<div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;background-color:transparent">On Sun, Aug 16, 2026 at 1:03 PM <<a href="mailto:spike@rainier66.com">spike@rainier66.com</a>> wrote:</span></div></div><div class="gmail_quote gmail_quote_container"><div class="msg-2363155776147621416"><div lang="EN-US" style="overflow-wrap: break-word;"><div class="m_-2363155776147621416WordSection1"><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><u></u> </span></p></div></div></div></div><blockquote style="margin:0px 0px 0px 0.8ex;border-left:1px solid rgb(204,204,204);padding-left:1ex" class="gmail_quote"><div class="gmail_quote gmail_quote_container"><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0px 0px 0px 0.8ex;border-left:1px solid rgb(204,204,204);padding-left:1ex"><div class="msg-2363155776147621416"><div lang="EN-US" style="overflow-wrap: break-word;"><div class="m_-2363155776147621416WordSection1"><blockquote style="margin:0px 0px 0px 0.8ex;border-left:1px solid rgb(204,204,204);padding-left:1ex" class="gmail_quote"><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0px 0px 0px 0.8ex;border-left:1px solid rgb(204,204,204);padding-left:1ex"><i><span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:Georgia,serif"> </span></i><span class="m_-2363155776147621416gmaildefault"><i><span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif">><span class="gmail_default" style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif">>></span></span></i></span><i><span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:Georgia,serif">I have seen you post the quote many times about the constitution being just a piece of paper.</span></i></blockquote></blockquote></div></div></div></blockquote></div></blockquote><div class="gmail_quote gmail_quote_container"><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0px 0px 0px 0.8ex;border-left:1px solid rgb(204,204,204);padding-left:1ex"><div class="msg-2363155776147621416"><div lang="EN-US" style="overflow-wrap: break-word;"><div class="m_-2363155776147621416WordSection1"><p class="MsoNormal"><u></u> <u></u></p><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0px 0px 0px 0.8ex;border-left:1px solid rgb(204,204,204);padding-left:1ex"><b><span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:Tahoma,sans-serif">><span class="gmail_default" style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif">></span>…Yes and I <span class="m_-2363155776147621416gmaildefault">strongly </span>stand by that statement. The constitution is only as strong as the people that enforce it, and enforcement is the job of the executive branch…</span></b></blockquote><p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:Tahoma,sans-serif"><u></u> <u></u></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:13.5pt"><i style=""><font face="georgia, serif"><span class="gmail_default" style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif">> </span>Well, they are part of the enforcement.  The executive branch commands the army,</font></i></span></p></div></div></div></blockquote><div><br></div><div><font face="tahoma, sans-serif" size="4"><b style="">The <span class="gmail_default" style="">E</span>xecutive <span class="gmail_default" style="">B</span>ranch also commands<span class="gmail_default" style=""></span> the <span class="gmail_default" style="">J</span>ustice <span class="gmail_default" style="">D</span>epartment<span class="gmail_default" style=""> which decides who to prosecute and who not to</span>,<span class="gmail_default" style=""> and the IRS </span></b><b style="background-color:transparent"><span class="gmail_default" style="">which decides who to audit and who not to, </span></b><b style="background-color:transparent"><span class="gmail_default" style="">and the FBI, and the US Marshals, and the DEA, and the ATF, and the CIA, and Trump's ICE thugs. At one time all these organizations were admirable but King Donald The First turned them into parodies of their former selves by filling them with </span></b><b style="background-color:transparent"><span class="gmail_default" style="">his own personal yes men who have loyalty only to their king and <u style="">NOT to the constitution</u>. </span></b></font></div><div><b style="background-color:transparent;font-family:Tahoma,sans-serif;font-size:large"><span class="gmail_default" style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif"><br></span></b></div><div><font size="4" face="tahoma, sans-serif"><b style="background-color:transparent"><span class="gmail_default" style="">The only ray of hope is that these yes men are also incredibly incompetent because the only attribute King Donald is interested in is blind loyalty, the result is these yes men tend to come from places like Fox News and are</span></b><b style="background-color:transparent"><span class="gmail_default" style=""> not very bright and know almost nothing about the organizations they're supposed to lead. If they were competent the USA would've become a totalitarian state years ago.    </span><span class="gmail_default" style=""> </span></b></font></div><div><br></div><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0px 0px 0px 0.8ex;border-left:1px solid rgb(204,204,204);padding-left:1ex"><div class="msg-2363155776147621416"><div lang="EN-US" style="overflow-wrap: break-word;"><div class="m_-2363155776147621416WordSection1"><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:13.5pt"><i style=""><font face="georgia, serif"> <span class="gmail_default" style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif">> </span>but in addition to that, and perhaps far more important, is the militia, which is not part of the government.  This is good, for if the US government fails, the army fails.  But the militia is still here.</font></i></span></p></div></div></div></blockquote><div><br></div><div><font size="4" face="tahoma, sans-serif"><b>I wish you were joking but I know you are not.<span class="gmail_default" style=""> </span> </b></font></div><div><br></div><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0px 0px 0px 0.8ex;border-left:1px solid rgb(204,204,204);padding-left:1ex"><div class="msg-2363155776147621416"><div lang="EN-US" style="overflow-wrap: break-word;"><div class="m_-2363155776147621416WordSection1"><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="m_-2363155776147621416gmaildefault"><span style="font-size:13.5pt"><i style=""><font face="tahoma, sans-serif"><span class="gmail_default" style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif">> </span>The US constitution protects even those who don’t believe in it.</font></i></span></span></p></div></div></div></blockquote><div><br></div><div><font size="4" face="tahoma, sans-serif"><b>I don't believe in magic.<span class="gmail_default" style=""> You can't take liberty for granted, it takes effort to preserve freedom and unfortunately in the USA there is very little of it. </span> </b></font></div><div><font size="4" face="tahoma, sans-serif"><b><br></b></font></div><div><font size="4" face="tahoma, sans-serif"><b><span class="gmail_default" style="">John K Clark</span></b></font></div></div></div>