Of Me, By Me, and For Me

In the wake of what has happened here September 10th, 2025, in Orem, Utah, USA, where severe, violent extremism rose another notch, I am begging all Americans, every single one of you to please, please, please, PLEASE prove me wrong with the obvious direction this country is being led. Please prove me wrong! Speak up, do not stay silent… sadly, at the risk of your own life, like Charlie Kirk had the political right to do, whether his world-view, his political persuasion was right or wrong, fascist or American, SPEAK THA EFFIN UP and get active in your governmental process! I cannot emphasize this dire NEED enough, never.

Therefore, let me show all of you Americans the very poor state, the decaying cancer that has become the United States of America due to the apathy and non-participating American public standing up with their citizens of power to the unscrupulous authority, corrupt government, and persuasive mega-wealthy Dark Money into a Constitutional revamp that has been bringing down this republic democracy in which our 18th-century Founding Fathers fought so hard with their own blood, toil, tears, and sons.

Also, on a sidenote I do not mind one bit the length at which I examine and write about this subject of the decaying, cancerous condition and health of American democracy today and of the severe apathy and willful ignorance of American voters/citizens. Thus, if this blog publication becomes 3,000 or 5,000 or 20,000 words long, so be it. This understanding of the scummy, swampy, cesspool that is our nation’s current politics and corrupt wealth in it… is far, far, FAR too important for me to worry needlessly about reader’s short attention spans and shallow comprehension, or more to the point, their shameful laziness to read intently and earnestly what I’ve written here. So grin and bear it if you care about the terminal illness of your country, my country, our country as true Americans.

Let’s get started!

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There is a juxtaposed personality, or a duel and conflicting personality, or personalities in American politics. Not that that is big news, but the reality is that it has been present in our nation (and other nations) since the first cries of our 18th-century independence from Great Britain. 21st-century Americans must wake up and accept the state and condition of their dying nation! The fight to keep this democracy functioning is a DAILY responsibility. Period. Always has been, always will be.

This begs the question: where is the problem? Where is the cancer? I will tell you.

Our politicians and government no longer fear the American public or the American voters. Why? Because the “average American,” the masses of this country can no longer hurt those in positions of power and wealth, or they do not know how. The American public, the ordinary American voter/citizen has allowed this impunity to manifest inside U.S. government and its puppeteers. How? How has this been allowed to happen?

Our Lust for In-Your-Face Entertainment Value

Americans have always embraced affectionally their evil-doers, their entertaining criminals, e.g. D.B. Cooper, Butch Cassidy, Sundance Kid, Bonnie and Clyde, Al Capone, Anna Delvy, etc., and the long list goes on. Americans LOVE their defiant icons of cultish personality. Power, wealth, authority, defiance, and fear are extremely intoxicating, addicting to American politicians and the American public. Most of Americans are endlessly tempted and they fall from grace because of the severe pressures that go with a “public image,” celebrity status, and many of us worship them by our obsessive following of them like love-sick puppy dogs.

This too often permeates into our national and state governing as well. There is no exception either as a politician “Of the People, By the People, and For the People,” probably much more than all American voters could possibly imagine that goes on in Washington D.C., or those of us who become addicted roadies, followers, worshipers of them. And those officials/criminals in government roles must live up to a 24/7, 365-days a year, certain public image until they resign or retire from public service whether they like it or not, or whether they can demonstrate the moral fiber, character, and willpower to just say no… repeatedly. They must fake it publicly in order to generate campaign funding to stay in office and maintain their constituent’s support at the polls. Many fail, many are outright hypocrites whether intentional or not, and yet sadly the American people are duped over and over by these sketchy types of political personalities still to this day! This is and always has been the overly glamorized American culture by Hollywood. How? What are they really feeding it?

The Conscious, Preconscious, and Unconscious

Why is this lust for power, authority, and enormous wealth such a regular occurrence past and present with our American political officials? How do they keep getting appointed or voted into office? What is the psychology behind these public figures, and equally as much, with is the psychology behind their constituents and supporters that make them their elected governing officials?

Sigmund Freud’s model of the human psyche Image from The Living Philosophy, Oct. 2021

The father of psychology Sigmund Freud, theorized in his 1915 paper that the human psyche had three distinct levels of consciousness, preconsciousness, and unconsciousness using a metaphorical diagram of an iceberg. I personally like Freud’s theory of the human psyche. In several ways I think there is much truth in its content and it is demonstrated every day and night by our human species, particularly in times of crisis. What exactly was Dr. Freud explaining to us?

Freud’s iceberg model was a metaphor for the structure or makeup of the human mind. Above the water was our awake, conscious mind of thoughts and perception that the general public around us witness. Everything below the waterline was the preconscious and unconscious, i.e. memory stored knowledge learned from life experiences and deeper below the waterline our instincts, fears, dark defiant inclinations, and selfish motives of the Me we usually hide from the general public. I believe this blueprint is a very true representation of all human psyches around the world; in all of us like it or not.

More precisely though the “Id” or ‘the It’ and the Ego and the Superego are all in conflict with each other for dominance and according to Freud are the driving forces of all human internal conflict with the bad, good, or neutrally egalitarian human decisions we make throughout our lifetimes.

The Id is the genetic, hormonal, and transgenerational part of the psyche we are born with. The Ego and Superego develop after and from the Id. In other words, the former is all formed from nature and genetics. The Ego and Superego are formed from our immediate family (parents, siblings, etc.), extended family, and our communal environment. There is no nurturing in the Id, but over time more and more nurturing is impacted upon the Ego and Superego. Below the waterline are all of our basic instincts, physiology, primal urges (libido) and impulses running wild inside our bodies, heads or perhaps sometimes manifested in actual behaviors. The Id is not organized or managed by logic and reasoning. According to Dr. Freud the Pleasure Principle rules the Id—it is energized by self-satisfaction and not by what society and others dictate. In my lifetime, I have found this principle, this Freudian theory to be mostly true.

The Superego can be thought of as the counter-balance to the Id and what we have individually learned throughout our own social life experiences. In short, the Id is the For Me, By Me, Of me, and the Superego is the bigger than me and my wants, or the ‘Of the People, By the People, For the People‘ manifestation. Within this third are two subparts: the full conscience and the Ego ideal. The conscience is the summation of what our culture, our parents, family, and community have taught to us and everyone what is right and what is wrong morally and ethically. When we do not live up to that standard or code, we feel shame and guilt, not only from society and family, but the Superego as well. The Ego ideal therefore would be the best internal version of one’s self that family, society and culture approves. And this approval has benefits: accomplishment, pride, and value to name just three.

The Superego also has the ability of forethought. It has the long-term in mind rather than the immediate primal urges and self-satisfaction. It is more altruistic in nature/role than self-gratifying and narcissistic, the angel on your shoulder so to speak, rather than the devil.

The Ego, according to Freud and in the proper German translation, is nothing more or less than the ‘I’ of your existence, the literal awake part of you. It has a very difficult role to play. It serves three domains, three masters. It must fairly manage the impulses of the ‘Id‘ and the Superego as well as reality or your societal/cultural world. This struggle is demonstrated daily by our individual actions 24/7, 365-days and nights a year. When your Superego and your Id are aligned and balanced with reality, then all seems to be happy, content, peaceful, and hopeful.

Whether one agrees wholly with Freud’s model, partly, or not at all in any way, I find much truth to his theory of all human psyches—it can be found one way or another in every single human being on the planet.

Applying Psychology and the Human Psyche to Our Nation

How our better self, the Ego as Freud puts it, manages the conflicts within us and without us between the Id and the Superego. It is of course the ultimate and never-ending debate of what’s best and what is not best in the timeline of human endeavors. I want to show how poorly, how dismally America is doing today on a psychological, societal, and political level both domestically (locally) and internationally.

Never before in the whole history of the United States has the wealth of one nation, in nearly two and half centuries, been so atmospheric, so high, so abundant among so few citizens than in the 21st-century United States. The USA is currently the 10th richest country in the world by GDP per capita constant prices. That might be a surprise to many, but when compared to 196 designated official nations, that is remarkably outstanding. That leaves in the dust all of our perceived “enemy” nations like China, Russia, North Korea, and Iran. But underneath this outer shell of glitz, bling, and power is a fragile, decaying illness inside. The biggest growing, cancerous tumors inside the U.S. are its economic model (hyper-capitalism) fed by mega-corporations, as well as its bribed, corrupt, scandalous government officials by those wealthiest individuals, their corporations, and their Super PACs. American history has shown adequately that it isn’t just one political party either. It is now the 21st-century millions, billions, and trillions that has infested our entire political and judicial systems. What and/or who is specifically responsible for this metastasized cancer inside the United States? Many well-educated, well-informed, secular Americans who know inside and out this country’s Charters of Freedom, as a whole, and their Core Founding Fathers who designed them will say two things or two people:

  1. Citizens United and James Bopp in 2010, and…
  2. Leonard Leo and Robert Schenck.

Pick your poison, any of those four in conjunction with each other and backed secretly, anonymously by a few extremely wealthy Super PACs and donors are the cancer, the power players that now rule or ruled this country straight to the ER. Let’s look at the consequences of these four entities since before 2010 and the Supreme Court’s eventual Landmark decisions of Citizens United vs FEC, followed by Dobbs vs Jackson Women’s Health Organization in 2022.

The Root of All Evil

It is the popular pop cliche that “Money is the root of all evil.” Yes, it probably is given how human behavior around it, with it, and using it too often leads to many sins and evil. But this cliche is actually a misquote and misinterpretation of 1 Timothy 6:10 which actually states:

In this passage’s correct exegetical meaning the author(s) intends that the love of or affection for or obsession with money and/or power is a root, a pathway to all sorts of evil, corruption, scandal, bad moral judgement, and destruction of not only marriages, families, and careers, but also of one’s public image… but only temporarily in 21st-century America.

How many people, friends, family members, celebrities, sports stars do you know or can think of that clearly change in their behavior toward others (you?) and change their personality when enormous fortunes fall upon them? Think about it. Who can you list? Abnormal wealth, usually in large degrees, changes a person’s life sometimes for the better other times for the worst. Some can handle the change, others fail miserably.

Personally, I have almost always found in my experience, about 90% of the time, people, family, or friends who have come upon vast amounts of money and with it inevitable socioeconomic status, they definitely change. More often than not, the change is quite unhealthy for them and everyone around them. All of us see this in our lifetimes and learn about its corrupting nature throughout human history. We have learned about the Seven Deadly Sins, that too often distract us from a virtuous altruistic life of healthy inclusion. Of the seven deadly sins, the ones always associated with massive wealth are greed, gluttony, and implicitly, sloth. The many temptations, distractions from true life as Henry David Thoreau alludes in Walden: Or, Life in the Woods, and the slippery slopes of falling into the other four deadly sins are more often than not irresistible to most. This is why personally I am and always will be a Minimalist. As a result, I would never in a million years make a popular, quid pro quo American politician or lobbyist; not ever. I do not have the stomach for, much less the Machiavellian traits required today for either Washington D.C., or Austin, Texas, careers. As the saying goes, my soul or integrity are not for sale.

Does Money Equal Free Speech?

Beginning in 2008 a 501(c)(4) non-profit organization called Citizens United led initially by Floyd Brown and later David N. Bossie, both very Right Conservatives and well connected to extremely wealthy conservative donors and the corporate sector of campaign donors who all share the same ideology, won the Landmark Supreme Court Decision in January 2010 Citizens United vs FEC. With the legal assistance of Indiana attorney James Bopp, Jr., specializing in anti-abortion legislation, election laws, American campaign finance, and a staunch Republican activist, Citizens United, Brown, Bossie, Bopp, and several other extremely wealthy donors and organizations successfully pushed the argument of Money Equals Free Speech past the Supreme Court and into law. This SCOTUS decision would change the landscape of American politics, true democracy, campaign finance and donations entirely upside down for untold decades, possibly centuries given the new floodgates of enormous, ungodly amounts of money everywhere in our government and its elections. Worse still would be the start of the United Oligarchs of America where the wealthiest govern and control all aspects of American freedom and liberties.

And the numbers above have only skyrocketed since 2020 into stratospheric amounts to 2024. Since Nixon and Watergate lobbyist spending exploded to the Bush administrations from a $100-million dollar industry to a $2.5-billion dollar industry by 2009. It has only gotten gluttonous and hideously obese through 2024. Why now is our election process so vulnerable to the most heinous of corruption and bribery?

The arguments for and against money = free speech came down to basically two opposed positions: 1) the hiding and disguising (misleading) of unlimited amounts of campaign donations from the wealthiest donors, albeit individuals or corporations, or 2) the insane amounts of temptations that unlimited money favorably influences actual legislation for special interests groups, minority beliefs, and minority ideologies, and thus literally screw over the greater common American, whether they are in the majority or not. In other words, a few richest entities and individuals of our nation can dictate what sort of life the vast and ordinary Americans from coast to coast can have or not have despite their votes at the ballot boxes.

Fortunately, for the Living Evolving Constitutionalist of which I advocate, the poster boy for the deplorable corruptions, briberies, and deceit in our money-loaded repulsive elections was nurtured and manifested by Citizens United and James Bopp, Jr. Who is the caught, criminal poster boy? It is Jack Abramoff. Jack Abramoff has served two prison terms because he always wanted to circumvent the Law of Our Land. And there are many others that could be listed. But just in Abramoff’s investigation-scandal twenty-four (24) others were convicted of corruption or bribery directly nurtured by Citizens United, James Bopp, Jr. and two other key accomplices: Leonard Leo and Robert Schenk. I highly recommend that Rev. Schenk’s link be thoroughly read and comprehended! Why? Because Schenk later realized, far too late, that all the Christian Nationalism he had fought for and gone to jail for previously was a huge, huge regrettable mistake.

Rev. Robert Schenk would be a second poster boy of what Citizens United and attorney James Bopp, Jr. have irreparably created—pure, unadulterated corruption and bribery at the highest levels of our federal government. Period, including our Supreme Court. No ifs, ands, or buts. Period. James B. Mintz founder of the Mintz Group, a research and financial investigation group and a former adjunct professor at Columbia University Journalism School, finds six components of how corrupt politicians and lobbyists launder the “gratuity gifts” that buy-off and bribe our federal officials. His example is Paul Manafort and his indictment as Trump’s 2016-17 campaign chairman:

And this sort of corrupt underhanded dealing and influence on elections happens all the time in various forms. What Citizens United and its champion, Bopp created was nothing short of legalized bribery of Washington D.C. In fact, this is a direct quote straight from James Bopp, Jr.’s mouth:

Boy howdy, if that isn’t rich, superior, snub-your-nose, white-man arrogance, then I have land on the Moon to sell you. That is the most undemocratic, uncouth, audacious hubris stuff to say to a nation, his nation founded upon the People, the ordinary, hard working People of America who are not the upper 10% or 15% of the most wealthy in the nation. They are average Americans who absolutely have a voice, as equally as anyone else has a voice Of the People, By the People, and For the People whether they are filthy rich or not! Man, James Bopp, Jr. chaps my ass royally with that level of blatant pomposity! And readers, he is the reason Citizens United succeeded in 2010 and directly corrupted this supposedly fair democratic republic nation. No debate whatsoever; he and the ramrodded Supreme Court Justice appointments by the last six (6) Republican administrations going back to Richard Nixon to deliberately ideologically fix our highest court in the land.

Though there are many Jack Abramoffs to list as incapable of resisting corruption, deceit, and bribes in our nation’s capitol due directly to Citizens United, James Bopp, and several other big money players, Abramoff is one of the few who was caught and who could never learn his lesson even after two lengthy prison sentences. What does that say about unlimited money flooding into our politics and government the last 15-20 years? How many excuses will be made to keep unlimited big money inside our elections and government?

Before moving on I want to address the heavy power and influence “campaign finance” via Citizens United now has inside Washington D.C. with Leonard Leo, the puppeteer, and come back to Robert Schenk’s part in it as the puppet.

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Who is Leonard Leo the man? What has shaped his life and character? Well, describing Leonard Anthony Leo is not at all difficult. Why? Because he has single handedly reshaped our nation’s Supreme Court. The highest of all courts in our country. That’s right, one man, not several presidents, not the People of the United States—that is to say, not ALL the People—but one single man created the line of dominos then tipped the first one forward and the domino effect is still happening today.

Federalist Society co-chairman and former Executive Vice President Leonard Leo speaks to media at Trump Tower in New York, Nov. 16, 2016. Carolyn Kaster/AP

Leo’s biggest accolade to date was his engineering of the Republican supermajority of our current Supreme Court Justices via his Federalist Society and several/many players and donors. Soon after SCOTUS followed HIS personal agenda and rolled back a woman’s right to an abortion, especially in critical or emergency situations. Does Leo’s version of Catholicism represent all the People of the United States? Is this a true republic when fringe minorities rule the land? He thinks it does. Leonard Leo, let me remind you of two Scriptural passages:

On the contrary though, Holy Scripture does not always apply to the whole, but only to the individual interpretation or belief of that Scripture’s exegesis (Opus Dei). Often one person or one tiny group believes their ideology applies to the world, not just themselves. This was and still is Leonard Leo.

Personally, Leo has been deeply shaped by his radical religious faith of ultra-conservative Catholicism, and the death of his daughter by complications of her spinal bifida at 14-years old. Yet, somehow (and who knows) that tragedy caused him to attack abortion rights for American women and to go relentlessly after the Roe v Wade’s repeal. It was purely a personal vendetta on our country and he succeeded with the aid of the Federalist Society… very sadly though at the expense of a much higher mortality rate for American pregnant women and their unborn or infants in 14 states with new abortion bans, including one of the highest ones, my native state of Texas. That is horribly and grossly disproportionate for one 14-year old girl named Margaret Leo, his daughter, for all the deaths due to inaccessible emergency medical care. Really? One girl for 100’s and 1,000’s of other women and infants? WTF Leonard! But I assure you 100% that Leo would say something like, ‘That’s God’s domain and only His domain, not man’s.’ I’ve heard that over and over and over ad infinitum from religious fanatics. In the end, Leonard Leo received in particular a $1.6-BILLION dollar donation that he used for slush funds to buy off near hundreds of activist leaders, including one that violently marched upon our Capitol building on January 6, 2021, in an insurrection on our federal government killing several people and Capitol Police sworn to defend the very institution Leo, Trump, his Federalist Society, and his crony politicians were attacking!

However, when so many powerful, well-connected, wealthy men in Washington D.C. serve only themselves, they will turn on you in a heart beat. Has Leo learned this painful lesson of who he serves or uses as a puppet? From Politico.com, May 2025:

What lessons has Leonard Leo and his closest associates really learned from their Supreme Leader in the White House? Dealing with fringe special interests and greedy megalomaniacs has a risky, high cost. When the proverbial feces hits the fan, historically it has always been “every man for himself; everyone will go down with me” mentality.

Robert Schenk was one of Leonard Leo’s, James Bopp’s, and David Bossie’s puppets from the Evangelical activist circles to help galvanize the nation’s Conservative Right behind Citizens United, ironically very much a minority group in our country. As many corrupt lobbyists and D.C. politicians say, “Money talks, bullshit walks,” even when you are a fringe minority money dictates the minority’s ideology upon the majority, as attorney James Bopp, Jr. boasts above in his direct quote of ‘being rich.’ Today, Rev. Robert Schenk has done a complete 180-degree turnaround on his beliefs; listen/watch closely:

Rev. Robert Schenck, one of the first to abandon the Far Right Conservative’s extremist movement on Pro-life abortion laws (Roe v Wade) after years of being a radical activist in that same movement.

Bottom-line? Easy, there is just a corrosive, obese amount of buy-off money (bribery) everywhere in Washington D.C. and Citizens United, James Bopp, Jr., Leonard Leo and their created culture in the money schemes/scams are simply too predominate in our modern politics. Period, full stop. And unless Citizens United v FEC is overturned, repealed… it will never stop; it will only get worse every year, two years, and four years until American democracy completely collapses precisely like the Roman Empire in the 4th- and 5th-centuries CE. Guaranteed.

More Poster Boy Examples of Citizens United Corruption & Bribery

There are many poster children/persons that are corrupted by Bopp’s Citizens United that I must narrow down my examples to just three. If I listed all the depraved individuals in Washington D.C., this blog-post would take far too long and be well over 20k to 30k words. No one wants to read that much evil corruption that takes up all of their days/nights for a few weeks.

Suffice to say I will concentrate on just three prime examples of the extent James Bopp, Citizens United, Leonard Leo, and many others have undermined and intently tempted, corrupted, and bribed our American democratic politics and officials.

Horse-trading.” That’s the term often used to designate the growing corruption, bribery, and back-alley deals that permeate every part of introductory U.S. legislation and elections. Horse-trading is essentially ‘I scratch your balls, you scratch mine… for a price, a big price.’ This is how things and legislation gets done, passed according to all lobbyists, all congressional and executive branch members (with few or no scruples), and all special interest big-money donors to them. It is accepted. It is the norm. And many/most say and believe it is all totally legal thanks to Citizens United. So who are my three prime multiple examples of U.S. and Washington D.C. briberies, corruptions, and weakest, immoral will-power? Here they are…

#1 – Former Illinois Governor (D) Rod Blagojevich

Though indicted and sentenced, former Democratic Governor of Illinois, Rod Blagojevich, was just two years prior to the SCOTUS Landmark decision of Citizens United vs FEC, he is still one of the best known victims, or rather criminal felons who got caught, who fell victim(?) in the 21st-century to ungodly, obese amounts of money in U.S. state or federal politics and legislation thanks to the lead-up of Citizens United.

Every day across the United States, in every single state, our political system is bankrolled by an onslaught of armies of wealthy fund raisers and their associate donors throwing in millions and millions of campaign dollars to their own special interests and puppet candidates. When those super wealthy donors front $50k, $200k, or $1-million dollars, they demand favors, paybacks, or kickbacks.

And no thanks to Citizens United in 2010, Brown and Bossie, attorney James Bopp, Jr. Leonard Leo, and our Republican supermajority Supreme Court, a wink and a nod that borders ever so thinly on bribery, U.S. politics has been and is as corrupt as it ever has been. Before it was cool to be filthy corrupt, soliciting bribes, wire fraud, and attempting extortion prior to 2010, Rod Blagojevich was the poster boy forerunner and first major consequence of too much money in state-federal politics.

#2 – Borges, Householder, Clark, Cespedes, Longstreth, & FirstEnergy Corp.

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#3 – Clarence Thomas and Brett Cavanaugh

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The Professor’s Convatorium © 2023 by Professor Taboo is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 

Whining Too Much Too Late

I am beginning to get quite tired of Americans bitching and moaning about how horribly Donny J. Trump is ruining this country, both domestically and in foreign affairs. It is getting annoying and nauseating to keep listening to and reading about American voters getting angry, publicly protesting, and just giving lip-service to what SHOULD have been voiced and acted upon back in October–November 2024.

The fact is, that bitching, protesting, fighting HAD to be waged back in April 2023 when Project 2025: The Conservative Mandate was published for ALL American voters to read… precisely what Trump and his MAGA sycophants said they were going to do to our entire federal government and our Constitution. Surprise! No… no surprise.

But how many Americans actually read the MAGA Republican’s 790-page blueprint to trash the country? No one. Did anyone prepare for their overhaul of our Charters of Freedom and trashing of our Constitution? No one. And NOW they are starting to bitch, moan, and whine far too late? WTF people!

I am getting very tired of listening today to Americans complain to what Trump and his MAGA sycophants said they would do if he got voted back into office. He and the MAGA-eots are doing it. And how many lazy ass, indifferent, apathetic, non-patriotic Americans did NOT vote last October–November? I’ll tell you, almost 90-million Americans did not vote last autumn. That was more than enough American voters to keep Trump out of the White House! Plenty of No-Votes against Trump!

Quit your bitching, moaning, and whining Americans, THIS is what YOU allowed to happen by not participating in protecting our democracy, our Charters of Freedom, and letting a fascist dictator back into the White House! 😡🤬 So shut tha hell up with non-stop whining about what the Orange Orangutan is doing to this nation. Yes, he is ruining it, he is trashing it, and he is indeed a shameful 4th-grader embarrassment that behaves like an immature spoiled, bullying brat! But voting Americans… YOU let him back into the White House. So show some accountability, belly-up, and STOP your god damn effing whining already!

We deserve this. Period.

The Professor’s Convatorium © 2023 by Professor Taboo is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 

A Parody of U.S. Absurdity

It is November 5th, 2024 and American voters are out in droves to vote for the future survival of true democracy. About half of American voters, approximately 167.5-million, are voting for the two Republican candidates. The other half are voting for the other two Democratic candidates. Who are the Republican candidates? Here are their portrait-photos:

Presidential candidate Bernie Madoff and Vice-Presidential running mate, Ted Bundy

What are Bernie Madoff’s qualities? First and foremost is Madoff’s financial genius and empire he created through his Fonzi-Ponzi Fund. He promises Americans millions in economic returns. Second, he is an expert in wall constructions. In fact, he will soon be on the cutting edge of small cell-like confinements for any criminals that try and cross his Madoff Wall system! And third, Bernie Madoff promises his mega-wealthy investors Carte Blanche in environmental change opportunities on unprecedented scales, done in less than 20-years that Earth won’t be recognizable to even the most astute observers. I mean, who can’t vote for this fine gentleman and future leader of the world?

Bernie Madoff’s Vice-Presidential running mate is the one and only Ted Bundy of Burlington, Vermont. Bundy is best known for his diplomatic prowess and quirky charm so much so that his foreign and domestic guests would die for more time with him! Another top quality Bundy possesses for role of Vice-President is his family values, especially women’s rights, or rather no rights. Finally, VP candidate Bundy has vast experience in presidential campaigns; he worked for Nelson Rockefeller’s unsuccessful presidential run as well as Arthur Fletcher’s state and federal career and campaigns for, yes, you guessed it, Affirmative Action as the Revised Philadelphia Plan for more equality across genders and social equity, primarily for women since Bundy’s natural gift was diplomacy with women.

These Republican candidates are a very strong ticket for the Party which is exactly why about half of American voters are casting their precious voice with these two fine, upstanding men. If the Madoff-Bundy Republican ticket wins this presidential race, our country will be in very good hands with a fabulous future in store that the rest of the world will envy! No doubt about it.

The Professor’s Convatorium © 2023 by Professor Taboo is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 

Inflation: The Real Source

As we near our 2024 U.S. federal-state elections and their ramping up political campaigns of patent rhetoric, of misdirected, or even audacious lies and disinformation, one primary target radical MAGA Republicans are obsessed with and annoyingly screaming about is …inflation. Inflation that technically began on February 24, 2022. They place all blame for this current hyper-inflation on President Biden and his political party. This is no surprise, of course, considering the next reasonable target they might have, and I use “reasonable” very loosely here, would be Hunter Biden’s laptop. HAH!

But let’s use our better, mature judgement and our critical-thinking and analysis skills we learned from middle- to high-school to perhaps under-grad to determine the true source of this inflation.

The above diagram basically illustrates the distribution chain of goods and services from crude or basic materials from Earth, to production, refining, or manufacturing, to transportation, to more distribution or delivery-transportation, to retailers, then finally to consumers or us average Americans. Study the diagram closely. What processes or stages make up the bulk of the distribution chain?

Take a moment to consider carefully.

Do you think you have it? It isn’t obvious with a Nano-second first glance like most super busy Americans do when listening to or reading about political campaigns or propaganda packed with deception, disinformation, diversion, or blatant lies. What is it that makes up the bulk of the world-wide distribution chain?

Movement.

It is the movement of these raw materials to production, refining, or manufacturing facilities, then movement to transportation hubs like sea ports, cargo trains and planes, or truck loading bays, then typically to large warehouses everywhere for (temporary) storage before those goods/materials are again loaded onto regional or local transportation-delivery vehicles or vessels to be unloaded at retail stores for us buying consumers. Now, how is all of this “movement” of materials and goods accomplished? What drives all this distribution forward from start to finish or from supply to demand?

Energy.

What type of energy for 21st-century transportation, typically?

You guessed it… fuel, gasoline, petrol.

Where does most of the world’s “energy” come from?

Ding, ding, ding! 🛎 Yep, you guessed it, crude oil. And what nations produce the most crude oil, oil-refining, and distribution or export of fuel, natural gas, and petroleum byproducts? Let’s take a look.

Investing News Network (INN) provides independent, trusted news and education for financial investors in over 40 targeted categories, including oil and petroleum production and export. According to their March 2023 update, the Top 10 Oil Producing Countries are as follows:

nationallied or cozy in trade with russiabarrels per day
1. USA18,875,000 bpd
2. Saudi Arabia🇷🇺10,835,000 bpd
3. Russia10,778,000 bpd
4. Canada5,558,000 bpd
5. China🇷🇺4,993,000 bpd
6. Iraq🤝4,149,000 bpd
7. UAE🇷🇺3,786,000 bpd
8. Brazil🤝❓3,689,000 bpd
9. Iran🇷🇺3,458,000 bpd
10. Kuwait🤝2,717,000 bpd
———————
TOTAL68,838,000 bpd
🇷🇺 = Allies, 🤝 = Drawing closer, ❓ = Domestic gov’t TBD

To further clarify the Brazilian question above in the table, the ❓ means: how will the newly elected President of Brazil align himself and how their government aligns itself with the U.S. and Western alliances against Russia’s war in Ukraine, will all determine their production, export, and prices of their 3,689,000 bpd for the West. It doesn’t require a lot of deduction and analytics from the above diagram to determine that the majority of energy production/export, which heavily influences the distribution chain of transported goods/fuel around the world, is squarely in the hands of Russian allies or closely tied nations to Russia, specifically Vladimir Putin and his Kremlin regime. Do the math for yourself from the above BPD numbers. Five of the top ten oil/fuel production countries are allied with Putin/Russia. Seven of the top ten are in increased close relations with Putin/Russia. These foreign economic and energy facts do not bode well for decreasing or relaxed (hyper?) inflation for Americans in 2022, much less for 2023.

But one undeniable fact remains true and steadfast. Our current inflation rate has NOTHING to do with President Biden or his political party and agenda. Period! Current and persistent (hyper?) inflation has everything to do with Vladimir Putin, Russia warring in Ukraine, Saudi Arabia, China, the UAE, and Iran. And it is no stretch to include Iraq—after how we shit on them during two deadly, destructive wars, the second war an illegal invasion and occupation—Kuwait who has become more friendly to Russia, and perhaps Brazil. These are the REAL factors behind our insane inflation rates, in addition to mega wealthy corporations just passing on (the buck) high-prices to average middle-class and poor-class Americans who cannot weather a full 2-3 years of hyper-inflation.

But one undeniable fact remains true and steadfast. Our current inflation rate has NOTHING to do with President Biden or his political party and agenda. Period!

Do not believe any of the increased political propaganda, disinformation, diversions, or blatant lies from radical MAGA Republicans screaming about who is responsible for this debilitating inflation we are in. It simply is not true, nor can it be justified. It’s simply wrong.

The numbers and facts above show clearly who is to blame. And on a side note and endnote, consider too the OPEC nations, who further drive the price of distribution chain fuel costs, effecting everything in the global economies and especially in the U.S. Besides, why would Joe Biden intentionally drive us into these hard, expensive times? There is no political gain for him to do so. No, get real and reasonable voting Americans. These hard times since February 24, 2022 have very, very little to do with the White House or one political party. They have everything to do with one man in Moscow and his oil producing allies.

The Professor’s Convatorium © 2023 by Professor Taboo is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 

Part 4: A New U.S. Constitution

It may be a reflection on human nature, that such devices should be necessary to control the abuses of [man and his] government. But what is government itself but the greatest of all reflections on human nature? If men were angels, no government would be necessary.

James madison – federalist no. 51, feb. 8, 1788; bracketed insert my own

We continue now from Part 3 if you have been following this series.

Delegation vs. Non-delegation

As early as 1826 and again in 1866, and still again in 1895 the controversial debate began over whether Congress can or should delegate its legislative powers to other Branches and agencies of federal and state government. The argument has been raging ever since, even after the Seventeenth Amendment was ratified in 1913. What was all the controversy about? Let’s look at a streamlined timeline:

  • 1826 — Members of the 20th U.S. Congress were to be elected, but during a transitional period of the First Party System to the Second Party System. This caused deadlocks between several state legislators electing Senators. Many Senate seats remained vacant for up to 2-years.
  • 1864 — John Stockton of New Jersey is controversially elected as Senator, but done so by the New Jersey state legislatures changing rules of election from a majority vote to a vague plurality vote.
  • 1866 — The Senate eventually threw out John Stockton’s election then passed a law establishing uniform procedures for election of senators by state legislatures. Indiana had a similar flawed election.
  • 1895 — Following the Civil War, disputed senate elections, constant tampering with election regulations by state legislatures, and increased deadlocks leaving Senate seats vacant for long periods, e.g. Delaware, eventually prompted many states to adopt the “Oregon System.”
  • 1906Cosmopolitan magazine published the David Graham Phillip’s series, “The Treason of the Senate” which garnered and galvanized public support for widespread senatorial election reform.
  • 1911 — Senators Joseph Bristow (KS) and William Borah (ID) offered resolutions to amend the Constitution followed by 29 states supporting the amendment measure. The Senate then passed the amendment.
  • 1913 — The House passed the amendment, thus ratifying the Seventeenth Amendment with the necessary three-fourths majority.

During those 87-years the biggest problems the 17th Amendment helped resolve was the chronic deadlock of state legislatures paralyzing the federal Congress from doing its job: debating and passing laws for the benefit of the nation and American people. During the 19th-century many powerful, wealthy, influential corporations were seeking to control state legislatures to capture the Senate in Washington D.C. Subsequently, those senators would construct political mechanisms focused primarily on their own interests—and those of the corporations—rather than those of their own state, and worse, their own people of their state!

However, by the 21st-century, the basic problems persist with keeping our Republic democracy truly representative of We the People, A) the distortions, corruptions, and/or purveyors of “state’s rights” and ‘we don’t need no Yankees (Feds) telling us Rebels how to live happily with slavery/free-labor’ or B) the covert, repressive inequality schemes in individual states which always scream “state’s rights” the loudest and longest. Today they’ve only re-disguised their argument into modern political rhetoric that to very gullible, naïve hearing ears… sounds Constitutional and in-defense of the Founding Fathers. On the contrary, upon closer examination the rhetoric is destructive of all basic principles those same Founders intended to create: a Republic democracy for all citizens, no exceptions.

The problem today is not vacant senate seats lasting for up to two years of the 19th-century, but how often Congress delegates policy decisions to small federal agencies—heavily influenced by corporate lobbying groups and dollars—under very broad and vague standards. Care to guess who appoints the leadership controlling most of these agencies?

Yep, the President.

A prime example of the Bicameral Congress and its members skirting accountability to do their sworn job is the country’s 60-year epidemic of gun-control and domestic massacres by high-capacity, lethal, often military assault weapons. Even when a House majority might pass no-brainer, reasonable legislation for tighter, more thorough red-flag laws, for bans on all military-styled weapon sales to the general public, and higher smarter age-limits for gun-buyers along with mandatory 6-month gun-safety training minimum, our current 18th-century Constitution makes it quite easy for Senators (representing a distinct minority of the population) to block it or let it die.

Furthermore, and here is the jagged pill to swallow, as of September 2019, Senators from twenty-nine states with the HIGHEST average levels of gun-ownership control over 58% of the votes in the Senate, despite the fact that their own states represent just 46% of the nation’s population. The worst part of this ill-gotten misrepresentation is that even if the Senators from states of the majority of the American population all supported better, tighter, more gun-control laws, they would not have the necessary votes to pass it in the Senate. Hence, gridlock, unaccountability, more massacres of more students and/or church-goers occur, then the transgenerational damage is passed on to the next. Repeat again in four months or so, or less.

Folks, this is bicameralism at its finest for the last 60-years and counting. Or its worst. This is appalling! And should I cover widespread Climate Change denialism via false propaganda? I’ll spare my readers for now.

Due to 1) this incessant Congressional members irresponsibility, 2) defunct bicameralism causing gridlock and legislative inactivity or collapse, and 3) Congressional-careerists delegate increasingly more amounts of authority to the Presidents and Vice-Presidents—who often become their scapegoats in national tragedies. All too often Presidents and their political party’s platform and ideals become easy targets of opportunity for the opposing Party. Repeat it all over again during the next Administration’s tenor. Ladies and gentlemen, in our nation’s many, many domestic tragedies and multiple deaths of innocent Americans, rarely is the White House the sole problem of the tragedy. No, many times it is Bicameralism and career Congressional members not fulfilling and doing their Constitutional duties. They pass the buck.

Therefore, by default and dysfunction, our Supreme Court, who now repeatedly helps Congress to abdicate their Constitutional responsibilities—in gridlock and inactivity—makes the SCOTUS much more powerful than it was ever designed to be, and throws the sacred concept of Tri-Equal Authority within Separation of Powers out of balance, thus causing further dysfunctions.

The Supreme Court Turned Goliath by Default

Because for the last six decades Congress has increasingly and deliberately treated political risks not as their legislative duty, but as fodder for court disputes, our SCOTUS today is a behemoth of final authority and impunity. They have become more a nine member panel of supreme kingly/queenly rulers than actual court justices commissioned to overseeing the Executive and Legislative Branches as well as the appropriate interpretation of the Constitution; their originally designed function. Not anymore.

What an omnipotent SCOTUS looks like

Congress is not naïve or ignorant about legislative vagueness or ambiguity in their language. They are very aware when they have passed ambiguous or potentially UN-constitutional legislation. As a stop-gap they intentionally pass this responsibility to the courts skirting any blow-back upon their careers and reelection.

There are two more prime examples of malfunctioning Balance and Separate Powers directly resulting from chronic congressional gridlock:

  1. The 2000 Presidential Election & the Courts – in the state of Florida in December 2000, the people’s votes may have given Florida’s twenty-five Electoral College votes to the Democratic candidate Al Gore if a legal recount had been allowed. Instead, the U.S. Supreme Court decided that the Republican candidate George W. Bush won the popular vote in Florida, overruling the Florida Supreme Court’s demand for a legal recount. Essentially, only nine Justices (people) usurped, threw out the people’s votes in Florida, handing Bush the Presidency. This begs the simple question: Was this really a democratic free election by the people of Florida? Reading the dissenting opinions of the four (losing) Justices are recommended and generally agreed with by legal, constitutional scholars. Nevertheless, this Supreme Court decision allowed members of Congress, Carte Blanche to escape accountability for Bush’s presidential win as a minority president.
  2. The Affordable Care Act vs. the U.S. Supreme Court – in the landmark decision of NFIB vs Sebelius, SCOTUS had the final authority on the constitutionality of the Patient Protection and the Affordable Care Act. In the end, the Supreme Court decided that in all future cases, whether many Americans lived at or below the national poverty line, it did not matter. They could NOT afford or receive adequate medical care if they lived in a state which refused healthcare based on their available or lack of financial status. In other words, your healthcare and well-being depended not on whether you were an American citizen or not, but in what zip code you resided, working or unable to work.

Bottom line? The Constitution’s Separation of Powers no longer functions as was originally designed by the Core Founding Fathers. Only a new, people’s Constitutional Convention—as written in our current constitution’s Article Five—can successfully and adequately reform our dead or decaying system as a whole, and return it to a true, more perfect union as a Republic. A Republic that actually functions for and serves its people, not the oligarchies, or corporations and a few court justices suppressing or oppressing its peoples well-being!

∼ ∼ ∼ § ∼ ∼ ∼

In the next installment of this series, Part 5, I will show that our antiquated 18th-century Constitution has failed as a foundation for a representative democracy. I hope my loyal readers will join me again then. Thank you too for your continued patience with this series. Meanwhile, please do feel free to offer your feedback and thoughts in comments below. 😊

Live Well – Love Much – Laugh Often – Learn Always

The Professor’s Convatorium © 2023 by Professor Taboo is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 4.0