Integrity

“We can make these people whole again.”

That was the response of Senator Lindsay Graham, shortly after the lockdowns began in response to the outbreak of COVID-19… in the context of JOBS. In the context of Business Owners and the financial impact that would eventually come.

He suggested we could RESTORE… retroactively.

Putting aside the question of the saintly-hood of our Senators for a second… what was he speaking of? What glimmer of HOPE can we find within that statement… that’s IF Senator Graham was speaking in GOOD FAITH.

It seems COLD to color the situation in terms of MONEY, considering the toll taken in the lives of most people. It’s ignorant to even contemplate retroactively fixing what has been LOST… half a million from the virus, untold numbers from the dominoes that fell as our hospitals filled to capacity. There is NO amount of money that can replace that.

And it wasn’t due to a VIRUS. It was due to INACTION.
It was due to ineptitude, elevated by OUR VOTE.

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As I write, I’m looking down at a freshly cleared field, tucked in next to a small tributary that feeds the Missouri River… a far cry from the crowded city streets of Manhattan or Seattle. The impact may be harder to see, but it is felt just the same.

We’ve lost LIVES. We’ve lost LIVELIHOODS, but we’ve lost more than that… we’ve lost a sense of TRUST. We’ve lost a sense of SECURITY. When lives are on the line, we call 911. We take it for granted. More people now know… that’s not always the case. We’ve lost our Innocence.

There is no retroactively fixing that. We’ve shattered the ILLUSION of security… and it was taken with our consent.

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I don’t believe the American People elevate liars intentionally. We only find out AFTER they’ve risen to power that they were being less than truthful… well, with the obvious exceptions of course.

And once those liars are exposed, they eventually find themselves voted out of office, or escorted out by authorities. When crimes are committed, those who perpetrated AND participated are eventually held accountable… except for those who are NOT. Even when the evidence seems overwhelming, some people just seem to SKIRT.

Identical crimes. Identical circumstances. Wildly different outcomes.
SAME Judicial System.

What’s the variable. What CHANGES that outcome?

“If OJ drove a bus he wouldn’t even be OJ, he’d be Orenthal the bus driving murderer.”
-Chris Rock

Chris almost got it right… it’s not fame. There are many people you’ve never heard of before, who’ve done the exact same thing. It’s the MONEY. It’s the ability to secure Legal Counsel… it’s the ability to secure QUALITY Legal Counsel.

MONEY allows people to get away with murder.

MONEY defines what is or is NOT murder, because we choose our Elected Officials based on who can raise the MOST MONEY… Therefore, our laws favor those with money over those without.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/crime-law/2021/05/04/ledell-lee-dna-execution/

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To the Victor go the spoils, and those with MONEY always seem to win. History is written by the winners… and so are our LAWS.

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https://www.wsbtv.com/news/local/fulton-county/investigation-marjorie-taylor-greene-filed-homestead-exemptions-2-homes-violating-state-law/

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https://www.thedailybeast.com/rep-matt-gaetz-snorted-cocaine-with-megan-zalonka-escort-who-had-no-show-govt-job

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Ashli Babbit wasn’t executed on January 6th, she was shot by police while Breaking and Entering the United States House of Representatives.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/public-safety/ashli-babbitt-capitol-police-shooting/2021/04/14/452fb414-666a-11eb-886d-5264d4ceb46d_story.html

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The people who stormed the Capitol on January 6th weren’t exercising their First Amendment Right to protest…

This is what a peaceful protest looks like.
Respect the Rule of Law and those who enforce it. pic.twitter.com/f3pZOOTEjd
— Jack Charbonneau (@MrJLCharbonneau) January 6, 2021

Donald Trump wasn’t directing that crowd to call on Congress for a redress of their grievances. He told them to “… fight like hell or you won’t have a country anymore.”

Officers were not greeted with hugs and kisses that day.

LIES have elevated these problems. Lies elevated the people who were willing to support those lies, and those lies continue to GROW… even as we know they are lies.

These are the FACTS…

https://www.politico.com/news/2021/02/03/qanon-shaman-organic-food-465563

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https://www.businessinsider.com/trump-was-watching-tv-while-riots-took-place-2021-1

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https://www.businessinsider.com/fbi-says-tie-between-a-proud-boy-trump-white-house-2021-3

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… and these are the LIES.

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https://www.cnn.com/2021/05/15/politics/space-force-lohmeier-fired-after-comments/index.html

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https://www.forbes.com/sites/nicholasreimann/2021/05/07/in-arizonas-bizarre-election-audit-ballots-are-being-checked-for-bamboo-and-election-chief-has-been-assigned-protection/?sh=acfe6aa183b8

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It’s a hard pill to swallow, but we must address these issues head-on, and establish what is FACT before we can move on. LIES do not save lives in times of crisis… they only serve to keep BAD ACTORS in power.

“It’s about… an intelligence office for the Palestinian terrorist organization housed in that building, that plots and organizes the terror attacks against Israeli Civilians. It’s a perfectly legitimate target.” —Benjamin Netanyahu

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"We have called on the Israeli government to put forward the evidence. @AP’s bureau has been in this building for 15 years…

This is something we actively check to the best of our ability. We would never knowingly put our journalists at risk." https://t.co/AdZrDBVDWW
— Jack Charbonneau (@MrJLCharbonneau) May 16, 2021

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https://www.politico.com/news/2021/02/08/netanyahu-israel-corruption-charges-467605

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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wag_the_Dog

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The BAD ACTORS don’t want us to realize that. They don’t want us finding COMMON GROUND… casting aside the insanity and FOCUSING on what is RIGHT.

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We lose our ability to LEAD, so long as we continue to cling to LIES. In order to find what is RIGHT, we must admit when we are WRONG… and work to ensure it can NEVER happen again.

-JC

Respect Your Elders

Sure, I’ll admit it. I may be a little wet behind the ears, maybe not as long in the tooth as others… so I might be mistaken from time to time. But that’s why I choose to SPEAK OUT. To clarify. To educate, both myself AND others. How else would we find the answers that we seek?

**In an OPEN and HONEST debate, the best ideas always rise to the TOP.**

That is why we are here today! It’s the cornerstone of our Democracy. Ideas are proposed and discussions commence. Improvements are added, weaknesses are highlighted, and legislation is voted upon… but that’s currently NOT the case in the United States Senate.

Legislation is NOT voted upon. Legislation is proposed, debated, enhanced and amended, and then… no vote. Even when that legislation has passed the House… no vote. Even if a MAJORITY of Senators approve… no vote. The Will of the Majority is overruled by the Minority.

40% IS GREATER THAN 60%.

40% of the people know what’s best for this country… there must be something wrong with the rest of us.

In order to stop the Majority from imposing its will upon the Minority. To protect the smaller States from the larger, more populous States… as if the Great State of California, to its own detriment, would actively pursue an agenda to harm another part of this Union!

It would be a rational fear to have… if we were living in 1776.

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We must never forget the Presidency of Donald J. Trump. The passions and fire of ONE MAN, unleashed upon the people. Stoking anger and division for more than four years, and still… he could not convince a MAJORITY of this Nation that he was correct. Even with every outlet available to him, the PEOPLE were not convinced… THE PEOPLE were correct.

The MAJORITY of this Nation STANDS for Liberty and Justice for ALL. Not everyone believes in this… that is why they are in the MINORITY.

The MAJORITY of this Nation fights to protect the Rights of ALL citizens. It does not seek to hinder or harm, it seeks to elevate everyone. EQUALLY. Anyone seeking to protect the Rights of the Minority by standing OPPOSED to the Will of the Majority should consider UPDATING their position… in-light of the conclusions drawn from our most recent ‘experiment’.

Re-reading the words of our Founders, we can see our opinions have evolved considerably over the last 200 years. Roughly ONE THIRD of the words written about the Senate in The Federalist Papers are now GARBAGE… Senators are no longer selected by the Legislatures of the individual States. We ABANDONED that practice long ago and decided the PEOPLE should choose their Senators by direct vote. And why is that? More participation equals Better Governance.

IF your position is so STRONG, why is it you cannot rally a MAJORITY of support? IF your position is to stand opposed to the Majority, so be it. Please do so… Clearly. Make sure EVERYONE knows exactly where you STAND. When time shows your position to be correct, the Majority will stand with you.

And until that day comes, the MAJORITY of this Nation will support and defend your right to SPEAK OUT. Debate and dissent are essential to a thriving democracy, and we are all working toward the SAME GOAL: a more perfect Union.

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The United States Senate is the greatest deliberative body in the world INSPITE of the filibuster, not BECAUSE of it. The filibuster KILLS debate, it does not encourage it.

What makes the Senate superior is the six year term. The House, being elected every two years, is more closely tied to the fires and the passions of the People in the moment; whereas the Senate, not being constantly consumed with winning re-election, can work with a more deliberative approach to legislation, bringing a more informed and careful eye to the situation…

At least, that’s how it’s supposed to work.

Reading through these theoretical suppositions, written over two centuries ago, where within these paragraphs do they speak of the ability of ONE MAN to override the will of the Majority? How are those actions characterized? What are their opinions of such actions…

They speak of TYRANNY. They use it as an example in their demonstrations, of what it is they were attempting to AVOID… THIS is what we fear, so we want to create a governing body that will produce the OPPOSITE of these acts.

They saw the demise of our Democracy coming in the form of a consolidation of authority. An abdication of power by one branch of government, allowing it to become subservient to another. But they did believe it could right itself, if it ever did come to pass.

Unfortunately, as studious and thorough as they were, they were still unable to foresee the Dark Arts necessary to accomplish such an act…

Ladies and Gentlemen, I present to you…

THE FILIBUSTER.

… wiser words never spoken.

-JC

The Future

It’s done. The END is in sight. This week I received my first Moderna shot and in a couple more weeks I’ll get my second.

Get the SHOT… and let’s get Back to WORK.

Vaccines SAVE LIVES.
They save YOUR life.
They save NURSES’ lives…
They save AMERICAN LIVES.

A fully vaccinated American Workforce is the ONE sure path back to economic stability at home and economic dominance abroad. We must all do our part. As President Carter said: “It’s up to YOU.”

This is how our government SHOULD function. This is what Leadership is all about! The accomplishments of this Administration should be remembered as extraordinary, for sure… but they must also be remembered as standard. As normal. As the benchmark by which we will compare all future Administrations.

This is how the Executive Branch of our government should function by default.

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Yet some elected officials still believe we should have listened to the previous Administration.

March 26, 2021… We haven’t even gone SIX MONTHS, and what he did in the aftermath of the 2020 election is now LEGAL in the Great State of Georgia.

CUE: Some future Georgia Secretary of State–

“Upon further review, at the urging of our President, this office has recalculated the votes and indeed…

We’ve found 11,780 votes that were cast in-error.”

God bless the United States of America.

We no longer need to DEBATE. We no longer need to raise counterpoints to their legislation. The States will decide who’s votes COUNT and who’s do NOT…

Don’t worry… everything’s under control!
Just turn off the TV and go back to sleep.

Because of the position they have taken as a PARTY, I will not support or encourage anyone to support, ANY candidate who is endorsed by the GOP or adheres to their Party Line. And because of that fact, there is only ONE viable choice in a TWO PARTY SYSTEM…

The system is Broken.
The American People need a FRESH START.

When we are forced to pick a candidate because there is NO ALTERNATIVE, we become vulnerable. Our National Security is compromised. ONE PARTY supports SUPPRESSING the vote, while the OTHER PARTY appears POWERLESS to stop them, even as they hold a MAJORITY in both chambers.

They are doing exactly what their constituents want them to do, and I’m not talking about VOTERS here…

They work for the DONORS.💰💰💰

And what will they say, after they’ve pushed their case as far as legally possible, and possibly further… ‘We need to come together and not make this all about POLITICS.’

Besides that… what’s the alternative.

“There are GRAVE RISKS associated with eliminating the filibuster… just so you know. Because when we’re in the minority which eventually does happen, the issues that we care most about will be harmed.”

— Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, Deadline: White House, MSNBC. (03/25/2021)

We can’t do it. Because if we DID do it, they might take it away… but we COULD do it, though. But only for special occasions. And only if you ask us REALLY, REALLY nicely. If NOT, a Senator might not get re-elected…

… you wouldn’t want that to happen now, would ya’?

I don’t think anyone wants to see Joe Manchin cry again.

Eliminating the filibuster would make them bear RESPONSIBILITY for their ACTIONS. It would force them to WORK and be held accountable for their legislation. They would have the ability to ACT instead of dodging and passing the BUCK onto the White House. Whether intentional or not, the obvious fact that their actions have benefited our foreign adversaries should not be overlooked.

For four years, President Trump made the Office LOOK weak, while Leader McConnell’s intentional inaction MADE the Senate weak. They’ve BOTH made the Judiciary weak, by dragging out court cases seeking testimony and evidence for YEARS without a conclusion. Then, when crisis comes…

We are adrift, lost in a sea of corruption. Navel-gazing… looking for someone ELSE to blame.

… but DON’T WORRY! The Midterm Elections are just a few short months away! Be sure to DONATE your MONEY to the candidate who will do ALMOST anything to get RE-ELECTED… oops! I mean get things DONE for their constituents!

They are holding our potential future HOSTAGE for their political careers.

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Your VOICE makes a difference… use it. To be SILENT is to be COMPLICIT. But be warned, in this moment if you are silent, it will speak LOUDER than it had once before. Whether this Nation stands or falls, one day it will be asked… Where did YOU stand?

… and what will you say.

-JC