Joe Bauer

Wow! Heady stuff. Much to read and much to study to ask worthy questions. Too much for me I'm afraid. Still, with apologies, I can't help asking just one or two possibly naive ones because I feel the subject matter is so important in my mind. Are you willing to "unequivocally" state that Robert Caro "did or did not" leave enough criminally corrupt actions on the part of LBJ out of his huge LBJ bio series to a degree that warrants a debate about the integrity of Caro's LBJ work as the best bio "end-all" in giving us the "full truth" about LBJ above all others? Many here and elsewhere claim Caro purposely avoided going into areas of reported LBJ activities that would open up "any" possibility of foreknowledge and/or involvement on LBJ's part regards the JFKA. How does Caro cover the Mac Wallace "murder with malice" jury conviction trial and LBJ's getting Wallace off completely free of any time served for that conviction? That LBJ action alone is one of the most corrupt doings by a high level U.S. political figure I have ever read about. It's implications are so ominously telling it just adds to the alternate LBJ bio story proposition that LBJ was way more corrupt than Caro states. Did LBJ ever okay or even order the murders of individuals that were of great threat to him personally and/or politically? Henry Marshall for one. With LBJ's greatest debt owing protege Mac Wallace ( already a convicted murderer ) being a seriously considered suspect in that murder. Some of these most famous all powerful editors like Gottleib sound like old Hollywood movie studio heads who were so powerful they could make or break anyone in their industry beneath them. Sorry, but I always have a natural aversion to over-idolizing people with that kind of power. Again, apologies for my naive question distraction post here from the fascinating story of Moses, etc.

True.

The balance between having modern day intelligence agencies with massive dark budget monies funding them and keeping them under control as far as constitutional law adhering is probably one of the top three challenges of our federal government and has been since Truman and Ike times. How this balance is maintained is beyond me. Has this balance been compromised in the most major ways in favor of these agencies versus our democratic 3 branch government power and control? Obviously yes. Otherwise why have the Church committee? Why have Eisenhower's MIC warning speech? Why have JFK firing the heads of the CIA back in the early 1960's...etc, etc. It's a very serious problem for us all and the integrity of our constitutional democracy foundation.

JFK never grabbed any woman by the Pu$$y without asking them before hand if it was okay. Trump is a sexually crude man versus JFK in the female respecting behavior department. For all the gold-plated veneer material accoutrements Trump has always surrounded himself with, thinking it enhanced his public image, he pathetically never understood that this over-stated garishness actually ( in it's stark contrast incongruity ) enhances the fact of his low life crudeness.

And with 1,000 X more damage to our entire society versus anything Capone did.

Agreed.

In the area of never being indicted, convicted and jailed for obvious crimes a valid comparison, imo. The man is a serial offender of mostly financial and tax and business fraud crimes but also a known offender in the area of unwanted or inappropriate to overly aggressive sexual behavior toward women. A great personal behavior toward women part of Trump's legacy will always be noticeably defined by such well known public record comments like "I like to grab em by the Pu$$y, and they let you do it..." as well as..."she's not my type" in response to a rape charge, and " I never had sex with those two women or paid them any monies" referring to porn star Stormy Daniels and Stephanie Cliffords ( a proven false statement ) and who in the least was also friends with child sex traffickers Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell, etc. All in all...a bad character.

All of America is still exhausted and still trying to get through the PTSD of the greatest society scaring and stressing event in our last 50 years ( Covid ) with it's accompanying massive social and economic upheaval combined with record inflation, nation diving political turmoil, extreme weather patterns...you name it... And this Neanderthal looking Trump cult warrior woman's main priority message of congressional duty agenda is ..."revenge!" ??? Average Americans need help in so many areas. Yet, all this Trump henchwoman Capo can talk about is "pay back" toward the Democrats?

× 'Huge Cover-Up': GOP Lawmaker Says Feds Must 'Release Everything' On UFOs Rep. Tim Burchett said "America is ready" for the truth about UFOs. By Ed Mazza Jan 16, 2023, 03:55 AM EST|Updated 4 hours ago A Republican lawmaker is accusing the government of a cover-up on UFOs, days after a declassified report revealed hundreds of new encounters with what the military now prefers to call unidentified aerial phenomenon. “This thing is a huge cover-up, for whatever reason,” Rep. Tim Burchett (R-Tenn.) told NewsNation over the weekend. “And I just feel like America is ready, we need to know, and to stop with all the shenanigans.” ADVERTISEMENT Burchett, who also said there’s a reference to a UFO in the Bible, said recent UFO footage shows the objects making the kinds of maneuvers that no human could withstand. “If you were human and make the turns that have been seen in some of this footage, you would literally turn into a ketchup package,” he said. “I mean, you would be gone.” He noted that clips of UFOs, such as the famous “Tic Tac” footage, shows no vapor trails typical of aircraft. Some have speculated that the seemingly impossible-for-human moves and lack of vapor trails are signs the objects are drones or balloons ― potentially of foreign origin, at least in some cases ― rather than crewed vehicles or extraterrestrial visitors.

Scary stuff.

Agreed.

Supposed to have full on sun for the next 6 to 7 days after today's rain. Yippiee - Ki- Yay! Yippie-Ki-Yay! The homeless aren't loving it. And people who have huge trees on their properties within striking distance of their homes if they fall. Alaskans have this no sun, grey, wet and cold mud crud 6 to 7 months a year? No wonder that state has the highest per capita depression and suicide rates.

In the secret agency world, lying to everyone including the American public, presidents, etc. is often justified by being deemed as "patriotic." E. Howard Hunt was always referring to himself as extremely patriotic. G. Gordon Liddy, et al. If I lied under oath ( or did illegal acts ) ...it was for patriotic reasons. That seemed to be their shared criminal action convictions defense when interviewed by William F. Buckley on his "Firing Line" TV show. I guess this mind set centers around their indoctrinated belief that they know more what's good for us to know than the vast majority of their fellow Americans? JFK gave a speech warning about major secrets carried too far and the danger to an open society with the potential for abuse by those who hold and control them, if they are left to regulate themselves alone and outside constitutional democracy checks and balances. I am sure however, that if I was driven to a secret facility and told the whole truth about even a few of our most major secrets that even I might freak out over some of them myself. It's a gut wrenching conundrum. Our constitutional democracy integrity and authority threatened in the balance.

Rain rain go away! Come again some other day! Enough already! One month + of rain here on the Central California coast! Still raining as I type! Grey, cold, wet, YUK! People here are used to "some" California sun, even in the heart of Winter. Mushrooms are growing in clogged roof gutters and on top of dirty cars here!

BUMP!!!

Agree.

Hope they hook up. Actually they do make a strikingly attractive couple.

RIGHT ON!

People like Alan Dulles and James Angleton were more qualified ( mentally, emotionally, morally, honest integrity, national security protecting and constitutional democracy-common good protecting and respecting ) to know, hold and control our deepest secrets over Ike and JFK? Eisenhower was going to send troops to area 51 because of his intelligence agencies refusing to inform him of what was really going on there. Isn't it obvious, that our entire constitutional democracy federal government framework is a sham if the truth is there is another part of our government ( with competing power with massive dark funding and self-determined oversight only for decades) that doesn't have to adhere to it's 3 branch checks and balances? And include our 4th estate as well. Such a scenario if unchecked could very well end our Constitutional democracy experiment. As Dwight Eisenhower warned in his MIC speech upon leaving office, this vast expansion of competing non-constitutional abiding influence and power was a new and serious threat to the American Democratic foundation experience. I think Eisenhower would feel his warning fears have become worse now than he ever imagined they would since his speech upon leaving office 63 years ago. Yes, whackos like Trump can't handle our deepest truths. But, most of our congress members are emotionally stable, intelligent and Constitution and common American good respecting enough to handle these secrets, imo anyways. I believe these new secrets we now possess are of such life changing magnitude ( economic, political, religious, social, military, reality of existence, etc. ) that the holders of them aren't sure what to do with them at times. Yet, other times they are kept from revealing for corrupt elite favoring reasons as well. God help us all with finding some type of fair minded, common good balance in this new American government imbalance of secret agency entities competing for power and control with our more open and transparent ones.

Just read your essay BC. Pondering the consideration of a possible ominous reality question that as far back as JFK ( maybe even Eisenhower ) that our intelligence agencies answer to no one, not even presidents? Who has the ultimate governmental power in our society if that is the case? Is the idea that we have a constitutional democracy government as we were taught in high school civics class a delusion? As well as the idea that JFK was the most powerful person in our nation and government when he was killed? Scary, sad stuff to ponder.

I've been forwarding your Santos pic Kirk. To huge laughter.

HA HA HA HA HA HA HA !!! MADE MY DAY! AND MANY THOUGHT HERSHEY WALKER'S 2 FAKE POLICE BADGES WERE A JOKE!

I don't think it was Richard Helms. It sounds like John Ehrlichman. Or maybe H. R. Haldeman? These two were Nixon's top aides. I know one was sent by Nixon to see Helms and feel out what might be done to take some heat off the investigation of Nixon over Watergate. When Haldeman repeated Nixon's "Bay Of Pigs" semi-threat comment to Helms, he ( Helms ) reportedly went ballistic on Haldeman? No president will ever tell the CIA what to do or not to do. Nixon got the message. He knew his place in the real world of power in our government, and it wasn't in his office. Alexander Haig was waiting in the wings through all this.

Mind blowing! Where did you find this? Have to cut it short with only 10 minutes of listening. Will get back to it. Is this John Ehrlichman talking to Nixon? He states E. Howard Hunt "knows where all the bodies are buried." ? Hunt knew so much. If only Hunt could have ever revealed "everything" he knew and was a part of. It would boggle our minds and change our history. All we ever got from Hunt was the tip of the iceberg I am sure.