C. S. Lewis may have said it best:
"Of all tyrannies, a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its victim may be the most oppressive. It may be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron’s cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated, but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end for they do so with the approval of their own conscience."
The other day, when it was announced that police officers would not be charged with murder in the case of Breonna Taylor in Louisville, Kentucky a U-Haul truck pulled up in broad daylight into a parking lot in that city.
A white woman named Holly Zoller, a local activist and employee of an operation known as The Bail Project was driving the truck to a predetermined spot where a large group of activists threw up the rear door to the truck and rapidly off-loaded shields, banners, and signs in support of the deceased EMT, Abolish the Police, and so on. That same day, two Louisville Metro policemen were shot in retribution for the grand jury's decision. Thank God, they will recover. One of them returned to duty the next day.
Many people claimed the U-Haul was a George Soros funded project but this was disproven in short order. He has many organizations (80+) that he can hide behind, but this came from another billionaire busybody who, apparently, thinks his ideas and money can dictate better policy and direction for the country than the Constitution or our elected representatives or courts.
This is interesting to me for a lot of reasons, not least of which is that every dark money conspiracy theory seems to jump to George Soros first these days and not without some merit for this belief. But criminal justice is a system in America and does not operate in a vacuum. It takes the agreement of parties to make things work. Or at least if they don't work, to get an outcome. Whether or not one thinks that outcome is what could be defined as "justice" is entirely subjective.
The Bail Project was founded by a different billionaire financier. This man was a former U.S. Army helicopter pilot and Ivy League (Princeton) grad named Michael Novogratz.
At some point after his army experience and a stint at Goldman-Sachs, like a lot of wealthy financier Ivy Leaguers, Novogratz spent some money on toys and properties. He bought actor Robert DeNiro's Tribeca property in New York City, currently valued at $12.5 million, and others. He also bought two Gulfstream private jets. The sting of guilt, apparently from such ostentatious displays of wealth, caused him to sell one of the jets.
During this time he founded his own hedge fund, and cryptocurrency interest. Some of the proceeds from these he used to found The Bail Project.
Here's the interesting thing about this: Like Soros, Novogratz likes to influence policy with money and not dirty his hands directly by jumping into the fray like a politician or agitator at street level.
To my way of thinking, they're the leaders of a campaign that has enough layers of deniability between their pet projects and the action to sit back and watch the carnage, yet not answer for what their money wrought.
Both he and Soros are up front on their websites, but you won't see them in a live interview, or before Congress, or on a trial stand giving testimony but boy is their money out there.
When it was discovered that Novogratz's employee had procured the U-Haul in Louisville, Fox News's Tucker Carlson invited him to be interviewed on his show about it. Carlson said Novogratz accepted, but then later reneged. Why? Inquiring minds want to know who is stirring the pot of unrest in their country and why they think people like Novogratz and Soros know better than the electorate.
Soros has paid for the elections of District and States Attorneys all over the country whom he believes will yield a more just result, as he defines it. That is to say a result that tends to put more violent criminals back in the street with little or no consequences, little to no law enforcement, and more unrelenting street violence.
Novogratz seems to agree. When you bring up The Bail Project website a little pop-up emerges that asks: "Need help paying bail?" There is then a series of African American men with a declaratory statement "We believe that paying bail for someone in need is an act of resistance against a system that criminalizes race and poverty and an act of solidarity with local communities and movements for decarceration."
So far they have freed over 12,000 people, including many rioters, some accused murderers and those accused of inflicting acts of domestic violence, violating domestic violence injunctions and other heinous acts. Some of the rioters in Louisville were already on bond for violent crimes when they were rearrested. The site promises expansion to more jurisdictions in the near future.
A comparison of maps where both Soros and Novogratz operate will show the reader many overlapping similarities.
Here's the problem to me: I agree that not everyone needs a high bond, or even a bond at all to insure their appearance for court processes. But there are safety issues to victims and the community at large that must be accounted for. Neither Soros nor Novogratz make any pretense about case managing any of these things, so violent acts and victimization, murder and mayhem persist.
Rioters go from jurisdiction to jurisdiction and can be assured of being bailed out by The Bail Project, as long as the group is operating in that jurisdiction. Fortunately, They weren't operating in Lancaster, PA last week. You might remember--that was the one where the wealthy and privileged white rioters got arrested and bail was set at $1 million. Not to insure their appearance so much as to assure they wouldn't be released, with no consequences, to riot and destroy again. It appears to have worked. No rioting in that town since.
Sometimes, a riotous bunch doesn't even need The Bail Project or a rich benefactor. A pushover mayor, DA, and an overwhelmed and berated police force can accomplish the same thing. Just look at Seattle, Washington and Portland, Oregon among others.
During the Roman Era two thousand years ago, and before that the Greek, only the wealthiest people were elevated to positions of highest authority over everyone else. The Athenians and Patricians of Rome were not elected. It was just assumed by their wealth and class that better, wiser decisions would emerge from them just because of their placement in society.
This is pretty much where we are now. Nobody is asking for your opinion or mine, and they don't need to. Their money is doing their talking for them but they won't put themselves out in front of what they espouse. They can buy politicians. This was true of The Athenians and Patricians, too. Eventually, they were overthrown and a new order took hold.
The new order doesn't need to be dictated by these wealthy busybodies, however. Sensible criminal justice is possible with sound policy and thought, and your voice. Rioting, Patrician meddling that promotes rioting is unnecessary and is criminal in and of itself. People like George Soros and Michael Novogratz and their wealth shouldn't dictate what our voices have ample volume to do should we choose to exercise it.
I have worked for 33 years at street level in Criminal Justice. People like Soros and Novogratz are, and should be, anathema to our system of justice. They make victims and communities unsafe, and promote more victimization, anarchy, and need. Their tactics and resources correct nothing and make no one more accountable. It could be argued that their programs make racism more systemic because of how they function.
Typical of leftist's wealth, it finds targets to help whether they want or need the help, or not.
C. S. Lewis was absolutely spot on.
A white woman named Holly Zoller, a local activist and employee of an operation known as The Bail Project was driving the truck to a predetermined spot where a large group of activists threw up the rear door to the truck and rapidly off-loaded shields, banners, and signs in support of the deceased EMT, Abolish the Police, and so on. That same day, two Louisville Metro policemen were shot in retribution for the grand jury's decision. Thank God, they will recover. One of them returned to duty the next day.
Many people claimed the U-Haul was a George Soros funded project but this was disproven in short order. He has many organizations (80+) that he can hide behind, but this came from another billionaire busybody who, apparently, thinks his ideas and money can dictate better policy and direction for the country than the Constitution or our elected representatives or courts.
This is interesting to me for a lot of reasons, not least of which is that every dark money conspiracy theory seems to jump to George Soros first these days and not without some merit for this belief. But criminal justice is a system in America and does not operate in a vacuum. It takes the agreement of parties to make things work. Or at least if they don't work, to get an outcome. Whether or not one thinks that outcome is what could be defined as "justice" is entirely subjective.
The Bail Project was founded by a different billionaire financier. This man was a former U.S. Army helicopter pilot and Ivy League (Princeton) grad named Michael Novogratz.
At some point after his army experience and a stint at Goldman-Sachs, like a lot of wealthy financier Ivy Leaguers, Novogratz spent some money on toys and properties. He bought actor Robert DeNiro's Tribeca property in New York City, currently valued at $12.5 million, and others. He also bought two Gulfstream private jets. The sting of guilt, apparently from such ostentatious displays of wealth, caused him to sell one of the jets.
During this time he founded his own hedge fund, and cryptocurrency interest. Some of the proceeds from these he used to found The Bail Project.
Here's the interesting thing about this: Like Soros, Novogratz likes to influence policy with money and not dirty his hands directly by jumping into the fray like a politician or agitator at street level.
To my way of thinking, they're the leaders of a campaign that has enough layers of deniability between their pet projects and the action to sit back and watch the carnage, yet not answer for what their money wrought.
Both he and Soros are up front on their websites, but you won't see them in a live interview, or before Congress, or on a trial stand giving testimony but boy is their money out there.
When it was discovered that Novogratz's employee had procured the U-Haul in Louisville, Fox News's Tucker Carlson invited him to be interviewed on his show about it. Carlson said Novogratz accepted, but then later reneged. Why? Inquiring minds want to know who is stirring the pot of unrest in their country and why they think people like Novogratz and Soros know better than the electorate.
Soros has paid for the elections of District and States Attorneys all over the country whom he believes will yield a more just result, as he defines it. That is to say a result that tends to put more violent criminals back in the street with little or no consequences, little to no law enforcement, and more unrelenting street violence.
Novogratz seems to agree. When you bring up The Bail Project website a little pop-up emerges that asks: "Need help paying bail?" There is then a series of African American men with a declaratory statement "We believe that paying bail for someone in need is an act of resistance against a system that criminalizes race and poverty and an act of solidarity with local communities and movements for decarceration."
So far they have freed over 12,000 people, including many rioters, some accused murderers and those accused of inflicting acts of domestic violence, violating domestic violence injunctions and other heinous acts. Some of the rioters in Louisville were already on bond for violent crimes when they were rearrested. The site promises expansion to more jurisdictions in the near future.
A comparison of maps where both Soros and Novogratz operate will show the reader many overlapping similarities.
Here's the problem to me: I agree that not everyone needs a high bond, or even a bond at all to insure their appearance for court processes. But there are safety issues to victims and the community at large that must be accounted for. Neither Soros nor Novogratz make any pretense about case managing any of these things, so violent acts and victimization, murder and mayhem persist.
Rioters go from jurisdiction to jurisdiction and can be assured of being bailed out by The Bail Project, as long as the group is operating in that jurisdiction. Fortunately, They weren't operating in Lancaster, PA last week. You might remember--that was the one where the wealthy and privileged white rioters got arrested and bail was set at $1 million. Not to insure their appearance so much as to assure they wouldn't be released, with no consequences, to riot and destroy again. It appears to have worked. No rioting in that town since.
Sometimes, a riotous bunch doesn't even need The Bail Project or a rich benefactor. A pushover mayor, DA, and an overwhelmed and berated police force can accomplish the same thing. Just look at Seattle, Washington and Portland, Oregon among others.
During the Roman Era two thousand years ago, and before that the Greek, only the wealthiest people were elevated to positions of highest authority over everyone else. The Athenians and Patricians of Rome were not elected. It was just assumed by their wealth and class that better, wiser decisions would emerge from them just because of their placement in society.
This is pretty much where we are now. Nobody is asking for your opinion or mine, and they don't need to. Their money is doing their talking for them but they won't put themselves out in front of what they espouse. They can buy politicians. This was true of The Athenians and Patricians, too. Eventually, they were overthrown and a new order took hold.
The new order doesn't need to be dictated by these wealthy busybodies, however. Sensible criminal justice is possible with sound policy and thought, and your voice. Rioting, Patrician meddling that promotes rioting is unnecessary and is criminal in and of itself. People like George Soros and Michael Novogratz and their wealth shouldn't dictate what our voices have ample volume to do should we choose to exercise it.
I have worked for 33 years at street level in Criminal Justice. People like Soros and Novogratz are, and should be, anathema to our system of justice. They make victims and communities unsafe, and promote more victimization, anarchy, and need. Their tactics and resources correct nothing and make no one more accountable. It could be argued that their programs make racism more systemic because of how they function.
Typical of leftist's wealth, it finds targets to help whether they want or need the help, or not.
C. S. Lewis was absolutely spot on.
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