12-1-2024

The Pardoning of Hunter Biden

The news tonight is that President Joe Biden has pardoned his son Hunter of all crimes committed or not yet charged from 2014 – 2024. We are told that it’s only natural for a father with the power to pardon to do so for his son. You know “No Harm – No Foul” right? If that was all there was to it one might even agree as President Biden has said his son was caught up in a political witch hunt that threatened to not only take down his son Hunter, but going after him because he won the election in 2020. Hunter was a political victim not for any alleged wrongdoing, but because his last name was Biden.

Executive Grant of Clemency
Joseph R. Biden, Jr.
President of the United States of America
 
To All to Whom These Presents Shall Come, Greeting:
 
Be It Known, That This Day, I, Joseph R. Biden, Jr., President of the United States, Pursuant to My Powers Under Article II, Section 2, Clause 1, of the Constitution, Have Granted Unto
 
ROBERT HUNTER BIDEN
 
A Full and Unconditional Pardon
 
For those offenses against the United States which he has committed or may have committed or taken part in during the period from January 1, 2014 through December 1, 2024, including but not limited to all offenses charged or prosecuted (including any that have resulted in convictions) by Special Counsel David C. Weiss in Docket No. 1:23-cr-00061-MN in the United States District Court for the District of Delaware and Docket No. 2:23-CR-00599-MCS-1 in the United States District Court for the Central District of California.
 
IN TESTIMONY WHEREOF I have hereunto signed my name and caused the Pardon to be recorded with the Department of Justice.
 
Done at the City of Washington this 1st day of December in the year of our Lord Two Thousand and Twenty-four and of the Independence of the United States the Two Hundred and Forty-ninth.

However it’s not that simple.

My blog post of 2019 and the 2020 updated followup entitled “The Real Ukraine Connection” detailed implicating current and former law makers and their families yet to be caught up in any DOJ or FBI crime sweep. It has been reported that after seeing the interview of then VP Joe Biden bragging about getting a Ukrainian special prosecutor fired, newly sworn in President Donald Trump made a congratulatory phone call to newly elected Ukrainian President Zelensky and before hanging up asking if there was any validity to VP Biden’s claims about the special prosecutor being fired?

Just asking that question was grounds for Trump’s first impeachment. It wasn’t the firing of the prosecutor, but the bigger question of Obama/Biden’s Pay2Play (US Cash for Ukrainian gas).

• Barack Obama sent $1.3B to Russian owned bank in Ukraine
• $7B US taxpayer $ missing from Ukraine Foreign Aid
• VP Joe Biden received $900,000 from Hunter Biden and John Kerry’s son a Ukraine kickback?
• Joe Biden’s son Hunter Biden on the board of Burisma a gas firm in (Athens) Ukraine
• In 2014 $1.5B (now missing) aid to Ukraine
• In 2014 – 2018 Burisma made 18 payments of $166,666/mo to Rosemont Seneca (Archer Heinz & Hunter Biden)
• $90,000 from Hunter Biden to David Leiter (John Kerry’s Chief of Staff) who then bribes Democratic Senator Ed Markey ($60K), Senator Jeanne Shaheen and Sen Richard Blumenthal and possibly other legislators.
• Senator Ed Markey lobbied Obama to increase Ukraine gas production – Ukraine got $3B taxpayer $
• John Kerry’s State Dep sought to build “Activist Network” throughout Ukraine shortly after 2016 election.
• Mitt Romney’s son is now linked to business dealings in the Ukraine
• Nancy Pelosi’s son Paul Pelosi Jr on the board of Viscoil (NRGLab) which did energy business in Ukraine
• John Kerry’s step-son Devon Archer, Christopher Heinz and Hunter Biden owned Rosemont Seneca a Ukrainian energy company.
• Nancy Pelosi and Adam Schiff relationship with Arms dealer in Ukraine
• Hunter Biden Ukraine and China?
• John Kerry (2012 – 2016) & Christopher Heinz Ukraine and China?
• Hillary Clinton and Ukraine
• Barack Obama and Ukraine
• Adam Schiff and Ukraine
• Whitey Bulger’s son
• Barack Obama – John Kerry’s daughter’s Nonprofit
• Department of State (Kerry) funneled $9M through Peace Corps to seed Global Laundering
• Clinton Foundation

None of these serious allegations which surfaced on the Hunter Biden or his laptop have ever been investigated or have any of the guilty parties ever been prosecuted. The very nature of the wording of Biden’s pardon for Hunter may have closed the prosecutorial door going forward?

Ordinary citizens and taxpayers have had no clue about Ukraine, or why Russia has been trying to reclaim Ukraine during the ongoing Russia-Ukraine War. For President Biden to stop Trump’s US Oil drilling plans and selling off our national oil reserves has been a continuation of what Obama did as president. I’m surprised that serious journalists failed to pick up on these national security concerns instead of jumping on the never-Trump bandwagon. – RTM

11-29-2024

NO TO SPECIAL RIGHTS

The rights of American citizens under the constitution include all US citizens. History shows that it wasn’t always that way in our country.

Women who came to America or were born here did not receive recognition or the same rights as men and were forbidden from voting in elections, although they could run for office.

Indian peoples of many tribes were not seen or afforded any rights by the US government for a great many years. They were hunted down, first by other tribes and then by the US army, removed from their tribal lands or killed outright long before they were given their rightful status as American citizens.

Slaves who were brought to this continent or born into slavery were considered property to be dealt with by their owners as they saw fit. After the Civil War slaves were freed and granted the rights of

Citizenship, but not accepted as equals until well after World War II.

Although the Preamble to the Constitution declares that all men are created equal by their creator, it took a number of years and a great deal of men and women fighting to make it so.

The Bill of Rights declares certain rights to all citizens yet there is on division based on sexual, racial, ethnic, skin color or national origin or political party affiliation. That being said we must recognize that there are no “special rights” afforded non-citizens or anyone else regardless of how you want to divide us.

American citizens have the same rights, not special rights, as every other American citizen. Those rights although not “earned” are afforded by birth or naturalization to each American citizen, can be given freely or taken by force. Once a right has been taken away, it will never be returned.

Lest we forget our government is By the people, For the people and To the people. Men and women have died at home and on the battlefield to protect each of those rights enshrined in the constitution and it is now up to you and I to stand up and be counted to defend our freedom to exercise those rights.

The right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness are enshrined in the Declaration of Independence – from the womb to the tomb! – RTM

11-26-2024

Obama Changed It All

On election eve 2008 Obama told his followers: “We are five days away from fundamentally transforming the United States of America.” Michelle Obama told them that Barack was going to bring change like you’ve never seen (Paraphrased).

This kind of change didn’t begin with Obama, but according to Barack Obama’s Rules for Revolution by David Horowitz, in Chicago with a sociologist rebel named Saul Alinsky (b. Chicago 1909 – d. California 1972) who spent his entire life devoted to organizing a revolution in America to destroy the system of government he considered oppressive and unjust.

I have called it Chicago Gangster Mentality and now understand that it was Alinsky’s “schooling” by Al Capone and Frank Nitti that led him to believe that America’s social environment, the system of private property and individual rights were responsible for creating criminals, which he was determined to change.

Alinsky wasn’t a communist but considered them political allies. Communism, Alinsky felt, was itself irrelevant, what mattered was if they were on his side. Alinsky was considered an anti-anti-communist.

Communists coined the title “Progressives” and we see it in today’s Progressive Democratic Party. Alinsky was too independent to join the Communist Party. He knew something was flawed in the Communist outlook. He never examined what those flaws were yet identified the problem as “inflexibility” and “dogmatism” and proposed as a solution that radicals should be “political relativists”. Alinsky simply wanted to take power from the Haves and give it to the Have-nots.

Political Nihilism – a destructive assault on the established order in the name of the “people” giving power for the political vanguard who then get to feel good about themselves in the process.

Alinsky who wove the inchoate relativism of the post-Communist left into a coherent whole, and helped to form the coalition of communists, anarchists, liberals, Democrats, black racialists, and social justice activists who spearheaded the anti-globalization movement just before 9/11, and he then created the anti-Iraq War movement. Radicals finally positioned one of their own to enter the White House and as Barack Obama summarized these developments at the height of his campaign: “We are the ones we’ve been waiting for.”

Alinsky’s modus operandi was to infiltrate the institutions of American society and government programs where they could direct federal funds into their own organizations and causes.

Saul Alinsky had a formula for attacking unreachable institutions or governments.

Identify the “target”; Isolate the “target”, attack the “target” and when others step forward to aid they too become the new “target”.

Alinsky said to use the “target’s” own words against him or use whatever means necessary (truth is not relevant). Alinsky thought radicals should have fun, but not carry on too long because they will lose interest.

As a senior in college Hillary Rodham interviewed Alinsky and thought of him as a hero. She submitted her senior thesis on exploring the Alinsky Model. Throughout her life and even as first lady she continued to support Alinsky’s army.

Obama never met Alinsky but studied and taught Alinsky’s radical community organizing classes at the Chicago training facility set up by Alinsky. Throughout his adulthood and his political career in the Illinois state senate, the US senate and as President community organizing remains an important part of Obama’s life of amassing power for his own personal uses.

If you see what has been happening to our country under Obama-Biden-Hillary, Trump-Pence and Biden-Harris it becomes easy to see how current world events have been shaped in such a manner as to bring about Alinsky’s plan to successfully topple our economy and ultimately the federal government. Tame the media bring them under control, & open our borders while blaming Trump leads to an unsustainable burden that if left alone will crash our economy.

If you’re asking yourself how could they? The easy answer is because they don’t care about you or me, about merit or accomplishments, it’s not about the cause or effect, it’s about the take down America revolution. Unless you became aware of what is happening, you probably got sucked in like everybody else who thought Obama-style change would make America a better place to live.

It is going to take a concerted and focused effort (a mandate) by Trump and his MAGA team to undo the harm done before it becomes irreversible. America will become better and recover it’s standing on the world stage, but it is going to take every one of us to get it done.

It’s been said that one man can’t do everything, but I say to you that every man and woman can do something. – RTM

11-26-2024

NO MEANS NO

Not only do democrats not get it, but they don’t know the meaning of “NO”!

The Biden administration has decreed that Americans will be required to drive electric vehicles by the year 2035 and California is going one further by banning the sale of new gasoline powered vehicles by that same year. Thus far the federal government has spent $$xB$$ on building charging stations nationwide and have succeeded in completing 4 such stations nationwide.

Does anybody see a problem?

The federal government is notorious for backing failed ideas, like Solar and/or Wind power generators that dot the landscape of our nation and way too many are non-operational (not spinning in the wind). Not to mention they cost in excess of 1M$ each.

There is Amtrak which has been a huge waste of federal dollars because it doesn’t blanket America with reliable passenger rail service. It might be better to hitch a ride on a freight train?

How about the US Postal Service? How much money is wasted on outdated equipment, non-dedicated employees who can’t be fired? The price of postage stamps seems to be rising higher than my thermometer every year or so.

With Fed Ex, UPS, Amazon, Google, Walmart and every other package delivery service, maybe someone out to suggest they incorporate the USPS into each of those?

Now back to those electric vehicle charging stations. Why is the federal government contracting charging stations anyway?  Is the federal government now building electric vehicles (I mean besides bailing automakers out when it goes over their own heads?

Why is private industry not build charging stations for their own vehicles? Remember Tesla?

Why not have a single charging station design that includes usage from ALL electric vehicles?

When Thomas Edison invented electricity, the light bulb or the telephone (one or all of those) did he then have to invent the apparatus for connecting those things together? Did he have to invent that wall-thingy phone or the rotary dial phone? How about the pushbutton phone? Did he have to come back to invent pagers, mobile phones or the new iPhone 16? No, No, No and NO!

If a store chain wants to place electric charging stations at every one of their stores it is not the responsibility of our federal government to build them.

If Johnny wants to buy a new electric vehicle than Johnny ought to pay to have one installed in his home, at his business or out on Uncle Bob’s farm or wherever he wants to pay for it.

It is not the job of the federal government to dictate what type, kind, color or make of vehicle that anyone MUST drive. It is the job of the federal government to keep us safe while and if we drive our vehicles on the highways and byways of America. – RTM

11-25-2024

Even Snakes Shed Their Skin

The democrats are falling all over themselves to find the reason (person to blame) for losing the presidential election. Some say it’s the message; others say it’s the messenger and still others say it’s Trump’s MAGA supporters. One democratic congressman even said that Kamala Harris was a good candidate, but because she was a woman and not white – that is why she lost.

Let me take this back to the beginning with the 2020 campaign season when during the DNC presidential debates for the nomination the very last people seen trashing each other turned out to be Obama’s “Biden-Harris Dream Team”. 

During and after the inauguration the Biden-Harris political honeymoon began. Harris said it was the “agreement” they had made with each other, she would be in the room for every major presidential decision.

Does that even sound like a workable plan?

Throughout the past 4 years it’s never been called the Biden Administration. It has been presented as the Biden-Harris Administration. It’s like putting training wheels or stabilizing handles on a Biden walker. But when you ask about Biden’s appointed “Border Czar” VP Harris denies that it is her.

Up until being forced out of his bid for reelection Biden and Harris were almost constantly together publicly and everyone assured us that Biden was on his “A” game.

Kamala Harris was designated as Biden’s democratic successor to the throne and all she had to do was beat Trump. She might have been considered a serious contender if she had put forth the effort to reassure the American people that she knew what their concerns were and actually had a plan to fix what she and Joe Biden had broken, but she couldn’t even do that.

Kamala thought of herself as a rock star yet her actions were that of a rock. She did not even pretend to know what was going on across our nation with immigration, national security or on the world stage. While on an official visit to South Korea, she declared that she was happy to be in North Korea.

Mike Drop Moment!

On the campaign trail she gave little effort to her duties as vice president or to the campaign. She raised an ungodly amount of money for her campaign and spent even more than she brought in on famous celebrities, concert props, smoke and mirrors and ended up spending a week in seclusion after her monumental loss to Trump.

Here we are 3 weeks after her election loss and as Rome burns (Israel – Hamas, Ukraine – Russia) Kamala is on “vacation” in Hawaii and it appears that nobody is running the White House or maybe the nation is on autopilot?

Here is my suggestion to the Democratic Party – ditch the old guard (they’re really old and not that good anymore), talk to voters about what’s important to them now, develop a strategy for addressing those needs and let voters hear from some of the brightest minds in the Democratic Party.

Don’t ASSUME that you have all the answers. You Don’t!

Get the Democratic Party back on track as the party of the people, not the workers unions or the upper crust in American society and stop taking Americans for granted.

Think outside the box!

What is good for American – security, prosperity, safety and drop the resistance nonsense. Find a way to bring Americans together instead of dividing along racial, social, political or gender lines.

We are strongest when we stand united – for America! – RTM

11-23-2024 (Updated)

Abortion versus the Right to Live

We are told that having an abortion is a woman’s right to choose. We are also told that babies that are not viable must be aborted as they have no chance at living a normal life. We are told that abortion is a human rights issue. Let me put it another way, when GOD creates life begins.

News reports that a number of abortion clinic workers receive death threats because of where they work and other workers fear that their lives are in danger and this seems strange coming from a place where killing other people – yes babies in the womb are people too.

Should not the sacred oath of doctors and medical staff (nurses, technicians and the like) be to preserve life AT ALL COSTS! Doesn’t the hypocritical Hippocratic Oath demand that?

So why is it that when ALL LIVES MATTER is taken up as a worthy cause in many cases it is nothing more than empty words? It inferiorities me when I hear anyone say that a life matters when they don’t really mean it.

If one life matters, then all lives matter. It’s a no brainer.

Preamble to the Declaration of Independence

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.

As the world population climbs, the US and a few other countries is seeing a decline in the birth rate and yet nobody has equated it to an increase in abortions.

So don’t tell me it’s a woman’s right to choose what to do with her body, unless she is having a tooth pulled to alleviate tooth pain. Aborting a baby is not pulling a tooth!

When you get right down to it, having a baby is because God has chosen a woman to give birth to that baby. It is not punishment, nor is it something to be ashamed of, regardless of how the woman became pregnant. It is the responsibility of the mother to safeguard her child, raise that child up in the fear and admonition of the Lord.

If that were not true and God had not decreed killing was a sin, then killing could be considered nothing more than an extremely late term abortion. Every life and everything has a purpose – even you.

That is why every miscarriage or abortion carries a certain amount of guilt by the mother. It is not the mother’s fault when a child is miscarried, but God doing a manufacturer’s recall, bringing that child back into HIS presence.

I don’t condone threatening abortion workers either, what I feel should happen is that those who work in abortion clinics would turn their work into saving EVERY LIFE. – RTM

11-23-2024

On Governor Newsom’s “I love all people” Speech

Standing in a parking garage with his hair all slicked back, Governor Gavin Newsom sounded like an insurance or car salesman. Californian democrats must be really proud, like they are of Vice President Kamala Harris. He sounded sincerely phony as he repeatedly said “I love all people” while pandering to Fox fans but said nothing about anyone else.

His speech reminded me of former Panamanian General Manual Noriega’s “I’m a Christian speech” after he was removed from power in the 1989 Panama Invasion by US troops. Noriega said he was a Christian, a Muslim, a Buddhist and several other religions because he wanted to insure he made it to heaven. He had been imprisoned in the US until his death in 2017. I guarantee that unless he received Jesus Christ as his personal savior, “getting religions” just wasn’t enough.

Back to Newsom’s speech, he wasn’t fooling anyone, especially after he and the other 34 Democratic governors have joined forces in an organized effort to resist President Trump’s border security enforcement policy.

Not even democrats are buying it with the influx of illegals being pandered to while America’s homeless are sleeping on the streets of cities across California and America and with abortions legal in California, and there are a lot of “all people” left out simply because they are Trump supporters. I guess aunt Nancy didn’t train him well enough.

America better watch as the Newsom train as his sights are on the White House and the Harris sights are on Sacramento. – RTM

11-21-2024

America Has Spoken

On November 5^th, 2024 the nation awakened and elected Donald Trump as POTUS 47. The Democratic Party still has no idea what went wrong as their finger pointing clearly shows. However there are some in the Democratic Party who see the writing on the wall and are warning fellow democrats that they should be alarmed because Donald Trump is picking some very competent and learned people like Pam Bondi his cabinet nominee for Attorney General.

But are the “Trump deniers” listening?

I fear they are not!

I’m not surprised to hear someone like basketball great Charles Barkley tells fellow Democrats to “SHUT THE F@%K UP!”

Nor am I surprised to see Joe and Mika (Morning Joe Live) hightail it down to Mar-a-Largo to have a chat with the big guy either. It is costing them credibility with their loyal (not loyal) fellow democrats like Rosie O’Donnell who calls the traitors who kissed his ring. Democrats act like piranhas devouring their own kind as they attack fellow democrats. There is talk about falling ratings after talking to Trump and MSNBC either pulling or cancelling the show entirely?

Well maybe there’s a spot on Fox for them during primetime to offset their MSNBC replacement? Wouldn’t that be a hoot?

Kamala Harris’ Democratic Party is now a party of losers. They lost when they picked Biden/Harris in 2020, and now the Harris/Walz pick in 2024 was the straw that broke the camel’s back (Google It)!

Now they are trying to leverage Biden from the White House so that Kamala Harris can become the first woman president BEFORE TRUMP TAKES OFFICE! How insane is that?

The fact that most democratic voters are clueless is more troubling. They are like sheep being led to slaughter. The sad thing is that they are taking clueless voters from all walks of life and all political parties with them – jumping and skipping all the way!

Trump Deniers unite – you deserve what you bring upon yourselves so grab those tissue boxes before the price of tissues rises higher than a gallon gasoline. – RTM

11-19-2024

Respecting the Rule of Law

Politicians talk a lot about how they are protecting the Rule of Law as they justify why they are breaking that rule.

So one must first ask what is the Rule of Law?

The rule of law is a durable system of laws, institutions, norms, and community commitment that delivers four universal principles: accountability, just law, open government, and accessible and impartial justice.

 – World Justice Project

The phrase “the Rule of Law” has to be distinguished from the phrase “a rule of law”. The latter phrase is used to designate some particular legal rule like the rule against perpetuities or the rule that says we have to file our taxes by a certain date. Those are rules of law, but the Rule of Law is one of the ideals of our political morality and it refers to the ascendancy of law as such and of the institutions of the legal system in a system of governance. The Rule of Law comprises a number of principles of a formal and procedural character, addressing the way in which a community is governed.

 – Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy

The Rule of Law: The Basic Foundation for US Constitution

The Rule of Law is one of the essential principles that form the basis for our Constitution. It ensures equal protection under the law and helps to limit governmental power over citizens.

The rule of law is a fundamental part of American society.

Definition of the Rule of Law

The Rule of Law is a concept that dates back to ancient Greek and Roman philosophers, but it was made famous by British jurist William Blackstone. It states that all people should be treated equally under the law regardless of their wealth or social position in society.

Rules are not designed as a means for one group to gain an advantage over another, and they should never be used to punish or favor a particular individual. It is the basic foundation for the Constitution.

The Constitution is the fundamental law that provides this structure, but others, including treaties and laws passed by Congress. Some of these have been around for a long time before they were included in the main body of constitutional protection. At the same time, others came later on through amendments or judicial decisions. All together, they form what’s called the “Rule of Law.” 

– ConstitutionUS.com

Not only is the Constitution of the United States the Law of the Land but it is the foundation of The Rule of Law in our nation.

Other important aspects to consider are the Rules of Law for each of the 50 States, territories and US protectorates. What is the law in some states may not be the same in others. That is why it is a requirement for lawyers and attorneys after graduating from a school of law must then pass a state Bar Exam and be admitted to a state bar association before hanging up their “shingle” to begin practicing law.

A small percentage of lawyers and attorneys venture up the political chain from public defender, prosecuting attorney to attorney general, governor, senator, representative and a very select few make it to the office of the President or Vice President of the United States. They make the transition from public servant to public master as the one who knows what is best for the people of their district, state or nation.

What gives them the power? We do! We The People are the masters of our own fate, or at least we like to think so. Biblically speaking ultimate power is very hard to let go, especially when it brings fame, fortune and control over others.

That’s why I don’t understand when election boards, elected officials, city, county or state governors can take a public stance to “defend the rule of law, and public safety of citizens” as they effectively shred the Rule of Law they have sworn to uphold.

We see this played out with Pennsylvania election officials in 4 counties who defy the Pennsylvania state supreme court or the Democratic Governors Association members who openly resist President Trump’s agenda to remove first criminal elements who’ve invaded our country illegally, and then those migrants who came to this country illegally. Yet it is those elected or appointed officials who are not held accountable for their law breaking actions, yet are quick to stand up for migrants instead of the citizens of their states, and they do so with impunity (exemption or freedom from punishment, harm or loss).

We call that “Business as Usual”.

When will Americans stand up and shout it from the rooftops “ENOUGH”? – RTM

11-16-2024

Patriot or Dictator

Patriot: a person who loves and strongly supports or fights for his or her country.

Dictator, a single person who possesses absolute political power within a country or territory or a member of a small group that exercises such power. Dictators usually resort to force or fraud to gain despotic political power, which they maintain through the use of intimidation, terror, and the suppression of basic civil liberties. They may also employ techniques of mass propaganda in order to sustain their public support.

You be the judge…….

These terms Patriot and Dictator have been thrown about by both political parties and depending upon the leanings of the media each are justified in the eyes of the general public after and 4 years of President Donald Trump and almost 4 years of President Joe Biden we must do our own comparison.

President Trump said he would only run for president if his country needed him and in 2015 he felt that call to run for public service for the sake of others at great financial loss instead of for personal gain. A firm believer in the Rule of Law as stated in the US Constitution and a staunch supporter of the rights of American citizens to chart their own coarse toward a prosperous future, President Trump is poised to make good on his promises to fix the border crisis, correct the course of the US economy, secure America’s place in world affairs by strengthening our military and keeping America out of unnecessary, costly wars and aggressively reshaping the size of government to stop unnecessary wasteful spending in order to balance the national budget and bring down the tremendous deficit facing our children and grandchildren. That is what patriots do.

President Biden has spent his entire adult life in politics, first the congress, then as vice president and now as president arguably at great personal and financial gain. A firm believer in the Democratic Party President Biden has used his party’s bully pulpit to force compliance of a segment of the American people and literally shredding the Bill of Rights in the process demonstrating the acts of a dictator, calling Americans who support his political opponent vile names for publicly speaking out against his failed policies. His party calls him a great president, yet has abandoned him in his greatest hour of need. That’s what dictators do.

Instead of blasting “the other side”, Americans must come together to forge a new way forward that unites us as a people. It’s not a democrat or a republican thing; it’s purely an American thing.

Unless we learn the lessons of past mistakes, our future is destined to repeat them.

You cannot always choose your friends; but you must know who your enemies are.  We must be careful of who we allow into our inner circle. Bad company is always bad for business and personal growth. – RTM