Now Above Ground (Pinned Post, Newer Content Follows Below)

Jefferson City

Originally posted January 10, 2018, and frequently updated since then

Because of the gravity of the news, which will probably mean a flood of new details and developments, and the chances that this will drastically affect Missouri state politics, I have made this a “sticky” post.

Me, April 29, 2017:

Greitens buying in Innsbrook. 

Add this to the fact that he lives in Creve Coeur while his wife lives in the CWE, (and remember she was jacked close to where she lives back during her husband’s transition period), and I’m just waiting for all the gossip about the unconventionality of their marriage to break the blood-brain barrier.

What also helped fuel this gossip was that there was a lot of serious talk that, between the times of Greitens winning the election and being inaugurated, that Sheena Greitens would not be living in the Governor’s Mansion.

Guess what crossed over from the below ground to the above ground tonight, coinciding with the State of the State speech earlier this evening.

This isn’t quite that, but there’s always more time for more to come out.

We also will eventually find out how their buying in Innsbrook relates to the unconventionality of their marriage.

1/11

* The bit about the S&M nudie/blackmail isn’t going away so easily, if at all, and will be why Mike Parson should be measuring for drapes right about now.

* There’s now calls for Hawley to investigate.  Especially in this #MeToo climate, he’ll fire all four barrels at Greitens, especially if he thinks he needs to in order to beat Claire in November.

* Then, there’s this.  Though if one wants to think this diminishes the credibility, then why did they want whatever news outlet would run with it to time it to the State of the State?  What real political damage does that cause?

* Gardner is opening a probe.

* John Hancock claims that “party officials didn’t know about the story.”  They didn’t know about this particular story, but believe me, the less than conventional nature of the Greitens marriage has been talked about in the grapevines that Hancock is plugged into since he became a serious candidate.

1/12

* According to the ex-husband of the woman Greitens allegedly blackmailed, the FBI has interviewed both him and his ex-wife.  The FBI has not yet confirmed or refuted.

1/13

* The woman now says she didn’t want this to come out at all and that the ex-husband betrayed her trust by shopping this story to the local media.

1/16

* It is my sense, reading between the lines of the news and things that people are saying,  that Republican members of the General Assembly generally lean on the side of believing the blackmail accusation.

* Now, some of the above are going on record openly with resignation calls.

* It’s getting deeper.  First off, she has to be related to Congressman Blaine Luetkemeyer, but I can’t remember precisely how offhand.  Second, while it’s not proof that the blackmail accusation is true, I think it’s indicative of something.

* And deeper still. It all depends on what the FBI, and maybe the U.S. Attorney, and Kim Gardner, all think. I don’t think that the timing of this and now four General Assembly Republicans calling for his resignation is a coincidence.

1/22

* FBI’s St. Louis office confirms an open active investigation.

2/6

* The woman’s husband has been asked to testify to the St. Louis City grand jury, according to his lawyer.  Even though Gardner has not yet confirmed that there even is a grand jury.

2/20

* Greitens is beefing up his stable of lawyers, and, like this article speculates, I think he’s anticipating the impending need for criminal defense.

2/22

* Felony indictment, officially.  From the St. Louis City circuit.  Which made me write this post.

* P-D calls for resignation.  Of course they might be partisan and hypocritical, but you also see here why his political career is shot to hell.  Not so long ago, he has Presidential ambitions.

2/24

* The MSM articles in the aftermath of the indictment note that Greitens has always had an alienated and standoffish relationship with General Assembly Republicans, compared to the soon-to-be Governor Mike Parson, who is way more of a quintessential swamp creature.

This may lead you to ask me if I think that this is something of a dog patch deep state hit.  The reasons I highly doubt that the state Republican machinery is behind this are:  (1) I have not heard any gossip that they helped feed the initial allegations to Channel 4, (2) Greitens ideologically lined up with the General Assembly Republicans very well.

The only real rub is that Greitens did what he could during his first year and change as Governor unilaterally to drain the swamp, which had the net effect of making life a lot more boring for the Jefferson City political class.  I can attest to the fact that Jeff City really isn’t a hot or hopping town, and, without lobbyists around to pay for some parties and good times, at least not to the extent that they were before Eric Greitens rode into town, life for the political class in that town while they’re there has suddenly become borderline suicidally boring.

That would point to motive on their part, motive in engineering such a hit.  But I’m not grokking a paper trail or smoking guns.

3/15

The first major consequential news about this since the indictment, which probably does quite a bit of damage to Gardner’s case.

3/19

Greitens’s lawyers are opting for a bench trial, which means for some reason, they think they’re more likely to get a not guilty verdict from a judge as opposed to a 22nd circuit jury.

3/23

I highly doubt that he’s going to be able to get a restraining order just off the fact that Greitens is a retired Navy SEAL officer.  What this is really all about?  The second to last sentence gives it away.

3/26

It will be a jury trial and start in May.

4/9

“It was only just a dream.”

If the recording was a figment of her imagination, and did not exist, then it was physically impossible for Greitens to blackmail her with it.

And now, it looks like Gardner’s office hid this obviously exculpatory testimony from Greitens’s defense lawyers.

This thing has fallen apart.  I would imagine in the coming months, Gardner and her office will be in heap big trouble, with the blatant gross ethical violations.  It’s not like she’s got such a good friend in the state AG’s office.

4/10

Gardner gets a judge to issue a gag order, probably as a last ditch effort.

4/11

The General Assembly’s report dropped today.  This doesn’t move the needle at all, because it doesn’t prove the existence of a recording.  Remember, the pregnant matter here is blackmail-with-recording.  All the salacious stuff, we could have already guessed, based on Greitens’s own confession of the affair.

What this most likely does is mean that he can forget about higher office, and he will get a credible primary challenge for re-elect in 2020.  I wouldn’t be surprised if he doesn’t seek re-elect.

4/12

The morning after:  It is moving the needle.  Mainly the allegations of borderline sexual assault.  Greitens’s antics in his preemptive presser have also caused him to lose what few friends he had in the General Assembly.  Also of curiosity is this five figure payoff to one of the witnesses.

While this report doesn’t make Gardner’s case any easier, it does make the chances that Eric Greitens will no longer be governor by the end of the year, either by hook (resignation) or crook (impeachment) all the more likely.

Talk of a self-called special session of the General Assembly, (which would be the first in state history, because, until now, governors have called all special sessions), which would start immediately after the end of the regular session next month, and for the purpose of beginning impeachment proceedings, has already started.  While this would be a PITA to a lot of legislators, because it will eat into their vacation time, it’s also an even-numbered year, which means it’s a campaign and election year for the General Assembly members that aren’t term limited out.

4/12

Also in the news today is that the video of Gardner’s deposition of the mistress, which was supposedly lost, has magically reappeared.

The irony of Greitensgate in recent days is that the criminal case against him is falling apart fast while the political case against him has taken very serious legs.

4/17

Past few days have not been profound, just a matter of Hawley and Greitens getting into a pie fight, and an otherwise private and as it turned out prescient letter that Peter Kindercare wrote about Greitens that was uncovered.

 

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Life Takes a Bite Out of Your Blogmeister (Pinned Post, Newer Content Follows Below)

Your Blogmeister’s Secret Hideout

Originally posted November 15, 2017, and frequently updated since then

This is a “sticky” post.

Since I’ve written many posts since my return to functional coherence in mid-November, any posts about my condition I wrote here upon my return, and also subsequent ones, are buried in the avalanche. So, I’m going to use the opportunity of this sticky post to link to them directly.

Between my return to functional coherence, and the restoration of most of my short term memory in mid-January, for that about two month time period, I was not inherently able to remember most people who I either knew or knew of for about five years or less.

Norm’s post on July 20, the day after the fact, just so you know what precisely happened, in case you don’t already

Norm’s post one month, then two months, then three months, after the fact.  The post summarizing September doesn’t state this directly, but I had a second hospitalization stint in the middle of the month, after which I was moved to what is still to this day as I write this my secret hideout

Best News In Months — Norm’s post on November 13 predicating my return

Hello World (Take Two) — My first post here, that evening, after almost four long months

With Some Yuge Caveats — A long and detailed run down of my condition and my near term prospects, posted not long after that

Missouri’s Loosey Goosey Texting While Driving Laws — About why my assailant will never face criminal charges, and why the law will eventually be changed

From Bugatti to Corvette — Why I’m not doing as well as it seems just from reading my writing here since my return

As I Pursue My Ph.D. in Powerology — How I’m sensing my brain is rewiring itself, after four full months of recovery

Lucky Dominoes — The series of fortunate circumstances that resulted in this not killing me instantly

As if I weren’t having enough problems, fate decided to plop down on me a very serious and frustrating case of the flu in December.

Fifth month of recovery  — Still stuck in purgatory after the fifth full month of recovery

Fourth and Very Long — The first major economic consequence of the accident for me, just after the turn of the year

Fate or Felony, followed up by Like Son Like Father — Karma is just a comforting delusion, but comforting nonetheless.

January Doldrums, Mine Eyes are Telling Another Story, Test Me, Up the Second Step.  The posts in mid-January which foretold and then announced the restoration of most of my short term memory

Four Main Courses and Weirded Out — My serial concerns as of late January

Sixth Month of Recovery — January was a good month

Seventh Month of Recovery — February was mostly hurrying up and waiting, combined with tying together some loose ends and letting go of the past

Crowdsourced Head Shrinks — My psychological problems here in the latter part of my first full year of recovery

Finality — The closure to “Fourth and Very Long”

Me Time — Six months after my last unconsciousness event, I’ve been cleared for that.

One more thing:  If the post starts with a geographical moniker of some sort, it’s me doing the writing.  If it starts with “Guest post by Puggg,” it’s Norm, the best friend anyone could ever have, doing the writing.

Eighth Month of Recovery — March’s baby steps

Actions Have Consequences

San Francisco

SF Chronicle:

As president of S.F. Travel, the city’s visitors bureau, Joe D’Alessandro’s job is to promote San Francisco. You’d think he’d be hyping the city’s gorgeous vistas, top-notch restaurants and glorious museums.

Instead, he’s getting honest.

Sure, San Francisco has great facets worthy of postcards and travel books, but it also has a worsening underbelly that D’Alessandro says he can no longer gloss over.

People injecting themselves with drugs in broad daylight, their dirty needles and other garbage strewn on the sidewalks. Tent camps. Human feces. The threatening behavior of some people who appear either mentally ill or high. Petty theft.

“The streets are filthy. There’s trash everywhere. It’s disgusting,” D’Alessandro said, adding he’s traveled the world, and San Francisco stands out for the wrong reasons. “I’ve never seen any other city like this — the homelessness, dirty streets, drug use on the streets, smash-and-grabs.

“How can it be?” he continued. “How can it have gotten to this point?”

Blogmeister raises his hand.

Back on November 14, the day of my posting storm after my return to this space, one of the many things I wrote in one of the many posts I wrote that day is that dope is the fundamental determinant of modern American socio-political life.  Which means that it’s the fundamental razor that makes the difference between left and right.  Of course, I’m generalizing.  But I tend to do a lot of that around here, so you should be used to it by now.

Because that razor means the modern left is fundamentally pro-dope to one extent or another, and the modern left is the dominant governing ideology of the modern white urban gentry ruling class, it means that said individuals propose and enact policies based on the bubbles of their own lives.  They hit the sauce when they were young, but largely outgrew it as they “grew up” (such as they do) and got on with the business of ruling San Francisco and the world.  This means that when they think of drug enforcement, they think of the possibility of the DEA raiding their dorm room so many years ago, which means they think that drug enforcement now means the DEA raiding the future versions of themselves.  You know how that goes, there but for the grace of God go I.  The modern white urban gentry neoliberal ruling class soft-pedals on dope because they’re thinking of their younger selves and younger versions of themselves.

What they don’t realize is that actions have consequences, and that not everyone in the world is like themselves.  This is why their own policies written for their own tight little social class means that half the country’s junkies and bums are moving to California, on top of the fact that California rehabadabadoo joints are recruiting flyover country junkies who have insurance (Obamacare mandates drug treatment), milk them and their insurance for every last penny, then dump ’em back on the streets when the insurance won’t pay anymore.  And they’d rather be homeless in San Francisco than living under a roof back in Iowa.

Long and short is that the things which people do for other people like them are often decidedly less than ideal for people not like them.  The people not like them will take advantage of those things if they can.

Likewise, the right-libertarians that soft pedal on dope, while their motivation is abstract and ideological instead of personal, because, like I wrote above, dope is the determinant, and since I’m discussing right-libertarians here, it means they were never personally into dope, tend to think that everyone in the world reads medical journals.  The right-libertarian attitude on dope is that nobody should use it, because Lancet, but forcing people not to use it is not a legitimate state function.  It’s easy to see that’s the attitude of someone who regularly reads medical journals.  What they don’t realize is that most people don’t read medical journals, and a lot of them just aren’t into public or private morality.  Which means the lack of drug law enforcement in the ideal right-libertarian world which is a function of the typical medical journal-reading right-libertarian not needing it also means below average IQ adolescents get strung out on dope.

If the only people in this world were white urban gentry neoliberals that outgrew dope, and right-libertarians that regularly read medical literature, we wouldn’t need much in the way of drug laws and enforcement.  It’s everyone else that you’ve gotta worry about.

I should note Joe D’Alessandro’s last name.  That’s also San Franciscan Nancy Pelosi’s maiden name.  I wonder…

Quarter Century On

Waco, Texas

Hits the nail:

Baylor professor Pitts, who was familiar with the Branch Davidians before the raid, said questions remain about whether the ATF — while seeking a budget renewal — saw the sect as a nice target “for a decisive kind of show.”

At that time, there was a very serious possibility that the ATF as a Federal law enforcement agency would be eliminated and its functionality folded into the FBI.  In the early 1990s, the ATF desperately tried to find reasons to justify its continued existence, and among those reasons was a very significantly black central Texas religious cult.

The BDs were/are basically Scientologists without the Tom Cruise.  But the ATF wasn’t going to incinerate the Scientologists, because too many important people belong to it, including the guy who flew jets around and beat the Soviets in a dogfight, all in a movie.  You can’t incinerate that kind of hero!

Back to the point, the love of money is the root of all evil.  You know, muh money, muh jobs, muh pensions, muh annual budget allotment.

Shot, Chaser, Hangover

Ferguson

All three from the P-D.

SHOT: Starbucks is turning to a type of workplace training that ‘really took off after Ferguson’

CHASER: ‘Canfield Drive’ to premiere during Black Rep’s upcoming season

HANGOVER: City, nonprofits to coordinate St. Louis blight fight, target thousands of abandoned buildings

 

Sail Foams

Boston

Why did OLPC turn out to be a flop?

Don’t make it any more difficult than it needs to be.

Sail foams.  They got cheap and ubiquitous at just the right (or wrong) time relative to the OLPC project.

Also not helping were the internet viewing habits of certain African children.

Day In Day Out

London;  Stockholm

Each day l look at our sector’s news stories, and it’s nothing but the Humanitarian Stuporpower and Cuck Island in a fierce competition to out-stupid each other.

Blue On Blue

Washington, D.C.

I might note the irony of the fact that supposed youth activism as part of effort to raise the age of one right to 21 is being used as the reason to lower the age of another right to 16.

I might note sarcastically that we need to give 16-year olds in D.C. the franchise because Presidential elections in D.C. are such razor thin margin close affairs that 16 and 17 year old voters will make the difference.

I might note that not that many 16 and 17 year olds are working these days, because of the economy-wide effects on mass Latino immigration, and really not many more are taking care of older family members.  As far as driving, by now, just about every jurisdiction only gives driving privileges to 16-year olds on a limited and restricted basis.

But I really don’t need to do any of this, because I already told you what’s really going on with this, three years ago.

It’s all a matter of blue versus blue politics within cities.

Sure, they’ll all vote for the blue team on Presidential days and for Senate and Congress, and much of everything else.  But they also have feuds and fights with each other.  Giving 16-year olds the vote is a way for one blue faction to weaponize 16 and 17 year olds against another.  One big instant winner from this would be the American Federation of Teachers (AFT), the teachers’ union that dominates urban public school districts.  I also think this would be a way for the populist militant street left to get a shot in the arm in their battle against the gentry neoliberals in their own cities.

Court Is Adjourned

Asheville, North Carolina

Harry Anderson, RIP.

For a soft comedy show, the theme music really did have a happening bass line.

I most identified with the Dan Fielding character, the city attorney, played by John Larroquette.  After NC, his next show would be his eponymously titled show, one the very few shows set in St. Louis.