E-Mail Editorials 2023

THE BADGETHE BEST OF CHUCK KLEIN Circa 1957 front 2nd The Way it WasTHE BADGE

 

 

 

 
  

Previous Weekly Editorials

 These short, weekly editorials have been going out to my private list of 300 +/- readers for over 10 years. If you would like to be included please email: cklein@chuckkleinauthor.com

Subject: LEO Creed
 
Date Sent: 6 Jun 2023
 
Police officers are in the business of bravery, honesty and integrity. This is their stock-in-trade, forte', signature, persona, identification and what differentiates them from all other professions. 
 
To fight the unbeatable foe,
To run where the brave dare not go,
To right the unrightable wrong;
And I know, if I remain true
To this glorious quest,
That my heart will lie peaceful and calm
When I’m laid to my rest (1)
 
A police officer who doesn't believe that cowardice is a destiny worse than death, is in the wrong business.
 
"I do not know what fate awaits me,
I only know I must be brave,
for I must face the man who hates me,
or lie a coward, a craven coward,
or lie a coward in my grave" (2).
 
(1) The Impossible dream (The Quest). Lyrics excerpt from the Broadway show and film: The Man of La Mancha, 1965, Joe Darion.
(2) Excerpt from theme song to High Noon. The movie version had slightly different wording that included the character’s name, Frank Miller. Not to offend persons of that name, the wording was changed for the recorded version, made popular by singer Frankie Lane. 
 
Chuck Klein
https://chuckklein.com
 
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Subject: Memorial Day Not Forgotten
 
Date Sent: 30 May 2023
 
Memorial Day Not Forgotten
 
GOD BLESS AMERICA
And our troops, law officers and all of Her guardians.
 
LAND THAT I LOVE
Those who know this love are truly the Blessed People.
 
STAND BESIDE HER, AND GUIDE HER,
As God stands to safeguard us, we align ourselves shoulder to shoulder
while bowing our heads in thanks for His protection and guidance.
 
THRU THE NIGHT WITH A LIGHT FROM ABOVE.
Dusk to dawn and sunrise to sunset, we are humbled
by His radiant supremacy and power.
 
FROM THE MOUNTAINS, TO THE PRAIRIES,
Forging straight up from the great prairies of gilded grain,
like a church spire paying homage to the heavens,
to symbolize our faith in Him.
 
TO THE OCEANS, WHITE WITH FOAM
Seas of Blessed People of all colors, each seeking
the purity only He can bestow.
 
GOD BLESS AMERICA, MY HOME SWEET HOME.
May God continue to bless the Blessed People
as this is their homeland forevermore.
 
Lyrics by Irving Berlin
Annotation by Chuck Klein, © 2012
 
Chuck Klein
https://chuckklein.com
 
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Subject: Greatest Fear
 
Date Sent: 23 May 2023
 
What's your greatest fear: Jack-booted thugs coming for you in the middle of the night … or that you won't be able to voice your worry that jack-booted thugs are coming?
Those on the Left fear Republicans will generate fascism where neo-Nazi ultra-conservatives will banish all others. History is full of tyrants whose over-zealous minions physically attack, destroy and/or incarcerate anyone who opposes their ways. Their fears are not without merit.
The Right tends to believe Democrats will utilize their powers of the press, government office, unions and control of the schools for more subtle methods such as: indoctrination of wokeness, stifling abilities to physically protect oneself and promoting mob rule where riots are encouraged to force change while shouting down all opposition. Their fears are not without merit. 
Most likely, change will be back & forth, ebb & flow, yin-yang with neither the right nor left taking complete control. However, a powerful and dramatic Crash of '29/Pearl Harbor type triggering event could rapidly alter everything.
 
Chuck Klein
https://chuckklein.com 
 
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Subject: Cats
 
Date Sent: 16 May 2023
 
There has been a spate of recent articles in various publications claiming to interpret - to know - what a cat is saying when it meows. As a long time cat lover, I thought it might help to hear the truth, directly (so to speak), from the cat's mouth: 
"Other than to signify mealtime, only kittens message vocally. When mature sophisticated cats wish to communicate, we do so with our tail, eyes and body language. Sans intelligence on our level, dogs wag their tail when happy … when we move ours it means we are displeased, and you should be paying attention. A dog can be mistreated, ignored and/or not fed and it will immediately come for a petting upon being called - tail wagging and smiling. So much as look at a cat in an unfavorable way and we will turn our back to you, give you the evil eye and hold a grudge for at least a day. Dogs have masters … cats have staff. Therefore, and at the risk of being highly presumptuous, I have transmitted this missive to my Chief of Staff for dissemination."  
 
Chuck Klein, Kitty's Chief of Staff
https://chuckklein.com
 
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Subject: Perpetual Motion
 
Date Sent: 9 May 2023
 
  Many of the Me/Boomer Generation pursued liberal arts diplomas because they considered business, engineering, science degrees... to be for the bourgeois. This life choice produced liberalism that beget Democrat voters that led to careers centered on teaching, politics and government bureaucracy. As they gained political power and control of teachers' unions, they were able to indoctrinate a socialist mindset into the next generation of malleable minds - a tax-payer funded, union supported perpetual motion. The conservatives didn’t see it coming. 
 
  Talk for the past two years has been a recession is looming … but it doesn’t happen if people have money even if these funds come from the government. Democrats have figured out that they have a giant credit card they insert into a government ATM that spews out an endless stream of dollars and get-out-of-debt-free cards. The beauty of this system is never having to pay - just keep raising the "debt ceiling". This "free" money is dispensed to the unemployed, under-employed, homeless, business bailouts… creating a virtual perpetual motion of a never-ending progressing economy. The monetary crash might still be years away if a balance of interest rates to inflation to employment to free money is maintained. 
 
Chuck Klein
https://chuckklein.com
 
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Subject: Yes or No
 
Date Sent: 2 May 2023
 
These are black or white, yes or no questions. 
Do you believe it is justifiable:
 
* To leak secret government information because it goes against your beliefs?
* To publish leaked secret government information without identifying the source?
* For members of a legislative branch to disrupt an in-session meeting because the majority won’t vote for their agenda? 
* To trash/burn/loot private businesses as protest of social or government issues you are against?
* To release persons charged with a felony, sans bail?
* To riot because you believe an election was stolen? 
* To trash-talk another behind their back? 
* To harass government officials in public places or at their home?
* To refuse to take arms against your King who you considered unjust? 
* To refuse to take arms against states that were seditious? 
* For college students to shout down invited guest speakers whose political views they don’t accept? 
* To refuse to apologize for commission of a social error? 
 
My guess is half will say yes and half will say no; and therein lies the problem. The solution: Teach the Constitution and the Ten Commandments in schools. 
 
Chuck Klein
https://chuckklein.com
 
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Subject: Time
 
Date Sent: 25 Apr 2023
 
Though we might destroy ourselves and our planet with pollution, over-population and wars, the possibility of escaping Earth by moving to another planet is dependent upon conquering time. In other words, due to the great distances involved, we would need to stop time or advance/retard it while we make the move. 
 
Even if we could travel at the fastest speed known to us – the speed of light (186,000 miles/second) - we couldn’t reach the nearest stars in a human lifetime. Some stars are a hundred plus lightyears away (a lightyear is the distance light travels in a year – 186,000x60x60x24x365). Current technology produces rocket speeds of only about 8,000 miles/second. 
 
G_d may not have provided us, mere mortals, with the ability to conquer the 4th dimension, as thus empowered, we might be tempted to alter His future plans and designs or revise the past. Imagine life today if we could go back in time and halt the birth of Hitler, stop the Crucifixion or have Adam kill the serpent …. or go forward and change…. 
 
Chuck Klein
https://chuckklein.com
 
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Subject: Impartial?
 
Date Sent: 18 Apr 2023
 
The 6th Amendment: “In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury….” 
 
Are there 12 people anywhere – especially in the democratic stronghold NYC - who do not hold an opinion on Trump? For the thrill, bragging rights and excitement just to be part of this historic event, would you believe someone who claims they have no bias for or against DJT? If you were Trump, would you believe any voter who says they have no opinion about you? 
 
Of course, jurors just like witnesses, are expected to swear to tell the truth about their impartiality. However, the judge – who testifies each time he/she rules on objections or motions – is not sworn to tell the truth about his/her impartiality. In other words, the judge – who votes just like everyone else – would surely have an opinion as to the creditability of Trump, the evidence and/or his witnesses. 
 
Chuck Klein
https://chuckklein.com
 
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Subject: Law
 
Date Sent: 11 Apr 2023
 
LEOs in TN discover a car believed to be stolen with a driver asleep at the wheel and the engine running. Two officers enter the vehicle an awaken the driver who then speeds away causing one officer to fall from the vehicle and the second LEO to shoot and kill the driver. Who hires and trains cops to NOT merely tap in the window to awaken the driver AFTER blocking the stolen vehicle with their patrol car?
 
Also in TN, members of the Tennessee General Assembly House voted by a 2/3s majority to expel two Black members for disrupting the lawful meeting of this legislative branch. They did not expel a third White member because she did not use a bullhorn to disrupt the meeting. This sends the message that if you disrupt a legitimate and official meeting – but don’t use a bullhorn - you won’t be punished, but will get a pat on the back from Biden and Harris. Is this about racism, gun control or … the end of the rule of law? 
 
Chicago, a city overrun with crime, has elected a progressive rather than a tough-on-crime candidate for mayor. Both are Democrats. Think criminals are in fear? 
 
Chuck Klein
https://chuckklein.com
 
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Subject: Probable Cause
 
Date Sent: 4 Apr 2023
 
Trump was indicted by a “Grand Jury”. The 5th Amendment to the Constitution states: “No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a grand jury….” However, GJ is not defined. 
 
The “Grand Jury” has come to mean: A state or federal, secret jury impaneled to inquire into the commission of crimes … a group of people (9-24) selected to sit on a jury for the sole purpose of deciding if there is probable cause to bring formal charges (indictment). Probable cause means: Is it most likely that the person under investigation violated a certain law. 
 
A GJ, as opposed to a petit (trial) jury, is where only the prosecutor puts forth testimony and evidence - without any input from the accused or his/her attorney. Similar to a preliminary hearing, this is a safe-guard/check against political persecution by the executive branch. Politics, of course can play into all matters including the judicial branch, to wit: the NYC prosecutor is a Democrat as are the over-whelming number of NYC voters/jurors. In other words, there is probable cause to believe the Trump indictment is politically motivated. 
 
Chuck Klein
https://chuckklein.com
 
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Subject: Elements
 
Date Sent 28 Mar 2023
 
Three elements for successful prosecution of an offense:
1)  Motive: What was the reason the offender committed the alleged offense? Though not necessarily a factor in all crimes, it is most significant if a motive can be established. 
2) Means: Did the alleged offender have the ability to commit the alleged offense? A mute can’t yell fire in a theater.
3) Opportunity: Was the alleged offender present at the scene? Alibis as to who was where and when is paramount. 
 
The three elements are contingent upon two types of evidence: forensic and eye/ear witnesses: Eye/ear testimony is the least reliable of all evidence. Whether the witness is the victim, the accused or uninvolved third-party, a human’s comprehension and memories of events can be influenced by many factors such as: alcohol/drugs, ambient noise/lighting, confusion due to stress, evil intent and what could be called rigid-faith - believing what one wants to believe while ignoring the possibility that they could be wrong. The trustworthiness of any eye/ear testimony can be based on the witnesses’ past acts or utterances. In other words - creditability - does the witness have a history of truthfulness or untruthfulness?  
 
Chuck Klein
https://chuckklein.com 
 
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Subject: AI &DF
 
Date Sent: 21 Mar 2023
 
AI (artificial intelligence) is becoming more powerful to the extent that it is being used to write H.S. term papers, magazine articles even books. But the problem is in its use for producing Deepfakes – especially DFs utilized by governments. A Deepfake is the modern version of WW2 era Black Propaganda where false printed material included military orders and lies circulated by flyers and newspapers. Created by the British and American espionage agencies they caused much confusion among the Nazis. Deepfake is an alternate reality. In other words, not only does one accept what was tendered as factual and real but also believes the source is real. 
 
Today’s Deepfake misinformation is being deployed against commercial institutions, news/social media and military either via hacking or various broadcasting publications. How do you know if the report you’re hearing/reading is true? Ofttimes, you don’t … and might never know for sure. Good DFs are subtle and accumulating. GIGO (garbage in – garbage out) doesn’t apply anymore inasmuch as the AI’s definition of garbage could be a Deepfake. 
 
Solution: Out Government might consider beginning its own DFs on social media indoctrination programs … oh wait isn’t that what the CIA and the FBI have been doing?  
 
Chuck Klein
https://chuckklein.com
 
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Subject: Email Editorials
 
Date Sent: 14 Mar 2023
 
My Tuesday editorial email has been absent due to system malfunctions that are still on-going.  
 
The problems began around 20 Feb with the inability to send or receive emails via Outlook using HughesNet as my satellite service. I can send/receive only by logging in directly to outlook.office.com.   
 
If you are having problems with OUTLOOK or Hughes.Net, please let me know.  
 
Chuck Klein 
 
https://chuckklein.com 
 
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Subject: Explanations
 
Date Sent: 21 Feb 2023
 
Quid pro Quo: Something for something: I give you $10 and you give me $10 worth of goods – no goods/no money and vice-versa. We give the government tax money in return for managing the nation. However, failure to pay taxes means prison while the government officials who fail to manage our nation ... sure they can be voted out, but they still receive a handsome pension.  See Revolution below.
 
Lies: Personal lies we tell ourselves: I have no prejudice; my child would never do that; I’m not addicted, I can quit anytime…. Lies our government tells us: We know they are lying; they know we know they are lying, but they keep lying to us, and we keep pretending to believe them. The Russians have a word for this: Vranyo – the collective participation of deception. See Revolution below.
 
Revolution: A revolution occurs when a limited number of people convince a significant number of others to revolt, such as, against: An unjust King (1776) or an unjust Union (1861). So far, an insufficient number of people have not generated enough indignation to cause a full-scale revolution due to: Crime, media bias, election results, politically motivated investigations, government corruption/incompetence…. 
 
Chuck Klein, author
https://chuckkleinauthor.com
 
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Subject: One Vote
 
Date Sent: 14 Feb 2023
 
Though the Constitution does not say “one vote, one person,” SCOTUS has ruled to the effect that each person is allowed to vote for the election of his/her representatives in government. The problem is, there are only minimal standards as to which persons are vote-empowered. Perhaps, the criteria should be based on those who receive (on the government dole) and those who contribute (pay taxes). 
 
Therefore, it is tendered that only those who have proof they are current with their federal income taxes should be allowed to vote in federal elections. The IRS (to give the 76K new hires something to do) would issue ID cards certifying the voter/payer is tax compliant. In other words, if you’re paying taxes that are spent to take care of others, you get to vote. If, however, you don’t pay taxes OR decide not to disclose your tax return, you will not be permitted to cast a vote in federal elections. 
 
In still other words, why should those who are not contributing to the national well fare  – paying their fair share - but taking from it, be allowed to decide how much they should receive? 
 
Chuck Klein
https://chuckklein.com
 
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Subject: Black History
 
Date Sent: 7 Feb 2023
 
UNCLE TOM: A pious and subservient slave character in Harriet Beecher Stowe's, Uncle Tom's Cabin (1851). The term has come to mean anyone who is overeager to win the approval of masters/employers. It has become a symbol how other peoples have had to behave in order to survive. 
 
JIM CROW (Not a real person): A song-and-dance routine (ca. 1830) - performed by a black-faced white man who danced a ridiculous and degrading jig that depicted Blacks as inferior. Thus, any law segregating Blacks from Whites became known as "Jim Crow Laws." 
 
DRED SCOTT: Mr. Scott sued to establish that he was free because he had lived in a free state. SCOTUS, in the political-correctness of the era, ruled (1857): “Negroes were not citizens and therefore could not sue in federal courts....” The case influenced passage of the 13th and 14th Amendments. 
 
REPARATIONS: If not for the slave-traders, the ancestors of the slaves would have remained in African … and African-Americans wouldn’t be experiencing the high-standard of living they have today. 
 
Chuck Klein
https://chuckklein.com
 
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Subject: Systemic
 
Date Sent: 31 Jan 2023
 
How did we get to the point that 5 Black LEOs beat a Black traffic violator to death? It surely isn’t racism as the media and progressives have championed when white cops were involved. Is the problem systemic? Of course … systemic liberalism - the failure to educate parents to teach their children not to violate the law. This unintentional and unacknowledged mindset begot a systemic conspiracy of media and the education systems that created today’s generation of criminal attitudes. 
 
It started 40-50 years ago with the concept that police department staffs should be made up to equal the community they serve. To do this required lowering the standards. Rather than focus on interviews, physical, mental and background tests, recruits were selected based on unofficial quotas to be sure the department had proportional representatives of short, tall, over-weight, young, old, Black, Hispanic LGBT, women…. 
 
Do we need change? Yes: 1) Accept only recruits who successfully pass common-sense based written exams, subjective oral assessments and rigorous physical agility/strength tests. 2) Disqualification for any drug/criminal history. 3) The elimination of quotas. 4) Require college degrees to include courses on ethics and morals based on the ideals of law & order. 
 
Chuck Klein
https://chuckklein.com
 
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Subject: Jury Trials
 
Date Sent: 24 Jan 2023
 
Trial by jury is guaranteed by two Amendments to the Constitution, but doesn't cover all contingencies.
 
AMENDMENT VI: “In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury....” (Exceptions include cases of impeachment and SCOTUS rulings covering most juvenile matters and petty offenses/infractions).
 
A crime is any act for which there is a statute prohibiting it AND a punishment for violating it. After being charged with a crime, the accused is entitled to a speedy (without unreasonable delay, as defined by statute) and a public trial (no trial can be held in secret). Without these safeguards, one could be deprived of liberty while being held for extended periods of time and without ever going to trial. 
 
AMENDMENT VII: “In suits at common law, where the value in controversy shall exceed twenty dollars, the right of trial by jury shall be preserved…,”
 
Though the right to a jury trial for civil suits is guaranteed, it does not include suits in equity, divorce, trust enforcement, suits for injunction, accounting, contract enforcement and other matters. In other words, unless the civil suit is for $20 or more, a jury trial is not guaranteed.  
 
Chuck Klein
https://chuckklein.com
 
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Subject: Nationalism
 
Date Sent: 17 Jan 2023
 
In 1948 the voting Arab population of Israel was 0.0%. Progressive/liberal doctrine has led to today’s 20%. At this rate Arabs voters will eventually control the Jewish State of Israel. The times they have ‘a changed. The new head of the Israeli Ministry of Police, Itamar Ben-Gvir, stated he hopes “…to make Israelis safer by deporting people who he believes undermine the Jewish state [Arabs]; executing terrorists and giving immunity to members of Israeli forces who kill Arabs seen holding stones or Molotov cocktails, even before they throw them.” (WSJ 11-25-22)  
 
In America, the progressive/liberal doctrine has been working to give the vote to felons, illegal immigrants, non-citizens and persons without ID. In addition, they have promoted anti-nationalism by encouraging citizens from enemy states to infiltrate our colleges and businesses. 
 
Perhaps, we might best follow Israel’s lead in protecting our national identity - our purpose for being and standard of living - by endorsing leaders with a MAGA-style agenda who put America First and subscribe to deporting illegal aliens, executing terrorists and unhandcuffing police. Failure to do so, we could be witnessing the fall of America. 
 
Chuck Klein
https://chuckklein.com
 
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Subject: Greater Threat
 
Date Sent: 10 Jan 2023
 
Which is a greater threat to Democracy: 
 
a) A voter-defeated President who does not condemn rioting, insurrection or lawlessness in any form and tries to circumvent the Constitution? 
 
b) A call for impeachment of a duly elected president beginning before he takes office and continuing for six years all the while conducting numerous and unrelenting fishing-expeditions under the power of political committees and attorney’s general?
 
c) A state/city that subjectively decides who is fit/unfit to walk the streets. It sounds good, to get the “mentally unfit” into “treatment centers” … until they begin incarcerating anyone who doesn’t fit their political ideology – tomorrow gun owners, then non-Democrats, then….  NYC: “…ongoing push for involuntary hospitalizations….” CA: “…a law to make it easier to force treatment on people with certain mental illnesses.” (NYT on-line 7:03am 21 Dec 2022)? 
 
d) An education system perpetuating liberalism that results in main-stream and social media bias? 
 
e) Executive orders that skirt Congress to forgive college loans, fund union bailouts, ignore illegal immigration?
 
f) A nation that doesn’t require ID and citizenship as a prerequisite to voting? 
 
There is no single greater threat … they’re each a greater threat. 
 
Chuck Klein, author
https://chuckkleinauthor.com
 
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Subject: Progression?
 
Date Sent: 3 Jan 2023
 
We have progressed from 1890 corsets to 1920 flappers to 1940 bikinis to 1950 topless to 1960 full-frontal to 1970 pink. From “No one knows what goes on behind closed doors” to everyone sees what goes on to public schools teaching what goes on. From G-d commanding thou shall not … to anything goes.
 
Former Cincinnati Enquirer editor, Peter Bronson, makes the convincing case in his recent book, “Not in Our Town,” that America’s progressive direction is the root cause of the proliferation of moral degradation. The outrage of how the media supported pornographic movies, books, magazines and illicit material that negatively impacted adults and children by claiming First Amendment rights is most evident. The heavily-researched and well-written book masterfully uses G-rated language and images to portray XXX-rated material.
 
Fundamental Traditional Values now means: Fundamental, such as politeness and manners are no longer basic. Traditional, has come to mean modern, what’s okay today will be tomorrow’s custom. Values are subjective. In other words, moral digression has proliferated via the path of liberal print, broadcast and social media creating an America that has lower principles and Judeo-Christian standards than Russia. 
 
Chuck Klein, author
https://chuckkleinauthor.com
 
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