Cinfici's Column in National Review

A column I wrote was published in National Review about the proposal by Pennsylvania state legislators to audit the results of the 2020 General Election in the Keystone State that the Trump-Pence ticket lost by over 81,000, based on an unfounded conspiracy theory that there was fraud in the counting of votes: https://www.nationalreview.com/2021/06/a-2020-election-audit-is-a-bad-idea-for-pennsylvania-republicans/ I argue there is real fraud in myriad forms that Republicans would be better served focusing on, instead of further undermining voters' confidence in elections which is one of the goals of Russian tyrant and ex-Soviet intelligence officer Vladimir Putin, who has been interfering in American politics. I note that various Republicans, like federal judges, Philadelphia's elections commissioner and members of Congress found no evidence of fraud or other errors. I express the concern that the Democrats, who undermined confidence in voters after the 2000 Election, despite a lack of evidence of fraud or other irregularities, could use the audit as a precedent to challenge future certifications of the elections of Republicans, with an audit based on a baseless theory of fraud and caution against the kind of unprofessional audit that Arizona Republicans are conducting that is dividing the party and damaging its image and provide basic guidelines at least to avoid those problems. I urge the GOP to focus on real fraud instead of on an unfounded theory that distracts from real fraud and undermines their credibility.

Blog Notes

Because of a computer glitch, I have been unable to post or even access my blog since September. I am accessing my blog via a different computer. The glitch in the formatting that prevents indentation and paragraphs appears to continue, however. I regret that in the meantime, I was unable to post about Columbus Day, the 2020 General Election, Thanksgiving, the presidential and vice presidenial Election by the Electoral College, Christmas, the congressional certification on the Electors' votes and the attack on the United States Capitol by Trumpist insurrectionists, the second Impeachment of Donald Trump and trial in the Senate, Washington's Birthday, the Pennsylvania Primary Election and Memorial Day. In the meantime, I was able to make notes on various current events, which I shall post as I am able to access my blog or resolve the computer problem.

Nineteenth Anniversary of the September 11, 2001 Terrorist Attacks

Nineteen years ago today, al-Qaeda Islamist terrorists massacred nearly 3,000 people in America in the September 11, 2001 Terrorist Attacks on New York, Washington and over Pennsylvania. After the United States overthrew the Taliban regime of Afghanistan that was harboring them. American forces have remained to prevent their return to power. Although there have been many deadly terrorist attacks and attacks on military targets since then, the U.S. success in the War on Terrorism in thwarting al-Qaeda and its offshoot, the Islamic State, from committing any attacks nearly on the same scale as September 11 has freed Americans and others around the globe from constant fear. This success, combined with the rise of other threats, such as cyberattacks and the worst pandemic in a century, make the scourge of terrorism and Islamism seem relatively less dangerous and causes some to lower their guard or urge the abandonment of the fight, which would be foolish. Islamists are determined to continue violent holy war. Indeed, seeing the greater potential of using cyberattacks in new ways or learning from the pandemic how possibly to make biological warfare more effective, terrorists will exploit vulnerabilities and shift to more dangerous methods. Constant deterrence is vital. Defeating particular Islamist leaders who claim the favor of Allah is essential, but defeating Islamism is a longer-term endeavor that relies on persistence. As we recall and honor the dead and the heroes of September 11, may we continue to be ever-vigilant against Islamism and terrorism.

Montenegro Elections Update: A Pro-European Coalition is Formed

After gaining a one-seat majority in the Montenegrin parliamentary elections last week, the opposition parties have formed a coalition for a new government to replace the party that has ruled for 30 years through independence from Serbia in 2007. The ruling party won the most votes and seats, but even with its coalition allies, fell just shy of the necessary parliamentary majority, although it retains the presidency, as the President is chosen in separate direct elections. Despite the second-place party being pro-Serbian and pro-Russian, the new coalition pledges no changes to NATO member Montenegro’s pro-European and pro-Western foreign policy and no adoption of Serbian identity over Montenegrin identity, which were the major issues in the election, along with concerns about public corruption. Serbs are a significant minority in the Slavic former Yugoslav Republic. There are also Albanians, Bosniaks and Croats. Montenegro, which maintains sanctions on Russia because of its invasion of Ukraine, is expected to seek admission to the European Union.

More Protests and Arrests in Belarus Because of the Rigged Election

There continue to be protests and mass arrests in Belarus after the rigged election last month that gave another term in office to the “Last Dictator of Europe,” who has ruled the former Soviet Republic since independence. There have also been labor strikes.

More Protests Against Communist China’s Violations of in Hong Kong’s Autonomy and Liberty

There continue to be protests and arrests in Hong Kong after the imposition of a security law earlier this summer by Communist China that has violated the city-state’s autonomy and liberty, despite Peking’s pledge to respect the territory’s different systems when it reverted from British rule in 1997. The latest protests were particularly because of China’s delay of legislative elections in Hong Kong.

Slade Gorton, In Memoriam

Former United States Senator Slade Gorton of Washington, a conservative Republican who opposed Donald Trump, died last month at the age of 92 in a suburb of Seattle. Born in Chicago in 1928 and raised in Evanston, he served in the U.S. Army and later in the Air Force and Air Force reserves, attaining the rank of Colonel. After graduating from Dartmouth College and Columbia University of Law, Gorton practiced law and then entered politics. He was elected to the Washington State Legislature, serving from 1959 to 1969, then elected to three terms as State Attorney General. Gorton was elected to the U.S. Senate in 1980, serving until 1987 and then again from 1989-2001, compiling a moderately conservative voting record. Afterwards, he served on the September 11 Commission and for various political committees or organization and on the Board of Trustees for the National Constitution Center. Gorton endorsed former Central Intelligence Agency agent and House Republican policy director Evan McMullin for President, running as an independent against the GOP nominee, Trump, in 2016 and continued to speak out against Trump and Trumpism.

Blog Notes: Glitch With The New Interface

The Blog host, Blogger, has adopted a new interface. I was unable to post anything other than a title by using it, so I reverted to the old interface, but now my posts no longer allow spacing or indenting. Although I have requested help from the host and am awaiting a response, I am not certain if I would ever be able to post again when the old interface would no longer be available. For now, I shall continue to try to post conservative, Christian thoughts in defense of liberty and representative government amid these troubling times and shall continue to explore workarounds and other options.

NATO Confirms that Russian Opposition Leader Alexei Navalny Was Poisoned by a Chemical WMD

The Russian Federation regime of tyrant Vladimir Putin, an ex-Soviet intelligence officer, poisoned the leader of the democratic opposition, Alexei Navalny. The North Atlantic Treaty Organization has confirmed the finding of the German Government that a nerve agent was used to try to kill him. The possession and use of the nerve agent, which had been developed by the Soviets, is banned by chemical weapons treaties. The same chemical weapon of mass destruction was used to attempt to murder an exiled former Russian intelligence officer in the United Kingdom two years ago. Germany and other Western States are demanding Russian cooperation with the Navalny poisoning investigation. Last year, a Russian exile was murdered in Germany. Germany and the U.K. are both members of NATO. Navalny, who has been comatose for two weeks since the poisoning, had been transferred to Germany for treatment. The previous opposition leader was shot to death near the Kremlin in 2015. Another prominent member of the opposition has twice been poisoned. Numerous Putin critics, opposition members or journalists have been arrested, charged and convicted on questionable pretenses, driven into exile or murdered, both in Russia and abroad, using a variety of techniques and poisons. A radioactive isotope was used in the U.K fourteen years ago to kill a former Russian intelligence officer who had made accusations against Putin, for example. Navalny has been arrested several times for organizing peaceful protests, which Putin does not tolerate. In addition to attempting to murder expatriate regime opponents, the Kremlin abuses Interpol with arrest demands unsupported by adequate evidence. The Kremlin denies the allegations with its usual tactic of trying to create doubts that anything is knowable, and the Western professional media publishes the denials, sometimes even without context of the history of Putin’s lies and evil deeds. Russian disinformation efforts can be expected next to make the contradictory argument, which the media will report, that it is certain that one or another of various Putin opponents were really behind the poisoning. Such efforts effectively allow those sympathetic to Putin to find excuses to continue to support him. And Westerners and others in free States will continue foolishly to believe there might be rogues controlling stockpiles of weapons of mass destruction in a tyranny whose leader relies politically upon the portrayal of himself as a strongman who is the only one who can keep people safe. Putin rose to power in 1999 under a democratic pretense, but has governed as an authoritarian and has rigged elections while deriving his support from the oligarchy that looted Russia of its assets after the collapse of Communism. He has lamented the collapse of the Soviet Union. Putin aids rogue regimes, including terrorists sponsors, has invaded two former Soviet Republics, interferes heavily in European and American politics and elections, and engages in various other machinations.

The Seventy-Fifth Anniversary of the End of the Second World War

            Today is the 75^th anniversary of signing by the Japanese of their formal surrender to the Allied Powers, known as the United Nations, which ended the Second World War, the largest and bloodiest in history. 

A peace treaty between the United States and Japan was signed in 1953.  Japan and the Russian Federation, the successor of the Soviet Union, remain legally at war, as they have not concluded a peace treaty because of a dispute over certain islands occupied by Russia north of Japan.

            The war began in 1939 with Nazi Germany’s invasion of Poland, although the Empire of Japan had already been at war with China since 1937; the Sino-Japanese War was subsumed in the Second World War.  Japan was one of the members, with Germany, of the Axis Powers, which sought global conquest.  Imperial Japan had already conquered considerable territories beyond its present homeland before the war as appeasement by the Great Powers and a lack of American leadership, which had not joined the post-First World War League of Nations, which left it powerless, had allowed the Axis to continue to commit aggression.  The Japanese fascist government conquered in the name of their Emperor, whom they revered as a god, committing some of the worst atrocities in history.  The Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor and other territories in 1941 and the declarations of war by the other Axis Powers against the U.S. brought the Americans into the war on the side of the Allies, which proved to be a decisive factor in the defeat of the Axis.

The Japanese surrender was unconditional, except for being allowed to keep their Emperor as only a ceremonial figure.  Emperor Hirohito had urged surrender to the Allies to spare the destruction of Japan, particularly after the dropping of atomic bombs.  Surrender was unprecedented to the Japanese, who considered it dishonorable, but they generally obeyed their Emperor, except for a small-scale attempted military coup.  Some isolated Japanese forces who were unaware of the surrender continued to hold out, with combat lasting in the Philippines until the mid-1970s until the surrender of the last Japanese holdout.

The post-war U.S. benign occupation of Japan led to the end of feudalism, liberal democratic reforms and a pacifist constitution as the Japanese rebuilt successfully.  Japan has since been a close American ally, dependent on the U.S. for security, but maintaining significant defense forces and contributing other support.  The defeat of the Axis accelerated the end of colonialism with the independence of scores of states, although one territory liberated by the Americans from the Empire of Japan, the Northern Marianas, opted to become a U.S. commonwealth in 1986.

American leadership has led to a Pax Americana for three quarters of a century, especially in the Pacific, much of which was liberated from the Japanese by the Allies.  There have been no general conflagrations involving the Great Powers since the Second World War, after a three hundred-year period of regular general wars and numerous major wars between some of the Great Powers.  Although there were proxy battles during the Cold War, even major wars involving the Great Powers have been few and of limited direct engagement.  Despite Communism, Islamism and other continued threats, such as a recent surge in fascist-like ideologies, the world has increasingly experienced an unprecedented degree of peace and prosperity, especially since the mostly bloodless American and allied victory in the Cold War.  In contrast to isolationism, which failed to protect the U.S. from the fascist threat from the Axis Powers, American leadership has gained the U.S. increased security and prosperity.

We ought to be grateful for the great sacrifices by the Allied soldiers and their countrymen on the home front that led to victory and continue to honor their accomplishments by opposing aggression with a strong military deterrence and by promoting peace, freedom and prosperity.

Foreign Digest: Belarus, Turkey and Montenegro

Belarus

            There have been more mass protests against the rigged Belarusian presidential election earlier this month and more arrests of protestors and democratic opposition figures by the regime of the longtime dictator of Belarus.  There has also been a threat by Russian Federation tyrant Vladimir Putin to intervene in the former Soviet Republic to prevent the formation of a free and representative government, which he perceives as a threat to his power.

Turkey

            The authoritarian Islamist government of Turkey continues to increase tensions with Greece, Cyprus and Egypt over economic rights in the Eastern Mediterranean, which Turkey has laid claim to beyond the usual internationally recognized zone. 

Montenegro

           The ruling populist center to center-left party is winning the most votes and seats, according to the official results so far in today’s parliamentary elections in Montenegro, although fewer seats than it currently holds.  A broader coalition government will be necessary with centrist and smaller center-left parties than the one formed after the 2016 election.  The Democratic Socialist party has ruled the former Yugoslav Republic since the breakup of Yugoslavia and since independence from Serbia in 2006.  There has been corruption and increasing authoritarianism, but the ruling party is pro-Western European, while the main opposition party is pro-Serbian.  They and Serbia are pro-Russian and oppose Montenegrin integration with Western Europe, while Montenegro became a member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization in 2017 and thus an ally of the United States.  The Montenegrin President has accused Serbia of interference in the election.  There are minorities of Serbs, Bosniaks, Albanians and Croats in Slavic Montenegro.  

The Republican-Led Senate Intelligence Committee Finds Trump Campaign Collusion with Russian Election Interference

           The United States Senate Intelligence Committee, led by Republicans, came to unanimous conclusions in Volume 5 of its Report on Russian interference in American politics and the 2016 presidential election particularly, that the Trump campaign welcomed and cooperated with the Russian efforts through extensive contacts, that these efforts affected campaign messaging, that the campaign accepted the foreign interference that bolstered it at its most critical point, and that Donald Trump and his campaign afterward engaged in a cover-up, including in regard to congressional investigations and the Trump-Russia Special Counsel’s investigation, through the destruction of evidence, refusal to answer questions and lies: https://www.intelligence.senate.gov/sites/default/files/documents/report_volume5.pdf.  

            A particularly noteworthy conclusion of the Committee’s latest volume of its report is that Trump’s campaign manager shared internal polling data on key States in the presidential election, including Pennsylvania, with a Russian intelligence agent.  There were also revelations on the campaign’s awareness and use of information stolen from the Democrats by Russian military intelligence and leaked to a cut-out for selective publication to try to embarrass them on behalf of Trump’s presidential campaign.  The Trump campaign liaison with the Russian cut-out was convicted of lying to Congress and federal investigators to cover up his role.  Trump commuted his sentence after the liaison admitted that he had lied to protect Trump.  Candidate Trump had himself lied during his campaign that he was not conducting business with Russia awhile, which he was later forced to admit after revelations disproved him.  Numerous Trump campaign officials reportedly had many contacts with Russians and never notified federal law enforcement of foreign interference attempts, and attempted to lie about these contacts or minimize their significance. 

            The latest volume is part of a series of reports by the GOP-majority Committee, in which it found that Russian interference was far more extensive than ever before, that it was directed by Russian Federation tyrant Vladimir Putin and targeted specifically to help its favored candidate, Trump. The Committee also determined that the federal counterintelligence investigation into the interference by a hostile foreign power was proper and came to reasonable conclusions.  All 17 U.S. intelligence agencies concluded Russia had interfered in the election, particularly to help Trump.  The bipartisan Senate Intelligence’s findings validate, and, even go beyond, the similar conclusions of the Republican Special Counsel, Robert Mueller, who also concluded that Trump had obstructed justice while in office to thwart the investigation.  

            The publication of the report reveals that the Republican Senators on the Committee were aware of how successful Russia’s interference to help Trump was and how Trump and his supporters had lied that there had not been any “collusion.”  And yet these Senators were among those who voted to acquit Trump of impeachment for attempting to extort the Ukrainian Government to smear his political opponent (the current Democratic Party presidential nominee) by withholding congressionally approved defense aid to defend Ukraine against invasion by Russia, even after Trump publicly called upon Ukraine and Communist China to interfere in particular ways against candidates for the Democratic presidential nomination.

            Putin is an ex-Soviet intelligence officer who laments the collapse of the Soviet Union.  He subverted Russian democracy by becoming an authoritarian.  Putin violates human rights, such as freedoms of speech, press and assembly, even prosecuting, banishing or murdering critics, invades sovereign States, interferes in elections in Western Europe and America, and supports Islamist terrorist allies among numerous foreign machinations and crimes against humanity.  Russian political interference abroad aims to undermine confidence in the truth and in elections, to divide Europeans from each other, Western Europe from America and Americans with each other and to weaken the West and the United States in order for Putin to remain in power and for him and the oligarchs who support him to retain their stolen wealth.

            Russia interfered in American politics starting around the time of its invasion of Ukraine in 2014 and particularly in the 2016 presidential election, with open propaganda and disinformation through state-controlled media, and covertly through employment of Internet trolls and fake automated social media accounts to spread more propaganda and disinformation, social media advertisements, search engine optimization, impersonation of media and political donations, among other methods, let alone cultivation of Trump through business relationships formed ever since his business trip to the Soviet Union during the Cold War.  The Russians micro-targeted voters more effectively than either presidential campaign or major party, which suggests the collusion with the Trump campaign was essential.   

           Between Russian and other foreign interference, Trump’s lie about his business relationship and other deceptions by him and his campaign, illegal campaign finance activity, and a full range of intimidation of key political figures, it is unreasonable to conclude anything other than Trump’s election, which was determined by 77,000 voters across three States, including Pennsylvania, was fraudulent.  A hostile foreign State, Russia, has been allowed to violate American independence by determining the U.S. leader, based on policies favorable to tyrant Putin.  As the Special Counsel and other federal officials in Congress, from both major political parties, and even the Trump Administration have stated, Russia and other hostile actors continue to interfere in American politics, thereby indirectly or directly influencing election results.  

           Although some defenses have since been implemented, not nearly enough have yet.  The removal from office of those who were elected by hostile foreign interference and those who enabled it, or who allowed it to continue by failing their duty to remove them from power is an essential first step in restoring American sovereignty and self-determination.

Foreign Digest: China, Belarus and Zimbabwe

China

            The United Kingdom withdrew from its extradition treaty recently with Hong Kong because of violations by Communist China of the former British territory’s autonomy and liberty, which Peking had promised when the city-state reverted to Chinese rule in 1997.  Many States around the world have imposed sanctions on China.  Meanwhile, Hong Kong residents demonstrated without signs or slogans that would expressly violate China’s new security law that squelches dissent.  A journalist critical of Communist China was arrested for alleged violations, as more and more basic freedoms are no longer tolerated.

            The United States imposed economic sanctions against Chinese companies for human rights abuses against Muslim Uighurs in East Turkestan.  The U.S. has also been continuing to crack down on Chinese technology companies that pose potential security threats to America and its allies.

Belarus

            There have been mass protests in Belarus after the government’s disputed claim of the reelection to a sixth term of “the Last Dictator of Europe,” who has ruled the former Soviet Republic since independence from the Soviet Union.  Serious allegations of flagrant election fraud have been made.  Before the election, several presidential candidates had been barred from standing for election.  There have been thousands of arrests and violence has been used against peaceful protestors.  Russian Federation tyrant Vladimir Putin has threatened military intervention to support the authoritarian Belarusian leader.

           

Zimbabwe

           The Catholic Bishops of Zimbabwe have issued a statement today against the human rights abuses of the far-left government of Zimbabwe.  Zimbabwe has been ruled in an authoritarian manner by the same Marxist-oriented party since independence from the United Kingdom in 1980.

Foreign Digest: Belarus and Lebanon

Belarus

            Presidential elections will be conducted Sunday in Belarus.  Despite the prohibition of several opposition candidates from standing for election and arrests of opposition figures, tomorrow’s election represents the most serious challenge to the rule of the “Last Dictator of Europe” who has ruled the former Soviet Republic since independence in 1991 with an iron hand.  There have been protests against the autocrat because of worsening economic conditions and the dictator’s failure to respond to the coronavirus pandemic.

Lebanon 

           There were protests yesterday in Lebanon against the government after a blast devastated the port of the capital, Beirut, and caused widespread damage and casualties in the city.  Hezbollah, the Shi’ite terrorist organization backed by the Islamic Republic of Iran, is a partner in the coalition government and responsible for the careless storage of explosives at the port.  Lebanon was in economic and fiscal distress before the disaster.

Conservative Analysis of the 2020 Pennsylvania Primary Election

           Pennsylvania conducted its 2020 Primary on June 2, despite the continued novel coronavirus pandemic, which had delayed it six weeks and limited the availability of poll workers and polling places, with the additional challenges of avoiding contagion and civil strife while implementing new voting machines in some Counties and the implementation of the Commonwealth’s new election law, including the timely no-excuse balloting option. 

            Certification of the results by county and state election officials took a week longer than usual because of the mail-in ballots.  The Commonwealth and the media still have not reported complete statewide results that include write-in vote totals, but because the results are available from Counties, a thorough analysis is possible.   

Primary elections are always important because they cause the names of the major party candidates to appear on the ballot for the General Election, and often the winner of the Primary is all-but-certain to be elected.  There are also in even-numbered years the elections of party officials.  Sometimes, there are ballot questions that are binding referendums in the Primary.  But this year, the Primary was also a rehearsal for the General Election.  The election was conducted fairly smoothly, but there were some problems.  The lessons learned should lead to improvements then.  A report published today that had been required by the General Assembly suggested amendments to the new voting law.

            More Counties used new voting machines for the first time because of state and federal funds for cybersecurity.  These machines are less vulnerable to hacking, as recommended by the United States Department of Homeland Security because of Russian hacking of election systems in Pennsylvania and across the Union.  No-excuse absentee balloting was implemented for the first time after Commonwealth’s new election law went into effect.  Because of the pandemic, many voters took advantage of the opportunity.  Six Counties received extensions from the Governor and another from a judge to count ballots postmarked by June 2, instead of received by then, because of postal delivery delays, although a limit of one week for the receipt of the ballots was imposed.  Ballots could also be dropped off at County Election Services offices, but voters were obligated thereby to drive downtown, possibly pay for parking and walk in a crowded downtown amidst a contagion.  Some Counties made drop boxes available, but security concerns were raised, prompting the Trump Campaign and some Republicans in western Pennsylvania have sued the Commonwealth and some Counties after the election.  Apart from voters who applied online, between mailing applications for absentee ballots to voters, voters mailing them back, mailing ballots to voters and mailing them back, tens of thousands of voters who did mail in their ballots were disenfranchised by their late delivery, despite the extensions.  Therefore, my concern about mail-in voting that I raised in posts last year after the law was approved was validated. 

There must be more federal funding to protect election systems, Counties should make drop boxes more available, safe and secure to cast ballots in and their availability more publicized, and the Commonwealth should accept mail-in ballots by the post-mark date, as the state’s post-election report suggests, with a sufficient period for receipt, such as the Friday post-election, which the report suggests.  The state report also suggests mandating Counties to send out mail-in ballots earlier than the current two weeks and allowing Counties to start as much pre-canvassing preparation as possible ahead of time, and allowing them more flexibility in hiring poll workers.

            With the election results delayed, the professional media held off on its usual practice of “calling” winners of elections immediately and sometimes prematurely, as if they have authority to decide the outcome, as it took days for most of the ballots to be counted because of the large number of no-excuse absentee ballots.

            Despite the disruption of the pandemic, the withdrawal of the only major candidate whose name was on the GOP ballot, the appearance of the name on the ballot of only one minor candidate, and the endorsement by the National and State Republican Committees, Donald Trump still lost more than 100,000 votes for the GOP presidential nomination, or nearly 10% of the votes of Republicans—more than twice the level of intra-party opposition he claims across the Union.  Many other Republicans have changed their voter registration since 2016.

            U.S. Representative Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania defeated a Trumpist (populist, protectionist, isolationist, nativist and authoritarian) opponent in the Republican Primary, although the 3:2 vote margin was closer than usual for an incumbent.  Fitzpatrick had an independent, bipartisan anti-Trump record, but voted against impeachment of Trump on the grounds of wanting a criminal investigation first, even though impeachment is not necessarily about criminal violations and Trump has argued in court that he is immune from criminal investigations.  That as many Republican voters still voted against Fitzpatrick shows how there is never enough loyalty to Trump for them, as many Republican primaries across America have become contests of who is the most Trumpist.

           Voters in the City of Reading approved all five of the amendments to the Home Rule Charter that were proposed by the Charter Review Commission I chaired.  The 2019—2020 Commission was only the third since the Charter that has been in effect since 1996.  It was the first time all of a Commission’s proposed amendments were approved.  They are among the most significant reforms to City governance since the Charter was approved, as they strengthen the Separation of Powers and the independence of the City Auditor, for example.

Foreign Digest Updates: China, Russia and Hungary

China

The European Union responded late last week to Communist China for its violation of its promises to the United Kingdom that it would maintain Hong Kong’s autonomy and liberty when the former British colony reverted to Chinese rule in 1997.  The EU imposed economic sanctions on items that could be used for repression; established new procedures for asylum, immigration, visas and residence for Hong Kong residents; and established engagements to defend the city state’s legislature from further encroachment on its Hong Kong’s self-rule.

Russia

            There have been protests in the Russian Far East after the firing by Russian tyrant Vladimir Putin of a governor who was not from the ruling party.  Meanwhile, a historian has been sentenced to prison in retaliation for his research debunks Putin’s false propaganda of on Russia’s role in the Second World War, in which he tries to minimize the Soviet alliance with Nazi Germany and Soviet complicity in the war and to exaggerate the Soviet contribution over that of the Western Allies.  Dissent is not tolerated by Putin.

Hungary

           There was a mass protest late last week in response to further violations of the freedom of the press by the nationalist authoritarian government.  There are few remaining independent news outlets remaining.

Foreign Digest Updates: Belarus, China, Iran, Russia, Malawi Suriname and Sudan

Belarus

            More candidates were excluded last week in the Belarusian presidential election and the authoritarian regime has arrested hundreds of protestors in the former Soviet republic.

China

            The United States is among the governments around the world imposing economic sanctions last week on Communist China for violating the promised autonomy and liberty of the former British territory of Hong Kong.  The bill was approved by Congress unanimously.

            Meanwhile, more governments around the world are phasing out the use of a Chinese-owned communications company that poses cybersecurity risks.

Iran

            After three Iranians were sentenced to death for participation in last year’s mass protests across the Islamic Republic of Iran, there was another protest last week.

Russia

            The United States, United Kingdom and Canada have accused China, Iran and Russia of attempting to steal research for a vaccine for the novel coronavirus that has caused a pandemic.  The UK also accuses Russia of interference in the 2019 election by leaking information helpful to the far-left opposition leader.

Movement toward liberty and representative government in Malawi, Suriname and Sudan

            Despite the rising tide of authoritarianism around the world, there have been several examples of the victories for liberty and representative government.  The latest examples are Malawi, Suriname and Sudan:

            Malawi: The Presidential election results were overturned earlier this month by the government after allegations of irregularities.  After a do-over election, the opposition won.

            Suriname: The longtime strongman, who had been a dictator but later returned to power as a populist, was defeated for re-election earlier this month.

           Sudan: Islamist laws were overturned last week by the transitional military-civilian government that took power after the overthrow last year of the longtime Islamist tyrant.

Foreign Digest: China, Russia, Bolivia and Poland

China

            There were protests last week in Hong Kong after the new law imposed by Communist China that bans dissent.  Today, the pro-democracy opposition is conducting an unofficial primary election to nominate candidates for the city-state’s legislature, which is mostly controlled by Peking.  A completely free election will be difficult without the liberty to criticize the government.  China has reneged on its agreement made with the United Kingdom in 1997 when the territory reverted from British rule to respect its autonomy and freedom.

Russia

            The United Kingdom imposed economic sanctions late last week on Russians for human rights violations.  The Netherlands is taking Russia to court for its responsibility for shooting down a Malaysian civilian airliner over Ukraine in 2014 that had departed from the Netherlands with many Dutch passengers, among others.

Bolivia

            The chief prosecutor of Bolivia requested late last week the arrest of the former left-wing authoritarian Bolivian President who was forced out of office last year after mass protests against his seeking a fourth term, despite a constitutional two-term limit.  The former leader fled to Mexico.  He is accused of human rights abuses against the Bolivian people.  An interim government is in place until elections can be held.

Poland

           Poland is conducting a presidential runoff election today between the ruling far-right increasingly authoritarian and a more liberal (in the sense of being more for freedom) and pro-European opposition candidate. 

Conservative Analysis of the States' Right to Punish Electors for Voting Their Conscience Case

The United States Supreme Court ruled in Chiafalo v. Washington that States may punish members of the Electoral College bound by state law to vote for particular presidential and vice presidential candidates if the Electors vote instead for candidates other than those to whom they are pledged.

The case arose when three Electors of the Democratic Party from the State of Washington voted for candidates other than the Democratic ticket which had attracted the most votes, as part of a coordinated effort of “Hamilton Electors” to deny the Republican ticket an Electoral College majority and force a contingency election by the House of Representatives.  After the Electors were punished with civil fines, they filed suit challenging the punishment.  At issue before the Court was this state right to punish Electors bound to vote for candidates to whom they are pledged, namely the presidential and vice presidential ticket that attracts the most votes in their state or district.  Only in 15 States are Electors pledged or otherwise bound by law and subject to punishment for voting contrarily.  Seventeen other States bind Electors statutorily, but without any punishment. 

The Electors cited statements of the Framers of the Constitution in the Federalist Papers, particularly No. 68, which contemplated the Electoral College as a representative and deliberative body and the plain meaning of the words in Article II of “electors,” “vote,” and “ballot” to argue they had discretion to vote their best judgment in good conscience.   

            The Court, strictly citing the text of the Constitution, ruled that States have broad authority under Article II to appoint Electors in the manner of their choosing, including to enforce by punishment the binding of Electors.  The majority opinion, written by Justice Elena Kagan, cites the Election of 1796, in which the President and Vice President elected were of two different political parties, as proof that the right of Electors to vote their choice was problematic.  Thus the Court acknowledges that election as an example of when the Electors actually did determine the outcome of an election (i.e. of Thomas Jefferson as Vice President), but only to dismiss it as if it were a product of mischief, instead of as the validation of the purpose of the Electoral College.  Kagan regards it as “unworkable” that the Chief Executive and the President of the Senate might be of two different political parties, which, though less likely today, remains possible under a number of circumstances.  She misunderstands that the Vice President is a member of the Legislative, not the Executive Branch, and that such a split is not too dissimilar from a party split between the President and Congress, as the Framers did not envision the Vice President as a deputy President.  Regardless, the 1796 election was not the impetus Kagan implies it was for the Twelfth Amendment as much as the Election of 1800, which produced a tie because each Elector could cast two votes, without specifying a preference for President or Vice President.

The Court relies on an argument of longstanding practice developed since the Twelfth Amendment by the early Twentieth Century of choosing Electors effectively by preference vote for the presidential and vice presidential candidates, then of States enacting statutes binding Electors to vote for the ticket attracting the most votes, and particularly of the last sixty years of enforcing these statutes with punishments of Electors who vote contrarily to the so-called “popular vote,” even though the Court acknowledges that the votes are actually for the Electors.  However, longstanding practice is not dispositive and there is also a contrary longstanding practice of allowing Electors to exercise discretion.  Eighteen States do not bind their Electors to vote a certain way, with a variety of their degree of independence, based on the method of their nomination.  Kagan emphasizes party nominations of Electors to suggest they are expected to vote for their parties’ presidential and vice presidential nominees, but does not consider that the method encourages only the nomination of Electors who may share particular beliefs, and not necessarily a preference for their parties’ ticket.  In observing the relatively few contrary votes against Electors’ same-party presidential nominees, she fails to contemplate the relatively extraordinary contingency of significant intra-party splits.  The Court thus implicitly accepts the indirect influence of parties in the constitutional process, beyond the contemplation of the Framers and expresses no sense of the Electoral College as a check on the people or parties, unlike Alexander Hamilton in Federalist No. 68.  The Framers did not imagine state Legislatures enacting state laws favoring the role of parties, or a popular election for President, names printed on ballots, or even candidates campaigning for any office.

  Kagan makes analogies of binding Electors to proxy voting, even though the Framers did not grant State Legislatures a vote they could delegate to others to cast in their stead, and to the acceptance of votes made under duress, as if they are acceptable.  The Court did not consider why the Constitution does not expressly grant State Legislatures a more direct role, such as by a proxy vote were the Electoral College not intended to be representative and deliberative.  But under the majority’s reasoning, State Legislatures, which originally appointed Senators, could have even bound them under penalty, and thereby rendered the Senate less representative and deliberative. 

The Court noted the plaintiffs’ argument against binding Electors in case of a death of presidential or vice presidential candidate, but did not rule on exceptions to state statutes for such a contingency.  It did not consider other potential contingencies, such as incapacity, the subsequent discovery of a candidate’s ineligibility, or a candidate’s renouncement of his candidacy.  There was no thought of the not-unprecedented party strategy of nominating different tickets in different States to obtain a majority of the Electoral College for one particular ticket.

Justice Clarence Thomas disagreed in his concurrent opinion with the Court majority that the state power in Article II over the method of choosing Electors, (e.g. appointment or popular election) includes the power to impose conditions on their appointment, such as a pledge to vote a certain way.  Because the Constitution does not limit state power, he argues that the States instead have a right under the Tenth Amendment to impose a duty on Electors, to which Justice Neil Gorsuch agreed. 

Either way, the Court’s unanimous ruling holds that whatever the Framer’ intent was and the practice of some States and Electors, the Electoral College is not constitutionally required to be representative and deliberative because the States have the right to determine the role of Electors, under the threat of penalty, although States may also continue to allow Electors to vote freely.  And State Legislatures, as Washington subsequently did, may repeal their provisions to punish Electors for how they vote.

  Therefore, the Court affirms that the President of the Union of the States is effectively elected by the States through whichever method they choose, especially to the degree they bind their Electors.  Their textual interpretation may be the right approach, but the Court’s broad interpretation of state power creates implications that it may not have anticipated, as it implicitly affirms the right of State Legislatures to enforce the binding of Electors whom they directly appoint or even of Electors elected in their own right (i.e. without a presidential preference vote), both of which were the early methods of choosing Electors.  States Legislatures implicitly could even conduct a presidential preference vote and then require the Electors to vote for different candidates.

Just as the role of the Electoral College has changed over time and various contingencies have arisen, it could continue to evolve in perhaps unexpected ways as States consider various ideas on altering how they choose Electors, as the Supreme Court has ruled the Constitution defers to their discretion.

This Independence Day, Declare our American Independence Anew from Foreign Interference

Happy Independence Day! 

On this Independence Day, let us Americans declare anew our independence from foreign interference, not only in our election campaigns and election process, but our politics in general, in which hostile foreigners try to influence policies or ultimately the outcome of elections.  Let us particularly reject foreign attempts to increase divisions and to undermine confidence in the truth, our American ideals of equality and liberty, and in our confidence in elections. 

Let us be united by the American Creed expressed in the Declaration of Independence that “all men are created equal” and “that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable Rights, that among these rights are “Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”

May God Bless America.

Foreign Digest: China, Russia and Italy

China

            After the passage this week of a new security law for Hong Kong which violates the autonomy and liberty Communist China had promised the United Kingdom when it reverted from British rule in 1997, the U.K. is today extending for five years the eligibility for immigration for three million residents of the city state who are eligible for British passports.  The law punishes dissent.  After protests against it on its first day, Communist Chinese have already begun making arrests.

Russia

            The referendum today in the Russian Federation on constitutional changes that would allow President Vladimir Putin, the tyrannical ex-Soviet intelligence officer, to remain in power for 16 more years, is being voted on.  Elections are not free and fair in Russia.

Italy

           Italian police today seized from shipping containers tons of illegal narcotics made by the Islamic State, the Islamist terrorist organization that had been “Al-Qaeda in Iraq,” made in Syria.

Cinfici Is Quoted in a Reading Eagle Article on Reading’s Columbus Monument

           I was quoted as a historian in yesterday’s article in the Reading Eagle on a proposal to remove the Christopher Columbus monument from Reading’s City Park: https://www.readingeagle.com/news/local/reading-resident-wants-christopher-columbus-statue-removed-from-city-park/article_40f5818a-b724-11ea-94fb-af2e95792b60.html.

            I noted Columbus’ accomplishment of joining two worlds together and its significance of exchanging goods, ideas and knowledge and providing the opportunity for friendship and that the monument was intended to affirm the equality of immigrants who have faced prejudice, not for events that took place later for which the discovery is blamed.  Indeed, the article notes how xenophobic nativists protested the monument when it was placed in 1925, paid for by local Italian-Americans and sculpted by an Italian artist.  The upkeep up the statue has been performed by the Columbus Day Committee, which is made up of Holy Rosary Roman Catholic Parish (an Italian national church), whose Pastor founded it in 1956, and other Italian organizations.

            As I have noted in posts every year on Columbus Day, but was only implicit in the article because of space limitations, Columbus truly did discover the Western Hemisphere, as one need not be the first to uncover something to be credited with its discovery, which thus does not slight the Native Americans who first crossed the land bridge with Asia during the Ice Age.  His observations that led him to theorize that an inhabited landmass inhabited by Asiatic people were nearer to Europe than known.  Although Columbus was incorrect that it meant the world was smaller and that Asia was closer, his primary scientific theory was correct that there was an inhabited landmass inhabited by Asiatic people closer to the Eastern Hemisphere, which he accomplished with only a clock and a compass.  He is also credited with the scientific discoveries that the Northern and north magnetic poles are not in the same location and that the Earth is not perfectly spherical.  Columbus’ outstanding skills as a navigator allowed him not only to reach the New World, but to bridge the two hemispheres permanently, as no one had previously done, as he was able to sail back to his home port and return to the New World. 

            Ferdinand and Isabella of Spain financed Columbus’ expedition with the goal of trade and spreading the Faith, which was Spanish national policy.  Columbus was also motivated by commerce and regarded spreading Christianity as his mission.  When he made contact with the Native Americans, the aboriginal peoples of the Western Hemisphere reacted either peacefully, or by running away or in a hostile manner, to which Columbus and his Spanish crew did not react.  He ordered his crew not to harm the friendly Natives or to exploit sexually their women, who did not wear clothing.  Columbus founded a colony on the island of Hispaniola, but when he returned on his second voyage, he found its inhabitants had all been slaughtered.  His critics judge him harshly by present standards and blame his discovery for all of the diseases that were exchanged, as happens whenever there is contact between two peoples when one of them does not have immunity, and for cruelties inflicted by the Spanish, which were against the wishes of Isabella.  Columbus’ critics credulously believe all of the allegations that his Spanish rivals in the New World later made against him, without any appreciation of the arrival of Western Civilization and Christianity to the Western Hemisphere and the ideals that developed more fully from them of equality and liberty, among the many benefits of the reuniting of the two worlds, in contradiction of the critics’ claim of tolerance of cultures and blaming of the discovery for the diminishment of Native American culture in some places.  It is typical when two cultures come into contact that the more technologically advanced culture dominates, as the less advanced culture adopts much or all of the more advanced culture while anything regarded as worthy of conservation is retained and perhaps even picked up by the more advanced culture.  In accusing Columbus of “genocide” because of disease and because some of the Native tribes lost military conflicts with the Spanish and because of the cruelties, these critics also ignore how the European migrants to America rescued certain Native tribes from genocide by other tribes from cannibalism or human sacrifice.  As I have posted before, commemorating Columbus does not denigrate Native Americans, who are properly honored by the United States at Thanksgiving for their friendship with the English settlers at Plymouth.  The accomplishments of Native American culture and the contributions of the many millions of Native Americans throughout the Western Hemisphere ought to be appreciated throughout the Americas.

           As I have noted in previous posts, the effort to commemorate Columbus Day as a federal holiday was led by an Irish-American Priest who had founded the Knights of Columbus, a Catholic fraternal organization, to refute the advancement of the Leif Erikson legend to minimize Columbus’ accomplishments, by the Ku Klux Klan and other Nativists who are prejudiced against Catholics and Southern and Eastern Europeans.  The minimization of Columbus’ accomplishments is based upon negative stereotypes about such people and Italians particularly and furthers those stereotypes.  For example, the claims that Columbus’ discovery was accidental or that he was “lost” invoke the stereotype of Italians as less intelligent than Northern Europeans.  The point that America would not have come to its present existence but for its discovery by Southern European Catholics was intended to acknowledge the contributions of all immigrants and to welcome them, based on the American Creed, the foundational belief of America which holds that because all human beings are created in the image and likeness of God, they are equally free and independent.  

The District of Columbia is Not Being Taxed without Representation Like the American Colonies

           Advocates for statehood for the federal District of Columbia argue that it is being taxed without being represented in the United States Congress, like the argument made for the American Revolution by the Thirteen American Colonies against the United Kingdom that was the basis for the slogan, “No taxation without representation.”  However, there are major differences and there are other solutions besides statehood for more equality and to avoid constitutional concerns.

            The Colonies collectively are estimated to have had nearly a third of the population of the United Kingdom, yet had no representation in the more than 600-member British Parliament.  Furthermore, that Parliament sat remotely across the Atlantic, which took weeks for communication at the time.  The Federal District has an estimated population of about 700,000 out of well over 300 million, and the Congress sits in it.  Indeed, the main reason it is wrong that Columbia is unrepresented is that it is represented by the entire House of Representatives generally, which, under its rules, even dedicates a standing Committee to its affairs, although the District enjoys home rule, but particularly it is represented by a Delegate.   Like the Delegates of the territories under House rules, Columbia’s has powers equal to Representatives in committee and even on the floor, except voting on final passage of bills.

            A Republican proposal to eliminate the federal income tax obligations for District residents, which would obviate the taxation part of the argument, has been repeatedly rejected by Democrats.   Note: payroll taxes, which should be optional, are for the receipt for benefits.  An exemption could also be made for excise taxes.

            Another proposed solution has been to retrocede the residential portions of Washington to Maryland, just as had been done with parts of the District that had been ceded by Virginia.  Maryland should then be awarded an additional U.S. House seat for that District, at least, with a corresponding increase in the size of the House.  Note: I have argued for a significant increase in the size of the House from the current number of 435, which has not kept pace with population growth over the last several decades, which could give the current residents of the District additional seats.  The State of Maryland, including the former District, would continue to be represented by two U.S. Senators and the State would appoint the corresponding number of presidential and vice presidential Electors that would commensurate with the size of its congressional delegation.  Maryland’s current method of appointment is by popular election statewide with the slate of Electors of the presidential ticket receiving the most votes being sent to the Electoral College.

           The reason the Framers of the Constitution established a federal district for the capitol was to avoid the undue influence of any State.  Of particular concern would be the advocacy by a congressional delegation representing Colombia for growing government to increase state tax revenues or for patronage for residents.  Retrocession would give equality to the residents of the federal District without causing the degree of harm feared by the Framers.

Foreign Digest: Russia and Ireland

Russia

The European Court of Human Rights ruled earlier this week that the Russian Federation, led by tyrant Vladimir Putin, an ex-Soviet intelligence officer, illegally banned the website kasparov.ru, founded by Garry Kasparov, the former world chess champion, liberal democratic dissident and Russian presidential candidate against Putin.  Kasparov, who is widely regarded as the greatest chess player of all time, is the Chairman of the Human Rights Foundation, https://hrf.org/ , and is the founder of the Renew Democracy Initiative, https://www.rdi.org/, which is dedicated to renewing constitutional democracy in the United States, where he lives in exile.

Ireland

           A new Prime Minister of Ireland has taken office today to lead a coalition government that, for the first time, includes the two main political parties, both of which are center-right, together with the Greens.  As I had explained in my last post, the unprecedented coalition was necessary to keep the far-left Sinn Fein from power.

Foreign Digest: Italy, Ireland, Syria, Philippines, Belarus and Hungary

Italy

            A ring of anarchists with international ties was arrested in Italy earlier this week.  They had ties to anarchists in Greece, Germany and Chile.  Italy and Greece have suffered from many violent attacks by anarchists over the years.  There have been several in Italy over the last few months.

Ireland

            The two leading rival Irish political parties, both of which are on the center right, have formed an unprecedented bloc this week to keep the far-left Sinn Fein from power in the Ireland.  Sinn Fein in Ireland is a version of the same party in British-ruled Northern Ireland associated with the Irish Republican Army terrorists during the Troubles, when thousands were killed over decades of violence.  The leftist party seeks unification of the province of the United Kingdom with the Irish Republic.

Syria

            There was a protest in Syria earlier this week against the tyrannical regime of Bashar Assad, the first since Syrian regime forces, with the help of its Iranian, Hezbollah (the Lebanese Shi’ite terrorists sponsored by Iran) and Russian Federation allies have won a series of battles.  Syria has been in a civil war since 2011 when there was a popular uprising against the Assad dictatorship.  Both moderate Muslim and Islamists have been engaged in the fighting, as well as Kurds.  The United States backed moderate Muslims and the Kurds against the Islamists, together with a coalition of Western and Arab States, but has retreated.  Turkey has opposed the Kurds and backs a different group of Arab Muslims.  Fighting sometimes spilled into Lebanon or Israel.  The Israelis continue occasionally to strike Iranian and Hezbollah targets in Syria that threaten it.  Millions of Syrians have fled their homes, creating the largest refugee crisis since the Second World War.  Over half a million have been killed.  Syria’s Assad regime uses chemical weapons and other indiscriminate weapons on civilian populations while Russia targets hospitals and aid convoys.

Philippines

            A reporter critical of the Filipino Government was convicted on criminal charges in the Philippines earlier this week.  Filipino President Rodrigo Duterte, the “Filipino Trump,” has been violating the freedom of the press while he encourages Filipinos to murder suspected drug dealers.

Belarus

            The Belorussian opposition presidential candidate was arrested late this week.  The former Soviet Republic of Belarus has been ruled by the same authoritarian leader since independence in 1991.  After protests today of his arrest across Belarus, the Belorussian regime arrested them.  Mobile Internet was cut off and journalists were also arrested.

Hungary

           The European Union’s court ruled late this week that Hungary’s restrictions on non-governmental organizations violated its rules.  The increasingly authoritarian and autocratic Hungarian President refers to his rule as “illiberal.”  It is also xenophobic and anti-Semitic.  The particular organization in question in the case was founded by a Jew the Government makes accusations about, just as it bans refugees from fleeing across its borders.