Brett Johnson/Daily Southtown Homer Township Republicans organized by Homer Township Supervisor Steve Balich wave flags April 27, 2024, to support Donald Trump’s presidential bid at the intersection of 143rd Street and Bell Road. (Brett Johnson/Daily Southtown)
PUBLISHED: May 30, 2024 at 6:07 p.m. | UPDATED: May 30, 2024 at 8:36 p.m.
Will County Board member Steve Balich, the Republican Leader on the board and also Homer Township supervisor, expressed outrage Thursday on the conviction of former President Donald Trump in New York.
“How can this happen in our country?” Balich said. “We had the greatest country in the world and now it stinks.”
Balich said the prosecution by the New York attorney general was politically motivated.
“I’m aggravated. I am totally appalled. New York is just an example of the scumbags running our country,” he said. “There’s no more rule of law. New York is just an example of how bad it is. They hate the guy, so they want to make sure he goes to jail.”
Christina Clausen, chair of the Will County Republican Central Committee, issued a statement saying the verdict represents a profound crisis for the democratic process.
“It is deeply troubling that in our supposedly free and fair society, a rogue judge and prosecutor can wrongfully condemn and imprison one of our greatest presidents,” Clausen said in the statement. “This outcome is a glaring instance of election interference, undermining the integrity of our Republic and equal justice. Every citizen should be outraged by this misuse of the judiciary to persecute political opponents.”
She said the case shows the judicial system can be rigged “against those who oppose the liberal Democrats and their goals.”
“Every citizen who cherishes fair and free elections should be outraged by this development,” Clausen said. “It is essential that we stand together, remain vigilant, and relentlessly defend our democracy to ensure that the will of the people prevails without undue influence or bias.”
Balich said the case would have been tossed out if Trump were tried in Texas or another state.
“To me, it’s like a big conspiracy to destroy the country. It’s so outrageous,” he said. “It’s all political. It’s stuff that happens in foreign countries. They call them banana republics.”
Balich said he wondered if President Biden would be tried in red states, such as for contributing to fentanyl overdoses due to his immigration policies.
Clausen said the verdict doesn’t diminish her support for the former president.
“I stand firmly with Trump, hoping justice will prevail and his innocence will be shown, proving the system is rigged against those opposing liberal Democrats,” she said.
The World Health Organization has failed to agree on a final draft agreement. The resistance around the world is just too intense. They will find other ways but this is a great victory for now.
Meanwhile, other parts of the machinery of compulsion seem to be falling apart.
The 155-page email dump of the House Oversight Subcommittee provides a mind-blowing record of communications and life inside the institution headed by Anthony Fauci, the mega-powerful 50-year bureaucrat. The exchange’s second-in-command is David Morens, one-time physician, gatekeeper to the king of the world managing a $50 billion research budget, and would-be philosopher himself. Yes, he is the guy who argued for a rebuilding of the infrastructure of human existence at the height of lockdowns.
These lurid emails reveal a nonstop effort from 2020 onward to bury all information about the funding of the Wuhan lab that is supposed to be the source of the pandemic virus and the code sequence that fed the shot that billions in the world took which has produced not a cure but injury and death seemingly without precedent in modern pharmaceutical experience. The man we discover behind the curtain is broken, profane, lascivious, and deeply confused.
It’s right there for all the world to see. These are your rulers. These are the people who wrecked the world.
The Nature of Lab Origin Investigations By Alex Washburne. Congress needs an impartial insider, a scientific Pocahontas, who can help them traverse these treacherous lands. As someone who studied pathogen spillover, helped write a DARPA PREEMPT grant for the same call to which DEFUSE was proposed, became acquainted with lab-origin theory, helped produce some evidence consistent with a lab origin now showing up in Dr. Baric’s testimony, and has helped managers without science degrees navigate Covid as a pop science writer and impartial consultant, I’m eager to fulfill my civic duty and help out where duty calls.
Pandemic Preparedness: Coming to a Country Near You By Meryl Nass. The US Government will be paying 100 countries to implement “pandemic preparedness.” This will include many of the awful provisions in the treaty and amendments, ho ho ho.
Is It All Unraveling? By Brownstone Institute. There are myriad opportunities to give today, many worthy. But Brownstone has a proven model of precision, timing, principle, and relentless courage. As a young institute with a crucial mission, we need your support, with every dime going to support this great calling. We must turn this loss of public trust in virtually everything into a massive effort to rebuild freedom, community, science, law, medicine, media, and our lives. It can happen but not without all our efforts.
Covid Vaccines: Savior or Killer Shot? By Ramesh Thakur. In sum, therefore, looked at together, the two pairs of examples from North America and Australasia indicate a weak to negligible role of vaccines and the critical role of infection-acquired immunity in ending the pandemic. It’s called relearning the same lessons all over again.
The Story of Operation Warp Speed Gets Worse By John Tamny. Quite understandably given the billions Moderna made from Warp Speed, Arbutus and parent company Genevant are suing for infringement. Which is where it gets weird, or actually not very weird. If government was going to lean on pharmaceutical firms to rush a vaccine, indemnity from liability had to come next. And so it is for Moderna via-a-vis Arbutus. The Department of Justice agreed last year to take on Moderna’s liability for patent infringement which, given the billions Moderna earned via federal largesse, could easily add up to billions.
The Pandemic Treaty Will Compound Past Mistakes By Meryl Nass. To simply vote no would leave the current situation – the situation that led to the many Covid-19 pandemic failures – unaddressed. But any putative “benefit” of the new treaty is likely to be marginal at best. More importantly, the treaty and amendments as they are currently written do enormous, identifiable harm and would leave everyone, except those with stakes in Big Pharma, IT services, and global finance, far worse off.
Pandemics: The Healthcare Dilemma of Our Time By David Bell. So, rather than arguing over the fine print in these pandemic agreements, we first must make an obvious and fundamental decision. Is the intent of all this to live longer, more equitably, and healthily? Or is it to grow the pharmaceutical sector of wealthy countries? We cannot do both, and we are currently set up to support Pharma. It will take a lot of unraveling, and rethink on conflict-of-interest rules, to make this a public health program. It probably comes down to who makes decisions, and whether they want an egalitarian society or a more traditional feudalistic and colonialist approach. This is the real question to be addressed in Geneva.
Wenstrup Releases Francis Collins’ House Testimony By Robert Malone. Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic Chairman Brad Wenstrup (R-OH) released the transcript from Dr. Francis Collins’ transcribed interview. Dr. Collins helped lead the government’s Covid-19 pandemic response as the Director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) until his resignation at the end of 2021. In conjunction with the transcript, the Select Subcommittee also released a new staff memo that highlights the key takeaways from Dr. Collins’s transcribed interview.
A Fork in the Road of the EU By David Thunder. Sooner or later, EU citizens and political leaders will have to decide which Europe they wish to back: a highly integrated political union with major policies decided from Brussels, or an economic union of sovereign nations with central coordination reserved primarily for issues of mutual economic interest. Neither of these two options is guaranteed to succeed. But trundling along in a political and institutional halfway house, with policies that upset a lot of people but no serious attempt to articulate a shared vision of where Europe is headed or what it stands for, is a recipe for political mediocrity, disillusionment, and chronic instability.
Sing Us a Song, Piano Man By Charles Krblich. What my son did not know is that “Piano Man” is also a song about how often life is miserable and melancholic, and how all of that can be impacted by a simple melody. The patrons of a bar beg the piano man to sing them a song; play them a memory, one they don’t even remember all that well.
‘Experts’ Fail to Argue That Mandates Worked By Ian Miller. By now, the evidence against the effectiveness of Covid policies and so-called “interventions” is overwhelming. Mask mandates were a spectacular failure, with the most heavily masked populations often seeing worse results than cities, counties, or countries with little to no masking. Vaccine mandates and passports were an unmitigated disaster; coercion created mistrust, and resistance and in some cases may have led to unnecessary, damaging side effects.
What Really Happened: Lockdown until Vaccination By Jeffrey Tucker. In summary, if this theory is correct, what you have unfolding here is the biggest and most destructive flop in the history of public health. The entire scheme of lockdown-until-vaccination depended fundamentally on a shot that actually achieved its aim and certainly did not impose more harm than good. The trouble is that most everyone now knows what the pandemic masters tried to keep quiet for a very long time: natural immunity is real, the virus was mainly dangerous for the elderly and infirm, and the experimental shots were not worth the risk.
EcoHealth Funding Suspension is Pure Theater By Debbie Lerman. Is the Committee’s work just another example of bureaucratic incompetence and “waste, fraud and abuse” of our precious taxpayer dollars? Or is it an intentional diversion, to distract us from the work the US government was/is actually funding at bioweapons labs like the one in Wuhan, engineering pandemic potential pathogens and then deploying global public-private partnerships to develop medical countermeasures against those pathogens—all of which came together to create the catastrophe known as the Covid pandemic?
Media: Gen Z is Doomed By Peter St Onge. Years after the fact, the mainstream media is discovering that Gen Z is doomed. As CNN puts it, Gen Z is “earning less, has more debt, and higher delinquency rates than Millennials did at their age.”
Journey through an Exposed America By David Bell. The dominant tribe in much of America, and much of the Western world, is a band of supplicants to their cause. They wish to censor, restrict, control, and mandate because they have chosen a path of compliance and resent those who did not. There is nothing new in this, in historic terms, and the response is similarly established. Choosing humanity over rhetoric is the best way to prepare for whatever comes next.
The Media Slowly Backpedals By Mark Oshinskie. I derive little satisfaction from watching their pro-vaxx/NPI case crumble. Firstly, unlike in a courtroom, where judges and juries are, at least in theory, focused on what witnesses say, most people’s attention is too scattered to notice the Covid fear-mongers’ reversals. The media’s retreat has occurred very slowly. As the backtracking fear-mongers have cynically calculated, the public’s Covid fatigue will blunt anti-media anger.
Oysters with a Side of Vindication By Richard Kelly. Oofy turned his attention to his second plate of oysters, then looked me in the eye. “The only thing that was 95% effective was the government propaganda. And of course the margin loans we all used to make squillions on the pharma share price gains. Don’t tell me you missed that boat too, Wooster. Good lord, you are a chump. Even the PM was in on it. His wife held the shares of course. Pass the lemon, there’s a good chap.”
WHO Accords Warrant Sovereignty Concern By Ramesh Thakur. The two sets of changes to the architecture of global health governance, I argued, will effectively change the WHO from a technical advisory organisation offering recommendations into a supranational public health authority telling governments what to do.
Communities thrive when they are given the opportunity to participate in traditions. One popular summertime tradition is attending parades, as well as planning them, organizing them, and taking part in them. As McCurry stated in The NYC Journal, parades remind us, “of the strength found in unity and the power of coming together as one”. Humans find joy and happiness when they integrate as a group to celebrate a holiday or festivity. There are many examples of these gatherings such as the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, the Chicago Saint Patrick’s Day Parade, the Mardi Gras Parade, and even some parades taking place on bodies of water (lighted boat parades) all over the world. There is no denying that these festivities bring smiles, a connection with others, and a sense of community while reinforcing our purpose as a society. Now more than ever we are in a dire need of community closeness; untypical and unique current events have challenged humanity, as we all struggle to cope with financial difficulties, health concerns, educational strife, troubling world issues and daily circumstances. With such a heavy load of stress we look for the light at the end of the tunnel, whether it’s talking to a friend, listening to music, engaging in social events, having a glass of wine, or walking outside in nature. In fact, according to Harvard Health, it is more beneficial “to connect rather than consume” because studies suggest “that emphasizing social ties can provide definite health benefits” (2012).
Parades help us interact with each other while fostering our sense of pride, sharing values, and establishing friendships. In short, parades make us feel good. Traditions are part of every culture and come in all shapes and forms. It’s a routine that encourages collaboration, promotes harmony, and gives people a deeper association with their environment, family, and neighbors. Specifically, the tradition of a parade brings about an immense feeling of satisfaction for those that are not only partaking in it, but for those that are spectating. Anyone that has seen a parade can relate to the excitedness sparkling in a child’s eyes, to the element of surprise while witnessing a colorful float slowly approaching. Orchestrating a parade requires patience, dedication, creativity, and hard work. But the challenge is worth it; community functions provide a shared belief while giving us a supply of strength and reminding us that our diversity is what truly makes us beautifully unique.
I had suggested to Homer Township that their annual parade should take place on Will County Route 1 (WC1) because it seemed fitting to celebrate the “first” Will County Route before the jurisdictional transfer took place. (For those that are not aware of the timeline of events, Will County had proposed the “Parker Hadley Road Project” in July of 2023 which would have deeply impacted the 3.6-mile corridor. After the road project was paused in September 2023 by the Homer Township supervisor/Will County board member at the Public Works and Transportation Committee Meeting, the road was eventually put into a transfer (JT) through the county and village). Presently, there was weeks of preparation for the one-of-a-kind parade, establishing the approval of the required entities, involving residents and eager participants…the idea was to represent the history of the corridor while honoring various woodland aspects of the community. Ultimately the parade on WC1 was denied by the Village of Homer Glen. The village had repeatedly rejected the parade permit for the township, as well as the Homer Glen mayor announcing her decision to decline the township’s customary usage of 151st Street. Overall, there was no cooperation in this endeavor.
Although this decision by the village is profoundly disappointing, I hope it will not hinder or obstruct any current or future community celebrations. The general public has the right to exercise their traditions and beliefs while experiencing new ones. Moreover, WC1 (Parker/Chicago Bloomington Trail/Hadley Roads) should be honored and recognized as an integral historical component to the Homer area, while including the indigenous peoples that were here long before any settlers. The “crossroads community” originally was a well-trodden trail created by the natives and their horses, traveling through a sea of lush, green trees. This is a fact that should be respected and acknowledged by the Village of Homer Glen (since they are now the new landlords of the corridor.) By recognizing the history of the area, we are upholding the earliest procession of people who faithfully carved out the path for the community. That’s one tradition worth participating in…
McCurry, Alex. “Embracing Unity: Exploring American Traditions of Holidays, Parades, and Festivals That Foster Community Togetherness.” The NYC Journal, 25 Apr. 2024, thenycjournal.com/embracing-unity-exploring-american-traditions-of-holidays-parades-and-festivals-that-foster-community-togetherness/.
At this point in time finding Donald Trump guilty of anything, any crime at all, is just a matter of Judge Juan Merchan following through on expectations.
The entire world is watching what happens in New York City through the prism of ridiculous lawfare and politics. No intellectually honest observers believe this is a trial about substance, guilt, criminal activity or innocence therein. The illusion of a nonprejudicial justice system has long past and everyone can see the extreme politicization taking place in Judge Merchan’s courtroom.
Finding President Trump guilty of a crime is seemingly a foregone conclusion. Even the White House is saying Joe Biden will deliver remarks to the nation from the official executive office as soon as the guilty verdict is delivered {SEE HERE}.
Judge Merchan has yet to release the public version of jury instructions, however he previously decided last week that the jurors do not need to agree on a predicate crime in order to fund President Trump guilty of trying to hide one.
Yes, you read that correctly…. The jurors do not need to believe a crime was committed in order to convict Trump of unlawfully hiding a crime he never committed. Let that insufferable Lawfare logic sink in.
The World Health Organization (WHO), originally established as an advisory body, has a troubling history of health mismanagement and corruption. Of particular concern are the current negotiations, conducted behind closed doors and without substantial public input, which aim to transform the WHO into a controlling body with unilateral, legally binding authority over member states.
Yes, you read that correctly! The proposed amendments to the International Health Regulations currently being negotiated by the WHO are specifically designed to override national sovereignty and transfer legally binding authority to the WHO.
This is NOT a conspiracy theory.
Here is the evidence – three official WHO documents (1,2,3).
The proposed changes to the WHO’s core nature and powers directly contradict and nullify the Joint Resolution signed by President Harry Truman in 1948. This resolution explicitly stated that the US is not bound to enact any specific legislative program regarding matters outlined in the WHO’s Constitution.
Under the proposed amendments, membership in the WHO would impose legally binding requirements on the United States. This could force us to enact specific legislation that goes against the principles of the US Constitution, potentially infringing on our sovereignty and unalienable rights.
“The proposed amendments to these definitions could be understood as aiming to change the nature of these recommendations from non-binding to binding, and giving a binding effect to WHO recommendations and requests as proposed in other articles.” (page 26)
“This proposal also renders mandatory the temporary and standing recommendations addressed under Articles 15 and 16.” (page 55)
“The proposed amendment to include a reference to temporary and standing recommendations seems to make application of these recommendations obligatory.” (page 67)
“This Committee is concerned that these proposals may unduly impinge on the sovereignty of States Parties and give binding effects to what are supposed to be recommendations.” (page 68)
The 75th World Health Assembly adopted amendments to 5 articles of the International Health Regulations that dramatically reduced the time the 194 member nations will be allowed to reject future amendments. No signatures from leaders or approvals by any Parliament or Senate were required to enact those amendments into international law, which is legally binding on all nations. This happened in 2022, and it can happen again.
Continued membership in WHO is not just a matter of health policy, it’s a matter of our constitutional rights. It is incompatible with the US Constitution and our legal system, a fact that should resonate deeply with all of us as citizens.
The overreach of power from the WHO could significantly impact Americans in the event of another pandemic, particularly if the WHO gains the authority to make unilateral decisions about healthcare options. As mentioned previously, under the proposed amendments to the International Health Regulations, the WHO could impose legally binding health measures on member states, including the United States, without needing approval from national governments or legislative bodies.
This shift could lead to several profound consequences:
1. Loss of Sovereignty and Autonomy: One of the primary concerns is the potential erosion of national sovereignty. If the WHO is granted unilateral decision-making power, the U.S. government would be compelled to comply with international health directives, even if they conflict with national policies or public sentiment. This could include mandatory vaccinations, quarantine measures, and travel restrictions that might not align with the specific needs or preferences of the American public.
2. Restricted Healthcare Choices: Americans’ ability to make personal healthcare decisions could be significantly limited. For instance, the WHO could mandate certain treatments or preventive measures during a pandemic, leaving individuals with little to no say in their healthcare options. This centralization of power could undermine the patient-doctor relationship and reduce the ability for tailored, patient-specific medical decisions, which are crucial in managing individual health needs.
3. Implementation of Uniform Measures: The WHO’s one-size-fits-all approach might not be suitable for the United States’s diverse population and varied healthcare infrastructure. Uniform measures designed for global applicability may not consider the unique challenges and resources available in different regions of the country. This could result in harmful health policies being enforced across the board, potentially exacerbating health disparities and inequities.
4. Infringement on Personal Freedoms: Implementing WHO-mandated measures could infringe on personal and civil liberties. For example, enforced lockdowns, mandatory testing, and compulsory medical treatments could be imposed without the usual checks and balances provided by domestic legal and political systems. This could lead to public resistance and a loss of trust in national and international health authorities.
5. Economic and Social Impacts: WHO-directed health measures could have substantial economic and social ramifications. Business closures, travel bans, and other restrictive measures could disrupt the economy and daily life, leading to financial hardships, unemployment, and social unrest. The imposition of rigid international guidelines could hinder the ability to respond flexibly and contextually to such challenges.
In summary, the WHO’s overreach of power could significantly affect Americans by undermining national sovereignty, restricting healthcare choices, enforcing uniform measures that may not be suitable for all, infringing on personal freedoms, and causing broad economic and social disruptions. Any international health guidelines must be balanced with the need for national autonomy and the ability to make context-specific decisions that best serve the public’s interest.
As free people, it is crucial to recognize the implications of these proposed amendments on our constitutional rights and national sovereignty. Under these new terms, continued membership in the WHO is not merely a health policy issue but a fundamental challenge to our legal and constitutional framework. To safeguard our sovereignty and ensure that our health policies reflect the principles of our Constitution, we must so the folllowing:
1. Support legislative efforts like H.R. 79 (the WHO Withdrawal Act), which aims to repeal the legislation that joined the United States to the WHO.
“Substantially, Marxism-Leninism denies that there is any soul; that there is any after life; that there is any God. That is part and parcel of the entire theory.” Bella Dodd in testimony before a Senate subcommittee in 1952.
For those readers unfamiliar with Bella Dodd (1904-1969), she was one of the early Amercican admirers of the Russian Revolution of 1917 and ultimately became an operative of the Soviet Union in the United States, specializing in infiltrating the teachers’ union in New York. She was especially active in the 1930s and 1940s, finally testifying before both the Senate and the House in the early 1950s about Soviet tactics in their quest to bring the United States under Soviet control.
Miss Dodd’s autobiography, School of Darkness, recounts her attraction to Marxism-Socialism, her very active participation in infiltrating American institutions internally during this time, and her conversion back to Catholicism with the help of Bishop Fulton J. Sheen. Miss Constitution remains skeptical of Miss Dodd’s conversion back to a belief in God and has a suspicion that her unwillingness to reveal which Cardinals in the Vatican were supposedly Soviet plants is more dispositive of her continued loyalty to the Soviet cause than her well-written but emotionless autobiography. Bella Dodd’s life, however, raises a question that Americans would do well to answer.
What is it about the Russian Revolution of 1917 that captured the imagination of so many American young people, wealthy matrons of old-line American families, prominent businessmen, university intellectuals, reputable charities, and elected and appointed public servants? Why is this attraction still with us today?
Perhaps the answer is relatively simple – Marxists figured out that it is not their ideology that wins the hearts and minds of people, but manipulation of a trigger found in us all – sensitivity to what is fair. The trigger is manipulated through messaging. As Bella Dodd explains, “[T]rue socialism had been a spell woven of words cleverly strung together. . .and it was made plausible by my desire to see man-made perfection in this imperfect world.”
Miss Constitution would say that “fairness” is what is “just” under the circumstances. What is “just” under the circumstances does not mean an equal outcome under the circumstances, it means what meets a standard of rightfulness under the circumstances. This is why Bella Dodd’s desire to see man-made perfection in this imperfect world is error – man-made perfection is impossible because it begins and ends with man and his wounded nature in sin. Rightfulness begins with God. An example:
There are those who deny the fact that Hamas (through Iran) initiated an attack on Israel on October 7, 2024, with over 1,000 people brutally murdered and others captured, including Americans. What could overcome the facts of this event? How could denial of this event impact thousands of persons at America’s premier educational institutions who demonstrate for more killing, torture, and annihilation of a whole people? It could happen because a Jewish state created May 14, 1948 by a vote of the United Nations is messaged as unfair. That the Jewish state of Israel is a stable and prosperous society is messaged as unfair. That the state of Israel has had to fight its way, since 1948, through numerous wars and now constant rocket attacks is messaged as unfair because Israel has managed to survive these attacks. The question to be asked, then, as a response to this denial of October 7 is: “What is ‘just’ under the circumstances? In other words – what is fair?” These questions include Palestinians.
In a related example, Pope Francis seemed to try “to create a spell, woven of words cleverly strung together” in a recent American television interview.
He mentioned the globalization of indifference. The fact is that Americans are not indifferent. The fact is that the American people are the most generous people in the world.
He mentioned that all ideology is bad. The fact is that some ideology is bad. Belief in God, development of the person, and personal liberty with duty, is not bad.
He mentioned that all should strive for peace. The fact is that peace under cowardly circumstances only brings more conflict. Sometimes slaying the wicked brings the peace the Pope desires.
He mentioned that conservatism is suicidal. The fact is that conserving what is essential to the maintenance of our Rule of Law and Constitutional Republic is critical to the welfare of Americans and the world.
He mentioned that closing the United States borders is unfair. He insisted that each migrant must be treated humanely. The fact is that each migrant is treated humanely. This does not mean the United States must allow unvetted persons into our country who might injure our citizens and/or damage our culture.
Miss Constitution harbors no ill-will toward Pope Francis. His comments, however, are the exact same contrivance that influenced Bella Dodd and the thousands of Americans who betrayed their country in the 20th century and those who continue to do so today. His was not a message of Christian doctrine; his was not a message of God first and man second; his was not a message of personal repentance and ultimate salvation; his was a political message masked as an appeal to “fairness.”
If fairness has been manipulated, how is one to judge what is true and what is just?
It is very hard to do. Propaganda techniques are so sophisticated in our digital world that the average person has but a few defenses. The first defense is humble prayer and the admission that it is hard to know what facts are true in any given situation. The second defense is a reliance on the empirical. One can know reality through the senses and through experience. One can rely on instinct and common sense. Finally, one must develop critical thinking skills that unmask the untrue – those words “cleverly woven together” that deceive. At one time, this was one hallmark of our higher education system.
Bella Dodd gave us one piece of information that we know is accurate. “Marxism-Leninism denies that there is any soul; that there is any after life; that there is any God. That is part and parcel of the entire theory.” This ideology can never be compatible with a system based on objective not subjective truths, including a belief in God. The answer, in Miss Constitution’s view, to the Israeli-Hamas issue and any others, is to simply measure facts by a standard of objectivity and fairness by a standard of justness. “What is ‘just’ under the circumstances?” If the circumstances include pure evil, pure evil must be eliminated.
Finally, if the lure of Marxism boils down to “messaging”, what can America do to turn around over 100 years of a false spell sold to both our own citizens and others? America, while not selling it as such, has produced the fairest playing field of any system devised by man so far. Perhaps we should now begin selling what we should have been selling all along.
“Societies, even ones that are well governed, prosperous, and highly regarded by most citizens, are fragile human constructs that can fail.” From a Chicago Field Museum anthropological study
“Turning and turning in the widening gyre
The falcon cannot hear the falconer;
Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;
Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,
The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere
The ceremony of innocence is drowned;
The best lack all conviction, while the worst
Are full of passionate intensity.
Surely some revelation is at hand;
Surely the Second Coming is at hand.
The Second Coming! Hardly are those words out
When a vast image out of Spiritus Mundi
Troubles my sight: somewhere in sands of the desert
A shape with lion body and the head of a man,
A gaze blank and pitiless as the sun,
Is moving its slow thighs, while all about it
Reel shadows of the indignant desert birds.
The darkness drops again; but now I know
That twenty centuries of stony sleep
Were vexed to nightmare by a rocking cradle,
And what rough beast, its hour come round at last,
Slouches towards Bethlehem to be born?” W. B. Yeats, The Second Coming, 1919
Out of the insanity of World War I (1914-18), “the war to end all wars”, comes Yeats prescient poetry. The war to end all wars has led only to more wars, genocides, intentional starvation of whole peoples, use of atomic bombs on civilian populations, and the rise of brutal Islamism. Societies are fragile human constructs that can fail. History is replete with failed societal constructs. America’s Founders had read Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire (1775-89) by Edward Gibbon. They attempted to create a governance system that could withstand the test of time. Our Constitutional Republic is 237 years old – extremely young – and arguably failing.
Things fall apart; the center cannot hold – “things” are the great institutions of America such as her vaunted judicial system that assumes that those who hold judicial power will exercise that power unrelated to how they were appointed or elected. It includes a once world-class higher education system to immerse young minds in critical thinking skills required for a working Republic. It includes inter-generational moral-core training in the basics of Judeo-Christian moral law. It includes a military steeped in the traditions of honor, duty, and valor.
Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world, the blood tide is loosed, and everywhere the ceremony of innocence is drowned – the internal values that Judeo-Christian training creates; the values that allow Liberty within rules to prevail. Some persons placed in positions of high duty and authority over our precious children instead betray them. Innocence is drowned – innocence that can never be recovered. Some religious Jews and Christians are having a hard time rising to the occasion. Many confuse secular “social justice” with Judeo-Christian “charity.” Our institutions depend upon and are steeped in Moral Law. The so-called “wall of separation” between church and state simply means a non-forced religious belief or practice. It does not mean a wall of separation between our institutions and the very laws that undergird them.
The best lack all conviction, while the worst are full of passionate intensity – the best lack knowledge. This lack of knowledge about how our Constitutional Republic is supposed to work; about the Rule of Law; about what Founding Documents say; and about basic Economics, forces otherwise well-meaning citizens into silence. The worst enjoy destruction and suffering for its own sake and/or the ability to instigate destruction and suffering done by others. These very persons, often prosperous, are blank and merciless;those funding them knowingly evil. We are living a soft 9/11. Societies are fragile human constructs that can fail. Our Founders thought they had created a system with enough “checks” on human nature to withstand the inevitable weight of corruption. They divided power into smaller pieces (Federalism); enshrined personal Rights within Rules (the Bill of Rights); and ultimately handed over the responsibility for stewardship of the system to We the People.
A shape. . . is moving its slow thighs – that shape is but another form oftotalitarianism.
Twenty centuries of stony sleep were vexed to nightmare by a rocking cradle – the nightmare of World War I and the beginning of the end Western Civilization by Christian nations themselves.
What rough beast, its hour come round at last, slouches toward Bethlehem to be born? – the New World Order – the final squeeze on the soul of humankind by economic and social cartels that will govern in the collective as pitiless as the sun.
Societies are fragile human constructs that can fail. Yes, but it need not be America’s social construct. The beast, with a lion body and the head of a man, is moving slowly but is nevertheless moving. The beast should never have been allowed to escape from its den of depravity. We fell asleep on watch. We began to think the system could run on auto-pilot. We did not listen or did not hear James Warburg tell the United States Senate in 1951 that we would succumb to the beast by choice or force. We refused to believe it. We didn’t take George Orwell to heart. We let the beast’s historians alter our history and mock our culture.
Miss Constitution, in Ripe to Rot,contends that the American will, once firmly in place, is enough to stop the beast in its tracks. It may, however, not be enough to force the beast back to its den of slime. That will take raw courage – the willingness, if necessary, to die for one’s country – and time. It will take years of dedication to fix this. Two generations are at risk; future generations may be lost.
Turning and turning in the widening gyre – the history of human beings and their endless quest to find a utopia that will never exist. But our society, fragile as it is, has provided the most prosperity for the most people in the history of the world. That is because its emphasis is on the person and his or her journey toward virtue. It can fail, as the Chicago Field Museum has told us, but Miss Constitution hopes We the People will rise to defend, protect, and slay the pitiless rough beast slouching towards Bethlehem to be born. It will not be easy and it will get rough, but that is the price Americans must pay for betrayal by some and apathy by many.
n a recent column, Ripe to Rot, Miss Constitution articulated her position that our culture is decomposing and some American tax-exempt Foundations are using their great fortunes to injure their own country. Nothing could support these conclusions more than the current concocted civil war being waged in the United States. Other casualties in the current cultural malaise are unchallenged orthodoxies regarding Constitutionally protected political rights.
Unchallenged Orthodoxy #1: Hate speech is not protected from government interference by the 1st Amendment to the United States Constitution and may be outlawed.
Not true. Hate speech that follows time, place, and manner restrictions IS Constitutionally protected political free speech.
It helps to know why the Constitution, as interpreted by the Supreme Court, allows restricted hate speech. The Founders felt that one person’s hatred is another person’s love. Neither are allowed to incite imminent violence, but are otherwise protected from government interference if their speech or protest is properly delivered. The definition of “government” is any entity that receives substantial taxpayer dollars. Today –
“I hate America” is Constitutionally protected if spoken or written within the rules.
Burning a United States flag is Constitutionally protected if burned within the rules.
“From the river to the sea” is Constitutionally protected if spoken or written within the rules.
“Long live Hamas” is Constitutionally protected if spoken or written within the rules.
“Radical Islam is a trash religion” is Constitutionally protected if spoken or written within the rules.
The rules require that the speech not be directed at a particular person, that it be spoken or written in a proper forum (public spaces for speech such as public squares or classrooms in public schools), and that it be delivered at a time, place, and manner consistent with relevant authority. If the rules are followed no government actor, nor any entity that claims to be private but accepts large amounts of taxpayer funds, can prohibit the speech and must protect the speaker.
In the current Israel-Palestine protests at colleges and universities nation-wide, even if the protests (a form of speech) are peaceful, none of the above-rules are being followed, so none of the speech or marches need be allowed. Leadership at public institutions supply the time, place, and manner restrictions that can be fully enforced. For example: Columbia University is a public institution relevant to “free speech and protest” under the 1st Amendment to the United States Constitution because Columbia accepts large amounts of public money. In spite of this, the University can require that protesters use a certain space at a certain time for a certain duration. That one does not like the speech or that the speech violates another part of our Rule of Law is irrelevant to Constitutional analysis. Truly private institutions can make and enforce any rules they wish. Miss Constitution hopes this is clear.
Unchallenged Orthodoxy #2: America is a country of immigrants.
Not true. America is a country of vetted immigrants. There are strict rules about who is eligible to enter the United States (title 8, USC, section 1182). An applicant might qualify in one respect but not another and not be allowed to enter. Assimilation into our unique Rule of Law requires much learning and many years. It takes 8-10 years to qualify unless an immediate emergency such as certain imminent political death or bondage. Once qualified, an applicant must renounce loyalty to another country and must pledge loyalty to the United States. This is the Oath new immigrants take:
“I hereby declare, on oath, that I absolutely and entirely renounce and abjure all allegiance and fidelity to any foreign prince, potentate, state, or sovereignty, of whom or which I have heretofore been a subject or citizen; that I will support and defend the Constitution and laws of the United States of America against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I will bear arms on behalf of the United States when required by the law; that I will perform noncombatant service in the Armed Forces of the United States when required by the law; that I will perform work of national importance under civilian direction when required by the law; and that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; so help me God.”
Citizens who have taken this Oath would not be saying “death to America” or “death to Jews” as that would be violating the above Oath. Such pronouncements should disqualify any non-citizen from applying for citizenship and/or should trigger immediate deportation proceedings even if saying these things is within the rules and would be Constitutionally protected. What allows a non-citizen to speak and protest peacefully under our Constitution (the 14th Amendment) does not necessarily apply to qualification for citizenship. Miss Constitution hopes this is clear.
Unchallenged Orthodoxy #3: Citizens of the United States must accept global rules contradictory to our Constitution, tyranny by any minority, and insults to our national heritage and treasures.
Not true. Presidents either by Executive Order, through the Department of State, or other federal agencies, may not violate their Oath of Office to “preserve, protect, and defend” the United States Constitution by sublimating it to unconstitutional global mandates. If either Congress or the President wants to change the Supreme Positive Law of our Land each or both must go to We the People for such permission. No minority may impose physical harm or humiliation to others as a civil right.
Lastly, Americans do not have to tolerate insults to our Judeo-Christian heritage, to our Founding Documents, and to our Founding Father. Wrapping a statue of George Washington is Muslim apparel, denigrating him with ugly stickers and graffiti, and putting a Palestinian flag in his hand is not Constitutionally protected speech as it follows none of the rules for such speech. The university should have taken immediate steps to clean it up. Miss Constitution hopes this is clear.
In addition, Miss Constitution thinks the Board of Trustees and President of George Washington University in Washington, DC should be protecting the school’s namesake by providing guards 24/7 against harm to the symbol and hero of our nation. That they think they can’t or haven’t even considered it their duty to do so is Unchallenged Orthodoxy #4. The American people should make clear that this is one boundary-line violation, among many, that they simply will not tolerate.
Steve Balich wins tiebreaker to reclaim Homer Township Republican post
(Vincent D. Johnson/for Daily Southtown Will County Clerk Lauren Staley Ferry, left, closes her eyes as she pulls out a numbered ball from a box held by election analyst Rebecca Leder, to determine the winner of the Republican committeeperson race May 2, 2024. (Vincent D. Johnson/for Daily Southtown)
PUBLISHED: May 2, 2024 at 1:23 p.m. | UPDATED: May 2, 2024 at 1:49 p.m.
Homer Township Supervisor and Will County Board Republican Leader Steve Balich won a tiebreaker lottery on Thursday for Republican precinct committeeperson, after initially losing the March 19 election by one vote.
“First off, I thank God,” Balich said. “After I’m done thanking God, then all the people that came out and voted for me. And the ones who didn’t, I’ll represent them properly. I would hope that my opponent doesn’t run away because we need everybody we can get to win the next election. And I hope she would help me as I would have helped her.”
The chance lottery came after Balich challenged the certified election results in which Homer Glen resident Tami O’Brien beat him 115 votes to 114 votes. During the recount process, the candidates saw one ballot marked for O’Brien had not been initialed by an election judge.
Will County Circuit Court Judge John Anderson threw out that ballot earlier this week, citing the election code, and ordered the clerk’s office to conduct a lottery.
Will County Clerk Lauren Staley Ferry drew Thursday from a small box containing two balls, with one marked for O’Brien and the other for Balich, and Balich was named the winner.
O’Brien’s attorneys, Pericles Abbasi and Paul O’Grady, said they had not yet consulted with her on potential next steps.
Steve Balich, who tied with Tami O’Brien for the Republican committeeperson election, waits at the Will County clerk’s office before a lottery drawing Thursday to determine the winner of race,. (Vincent D. Johnson/for the Daily Southtown)
“(Balich) has won the election, but has not assumed the position,” O’Grady said. “She’s already been sworn into the position so it’s not vacated. There’s no position to be occupied.”
In his ruling, Anderson wrote there is some question as to whether and how the court can procedurally remove O’Brien from office if she does not win the tiebreaker, and cited a 2023 appellate court decision that may apply.
“If Mr. Balich is declared the winner, the parties should meet and confer for purposes of agreeing to a resolution,” Anderson wrote. “If they cannot agree to a resolution, the court will ultimately give them one.”
A hearing was set for May 8.
Vincent D. Johnson/for Daily SouthtownWill County Clerk Lauren Staley Ferry holds the winning lottery ball that determine Steve Balich the winner of a Republican committeeperson race. (Vincent D. Johnson/for Daily Southtown)
O’Brien said Tuesday she may run for future elected positions in the community and plans to continue to help Republican candidates.
“I’m not going away,” she said. “I’m a strong woman. I’m not going to crawl in a hole.”
Balich said he challenged the results of the election because it was so close.
His attorney, Ross Secler, said the issue of initialed ballots has been a requirement held by the Illinois Supreme Court to avoid any issues of fraud and protect the integrity of the elections.
Secler said he hopes O’Brien graciously steps aside, but he is prepared to continue the case, if necessary.
“If (O’Brien) wants to continue arguing, that is her legal right,” Secler said.
Tami O’Brien, of Homer Glen,
Homer Glen Mayor Christina Neitzke-Troike, who backed O’Brien in the election, said the results show the importance of voting.
She said she was disgusted the race came down to a simple mistake by an election judge, adding O’Brien was willing to hire attorneys and defend the election results to protect one person’s ballot from being thrown away.
“Steve didn’t win the election; he got lucky in a coin flip,” Neitzke-Troike said. “The voters should come out in volumes to make sure who they want in office gets into office. Local politics in the base of all politics. Local government affects residents in their day-to-day lives.”
Neitzke-Troike noted all positions for Homer Township government and three trustee positions in Homer Glen are up next spring and she plans to back a slate of candidates for those offices.
Michelle Mullins is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown.
Balich won today when the lot was drawn at 10:30 am May 2, 2024 becoming committeeman for Homer Precinct 6. I believe Tammie worked hard just as I did and really hope she does not leave the HTRO because she is very needed in the 2024 election to help get out the vote for the Republican Party. I thank God and all the people who came out to vote for me and recognize the importance of keeping Tammie in the party.
Homer Township Republican committeeperson race to be decided by lot following judge’s order
Michelle Mullins/for Daily Southtown Homer Township Supervisor Steve Balich, center, at a March 11, 2024, Township Board meeting. (Michelle Mullins/for Daily Southtown)
PUBLISHED: May 1, 2024 at 10:52 a.m. | UPDATED: May 1, 2024 at 1:36 p.m.
A Will County judge ruled in favor of Homer Township Supervisor Steve Balich’s request to get a ballot for his opponent tossed out, which results in a tie for the position of Republican precinct committeeperson that will be decided by lot.
Judge John Anderson wrote in his opinion that one ballot cast for Homer Glen resident Tami O’Brien was not initialed by an election judge and could not be counted. A handful of ballots that were initialed in the wrong spot were not considered in this case and were counted.
O’Brien was declared the winner of the March 19 race for Precinct 6 committeeperson in Homer Township by one vote, but Balich, who is also the Will County Board Republican Leader, filed for a recount.
Anderson wrote he was sympathetic to O’Brien’s position that not counting the ballot would disenfranchise the voter who cast it.
“Rather than this case being called a recount, the process may as well be called a discount because it entails efforts to make a vote not count — even when the vote was otherwise properly cast by a voter who most assuredly had no idea their voice would be ignored,” Anderson wrote.
But the judge wrote the law is clear that all ballots need to be endorsed or initialed by an election judge and that the Illinois Supreme Court has considered this a requirement for 125 years.
“No matter how sympathetic the Court may be to Ms. O’Brien’s position, it is not for a trial court judge to ignore plain statutory language nor directives from the Illinois Supreme Court,” Anderson wrote.
Tami O’Brien, of Homer Glen, defeats Homer Township Supervisor Steve Balich for Precinct 6 Committeeperson by one vote. (Tami O’Brien)
O’Brien beat Balich in the March 19 election by 115 votes to 114. With the one vote tossed out, the result ends in a tie and a winner will be determined at 10:30 a.m. Thursday at the clerk’s office.
The clerk’s office has determined that numbered balls representing the candidates will be drawn from a container to break the tie.
“I had that vote,” O’Brien said. “This is just a shame, a real shame.”
Anderson also rejected the argument that because O’Brien already took an oath of office as precinct committeeperson, the case should be dismissed. Anderson wrote if that were the issue, recounts and election litigation would have to move at a speed they cannot reasonably attain.
Anderson acknowledged in his opinion that there is a disagreement among the candidates if Balich wins the lottery.
O’Brien’s attorney, Pericles Abbasi, said there is still an outstanding question of whether a judge in an election contest case has jurisdiction to remove someone who has already taken office.
Homer Glen Mayor Christina Neitzke-Troike, who backed O’Brien in the race, said she was frustrated with the process.
“Tami won fair and square. Steve lost,” Neitzke-Troike said. “As Republicans we preach every vote counts and every vote matters. He’s throwing out another Republican’s vote. He’s finding a technicality to weasel his way back into the position.”
Balich, who was the leader of the Homer Township Republican Organization, said the vote was a tie, and no candidate received an overwhelming endorsement in the race. He said he is fighting for the residents who backed him for the position. He said some residents told him they had trouble voting March 19 because the polling place’s doors were locked, which delayed the polls opening.
Balich said he wants to retain the position because of the upcoming elections for president and local offices. He said he is starting his own movement based on Donald Trump’s Make America Great Again mantra to back conservative candidates. He said he would walk away if he doesn’t win the drawing.
“If (O’Brien) wins, I hope she does a good job, and if she wants my help, I’ll help her,” he said.
O’Brien said she is empowered to continue running for elected positions, noting all elected township positions are up in 2025.
“I’m not going away,” she said. “I’m a strong woman. I’m not going to crawl in a hole.”
She said whatever the result of the drawing, she plans to try to help Republican candidates get elected.
While contested races for precinct committeeperson were rare in the March 19 primary in Will County, they took a contentious tone in Homer Township.
O’Brien and a group of candidates ran together as part of a slate known as Neighbors United for Homer Township against the established Homer Township Republican Organization that Balich led.
Neighbors United said they believed change was needed and wanted “to return civility and harmony to our community.”
Members of the Homer Township Republican Organization accused the Neighbors United group as “fake candidates pretending to be Republicans.”
Neitzke-Troike said the local Republicans are tired of the infighting.
“We’ve been trying to get rid of the divide for so long, and Steve is the divide,” Neitzke-Troike said. “If you don’t think like Steve and drink his Kool-Aid, then you are not good enough.”
Balich said he has been unable to work with the mayor on local issues, noting her desire to dissolve township government.
“You don’t have to like people, but you have to work with them and trust them and that’s what’s lacking right now,” Balich said. “If she thinks I’m the problem, that’s OK. She can think whatever she wants. I don’t pay attention.”
Michelle Mullins is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown.
What you need to know before it’s too late 
