12/3/24

 Tuesday, December 3, 2924

D+28

1965 For the first time since the Vietnam War, the Marine Corps accepted a share of the then-upcoming January selective service draft harvest

2014 Protests erupted in cities across the US after a grand jury decided not to charge the New York City police officer who killed Eric Garner with a chokehold

2019 Kamala Harris ended her campaign to be the Democratic candidate for president

2022 Former President Donald Trump called in a Truth Social post for the "termination" of all rules, including the US Constitution, to overturn the 2020 election 

In bed at 9:20, awake at 4:30, and up at 4:40.  Lilly didn't show up until 7:30 though I heard her pacing each time I woke up during the night.  

Prednisone, day 203, 7.5 mg., day 18.   Prednisone at 4:50.  Morning meds later, but not much.=

Lilly.. At 8 p.m., we got home from Blue Pearl Animal Hospital where we had Lilly euthanized.

Kahlil Gibran: On Talking

. And he answered, saying: You talk when you cease to be at peace with your thoughts; And when you can no longer dwell in the solitude of your heart you live in your lips, and sound is a diversion and a pastime. And in much of your talking, thinking is half murdered. For thought is a bird of space, that in a cage of words may indeed unfold its wings but cannot fly. There are those among you who seek the talkative through fear of being alone. The silence of aloneness reveals to their eyes their naked selves and they would escape. And there are those who talk, and without knowledge or forethought reveal a truth which they themselves do not understand. And there are those who have the truth within them, but they tell it not in words. In the bosom of such as these the spirit dwells in rhythmic silence. When you meet your friend on the roadside or in the market place, let the spirit in you move your lips and direct your tongue. Let the voice within your voice speak to the ear or his ear; For his soul will keep the truth of your heart as the taste of the wine is remembered When the colour is forgotten and the vessel is no more.

LTMW.  There is lots of action at the feeders this morning: finches, chickadees, nuthatches, woodpeckers, sparrows, and a dove.  At 10 a.m., there is a herd of 6 whitetail deer on the front lawn and a fight or courting ritual (?) involving two gray squirrels.  If it's a courting ritual, it's one that looks more like a rape.

Life and Death: Living with Lilly in her 16th year, with daily thoughts of euthanasia.    Inexorable comparisons to myself in my 84th year.  When will it be an act of mercy, when something else?  Why do we so readily accept euthanasia for non-human animals and not for human animals?  Religion and the risk that a right to die can easily become a duty to die.  

"Don't underestimate Joe's ability to fuck things up." is a quote anonymously attributed to Barack Obama, speaking of his vice president.  "Uncle Joe" may now be more familiarly known as "Daddy Joe" after he granted his son Hunter a full and preemptive pardon for any and all federal crimes he committed or may have committed over the last 11 years.  Biden is being criticized for this act of fatherly love by virtually all Republicans and even by some Democrats.  He is being keelhauled not so much for the pardon itself, but because he so often and so unequivocally insisted during his reelection campaign that he would not do it. "Liar!  Hypocrite!"  He is also being criticized for the preemptive scope of the pardon.  The beginning date of the pardon is January 1, 2014, a few months before Hunter joined the board of directors of Burisma Corp., the Ukrainian energy company.  Hunter hasn't been charged with any crime associated with that job, or with any of his foreign business ventures, but Trump has promised to use the Justice Department to pursue the Bidens and other political adversaries and clearly, Joe is trying to prevent that.  Hence the temporal scope of the pardon and its preemptive scope - "those offenses against the United States which he has committed or may have committed or taken part in".  Prediction: Trump's Justice Department will pursue Hunter despite the pardon, have him indicted for something, and test the lawfulness of the preemptive pardon in court.  Also, the Republican-controlled House and Senate will do their worst in pursuing Hunter with investigations and hearings.  Hunter's acceptance of the global pardon means he cannot claim a 5th Amendment privilege when questioned, except perhaps where state criminal jeopardy may exist. And the beat goes on, the beat goes on.

As no surprise, Trump called the pardon of Hunter "a miscarriage of justice."  Who did Trump pardon in his first term?  His national security advisor Michael Flynn, his campaign manager Paul Manafort, his campaign CEO Steve Bannon, his cloak-and-dagger, dirty tricks friend and operative Roger Stone, his campaign adviser George Papadopoulos, his daughter's father-in-law Charles Kushner,  and many others.  He has also promised to pardon,, "on my first day in office," the January 6th insurgents he calls "patriots" and "hostages."  

Why did Father Joe so unequivocally deny during his reelection campaign that he would pardon Hinter?  Because in electoral politics, "winning isn't everything; it's the only thing."  I have never understood that quote, usually attributed to Vince Lombardi, but for politicians, winning is both everything and the only thing.  If you don't win the race and get into office, you can't accomplish anything and your opponent can.  'The strong do what they will; the weak suffer what they must.'  Biden recognized that admitting that he would grant a presidential pardon to his criminal son would hurt his chance of returning to office, so he lied.  He was a big 'law and order', 'rule of law,' independence of the Justice Department,; and 'no one is above the law' guy, and pardoning Hunter called all of that into question.  We have to remember that Joe has a long history of lying when it suits his purposes.  I've written about that before in this journal, probably more than once.  

Do I blame Joe for pardoning Hunter?  No.  I can't expect him to leave his son prey to Trump and the likes of Jim Jordan, Mike Johnson, Jim Comer, Ted Cruz, and Josh Hawley.  I can't expect him to able to tolerate Hunter in prison while he and Jill live in comfort in Dover and Rehoboth Beach.  I can't expect him to live with the guilt he would feel, thinking every day how his own choices in life may have affected Hunter's.