]  See https://www.apnews.com/8234f0b8a6194d8b89ff79f9b0c94f35 (“Kavanaugh is confirmed: Senate Oks Supreme Court nominee”); see also https://naegeleblog.wordpress.com/2017/05/16/americas-newest-civil-war-2017-and-beyond/#comment-14894 (“KAVANAUGH: A DRESS REHEARSAL FOR IMPEACHMENT?”) and https://naegeleblog.wordpress.com/2017/05/16/americas-newest-civil-war-2017-and-beyond/#comment-14821 (“A Hail Mary Pass With 00:07 On The Clock In The Fourth Quarter”)

[3]  See, e.g., https://www.cnbc.com/2018/10/05/us-nonfarm-payrolls-september-2018.html (“[U]nemployment rate hits the lowest level since 1969”) and https://www.cnsnews.com/news/article/craig-bannister/hispanic-unemployment-rate-hits-lowest-level-record-september (“Hispanic Unemployment Rate Hits Lowest Level on Record in September”) and https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/business/manufacturing-confidence-nears-all-time-high-despite-workforce-shortage (“Manufacturing confidence at all-time high despite workforce shortage”) and https://www.cnsnews.com/news/article/terence-p-jeffrey/federal-government-cut-1000-jobs-september-16000-under-trump (“Federal Government Cut 1,000 Jobs in September; -16,000 Under Trump”) and https://www.marketwatch.com/story/construction-hiring-is-booming-and-there-still-are-plenty-of-available-jobs-2018-10-05 (“Construction hiring is booming — and there still are plenty of available jobs”) and http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/political_updates/prez_track_oct05 (“The Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking Poll for Friday shows that 51% of Likely U.S. Voters approve of President Trump’s job performance”)

[4]  See, e.g., https://www.yahoo.com/news/sinister-battle-brett-kavanaugh-over-202425923.html (“My sinister battle with Brett Kavanaugh over the truth – by [the international business editor of the UK’s Daily Telegraph] Ambrose Evans-Pritchard”—”[Patrick Knowlton] had been the first person at the Fort Marcy death location [of Vince Foster, next to the Potomac River]. . . . He said the FBI had tried repeatedly to badger him into changing his story on key facts. Each time he refused. . . . Before testifying, he suffered two days of what appeared to be systematic intimidation by a large surveillance team. . . . When Mr Knowlton appeared at the grand jury – thinking he was doing his civic duty – he says he was subjected to two and a half hours of character assassination. . . . There was little attempt to find out what he knew about the Foster death scene. . . . Few people are aware that the US federal prosecutor handling the death investigation at the outset, Miquel Rodriguez, had resigned earlier from the Starr investigation after a bitter dispute. His resignation letter – later leaked [Rodriguez materials] – said he was prevented from pursuing investigative leads, that FBI witness statements did not reflect what witnesses had said, that the suicide verdict was premature, and that his grand jury probe was shut down just as he was beginning to uncover evidence. An informed source told me his work had been sabotaged by his own FBI agents. The nub of the dispute was over compelling evidence of a wound in Foster’s neck, which contradicted the official version that Foster shot himself in the mouth and had essentially been suppressed. The key crime scene photos had vanished and the FBI labs said others were over-exposed and useless. Mr Rodriguez, by then suspicious, slipped them to the Smithsonian Institution and had them enhanced. One showed a black stippled ring like a gunshot wound in the side of Foster’s neck. This remains secret but I have seen it. The photo was pivotal. It confirmed what several people who handled the body had originally stated. I interviewed the first rescue worker on the scene and when I asked him about the mouth wound, he grabbed me, and said with frightening intensity: ‘listen to me buddy, Foster was shot right here,’ jabbing his finger into my neck. He said the FBI had pressured him too into changing his story and that official narrative was a pack of lies”) (see also https://naegeleblog.wordpress.com/2010/09/24/washington-is-sick-and-the-american-people-know-it/#comment-7185 (“Clinton Fatigue”—”[Was Vince] Foster killed at the Clinton’s behest[, and did Brett Kavanaugh participate in the cover-up]?”))

. . .

Many Americans believe that Chief Justice John Roberts never should have been appointed to the Court; and that he constitutes the second worst decision that former President George W. Bush made, aside from launching our great nation into the tragic Iraq War.  Among other things, he cast the deciding vote with respect to the constitutionality of Obamacare.

See, e.g., https://dailycaller.com/2012/06/28/in-6-3-decision-supreme-court-rules-obamacare-constitutional/ (“IN 5-4 DECISION, SUPREME COURT RULES OBAMACARE CONSTITUTIONAL”)

[5]  See, e.g., https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-6245887/Kavanaugh-U-S-Supreme-Court-sparks-harmony.html (“The GOP dream for decades to come: How Kavanaugh could reshape abortion restrictions, gay rights – and may even rule on whether Trump can be prosecuted when he replaces Scotus swing vote”)

[6]  See, e.g., https://sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com/2018/08/01/details-chinese-spy-dianne-feinstein-san-francisco/ (“Details Surface About Sen. Feinstein And The Chinese Spy Who Worked For Her“)

[7]  See, e.g., https://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/18/nyregion/18blumenthal.html (“Richard Blumenthal’s Words on Vietnam Service Differ From History“) and https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/donald-trump/fact-check-trump-says-blumenthal-lied-he-did-bragged-he-n915096 (“Fact check: Trump says Blumenthal [or “Da Nang Dick” as the President calls him] lied (he did)”—”Senator Richard Blumenthal must talk about his fraudulent service in Vietnam, where for 12 years he told the people of Connecticut, as their Attorney General, that he was a great Marine War Hero. Talked about his many battles of near death, but was never in Vietnam. Total Phony!”—”Blumenthal did lead voters to believe he was a Vietnam veteran when, in fact, he was never deployed to Vietnam”)

[8]  See infra n.2.

[9]  See, e.g., https://naegeleblog.wordpress.com/2018/07/29/it-is-time-for-trump-supporters-to-fight-back/ (“It Is Time For Trump Supporters To Fight Back”)