Mark Knight

Was O'Neal ever paid for the casket? I recall reading somewhere that he was not. Just can't remember where I read that. If he was paid, did the Kennedy family pay him, or did the US government?

You are succeeding at making people feel like you're trying to take over. [Methinks what you meant was the opposite, but that's not what you said.] But that's simply my personal perception.

Logical Fallacies: Appeal to Authority (thoughtco.com)

Because an economics professor is privy to [possibly nonexistent] secret CIA decisions.

Just repeating the link to Executive Order 12968, which spells out who shall have access to classified documents as a government employee, and the duration of that access. https://irp.fas.org/offdocs/eo12968.htm

They have it right. The court should be nonpartisan, and today it is not.

That should be understood but specifying it in the legislation would make it unquestionable. I'm still questioning why, after unanimously voting against appropriations for hurricane relief [with the exception of Senator Marco Rubio, who failed to attend the vote], Florida's congressional delegation is pressing for even more federal aid. Do they simply want to vote against federal funds again? I don't see their point. Apparently, they WANT the money from the federal government. But they want to be seen as voting against spending federal funds to do it. That's the only answer that I can see, and even that doesn't make sense.

Sandy, I believe another "tell" about this man is that his rebuttal posts bring up unrelated topics, as if to change the path of the discussion. Donald J. Trump's presence on or absence from Twitter is inconsequential, IMHO, because Trump still has avenues to make his views, however absurd, public. The M$M that Koch and Ben demonize still hang on Trump's every word. They sprint to be the first to publicize his every word posted to his Truth Social medium. And yet Mr. Koch still claims that Trump's bloviations have been "Cancelled" in the media. Such claims are a deviation from what is actually occurring. Where I was raised, an untruth is still an untruth.

Sandy. you have him dead to rights. His refusal to say that Donald J. Trump is no longer the President of the United States is quite telling. His inference that, since most of us object to Trump's continued possession of classified documents means that we are against declassification of SOME records is also a falsehood...or an "alternative fact," as Trump's press secretary Kelly Ann Conway referred to blatant untruths. His refusal to post links to written sources indicates that he either doesn't, or can't, read. His lack of reading comprehension indicated by his responses to my posts leads me toward the latter conclusion, but I can't rule out the former. Perhaps he also doesn't read the posts here, responding instead what he assumes your responses are. And not falling hook, line, and sinker for the pitches of a conman apparently is diagnosed as [name of conman] Derangement Syndrome. If that's truly the case, I apparently suffer from Bill Clinton Derangement Syndrome, Hillary Clinton Derangement Syndrome, Mike Lindell Derangement Syndrome, Sidney Powell Derangement Syndrome, Rudy Giuliani Derangement Syndrome, Joseph McCarthy Derangement Syndrome, Nancy Pelosi Derangement Syndrome, Chuck Schumer Derangement Syndrome, and who knows how many other similar maladies. [I'd really like to know what university granted his degree in psychology. I'd wager it only exists in his own mind.] Or it truly might be that, in his mind, Donald J. Trump is still president of the United States, has never told a lie, and is incapable of ever doing wrong. That would equate to the Trump Messiah Syndrome, or TMS, that I previously mentioned. I believe that is the most likely conclusion to draw from his posts.

Charles and David Koch were and are involved in financing the dismantling of public schools and the destruction of our democracy one piece at a time. So I do see similarities in the claims you make. Saying your statements reminded me of the actions of the two midwestern men with the same last name has no connection to Ed Koch being Jewish. I think I have been extremely clear about the reference I made noting the similarity between the ideas of Matthew Koch and Charles and David Koch. If you still insist I'm referring to Ed Koch and his religion, I can only question your level of reading comprehension. I posted a link to the Executive Order which spells out how security clearances work within the United States government. Your inability, or your unwillingness, to understand how security clearances work after being provided the link makes me wonder whether I'm dealing with someone with a learning disability or someone guilty of willful blindness. I suggest it is the latter. If it is the former, let me know and I will apologize and rephrase the entire EO in easier-to-comprehend terms. Most of all, your denial is showing. You still cannot bring yourself to say that Donald J. Trump is no longer President of the United States of America. Donald J. Trump left office at noon on January 20, 2021. A new president not named Donald J. Trump was sworn into office at that time. There is only one President of the United States of America at a time. And as of noon on January 20, 2021, that man was not, and is not, Donald J. Trump. Until you can admit that there is no point in engaging you further.

They say "deceptively." I say she lies. Democrats aren't killing Republicans. That's simply projection. The ONLY threats of violence I have seen anywhere have to do with MAGA supporters threatening to take up arms against those who are not MAGA supporters.

If you actually believe that anyone is making the 2022 election about Trump, I think you may be suffering from Trump Messiah Syndrome [TMS]. This election is about so much more. FOX News and OAN apparently can only focus on the alleged "persecution" of Trump. [I would suppose you also think of John Gotti, Al Capone, and Julius and Ethel Rosenberg as having been "persecuted." I suppose Ted Bundy was also "persecuted." And Timothy McVeigh was "persecuted," using your scale. So was Jeffrey Dahmer.] If you have access to a dictionary, please seek out the difference in the definitions of "persecute" and "prosecute." Not all files should be declassified. Documents divulging America's nuclear weapons capabilities should never be declassified, because of national security concerns. To spell that out for you, if America's nuclear secrets were to fall into the hands of a hostile regime [think China, Russia, Iran, and not one American political party or the other], the USA may soon thereafter cease to exist as a soverign nation. And I see that, once again, you have failed to note that Donald J. Trump is no longer the President of the United States. A simple statement as to whether you believe that Donald J. Trump is or is not the current President of the United States would end this part of the questions I have for you. Yet to this point, you keep avoiding answering that question. And the fact that I seek your answer seems to provoke your unprofessional diagnosis of TDS. So until you can address this, I can only assume you're suffering from TMS [see first graf in this post in case you've forgotten to what I am referring.]

There is nothing relating to being Jewish in my comments. You really should read up on the political leanings and the causes funded by Charles and his brother, the late David Koch. If you don't know who they are/were and what they stand/stood for, that's not my fault. Your ignorance on the topic isn't on me. The information is readily available on the internet. For you to impute bias on my part based upon someone's religion is repugnant, and you really should apologize. I have no idea what their religion is, and I couldn't care less. Nor do I care what your religion is. At all. Again, you keep dodging the admission that Trump is no longer the President. I find that quite telling. Can you bring yourself to admit that the oath of office was administered to someone other than Donald Trump on January 20, 2021? Millions witnessed that occurrence. Security clearances have ONE thing in common: once you are no longer employed by the government, you no longer have a job-related "need to know." At that point, you no longer have that security clearance. That applies to Jimmie Carter, Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, Barack Obama, and now Donald J. Trump. You keep slinging that TDS "diagnosis" around, when you actually apply it to anyone who states that no one is above the law...including Donald J. Trump, the FORMER President of the United States.

Security clearances are subject to the provisions of Executive Order 12968. You really should read it and familiarize yourself with its provisions. At no point is anyone granted a lifetime security clearance. Once there is no longer a job-related "need-to-know" secure or classified information, i.e., termination of employment, the security clearance becomes void. Access To Classified Information (fas.org) And I used caps to emphasize the information of which you either unaware or that you choose to ignore. If you've ever been to church, the upper-case words are what the priest/preacher/minister would be trying to show as the most important ones. Sorry you missed the mention of Charles and the late David Koch in my previous post. You should reread that post. It's actually in there.

You apparently don't understand that Trump is NO LONGER PRESIDENT. That office ceased to be his as of 12 noon on January 20, 2021. I stated that in my original post, so you are ignoring facts inconvenient to your beliefs. As far as Hillary Clinton goes... I don't like that [term for a female dog] any more than I like Trump, so your false equivalence cuts no ice with me. As Secretary of State from 2009-2013, she must have had a security clearance to view sensitive emails. AFTER 2009, if she was accessing sensitive emails, they her butt needs to be charged and she needs to be arrested. I worked at the US Census Bureau from 2015 until I retired in October 2021. WHILE I WAS EMPLOYED, I was authorized to see documents about which I was sworn to secrecy for a lifetime under Title 13 and Title 26 USC. Since I retired, I no longer can access such documents because I NO LONGER HAVE A JOB-RELATED NEED-TO-KNOW. As an EX-President, the same applies to Trump: HE NO LONGER HAS A JOB-RELATED NEED-TO-KNOW. And the confidential data I did see as part of my job I not only have taken a lifetime secrecy oath but violating that oath and revealing that data to anyone else, even if it is declared no longer secret, would subject me to hefty fines and imprisonment...PER OCCURRENCE. THAT is why I take this matter of Trump possessing these documents so seriously. If it was anyone else who is no longer employed by the federal government, they would already have been charged and arrested. And the last-name reference is to Charles and the late David. Which would be obvious to nearly anyone else. So Trump's security clearance left with his need-to-know as President. That's why Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, and Barack Obama aren't still holding classified documents. They no longer have a job-related need-to-know. AND NEITHER DOES TRUMP. A new President was sworn in on January 20, 2021. TRUMP IS NO LONGER THE PRESIDENT. That's simply a statement of facts. It appears that those are facts that you refuse to accept. A security clearance isn't like a smallpox vaccination that immunizes you for life. Far from it.

In my estimation, Trump is guilty of being caught with government documents, a/k/a government property, in his hands [on his property, not on his person] that belong to the National Archives. The proof is the fact that the FBI found those pieces of government property while executing a legal search warrant. After 12:00 noon on January 20, 2021, Trump was no longer a government employee with a security clearance. At that moment, he became another John Q. Public, albeit with Secret Service protection 24/7. WHY did the FBI execute that search warrant? Because although Trump's lawyer(s) certified to the National Archives that all the missing documents had been returned, there were enough missing to create PROBABLE CAUSE to believe that the lawyer(s) was/were not being honest, and that those documents remained at Mar-a-Lago. The recovery of those documents is prima facie evidence that the documents were not returned to the National Archives, and that they remained in Trump's possession. The fact that many of those documents were marked CLASSIFIED raises the question of who may have seen them who were not issued a security clearance, potentially placing the national security of America in jeopardy. This is so simple to understand, I don't know why anyone would doubt that there was a legitimate case of unauthorized handling of confidential government documents, possibly bordering on espionage due to Trump's avowed close personal relationships with the likes of Vladimir Putin, Kim Jung Un, Mohammed bin Saalman, and other heads of hostile nations. [In the case of MBS, let me remind you that 17 of the 19 9/11 hijackers were Saudi citizens. So his "friendship" with the US is suspect, even more so since the murder of Khashoggi.] So, in a nutshell, Trump should be charged, arrested, and tried. The Us government didn't wait around like this in the case of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg. It's as if "equal justice under law" is no more than a theory, and that if you're either rich or politically well connected, breaking the law has no consequences. And yet Matthew calls that "Trump Derangement Syndrome," as if his hero is incapable of doing any wrong. Maybe in Matthew's eyes, Trump truly IS the Son of God, as that book currently available on Amazon suggests. In my eyes, he's simply like every other man, and should be held accountable as you or I would be if confidential and classified government documents were found in OUR homes.

I think Matthew's last name tells us where his loyalties lie. Whether he's related to them or not.

Once again, well stated!

DVP also fails to note that Spector's "reenactment" of the SBT with the wooden dowel and the chalk marks was made in the "Queen Mary," the '56 Cadillac in which the SS was riding on 11/22, rather than SS-100, in which JFK and Connally were riding. Of course, the measurements of the interiors of the two cars were not identical, as Spector 'reenactment" implies. What lines up "perfectly" in the Caddy won't necessarily line up as well in the Lincoln. But that apparently doesn't matter, because Spector said it didn't matter.

Well said.

Ben seems to have a burr under his saddle that causes him to blame Biden for every negative event in the world. Almost as if he's had a "religious" experience and thinks Biden's true identity is Lucifer, Satan, Beelzebub, or whatever you wish to call him. Russian invasion of Ukraine? Biden caused it, because he was seen as weak. Putin threatening to use nukes in Ukraine? Biden caused it by strengthening Ukraine's military. Putin, it would appear, can do no wrong in Ben's world. All Putin has to do is point at Biden and say, as a 5-year-old would, "HE MADE ME DO THIS!", and Putin's off the hook for his action and Biden's the villain. Every damn time. Even if it's PROVEN that Russia disrupted the gas lines to try to hold Europe hostage, I'm sure it'll be Biden's fault in Ben's little world. But Trump... innocent until proven guilty in a court of law and all his appeals are exhausted. Two different standards. And I'm not even a big Biden fan, but I know a double standard when I see one.

Another one of Ben's "unarmed" tourists. He "only" had a stun gun/taser. Kyle Young sentenced for Jan. 6 attack on D.C. officer Michael Fanone - The Washington Post

I'm surprised, but even #MoscowMitchMcConnell is in favor of the clarification of the electoral vote tally certification law. https://www.rawstory.com/mcconnell-electoral-reform/

As Ben posts more allegations about Biden being financed by China: Trump loyalists block probe into 'serious' allegations about Chinese campaign contributions - Raw Story - Celebrating 18 Years of Independent Journalism The Federal Election Commission SHOULD investigate this. If it exonerates Trump, fine. But if it incriminates trump, the public should know.