The Morning Report – 1/31/23

Good morning kids. So, in looking at this hideous Tyre Nichols situation in Memphis, it reminds me of the story about the kid who goes on trial for murdering his parents, and then pleading with the court for mercy because he’s an orphan. In this case, after begging for mercy, he blames the real guilty party: society.

Tadarrius Bean and Demetrius Haley both joined the MPD in August 2020 after education qualifications to become an officer were dramatically lowered two years prior. The department nixed the required associate’s degree or 54 college credit hours for recruits in 2018 due to a lack of applicants.

“They’re desperate. They want police officers,” retired NYPD detective Mike Alcazar told the Post. “They’re going through it, they check off some boxes, saying, ‘Ok, they’re good enough, get them on. . . ”

. . . Bean and Haley were also hired during the summer of the George Floyd riots, a global protest movement organized by Black Lives Matter in response to the death of Floyd in Minneapolis police custody. The protests spread to more than 2,000 cities across America, causing more than $1 billion in property damage and killing at least 25 people. Such a movement, whose main mantra was “defund the police,” significantly damaged police morale.

According to a June 2021 survey by the Police Executive Research Forum (PERF), the rate of retirement at police departments rose 45% in 2020 compared to the previous year, with a 20% increase in resignations. The hiring rate also dropped by 5%.

Simply put: police officers were quitting at unprecedented rates across the country to escape such a hostile environment, and departments were struggling to meet minimum staffing requirements. This coincided with a massive crime wave across America’s major cities.“

So at that very moment you’re hoping you can put police out there to try to deal with crime, you’re seeing the workforce shrinking with an unprecedented number of retirements and resignations,” PERF’s Executive Director Chuck Wexler told NPR.

While a shortage of recruits is no excuse for relaxing hiring standards for cops, it is a product of disastrous dynamics the Black Lives Matter movement and leftist elites have cultivated. There is a lot of power and money in stoking fears of racism and hatred. And it is all done at the cost of the safety of the American public, most especially black Americans like Nichols.

You know, in a way, “society” really is to blame for Nichols horrific death. American society turned upside down and inside out for nearly 50 years by something known as The Great Society. Everything that is wrong with America, or whatever the hell nation this has been transmogrified into since the last thing it looks like to me is America, can and should be blamed on Democrats, Leftists and the RINO flunkies who have profited and continue to profit off these nation-killing bloodsuckers. 

Munchausen’s by progressivism – so perfect an expression I wish I’d thought of it. Beat the host to near unconsciousness with a lead pipe and then ride in to the rescue with multi trillion dollar government programs that only succeed in flatlining him. Then, blame someone else for it. Isn’t this the story of race relations and black America? 

Look, there is absolutely ZERO excuse for what these cops did to Tyre Nichols, with the caveat that we still don’t know the whole story of how he wound up on the receiving end of a murderous beating. It cannot be, as the racial arsonists and propagandists will no doubt insist that it was solely based on his melanin content. And that because the cops who did this were black were part of a white-controlled system and so, QED, they, too, are de facto white. 

Funny how no one ever has the stones to ask these bastards the question, “Well if America is a white supremacist nation where black people have zero chance to ever get ahead, how do you account for Barack Obama and Oprah Winfrey? Either they are too stupid to realize they’re Uncle Toms or they are willingly working for the masters.” 

OR, the premise that America is a white supremacist nation where black people have zero chance to ever get ahead is complete and utter horseshit. Again, as I postulated yesterday, something that is so obvious and true yet people insist on believing their lying eyes. Is there racism? Can individual people be racist? Yes and yes. But nowhere in history has a society ever gone through what it did to try and eradicate the evils of the past, and some in the present, to try and build a more perfect union. And the fact that we are a multi-ethnic and multi-religion society makes the fact that we achieved what we have achieved in so short a time that much more miraculous. And “exceptional.”

The unforgivable crime is those who have sought, and are indeed on the cusp of, absolute power have spent nearly one hundred years putting us at each other’s throats so as to gain that power. Look at this Critical Crackpot Race Theory poison. Aside from distorting and perverting historical facts, the essence of the whole enterprise is to define America by it’s flaws and the “original sin” as it were of slavery, not by the fact of how we as a people have tried and continue to try to overcome our flaws. 

So Psaki-psircling back to Munchausen’s by progressivism, the Left destroyed the police and made life unbearable for cops in uniform and for potential candidates to join the force. DEI (D-I-E) dictated that skin color, gender, sexual deviance and everything under the sun EXCEPT actual competence would be the criteria for hiring. And when even those candidates were not around, the bottom of the barrel was scraped. As it obviously was in Memphis. So, the race hustlers got the cops they wanted, and when yet another black male “who was just turning his life around” dies at their hands, it’s still the fault of white supremacy and America as founded. Self-licking Ice Cream Cone Status: [x] Licked.

Meanwhile, in another part of the forest, while everyone is getting all worked up over another victim of Democrat-Leftism, there’s the other side of police incompetence. Except this time, it really is political terrorism.

In the span of a few weeks, not only did authorities release all relevant videos, the five officers were arrested, investigated by a grand jury, indicted on second degree murder charges, and fired by the Memphis Police Department.

Transparency and justice, to the extent it ever will ease his family’s grief, came quickly for Tyre Nichols.

That is not the situation for four Donald Trump supporters who died on January 6, either wholly or partially due to the actions of Capitol and D.C. Metropolitan police officers on duty that day. More than two years after the fact, body worn camera footage is only slowly being released at the criminal trials of January 6 defendants. (Only D.C. Metro police are required to wear body cameras.)

And the Department of Justice, unlike the city of Memphis, is making it nearly impossible for the general public to access the very limited trove, which has been uploaded to a platform created to house all digital evidence for the department’s “Capitol Siege” investigation.

But the unedited video—the government has produced cherry-picked clips from otherwise protected recordings to bolster the regime’s “insurrection” narrative in the media and in court—so far documents what I described last week as the worst incident of police brutality since the civil rights movement. Footage from just three D.C. Metro officers revealed how police wantonly and, in some cases, viciously attacked American citizens exercising their rights to protest at a government building. Cops used an arsenal of munitions, including rubber bullets, flashbangs, stinger balls, and massive amounts of chemical gas against protesters assembled on Capitol grounds. . . 

. . . And what about releasing the body-worn camera footage of Lila Morris, the D.C. Metro officer who repeatedly struck Rosanne Boyland with either a baton or stick on January 6? Newly released open source footage shows a horrific scene after her beating as protesters attempted to resuscitate her as other officers looked on.

Body cam footage of Morris’ colleague, Officer Terence Craig, indicated he was in the lower west terrace tunnel when the attack on Boyland occurred. “She’s fucking dead! This is on you, motherfuckers!” one man screamed at the officers. “This is the woman you killed, you fuckers!”

But where is Morris’ body cam video or that of other officers near her on January 6? Surely Rosanne Boyland is entitled to the same level of transparency and accountability as Tyre Nichols, since she too was pepper sprayed and beaten—where is #JusticeforRosanne hashtag?

According to testimony by Robert Contee, then-acting chief of the Metropolitan Police Department, more than 1,000 of his officers were at the Capitol on January 6. Quick clips of a handful of officers, including Daniel Hodges, who repeatedly referred to Trump supporters as “terrorists” during his public testimony to the January 6 select committee in 2021, have been used to garner sympathy and stoke outrage.

If it’s acceptable to make public small segments of body camera footage from selected officers, then the Department of Justice and D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser should order the release of all footage on an accessible platform for the American people to see for themselves.

After all, Tyre Nichols isn’t the only victim entitled to the truth.

Except, Julie Kelly (which I know you know), some victims are more equal than others. While all this is going on, the DOJ has responded to Jim Jordan’s demands for documents pertaining to Joey Sponge-Brain Shits-Pants’ crimes: FOAD.

When it comes to law enforcement, the fish stinks from the head. We’re becoming both a lawless society and one where the book is thrown at those who refuse to knuckle under. A book? Hell, the entire library.

ABOVE THE FOLD, BREAKING, NOTEWORTHY

• “The war against [Chinese] COVID wasted trillions of taxpayer dollars, imposed massive disruptions, handicapped millions of students, and probably didn’t save many, if any, lives.”$60 Billion in Chinese COVID Fraud? Try $4 Trillion
• “What other cases handled by Charles McGonigal might have been tainted by malfeasance or corruption?” A Former FBI Counterintelligence Chief and Russian Collusion

CIVIL WAR 2.0: J-6 FBI FALSE FLAG “RIOT” & AFTERMATH, LEFTIST PERSECUTIONS, DEMOCRAT PUTSCH, AMERICAN DISSOLUTION 

• Julie Kelly: “Americans deserve to see all of the police body camera footage from January 6, not just cherry-picked excerpts confirming the government narrative.” Tyre Nichols Isn’t the Only Victim Entitled to the Truth
• Even still, the persecution of this man is intended to send the Luca Brasi dead fish Sicilian message Father Raided By FBI Found Not Guilty Of Federal Charges Alleging He Assaulted Abortion Worker
• “Records show officials at the Interior Department knew that demonstrations at the D.C. headquarters could turn violent.” Records Show Interior Dept. Officials Knew Climate Protesters Might Turn Violent But Didn’t Stop Them
• Just like the Nazis, the “woke” ideologues who promote “diversity, equity and inclusion” are dedicated racists. Granted, their racism reflects different ideological roots, neo-Marxist critical race theory, and ostensibly benefits and opposes different groups than the Nazis’ brand. But by making race the fundamental intellectual and moral criterion — and by systematically segregating anyone outside of their criteria — those “woke” ideologues fit the classical definition of racism. An Uncomfortable Historical Reality– We’ve Seen ‘Woke’ Racism Before
• “Whether or not the Chapel Hill School Superintendent is guilty of plagiarism is not the issue: that she is even questioned is an act of racial injustice.” Throwing Responsibility Under the Racial Injustice Bus
• “Robert Spencer reveals how the Left is trying to foment a civil war.” The Sumter Gambit

CRIME & PUNISHMENT, NON-DOSTOYEVSKY

• “By 2021, in the wake of the social unrest following the George Floyd incident, the Memphis Police Department was hurting for recruits . . . ” Two Officers Involved in Tyre Nichols Death Were Hired After Memphis PD Lowered Recruiting Standards
• “Two of the five police officers charged in the fatal beating of Tyre Nichols were hired by the Memphis Police Department after it relaxed its hiring requirements, a new report by The New York Post shows.” Without Black Lives Matter, Tyre Nichols Might Not Have Died In Memphis Last Week
• “Inner city America needs more policing, not less.” Tyre Nichols and the Black Elephant in the Room
• “District attorneys must disclose witnesses’ credibility problems—but what happens when they themselves aren’t telling the truth?” Untrustworthy Prosecutors

BIDEN CRIME FAMILY REVELATIONS

• “I would focus primarily on China because this is truly frightening — and I don’t say that lightly,” he said. “We know based on the laptop, the emails, the U.S. Treasury Department suspicious activity report reports that have been released that the Bidens have received some $31 million from Chinese entities. When you look at the businessman that may that happen — that made those deals happen, Steve, all of them have links to the highest levels of Chinese intelligence, a gentleman.” Peter Schweizer: We Need to Know Why Foreign Money Went to the Bidens
• When asked if it was “normal” for vice presidents, the position that Biden held at the time the documents were taken, to take their notebooks with them when they leave office, Comer responded, “No, nothing that Joe Biden has done with respect to mishandling these classified documents is normal.” Comer on Biden’s Doc Scandal: “He’s Also Being Investigated for Influence Peddling With Our Adversaries”
• “There are looming questions for the Grand Jury of public opinion regarding the documents Biden has been found to possess.” Why Biden’s Document Retention Is Profoundly Troubling
• “A comparison of the Trump and Biden document cases.” Who Watches the Record Keepers?
• Shorter DOJ to Jordan: “FOAD.” Justice Department Responds To Jim Jordan’s Demands In Biden Docs Probe
• “The Biden [junta] has so far refused to let members of the Senate intelligence committee review or even hear descriptions of the documents retrieved from Biden, Trump and Pence, a refusal that produced complaints from Democrats as well as Republicans last week.”House Intelligence Chair: Ability of Congress to Compel Classified Document Production “Is Absolute”

FIRST AMENDMENT ISSUES, CENSORSHIP, FAKE NEWS, MEDIA, BIG BROTHER TECH

• “Twitter’s internal records raise questions about what key Democrat politicians like Rep. Adam Schiff and Sen. Dianne Feinstein knew about Hamilton 68.” New Emails Suggest Twitter Misled Public On ‘Hamilton 68’ Data Pushing Russia Hoax
• “Murthy, who has served as surgeon general under the Obama and the Biden administrations, signaled the warning in an interview with CNN, noting adolescents should only be allowed to access the platforms until they were 16 years old at the earliest.” (and yet the Left is pushing for 16-year-olds to vote, right? – jjs) U.S. Surgeon General Warns 13-Years-Old Is Too Young To Join Social Media

RED-GREENS, CLIMATE CHANGE HOAX, DEMOCRAT-LEFT WAR ON FOSSIL FUELS, JUNK SCIENCE, LYSENKOISM

• The organization responded to a request made by Kansas Attorney General Kris Kobach (R) regarding its investments in entities that push left-wing environmental, social, and governance (ESG) practices that “destroy shareholder value in pursuit of faddish ideological aims, often without proper disclosure to investors.” National Association of Attorneys General Invests Taxpayer Money in ESG
• “LanzaTech has raked in $12 million in taxpayer funds since inking deal with China-run energy giant Sinopec.” Biden Junta Funnels Another $1.6 Million to Beijing-Backed Green Energy Company Over Senate Objections
• Thad McCotter: “. . . the WEF’s climate apocalypse’s dog is not barking at communist China, because it is begging for treats. This inconvenient truth belies the impending climate apocalypse; evinces that this alleged ‘crisis’ isn’t about controlling the climate; it’s about controlling you; and if the WEF gets its elitist way, the only impending “mass extinction event” will be of your liberty and prosperity.” Where Is the Climate Cult’s Outrage at Genocidal Communist China?
• “The left’s latest attack on pickup trucks is because they’re large and scary and allegedly bad for the environment.” The Left Wants to Take Your Truck Because It’s Big and Scary
• “A whale washed up near the southern Jersey town of Brigantine, near where geotechnical surveying of wind farm leases has been taking place. In fact, a lot of the dead whales have washed up suspiciously close to the sites of future windmill farms in both New York and New Jersey.” Whale Corpses Are Stacking Up But the Libs Won’t Talk About What Might Be Killing Them

THE ECONOMY, STUPID

• “Earlier this month, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen announced that the United States had hit its 31.3 trillion debt ceiling, and the Department of the Treasury estimated it could turn to “extraordinary measures” until June to keep the U.S. from defaulting on its runaway debt.” Biden Touts $1.2 Trillion Infrastructure Spending Spree as He Refuses Debt Ceiling Negotiations
• “This is the second-largest percentage drop in real disposable income ever, behind only 1932, the worst year of the Great Depression,” he observed. “To keep up with inflation, consumers are depleting their savings and burning through the ‘stimulus’ checks they received during 2020 and 2021. Credit card debt continues growing, while savings plummeted $1.6 trillion last year, falling below 2009 levels.” Warning Signs Indicate a Great Depression May Be Coming

AMNESTY, IMMIGRATION, BORDER SECURITY

• Daniel Greenfield: “How tax deductible nonprofits help migrants enter the United States.”How the IRS Enables the Border Invasion
• “City officials claimed the migrants would have the same services at the terminal as they do at the hotel.” Migrants Won’t Leave Hell’s Kitchen Hotel for Brooklyn Cruise Terminal Shelter

AMERICA AND THE WORLD IMPRISONED: CHINESE CORONAVIRUS FICTIONS AND FACTS

• “W.H.O. Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus attended a meeting on Friday with the agency’s emergency committee to discuss renewing the PHEIC designation. Tedros issued the declaration three years ago last week, ceding to Chinese government pressure not to do so for weeks despite evidence the W.H.O. was aware of the highly virulent infectious disease spreading out of Wuhan, China, as early as December 2019.” W.H.O. Renews Chinese Coronavirus Emergency in Shadow of Dubious Chinese Statistics
• “West Point’s reinstatement of restrictions after the vaccine mandate’s strike-down is particularly direct and open coercion.” West Point Reinstates Travel Ban on Unvaxxed Cadets AFTER Military Mandate Repealed

SECOND AMENDMENT

• “Now, casting aside its regulatory history and fundamentally changing congressional law without an act of Congress (indicative of an unconstitutional major questions doctrine violation), ATF has ruled that every owner of a firearm containing a pistol brace, a preponderance of which are disabled gun owners, will have to identify him or herself on the national firearms registration and transfer record, obtain approval from the Attorney General before transferring the firearm to anyone else, and pay transfer taxes.” Presto Change-O, the ATF Turns Gun Owners Into Felons

EDUCATION, AND WHAT PASSES FOR IT

• “My daughter ‘was terribly bullied, but no one told me. … Please don’t let ideology harm another child,’ pleaded the mother of a 14-year-old girl who was isolated from her parents by school and court authorities and sex-trafficked twice.” Virginia Committee Passes Parental Rights Bill After School Coverup Of Teen’s Dysphoria Enabled Sex Trafficking
• “The Utah legislature passed two resolutions in May 2021 to ban CRT from schools, and the Utah Board of Education then approved similar restrictions in June 2021, according to The Salt Lake Tribune. Which apparently hasn’t stopped the more zealous pro-CRT Utah educators from trying to brainwash students.” Utah Educators and Union Officials Caught Boasting of Secretly Teaching CRT
• “Leftist indoctrination begins in elementary school and continues through college graduation.” DEI Has Already Killed Public Education
• “Disgusted officials call for emergency intervention after hearing graphic passages.” Video: Mother Reads Shocking Gay Porn Material Found In Minnesota School Direct To Board Members

ABORTION

• “The Democrat-majority state Senate voted down amendments to ban third-trimester abortions and parental notification.” Minnesota Governor Expected to Sign Extreme Abortion Law
• “The revolutionaries couldn’t even mask their driving passion at this year’s gathering.”Women for Abortion, March!

THE 2020 AND 2022ELECTION HEISTS & AFTERMATH

• “Millions of mail-in ballots disappear; more that 100,000 returned ballots go uncounted.”Postcard From Hell: California Shows How Not to Run an Election

OFFICIAL DEMOCRAT PARTY/LEFTIST-ENDORSED ANTI-SEMITISM, ANTI-CHRISTIANITY

• “Sign of the times: smalltown Georgia police force pushes traditional Christian out for wrongthink about marriage.” Christian Cops Not Wanted

DEMOCRAT/LEFTIST AND RINO SCANDALS, MESHUGAS, CHUTZPOCRISY 

• “Were the defendant to ‘vet’ his version of relevant events with potential witnesses, that might have the effect of discouraging witnesses from testifying in a manner contrary to the defendant’s narrative.” Sam Bankman-Fried Attempted to Tamper With Witness, Prosecutors Allege

POLITICS 

• Robert Spencer: “. . . Old Joe is trying to hoodwink his audiences into thinking that he and his family are as upright as they are corrupt in reality. It’s manipulation on top of mendacity. And now that he has used it to proclaim his optimism over our national prospects, all we can do is brace ourselves.” Uh Oh: Joe Biden Gives Us His “Word as a Biden” That He’s Optimistic About America’s Future
• “Donald Trump accomplished some great things by winning in 2016. Here’s why we can’t expect him to get the chance to do it again.” The Case Against Trump 2024
• Gaetz said, “These new rules will last long past my time in Congress or Kevin McCarthy’s as speaker, and they democratize the process so that individual members can offer amendments, can target spending for reductions.” Gaetz: House’s New Rules Supported by Populists on the Left Like Titty-Caca AOC
• “The Democrats rolled him in 2020 with [Chinese] Covid and George Floyd, and it’s not clear, in 2022, that Trump has learned his lesson or can distinguish friend from enemy.” Is Donald Trump Worth the Fight?

THE UKRAINIAN “FRONT”

• “The problem is that Putin may have other requirements on his checklist.” No World War III. Check.

FOREIGN AFFAIRS, INTERNATIONAL

• “The trip of the NATO secretary general to South Korea and Japan is a prelude to confrontation and war as it brings the dark clouds of a ‘new Cold War’ to the Asia-Pacific region,” North Korean political researcher Kim Tong-myong charged in an article published by the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), an outlet controlled by the North Korean regime. North Korea Calls NATO Chief’s Seoul Visit a ‘Prelude’ to War
• “Israel views Iranian regime as both weak and dangerous, Iran expert says.” Suspected Israeli Drone Attack on Iran Signals Growing Appetite for Confrontation With Islamic Republic
• The defense ministry said in a statement that the attack on Saturday night had caused only minor damage to the roof of a “workshop,” and no casualties. It said one drone had been shot down and another two had been “caught in defense traps and blew up.” Iran Plays Down Attack Amid Speculation Israel Targeted Iran’s Missile or Drone Facilities
• “Who is really the Palestinians’ worst enemy?” Mahmoud Abbas’ ‘Shekel Tax’ Outrages “Palestinians”
• “They may also have criminal records.” (just like Memphis? – jjs) London Police Recruiting Illiterate Officers Who Can Barely Write English to Meet Diversity Quotas

DEFENSE, MILITARY, SECURITY AFFAIRS

• Is it just me, or does this reek of trying to water down Biden’s high crimes and treason?High-Ranking Air Force Officer Admits To Taking Highly Sensitive Classified Material, Storing At Home: Report

WE-ALL-SLAM-FOR-I-SLAM 

• Robert Spencer: “Will Amira Elghawaby build Canada’s brave new world?” Trudeau Appoints ‘Special Representative for Fighting Islamophobia’

DOMESTIC AFFAIRS, THE COURTS, WASTE/FRAUD/ABUSE

• “Because eggs aren’t expensive enough.” Connecticut Egg Farm Fire Kills at Least 100,000 Chickens
• Aside from the fact that Food Stamps is, in and of itself, grand larceny of the US taxpayer, this is kind of a “Day-Ending-in-Y” story. Thieves Are Stealing Millions In California Food Stamp Dollars Every Month. Here’s How

FEMINAZISM, TRANSGENDER PSYCHOSIS, HOMOSEXUALIZATION, WAR ON MASCULINITY/NORMALCY

• “This bill not only keeps minors from getting permanent, life-altering surgery even before their brains are fully formed. It also gives providers who may want to push the trans agenda good reasons to think twice before administering hormone treatments and puberty blockers.” Utah Bans Sex Change Surgery for Minors
• “The pro groomers, after their grooming session, congratulate one another on their hard work, as if indoctrinating toddlers into any ideology is an achievement.” (be a real shame if this person were found dead in an alleyway, the victim of a mugging gone bad – jjs) WATCH: Professional Groomer Visits Preschool, Indoctrinates Children Into Transgenderism
• “The organization created a film for public schools and kids ages 15 and up that depict sexually explicit images of nude women from websites such as Pornhub, MassiveCams and BDSM.XXX in order to discuss the harms of such images on young boys.” Group Founded By Gavin Newsom’s Wife Teaches Kids About Gender Roles With Images From Pornhub
• “Female inmates say guards have ignored reports of rape threats and sexual assault from biologically male prisoners.” California’s Female Prisoners Feel Threatened by Transgender Inmates. The State Doesn’t Care.

CULTURE WARS, NATIONAL SUICIDE

• Christian Toto: “Festival seeks to punish red states, inspires discriminatory lawsuit instead.”Salem Horror Fest Demands “LGBTQIA2S+” Entries from Florida, Texas
• “A 59-year-old trans skater performing at the opening ceremony of the European Figure Skating Championship was heralded as a victory for inclusivity. One problem – ‘they’ couldn’t skate.” Stunning and Brave
• “What happens when a civilization loses all of its reference points?” Upside-Down Land
• “If the writers of The Last of Us and the characters they created truly understood love, they might have considered a different road.” HBO’s The Last of Us is Wrong. Assisted Suicide is Not “Incredibly Romantic”
• “The best of America.” Why Preserve the Reconciliation Monument in Arlington Cemetery?

HITHER & YON 

• “The winger was a three-time Art Ross Trophy winner, a two-time Hart Memorial Trophy winner and had also accumulated a Lester Patrick Trophy and a Lady Byng Memorial Trophy, according to CTV News. He has long been considered one of NHL’s top 100 players of all-time.” Hockey Legend Bobby Hull Dead at 84
• “The book trashes what Moyar calls the ‘orthodox’ view of the war.” Who Lost Vietnam? Mark Moyar’s New Book Spreads the Blame
• Lloyd Billingsley: “The music of Barrett Strong, and the Motown era, will live on for all time.” A Great American Departs the Studio

NOTE: The opinions expressed in the links may or may not reflect my own. I include them because of their relevance to the discussion of a particular issue.