Adrift...

 "Meaning of 'Respect and Protection' of the wounded, sick and shipwrecked. The wounded, sick and shipwrecked must be respected and protected at all times. This means that they should not be knowingly attacked, fired upon or necessarily interfered with."

            – Department of Defense Law of War Manuel, section 7.3.3 Shipwrecked, P. 451

 

On Sept. 2 of this year, the Department of Defense, under Secretary Pete Hegseth, began its campaign of attacking and destroying alleged drug-running speedboats from Venezuela in the Caribbean Sea and Pacific Ocean. These attacks have been done without due process and without the approval of Congress. Mostly, they appear to be deadly operations conducted by a rogue Department of Defense.

The very first in the series of drone attacks – there have been 22 so far, resulting in 88 deaths – took nearly everyone by surprise because after the boat was destroyed, two survivors were seen to be clinging to the wreckage of the hull. They were in the water for perhaps up to an hour as the DoD tried to figure out what to do next because, well, they didn't plan for this. The survivors were seen waving their arms, probably in distress, perhaps to catch the attention of aircraft seen overhead.

What to do next should be explained in the DoD's own Law of War manual, which states that shipwrecked persons cannot be knowingly attacked or fired upon. Section 7.3.3 of the manual draws much of its language from the Geneva Convention of 1949 regarding humanitarian rules and international standards, which says the sick and wounded are to be retrieved and given care. Not blown up.

Instead, the DoD responded with a second attack, this one incinerating the two survivors.

I don't know if the DoD's manual carries the weight of law or if it's just a collection of suggestions. But there is international law. There is maritime law. There is The Hague and the Court of International Justice. There is the International Criminal Court. 

This entire violent operation puts our country in a difficult position. The Trump administration insists we are in a war with narco-terrorists and the attacks are therefore justified if we are to stop the flow of drugs crossing our borders.

But only Congress – not the president – has the Constitutional power to declare war on a sovereign nation. So here we are: we are either a nation at war committing war crimes (as suggested by the DoD's own manual regarding shipwrecked survivors not to be fired upon), or we are a nation committing murder on the high seas. Take your choice.

After last week's congressional hearings into the matter (where video of the second "double tap"strike was seen) the supposedly bi-partisan meeting predictably retreated to party lines. Arkansas Republican Senator and former veteran Tom Cotton absurdly claimed the video he saw showed the survivors trying to flip the bow half of their overturned motorless boat in order to continue their mission, adding that the attack was "righteous." Republican Kentucky Senator Rand Paul, by contrast, said the attack was an "extrajudicial killing."

Virginia Democrat Senator Mark Warner asked "Are they drug boats, are there narco traffickers on those boats?. If there are, why don't you interdict them and show the world rather than simply blowing them up – to make sure that sailors are not doing something that's inappropriate?"

Warner makes valid points. Usually, it's the Coast Guard that intercepts and boards alleged drug boats, bringing with them due process. That's their job description. That way there's little question whether the crew of the targeted speedboats are running drugs. That's how you show us the evidence. 

In addition, if the crew are found to be running drugs, you then have actual living prisoners – not cadavers – to interrogate for more information about the cartels. Why has the Coast Guard's mission seemingly been abandoned in favor of lethal assaults – which might include illegal orders, thus putting our servicemen in legal jeopardy? This is exactly what the six Democratic congressmen were talking about a few weeks ago when they cited the Uniform Code of Military Justice that a serviceman has a duty to disobey an illegal order.

Interestingly, the Coast Guard has noted that in at least  25 percent of their boardings of suspected boats, no drugs were found. Extrapolate that statistic to the government's war on suspected narco terrorists, then you could possibly presume that 22 of the 88 dead were ... simply murdered without cause.

We are treading strange and murky waters with a dangerous undertoe here. Do these assaults make our country look strong or out of control? Are we an humanitarian nation, or are we a ruthless oligarchy without a moral compass?

Are we a nation that believes in the rule of law?

Or are we not? 

 

 

 

      

Turkey daze

Over the past 10 years or so – and possibly even longer than that – Kim and I created and continued a cozy little tradition where we go out to eat a Thanksgiving meal at a local restaurant on the eve of the big day.

The logic behind this is that I can squeeze in two turkey meals on consecutive days. 

Welcome to Bill's

 Usually, it comes down to Southern Lunch, Village Grill or Stamey's in Tyro. They're not bad places to go and they each offer a good meal in comfort-food style. Family style. 

Then, on Thanksgiving Day, we have a sumptuous meal at our next door neighbors, the Wests. The Wests have given us a standing invitation to eat with them every Thanksgiving since they moved into their home about five years ago. They know that Kim and I don't have immediate family nearby and their offer always brings a lump to my throat. Without fail.

Kim usually brings her dressing – which has become a West request the past few years – and perhaps a sweet potato casserole, or mashed potatoes or a dessert of some kind. I bring my sparkling wit and personality.

I've looked forward to this meal every year, but this time things were going to be a little different. The Wests had plans to be out of town with relatives on Thanksgiving Day, so the idea was for us to get together the day after. You know, for just a small meal shared by friends. Nothing fancy.

That meant Kim and I had to fend for ourselves for a couple of days. So this year, we drew up a new battle plan.

On Sunday, we were going to have the Old 64 Diner's meal in Southmont. We never had theirs before, so we thought we'd give it a try. Kim, in her infinite wisdom, suggested that I call first, and that turned out to be a brilliant idea because Old 64 had already sold out by 4 p.m. They did have some vegetables left, though.

The Wests' dinner table.

Scratch Sunday. I believe we ended up at McDonald's, which shows you that one thing is for certain: Kim and I know how to think fast on the fly.

On Monday, we decided to go to Village Grill and to make it a to-go order. But when Kim called, they, too, were out. What's going on here? A run on turkeys?

Scratch Monday. I think Kim whipped up some German potatoes from Aldi and I was thinking grilled cheese. But we were 0-for-2 for Thanksgiving.

Then Tuesday came and we finally struck paydirt. We went to Southern Lunch. The place was bursting at the seams when we arrived, but we found seats in the back room and settled in for some turkey and dressing. Yay.

On Wednesday, we went to Stamey's, a popular barbecue restaurant that usually doesn't sell turkey meals, but they always seem to do a decent job for this holiday offering. We were now 2-for-4.

Thursday, we knew, would be our toughest assignment. First off, I could see Kim was about as hungry for another turkey meal as she was for a plate of snails. And secondly, who would be open on Thanksgiving Day anyway?

Then Kim suggested, how about Bill's Truck Stop, just off I-85 in Linwood?

Yep. Good ol' Bills, open 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. No problem.

We'd last eaten there maybe 30 years ago just on a whim and remembered that the food was actually pretty good. But, still. Kim did a little research and discovered they had an alarmingly low 80 inspection rating. Uh-oh. But that rating turned out to be ancient history. She checked again on an updated site Thursday morning and saw that the restaurant, now under new management, had just been inspected and earned a 97.0 rating.

So we went. If you don't mind eating in an ambiance of windshield wipers, air filters, Peterbilt lumbar support seat covers and window cleaners, you're in for a surprise. The turkey – real turkey, not processed – was tender. The mac and cheese was tasty, the cream potatoes were excellent. I bought a slice of pumpkin pie to take home. I was stuffed.

I've decided we're going to put Bill's in our restaurant rotation because it's so difficult to find a place that's open on Sunday in Davidson County. But Bill's is. We're there. All I need now is a truck.

On Friday, things got back to normal at the Wests. Kim and I brought over the dressing and a side of scalloped potatoes, while Stacy went nuts, like she usually does, with cranberry salad, spring garden salad, sweet potatoes, green beans, cauliflower and broccoli. Billy Ray not only fixed a melt-in-your mouth turkey, but a glazed ham as well. There were three pumpkin desserts from which to choose. So much for nothing fancy.

But it was the absolute best meal of the week, flavored with camaraderie and warmed with affection and love. It was a true cornucopia of Thanksgiving.

We should all be so fortunate.

 

 

Pete Jones

Back in 1993, when North Davidson's Pete Jones announced that he was retiring as the Black Knights basketball coach after 31 memorable years, I ran out to the high school in Welcome to interview him for the story.

Pete Jones conducts a practice.

I was the newly-minted sports editor for The Dispatch at the time and I wasn't quite sure how I felt about this moment. Sad, I think. I'd already been covering Pete for 17 of those 31 years by that point. He was unarguably a living, breathing icon within the community and that kind of respect doesn't happen often.

So I tried this approach when we started the interview – maybe more for me than for him.

"I told my wife you're retiring," I said to Pete. "She said, 'You mean I won't get to see him jumping up and down on the sidelines anymore?'"

Pete smiled and chuckled. "You mean that's how I'm going to be remembered?"

To be sure, he could be animated on the sidelines, running up and down the coach's box, gesturing, pleading, working the refs for a favorable call.

We call that good coaching. 

Jones peacefully passed away at his home Wednesday, taking an era with him. He was 92. 

Indeed, the numbers speak for themselves. In his 31 years as basketball coach, he posted a 491-282 record (Don't we wish he would have stayed around a little longer for that oh-so-close 500th victory?). His teams won nine conference championships (spread over three different conferences) as well as seven conference tournament titles and eight Christmas tournament championships.

North won the old Western North Carolina High School Athletic Association championship in 1974-75 with a 25-4 record. His best season came in 1980-81, when the team went 27-3, but lost in the regionals.  

He also coached North's baseball team from 1962 to 1979, producing a 226-88 record and two state titles in 1966 and 1967.

In 2003, he was inducted into the Davidson County Sports Hall of Fame. 

Those are the numbers, but what the numbers don't show is the measure of the man.

If you knew Pete at all, even just casually, you knew he almost always had a smile and a handshake waiting for you. He might even offer you one of those omnipresent Lance crackers that always seemed to be within his reach. I think he had a hidden stash somewhere.

Pete was as even-keeled as any coach I ever knew. He was kind and generous of his time in post-game interviews, which was reflective of his easy-going personality. I never felt uncomfortable in his company, even after a hard loss.

The thing to remember here is that Pete was not only a coach, but a teacher who set and lived by example. Generations of North Davidson student/athletes benefited from his presence.

When North built its current gymnasium in 1997, there was little doubt it would be named The Pete Jones Gymnasium. More recently, the court was baptized "The Pete." That should tell you something about the man's legacy.

An abiding spirit. A class act. A treasure.

 

 

 

 

Here we go again

I wonder every time Trump, the adjudicated rapist and convicted felon who somehow is this country's president, ever really considers what he is saying when he flies into one of his child-like temper tantrums.

Usually, these tantrums are reactions to somebody or something who/that defies or disagrees with his own vision of how to run the country. An authoritarian, in other words. A fascist.

The latest episode (unless something happened last night that I don't know about) occurred after six Democrat Congressmen released a video on Tuesday reminding military and intelligence officers that they have a duty to refuse illegal orders.

Trump, not understanding the Constitution, which he clearly has never read, almost instantly flew into one of his patented rages, declaring that the six Congressmen (Senators Elissa Slotkin and Mark Kelly and Representatives Chris Deluzio, Maggie Goodlander, Chrissy Houlahan and Jason Crow) "should be ARRESTED AND PUT ON TRIAL." (The caps are Trump's because he thinks he's shouting and we can hear him better).

The nonsense continued hours later with Trump, showing his illiteracy, claiming "It's called SEDITIOUS BEHAVIOR AT THE HIGHEST LEVEL.

And then, perhaps most grievously, he posted "SEDITIOUS BEHAVIOR, punishable by DEATH!"

Here was Trump calling for the execution of his political foes, who just happen to be duly elected members of the United States Congress. 

And he couldn't be more wrong.

First off, the Congressmen were reminding service members of their duty to not follow illegal orders. Make sure the word "illegal" sticks in your mind because Republican response have conveniently ignored that word to make it sound like the Congressmen are urging servicemen to ignore orders, which clearly they are not.

Secondly, what the Congressmen are doing is basically reading the Constitution. They are explaining the Uniform Code of Military Justice, primarily Article 90 and Article 92. Both articles establish that military personnel obey lawful orders. According to Article 92, an order is unlawful if it violates the Constitution. An exception to Article 90 says a service member is not required to obey an order that violates the law. In fact, they are obligated not to follow an illegal order.

That would have been nice at My Lai. Or Abu Ghraib. Look them up.

Thirdly, what the Congressmen did was not sedition. And sedition is not a capital offense. The only capital offense stated in the Constitution is for being convicted as a traitor, not for reading what is written in the Constitution.

When is a military order illegal? Courts have held that an order's unlawfulness must be clear and obvious. Examples include:

• Orders to target civilians (My Lai).

• Orders to falsify documents.

• Orders to commit crimes such as theft or assault.

• Torturing or abusing detainees  (Abu Ghraib).

• Engaging in unauthorized domestic law enforcement actions, such as using military force to suppress lawful protest of First Amendment Rights or the Posse Comitatus Act, which restricts the use of military forces in domestic law enforcement.

In other words, pretty much common sense. But if a service member has doubt if an order is illegal or not, he still has the judge advocate general (JAG) to consult.

JAG officers (lawyers) are embedded with most troops. 

Even at this moment, there is discussion as to whether Trump's drone attacks on alleged drug boats – which so far have resulted in 82 deaths – are legal. The senior JAG officer at U.S. Southern Command, is concerned the deaths are extrajudicial killings. But guess what? Officials at the Office of Legal Counsel in the Justice Department, as well as other senior government officials, have overruled JAG. Then what's the point of even having a JAG? This administration has already devastated the inspectors general corps, a critical guard rail for a democracy.

So now the question arises: just who is in violation of the law? We've seen the National Guard and Marines sent to major cities to quell presumed violence. We've seen speed boats blown out of international waters without the benefit of due process. We've seen people – citizens – rounded up and deported for no other reason than having brown skin.

Trump, by definition, is the country's Commander-in-Chief. He might want to consider the legality of the tantrums he's suggesting.

Like calling for the execution of your political opponents. 

 

 

 

What the polls say

I was always taught that even if you disagreed with the current presidential administration, you still showed at least a modicum of respect for the office.

After all, presidential elections come every four years, which is this country's built-in Constitutionally guaranteed revolution. If we didn't like a president, we could vote him out of office and try a different direction. An electoral uprising, as it were.

That was the genius of our Founding Fathers. We could change our leadership without anybody getting hurt, with the point being that you respected the office, if not the man, because if the president was successful, then the country was successful.

Donald Trump changed all of that, of course. His Make American Great Again (MAGA) philosophy of government was/is the theory (perhaps conspiracy theory) that a deep state (a hidden, camouflaged shadow government cabal that actually ran things). He was going to come in and drain the swamp. Tens of millions of voters, aggrieved (or motivated) by foggy perceptions of socialism and other assorted misinformation, voted for him.

We can measure presidential popularity – and thus a president's effectiveness –  through polling. The first known straw polls came in 1824 and they were basically regional and informal. By 1916 –  with World War I raging in Europe – the first national poll was conducted by The Literary Digest. Twenty years later, George Gallup conducted a poll using statistical survey methods, predicting that Franklin Roosevelt would win the election, which FDR did. The Literary Digest blew that one and hasn't been seen since.

And now we're here with polls for measuring everything. 

For the third time in this country's history, we have a president who is a convicted felon. The reason he hasn't been sentenced is because a friendly Supreme Court has ruled that he is immune from sentencing and thus is the only American who is above the law. Given that kind of permission, Trump has unilaterally imposed (without the consent of Congress, as instructed by the Constitution) illegal tariffs, illegal deportations of brown skinned people whose only crime is having brown skin), illegal acts of war on the high seas and alleged acts of pedophilia as suggested by the current revelations of the Epstein files so far released, where his name is said to appear at least 1,200 times. While the wealthy are receiving tax breaks, the common citizen is being buried by high prices for groceries and a stubborn inflation rate that is fueled by those illegal tariffs.

The polls are reflecting this. You can take issue with polls as much as you want, (dealing with numbers is tricky stuff) but I think they still reflect the beating heart of the nation.

So when the current polling shows Trump an approval rating of just 39 percent in CNN's Poll of Polls (an amalgamation of several independent polls), we can't help but feel the nation senses that it's on the wrong track. The Associated Press has Trump with a 36 percent approval rating. Other polls are hovering around the same numbers.

Trump is at 67 percent disapproval in his handling of the economy; 65 percent disapproval in healthcare; and 57 percent disapproval in his immigration policy. He's basically under water in every major issue.

We want a president to succeed. But we don't want incompetence in the office. We never have.

 

 

A bit of hope

I try not to get too excited about these things, because I've been disappointed enough before.

You know, like  President Trump being convicted 34 times of felony in the first degree for falsifying business records and yet not being sentenced to any jail time at all. Like being declared immune from prosecutions by the Supreme Court which apparently found in our legal system that at least one man is above the law.

But after Tuesday's off-year elections, which saw an incredible blue wave sweep across the country in repudiation of early everything the felon Trump is doing, well, I felt a little bit better.

In New Jersey, Mikie Sherrill became the first female Democrat of that state to be elected governor, winning by 13 percent over three-time loser Jack Ciattarelli. In Virginia, Democrat Abigail Spanberger was the first female to be elected governor of that state, winning by 15 percent over Winsome Earle-Sears. In Pennsylvania, three liberal state supreme court justices were given 10-year extensions to their terms to preserve swing state control. In California, voters approved a new House map to counter the Republican gerrymandering of districts in Texas. In New York, a Socialist Democrat (not a Communist. Learn the difference), Zohran Mamdani, was elected mayor. In Maine, voter ID and absentee ballot restrictions were defeated. In Georgia, Democrats flipped two seats on the state's Public Service Commission.

The sweep was a loud rebuke of anything Trump. Reasonable people are tired of ICE violations by severely untrained and unfit masked agents and illegal roundups of innocent brown people; people are tired of drones blowing up speedboats of alleged drug runners in international waters because we'll never know who they really are if due process isn't served; people are tired of the tacky gold trim in the White House; people are tired of Trump's unilateral actions without the consent of Congress, which is how fascist monarchies are run.

Tired? Just look at the polling. Trump, the felon, is under water in nearly every category.

And now we're tired of Trump's government shutdown, primarily because about 42 million Americans – many of them Trump supporters – will go hungry as funding for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program runs dry.

On Friday, Democrat Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer made an offer to the GOP, saying Democrats would agree to a one-year extension of the expiring premium tax credits that support the Affordable Care Act. Without those credits, healthcare coverage will suffer for millions of Americans as the cost of premiums will skyrocket. About 75 percent of Americans want the credits to continue.

But the GOP rejected the offer outright, which put them in the position of rejecting the reopening of the government. They own the shutdown now, as if there was ever a question of who was responsible.

And just who is responsible for this immoral chaos? Trump refuses to engage with the Democrats in ending this disaster. Meanwhile, he's in Mar-a-Lago for another golf weekend as he defies constitutional duties.

And, oh yeah, release the Epstein files. 

 

 

SNAP! Crackle! Pop!

It's unbelievable to me that the current felonious Trump administration is playing games with peoples' lives.

Trump's failure to fund SNAP, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program  (food stamps) that provides food aid for approximately 42 million Americans is illegal (according to two federal judges), insensitive, invalid and immoral (according to me), especially as the country endures Trump's government shutdown.

SNAP provides assistance through monthly rechargeable credit cards. About 1 in 8 Americans are served by SNAP in what is considered a major social safety net. It's what government does for its people when government works well.

Until now. So for the moment at least, we have hungry Americans. Hungry children. Who could have thought?

"The administration is choosing not to feed Americans in need, despite knowing that it is legally required to do so," said U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), the ranking member of the Senate Agriculture committee that oversees SNAP.

She's right. Massachusetts judge Indira Talwani ruled the US Department of Agriculture has to pay for SNAP, writing that the suspension is unlawful. She ordered the government to advise the court by tomorrow whether it will use emergency reserve funds to provide reduced SNAP benefits during the shutdown.

A family of two can qualify for up to $536 a month in food aid.

"...suspension of SNAP payments was based on the erroneous conclusion that the Contingency Funds could not be used to ensure the continuation of SNAP payments," she wrote on Friday. "This court has now clarified that Defendants are required to use those Contingency Funds as necessary for the SNAP program."

In Rhode Island, judge John McConnell ruled that SNAP must be funded using at least the contingency funds. He asked for an update on Monday as well. 

So I guess we'll learn something tomorrow about the cold, beating heart of Trump.  SNAP or not to SNAP?

Meanwhile, Trump is apparently enjoying himself, thinking he can shift the blame for the shutdown and any subsequent horrors on the Democrats.

That would be funny if it wasn't so sad. Republicans control all three branches of government. That means in order to break the 60-vote filibuster (they only have 53), they have to negotiate and compromise with Democrats. So far, nada from the GOP.

Trump wasn't even in the country last week. He was wandering aimlessly through review halls in Japan accomplishing very little except further embarrassment. And when he did return to the United States, he held a Great Gatsby-themed Halloween party for his wealthy donors at his Mar-a-Lago mansion in Florida. Talk about tone deaf.

This trip to Florida cost the American taxpayer $3.4 million, bringing the total to date to $60.7 million that taxpayers spent on the 76 golf outings (so far) in his second term.

But he can't find the funds to feed his own citizens? 

And it gets even more ridiculous. There is, of course, the $350 million destruction of the East Wing. He announced that the Lincoln bathroom in the White House has also been renovated.

And the man who so desperately wants to win a Nobel Peace Prize because, heck, President Obama did, is blowing up speedboats suspected of smuggling fentanyl, and doing it without due process or congressional approval. That makes at least 64 people who have died in these strikes. Trump is committing murder and needs to be in prison.

Not only might we be on the verge of a shooting conflict with Venezuela (Trump wants to overthrow the Nicolas Meduro regime), but also with Nigeria because he's claiming they are killing Christians.

Americans going hungry because of a cruel president. Others dying in international waters because of a heartless president. When did my country shift to some alternative reality where you can hear people joyfully claim, "That's what I voted for!"

 Where am I?