Hello America and welcome to another exciting edition of the shit show we call, Bravo Sierra With Big John! Yes, I am your host, Big John and I sincerely hope you are doing very well in this period of time. No, I’m not being sarcastic, nor deceptive, I’m just being what is best for the situations we are all experiencing right now call for. Just in case you haven’t heard, The United States House of Representatives approved House Resolution 51 today to make Washington D.C. the 51st U.S. state (https://rsbnetwork.com/featured/house-approves-bill-to-make-d-c-the-51st-state/?fbclid=IwAR3FZW69v4q4hsEywuSP5GIM1mKkIA-ygpN0gfBlnKwTawMDopn1m5Npv98). The vote passed strictly along party lines with 216 Democrats voting in favor of the bill, and 208 Republicans voting against the bill. The bill will be sent to the Democratically-controlled Senate. Democrats will likely gain two Senate seats and one House of Representatives seat if the bill became law, increasing the Democrats’ majority in the U.S. Senate from 50-50 to 52-50. The Democrats’ majority in the House of Representatives would increase from 218-212 to 219-212. “Statehood for the District of Columbia is about showing respect for our democracy,” House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said. 

 

     Yes, we have a multitude of activities going on behind the backs of the American people and no one in the Mainstream Media cares an ounce to shed some light on it. It’s all a big cover screen to them as they tell us there’s nothing to see here, just go about your day. Yes, my friends, life is all roses and peachy. Can’t argue about it, even if you have the facts on your side to prove it. They won’t listen, so why bother wasting perfectly good energy on a bad ending? So then I guess that’s why Alternative news sources are making their way into the spotlight and ratings are going up. People want to know the truth, not what the Mainstream Media tells them is the truth. CNN and NBC are notorious to slanting “the truth” as if it’s just fat on a piece of lean steak. Hey, for the record, I don’t mind eating the fat and meat together! It’s a steak, for God’s sake! If it doesn’t digest right, then I won’t eat it anymore. It’s my decision, it’s my life. I’ll make the decisions on what I think, feel, and touch on if you don’t mind, thank you.

 

     There’s an old saying in the military that says “it doesn’t matter what the source is just as long as the intel is accurate!” Personally, I don’t mind looking up, reading, or watching alternative news sources as long as the facts are correct. I am tired of Opinion Shows, but I don’t mind hearing someone else’s point of view as long as it’s legit with facts and not full of BS. That includes NewsMax, Epoch Times, or in some cases, social media. For kicks and ideas, I may even take a gander at what the folks over on QAnon have to say because sometimes I get a little bit of a glimmering hint of what else is going on in the shadows of politics. Yes, QAnon, you heard of them by now, I’m sure. I’m not a follower, I’m more of a seeker, if you willl, but I have this suspicion about them folks. I can’t prove it, and I hope I am wrong, but I get the feeling those folks at QAnon are similar to those on the extreme left. They are telling us what we might or would like to hear on QAnon, but leading us further down the road when their predictions / dates don’t go as they say. In other words, once an event date they claim is going to happen, but it doesn’t, they kick the can down the road farther in hopes no one will call them out on their misleading’s. Honestly, this all sounds too familiar, with a twist of Propaganda flavoring to it. Yeah, it’s like Bolsheviks.

 

    Led by Bolshevik Party leader Vladimir Lenin, leftist revolutionaries launch a nearly bloodless coup against Russia’s ineffectual Provisional Government. The Bolsheviks and their allies occupied government buildings and other strategic locations in the Russian capital of Petrograd (now St. Petersburg) and within two days had formed a new government with Lenin as its head. Bolshevik Russia, later renamed the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR), was the world’s first Marxist state. Lenin was drawn to the revolutionary cause after his brother was executed in 1887 for plotting to assassinate Czar Alexander III. He studied law and took up practice in Petrograd, where he associated with revolutionary Marxist circles. In 1895, he helped organize Marxist groups in the capital into the “Union for the Struggle for the Liberation of the Working Class,” which attempted to enlist workers to the Marxist cause. Hmmm, come to think of it, where have we heard something like this happening before?

 

     Anyway back to what I was saying, In December 1895, Lenin and the other leaders of the Union were arrested. Lenin was jailed for a year and then exiled to Siberia for a term of three years until 1900 when he went to Western Europe and continued his revolutionary activity. It was during this time that he adopted the pseudonym Lenin. A couple years later, he published a pamphlet titled “What Is to Be Done?” (https://www.marxists.org/archive/lenin/works/1901/witbd/) which argued that only a disciplined party of professional revolutionaries could bring socialism to Russia. In 1903, he met with other Russian Marxists in London and established the Russian Social-Democratic Workers’ Party (RSDWP). However, from the start there was a split between Lenin’s Bolsheviks (Majoritarians), who advocated militarism, and the Mensheviks (Minoritarians), who advocated a democratic movement toward socialism. These two groups increasingly opposed each other within the framework of the RSDWP, and Lenin made the split official at a 1912 conference of the Bolshevik Party.

 

    Bolshevik, Russian for “One of the Majority”, or Bolsheviki, member of a wing of the Russian Social-Democratic Workers’ Party, seized control of the government in Russia (October 1917) and became the dominant political power (https://www.britannica.com/topic/Bolshevik). The group originated at the party’s second congress (1903) when Lenin’s followers, insisting that party membership be restricted to professional revolutionaries, won a temporary majority on the party’s central committee and on the editorial board of its newspaper Iskra. They assumed the name Bolsheviks and dubbed their opponents the Mensheviks (“Those of the Minority”). Although both factions participated together in the Russian Revolution of 1905 and went through periods of apparent reconciliation (about 1906 and 1910), their differences increased. The Bolsheviks continued to insist upon a highly centralized, disciplined, professional party. They boycotted the elections to the First State Duma, also known as Russian parliament, in 1906 and refused to cooperate with the government and other political parties in subsequent Dumas. Furthermore, their methods of obtaining revenue that included robbery among other activities, were disapproved of by the Mensheviks and non-Russian Social Democrats. 

 

     In 1912 Lenin, leading a very small minority, formed a distinct Bolshevik organization, decisively (although not formally) splitting the Russian Social-Democratic Workers’ Party. His determination to keep his own faction strictly organized, however, had also alienated many of his Bolshevik colleagues, who had wished to undertake nonrevolutionary activities or who had disagreed with Lenin on political tactics and on the infallibility of orthodox Marxism. No outstanding Russian Social Democrats joined Lenin in 1912. The Bolsheviks became increasingly popular among urban workers and soldiers in Russia after the February Revolution (1917), particularly after April, when Lenin returned to the country, demanding immediate peace and that the workers’ councils, or Soviets, assume power. By October of that year, the Bolsheviks had majorities in the Petrograd (St. Petersburg) and Moscow Soviets; and when they overthrew the Provisional Government, the second Congress of Soviets (devoid of peasant deputies) approved the action and formally took control of the government. Immediately after the October Revolution, the Bolsheviks refused to share power with other revolutionary groups, with the exception of the Left Socialist Revolutionaries; eventually they suppressed all rival political organizations. They changed their name to Russian Communist Party (of Bolsheviks) in March 1918; to All-Union Communist Party (of Bolsheviks) in December 1925; and to Communist Party of the Soviet Union in October 1952. 

 

     Another major update that happened this week was with the former Minneapolis police officer, Derek Chauvin, case as the Jurors came back with the guilty verdict on all three charges: second- and third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter (https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2021/04/20/derek-chauvin-jury-reaches-verdict-george-floyd-death-live-updates/7298158002/). Judge Peter Cahill revoked bail and told Derek Chauvin to report back in eight weeks for sentencing as the former officer sat silent and was handcuffed and taken into custody. George Floyd’s brother was sitting with his head bowed and his hands folded in front of his face in prayer before the verdict was read. As each verdict was read, his hands increasingly shook and his head nodded up and down. With these charges, Derek Chauvin faces 12 1/2 years or 150 months in prison under sentencing guidelines for a first-time offender. But, the prosecution argues there are aggravating factors that require a longer prison term. That means Chauvin may face longer than that sentence. Ahead of a verdict, some stores were boarded up in Minneapolis, Minnesota, the courthouse was ringed with concrete barriers and razor wire, and National Guard troops were on patrol. 

 

     During the case, Jurors in the trial of Derek Chauvin were told to follow the law in determining whether he is guilty of any of the three charges against him, even if they do not agree with the law. The jury was also instructed to consider all the evidence they heard and saw during the trial, and disregard anything they may have heard or seen elsewhere about the case (https://assets.documentcloud.org/documents/20649702/pages/juryinstructions04192021-p3-normal.gif?ts=1618938451225). Proof can be established through facts, which can be proven by direct or circumstantial evidence. Direct evidence includes what witnesses see. Circumstantial evidence includes what people extract from other facts. Derek Chauvin is charged with second-degree murder, third-degree murder, and second-degree manslaughter in the death of George Floyd, which took place on May 25, 2020. George Floyd was arrested for allegedly using a fake $20 bill at Cup Foods in Minneapolis, Minnesota. He resisted arrest and was restrained on the ground by the former officer along with two other officers. Derek Chauvin knelt on George Floyd’s neck and back. After approximately nine and a half minutes, George Floyd was taken away in an ambulance. He was not breathing and was soon declared dead. Prosecutors argued in the trial that the former police officer killed George Floyd while the defense said the death was caused by his drug use and health history, including an enlarged heart, with carbon monoxide poisoning as a possibility. The Hennepin County Medical Examiner’s Office ruled the death a homicide by law enforcement restraint, with drugs and that his heart conditions listed as contributing factors. 

 

     Now, in what many would consider and call out as instigating a riot, 82-year-old Democratic Representative Maxine Waters of California called out for street violence if the jury didn’t vote for Derek Chauvin guilty of murder (https://onenewsnow.com/politics-govt/2021/04/20/gop-leader-vows-action-after-dem-calls-for-more-active-protests). The longtime Democratic lawmaker was seen and heard calling for Minneapolis protesters to get “more confrontational” if a jury decides ex-cop Derek Chauvin did not kill George Floyd, and that call for street violence is being defended by the Speaker of the House. The California Representative showed up Saturday (4/18) night in Brooklyn Center, Minnesota, where she called for protesters to “stay in the streets” and “fight for justice” in their effort to punish racist law enforcement authorities for, in her view, blatantly killing minorities. With a swarm of reporters and protesters around her, she told the media there will be consequences if Derek Chauvin is acquitted of killing George Floyd or even if he is found guilty of a lesser charge of manslaughter. He deserves to be found guilty of first-degree murder, she said. “We’ve got to stay on the street and we’ve got to get more active. We’ve got to get more confrontational. We’ve got to make sure that they mean business,” she said.

 

    What is funny about what she did though, is that her comments didn’t go unnoticed at the trial, either, where defense attorneys brought up her comments to Judge Peter Cahill and suggested jurors likely heard her statement. The judge denied their motion for a mistrial, however, and said jurors have been instructed to avoid watching the news. The lawmaker’s comments were not helpful, he also said. “I’ll give you that Congresswoman Waters may have given you something on appeal,” the judge stated, “that may result in this whole trial being overturned.”  In an eye-opening example of irony, it was reported on Monday that Representative Waters had requested police protection when she landed at Minnesota-St. Paul Airport for her trip to the protests (https://townhall.com/tipsheet/katiepavlich/2021/04/19/documents-show-maxine-waters-requested-police-escort-before-screed-advocating-for-violence-n2588144?1911). You heard that right. The woman who is calling for the defunding of the police across the nation, had to ask for Police Protection so she didn’t get hurt.

 

    Representative Waters flew from Dulles International Airport to Minnesota-St. Paul International Airport on Saturday, April 17, just days ahead of a verdict in the George Floyd, Officer Derek Chauvin trial. That night, Waters went to meet with protestors and demanded a guilty verdict for Chauvin “or else.””If nothing does not happen then we have to not only stay in the streets but we have to fight for justice,” she continued. “I am very hopeful and I hope that we are going to get a verdict that is guilty, guilty, guilty and if we don’t, we cannot go away.” Republicans are condemning Representative Waters’ comments as incitement and calling on House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to act, including the Republican Leader and Representative of California’s 23rd District in the House of Representatives, Kevin McCarthy, who said “Chairwoman Waters’ actions are beneath the dignity of this institution. They raised the potential for violence, directed lawlessness, and may have interfered with a co-equal branch of government. I just introduced this censure resolution to hold her accountable.” (https://twitter.com/GOPLeader/status/1383944906637414406?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1383944906637414406%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Ftownhall.com%2Ftipsheet%2Fkatiepavlich%2F2021%2F04%2F19%2Fdocuments-show-maxine-waters-requested-police-escort-before-screed-advocating-for-violence-n2588144).

 

     Ken Buck of Colorado tweeted out “Maxine Waters violated state curfew to encourage violence in Minnesota. Why hasn’t Speaker Pelosi condemned this rhetoric?”. In other words, California Democratic Representative Maxine Waters did the very thing in this situation that her Democratic colleagues and sympathizers said that former President Trump supporters did in Washington D.C. back on January 6th during what they like to call “Insurrection”. I knew it would be only a matter of time before these accusers would do the same thing. However, I am sure that “Nance”, along with President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris will look the other way on this because it doesn’t fit their narrative of the agenda they are trying to push down our throats. Back on Capitol Hill, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi was asked by reporters if Representative Waters was inciting violence. “No, absolutely not,” Nancy Pelosi replied, and there was no need for he to apologize for what she said. House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy has vowed to “bring action” if Pelosi fails to punish Representative Waters for her comments.

 

     Georgia Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene, who has herself been punished by Democrats for her past comments, has introduced a resolution calling for Representative Waters to be expelled (https://allongeorgia.com/chattooga-local-government/filed-congresswoman-marjorie-taylor-greene-introduces-resolution-to-expel-maxine-waters-for-inciting-black-lives-matter-terrorism/). That effort would likely fail in the Democrat-controlled House, however, but Representative Greene is pushing back after Democrats took away her committee assignments and tried to remove her from office. This one goes with GOP Leader, Kevin McCarthy, resolution he shared on his twitter account (https://twitter.com/GOPLeader/status/1384595746297679873/photo/1). He said “Chairwoman Waters’ actions are beneath the dignity of this institution. They raised the potential for violence, directed lawlessness, and may have interfered with a co-equal branch of government. I just introduced this censure resolution to hold her accountable.” As they say in the broadcast business, “Stay Tuned…”

 

     Finally, there’s this little tidbit of information that might be interesting for those who find humor in irony. With all the talk of Black Lives Matter along with Antifa being heavily influencing and blended in with the crowds threatening to riot in Minneapolis, Minnesota should the Derek Chauvin case verdict not go the way they prefer, the leader of Black Lives Matter, who claims to be a self-taught Marxist, recently bought a house in Los Angeles, California for only $1.4 Million dollars (https://nypost.com/2021/04/10/marxist-blm-leader-buys-1-4-million-home-in-ritzy-la-enclave/). Yes, Patrisse Khan-Cullors, the leader of Black Lives Matter and a self-described Marxist, recently purchased a $1.4 million home in an exclusive Los Angeles neighborhood where… are you ready for this?… the vast majority of residents are WHITE! The home, which features three bedrooms and three bathrooms, is nestled in Topanga Canyon and has a separate guesthouse on the property, according to Dirt, a celebrity real estate blog which reported the transaction (https://www.dirt.com/gallery/more-dirt/politicians/black-lives-matter-co-founder-patrisse-khan-cullors-lands-topanga-canyon-compound-1203374803/).

 

     The property, which is about a 15 minute drive from Malibu beaches, features bamboo floors and vaulted ceilings, according to the listing. My question is where did she get the money? I’m not one to tell someone else how to spend their money, but for as a UCLA and USC graduate, married about five years ago to social activist (and amateur boxer), turned co-founder of Black Lives Matter Toronto, a non-profit organization that is supposed to be for helping Black people isn’t doing what they are claiming to be fore. Black Lives Matter created the #BlackLivesMatter hashtag in 2013 in response to George Zimmerman’s acquittal in the 2012 shooting of Trayvon Martin. Since then, the largely decentralized movement has been at the influential forefront on issues of police brutality and racially motivated violence against Black people, particularly in the wake of George Floyd’s killing last summer that sparked massive protests across the United States and around the globe. The leader published “When They Call You a Terrorist: A Black Lives Matter Memoir” in 2018 (https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781250171085). She also signed a multi-platform deal with Warner Bros in October (https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/business/story/2020-10-15/black-lives-matter-patrisse-cullors-warner-bros-production-deal), although it is not clear how much she is paid by BLM since their finances flow through a complex web of for-profit and nonprofit corporate entities. So I have to ask, who is really benefiting here? Is it the Black Communities in which are struggling or is it Patrisse Cullors? You make that decision yourself. I got a feeling I already know the answer.