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Like other curious Earthlings, we are fascinated and inquisitive about outer space exploration, particularly the search for sentient life in some analogous universe. The many televised launches of rocket-initiated space vehicles for outer space exploration have become almost banal and mundanely commercial.

The study of the universe beyond Earth’s atmosphere focuses on the observation, physics, and evolution of celestial bodies such as galaxies, stars, and other planets; the latter, conceivably, harboring life analogous to that on Earth. The interest in this endeavor is shared by laymen as well as astroscientists, as shown, for example, by the popular television series “Voyages of the Enterprise,” fictionally commanded by the formidable Captain Kirk and his indomitable crew.

While, as declared, we share in the enthusiasm and mystery of space exploration, we are of the view that there exists, among our lay population, an insufficient interest and dedication to the understanding of Man’s own Planet Earth, its physical and chemical properties, ultimate vulnerabilities, and, of especial note, its diverse assortment of planetary inhabitants. It is conceivable that an exhaustive analysis of Earth’s physical properties may deduce certain answers to the presently unknown factors concerning the astral bodies observed in our telescopes. Notably, there are scientific findings on the Planet of minerals and other substances, known to be native to the Moon and other astral bodies.

Incentive is thematically cogently needed in the concern for the well-being of Planet Earth and its inhabitants, human and otherwise. It is at our existential peril to continue to condone ubiquitous acts of planetary peril by the irresponsible use of carbon dioxide-emitting fuels, causing global warming, land and water pollution, and irresponsible commercial destruction of trees and other naturally salubrious phenomena, animal and agricultural. In addition, the recent deadly pandemic is a reminder that vaccination and sensible health policies are to be scrupulously adhered to, to ensure the life and health of its inhabitants.

Ways must be found to ultimately eliminate war, secular and religious, which, empirically, have been the most egregious and consequential producers of death, physical incapacity, and human misery; and humankind must learn to practice peaceful acceptance of each other, regardless of nuanced physical differences, a fundamental goal, timelessly pursued.

With the tacit assurance of Earthly peace and the well-being of mankind, we can uninterruptedly accomplish its challenging goals, including exotic space travel and the exploration of the cosmos.

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In prior writings on the subject of the exponential digital revolution, we have articulated the felt existential difference between “can” (capability) and “should” (wisdom). Our regular readers are presumably familiar with our charge of dehumanization in the pursuit of convenient facility, with the universal substitution of “smartphones” for healthy personal interaction (in person, by telephone, letter). We have previously observed that the ensuing depersonalization and singularity, manifested by personal loneliness and insecurity (especially of the young), have been stated and reprised.

We have oftentimes expressed our concern about the proliferation of analogous digital robotic devices that seem to have emerged, exponentially, and profitably in the purported guise of “advancement.” Such a race for the substitution of human facility by computer-driven devices has evinced robotic airplanes and machinery. “Alexa” initiated entertainment devices and robotic, perfunctory appliances. Computer development companies have been in a breakneck race for additional software-based digital substitution of human labor and assorted hybrid systems. Computers enable mechanical robots to see, learn, and process information and summarily make decisions in real time.

We are resolutely in favor of advancement and ubiquitous progress, but are alarmed at the competitive race of digital robotic capability and the notable absence of responsible consideration of cost/benefit, or the societal impact, of the new developments. In our nuanced view, such a socially humanistic decision would perhaps have discouraged the unwise substitution of human interaction for a hand-held device, with small, lighted screens that merely record messages but do not convey interactive feelings. A responsible consideration of the social and emotional impact of cold and inexpressive exchange of digital messages, as opposed to expressive human conversation, might have delimited or prohibited the invasion of insalubrious smartphones as the universal means of (inadequate) interaction. In our view, this flawed development should have been the subject of ubiquitous and humanistic consideration regarding its insalubrious development and universal use.

The socially irresponsible march of profitable digital innovation, however, continues unabated in the feverish spirit of demonstrated capability, with little or no consideration of its empirical effect upon society and the individual. such irresponsibe lack of consideration is irresponsible and apparently seems unabated. The rate of such a lemming-like march to tragedy, in fact, worrisomely, seems to be accelerating.

The multi-eon period of long-term development of an intelligent animal, Homo Sapiens, successfully resulted in an upright-standing animal with the capability of reason and sentience. The natural dynamics of such brain development may never be known, but such a uniquely generous bestowal makes humankind singular among the Planet’s fauna and ultimately responsible for its own singularly admirable growth and development.

We are profoundly troubled by the recent dedicated aspiration to replicate the singular functions of the human brain by the competitive race of geek-scientists at Silicon Valley in their thoughtless race for the replacement of the human mind and, ultimately, the obsolescence of the utility of human sapience. The thoughtless adventure is empirically suicidal, like lemmings rushing to the cliff’s edge for ultimate extinction.

Recently, a computer-savvy friend had us listen to an A-I computerized conversation which was a replication of the exact theme of one of our writings, but related in other vocabulary, and discussed in robotic, mechanical) voices. This experience, apparently a simple example of AI replication, was shocking and profoundly frightening.

We would also demonstratively relate the substance of a television documentary film, which showed the exact AI replication of the classic sculpture, Michelangelo’s DAVID, which took less than 45 minutes.

We are puzzled and absolutely terrified by the zeal of Silicon Valley in its hubristic, thoughtless, and suicidal race to make the human being obsolete.

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We are obliged to assume that of late, Donald J. Trump has not been sleeping peacefully or ingesting his daily inventory of McDonald’s hamburgers. The Conservative Supreme Court of the United States, which had generally given him everything he desired, suddenly saw two of his nominees vote against him in the SCOTUS decision that his imposition of tariffs was unconstitutional.

Until that event, Trump had been exercising unchecked power in an autocratic fashion, perversely including subjects reserved by the Constitution, exclusively to Congress. In plain fact, Trump has exercised his authority as President with no regard for the Constitution, the Nation’s rule of law, historical precedent, or previous moral commitments. Like a petulant child, his hubristic conception of unlimited authority and executive entitlement has exceeded the limits of propriety and legality in his perverse motivation to demonstrate his avowed universal prowess and unique persona capable of domination over competing parties.,,

Trump’s policies and statements have revealed a unique, unhealthy conglomeration of feigned business acumen, intense insecurity, blind hubris, and profound ignorance. In a relatively brief time as the Nation’s Chief Executive, he has demonstrated unparalleled success in the transmogrification of the American Nation, historically emulated as a world leader and avatar of humanistic enterprise, into an incoherent, undependable, and, at times, dystopian nation.

Trump’s publicly stated intention to rule as a “Dictator” was confirmed by his purposeful disregard of the Constitution and legal precedent. In service to his monomaniacal fantasy of greatness, he has arrogated unlimited, ubiquitous authority to himself in intentional derogation of the tri-partite architecture mandated by the Constitutional “Separation of Powers.” He has unauthorizedly declared war, decimated the Federal Civil Service, employed the military for perceived domestic purposes, and exercised powers appropriate to the legislature.

The mainstream American citizen has been confused and, understandably, fearful for the future endurance of our venerable Democratic Republic. Recent arrogant and hubristic Presidential policies, potentially leading to the ultimate destruction of the American polity and way of life, have resulted in huge citizen protests throughout the Nation. Trump, notwithstanding, enclosed in his hermetically sealed bubble, seems to neurotically persist in his unconventional and dystopic rule, unchecked by legal or rational considerations and, to the thematic point, the Supreme Court.

SCOTUS’s meritorious decision, declaring the unconstitutionality of Trump’s imposition of tariffs, has been described by the media as a “bloody nose,” to Trump. In our considered view, however, it constituted a major blow to Trump’s hubristic ego. The High Court’s declaration of the illegality of his tariffs was the sinking of the analogical flagship in Trump’s inappropriate and presumptuous Armada of neurotic presumption.

Hopefully, it is the harbinger of a long-awaited and frustrated return to constitutional normalcy.

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It was to our astonishment, and, admittedly, a certain amount of satisfaction, that we learned of the arrest of Crown Prince Andrew, the brother of King Charles of England, founded in his years of close relationship with the “box-store” entrepreneur of underage sex, the late Jeffrey Epstein. In England, it appears, the principle that “No one is above the law” is more than an entertained aspiration.

If asked which two human developments were the most impactful and determinative in the development of modern Man, we would confidently respond, (1) The Industrial Revolution, and (2) The (slow) progress of female equality, legal, social, and economic. Society has gradually, often reluctantly, recognized that the cornucopia of human rights applies to females, as well as males.

It has required many decades of personal sacrifice, conflict, and humanistic effort to militantly and justly assert the equality of women in virtually every aspect of human experience, including the ability to contract, own property, vote, sue, serve as a pastor, divorce, serve in the military, and be paid equally to men. Gender discrimination seems to persist and dominate in many milieus despite statutory and judicial proscription.

Notwithstanding the acknowledgement of admirable performance in virtually every profession and occupation, in addition to their existential roles as the mothers of our children, too many atavistic bigots look upon our sisters and soulmates as secondary humanoids, capable of offering or denying physical pleasure to the male, dominant member of the human species. Such deplorable ignorance and neuroticism still persist, like tuberculosis, to confine the hapless victim to an irrational and unjust principal function of capable submission to the male members of the species for physical pleasure, i.e., sexual congress. Such a reductively ignorant, self-serving, atavistic perception of the female member of the multi-faceted character of the human species seems to unconscionably and unreasonably persist in all walks of life, notably, as we have just learned, in the Royalty.

The female of the species has, over the decades, endured the dystopic asserted dominance of the backward-thinking males despite its demonstrated performance over the ages. It has taken much overtly expressed dedication to reach the objectively humanistic conclusion that, like men, women possess the attained talents and capabilities, as facilitated by the human brain, as well as identical capabilities. The Epstein “petting zoo” is a fallback to a degrading, more primitive, and non-humanistic mindset. “Epstein sex” is plastic, degrading to both sexes, and seems psychologically unesthetic

In the Medieval Era, a Lord had the legal and traditional right to have the first sex relations with his vassal’s new bride on their wedding day. Today, the Crown Prince of England is enjoying the ambience of a County jail for his immoral sexual congress with a youthful female inventory item of Jeffrey Epstein

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[Prefatory statement: This writing is intended to beneficially share our personal experience, in an analogous context to a fellow tourist offering directional advice to another. No pedantic assertion of authority is intended, but rather, an empirically salubrious observation, doubtlessly shared by fulfilled inhabitants of the Planet.]

[Observation] A “porcupine” is a large rodent with sharp spines, or “quills,” that protect the animal against predators. The painful effect of close commerce with the animal is inarguably pragmatic. Its contextual use in this writing is the adequate conveyance of the discomfort, predictably, but foolishly, anticipated by those who might benefit from our thematically recommended alteration of lifestyle. To be fair to our protagonist hero, we have read that, empirically,, porcupines are tame, intelligent (nocturnal) pets who avidly enjoy chin scratches

The derivative context of our (slightly short of) 1,500 blogposts over the past five years may fairly be encapsulated in the slightly short of universal, widespread inclination of humankind to engage in immediate, shallow, and ephemeral indulgences in a porcupine-like exclusion of life-enhancing benefits of personal advancement and the resultant acquisition of a mature perspective. By reading fine literature, participating in the arts, scholarly conversation, travel, visiting museum antiquities, and pursuing elective interests, one finds the appropriate ingredients constituting a meaningful and fulfilling human life.

Mankind has, over the centuries of its recorded existence, paid heavy wages for such reluctance in favor of the thoughtless preference for singular gratification, personal and financial. The insalubrious inclination for singular, ephemeral pleasures, including recognition of ostensible success have proven to universally yield bumper harvests of conflict, war, prejudice, and moral disappointment.

It is frustrating to realize that Natural Evolution’s generous gift of the unique facility of “thought” to mankind has unwisely been squandered and avoided, as one would eschew the society of the perceived, potentially painful, critter called the porcupine, our innocent, analogical protagonist.

To the opposite, the universal, salubrious engagement in activities that expand Man’s horizons, perspective, and enduring aesthetic pleasure, softens the adverse blows which predictably occur in life and render their context, contemplatively acceptable.

The sincerest of apologies to all possibly maligned porcupines, for their analogical use as painful companions; may their woodland nights be gentle and the nuts and fruits plentiful.

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It is in those instances where the dynamics of Man’s life leave him with meaningful, often determinative, choices that we may conceivably find the explanations for many of his cogent problems and perturbations. Stated less abstrusely, the adequate consideration of choices in life, when available, usually redounds to one’s benefit, while the inadequacy of foresight and relevant predictability often results in circumstances previously unseen, bearing unpropitious results. It is our view that such universal inadequacy of personal consideration provided major impetus for the election of an outre persona such as Donald Trump to the august role of American Chief Executive.

Notably, a manifest continuance of such failure of adequate consideration of basic principles has been sadly replicated, contributing to the choice of an autocratic, non-American style of leadership, and we remain fearful of its potential devolution. It is conceivable that if the large swath of inadequately educated and ill-informed voters who elected him had, in fact, exercised their available capacity for evaluative judgment, the dystopia of the Trump Administration might have been averted. As stated, we remain fearful that the duration of this incapacity has the nightmarish potential of the tragic elimination of our unique Democratic Republic and its constitutionally protected life.

The thematic realization is that the autocratic exercise of neurotically inspired, hubristic rule under which mainstream America now finds itself was pragmatically avoidable by adequately exercised, previous consideration of the thoughtful citizenry, rather than the empirical reality of the personally disgruntled horde of populist voters, make the inadequately considered, fateful choice

Such an egregiously dystopian and unconstitutional mode of rule, of course, has identically affected, for good or bad, the personal lives of such Trump’s supporters; a societal change only now being contemporaneously realized; nevertheless, it seems that MAGA (Trump supporters) have not yet ultimately experienced the full potential effects of the cynical disregard of citizens’ lives by Trump and his Administration. The President’s cultish, compliant lemmings soon will necessarily come to realize the historical nightmare of unfamiliar dictatorship, and the implications of their ill-considered support of autocratic polity; alas, too little, too late.

Some time previously spent in expanding their limited outlook, rather than indulging in inane computer games, and the end of a systemic reluctance to read and grow as sapient planetary co-tenants, might have averted the contemporary, dystopic political outcome.

It is our thematic observation that freedom of individual choice is democratically utilitarian and beneficial, but only where the comprehensive menu of choices is known and fully considered.

Thus, it should be realized that an empirical increase in Presidential power ineluctably encompasses a corresponding universal loss, or decrease, of citizen rights. The thoughtless or atavistic, right-wing supporters of a governmental policy of unitary power, vesting inappropriate authority in the hands of the President, [an un-American cardinal sin, according to our Nation’s Founders,] is an egregiously costly one, to the life of the American citizen, present and future. Donald Trump’s shameful excesses constitute direct, probative proof of said dire prediction.

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When the subject is esoteric or fundamentally metaphysical, it is often useful to employ well-known analogies as an aid in its elucidation. In the present writing, it is our thematic intention to explore the underlying dynamics of the substantial American voting population who resolutely favor the democratic form of polity, yet dissonantly voted for (and elected) Donald J. Trump, the declared “would-be dictator.” For this purpose, we will reference the tale of our legendary friend, Pinocchio, the mythical wooden puppet, eternally aspiring to be a real person.

Since it is rational to accept John Locke’s “tabula rasa” theory, i.e., that Man is born with a “clean slate,” and that the totality of his knowledge is acquired by experience. (“the empirical theory”), it would seem contextually appropriate to, once more, consider the epistemological subject of individual human advancement through learned experience, personal or referential.

The human baby is born with basic, primal inclinations concerning safety, warmth, light, security, appetite, and ambient sound. As he matures, he learns through empirical experience, progressively more complex and determinative concerns, ubiquitous affirmative pleasures, and natural as well as perceived. [It is conceivable that some of these primitive perceptions dynamically endure in his mature life experience (a subject for another time).

Aside from these real or perceived inclinations and concerns, the newborn babe enters the Planet in a melange of maternal chemicals, but, in a singular and temporarily analogous condition to our fictional protagonist, “Pinnocchio,” with a complete absence of experiential or didactic knowledge. The latter wooden construct, plainly, lacks conceivable potential for growth, either in size or understanding, for personal advancement and mature fulfillment. The operative construct of this brief comment is to observe that too many humans appear to prefer to retain an intransigent, wooden insensitiveness or resistance to growth and the acquisition of mature perception; thus, depriving themselves of social consciousness and potential for mature fulfillment. Like our fictional protagonist, they waste their allotted time on Earth pursuing unattainable states of temporal satisfaction, yet, eternally articulating the feeling of loss of the felt opportunity for personal fulfillment and success.

It is the chosen failure to engage in a universally available, socially interactive, and culturally uplifting life that provides the etiology of their wooden, limited, hapless life and their inevitably consequential discontent.

Despite their ubiquitous protestations and their face-saving attributions (to other races, creeds, immigration, gender disparity) and the like, their colossal disappointment with life is ultimately based upon their own choices to be unattached and disinterested in the pursuit of a fuller life of introspection, or in the universal state of mankind, thus, inevitably leading to feelings of meaningless existence and a futile effort to see life as an ever- evolving experiential journey. They inhabit the wooden, feelingless stagnation of a wooden entity, like Pinocchio, an insensate puppet, available for ubiquitous manipulation.

As an extremely hazardous and sad behavioral observation, it is to such an innately discontented and shallow-thinking people that Donald J. Trump has enjoyed the greatest appeal with his despicably false demagogic offerings of “Snake Oil” amelioration, empirically accepted by such self-defeating and underdeveloped, “wooden,” puppet-like unsophisticates.

As presciently admonished by Thomas Jefferson, the success of a democracy is dependent upon an informed and enlightened citizenry. The causes of its present state of existential vulnerability are perceived by us to be empirically discernible.

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Regular readers of this blogpost are aware of our contempt for aphorisms; worn-out, universal folk advice traditionally offered in the absence of the relevant facts, as purported universal guides to successful outcomes, or as avoidance of experiential disappointment. The results more often than not result in empirical disappointment. Where choice of action is operative, one’s personal experience and relevant reason have the best hope of attaining a satisfactory solution.

Nevertheless, life’s instances of analogous experiences can afford useful guides to personal choices of action or situational judgment. Past similar experiences can serve as an appropriate guide to decisional judgment, and are to be clearly distinguished from folk chesnuts of ageless folkloric, pseudo- wisdom.

One such experiential principle reveals that the inner persona of another individual may be cogently observed in the manner in which the other treats his pet animals. This, admittedly, “aphoristic” sounding declaration has proven to be accurate over the decades of our maturity, not as crackerbarrel drivel, but rather, ultimately derived from experiential observation.

Lest we dwell on the subject of past exhibited human behavior, we would apply our intended observations to the dystopically pathological behavior and, by consequence, the abiding (“chilling”) character of Trump’s Homeland Security Secretary, Kristi Noem. Our observations are based upon verisimilitude evidence, derived from empirical behavior, as starkly opposed to aphoristic folklore.

As shockingly revealed in her personal 2024 memoir, Kristi Noem shot and killed her 14-month-old puppy, “Cricket,” because she determined that he was not easily trainable. In our past experience, this pathologically inhuman, clinical act alone would be a clear experiential window into the perversity of her character, but sadly, there is considerably more.

Noem’s appointment to the Cabinet by Donald Trump, as Homeland Security Secretary, has recently been opposed by no less than 50 advocacy groups for its Gestapo methods of xenophobic prosecution, sans due process, of Hispanic-American peace-loving and productive people; in compliance with Trump’s insatiable desire for unlimited power. She has dutifully and immorally condoned ICE’s most criminally egregious, un-American practices, including the shooting murders of several upstanding Amereica U.S.citizens, Renee Good and Alex Pretti.

In accordance with our earlier judgmental recommendations, it may not be inconsistent for a person who shoots her 14-month-old puppy dog in the face and reportedly kills her farmland goat to casually inscribe such valorous deeds in her printed memoir, nor, indeed, further autocratic cruelty.

Concerning this bloodthirsty member of Donald’s selected Cabinet menagerie, we would, in the beneficial interest ol public disclosure (and Homeland Security), recommend that her name be officially changed from “Kristie Noem” to “Kristie Noempathy.”

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In analogical reference to the States most militarily involved in the American War for Independence, Virginia, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania and Tennessee, the Civil War, Virginia, and Tennessee, we have determined that Kudos are historically appropriate for Minnesota’s courageous and effective opposition to the underbelly army of Trump’s “Whack-a-Mole,” masked army, denominated by the abbreviated and emotionally discriptive, name, “ICE.”

“ICE” stands for “U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement,” a title function, with theoretical utility and professional responsibility, linguistically consistent with systematic good governance. However, despite its acceptably worded mission, in the atmosphere and dystopic context of today’s Trump Presidency, it has, with the cultish compliance of MAGA sentiment, disgracefully enlarged and transmogrified its mission to one of frequent criminal arrests. detention and removal of selected racially identified innocent people, without a modicum of due process, conducted Gestapo-style, aggressive raids, cruel family separations, violent human rights violations, including the intentional murder of peaceful, productive citizens. The relevant Federal Agency, with the approval of Trump’s menagerie of compliant Cabinet Secretaries, has been authorized to perform dystopian, non-American practices, functioning as a federal governmental militia, uniformed, bizarrely masked, and lethally armed, with toxic hatred and modern weapons. This most egregious nightmare is one perpetrated by our Nation’s autocratic, megalomaniacal leader.

The mainstream American has not only been traumatized by such developments, but also appropriately concerned about the endurance of our treasured and historically unique Democratic Republic. Citizen objections to such Gestapo tactics were adamantly and loudly expressed in public demonstrations throughout the Democratic Republic, the most articulate and impactful of which was that of our thematically honored, City of Minneapolis, Minnesota.

In the face of personally hazardous, sub-zero temperatures, tens of thousands of protesting Minnesotans came out to voice their adamant objections to the Trump-inspired fascistic tactics of the thematic horde of masked ICE stormtroopers, the latter,wreaking fear, imprisonment, family separation, incarceration, and murder on “suspected illegal immigrants.” More than 70 businesses shut down, and schools were closed as part of its patriotic rejection of ICE. The widespread Americanprotest against the harsh cruelties of totalitarianism deserves the reprise statement that it was dedicatedly and massively conducted in harsh, sub-zero weather.

Such dedicated personal sacrifice has already evinced the mediating response of a policy reduction of this evil policy; we look forward to its complete eradication.

Kudos and sincere admiration are appropriately deserved by our fellow Northwestern, staunch American citizens.

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In William Shsakespear’s “Hamlet,” the protagonist states: “Methinks the lady protesteth too much.” [Act III, Scene III].

Despite the wide variation of thematic context, it is our view that the observation is empirically replicated by the “Manchurian Candidate” style of compliant testimony offered by Pam Bondi, Donald Trump’s self- serving appointee as the Nation’s consequential Attorney General.

Ms. Bondi has once more demonstrated her unequivocally deserved entitlement to the Olympic Gold<Medal for blatant prevarication and tactical avoidance of cogently relevant questions, concerning her inappropriate partisan cooperation with the domineering President, and her office’s ensuing policies and actions. All such attempts at relevant Senatorial disclosure were consistently met by the witness with evasion or absolute denial, notably, including matters of public knowledge.

Bondi’s tailored responses seemed to be delivered in uniform, dispassionate, and modulated tones, as if emotionally fixated, analogous to the chemical property of her bouffant blonde hair spray. We have no doubt as to the approval of her dramatic performance by the sophomoric President; however, from our empirical perspective, her public “dog and pony” show was indicative of an irrefutable confirmation of her irresponsible, partisan, and constitutionally inappropriate official behavior.

Her testimony was uniformly characterized by unemotional denial and devoid of explanations, situational nuance, qualifications, or situational distinctions. Every critical charge was robotically and dispassionately denied, in programmatic fashion, to the conceaved delight of our felonious President and an evident empirical confirmation of the allegations of consummate wrongdoing. It is our contextual opinion that the unequivocal, automated and universal ubiquitous denial of wrongdoing, under the circumstances, constituted their unintended empirical admission. The “overkill” of universally stated propriety, by the errant personality of Pam Bondi, operated, according to our situational perception of current governmental events, as an unassailable confirmation of her (and her party’s) political mischief.

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