The Speech and Debate Clause

 

Article 1, Section 6, Clause 1 of the Constitution says in part,

They [the Senators and Representatives] shall in all Cases, except Treason, Felony and Breach of the Peace, be privileged from Arrest during their Attendance at the Session of their respective Houses, and in going to and returning from the same; and for any Speech or Debate in either House, they shall not be questioned in any other Place.

This is known as "The Speech and Debate Clause." It's original intent was to protect legislators from frivolous attacks based on their legislative work, but over time it has been interpreted to mean that members of Congress can say whatever they want without fear of arrest for perjury, slander, or any other offense. When they are questioning witnesses in committee, for example, they are not required to be sworn in (that is, to tell "the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth"), although those who testify before them are. 

What could possibly go wrong?

Last week saw a classic example of abuse of the Speech and Debate Clause when Missouri Senator Eric Schmitt angrily insulted and demeaned former Special Prosecutor Jack Smith, accusing him of perjury and calling him a "villain" and a "dirtbag," before his accusations blew up in his face when they were proven to be completely, hilariously wrong. Rather than apologizing for the error, though, Mr Schmitt doubled down, further beclowning himself not only in the hearing, but in a later appearance on a far-right podcast.

This, unfortunately, is far from the only example of despicable behavior by members of both parties under the protection of the Speech and Debate Clause. YouTube is full of video clips of angry Senators and Representatives thundering down at witnesses from their lofty perches, secure in the knowledge that they cannot be held to account for anything they say, no matter how false, defamatory, poorly researched, or otherwise inappropriate. From the time of the disgraceful Senator Joseph McCarthy in the 1950s to the shameful treatment of Anita Hill during the Clarence Thomas confirmation hearings, the Speech and Debate Clause has been abused to protect members of Congress at the expense of truth and fairness. It enables mendacious lawmakers to sacrifice truth on the altar of sound bites.

If witnesses before Congress must be sworn to tell the truth when they testify, their questioners should be sworn to the same standard. It'll never happen, but it's one of my safer fantasies.

Have a good day. Demand more of your elected representatives, but expect less ... in the words of Alexander Pope, “Blessed is he who expects nothing, for he shall never be disappointed.”

More thoughts coming.

Bilbo 

Monday Mountains

 

The first Monday of the new month offers us the chance to admire October's first collection of beautiful mountain scenery ...

1 - Good place to stop ...

2 - Westeros isn't he only place winter is coming ...

3 - The Franz Josef Höhe on the Großglockner, Austria ...

4 - I think this picture should illustrate the word "pinnacle" in the dictionary ...

5 - Lermoos, Austria ...

6 - Mount Whitney in the mist ...

7 - Patagonia scenery ...

8 - The Swiss alpine paradise ...

9 - Val Fedoz, Switzerland ...

10 - View from the Zugspitze in the direction of Garmisch, Germany ...

Enjoy the restful majesty of the mountains ... we can all use the serenity.

Have a good day. More thoughts coming.

Bilbo

Musical Sunday

Our salute to the season continues as Musical Sunday offers up our first Halloween-themed tune! Let's bring on The Devil's Daughters with Danny B. Harvey ...

Here are the lyrics:

Well, he was a tricky one from down in New Orleans,

Guess I should have run when he was lookin’ at me,

Caught up in a trance his eyes promised romance,

Now I can’t seem to be shakin’ that man - 

Mr Hoodoo, you hooded me

Mr Hoodoo, you vooded me

Why don’t you just set me free?

Don’t you know you voodooed me?

Well, my heart was spinning’ and turnin’ me round,

All my senses were gone, nowhere to be found,

Stumblin’ and bumbling’ all over the room,

Cryin’ like a coyote and howlin’ at the moon,

Mr Hoodoo, you hooded me

Mr Hoodoo, you vooded me

Why don’t you just set me free?

Don’t you know you voodooed me?

Must have been some juju in that mojo bag,

Must have been something’ like I never had,

That’s what he was doin’ it was nothin except

Just a-usin’ that magic to mess with my head - 

Mr Hoodoo, you hooded me

Mr Hoodoo, you vooded me

Mr Hoodoo, why don’t you just set me free?

Don’t you know you voodooed me?

You'd best watch out for Mr Hoodoo!

Have a good day and enjoy the rest of your weekend. More thoughts coming.

Bilbo

Cartoon Saturday

New month, new craziness ...

The Supreme Court has allowed the regime to continue deporting undesirable persons to third countries; Secretary of Defense (not War) Pete Hegseth continued his culture war on the Defense Department with a "no weirdos, no beardos, more testosterone testing" speech to junior officers at Quantico in which he also claimed that “The ideological clowns are out and the patriotic cowboys are in—with testosterone testing on top;” Missouri Senator Eric Schmitt beclowned himself and debased the Senate with a head-spinning attack on Special Prosecutor Jack Smith that went hilariously wrong; convicted murderer Christa Pike, set to be the first woman executed in Tennessee in more than 200 years, survived a botched execution attempt on Wednesday; and in Stretford, England, the cause of repeatedly-failing traffic lights was determined to be slugs that got into the control boxes and shorted out the signal controller ... they are apparently not related to the elected slugs which have shorted out the U.S. Congress.

This week kicks off our annual salute to the Halloween Season, with each Cartoon Saturday devoted to cartoons about a particular Halloween creature. This week, a look under the sheets at ghosts ...

Why just be spooky when you can look classy, too? 

I'm sure you remember the dreaded and hardly-missed "Clippy" ... 

Even the ghosts need to protect themselves from goose bumps ...

Darn those formal events ...

Ghosts Anonymous ...

After all these years, the truth comes out ...

The favorite ride at the ghostly amusement park ...

Things that go crunch in the night ...

Ghostly dating apps ...

The curse of static cling lasts beyond the grave ...

Boo!

That's it for our Cartoon Saturday salute to ghosts and the start of the Halloween season - I hope you enjoyed it.

Have a good day and a great weekend, and come back tomorrow for our first Halloween season Musical Sunday, featuring The Devil's Daughters - see you then.

Bilbo

The Right-Cheek Ass Clown for October, 2026

Today is Friday, October 2nd, 2026, and it's the first Friday of a month that gives us not two, but three opportunities to present Ass Clown Awards (not counting any interim special awards). Since it's an election year, there are more potential awardees than usual, driven by the frantic search for elective office and consequent official self-enrichment at our expense.

But in looking at the vast tsunami of ass clownery swamping our poor nation, it seems to me that it might be worthwhile to present the award not to an individual, a group, or even an object (like the hideous Arc de Trump), but rather to a mystical incantation used to justify much of the other ass clownery that besets us.

Ladies and Gentlemen, Dear Readers, I hereby present

The Right-Cheek Ass Clown Award for October, 2026

to

National Security

Those of you who know me personally, or who have been following this blog for more than a few months, know that I am a veteran of 23 years of service in the Air Force, having retired long ago as a Lieutenant Colonel. I served in a strategic bombardment wing of the old Strategic Air Command, and as an intelligence officer in West Berlin when it was still surrounded by the infamous Berlin Wall. I worked on intelligence plans, requirements, and budgets on the Air Staff in the Pentagon, spent another twenty years supporting Air Force intelligence and cyber programs as a civilian contractor, and have a Masters degree in International Relations. I tell you this to let you know that I think I know something about (at least) the military and intelligence aspects of national security.

What is "National Security?" The basic definition offered by the Cornell Law School's Legal Information Institute is "... the ability of a nation to protect and defend their citizens." It goes on to add that "According to the U.S Department of Justice ... national security is also an umbrella term that includes 'national defense, intelligence and counterintelligence, international and internal security, and foreign relations.'"

Nowadays, though, National Security is less a concept or ability than it is a talismanic incantation, as I've written about before in this space. When all other arguments fail, invoke national security to get your way from compliant Supreme Court justices and slavishly servile members of Congress ... 

Getting pushback on your expensive, over-the-top gilded ballroom? Stress the bunkers and drones and snipers that enhance national security. 

Nobody wants your garish and unnecessary "triumphal arch?" Emphasize its importance to national security and stress the number of snipers and drones it will house, and the vast amount of ammunition it will store*. 

Tired of all those black and brown people running around unsupervised? Round them up and deport them in the name of national security. 

Upset that American firms aren't able to compete with their foreign competitors? Invoke national security and launch salvos of tariffs. 

Worried that your policies and behavior are going to cost you and your party the election? Invoke national security to justify meddling in a process that has worked fine for 250 years.

You may recognize the image I used in this post to epitomize national security - the 700-foot high wall of magical ice that protected Westeros from the Wildlings and White Walkers in Game of Thrones. You can bet that Der Furor would build it along the northern and southern borders if he could, and that it would have plenty of drone ports and snipers and lasers and boiling oil to protect us from those of the wrong race, color, religion, or ethnic group who might dare try to enter Fortress America.

Abracadabra, NATIONAL SECURITY! - your Right-Cheek Ass Clown for October, 2026.

I don't feel secure. Do you?

Have a good day and come back tomorrow for Cartoon Saturday, as we start our annual month of Halloween-themed cartoons with ghosts ... bwa, ha, HAAAAAA! More thoughts then.

Bilbo

* In the middle of a traffic circle on a major roadway in a large city. Smart.

P.S. - I wrote this post before Missouri Senator Eric Schmitt beclowned himself in front of the Senate, the nation, and the world with a clumsy attempt to trap Judiciary Committee witness Jack Smith in perjury that blew up in his face. I was tempted to scrap the award to National Security and give it instead to Mr Schmitt, but I decided I could hardly expose his hapless ass clownery better than he'd already done himself. The memes write themselves.

B.

Thursday Trees

Welcome to October, and our first collection of Mike's Thursday Trees for the new month!

1 - A banyan tree ...

2 - A Madagascar baobab tree ...

3 - A birch tree thriving on rock ...

4 - A bristlecone pine in the Great Basin National Park ...

5 - A camel thorn tree in the Namibian desert ...

6 - A Cedar of Lebanon ...

7 - even a tree appreciates a good joke ...

8 - A juniper tree in the Sierra Nevada mountains ...

9 - A kapok tree ...

10 - Appropriately enough as we begin the Halloween season, the Witches' Tree in Louisville, Kentucky ...

As autumn rolls in and the leaves fall, let's enjoy the trees while we can.

Have a good day and come back tomorrow for the announcement of the Right-Cheek Ass Clown for October, 2026 - more thoughts then.

Bilbo

We Salute the Rank, Not the Man

I'm following a page on Facebook dedicated to the architecture and history of the Gilded House, and it recently featured a beautiful photo of the Oval Office as it appeared in 2023 ...

before the garish redecoration that made it look (in my opinion) like the waiting room at a tacky Vegas whorehouse ...

I left a comment on the first photo that read, "A dignified office for a position that once carried dignity and gravitas," to which another commenter replied, "And still does." 

This led to a brief chain of dueling comments, in which that commenter reminded me that, "The position of president will always have dignity regardless of who’s in office. Always respect the office," and ended up with him chiding me that "... if [Der Furor] didn’t have to clean that mess ["Biden's open boarders (sic) process"] up, things might actually be different." Which, of course, had nothing to do with the garish new Walmart Liberace look of the Oval Office and the less-than-dignified behavior of its current occupant.

I was reminded of a scene from Episode 10 of the wonderful World War II miniseries "Band of Brothers" in which the Easy Company commander reminded his much-disliked predecessor, who had failed to salute him, that "We salute the rank, not the man" ...

In this, the fellow who tried to chastise me was surely correct - the office of the presidency holds the weight of the dignity and gravitas earned by leaders like George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, and Franklin Roosevelt, and so deserves to be respected. But my point, that the dignity and gravitas of the office has been demeaned by its current occupant, is equally true.

I respect the office of the President as designed by The Founders and shaped by men who understood its meaning and the limits of its authority and responsibilities. I have no respect for the self-absorbed and dangerous buffoon who is doing his best to demean the office built by better leaders.

Have a good day. Be sure you have a plan to vote, in the November midterms and the Presidential Election of 2028. The stakes are as high as they've ever been.

More thoughts coming.

Bilbo

Monday Mountains

Our last collection of mountain vistas for September ...

1 - 

2 - 

3 - 

4 - 

5 - 

6 - 

7 - 

8 - 

9 - 

10 - 

Breathe the clean air, let the majestic landscapes calm your mind.

Have a good day. More thoughts coming.

Bilbo

Poetry Sunday

This is our last Poetry Sunday offering for September, and as the days get shorter and the nights longer, colder, and darker, a bit of romantic poetry can help keep us warm and mellow ...

forgive me for the parts of you i'm yet to kiss

by Ifeanyi Ogbo

i used to think there was only one part of 

the body meant for kisses,

but on your body I discovered a thousand places.

you were born naked so I could clothe you with kisses, 

my lips were made to adorn every inch of 

the landscape of your skin.

kisses on places you'll never want your mother 

to read about,

sinful actions too holy for confession.

and when we finally merge into one 

my body memorizing every part of yours

i discover there are ways to visit heaven without dying.

If you have someone to keep you warm and loved, you are richly blessed.

Have a good day and enjoy the rest of your weekend. More thoughts coming.

Bilbo

Cartoon Saturday

Oh, for Pete's sake, when is this verkakte month going to end???

Der Furor delivered his usual sober and statesmanlike address at the U.N. General Assembly opening on Tuesday, saying that he needed to decide whether to strike a deal with Iranian leaders or “annihilate the Islamic republic;” the Trump Supreme Court ™ approved the regime to use a database that that combines citizenship information, Social Security numbers and other sensitive data about millions of Americans, to hunt for ineligible voters; Chinese autocrat Xi Jinping was greeted for a state visit to the United States with over-the-top pomp and ceremony by American wannabe autocrat Der Furor; and in (where else?) Florida, a man stopped for speeding (75 in a 65 mph zone) was arrested after police found an AK-47, 77 grams of methamphetamine, a digital scale, a glass pipe, and 11 pounds of illicitly-harvested saw palmetto berries in his vehicle.

This week, I was too lazy to curate a themed collection, so we'll just do a cartoon potpourri. 

You may need to be a history buff to get this one, but I think it's hilarious ...

This one is really clever ...

Mr Hegseth fired a few generals to make room for him ...

It's coming ...

I wouldn't be at all surprised if that was really in the fine print ...

When your chief advisor is a lovelorn creature named Natalie ...

Having spent a lot of game nights with my grandchildren, I can vouch for the accuracy of this cartoon ...

One of the funnier sight gags ...

Ink is about the only thing more expensive than gas and diesel nowadays ...

This isn't as funny as it ought to be ...

Was this enough to help you over the travails of the week? I hope so.

Have a good day and a great weekend, and come back tomorrow for the last Poetry Sunday of the month. More thoughts then.

Bilbo