The Right Stuff: Is it truly 1984 yet?

By Jim McCully: published August 29,2022

So, are we living in George Orwell’s famous book, “1984”? A dystopia where “Big Brother” runs everything? Look at our bloated bureaucracy with its nonstop intrusions into our affairs. Now many Americans on all sides are astounded by Attorney General Merrick Garland’s authorized “raid.” And a “raid” it was, complete with automatic weapons and a narrative against a former president.

Many Americans are asking. “How can this happen?” Let me explain.

I spent many years as a special agent and a supervisory special agent in criminal cases for the Secret Service and for the Organized Crime Strike Force. I personally obtained or supervised the obtaining of more than a 100 grand jury subpoenas and warrants: arrest, search, and Title III oral intercepts, commonly called “wiretaps.”[...read more]

The Right Stuff: Dear ‘Big Brother,’ is it 1984?

By Jim McCully: published August 22, 2022

An astounding thing happened Aug. 8. A search warrant was issued by a probably partisan federal magistrate, Bruce Reinhart.

A magistrate is the lowest level of federal court official. Magistrates handle misdemeanors not felonies, federal traffic tickets, pre-trial motions and other lower-level judicial processes. They do, however, have the power to sign warrants after ensuring probable cause has been established. Why a magistrate instead of a District Court judge? Maybe inconvenient questions weren’t asked. The warrant was for Mar-a-Lago, the home of the former president of the United States.

Let that sink in. Never in our history has such a thing occurred. Why now? Elections. Benjamin Franklin said: “If passion drives you, let reason hold the reins.” Passion has been unleashed by “Big Brother.” Reason better catch up.

No one is above the law. That’s the founding principle of our U.S. Constitution. Yet, so-called leaders and their families apparently are. We’ve allowed the past four FBI directors and certain members of their staffs to operate lawlessly without consequence. Why? Power.[...read more]

The Right Stuff: Pelosi and her high horse diplomacy

By Roger Oberbeck: Solano Voices, published August 15,2022

Article II of the U.S. Constitution grants the president the power to make treaties and appoint ambassadors with the advice and consent of the Senate. The executive branch of government is tasked with the de jure role of official recognition of countries and the conducting of diplomacy.

Nancy Pelosi, as speaker of the House of Representatives, has no de jure power to conduct diplomacy. One can argue she did just that with her visit in a U.S. government plane. China might see Pelosi’s visit as poking a tiger with a sharp stick. You don’t actually hurt it, but you piss it off.

The United States does not have diplomatic relations with Taiwan. “The United States has a longstanding policy on China, which is guided by the Taiwan Relations Act, the three U.S.-China joint communiqués, and the Six Assurances. We oppose any unilateral changes to the status quo from either side, we do not support Taiwan independence and we expect cross strait differences to be resolved by peaceful means. We continue to have an abiding interest in peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait.”[...read more]