. . .
Peaking behind the curtain, lifting up the carpet, looking under the table. Honing skills, helping folks, having fun. Venturing answers to questions that have not yet been asked, seeking to elucidate as much Truth on as many issues in as few words as possible, striving to leave a “commentary of record” for Clio’s consideration. Chronicling the American experiment and the American experience, the theory and the practice, the promise and the performance, and the aspirations and the aftermath. Doing something was paramount.
“Polymath” was apropos but too nerdy; many folks are turned off by a lot of math. “essay.org” and “e-essay.org” were taken. “e-ssay.org” turns out to be the perfect abbreviation of “electronic essay”. In the first few years, taut, short, cogent, succinct and focused “e-ssays” told people what to think rather than suggesting things to think about during the following week. Reveal, don’t tell, they wisely decree. Conversation provides a rapid ping-ponging of ideas. After a few years, “e-commentary.org” emerged and provided “electronic commentary” developing dialogue to allow the reader to listen in on the discussion rather than being told what to think. “e-poem” was always there under wraps. The pieces are laced with many little lagniappes for the diligent reader to discover and deduce.
The “On [Traits / Characteristics]” Series acknowledges the father of the essay, Michel de Montaigne, who explored individual traits and personal characteristics and shared personal ruminations and anecdotes about society in his celebrated collection Essais (e-ssais?). e-ssays ruminate on respect, fear, admiration, irreverence, success, self-esteem, regret, standards/quality, loyalty, hypocrisy, honesty, empathy, joy, mudita, etc.
The “Less Government Regulation” Series posits examples where government regulation may suffocate and free markets may suffice. An e-commentary in the series in 2009 advocates for regulation of Google/Alphabet in an economy that is now pockmarked by monopolization of every industry in America. Subsequent e-commentary challenges the overweening role of the Frightful Five – Facebook, Amazon, Apple, Google/Alphabet and Microsoft. A half dozen mega–banks and six media conglomerates control and manage our money and our minds. In an economy without any price discovery, the completion of the “General Theory of Economics” is forced into remission.
The “Boycott” Series suggests that readers treat dollars like votes in the marketplace and use them to support and reject policies and activities. An e-commentary in the series in 2008 proposed a boycott of Facebook because it and the other tech beasts and behemoths are not friendly. Boycotting the only supplier of an essential good or service is problematic and is addressed. An e-commentary in 2011 proposed boycotting big banks and depositing funds in and supporting local credit unions. An early e-commentary in 2006 implores the reader never to boycott and always to buy into the franchise, even if voting appears to and may be futile in a country with only one political party, the War and Wall Street Party.
The “First Monday In October” Series debuted in 2010 with a discussion of “strict constructionism/originalism” in the context of gun control that should resolve the debate over the proper paradigm for all and once. Subsequent e-commentary in the Fall series provide insight into the Supreme Court, courts and the state of the law, justice, crime and punishment in America. The emerging irrelevance and illegitimacy of the current Supreme Court is discussed for the first times in 2011 and then in 2012 and developed in subsequent e-commentary. Regular visits to the Court to observe the hired help further inform the analysis in the draft “Treatise on Law” now in nearly final fine form.
The “Graduation Advice” Series is inspired by the national treasure “Wear Sunscreen” crafted by Mary Schmich and proposes a pithy suggestion for graduates of school and participants in life. Advice was dispensed in 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2019.
The greatest threat to the Planet is the threat to the Planet. Posed and poised and poisoned by Man. [Wo]Man versus [Mother] Nature? Pl–as–ti–cs and plu–tonium versus People? Is Man the mortal enemy who must be contained by whatever means? Is a carbon fee and dividend program the long-shot market-based solution capable of salvaging the vulnerable blue marble?
Over the years other e-commentary reviews everything from the human causes to the economic consequences of actions and inaction. e-commentary addresses everything from philosophy to foreign policy to domestic polity; from the intertwined 3Es (from energy to environment to economics); from war to war to war; from sports to technology to society; from race to class to gender; from guns to gold to the Great Wall of Canada; from war to war to a possible antidote to war; from newspapers to the press/media to journalism; from the First Amendment, to the Second Amendment, to the Third Amendment, to the Fourth Amendment, to the Eighth Amendment, to the Balanced Budget Amendment and to the Term Limits Amendment; and from A – (AIIB, CFETS, CIA, CIPS, FBI, FDIC, IMF, INE, LIBOR, MICAC, NATO, NPR, NSA, SDR, SWIFT, TARP, USA PATRIOT ACT, ZIRP) Z.
After considerable thought and development, the “Awards and Incentives Project” rolled out and now includes four annual awards with others under construction.
The “Cameo In Courage Award” challenges the award given by the establishment to other members of the establishment. Society needs an award that rewards those who are truly courageous. Awards were made in 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2019.
The “Noble Prize In Eco-nomics” identifies those who develop and advance eco-nomic ideas to promote the public weal and the common good. The award serves as a challenge and counterpoise to the “Nobel Prize In E-con-omics” awarded by the Swedish Central Bank to those who advance ideas that promote the interests of the wealthy and well-connected. Awards were made in 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2019.
The “Noble Prize In Jurisprudence” celebrates the work of someone who really knows something about jurisprudence and the impact of courts, judges, lawyers and police on the lives and livelihoods of ordinary citizens. The award recognizes a person who or institution that lives the conviction that men and women should establish and respect some norms and standards that are promulgated clearly to all and enforced equally in favor of and against all. Awards were made in 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2019.
The “Pushitzer Prize In Commentary” honors inspiring and inspirational writing that does not necessarily reflect the dominant viewpoints and worldviews. Awards were made in 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2019.
First–hand on–the–ground dispatches from the March for Women, the March for Science, the March For Our Lives and the April 19 March are available including lists of the clever and inspiring signs sported by participants.
The requisite moving memoir is now available. The book tour is still not yet booked. However, although “Analog Knowledge Devices (“AKD”)” will soon be worth their weight in gold, this production saves paper and is only available e-lectronically.
WordPress was and in many ways still is a primitive platform, but it was not Blogger. Some thought was given to developing a better platform first. WP did not allow one to change the font or even to tab over to create a simple paragraph. At some time during this journey, WP did provide for “Categories” and then allowed for hyperlinks; hyperlinks are righteous.
Over the years, a menagerie of speakers and characters such as “A” / “B” and “GO1 [Gun Owner1]” / “GO2 [Gun Owner2]” and “3” / “6” / “9” among others debuted and debated issues. In recent years, “J” and “K” emerged as the primary characters in the ongoing dialogue and debate.
The “Bumper sticker of the week” started out as a spoof on the shallow and callow “bumper sticker” nature of our public discourse and became the playful signature sign off concluding each piece every week.
Looking back, the undertaking is an extended serialized novel about the American experience presented in a series of weekly poems developed as discourse that allows all of us in some small way possibly to . . . immanentize the eschaton.
. . .
Bumper stickers of the week:
What would you attempt to do if you knew you could not possibly succeed under any circumstances?
“Do. Or do not do. There is no try.” Yoda
“Not being heard is no reason for silence.” Victor Hugo, Les Misérables
“It doesn’t require many words to speak the truth.” Chief Joseph
Otter: “I think this situation absolutely requires a really futile and stupid gesture be done on somebody’s part.” Bluto: “We’re just the guys to do it.” “Animal House” (1978)
“You do not merely want to be considered just the best of the best. You want to be considered the only one who does what you do.” Jerry Garcia
Think big, think long.
e-commentary 
Does Any Institution In America Function? Oh, And Happy Friday The 13th! (December 9, 2019)
Posted in Academia, Banks and Banking System, Congress, Democrats, Federal Courts, Federal Reserve, Institutions, Jurisprudence Award, Kleptocracy, Law, Medicine, MIC, MICAC, Military, MSM, Noble Prize in Jurisprudence, Pushitzer, Pushitzer Prize In Commentary, Republicans, Supreme Court on December 9, 2019 by e-commentary.org. . .
J “I need one more day.”
. . .
K “You don’t have to name three, just nominate one.”
J “One institution after the other after the other after the other after the other after the other after the other has failed and continues to fail. And that is even after lowering the standards to the point that the bar is on the floor. One more day, I need.”
. . .
K “The legal system at every level is a fraud and a racket. We live in a country with many, many, many rules and many, many, many laws, but we do not live in a country that believes in or adheres to the rule of law. There is no law, there is only ideology.”
J “The medical and health care / sick careless system is a racket and a fraud. I drive by the health insurance company skyscraper and reflect that not one person in the monolith has ever applied a band aid to a patient. There is no care, there is only profitability.”
. . .
K “The economic system is rigged at every step and turn to loot every last dollar from the people for the benefit of the Kleptocrats. What is the end game for the expendable consumers who soon will have nothing left to bleed?”
J “The MSM media is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Kleptocrats. The message is tightly controlled by obedient droves of stenographers. As a first step, everyone should skip ‘The Wall Street Journal’ and jump over to ‘Wall Street On Parade’ produced by Pam Martens and Russ Martens.”
K “Academia is a substantially owned subsidiary of the Kleptocrats. The message on the critical issues is also controlled and shaped by the corporate sponsors. The campus buildings are all named for brigands; their kids and grandkids are admitted to skip the classes conducted in the namesake halls. The hallowed halls are hollow holes. The MIC is now expanded to include Congress and Academia in the MICAC.”
. . .
K “Every agency from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to the Federal Maritime Commission (FMC) – in the air and on the sea – is corrupt and incompetent. Regulatory capture exists at just about every regulatory agency.”
J “Furlough the ‘L’ out of the Bureau of Labor Statistics (B“L”S). To determine the real rates of unemployment, a citizen must search in the shadows at “Shadow Government Statistics” prepared and analyzed by the dedicated and informed John Williams.”
K “And then there is the Federal Reserve. Probably no other institution, less one and perhaps two, has inflicted more grief and despair on the ordinary citizen with less publicity and notoriety than the Federal Reserve.”
J “And related agencies such as the Securities And Exchange Commission (SEC), the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) are pernicious because they fool the citizen into believing that someone is watching out for him or her.”
K “And the Department of Defense (DoD) exists primarily to spend money, drop bombs, and kill people but not to provide for the common defense.”
. . .
J “The CIA and the FBI are a threat to every citizen at home and abroad and now may be affiliated with and advancing the interests of one political party.”
K “The police in every burg and borough are paramilitary forces occupying the city and the county and the country. Very few understand that the real Occupy movement in America grinds on.”
. . .
K “Even many of the vaunted NGOs (Non-Governmental Organizations) surreptitiously serve the government’s interests. The Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) is a front for the MICAC and shielded by the MSM that advances the propaganda.”
. . .
J “Local EMTs and fire departments are generally contributing to the public good.”
. . .
J “The National Credit Union Administration (NCUA) is a credit worthy institution administering its duties dutifully.”
K “Despite unrelenting opposition from the White House, Republicans and industry, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is doing what it can to reduce the plundering and the pummeling of the Planet.”
. . .
K “The ACLU is fighting the good fight.”
J “Planned Parenthood is improving our plight.”
. . .
[See “Journalist: Newsweek Suppressed OPCW Scandal And Threatened Me With Legal Action” and other articles in “caitlinjohnstone.com” by Caitlin Johnstone, the 2019 recipient of the Pushitzer Prize In Commentary, dated December 8, 2019 and the discussion of e-con-omics in “Against Economics” in “The New York Review of Books” by David Graeber dated December 5, 2019.]
[See the e-commentary at “Here Comes Da Judge; Dere Goes Da Justice (August 31, 2015)”, “The FBI File: The American Imprimatur Of Success (January 18, 2016)”, “Suing Law Schools; Suing Gun Makers. Oh, And Happy Law Day! (April 30, 2018)” and “Clinton, Inc., Trump, Inc., Bush, Inc., Kennedy, Inc., O’Bama, Inc. (October 24, 2016)”.]
Bumper stickers of the week:
“Every great cause begins as a movement, becomes a business, and eventually degenerates into a racket.” Eric Hoffer
America is a racket not a republic.
“If the misery of the poor not be caused by the laws of nature, but by our institutions, great is our sin.” Charles Darwin
There is nothing you can do to make any material change of any kind in any way today.
“Start where you are. Use what you have. Do what you can.” Arthur Ashe
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