Bill Bleuel

Writer/Author/Novelist
(also Legal Secretary/Assistant)

[Bill Bleuel @El_Bleu]

May one be pardoned and retain th' offense?
In the corrupted currents of this world
Offense’s gilded hand may shove by justice,
And oft ’tis seen the wicked prize itself
Buys out the law.
(Claudius, Hamlet: 3.3.57-61)

[Bill Bleuel @El_Bleu]

@Noirchick1 "There's an old Polish proverb..."
Banacek

[Bill Bleuel @El_Bleu]

This is the way...

[Four Seasons Total Landscaping @TotalSeasons]

Everyone’s asking: can FSTL fix the reflecting pool?

We put our best people on it and have come up with a 3 point plan.

1. Drain the pool of algae and peeling paint.

2. RFK Jr. will eat the algae and peeled paint.

3. Remove Trump from office. https://t.co/GyYDhcmxyQ

[ArtNouveauDeco @NouveauDeco]

Four Art Nouveau postcards from 1898 by the great Alfonse Mucha.

[Bill Bleuel @El_Bleu]

Do you remember when you joined X? I do! #MyXAnniversary

[God @TheTweetOfGod]

I loan it out in June.

[Dr. Hunter S. Thompson @GonzoVice]

Some people will tell you that slow is good – but I’m here to tell you that fast is better. I’ve always believed this, in spite of the trouble it’s caused me.

[Vintage Los Angeles @alisonmartino]

"Last of the Legendary Movie Critics..." Rest in Peace, Rex Reed...

[Bob Ritchie @BobRitchie2]

@BeschlossDC "Nixon’s the kind of guy that if you were drowning fifty feet off shore, he’d throw you a thirty foot rope. Then Kissinger would go on TV the next night and say that the President had met you more than half-way.”

Mort Sahl

[Bill Bleuel @El_Bleu]

Patiently waiting for the Democratic Party leadership’s rebuke of Peter Magyar for campaigning on government corruption instead of the kitchen table issues important to everyday Hungarians.

[Eddie S. Glaude Jr. @esglaude]

“Nothing can save us—not all our money, nor all our bombs, nor all our guns—if we cannot achieve that long, long, long-delayed maturity.”

- James Baldwin (1964)

[I💙PresidentBiden @AnotherEDUK8R]

@MSNOWNews Suggestion: get rid of Catherine Rampell on The Weekend Primetime. Her voice is particularly shrill and annoying and she rudely interrupts and talks over every guest.

[Dr. Hunter S. Thompson @GonzoVice]

There is an ancient Chinese curse that says, “May you live in interesting times,” which was told to me by an elderly dope fiend on a rainy night in Hong Kong near the end of the War in Vietnam. He was a giddy old man, on the surface, but I knew—and he knew that I knew—of the fear and respect he commanded all over Southeast Asia as a legendary Wizard in the far-flung Kingdom of Opium. I had stopped by his shop in Kowloon to get some advice and a chunk of black medicine for my friends who were trapped in the NVA noose that was inexorably closing in on Saigon. They refused to leave, they said, but in order to stay alive in the doomed and dysfunctional city, they needed only two things—cash money and fine opium.

I was no stranger to either one of these things, at the time—and I was, after all, in Hong Kong. All I had to do to get a satchel of green money and pure opium delivered to the Newsweek bureau was make a few phone calls. My friends trapped in Saigon were Journalists. We have a strong sense, people of my own breed and tribe, and we are linked—especially in war zones—by strong bonds of tribal loyalty.

[Justin Amash @justinamash]

The paid grifters, partisan hacks, and bots are out in force—misleading people about the Constitution and the law—to defend Trump’s unconstitutional war.

Here’s an important Iran war PSA:

Contrary to what you may have heard about the War Powers Resolution (50 U.S.C. §§ 1541–1550), it does not allow the president to take military action for any reason for 60–90 days without congressional approval so long as the president notifies Congress within 48 hours.

Section 1541(c) of the War Powers Resolution states clearly:

“The constitutional powers of the President as Commander-in-Chief to introduce United States Armed Forces into hostilities, or into situations where imminent involvement in hostilities is clearly indicated by the circumstances, are exercised only pursuant to (1) a declaration of war, (2) specific statutory authorization, or (3) a national emergency created by attack upon the United States, its territories or possessions, or its armed forces.”

Of the three cited authorities, not one indicates a presidential power to take unilateral (without Congress’s approval) offensive military action.

The first two authorities allow the president to take offensive military action but only with Congress’s express approval (Article I of the Constitution grants Congress the exclusive power to declare war).

The third authority allows the president to take defensive military action without Congress’s approval in the event of a specific type of national emergency, a sudden unforeseen attack on the United States (happening too quickly for Congress to meet) necessitating immediate action to protect Americans.

It’s for this last situation (or for situations in which the president introduces forces into hostilities unlawfully) that the War Powers Resolution provides for the oft-mentioned 48-hour report to Congress (§ 1543) and 60-day (up to 90-day) timeline (§ 1544). If there’s an attack in progress on the United States (i.e., currently happening), we expect the president to respond swiftly to neutralize the attack and protect Americans—and then we will hold the president to account.

The Framers of the Constitution agreed at the debates in the federal convention of 1787 that the president should have the “power to repel sudden attacks” but not the power to otherwise introduce forces into hostilities without congressional approval.

The War Powers Resolution does not confer any new authority on the president to take offensive military action without congressional approval—nor could it under our Constitution. It instead checks the president when, as the Framers contemplated, the president introduces our Armed Forces into hostilities to repel a sudden attack.

The fact that previous presidents have violated both the Constitution and the War Powers Resolution does not—and cannot—change the law or make any present military action lawful.

[Avocado @PuppetAvocado]

Happy National Random Act of Kindness Day!! Be sure to brighten up someone’s day! It could be anything, no matter how small! Share this post to spread the kindness everywhere! #HappyKindnessDay 💚🥑💚🥑💚🥑

[The G.L.O.A.T. @LakeSuperior]

Hey dumdums, cold weather does not negate climate change.

Thank you for your attention to this matter!

LAKE SUPERIOR, GREATEST LAKE OF ALL-TIME.

[Joyce Carol Oates @JoyceCarolOates]

John Frankenheimer's 1960's "paranoid trilogy" is certainly timely today. "The Manchurian Candidate" (our suspicion that the US presidency is directed by a foreign power), "Seven Days in May" (rightwing military leaders conspire to overturn the US government, depose the president), "Seconds" (surreal, Kakfaesque depiction of a man so desperate to change his life he undergoes a transformational surgery)--each a considerable achievement. outstanding performances in all.

[Crazy Vibes @CrazyVibes_1]

I was homeless for six months in 2019. I didn't look like it—I kept my clothes clean and showered at the gym—but I was living in my sedan. The public library was my sanctuary. It was warm, free, and safe. One day, I fell asleep in a back corner chair. I was exhausted. I woke up to a security guard standing over me. I thought, This is it. I’m getting kicked out. The head librarian, Mrs. Gable, rushed over. She’s this tiny woman who wears cardigan sweaters even in July. " officer, is there a problem?" she asked. "He's sleeping, ma'am. Against policy." Mrs. Gable looked at me, then at the guard. "He is not sleeping. He is... meditating on the literature. I was just about to bring him some research materials." The guard walked away. She came back two minutes later with a "research" stack: A bagel, a hot coffee, and a pamphlet for a local housing assistance program. She slid it across the table and whispered, "The 'meditation' room is in the back, it has a softer couch. I'll wake you up before we close." She didn't treat me like a bum. She treated me like a patron. I got my apartment two months later. I went back today to donate $100. Mrs. Gable just winked and said, "Shh. People are meditating."

[Cosmic Horror Monthly @CosmicHorrorMo]

Attention writers! Missed our last call? Well, we've got another one coming. We're going to be doing a tribute issue to CL Moore! See the guidelines here: https://t.co/wlDTT5GI67

[Dr. Hunter S. Thompson @GonzoVice]

Sleep late, have fun, get wild, drink whiskey and drive fast on empty streets with nothing in mind but falling in love and not getting arrested.