The Polish Provisional Government of National Unity was recognized by Britain and the United States..
Australian Prime Minister John Curtin died and Frank Forde took his place.
Gen. Spaatz was announced as the air commander for Operation Downfall.
"Patrols of 29 Bn., 18th Brigade move cautiously into the village area of Penadjam, Balikpapen, Borneo, under sniper fire. 5 July, 1945. Photographer: Lt. Novak. Photo Source: U.S. National Archives. Digitized by Signal Corps Archive.
I wasn't going to post a July 4th item this year, as I frankly feel pretty pessimistic about the state of the country. But after reading some, I thought I ought to.
Independence Day marks, of course, the day 249 years ago when the Continental Congress declared the United States to be independent of the United Kingdom, which had founded the colonies. It took over a year of pitched combat for Congress to reach that point. What's really important about it, however, is not so much that the United Colonies declared independence from the mother country, but that it did it democratically and formed a democratic republic immediately. Indeed, the country was acting as a democratic republic before it actually formed one officially.
From the very onset, the United States was a democracy. I'll occasionally hear somebody who doesn't grasp that or understand it say "we're not a democracy, we're a republic". That statements, which indeed was made by our serving Congress woman, shows a lack of understanding on what a democracy and a republic are. We most definitely are a democracy, and always have been.
The initial structure of the country that was arrived upon by the founders of the country featured a very strong congress and a phenomenally weak president. The US Constitution, it should be noted, is the country's second, not first, constitution. The first one that featured that structure was the Articles of Confederation It was John Hanson, not George Washington, who fulfilled the role of President at first.
The Articles didn't work well, but notable in them is that right from the onset the country was that, a country. Some people will also occasionally claim that at first we were thirteen countries. That's nonsense. We were, in fact, a putative country even before the Declaration of Independence, with the initial hope being that the country would be a union of fourteen, not thirteen, colonies. The reluctance of the Quebecois to throw in with the virulently protestant colonies to their sound quashed that dream, with it setting the continuing tone that Canada wants nothing to do with being in the United States of America. Nothing.
The Constitution of the US set us on an ongoing path which gives real concern to conservatives such as myself. Right from the debate on the document there was a struggle between those who wanted to retain a weak national government and strong state governments. States were, in fact, amazingly unrestrained in their powers early on. In contrast, there were those who wanted a strong federal government and weak state governments. The Federalist position, which was the more practical and realistic, ultimately won out, and it would have no matter what. Even those who opposed Federalism found that they used its powers by necessity when they were in power.
That created, however, a structure in which the country converted the President of the Congress into the President of the United States. Lacking a king, but remembering the model, the President occupied a position that vaguely recalled the monarch, in contrast to the British example in which the chief executive of the nation was and is a member of Parliament. This worked well for a very long time, but it did put the US in a situation in which there existed a real possibility of a slow transfer of power to an executive divorced of the legislature.
Indeed, expansion of executive power occurred nearly immediately. It took a big jump during the Civil War, again by necessity, and it jumped again in the 20th Century. Theodore Roosevelt expanded it as it suited his vigorous mindset. Woodrow Wilson expanded it due to the Great War. Franklin Roosevelt expanded it due to the emergency of the Great Depression and then World War Two. Following World War Two the powers already expanded were thought normal, and again the Cold War seemed to make their retention necessary. A President commited the country to a largescale war for the first time in the nation's history without a declaration of war when Truman sent forces into Korea. This repeated itself when Johnson did the same with Vietnam.
Indeed, the disaster of the Vietnam War and the legacy of the Korean War caused Congress to attempt to claw back power with the War Powers Act. The corruption of Richard Nixon resulted in Congress asserting its power as well. But by the late 1960s the Democratic Party has also accommodated itself to revision of the national organic document, the Constitution, by a Supreme Court that simply made stuff up. That accomodation started the development of the Democratic Party simply sitting on its hands and letting the courts rule to a large degree. The Court became sort of an odd co chief executive, with the most egregious example being the absurd decision of Roe v. Wade, at least up until its progeny, Obergefell v. Hodges.
Abuses in the law, with Obergefell being the final example, and a Congress that simply accommodated itself to not really doing anything gave rise to the angered muddled populist far right, and the angry intellectual National Conservatives, the latter of which realised that the former was a plow mule that it could do its work with. National Conservatives basically abandoned the concept of an expansive democracy in favor of a much more limited culturally correct one and took advantage of, and are taking advantage of, a chief executive whose mind is mush but whose ego is titanic. They see him, effectively, as a "Red Caesar".
In the meantime, Mitch McConnell's Supreme Court began to hurl back to Congress the powers that it had dumped on the courts like city people dumping kittens on farms. A Congress used to yapping but not doing anything was not prepared to exercise power once again, and very obviously still is not. Much of what the Roberts Supreme Court has done in recent years really isn't radical at all, but its suddenly getting there, making decisions which are difficult not to view as seeking to empower the chief executive.
We can't tell where this will end up, and hence the pessimism. We may very well be in an era in which, when we look back a decade more hence, we will see a revived Congress that resumed its proper role, and a diminished Presidency, that's returned to its, even if that looks like something from, perhaps, the 1960s or 1970s. Or we may seen an ineffective Congress and a nation ruled by a successor Red Ceasar who has more in common with Victor Orban than George Washington.
Perhaps we should be encouraged by the fact that the country has weathered previous existential threads to its democratic nature. The War of 1812 presented one when a large portion of the country wanted nothing to do with the declared war and thought about leaving the infant nation. The Mexican War saw something similar, and the Civil War, in which half the territory of the country attempted to leave in order to keep a large percentage of its population in chains. World War One sparked further crises when it became unclear what the President's powers were in regard to a foreign war, and following the war the country acted wholly illegally towards those on the radical left. During the Depression a right wing threat to the nation caused a putative coup to develop, the news of which was then suppressed. Deep Communist penetration of the government in the 1930s and 1940s, was covered up in the 1950s and the reputation of the Congressman exposing it forever trashed, something his lack of restraint aided in. The disaster of the Vietnam War and the following horror of Watergate caused many to feel that democracy in the US was dying.
Of course, we've never had a figure like Trump before make it into the Oval Office. The closest we've ever had to that was Jefferson Davis, in the Confederate White House, who at least was more genteel. Huey Long was much like Trump, but of course he did not replace Franklin Roosevelt.
Still, there is reason for optimism. Trump is not a popular figure. He's wrecking conservatism which conservatives will have a hard time overcoming in the remainder of my lifetime, but there are signs that his bolt is now shot, in spite of his budget bill. So much political capital was spent on that that it will bring the Democrats into power in Congress in 2026. They'll have to act like a Congress at that time. Repairing the damage will take time, but perhaps not as much time as might be feared. The populists may have done the country a favor by peeling back the lazy ineffectiveness of the pre 2016 Congress, and the National Conservatives may be doing the country a favor by restoring some of the basic elements of conservatism. They're both damaging the country enormously by being inhumane.
When the reign of the Red Ceasar ends, and I think that will be by this time next year, maybe Congress will go back to its proper role and the gutless cowards of the GOP who have allowed this to occur will be retired in disgrace. The country got over the Civil War. There's hope it can get over this.
"With the 6th Inf. Div. in the Cagayan Valley, Luzon, P.I., about 9 miles north of Bagabag along Highway 4. Scene showing a reinforcing patrol of A Co., 1st Bn. of the 63rd Regt. on road at the frontlines just prior to moving ahead. 4 July, 1945. Company A, 1st Battalion, 63rd Infantry Regiment, 6th Infantry Division. Photographer: Pfc. Murray Schneiweiss."
General Douglas MacArthur announced that the Philippines had been completely liberated while the 24th Infantry Division organized an amphibious expeditionary force to liberate Sarangani Bay, south of Davao.
Hmmm. . . .
President Truman released a short statement for the Fourth of July.
Statement by the President: The Fourth of July.
July 04, 1945
AGAIN THIS YEAR we celebrate July 4 as the anniversary of the day one hundred and sixty-nine years ago on which we declared our independence as a sovereign people.
In this year of 1945, we have pride in the combined might of this nation which has contributed signally to the defeat of the enemy in Europe. We have confidence that, under Providence, we soon may crush the enemy in the Pacific. We have humility for the guidance that has been given us of God in serving His will as a leader of freedom for the world.
This year, the men and women of our armed forces, and many civilians as well, are celebrating the anniversary of American Independence in other countries throughout the world. Citizens of these other lands will understand what we celebrate and why, for freedom is dear to the hearts of all men everywhere. In other lands, others will join us in honoring our declaration that all men are created equal and are endowed with certain inalienable rights--life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.
Here at home, on this July 4, 1945, let us honor our Nation's creed of liberty, and the men and women of our armed forces who are carrying this creed with them throughout the world.
Canadian troops in Aldershot rioted about the delay in returning them home to Canada.
Rumors started circulating in Berlin that Hitler was alive and well.
As you know, Wyoming and other western states are blessed with beautiful public lands that offer endless opportunities for outdoor enthusiasts. The outdoor recreation industry also generates thousands of jobs and millions of dollars in revenue for our state.
The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is responsible for administering federal lands to support a range of uses, including for commercial, recreation, and conservation activities. Currently, BLM manages over 245 million acres of land, primarily in the 11 westerns states. In Wyoming alone, the BLM manages over 18.5 million acres, or 48% of the state’s land.
While the BLM is generally mandated by Congress to retain public lands in public ownership, under the Federal Land Policy and Management Act (FLPMA), the agency may dispose of lands on a case-by-case basis and deemed in the public interest. FLPMA outlines the criteria for these land dispositions, allowing the sale of lands that are difficult and uneconomic for BLM or other agencies to manage, are no longer needed for the purpose it was acquired for, or would serve important public objectives, such as establishing houses, parks or schools.
Recently, Democrats have mischaracterized multiple proposals and put forward bad faith efforts to obstruct President Trump’s agenda, rather than protect our federal lands as they claim. One example was a proposed amendment by the U.S. House Natural Resource Committee that would have allowed for the sale of less than 1% of federal lands in Utah and Nevada. This would have allowed those states to utilize underused parcels for economic development, a reservoir, vital infrastructure projects, and the expansion of an airport. However, this was mischaracterized by Democrats as an attempt to privatize land.
I am aware of a proposal from Senator Mike Lee (R-UT) that would require BLM to establish a robust public nomination and identification process to identify underutilized federal land near existing infrastructure to address the current housing crisis. I understand the proposal would focus on less than 0.5% of BLM land in 11 western states and would include protections for existing rights and uses like grazing permits, mineral leases, mining claims, and special use authorizations. Ultimately, this proposal was not included in the Senate budget reconciliation package.
It is one of my top priorities to maintain and improve public access on public lands for activities such as hunting, fishing, snowmobiling, hiking, and biking. However, we must address the significant challenges for local communities, state government, and efficient land management practices that comes from federal ownership of nearly half of all Western land. It is important that we empower Wyoming-based stakeholders and local experts to enact thoughtful management systems that serve our communities while protecting our national treasures.
I welcome the opportunity to communicate with you regarding issues impacting Wyoming. Please do not hesitate to contact my office if I can ever be of any assistance.
Kind regards, Cynthia M. Lummis United States Senator
Once again, everything is reduced to the Big Bad Democrats are picking on us wee little Republicans, lying, stealing our lunches, etc.
Horseshit.
I've read these bills. I will contact Sen. Lummis, but part of the reason I will is to state that without a massive public retraction on this, I won't be casting any votes for her if she seeks to retain her job in the future.
I'd also note, for somebody accusing the Democrats of lying, there's a lie in here. The Lee bill didn't pertain to just Nevada and Utah, but everywhere with public land save for Montana.
In other sex, sort of, news, a dude who looks like a dude went to the lady's room accompanied by the press (including a dude) and hoped to get arrested.
Has managed to be a feature story in every Wyoming news outlet, it seems. At least its in Wyofile, Cowboy State Daily, and the CST.
So, to get this straight, a guy, dressed as gal, goes to the lady's room, and nothing happens.
Is that really news?
If so why?
Well, because the dude claims to be a gal, and was hoping to get busted by the police, who had other things to do and didn't take note of it.
But still, you see (are you paying attention), he could have been arrested, really, he could have been. . .
and was hoping to be. . .
but, sadly, was not.
This is, I'd note, something for real conservatives to take note of. This guy has a mental illness being celebrated on the left as normal. Almost everyone knows that's BS. And the stench of that is what is causing, in part, conservatives, who would otherwise be horrified, to vote for a moral heap of stench such as Donald Trump, which Trump well knowns.
Indeed, right now, the Trumpites and his Merry Band of National Conservatives hope stuff like this keeps your eyes off the Big Ugly, and causes you to forget the Big Ugly in the next year.
And the press, for its part, plays into the delusion of the lies of the right and left.
Transgender woman protests new law with visit to a Wyoming Capitol bathroom
That didn't happen. What happened is a man who wants to be a girl, went to the capitol bathroom with members of the press and his female fiance (so I guess he's wants to be girl. . . but still marry a girl), hoping to be arrested, but nobody cares or even notices. A headline reading:
Man goes to capitol bathroom dressed as woman and nothing happens
Wouldn't be news, I guess.
On the Big Ugly, headline from the Tribune.
Medicaid, insurance cuts in ‘Big, Beautiful Bill’ will harm Wyoming, healthcare advocates warn.
I personally know one person whose a radical Trump fan who completely depends on government healthcare. I suppose folks in that category deserve to get what's coming.
Chances are that Wyoming is going to be hammered by this. Chances are that Dr. John Barrasso, our Senator, knows that, even though he said it "probably" won't happen.
The question is if we care about the human impact or not.
Speaking of headlines, this is making the rounds:
First Wyoming measles case in 15 years found in Natrona County
I'm making assumptions here, but it's going to turn out that the negligent parents, or parent, didn't vaccinate their kid.
Wyoming has a first rate education system. I note that, as a parent who wouldn't vaccinate a child probably isn't from Wyoming originally, I'm guessing, and is a dumbass. The Wyoming Freedom Caucus sort of hates education, because educated people know stuff and won't play this game, tend not to believe their fanciful version of reality, and hence we have this headline.
Wyoming expected to see $686M deficit in education spending
With an ignorant population, they can hope to bring Wyoming into rural stupidity such as occurs elsewhere in the US and helps explain a population voting to slit their own throats. They wouldn't see it that way, as they're ignorant themselves in many, although not all, instances.
And we have this:
Trump mental health cuts
hit rural schools hardest
