The Press-Dispatch
Issue link: https://www.ifoldsflip.com/i/1343317
The Press-Dispatch Wednesday, Feburar y 24, 2021 B-5 formant. Various Proud Boys members were identified in the destructive Janu- ary 6 rampage through the U.S. Capitol. Tarrio wasn't there because he was inter- cepted by Washington police before the rally, supposedly, and banished from the city by a Superior Court judge until June. There's more than one way for agents provocateurs to discredit opponents. Sometimes there can be entrapment, when the target is enticed or exhorted to commit criminal acts. Sometimes it's just disastrous publicity, when the tar- get is blamed for some outrageous act. In 1933 Germany, it was the burning of the Reichstag, which was their national parliament. It's difficult to say whether, as alleged, Nazi propaganda minister Joseph Goeb- bels masterminded a scheme to send 10 arsonists through a tunnel from Her- mann Goring's official residence to set the blazes. It's utterly implausible, how- ever, that fall guy Marinus van der Lubbe was able to ignite all the blazes that con- verged to gut the large building. Goring, who was president of the Re- ichstag, oversaw the official investigation and quickly assigned guilt to the Nazis' principal enemies at the time. February 27 is the anniversary of that arson, which provided Hitler a pretext to seize absolute power. Until then, Hitler was merely an appointed Chancellor over a divided German government. The ma- jority of his Cabinet wasn't Nazi, and his party had only won 18 percent in the pre- vious parliamentary election. But the fire turned German public opinion against the Nazis' opponents, and Hitler convinced 85 -year-old Presi- dent Paul von Hindenberg to declare the fateful "Decree for the Protection of the People and the State." The decree was badly misnamed. It stripped the Ger- man people of their rights of free speech, free press and the right to assemble. It stripped them of their property rights. It's difficult to imagine that the ex- hausted old president sought any consul- tation or gave any serious deliberation to the measure that he signed the very next day after the arson. He just signed what- ever the young, vigorous Hitler urged on him. The timing could not have been any better for the Nazis. Parliamentary elec- tions followed less than a week after the burning of the Reichstag. The Nazis took 44 percent this time, still not a majority, but they were now the largest party in Germany, able to form an alliance that put them over the top and this put them in control of the government. Menaced by Nazi S.A. street muscle, the parliament surrendered its powers to the (executive-branch) Cabinet un- der Hitler. The Nazi regime sent its own governors out to take authority over the states, and eventually the states were abolished altogether. Heinrich Himmler turned the Bavar- ian police into a politically reliable Na- zi asset; Goring transformed the Prus- sian state police into the Gestapo. When the ancient president finally died, Hitler combined the power of both Chancellor and President. When he assumed person- al command of all three branches of the German military, no checks and balanc- es remained. The German regime was totalitarian. It's not always true that hindsight is 20/20. We think of Germans in that era as perfect candidates for savagery and bloodthirsty military adventurism, as genocidal barbarians just waiting to hap- pen. But they weren't. Germans were pos- sibly the wisest, most refined, most civ- ilized, most accomplished people on the planet before their descent into barba- rism in the 20th Century. They were so tolerant and inclusive that the membership of some German cultural organizations in the U.S. were majority Jewish. The foremost advocates of German philosophy and music on U.S. college faculties were often Jewish. We shouldn't flatter ourselves that we are too tolerant or too inclusive to ever resem- ble the Nazis. In Germany, simply stated, the good people lost and the worst people won. Nazis assassinated the Catholic Bish- op of Munich. They eventually execut- ed Dietrich Bonhoeffer. Christian con- science was hushed, not only by violent state-sponsored thugs, but by fellow be- lievers who didn't want to make waves, didn't want to be resented. The decent Germans brought a knife to the gunfight. They permitted their pre-Nazi leadership to stampede them in- to self-disarmament after some frighten- ing street violence in their cities. Those who complied with gun registration and who submitted to annual renewal of gun permits found themselves gradually dis- armed by Nazi clerks. Within a few years, they were entirely at the mercy of the Ge- stapo. The Nazis must have noticed how easy it was, in the wake of news hyste- ria, to herd compliant Germans into lines to turn in their firearms, or to register them, and to let a clerk decide wheth- er they should be armed or not. They found the same strategy dependable in the burning of the Reichstag. Instead of firearms, the citizens surrendered their checks and balances, their property rights, their Constitutional liberties and their reliance on individual conscience. It seemed like a smart deal at the time, but it eventually cost them their sons drafted for bloody military disas- ters, their cities bombed into oblivion, and many of their daughters and wives gang-raped by Soviet avengers. Manufactured hysteria has enjoyed an encore in 21st-Century America. I flew into Washington DC on the af- ternoon of January 6. I missed Donald Trump's speech, and MAGA people were already at the Capitol when I arrived. Public transportation to the Capitol ar- ea was already suspended by District of Columbia municipal officials, so I rode their subway to a different location and navigated back through neighborhoods to the Capitol. The first MAGA hat I saw in Washing- ton was on a fellow subway passenger, about my age, who was carrying a cheap aluminum-frame lawn chair, the kind you bring to a picnic or a grandchild's soccer match. At our age, an insurrectionist has got to know his limits. Constitution Avenue was closed to vehicles, but there were a great many pedestrians coming back my way as I walked toward the Capitol. They came in waves. There were an awful lot of large U.S. flags and some Trump flags. I guessed they had made their point, and were going home. What I witnessed when I arrived at the Northwest side of the Capitol: a mostly middle-aged and older crowd waving flags, singing and chanting. They sang the national anthem, the Battle Hymn of the Republic, and America the Beautiful. There was a call-and-response chant of "Whose House? Our House! " I saw no sign of police except for their fleet of ve- hicles arrayed along our flank. I heard no chants to hang Mike Pence. I saw no property destruction, al- though people in front of us did remove portable crowd control stanchions and leaned them against low walls to serve as step ladders to the next higher terrace. We're citizens, not cattle. We're not go- ing to be fenced and herded. Let's be clear about something: we do not profane the Capitol by our mere presence. There is nothing disgraceful or unsavory about the people assembling at their legislature to petition for the re- dress of grievances. These are, in fact, two explicit Constitutional rights. The Capitol exists for our representa- tion and empowerment, not to subdue us. It belongs to us. When you hear high and mighty politicians speak of us "desecrat- ing" the Capitol by being there, you know that they not only wish we would go away, but that they feel entitled to our apathy and silence. Arlene of North Carolina asked to bor- row a cell phone after hers went dead, so she could contact her companions and co- ordinate rides back to their Virginia ho- tel. Unfortunately and mysteriously, my phone also went dead although my bat- tery wasn't low. Soon we learned that rioters had en- tered the South entrance, and rampaged inside. MAGA patriots at the Northwest side learned of this from news broad- casts, and from phone calls they re- ceived from friends inside. They passed the word about an unarmed young wom- an being shot by Capitol Police, and pro- vided some gruesome details. We didn't know yet that she was going to die, but one fiftyish lady knew who she was. She said her son had served in the Air Force with her, and knew her to be an ardent patriot, not Antifa. The young woman was a rioter, of course. I'm not sure she deserved to be shot dead, but it's rarely a good idea to frighten an armed police officer. I heard modest muffled explosions spaced about twenty minutes apart, but I couldn't tell what direction the sound came from. They got louder, more fre- quent, and closer until I realized they were coming from inside the Capitol building. Then I recognized the explo- sions as the sound of tear gas canisters. Police emerged from the Capitol build- ing, and popped gas overhead. So far as I could tell, it was unprovoked. Now the somber crowd got angry. It was the only time I heard chants of "traitor! " and it was directed at police skirmishers, not Mike Pence. There was also some angry pro- fanity from the younger guys as police continued to drive the assembled MAGA crowd off the upper flanks of the Capitol. I don't know how long all that lasted, because I had a flight to catch. I made my way back to the airport and flew out ahead of silly curfews in the District of Columbia and Northern Virginia. A fter I got to television sets in the airport gates, I got a look at the people who rioted in- side the Capitol. Antifa people don't have bar codes on their foreheads. I don't know how many of them were inside with the MAGA peo- ple. Bug-eyed Salt Lake City Antifa ad- venturer Jon Sullivan was there. When he was interviewed on television, he came off as an earnest citizen journalist. But he's on tape exhorting the rioters to burn it all down. Sullivan later picked up two $ 35,000 checks from television news networks for his interview and film footage from inside the riot. It was a nifty payday for a rent-a-riot that might have amazed Eu- gene Francois Vidocq himself. I don't pretend that I can always pick out MAGA people on sight. We don't all look alike. But some of the freaks I saw in that televised riot stuck out like sore thumbs.The bare-chested guy with horns? That's not a MAGA look. I read that he's been seen at climate protests previously. Yet the mainstream media stubbornly identify him as a pro-Trump insurrectionist, thus smearing us with his crimes. Whoever committed crimes of vio- lence or property destruction inside the Capitol on January 6 should be prosecut- ed, regardless of their politics. But a trou- bling pattern is emerging from the crim- inal investigation: FBI and prosecutors lean on the defendant, plea-bargaining until he denounces Trump. Somebody calls media contacts and the next thing you know, the attention-seeking hooligan is being quoted sympathetically as a sad- der, wiser, former Trump supporter. This is politics, not law enforcement. Riddle me this: if Trump's speech end- ed at 1:15 pm and if it's about a 30 -min- ute walk from the site of that speech to the Capitol, how could Trump's speech in- cite a riot that began around 12:50 pm? Trump has surprised me a lot over the past four years. I stopped betting against Trump at least a couple of years ago. But I still don't think he could spark an insur- rection retroactively. The House and Senate have their own security apparatus at the Capitol. On whose orders were unmarked vehi- cles admitted past the barricades to dis- gorge civilians at the entrance, and who told Capitol Police to let them inside? It's difficult to believe that decision was casu- al, or that a low-level police officer made that call. Who were those civilians, and what was their role in the riot? The Insurrection narrative has pro- vided cover for a power grab unhin- dered by public debate, examination or oversight. Like Hindenberg, a frail Joe Biden appears to be signing everything his eager young usurpers push across his desk, whether it's opening military enlist- ment and its medical benefits to nonde- ployable transgenders, or committing us to the Paris climate treaty without seek- ing Constitutionally required two-thirds Senate ratification. His pace of executive orders overtook Franklin Roosevelt just two weeks into his administration. He and his appointee over the Department of Defense contin- ue to speak darkly and vaguely of white supremacy among police officers, active military and veterans. This is sounding like an ominous pretext for a wide-rang- ing purge of conservative patriots. Senate Democrats are moving to strip Sen. Josh Hawley of committee assign- ments and perhaps expel him from the Senate altogether because he objected to the certification of certain states' fraudu- lent vote counts. If Capitol Hill Democrats, Nevertrump Republicans, mainstream news media gatekeepers and social media tycoons fail to raise their finest stemware in a private toast to Goebbels and the 1933 Reichstag blueprint this Sunday, they'll be guilty of ingratitude. coast of Mediterranean. He apparently died 339 AD. He was a historian of Christian- ity and became the Bishop of Ceasaria about 314 AD. He was a scholar of the Biblical Canon and one of the most learned Christians of his time. He also provid- ed a biographical work of the first Christian emperor, Con- stantine the Great, who ruled between 306 and 337 AD. He wrote demonstrations of the Gospel, preparations for the gospel on Discrepan- cies between the Gospels, studies of the Biblical texts. As "Father of Church Histo- ry", he produced the Ecclesi- astical History, on the life of Pamphilus, and On the Mar- tyrs. Eusebius had a son, St. Je- rome, who was a Latin Priest, theologian and historian. Je- rome was best known for his translation of most of the Bi- ble into Latin (The Vulgate) and his commentaries on the Gospels. I'm getting deep into histo- ry and the more I read on this topic. I will likely be putting to sleep the ones reading this article, so, let's quit for now. • • • Let's shift gears and share some good habits that have been constantly hammered by the experts regarding Covid-19. Please get your vaccine once you become eligible. Continue to wash hands reg- ularly, wear masks, drink plenty of fluids, rest ade- quately, avoid prolonged stress, eat healthy, avoid crowds (especially in poor ventilated areas), and follow official recommendations by health officials who are au- thorities on this matter. In all my years of doing health care, I have never seen such a gigantic tsuna- mi of concern about an ill- ness of this magnitude. Let's all be calm but vigilant and use common sense and good sense. I'm confident we will get over this but I can't tell when. It seems the numbers of new cases and hospitalizations have come down. The num- ber of deaths in the USA and worldwide are indeed stag- gering. Then we now hear about new COVID variants evolving. Pray for those who are suf- fering from the harsh win- ter weather. It will be spring again in a few weeks. Peace to all. • • • Humor of the week: An elderly lady spoke to her pas- tor. She said, "Pastor, when my time is up, I hope I don't have to suffer much. I hope to just pass on peacefully in my sleep. No tubes, no IVs, no ventilator and so forth." So the pastor said, "That is certainly a blessed way to go." So one Sunday, the la- dy attended a church ser- vice, and in the middle of a long sermon, she fell asleep then suddenly crashed. She got her wish indeed. Have a blessed week. It will be spring soon. Republicans must unify to continue working to restore American greatness and keep focus on the real ene- my: A corrupt, deeply con- fused and dangerous left- wing regime now holds the reins of power in our nation. Star Parker is president of the Center for Urban Renew- al and Education and host of the new weekly news talk show "Cure America with Star Parker." UNIFY Continued from page 4 Court Report CRIMINAL DOCKET Pike Circuit Court Larry Alton Barr charged with count I operating a vehicle while intoxicated, a class C misdemeanor; count II operat- ing a vehicle while intoxicated with a pri- or conviction within seven years, a Lev- el 6 felony. Billy Joe Moore charged with count I maintaining a common nuisance (con- trolled substances), a Level 6 felony; count II possession of meth basic offense for any amount below five grams, a Lev- el 6 felony; unlawful possession of a sy- ringe, a Level 6 felony. Bobby J. Moore charged with main- taining a common nuisance (controlled substance), a Level 6 felony. Josh Lee Hyneman charged with count I intimidation, a Level 6 felony, count II theft, a class A misdemeanor and count III battery, a level B misdemeanor. Robert J. Moore charged with count I maintaining a common nuisance (con- trolled substance) a Level 6 felony and count II possession of paraphernalia, a class C misdemeanor. TRAFFIC AND MISDEMEANOR Pike Circuit Court Jared W. Coomes charged with domes- tic battery, a class A misdemeanor. INFRACTIONS Pike Circuit Court Gabriel L. Farnsley charged with speeding exceeding 70 mph in on inter- state, a class C infraction. Alvin B. Underhill disregarding light- ed signal, a class C infraction. Antonio A. Guardado charged with speeding exceeding 55 mph. John Lennon Boggs charged with speeding exceeding 70 mph in on inter- state, a class C infraction. Hiram M. Nieves charged with speed- ing exceeding 55 mph. Nathan Tanner charged with speeding exceeding 70 mph in on interstate, a class C infraction. Neisa Renee Rodriguez charged with speeding exceeding 70 mph in on inter- state, a class C infraction. James Douglas Townley charged with speeding exceeding 70 mph in on inter- state, a class C infraction. SMALL CLAIMS Pike Circuit Court Hoosier Accounts Service sues Mat- thew A. Braunecker on complaint. Hoosier Accounts Service sues Jacob M. Hildenbrand on complaint. Hoosier Accounts Service sues Jamie Earls on complaint. Hoosier Accounts Service sues Jason Johnson on complaint. Hoosier Accounts Service sues Made- lyne Hughes on complaint. Hoosier Accounts Service sues Brian E. Kuhn on complaint. Hoosier Accounts Service sues Kerry R. France on complaint. Hoosier Accounts Service sues Sarah B. Kendall on complaint. CIVIL DOCKET Pike Circuit Court Capital One Bank (USA) sues Jenifer Shepherd on complaint. going to be for their advan- tage. It is going to be to shape laws; it is going to be to shape elections." Companies like Face- book, Twitter and Google say they won't do that, al- though there's evidence they already have; Facebook hid the New York Post's reporting on Hunter Biden. The companies also prom- ise to protect our priva- cy. They say they don't just give information to the gov- ernment. But they do. Our government routinely forces them to turn it over. "Why is it so much worse that our government has it? " I ask Snowden. "Google can sell you a dif- ferent pair of shoes on the basis of what it knows about you... but they can't put you in jail," he replies. "They can't bomb you. The govern- ment can." It is creepy that former Google Chairman Eric Schmidt said, "If you have something that you don't want anyone to know, may- be you shouldn't be doing it in the first place." Snowden points out that this suggests "that we should have to constrain our intellectual curiosity... be- cause we could someday be judged on it...(But) who de- cides what is normal, what's acceptable...?! In a free soci- ety, we are allowed to be dif- ferent." Good point. Snowden advises people to encrypt their phones. "Your phone tries to reach this other person, wherever they are in the world. It has to go through the Starbucks that you're sitting at, through an internet service provider, through a data center. At any one of these points, anybody sitting on that line can snatch a copy of the conversation." WhatsApp won customers by offering encryption that prevents that. "An encrypted message cannot be unlocked without a mathematical key," explains Snowden. "That de- feats mass surveillance." But then Facebook bought WhatsApp, and later Face- book announced it will share WhatsApp data. Customers fled. "Fewer and fewer people use plain voice (and) plain SMS," says Snowden. "Now they're using encrypted mes- sages like the Signal messen- ger." That makes it harder for government, and companies, to learn so much about us. "Everywhere you go, ev- erything you do, everyone you interact with and every- thing you are interested in is being collected and recorded and analyzed and assessed. We don't know how that is being applied yet, but we do know once they have this in- formation, we can't take it back from them." DuckDuckGo, anyone? John Stossel is author of "Give Me a Break: How I Ex- posed Hucksters, Cheats, and Scam Artists and Became the Scourge of the Liberal Media." PRIVACY Continued from page 4 LENTEN Continued from page 4 REICHSTAG Continued from page 4 over the past year means more, not fewer, revenues for schools. Perhaps it is time for flash- fire local tax revolts led by homeowners demanding some of their money back. If school authorities claim no budget savings, school boards and mayors have a fiduciary obligation to re - quire full audits to determine where all the money went. For example, we know that many school districts scan- dalously continued to waste millions of dollars of tax mon- ey running school buses for months. The Naperville story is also instructive because it points to the fiscal lunacy of President Joe Biden's "stim- ulus" proposal for the feder- al government to give $170 billion to the nation's pub- lic schools. Hundreds of pri- vate and Catholic schools in some of the most impover- ished areas have kept their doors open without extra fi- nancial help. Why do schools that have closed their doors for nearly a year need MORE money? The people who deserve a break are the tens of mil- lions of taxpayers who paid for public educational ser- vices not rendered. Stephen Moore is a senior fellow at the Heritage Foun- dation and an economic con- sultant with FreedomWorks. He is the co-author of "Trum- ponomics: Inside the America First Plan to Revive the Amer- ican Economy." SCHOOL Continued from page 4