POLITICAL: I had an interesting email thread with my good “old friend” CORRESPONDENT

Friday, April 24, 2026

FROM A LONG EAMIL EXCHANGE WITH MY CORRESPONDENTOLD FRIEND
—  ​edited for spelling, brevity, and format.

REINKE — Fri, Apr 17, 2026 at 2:36 PM:

The clown show continues……..

 “Don’t ascribe to evil what can be attributed to well-intentioned stupidity.” ― James A. Owen, The Shadow Dragons

“Life is tough, but it’s tougher if you’re stupid.” “Sands of Iwo Jima” (1949), John Wayne’s character, Sergeant Stryker

———- Forwarded message ———

From: John Leake from FOCAL POINTS (Courageous Discourse)
Date: Fri, Apr 17, 2026 at 2:36 PM
Subject: Hegseth “Prayer” a Movie Mafia Hitman’s Monologue

CORRESPONDENT — Fri, Apr 17, 2026 at 9:51 PM 

What should go down in history as our greatest presidency, and you call it a clown show?

REINKE — Apr 17, 2026, at 10:13 PM

Wow, “greatest”? Not IMHO (In My Humble Opinion) by a long shot. DJT47 is a long way from “worst” and “best’. At “best”, DJT47 had a chance to be “transformative”, but blew it big time with terrible picks and betraying the MAGA voters by getting us into Israel’s war and not doing mass deportations of illegals. By doing “stuff” by “executive orders” and not slugging it out with a corrupt and indolent Congress, he has left thr country wide open to return to the errors of the past (Bushes, Obama, and Biden) when the D’s take their turn at the helm. We clearly have different view of the world.

CORRESPONDENT — Fri, Apr 17, 2026 at 10:19 PM:

Apparently we do, I disagree with most of your political opinions these days. Have you been influenced by a Trump hater?

REINKE —  Apr 17, 2026, at 10:29 PM:

I don’t think so. I listen to a lot of little L libertarian podcasts — @ComicDaveSmith, @ThomasEWoods, and such, read a lot of “stuff”. I think that we are really royally screwed and our posterity as well.

I think that I’m seeing just how bad it is very clearly and there’s nothing I can do to “fix” it. Frustrating.

CORRESPONDENT — Apr 17, 2026, 11:08 PM:

I think some of the recent emails to the “usual suspects” are better intended for your blog, where one can choose to read it or not. But when you send an email to that “usual suspects” group they feel an obligation to read it, as it came from “Uncle John” and therefore it carries weight. For example, “the clown show continues” is pure opinion and is not an opinion that is shared by everyone in that group, and could mistakenly be taken for the way things are. Which in my opinion, is clearly not the case.

REINKE — Sat, Apr 18, 2026 2:47 AM:

Ok. Point taken. Thanks.

But the DJT47 as Jesus and Pete Hegseth quoting a movie as scripture is really really “tone deaf” and not “reading the room”.

CORRESPONDENT — Sat, Apr 18, 2026 at 9:40 AM:

I totally agree that the man is an egotistical jerk, no argument with me. A big however though, he is what this country needed, a blast of castor oil! I get it that most “L”s are not hawkish, but I would rather be the hawk then the dove that gets eaten by the hawk! Once Rubio or Vance takes over (prayerfully), they will have a much easier job thanks to the Donald.

REINKE — 1 Sat, Apr 18, 1:10 AM

Please don’t misunderstand me and my fellow little L libertarians. We are not Quakers or pacifists at all costs (1). In a “Red Dawn” scenario, bring it on. You start the fight and we will finish it. We don’t forget that the United States Gooferment is the enemy of the We, the People and is up to its neck in “foreign entanglements”, “regime change”, “nation building”, and murder.

DJT47 may, emphasize MAY, have woken up some of the sleeping “We, The Sheeple”, BUT, (and there is always a BIG butt), he didn’t live up to what he promised (i.e., no new foreign adventures; deport illegals; drain the swamp).

For whatever reason, — I suspect blackmail over Epstein connections — he has taken Israel’s contributions and gotten involved in their regional mess.

In addition to keeping the Ukraine conflict on life support with renounces. Again, I suspect that many things — Biden’s corruption, high level involvement of politicians and bureaucrats in Hunter’s grift, and someone wanting to hide the CIA’s 33 bio labs in Ukraine — have kept enriching the Military Industrial Complex with the complicity of the Congress grifters.

So, don’t be surprised if I suspect that there are ALWAYS ulterior motives, conspiracy theories, crimes, and murder in EVERY SINGLE thing the US Gooferment does.

I , along with all the “beauty queen contestants”, want “world peace”.

“Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God” (Matthew 5:9, NIV).

{Extraneous Deleted}

In doing a final read, I thought I should mention that there is some moral “high ground” for a non-violence position

(Note 1). Bob Murphy https://consultingbyrpm.com/blog/2016/04/a-reader-note-about-pacifist-strategy.html on the @ThomasEWoods podcast makes some excellent points about non-violence like the Quakers’ advocate. It certainly tempers the little L libertarian’s philosophy.

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At the risk of “misinforming” <<is that even a word>> or encouraging / enraging the reader, I thought this was a good example of a discussion between friends on something they disagreed about.  Yet, still remain good friends. 

So can we agree to disagree agreeably?

Why can’t we all?

“Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God” (Matthew 5:9, NIV).

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POLITICAL: Bad policy message by DJT47 gets rejection by all men of good will

Monday, April 13, 2026
https://daringfireball.net/linked/2026/04/05/easter-morning-message-of-hope
 
It’s getting harder to tell which side is the authoritarian theocratic regime run by demented hateful nut jobs. (You Crazy Bastards would be an excellent title for a book on the Trump 2.0 administration.)
 
By John Gruber
# – # – # – # – #
 
https://www.politico.com/news/2026/04/07/tucker-carlson-rips-donald-trump-easter-iran-truth-social-post-00861281
 

*** begin quote ***

“How dare you speak that way on Easter morning to the country?” Carlson said in a monologue on his podcast. “Who do you think you are? You’re tweeting out the f-word on Easter morning.”

*** end quote ***

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https://podscripts.co/podcasts/part-of-the-problem/bridge-and-power-plant-day?scroll_to_words=Tucker+Carlson&search_type=basic

*** begin quote ***

“Because these are laws that are not created by people. They supersede people. But on January 4th, when the President of the United States told us he was stealing that our country was stealing something that didn’t belong to us, people should have piped up and said something, but they didn’t. And that got us all the way to yesterday, which was Easter Sunday. “

*** end quote ***

https://podscripts.co/podcasts/part-of-the-problem/trump-backed-down?scroll_to_words=Tucker+Carlson&search_type=basic

*** begin quote ***

Did Tucker Carlson coming out against Trump, his biggest, the number one right wing, you know, show in the country? Maybe, maybe it did. But what? Even if it did have an effect, what did it do? Stop Donald Trump from doing bridge and power plant day? Okay. All right, fine. Stop just more death and destruction from coming that still wouldn’t have opened the straight of her moose or overthrown this regime. Man, look, we will see where all of this goes. Obviously, it’s still a very, very risky situation. but I will say I will end this on the note that I started it on, which is that thank God Donald Trump was just completely bluffing.

*** end quote ***

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​This is what set off a Tucker Carlson rant.  And that rant was cited by @ComicDaveSmith.  That’s how I found it.  It really made the case that DJT47 is not a Christian and really terrible human being. 

Can’t say that I disagree.

Remember the Gooferment and almost all the politicians and bureaucrats are immoral, ineffective, and inefficient. As well as untrustworthy.

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  •  

PEACE: Friedrich Merz, Emmanuel Macron, and Keir Starmer are an extreme danger to humanity

Sunday, October 26, 2025

https://www.thefocalpoints.com/p/trump-should-tell-europes-leaders?publication_id=1119676&post_id=176646698&isFreemail=true&r=3snn7d&triedRedirect=true

Trump Should Tell Europe’s Leaders to Shut Up and Cease Fantasizing About War With Russia
The globalist weirdos in Berlin, Paris, and London are an extreme danger to humanity. Trump should treat them as such.
John Leake
Oct 20, 2025

*** begin quote ***

What I am proposing requires setting aside all our presuppositions about Western Europe being the place of representative democracy, prudence, and reason. Anyone who has spent a significant amount of time in Europe in recent years knows that this is no longer the case.

If President Trump turns over responsibility for settling the war in Ukraine to Zelensky and the Three Amigos, they will likely create a July 1914 style crisis that will result in a general European war, and pressure will mount on the United States to settle it on the battlefield.

*** and ***

President Trump should not allow the Zelensky and the Three Amigos go down this same dark path. He should make it very clear to them that the reckless course they are pursuing threatens the security of not only their own people, but the American people as well, and that he will not tolerate this.

*** end quote ***

I would hope that @realDonaldTrump would put his foot down and tell these fools that he will NOT allow the USA to be drawn into a war with Russia.  I’m no fan of Putin but he does seem to be the only adult at the table.  The previous USA administrations have lied him into putting a stop to their provocations.  It’s time to “give peace a chance”.

Like Nike advertises, “Just Do It”.  

The best way to honor veterans is to stop making more casualties of war!

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POLITICAL: The Epstein “Evidence List” is damning

Thursday, October 23, 2025

https://x.com/glennbeck/status/1942442921103614098?s=12

Glenn Beck
@glennbeck

*** begin quote ***

The Epstein “Evidence List” isn’t just damning—it’s clarifying. No matter what you believe about Epstein’s past or fate, five conclusions can be logically drawn from the material seized.
This thread is for anyone who still cares about truth. 

*** end quote ***

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FROM LUDDITE

Anyone think Epstein was stupid enough to keep a client list?

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Yes. I AM. If this was an intelligence operation by — either or all — CIA, Mossad, MI6, Ukraine?, Russia —of some combination of them, then I believe extensive organized “evidence” was preserved in various places —his island, his apartment, in the archives of one or more intelligence services.

As evidence, I offer the “sweetheart plea deal” by the Federal Gooferment, the paintings in his apartment, and Musk’s assertion of a “list”.

IMHO this one is not going away.

And, the sooner the “list” is published then the sooner we can excise this “moral cancer” from out collective conscious.

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https://www.wtvq.com/rep-thomas-massie-urges-transparency-on-epstein-victim-list-says-names-should-be-released/

Rep. Thomas Massie urges transparency on Epstein victim list, says names should be released
September 19, 2025
ABC 36 Digital Staff

*** begin quote ***

WASHINGTON (ABC36 NEWS NOW) – Kentucky Congressman Thomas Massie is calling for more transparency from federal investigators after saying the FBI has received at least 20 names from Jeffrey Epstein victims that have not been made public.

Massie told reporters that the list of names given to investigators has not been released and suggested two possibilities for why: either the FBI doubts the victims’ credibility, or the agency is protecting “rich and powerful people.” “This is not a hoax. There are more names. Those names are not being released,” Massie said. “The only argument for not releasing those names is either the FBI doesn’t think the victims are credible or they don’t want to embarrass those rich and powerful people.”

*** end quote ***

So, OBVIOUSLY, there is a “list” and it shoulda, coulda, and woulda be released!

Argh!

@realDonaldTrump Are you listening?

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HEALTH: My favorite heuristic (rule of thumb) — “factoids” but not “evidence”

Saturday, September 27, 2025

FROM A REPLY TO ONE OF MY FORWARDED MEME-FILLED EMAILS

*** begin quote ***

FJohn, do you actually believe that vaccines are a hoax?

*** end quote ***

Well, … … … …

 … … … … Just off the top of my head:

  • “Covid vaccines” are not what we knew as “vaccines”. Certainly not studied for “safety”. 
  • Older “true” vaccines have a track record. But again never studied for “safety”. 
  • Flu “vaccines” are of dubious value; I never took them. Many times I’ve heard people bitch that they took it and then got the flu. To me that’s was an “interesting factoid”, but not real “evidence”. But enough to make me skeptical.
  • Hep B vaxes are given to ALL babies even if their mother is NOT carrting the Hep B infection? That is at least unnecessary and maybe worse.
  • As far as the autism vaccine link, it’s reported that the Amish don’t get vaxed and they have zero cases of autism. 
  • Japan doesn’t vax children until 4. 
  • My middle age niece remarked, when discussing this, that when her boys were young vaxes were spread out over time; not bunched up at once. 
  • Throw in that Big Pharma is legally immune from vax injury damages. 
  • And that hospitals are incentivized to give them. 
  • And, doctors are paid based on the percentage of their practice that are vaxed.
  • Recently, the Gooferment under RFKjr reported that there was linkage between autism and young black males. 
  • The “advisory panel” for vaxes were merely a rubber stamp for Big Pharma. “Regulatory capture revolving door. They were replaced with respected people with no ties to Big Pharma. Now they are being more circumspect in their recommendation. This maybe be better, but not assured.

Again to repeat my favorite heuristic (rule of thumb) — “factoids” but not “evidence”.

I remember thalidomide when a “harmless” drug cause birth defects in mother’s  GRANDCHILDREN!

So I don’t think they are a “hoax”, but they are not “innocuous”.

Hope that helps understand my thoughts about them.

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