I Couldn't Attend the Funeral- But I Sent a Nice Letter of Approval

 I was lost and now I am found.

A month or so ago, I was messing around with my control panel and managed to lose everything on my computer before re-installing it.

This is what happens when you barely have enough know how to turn your computer on and then attempt to change all the settings.

Anyhow, what was lost is now found. After an ample amount of work and cursing.

In the comments, I saw an old friend ask if I was still around. To MM and my 3 other readers, yes, and while I have achieved a level of writer's block that has me wondering if I should have even bothered to restore the settings on my laptop- I am still here looking for new subject matter.

This morning I was perusing the old town's newspaper when I came across the obituary of a former colleague of mine. I am so used to feeling a sense of loss every time one of my old friends die- that I have never felt an opposite emotion. A bit of glee when an old enemy left this earthly coil.

Now I've never gone looking for enemies. Most of my life has been spent waiting for them to arrive. They just show up.

Now most of that I'm told, is my attitude. 

So about 25 years ago now, I am sitting in my office when one of the city's deputy clerks comes into my office. She is upset that kids are toilet papering her trees. She wants to know what to do.

Now at this stage in our relationship- I hardly know this gal. I see her around City Hall once in awhile. Because she is a fellow city worker, I tend to be more truthful and direct than I might be with a random member of the public.

I tell her she could get some cameras and offer some other suggestions, but I tell her most likely- we will not be able to catch these kids. They will hear or see our patrol cars and then run and hide.

She said nothing else, stood up and left. Little did I know that I had just created an enemy. No doubt, my fault. That is what I am always told.

So for the next four years, this gal did everything she could to heap misery on my life. Demanding receipts for inconsequential items listed on charge cards, telling coworkers I was an asshole, trying to get me in trouble or fired by the City Manager and the Mayor. All of it failed of course, but it damaged my reputation enough that it helped aid my early departure.

One day, this gal walked into my office and said she hated me. From the moment we met. I was dumbfounded by her. Talk about making a mountain out of a molehill. She assured me, once again, that it was all my fault.

She was an east coast liberal. I was a conservative, western farm kid. We were probably doomed from the start.

So when I saw her obituary today, I had a different sort of feeling. I was kind of happy. It felt strange. I had dreaded seeing her at the old Chief's funeral this summer but as it turns out- she was fighting a cancer diagnosis of her own.

I often wonder if all that malignant hatred people have festering inside them can cause physical illness. 

Perhaps, her death, was my fault too.

The "Keeping Time" Has Arrived- The Sunday Collage

 Mrs. Elizabeth Powel asked Benjamin Franklin the question. What do we have, a republic or a monarchy? Franklin answered, "A republic if you can keep it."

Probably historically true. 

In a republic, the power to govern is held by the people or their elected representatives. By consent. We have checks and balances for those representatives, and we have a rule of law. That theory was meant to keep an oppressive government at bay. To keep them from acquiring too much power

In a democracy, the people directly make every decision. There are no representatives. Democracies often devolve into mob rule democracies. Like the one we have now.

A republic is meant to protect the minority from the oppression of the majority. A rule of law is what keeps it civil. A minority member's interests are protected. Until the mob takes over.

Now we can debate who, what, when, and how we have lost our republic. We can even debate whether we still have one or not. On paper, we might have a republic. In reality, we have a liberal majority that has taken over our communications, our healthcare, and is now targeting our representatives with a myriad of criminal charges.

In short, the minority is no longer protected from the oppression of the majority. The majority is setting about the task of eliminating it's enemies, imposing it's will, and intimidating people into "join up or suffer the consequences" decisions that mob families used to offer. Allowing millions to cross our border swells the majority ranks.

Indeed, we have arrived at the keeping time.

With 100% certainty, not one of us have lived through an American Revolution or Civil War. But there are a number of common threads that bind those two events.

People don't want to be ruled and told what to do, or how to live. Just like southern states didn't appreciate being told what to do- or else. Come to think of it, the American Indians didn't like it either.

That's what defines those moments. The colonists and the southern states were minority participants being oppressed by a majority that were telling them what to do and how to live. We know how they responded. In another day, I referred to the minority as "no" people.

The "no" people are getting pissed off. They are receiving no representation, no offers of compromise, no rule of law. Indeed, the government is simply setting about the task of eliminating the "no" people through taxation, criminal charges, suppression of free speech. Now they are going to try and erase the "no" people's representative and a few of his soldiers.

This drama is unfolding right before your eyes. It also comes with a deadline. The first Tuesday of November- a little over one year away.

Oh don't get me wrong. I don't think we are voting ourselves out of this mess. The oppressive majority has that covered.

Like erosion, our rights are whittled away, one by one over time until we have the cumulative mess we have now. The majority has no interest in leveling the playing field. They will destroy any protections. Indeed they are chipping away at that right now.

What remains to be seen is just how far the majority is willing to push their agenda but more importantly- is how the minority will respond. What will unfold in the national drama playing out right now will absolutely change the course of American history. This will be the year from hell. Make no mistake about it. Dramatic? Absolutely.

The keeping time is here.

 

The Killing of Craig Robertson- The Sunday Collage

"Anger is brief insanity." Mom attributed that quote to Hemingway. Having been on the receiving end of mom's wrath more than a few times, that phrase has always made sense.

Craig Robertson, age 75, died in Provo, Utah on August, 9, 2023. He was killed by an FBI tactical team for making threats. He was an Air Force veteran, welding inspector, and wood worker. He had been married twice and widowed twice. He had three children. 

He was not in the best of health and walked with a cane. He loved guns and was a member of the NRA. Robertson was no fan of the democratic party.

To be fair, Robertson had made several threats regarding Joe Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, and Attorney General Merrick Garland, among others. These were descriptive threats wherein Robertson went into great detail about how he would accomplish the killings of those individuals. We must assume that he actually made those threats on social media, since he never got a chance to explain himself. Not that he would have. Many are listed here. https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/crime/who-was-craig-robertson-what-we-know-about-the-armed-trump-supporter-shot-dead-in-utah-fbi-raid/ar-AA1f2nRL

So Robertson owned many guns, talked with bluster, and even answered the front door holding an AR-15 rifle once after Provo P.D. knocked regarding an incident some time prior. This was an interesting complaint in which two men, in an unmarked van, trespassed onto Roberton's property to make some sort of cable repair. Robertson confronted them and was well within his rights. Apparently, no aggravated assault or other chargeable offense happened that day and Robertson was not arrested. Hmmm...one wonders who those guys really were.

It's an oddity, growing up on property in the west, frequented by hunters. If people are going to be on your property, then good conduct suggests that they stop by the house, get permission, or otherwise inform a homeowner of an easement or repair. Failing that common courtesy, you might indeed be met by an armed property owner.

That's the way it was and still is- in parts of Montana and Idaho.

So if a guy is making all of these terrible threats, is armed and not very cooperative, and the President  is arriving in Salt Lake City that day, a mere 60 miles away, what is the solution? 

Is there some interim solution for a person making threats that doesn't involve killing him? Yes. Of course there is.

That's the really bothersome part. Craig Robertson picked up guns and defended his property. Did the Provo Police and the FBI know that? Of course they did. So making a pre-dawn tactical entry onto Mr. Robertson's property meant that he would be awakened to the sound of "flash bang" grenades and immediately attempt to retrieve a gun to protect himself. Knowing all of that, the FBI could simply execute him because undoubtedly if he wasn't actually holding a gun as they entered- he would have one nearby. That was all quite predictable. That's why they used a tactical team and a dynamic entry.

It doesn't hurt that Merrick Garland was one of the people Robertson targeted with his threats. To be sure, the FBI was operating with impunity. Garland wouldn't lift a finger to investigate or charge the FBI with a preventable killing simply because Garland was one of the victims.

They dragged Robertson's body out to the street and covered it with a sheet on the sidewalk for a couple of hours. I am sure he was so thoroughly shot that calling an ambulance was a waste of time.

I waited to hear any sort of press release. I looked for a Provo Police car in video footage. Nothing. But I did find this statement today from the FBI and clipped it. 

"The FBI takes all shooting incidents involving our agents or task force members seriously," the FBI said in a statement. "In accordance with FBI policy, the shooting incident is under review by the FBI's Inspection Division. As this is an ongoing matter, we have no further details to provide."

Forgive me for laughing. I call this, "we investigated ourselves and found we did nothing wrong." In my prior life the local Sheriff would do this. Investigate himself and conclude that his agency did nothing wrong. I should also note his father was an FBI agent. Perhaps that is where he learned that unbiased investigatory tactic.

All of this means this. Robertson was executed. That's the end of it. It will soon be predictably forgotten. The FBI knows that. So do the politicians. The Mayor. The local cops. Me.

As I prepared to write this, I must have read at least 15 different stories and accounts of this incident. The left leaning accounts paint Robertson as some crazy, gun toting, MAGA nut job. The right leaning versions of this story paint Robertson as a quiet, nice man who frequently helped people. Everyone seems to have an agenda today. So forget all of that noise. 

Craig Robertson was by all accounts, in poor health. He may have been depressed as well. But the real telling part of this incident are the threats Robertson made. Who descriptively and publicly states how they would envision and enjoy killing public officials? Who does that? 

Robertson was no different than half the country. He was pissed off about the hijacked election and the failure of anyone to properly investigate it. He was angry at the officials prosecuting former President Trump. There are millions of us like Craig Robertson. The only difference between Mr. Robertson and millions of us who agree with him- is that we can restrain ourselves from making public threats lest we find a tactical team lobbing flash bangs through the front window and ramming our front door.

It is clear to me that Mr. Robertson was angry and mentally ill to such an extent that he no longer had any restraint. Officers on crisis intervention teams could spot this a mile away. That's why we have crisis intervention. To find out what has changed in an individual and help them. They could have called family, his bishop, his friends and neighbors. Officers could have sat down with Craig, "You gotta quit doing this. How are you feeling?" Have you quit taking medications? Are you sleeping well? Intervene. Lure him out with friends and family. A protective custody arrest and examination while Joe was in town. 

One decent cop could have done this. I used to do it all the time and I come with references. I never killed anyone.

One crazy old war story for the road that ties this all together. 

Years ago, we had a giant of a guy that walked all over town carrying an axe. At 6'5", loud, and strong- Howard scared people to death. He would walk into banks, grocery stores, down city streets with a giant orange ax slung over his shoulder. He intimidated people. Carrying an ax is not illegal. One time I conducted a traffic stop on Howard and he jumped out of his vehicle and came running back towards my patrol car with that ax. Until he saw it was me. And then he started laughing uproariously. 

I was scared for Howard. Any other cop could have made a pretty decent case for having to shoot him in self-defense. As much as I grew to love Howard, I was scared for him, and I was always a bit wary. I never fully let my guard down.

You see over time; I understood Howard's depression. He was bi-polar. We talked a lot and I came to know him. Weekly. I began to understand that Howard was simply seeking attention. Howard had been ignored most of his life. People paid attention to him when he walked around with that ax. And when the shit hit the fan, as it often does with guys like Howard, I'd go visit Howard after he asked for me. Eventually Howard quit carrying that ax. We became friends. I looked Howard up a few years ago and found he had died, in his 50's, in Flagstaff, Arizona where he was from. I miss him.

The point is, Craig Robertson didn't need to be killed. I am sure his death will be ruled justified by whatever friendly body says so. The officers who shot him might even feel that it was necessary and justified. Sleep well, gentlemen.

On our patrol cars we had a phrase. Serve and protect. Who was protecting Craig Robertson on August 9? Who had the balls to square off v the FBI? Apparently nobody in Provo. On this car "To Serve and Protect" has gone missing.

There is a lesson here. You can't simply execute someone for running their mouth or soon we may all end up like Craig Robertson. Mr. Robertson, like Howard I think, was just angry and seeking some attention.

That's all it ever was. 

Update: On my "X" account, someone calling themselves "Karl Marx" posted what appears to be a copy of the affidavit used to get the Robertson arrest warrant.

This is an arrest warrant affidavit. Not a search warrant affidavit. Note also that the FBI did nothing back in March on counts one and two. Where was the urgency then? Count 3 occurs just prior to the Presidents arrival. 

Complaint Against Craig Deleeuw Robertson - DocumentCloud

*Update. One week later in Henderson, Tennessee. An almost identical killing with the FBI's boilerplate statement. This one may be worse than Robertson.

https://truthpress.com/news/disabled-vet-killed-after-fbi-raid-on-tennessee-home/

*Update 2. Utah County now set to investigate whether killing Robertson was justified or not.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/crime/fbi-shooting-of-utah-man-accused-of-threatening-biden-to-be-investigated-in-utah-county/ar-AA1fOMpN?ocid=msedgntp&cvid=269489ca884d4067abb839c9c35345cd&ei=13

The United States- The World's Biggest Banana Republic

 This week was one for the ages.

The Michigan State Police confirmed that hundreds of thousands of illegal ballots, a conspiracy in the swing states, was not only caught on video and investigated- Michigan did nothing and the FBI did nothing. This video amazingly coincides with the 3 a.m. miraculous election of Joe Biden in 2020 who was losing and then suddenly pulled a Presidency out of a hat.

Via the Gateway Pundit, you will likely not see this anywhere mainstream. https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2023/08/now-we-have-proof-tgp-exclusive-massive-2020/

The Biden family was paid over 20 million dollars by Chinese, Russian, Ukrainian and Kazakhstan nationals while Joe was the VP. Funny now that Biden and the democrats have been sponsoring the Ukrainian war with US tax dollars after receiving bribes in the millions. This while Obama was President. What did he know? 

https://www.theepochtimes.com/us/foreigners-paid-more-than-20-million-to-biden-family-associates-bank-records-5453849

The J6 committee lost pertinent records regarding the "insurrection" staged on Jan 6 following the sham election of Joe Biden. Conservatives would have called this event a demonstration although the DC police did manage to murder un armed Ashli Babbitt which certainly takes the shine from a demonstration. The event likely would not have occurred in the first place if democrats hadn't managed to steal the election or if Nancy Pelosi would have agreed to provide National Guard protection for the event. Hint* she decided against it much like Hillary giving aid to Christopher Stevens.

https://beckernews.com/j6-committee-cover-up-house-dems-wiped-records-on-security-failures-scrubbed-communications-with-biden-white-house-51414/

The indictments for Donald Trump exercising free speech just keep coming. All in all it is a black liberal sweep. Every prosecutor is black (one judge) and they are all flaming liberals. Fani Willis' father was a member of the Black Panthers. She will undoubtedly file indictments for Trump soon. Talk about tilting the playing field and with that crooked Merrick Garland at the DOJ- it's not going to get any better.

Now Attorney General Letitia James; Georgia District Attorney Fani Willis; District Attorney Bragg; and Judge Tanya Chutkan; four Black people. What a coincidence!

Gosh I wonder which party had them all installed. Special thanks to George Soros, the Democrats, Mark Zuckerberg's stealth campaign contributions, and President Obama. The worst part about this week is that we are only half way through. 

Update. FBI swat team performs a tactical operation in Provo on a man who made threats to various officials including Joe Biden. This apparently warranted a no knock warrant and killing the 75 year old obese man with a cane. I saw no Provo PD at the scene. Just the dead guy on the sidewalk covered with a sheet. In my day, I'd probably have detailed two cops to go interview the guy. Dealing with mentally unstable people is something locals cops do every day. The FBI sorts it out another way.

Should the man have threatened to kill officials? Of course not. But killing people for bluster ain't exactly the due process we are guaranteed.

Kind of a Waco meets Ruby Ridge operation. https://nypost.com/2023/08/10/craig-robertson-cared-for-blind-son-before-being-shot-by-fbi-neighbors/

Breaking, Friday. Merrick Garland to FINALLY appoint special counsel to look into Hunter Biden. Fuck oh dear. It will be interesting to see what government, partisan, bootlicker he appoints.

Garland appointed David Weiss from Biden's home state of Delaware. This guy has already been investigating Hunter Biden for years and oddly, has found nothing.

Those 170 suspicious bank activity reports, shell companies, forensic accounting, several witnesses and co-conspirators, hell they even have the guy who made the bribes for Burisma- along with texts and phone calls.

I am glad the week is over.

Living the Mediocre Dream- The Sunday Collage

 Every once in a while, the question of "What would have been your dream job?" comes up. The last time I think- was during a game of trivial pursuit- now almost 20 years ago. 

"A defensive cornerback or safety in the NFL" was always my answer. There were only a few things stopping me from attaining my dream. A commitment or plan to study and work hard, my lack of speed, strength, and leaping ability. Hell, we moved twice during high school. I didn't even play football my junior or senior years.

But I got a taste of greatness. Once. 

So it was, I was relegated to mediocrity. A mediocre college, a mediocre trade school, a mediocre career as a lawman. I was alright with mediocre. In hindsight, I might not have even deserved mediocre.

I had no desire to conquer the world, skim hard working bank accounts like an investment banker. I had no money to buy or develop real estate or pirate the business world with some monopolized invention.

I had no clue what those things even were. Or even where you go to become one of those guys.

Instead, I knew mediocre. I was the son of a farmer, broadcaster, insurance man. My mother stayed home and raised us, back when that was still possible. My friends were the sons of miners. I would grow old with them or so I thought. Drink beer and laugh with them. Hunt with them. Get wrinkled and die with them. I would have been perfectly content.

I handled mediocrity quite well. I only made one mistake which cost me a wife, a house, a truck, and my job. Life it seems, can be quite nasty and unforgiving. But life at 46, was far from over. I would have enough time to bounce back. Mediocrity is always within reach. 

This week I attended a funeral. It was for a man, mid 60's, who had two sons that lived far away. He was depressed, alcoholic, and lived in his mother's basement by himself. He couldn't shake addiction, nor could he find mediocrity. Having tried and failed so many times, he wasn't about to try again. In his mind, he had lost everything. He had lost self-respect. That is a very dangerous place. 

With nobody to love, nothing useful to do, and nothing to look forward to.

The most dangerous person in the world, is the guy who loses everything and checks those 3 boxes. I knew that guy once. Gordon knew that guy, too. 

Most people don't know that guy and I hope you never do. 

I sat and listened to Gordon's service. I listened as everyone spoke kindly of Gordon. Kindness, it seems, is always reserved for the dead. 

I was surrounded by mediocrity at that funeral. No real wealth, no famous entertainers, no investment bankers. Just people trying to live their lives, doing the best that they could, with whatever tools had been bestowed upon them. I was overcome with a sense of gratitude. I was grateful for my simple life. My wife, my family, my house, my cars, my toys. The ability to come and go as I please. Grateful for my history.

I left that funeral feeling sorry for Gordon. Gordon simply couldn't find happiness- even in some mediocre fashion.

There is a very famous coach in Butte named Bill Patrick. The guy made you a winner, he was legend. He died several years ago. Coach Patrick coached football and volleyball for over 50 years. Before he died and during a newspaper interview once, they asked Coach Patrick in all of his decades of coaching, which team was his favorite.

He immediately answered with the 8th grade South Central boys football team, '74. My team. We only played 9 or 10 games a season. We went undefeated. I must have made 20 interceptions that year, ran at least half of them back for touchdowns. I think I had 4 in one game once. I was so proud that Coach Patrick, who has coached professional players, named that team as his favorite.

We moved from Butte that summer and I soon came back to earth in an enormous high school with a wealth of football talent. We moved again, my sophomore year. I was out of sorts with no friends and coaches who didn't seem all that interested in me. Slowly, it seemed, I was being relegated back to my humble beginnings and my mediocre life having had a taste of greatness- just once.

We can't all become doctors, NFL players, celebrities, or billionaires. Nobody will appear with a glossy brochure and ask you what sort of glamorous life you would like. Choose something you love, become good at it, and enjoy your life. 

I have a promising future behind me. I am grateful for that.

A piece of humor, along these lines, courtesy of The Onion.

NEW YORK—Saying that when he looked in the mirror, he no longer saw the man he once deceived himself to be, local man Ron Stockton, 37, told reporters Monday that over the years he had become just a shell of his imagined self. “Somewhere along the way, I lost sight of my [wholly invented] purpose, and the [completely untenable] dreams I had just slipped away,” said Stockton, who added that he worried he was failing to maintain the deep sense of personal integrity he had never actually managed to develop in the first place. “I don’t know what became of that [nonexistent hallucination of a] person I once was, that person who [I thoroughly deluded myself into believing] had so much promise. I honestly don’t understand what happened.” At press time, Stockton reported that he was feeling much better after taking some time to think things over, getting a good night’s sleep, waking up early the next day, and joining a cult.

Bring Back the Sunday Collage!

 Many years ago, I began to focus on writing one good post every week.

Writing is often a trial-and-error event. We write some very good things, and we write some hideously bad things. Thus as our mood changes, the good writing becomes quite apparent to us and the bad writing is also revealed.

I note this on several blogs I read daily and weekly. Some are better than others. But what's obvious to me is that the writers have no ill intent. They are writing not because they are being compensated- they are writing because they love to write. 

So years ago, I wrote the Sunday Collage. The Sunday Collage was a collection of all my thoughts and observations during a week, like snipped pictures or images, that I had collected in my mind. Then I would gather those images and write about them here. 

It was perfect. One well thought out piece of writing each week. 

Once, I had some angry woman comment that I didn't even know what a collage was. Of course, I laughed at that- knowing full well that she was technically correct in many ways and also knowing she did not understand the temporal imagery of why I used the term collage. Thus I did not challenge her comment, although I am quite certain that I lost her as a reader. 

We all possess an ability to discern and feel something. We feel the time machine carry us back when we hear an old song. The pull of a photograph that stops time- for just a moment. We remember how we felt at that moment. That's the good stuff.

I remember how it feels. Now I just have to convey it in a way that matters.

Here then is a piece which I have always loved. From a little over 9 years ago.

https://thecivillibertarian.blogspot.com/2014/06/melrose-sunday-collage.html

A Sunday Soliloquy- Liberals Worship Words, Not Deeds

 Last week, I read a Mia Farrow tweet which immediately preceded a lightning bolt to my head and an "aha!" moment.

Farrow was bitching about President Trump and the language he uses. According to her, it was so abrasive that she would not allow her children to be in the same room as a TV broadcast featuring Trump.

Not one to simply separate words from a speaker, she went on an anti-Trump rant. That's when I had the "aha!" moment.

She wasn't bitching about low inflation, low gas prices, or a secure border- she was bitching about the language Trump uses.

This is what the democratic party has become. A mob of pussies hell bent on trying to make us use their silly ass pro nouns and words while they topple over our history.

I started applying my newly discovered Mia Farrow "aha" moment to everyone in my life. It was true. Liberals absolutely hate direct speech that they find offensive- because it does not agree with them.  

Conversely, they loved Obama with his cutesy little jokes. They were willing to forgive the fact that Obama refused to prosecute the thousands of fraud committing bankers who donated to his campaign. They were willing to forget the scandals. The deaths of Brian Terry and Christopher Stevens and 3 others- could not possibly be his fault.  

Because you see, Obama uses nice language. All of that collateral damage, well they reason, it was not his fault. He tells cutesy little jokes and reads carefully scripted speeches. 

Obama was in the same vein as Bill Clinton. Clinton did not sell us out to NAFTA or remove the banking laws that have protected us since the Great Depression. He said nice things and chuckled. So he messed around with an intern- we all know that happens. It was ok to get on national TV and lie to everyone- just be sure and do it nicely.

That's why they hate Trump. He uses direct, candid speech. No cute jokes or little smiles. He attacks anyone who attacks him. He gets personal. He calls people names. He tweets mean things. Same with Bush. He said some stupid things. Liberals lashed out at both of those Presidents.

Was it true in my personal life? Did I have the same experiences speaking with liberals? 

Absolutely. In fact, I could find very few exceptions. Liberals do not like to be challenged. They believe they possess the intellectual high ground. They see no merit in anyone that refuses to back down. You are supposed to inhale their words and opinion. Your words, if anything, cause them great angst.

That's why President Trump is hated by the left. It doesn't have fuck all to do with deeds or bringing jobs home or low inflation. They hate his speech. 

Of course, the conservative side loves Trump. We love watching a non career, no lawyer politician who gives us low gas prices, a secure border, a great economy. We love watching him give the middle finger to liberals, the media, and the swamp. We love watching him get his ass kicked, time and time again, and he just gets back up and fights some more.

We want deeds, not words.