Too Local: FWD Seagrave

by | Jan 13, 2022 | History, Society, Technology, Travel | 264 comments

Too Local: FWD Seagrave

(This is the first in what I hope is a series taken up by multiple authors discussing local history and news stories that may not be well known outside of the area. With the phrase that launched 1,000 Glibs, let us commence.)

In 1906 Otto Zachow met with attorney Walter A. Olen to submit a patent for the ball and socket steering joint.  This new steering joint would allow the front tires of a vehicle to be powered while still being able to be steered. The patent was granted 2 years later. In 1909 the two men, along with William Besserdich formed Badger Four-Wheel Drive Auto Company in Clintonville, Wisconsin. The name would later change to just Four Wheel Drive or FWD.

In 1910 they created a truck called The Battleship (shown in the video below), It is considered the first successful four wheel drive automobile in the United States. In 1916 the US military ordered 120 trucks from FWD to use in their efforts to pursue Pancho Villa after his attack on Columbus, NM.

The US Military again ordered trucks from FWD for WWI and WW2. Between 1941 and 1943 FWD had supplied the US military with 24,000 vehicles. FWD returned to civilian production after WWII and by the 1960s had begun focusing on the production of Fire Trucks, and in 1963 purchased another Fire Truck builder Seagrave Corporation, moving all production to Clintonville, WI.

From the FWD Seagrave site:

Seagrave was founded by Fredric Seagrave in Detroit, Michigan, in 1881.  As such, Seagrave is the oldest manufacturer of fire apparatus in the United States.  The company moved to Columbus, Ohio in 1891, and remained there until 1963, when the company was purchased by FWD.

Too this day this company is one of the largest employers in the area. After the merger they were known as FWD Seagrave, but in 2019 they officially became  Seagrave Fire Apparatus, LLC. Their fire trucks are sold across the country.

FWD got a small amount of coverage on the History Channel series Truck wars. Although, a youtube commenter pointed out that not all of the photos they use are actually of FWD trucks.

If you’ve never heard of Clintonville, Wisconsin here are some facts:

  • Their school ‘mascot’ is The Truckers
  • Population on the 2020 Census 4,591
  • Most famous person is WBAY (Green Bay) newscaster Bill Jartz, who is also the stadium announcer at Lambeau Field

About The Author

CPRM

CPRM

Organic troll farmer.

264 Comments

  1. Not Adahn

    Wait, there are a thousand of us?

      • Bobarian LMD

        Gooble-Gobble!

    • Yusef drives a Kia

      more like 200,
      Nice bit of history, thanks CP!

    • CPRM

      Did a 1,000 ships really sail to Troy for Helen? Who gives a shit?

      • UnCivilServant

        How big was the greek army? Triremes only hold so many people. They probably needed 1000 for any army to get across the sea.

      • Urthona

        Yeah but they were Greeks. You could just stack them on top of each other.

      • CPRM

        UCS, didn’t get to respond on your post last night. My little brother has been smithing for a few years.

        So on day four, I made yet another bottle opener (the first forge welding project), a flat-head screwdriver (the second welding project)

        He made the screwdriver with a bottle opener at the top bit and gave one to me and another to our older brother a few years ago after he got started.

      • UnCivilServant

        I could have added a bottle opener to the screwdriver, but it would have marred the lines of the handle.

        Besides, I’d made three at that point.

        Where’d he find his anvil?

      • CPRM

        I think he stole it from my house. There used to be one around here anyway, and now there isn’t.

      • UnCivilServant

        Figures.

        I’m still on Step 0 – find a suitable location for a forge.

      • Tulip

        What about a storage unit with a garage door?

      • CPRM

        He lives just outside Green Bay, with enough land that he had a shed he could convert. He’s on forge 2.0, which he built from the bricks of a disused chimney we removed from his house. But with 3 kids and a full time job he hasn’t been able to do as much as he’d like.

      • UnCivilServant

        Around here most storage units are indoor “climate controlled” units where you can’t just open the outside and let the smoke go free. Plus there’s the fact that when working, you don’t want attention from the neighbors as they’ll sic the authorities on you even if you’ve done nothing wrong.

        So my criteria includes “someplace where the smoke and hammering won’t bother the neighbors”.

      • CPRM

        What about a storage unit with a garage door?

        A Chaos Lair?

      • Tulip

        Is your area depressed? Maybe a a machine shop would rent you space? Or check the industrial areas. Hell, start your own maker space and rent it to others. My niece belongs to a maker group that lets here use a studio and various equipment (cnc, laser cutters,lathes, 3d printer, etc)

      • UnCivilServant

        I am failing to craft a DDG search that turns up anything. It’s probably my verbiage, but I’m at a loss.

      • Tulip

        I was thinking you would drive around and talk to people re: machine shops etc. I’m not sure an internet search would work. For the maker space, given where I think you are there are several meet up groups. Probably not exactly what you want, but the people involved might know.

      • UnCivilServant

        Talk…? …to people?

        *introvert siezes up*

      • Tulip

        I searched “maker space [city]” for the meet up groups. I may be wrong about where you are, but if not there’s this: http://www.cdblacksmiths.org/ They may know of space.

      • Tulip

        Try farm auctions, especially estate sales in farm country. My parents sold two angels (that were probably 40-50 yrs old then) when they retired and sold the farm.

      • Tulip

        Anvils is a word autocorrect

      • Tulip

        Or there might already be a maker space near you. Your next class instructor might know.

      • pistoffnick

        My momma raised devils on our farm, but she couldn’t sell me or my brother.

      • Threedoor

        I finally broke down and bought a new one when I couldn’t find anything. And then promptly found two for a good price. https://www.blksmth.com/

        Dick is great to deal with.

      • Sensei

        Thanks. I was just able to read this and enjoyed it.

      • Not Adahn

        Something that used to be a thing was using gravestones as anvils.

        It will be interesting to see if the bladesmithing class is different. Dan used to swear that coal as a no-no because of the sulfur. He only used charcoal or gas (with extra carbon monoxide in the mix to help carburize).

      • UnCivilServant

        The thing about a real anvil is that every edge is a different type of tool with its own utility. It’s not just a flat slab to hammer upon. It is a deliberately engineered shape.

      • Not Adahn

        I’m not denying that, I’m just mentioning what used to be a solution for DIYers.

        I can remember when anvils were $1/lb.

      • db

        Depends on the type of coal. If all you have available is Eastern bituminous or Illinois Basin, that’s one thing. Anthracite has far less sulfur (also far less volatile content, so it’s harder to ignite.

        The metallurgical grades of Eastern bituminous could probably used as well, because they are chosen partly for their low sulfur content (also susceptibility to coking and specific petrographic properties).

      • Bobarian LMD

        Another good cheat for an anvil is a length of rail. Used rail gets strength hardened by the repeated traffic.

        Which you can sometimes find along the tracks where they’ve been doing repairs.

  2. Tundra

    What a cool story!

    Thanks, CPRM. The auto industry of the early 20th century is fascinating.

      • hayeksplosives

        I have a platt map of greater Minneapolis from 1886. Found it in a junk/antique shop. I can’t throw it away but I don’t live there anymore.

        Wondering if I donated it to a historical society, would they appreciate what it is???

      • Tundra

        Maybe, but it still might be a nice thing to frame and put in the office or something.

      • Tundra

        Keep it. I love those!

      • Ownbestenemy

        Ugh. I had one of Vegas from the 60s that was in my office at the old ATC tower and when we moved to the new building, someone stole it as I was moving it. I am still pissed about that cause it was beautifully done. It was a topography and zoning map I believe.

      • Don escaped Cancun

        half the cars in the Auburn IN museaums are Dusenberg

  3. DEG

    This is cool. Thanks CPRM!

  4. The Other Kevin

    This was fun, thanks for writing. Do you mind if I add to the series? I already have an idea for one.

    • CPRM

      It’s right there in the intro that I hope other authors take it up! The graphic is in the BANK!

      • Nephilium

        No one listens to that kind of stuff.

        /looks around for Glibs Guides to X

      • Swiss Servator

        If I didn’t live in a meh suburb, I would do it!

      • robc

        I said the same thing with my “Standard Libertarian Disclaimer” series. A number of people said they would write an article for it. #2 has yet to appear (which is at least, partly, my fault).

        It was a series to Steel Man a bad idea. SLD #1 was my article on the Universal Basic Income.

      • trshmnstr the terrible

        I thought I wrote one for that series… *begins hunting through the archives*

      • robc

        Cool, I missed those. I think. Now I am going to go thru the comments and see if I commented on any of them.

      • robc

        I made 11 comments on episode #2. I am dumb.

      • CPRM

        Being upset about things you forgot is tight!

      • robc

        Psycho Effer on June 6, 2019 at 1:46 pm
        I need to read Stephenson. Just haven’t gotten around to it yet.

        robc on June 6, 2019 at 2:13 pm
        Yes. Just be prepared, his books end abru

        ^^^possibly the best comment I have ever made, and I remember it not at all.

      • robc

        Writing for glibs.com is super-easy, barely an inconvenience.

      • CPRM

        The best line in a script I ever wrote is the same way.

  5. Ownbestenemy

    Very cool read. Thanks CPRM.

    • Sean

      ^^ +1

  6. CPRM

    FWD used to, as near back as 2018, claim to have invented four wheel drive for automobiles, but other claims have come about, hence now they only claim to have created the first successful design in the US. But it is an interesting bit of automotive history that gets over looked.

      • CPRM

        A convoy of four-wheel-drive trucks employed by the U.S. Army traverses a sandy two-track road in Mexico circa 1916.

        I bet those are the aforementioned Pancho Villa trucks.

        The first automobile, as we recognize it today (i.e., with a gasoline-powered engine), to get power to all four wheels was the Spyker, a Holland-built car also noted in historic circles for being the first six-cylinder automobile. Prototypes were shown in 1903, and it achieved limited production from 1904 to ’07.

        So 3 years earlier, across the world, and only limited production by the time this American company got going. It’s easy to see why it took so long to clear up.

      • Tundra

        Now don’t get defensive. Your Sconnie boys kicked the shit out of the Euroweenies, but that’s nothing new. The Euroweenies were first, though.

        In Great Britain, steam coach builders Burstall & Hill built an all-wheel-drive vehicle as early as the 1820s. British engineer Joseph Diplock patented a four-wheel-drive system for a traction engine, while in Vienna, Austria, Ferdinand Porsche developed an electric vehicle that also had all wheels driven, with an electric motor at each corner, as early as 1899.

  7. Mojeaux

    Hm. Interesting series. I may write about our fabulous (former) airport with its drop-in gates.

    • CPRM

      Oh, that’s one thing I forgot to put in the article! FWD started an airline in early 1900s as well! There is still a small hobbyist airport there.

  8. hayeksplosives

    Very cool!!

    My former employer in Minneapolis was a direct descendant of “Northern Pump” company, which made fire-fighting equipment, not unlike the pedigree you mention above.

    When WW2 loomed, the Northern Pump President, John Hawley, bid to produce huge guns needed by Britain and other Allie’s. I think he knew the US was headed in eventually.

    They broke ground on Northern Ordnance in Fridley MN in 1940, and they moved fast. So fast that Hawley delivered massive numbers of guns far sooner than expected.

    After the war, Congress tried to sue him for overcharging them for the guns because he delivered them so well, they figured he must have exaggerated the true cost. Hawley put together giant three ring binders showing wonderful photographic evidence of how he transformed a corn field into the ordnance plant. I was lucky enough to see and handle all those books. They capture tech goodness but also show the trolly Hawley created to bring workers from Minneapolis to Fridley, showed the amazing morale boosting shows he put on at the plant, etc. I’d love to have that book now because I doubt that BAE Systems (which now owns the site) gives a shit.

    Hawley won his case at the congressional hearing and didn’t have to repay the government.

    When I started there in 2001, the original “REMEMBER PEARL HARBOR” banner was still hanging, alongside a giant American flag with 48 stars.

    • Tundra

      Sounds like a good contribution to this series!

    • Ownbestenemy

      The knowledge and stories this place has are outright amazing.

      • Yusef drives a Kia

        And a wide variety of skills and experience, something for everyone,
        Cheers Peeps!

    • db

      oddly enough the guy was named “Bob.”

      He went by “Bo,” though and had another song called “Bob,” that went, in part:


      Bob–
      It’s a name that means Robert
      Bob–
      It’s a name you don’t want
      Bob–
      When you put the letters backwards, they still spell “Bob”

      • Yusef drives a Kia

        What?

      • db

        I didn’t write the song, he did.

  9. Tundra

    My great grandfather emigrated from Italy in the early 20th century. He and his brothers were inventors and tinkerers, eventually creating a company that everyone here would recognize. They started out making irrigation equipment, dabbled in aviation and ended up most known for their pumps.

    What an amazing time to be alive. Head out into the machine shed with an idea and end up changing the world.

    • CPRM

      a company that everyone here would recognize.

      American Teledildonic Corp?

      • Tundra

        I wish. I would be so stinking rich!

      • Tres Cool

        I think I may have seen what you did there, but it may be more on my end…..I need another beer.

    • Scruffy Nerfherder

      ended up most known for their pumps

      Modela breast pumps?

      • Tundra

        Nope. More well known than that.

        I think maybe I’ll write it up.

      • Gustave Lytton

        The pumps are clearly women’s shoes.

      • CPRM

        A beer company makes breast pumps?

      • Name's BEAM. James BEAM.

        Or women’s shoes?

  10. Tres Cool

    Cheez-Its were invented in Dayton, Ohio.
    Suck it.

    • CPRM

      A real Cheese was invented in Colby, WI.

    • Nephilium

      You’re not going to go all big on NCR or Ermal’s grand invention?

      • Tres Cool

        Well, Charles Kettering invented the electric starter for a car and founded DELCO (the Dayton Electrical Labs Corporation)
        The Dayton Triangles were the 1st NFL team.

        You people up there had Charles Brush.

    • rhywun

      Jell-o comes from the town my mom retired to, LeRoy NY.

    • Certified Public Asshat

      Cheez-Its > Goldfish > Getting Nut Punched > Cheese Nips.

    • Don escaped Cancun

      Delco as in AC-Delco is Dayton Electric Company.

  11. R C Dean

    More good news:

    My Tavor X95 (or, as I call it, the “Israeli Pali Popper”) is on the truck to be delivered to my local today. My aftermarket stuff awaits on the workbench (new buttstock, new top rail, vertical foregrip, new trigger guard (I don’t like the standard-issue “cutlass” guard), a stack of 30 round mags). The aftermarket trigger should also be delivered today – theoretically, I could install that, but I’ll have a gunsmith do it.

    Still not ordered: the optical sight.* I want to see if Mrs. Dean likes the 2X Trijicon sight I put on hers; if she wants a different one, I’ll take the 2X back and get her what she wants. She’s going to Front Sight next week for the 4 day Tactical Practical Rifle class. I figure 500 rounds should give her an idea if she likes it or not.

    *I gotta say – the folding iron sights they put on these are the worst I have ever seen. Its gone anyway when I put the new top rail on.

    • R C Dean

      Make that new buttstockpad.

    • Tundra

      I missed the AM lynx, but congrats on the news!

    • R C Dean

      Woo-hoo! Just delivered!

    • The Other Kevin

      Wow that is beautiful. Congrats on your purchase.

      • R C Dean

        I think it shares one characteristic with other bullpups:

        It is ugly.

        But I do like the way they handle. I got the FDE furniture, so I can tell it from Mrs. Dean’s lefty X95, which is dressed in black. Also, the FDE matches my combat shotgun, but that was totally not a factor. Honest.

      • Not Adahn

        Tacticool trickledown: A FSE showed up with a roller toolkit in FDE.

      • R C Dean

        I just have a weakness for FDE furniture. I rationalize it by saying “I live in the desert. Its the right color for my environment.”

        Because I’m going to get in a lot of firefights in the desert, or something.

    • DEG

      🙂

      I don’t mind the folding iron sights on my x95.

  12. PieInTheSky

    This is the first in what I hope is a series taken up by multiple authors discussing local history and news stories that may not be well known outside of the area. – that is like half my posts

    • CPRM

      We all know your country’s history of Commie Vampires.

      • trshmnstr the terrible

        From each according to their means, to each according to their blood type.

    • Tulip

      I liked your posts. Lovely pictures, loved the food posts too.

  13. Tulip

    Thanks CPRM, I love this kind of history.

    • Sensei

      +1. And I’m always keen on automotive history.

      • trshmnstr the terrible

        Although, they make it sound like they’re doing it by hand, which would be pretty dang impressive.

      • Ownbestenemy

        I think its a dude with a handcam. But I could be wrong.

      • trshmnstr the terrible

        They were cutting between so many feeds that I had a hard time figuring out who they were talking about. I’d expect the official spacex footage to be shot with these.

      • Ownbestenemy

        Yes the official feeds probably have those. The streamers that go from launch to launch are using what they can afford. Good cameras, but probably not tied to telemetry information like SpaceX probably has.

  14. R C Dean

    O(for On)T: I’ve worked with Seagrave, long ago when I lived in Madison. Fire trucks are fascinating. My recollection is they are each largely custom-built, and seem to be basically carved from a solid block of stainless steel.

    My local volunteer fire department in Mt. Horeb WI had black fire trucks. Terrible idea, really, but man, did they ever look sharp.

    • CPRM

      Yeah, they seem to be very customizable. Our local volunteer crew bought a new one around a decade ago, it has spinner rims, which I thought was wasted money, but I guess one of the guys works there and got it added at no cost. Yeah, spinner rims on a fire truck.

    • Don escaped Cancun

      I think most of them are on Daimler or Spartan chassis now. I forget which Glib is a Spartan alumnus.

      There’s only one good ladder company in the country, so delivery of aerial trucks tend to be routed through Iowa or some such corn-covered place for the bolt-on.

      My HVAC experience is HVAC, I’ve essentially exhausted myself with the sequence pretty much at every manufacturer:
      we need HVAC for the new truck
      here you go; that will be $$$$$
      I found a guy outside of Dallas who can do it for $$
      No: “it” requires an understanding of latent heat.
      What’s latent heat?
      Exactly. You can’t stick six guys in a cab who just spent ten minutes at olympic output in a cab and cool them and their equipment and the computers and the communications equipment and dry all the water in the floor that dripped off their turnouts with the same itty bitty compressor you have on your Honda Accord. $$ won’t come close.
      We’ve always had $$.
      And it never worked, right?
      Well it stinks a bit but the guys don’t complain.
      That’s mold because your $$ system can’t keep up with a $$$$$ job. The ducts and the entire cab are skunked. You might have a plugged evaporator drain pain, but it’s still going to stink after you fix that. See also: ambulances.
      Sorry: we’re going with $$.
      Yeah, I knew that already.

      • Don escaped Cancun

        my “apparatus” experience is HVAC

    • CPRM

      It would have been funny, but I got a pop-up as soon as it got up, blowing the whole thing.

    • R C Dean

      FEnix Ammo’s marketing emails are too amusing to unsubscribe from.

      The last one had this Twitter gem in it:

      This is the 5th hunter in the last few weeks that has asked what the hunting camo looked like under infrared lights.

      What the fuck are you all hunting that you’re worried about it tagging you with infrared?

      • Not Adahn

        I saw the car with the “FJB” camo paint job on the road again.

      • UnCivilServant

        What the fuck are you all hunting that you’re worried about it tagging you with infrared?

        One Ugly Motherfucker.

    • EvilSheldon

      Ernest is a great instructor, and a great dude to shoot with. And his Berettas are tight.

  15. Not Adahn

    You may find this hard to believe, but USPS is not being particularly helpful in getting my package that was mailed using their 1-3 day service 10 days ago.

    Anybody know a guy who knows a guy, and has an idea what it would cost to have them hijack a truck and retrieve the package for me?

    • Tres Cool

      Im still waiting on them to deliver the medication I refilled a week ago from my VA.

      • Not Adahn

        The annoying thing is according to their tracking, it showed up in Rochester on the 9th, and has been “in transit to the next facility” since then.

        I’m pretty sure that you could bicycle that distance by now.

      • Ownbestenemy

        Usually at that point, I assume someone knew what the package was and stole it.

    • Scruffy Nerfherder
    • CPRM

      (Murder rates have surged 42 percent over the past two years, but remained largely flat over the past year.)

      Biden Team unfurls ‘Mission Accomplished’ Banner

    • Swiss Servator

      I am old enough that I lived through the 1970s…I do NOT want to do it again.

      Next up “Carry $40-$50 in ‘Mugger Money'”.

    • Drake

      I don’t think a Giuliani will come along and fix it this time.

      • The Other Kevin

        Doesn’t sound like the new guy is up to a very good start.

      • Ownbestenemy

        Too busy handing out jobs to family members.

      • wdalasio

        Nope. Giuliani’s voter base left the city. The working class voters got priced out and and the middle class Giuliani voters are voting in Florida or South Carolina or in Jersey.

    • wdalasio

      Well, maybe this will change the whole “everybody needs to come back into the office so I can impress them with my status” mindset.

      This was predictable from a mile off. It wasn’t a key reason I left. But, it was certainly in the back of my mind. And, especially with the new D.A.’s aversion to imprisoning actual criminals, I don’t see this improving any time soon.

      New York is a city that committed suicide because they decided it was morally fashionable.

    • kinnath

      Now that is how you park.

    • Ownbestenemy

      When those three converge, we will have peace on Earth.

  16. Sean
    • Ownbestenemy

      Good on the kids. All we used to do was swap out the videos with someones dads porn stash videos from time to time.

  17. Ownbestenemy

    I will be marking the home tests that the WH is going to send to every mailbox with return to sender or not at this address with some Let’s Go Brandon stickers. I wonder if that will trigger a visit from the newly minted domestic terrorist task force.

  18. Not Adahn

    Lulz.

    Dogfolk are not immune to gossip and drama queenery.

    I’ve been quarantining, but on the last day I was at the park, Mason got “attacked.” No injury, no blood, but a couple of dogs were behaving in an inappropriate way. Mason’s owner writes a flouncing screed on the park’s FB (because OF COURSE the dog park has a facebook page) about how they’re never coming back again, and mentioned that I (“Lily’s Dad”) was the only person who came to help break up the fight.

    And since I haven’t been back since then, the story has become that Lily got attacked too (she was never within ten yards of the incident). I have a coworker who goes there IM me wanting to know what had happened.

    • Ownbestenemy

      Know how to break up a dog fight? Poke the dog in the brown eye. Works like a charm.

      • Not Adahn

        It wasn’t a real fight. I would only get involved with a real one if my dog was being attacked.

      • Tundra

        I did it once when an off-lead dog attacked mine while we were out walking. I ended up with stitches and a tetanus shot.

        Real dog fights are no bueno.

      • Not Adahn

        Yeah, that’s pretty much a guaranteed injury.

      • Tundra

        I didn’t have much choice. The useless woman who owned the dog was 100 yards away.

      • Semi-Spartan Dad

        My mother ended up with the same after an Akita mauled her 10 lb mutt while out on a walk. She used her hands to open its jaws and was very lucky the Akita didn’t turn on her. Her dog was on a knife’s edge for days but pulled through.

      • mikey

        Wife and two-year-old son were at the beach with our rescue greyhound/Shepard mix. The dog felt his mission in life was to protect the kid. Wife was reading and the kid was digging in the sand with a spoon when an un-leashed German shepherd ran up and started growling at our dog. Charlie wasn’t into displays – he went right for the kill. In a flash the Shepard was on its back, our dog’s jaws were around its neck and his rear claws were raking the shepherd’s belly. The shepherd’s opener ran up screaming. My wife gave a sharp “Charlie. Stop that!” Charlie went back to guarding our son. The other woman started in on my wife who said “That happens again and I won’t call my dog off.” Next time she saw them the shepherd was on a leash and the woman kept well away.

      • mikey

        Owner – not opener.

      • Don escaped Cancun

        this works for me:

        I try to reserve a dog’s name for “come” and congratulation: it’s a good thing I don’t want associated with reprimand

        the dog gets a consistent, discrete sound/word and gesture for no/stop/bad

        sounds like it worked out for you

      • Bobarian LMD

        So when you poke a dog in the brown eye, you’re just doing it for fun?

      • pistoffnick

        Poke the dog in the brown eye.

        *looks at OBE’s brown pointer finger*

        Have you broken up a lot of dog fights, OBE?

      • Ownbestenemy

        Lets go with yes.

    • R C Dean

      I had to check. I thought Mason was the Cane Corso, and I was thinking “anyone who mixes it up with one of those deserves whatever they get”.

      Which one is Mason?

      • Not Adahn

        The boxer.

      • Not Adahn

        The Cane Corso is “Aphrodite.”

        There is also a Golden Retriever named Ba’al.

  19. mikey

    Thanks, CPRM. Learn something here every day.
    The video made me think of this picture of my grandparents’ Model T somewhere in New Mexico – 1926 maybe.
    They weren’t on some out of the way back road either.
    https://share.icloud.com/photos/077fxM2D8h3w7y3bbhJUUF5GQ

  20. Ownbestenemy

    Interesting timing. Congress calls out the FBI that no one has been charged with treason, sedition or insurrection and magically, suddenly, they charge someone today of just that. Couldn’t write it better.

    • Not Adahn

      Was it Trump?

      • Tundra

        Fucking Trump could have pardoned every single person there. Asshole.

      • Ownbestenemy

        Founder of the Oathkeepers? Apparently, had as much play as Ray Epps…but whodathunk.

    • Certified Public Asshat

      I am surprised. Should I be surprised?

      • Ownbestenemy

        That helps in my fight because now, the FedGov can’t be so brazen with its mandate…I will find work elsewhere or you can continue to receive a ROI on the money you spent on me. Your choice Mayor Pete.

      • db

        I’d think that the fact that the USPS has requested a moratorium on applicability of the mandate to themselves to indicate the risk to government workforces of themandates…

      • Ownbestenemy

        Postal service has 1000% more contact with the public than we do and yet they get to say nah. Fuck the whole damn system.

      • Tundra

        I don’t think so. Maybe that it was 6-3.

        The admin needs to start extricating themselves from this disaster. They are gonna be beat bloody at midterms, they know this and need to start preparing for 2024.

        Also note the significant change in messaging from the media and Big Pharma. The narrative is in tatters.

      • Not Adahn

        WE MUST PACK TO COURT TO STOP COVID!

      • Ownbestenemy

        Read the dissent….they are begging for it or other measures to be taken.

        And then, there is this Court. Its Members are elected by, and accountable to, no one. And we “lack[ ] the back-ground, competence, and expertise to assess” workplace health and safety issues. South Bay United Pentecostal Church, 590 U. S., at ___ (opinion of R OBERTS, C. J.) (slip op., at 2). When we are wise, we know enough to defer on matters like this one. When we are wise, we know not to displace the judgments of experts, acting within the sphere Congress marked out and under Presidential control, to deal with emergency conditions. Today, we are not wise. In the face of a still-raging pandemic, this Court tells the agency charged with protecting worker safety that it may not do so in all the workplaces needed. As disease and death continue to mount, this Court tells the agency that it cannot respond in the most effective way possible. Without legal basis, the Court usurps a decision that rightfully belongs to others. It undercuts the capacity of the responsible BREYER, J., dissenting 14 NATIONAL FEDERATION OF INDEPENDENT BUSINESS v. OSHA BREYER, SOTOMAYOR, and KAGAN, JJ., dissenting federal officials, acting well within the scope of their authority, to protect American workers from grave danger.

      • Scruffy Nerfherder

        Apparently Breyer doesn’t consider himself an expert on the Constitution.

        He just makes an appeal to authority and says “Hey they know better.” with no commentary on whether it’s actually within their granted powers under the Constitution.

        He’s truly a disgrace, he won’t even defend the court’s own legal authority here.

      • Gustave Lytton

        Yeah. That should be exhibit A at their impeachment hearings.

      • Rebel Scum

        So they are judging policy, not whether said policy is constitutional…

      • The Other Kevin

        Exactly. If they think it’s a good idea, then it must be legal.

      • db

        That was the entirety of Breyer, Kagan, and Sotomayor’s comments during oral arguments. They said not one word about lawfulness or the Court’s authority in law.

      • Certified Public Asshat

        Malice had an interesting idea. If Republicans regain control in 2022 (or beyond?) they should put a bill forward to set supreme court at 9. When/if dems balk, then start packing with conservative judges.

      • rhywun

        LOL sure, why not??

      • Don escaped Cancun

        if it’s just a law and not an amendment, it gets reversed (or turbocharged) the next time Blue has the majority

    • R C Dean

      Although COVID–19 is a risk that occurs in many workplaces, it is not an occupational hazard in most.

      But a vaccine mandate is strikingly unlike the workplace regulations that OSHA has typically imposed. A vaccination, after all, “cannot be undone at the end of the workday.”

      I’ll be damned. They didn’t fuck it up too bad.

      • Urthona

        nice

    • db

      Just got a text from a friend on this and was looking for confirmation. At least one good outcome!

      • Tundra

        What is CMS?

      • EvilSheldon

        Content Management Systems. Basically ransomware that you pay to have somebody install on your systems. I agree, fuck them.

      • db

        Alito (or was it Roberts) made a couple of hilarious comments in oral arguments pointing out that CMS is not Congress, and Congress should have been the one making these rules, if anybody had the authority.

      • Gustave Lytton

        Center for Medicare and Medicaid. They force regulations on healthcare providers through rules for those programs.

    • DEG

      I wanted both struck down, but, I’ll take what I can get in these crazy times.

      • The Other Kevin

        Me too. I’m relieved. And hats off to my employer, who didn’t say a single thing about this the entire time. No use getting everyone riled up for something that might not even happen.

        However, my SIL is a health care worker, and I think she’d fall under the CMS portion. Looks like she’s going to need to find another job. 🙁

      • Ted S.

        My employer said something once, back in September, to the effect that the regulations hadn’t gone into effect yet and they were looking at legal options etc. etc. Nothing since.

      • The Other Kevin

        Also, Mrs. TOK has informed me her chiropractor and physical therapist plan on discontinuing taking Medicaid patients over this.

      • Gender Traitor

        Won’t they still have to comply if they take Medicare patients?

      • The Other Kevin

        Should have been more specific. They won’t take any of the patients that would require them to make their staff get a vaccine. Both are upstanding guys.

      • Gender Traitor

        Wow! Good for them! How many med practices would be in a position to do that? But if enough do, that should get AARP’s attention.

      • R C Dean

        How many med practices would be in a position to do that?

        Very few physician practices. A fair number don’t take Medicaid, which usually pays like crap and Medicaid patients tend to be terrible (blowing off appointments, etc.). But no Medicare? That’s a non-starter for all but a few.

        Chiros are in a different boat. It would be easier for them to drop government payment programs.

    • Gustave Lytton

      I worry that the CMS portion foretells that they will rule the same for the military and federal contractors.

    • Drake

      Hey, I get to keep my job for while!

      • rhywun

        Next stop, state and local mandates!

      • R C Dean

        Which is as it should be, from the governance structure perspective.

        Its still terrible policy, but at least it will be contained within the firewalls of federalism.

      • rhywun

        Yeah, I suppose being forced to move to another state against my will is slightly less catastrophic than being forced into unemployment. (As long as I get to keep my job.)

  21. limey

    That’s a trucking good article, CPRM.

  22. Scruffy Nerfherder

    Looks like they just arrested Stewart Rhodes and are charging him with sedition.

    • Semi-Spartan Dad

      And 10 other people. Doesn’t even matter if they were in the Capitol. From the WSJ:

      The case marks the first time the Justice Department has filed charges of sedition and comes days after Attorney General Merrick Garland promised that prosecutors would charge anyone responsible for the Capitol riot “at any level,” not just those who stormed the building. Mr. Rhodes was at the Capitol that day but has said he didn’t enter the building.

    • Ownbestenemy

      That was my point above. FBI is questioned that if this was insurrection or whatever, why no charges and then bam! Charges fly a year later. Fucking banana republics look better than we do.

      • rhywun

        Pay no attention to the Ray Epps behind the curtain, I guess?

    • limey

      This could result in a very dangerous precedent being set?

      • The Other Kevin

        Of course. But these are Democrats, the party of short-sightedness. They always act as if they will always have a majority.

        VDH had a good column the other day. It asks what we should expect if the Republicans win a majority this year. Should we expect Biden to be impeached twice? Congressional inquiries into Antifa? It was a long list.

      • Gustave Lytton

        They’re the stupid party and will fail to give it back good and hard. Which isn’t entirely a bad thing.

      • Scruffy Nerfherder

        It’s definitely an escalation.

      • Rebel Scum

        Only if you are associated with anything/anyone conceivably “right-wing”.

    • The Other Kevin

      Biden needed a “win”. The SC just smacked him down, and the voting law he got all frothy over isn’t going anywhere. But he doesn’t realize he’s just riling up an ever shrinking base.

    • Rebel Scum

      Conduct or language inciting rebellion against the authority of a state.

      So Ray Eps and co. are next right? RIGHT?

      Of course to prove anything it looks like to me you have to have an actual rebellion/insurrection and since that didn’t happen…

  23. Rebel Scum

    This is just adorable.

    http://khamenei.ir publishes “one of selected works in Hero Campaign”
    Named “Revenge Is Definite,” animation shows former U.S. Secretary of State Pompeo & President Trump being targeted by LAW and drone while playing golf at Mar-a-Lago referred to as “Trump’s House”

    • Name's BEAM. James BEAM.

      What the Hell is a “neurocognitive assessment”?

      • Ownbestenemy

        Reeducation

      • Scruffy Nerfherder

        It’s to determine if she has any “psychopathological mechanisms of dissent.”

      • rhywun

        I don’t know but I think it happens in Room 101.

      • ron73440

        How many fingers do you see?

      • rhywun

        This is the guy the left was trying to shoot down because “see – he got the jab!”, right?

    • Tulip

      Didn’t they do that to the Marine Corp guy who published about the Afghanistan withdrawal?

      • Scruffy Nerfherder

        I believe so.

        They’ve weaponized psychiatry. They’re going to use it.

      • Name's BEAM. James BEAM.

        Damn, I was beginning to miss the ol’ Soviet Union.

      • Ted S.

        I have a feeling Dr. Chet would tell us a lot of his colleagues support this, since it’s being weaponized against the Icky Class.

  24. Penguin

    Their school ‘mascot’ is The Truckers

    It’s cool when schools use local businesses of note as mascots. Of course, that could go wrong if the only local industry is a prison or some such.

    • Ted S.

      Well, there is a government school to prison pipeline, isn’t there?

    • pistoffnick

      The Pahrump, NV Hookers?

      • Penguin

        Ted – huh, maybe it was a good idea for me to quit.

        nick – “The Alva, OK Prison Bulls”

  25. The Late P Brooks

    Also note the significant change in messaging from the media and Big Pharma. The narrative is in tatters.

    There is a recurring theme in the News of the Plague sphere: Boo hoo hoo whycome nobody listen to us no more?

    They openly admit they are searching for “guidance policy” they can pretend people are actually following. Hell, the mandatory airplane mask rule might even get dumped, the way things are going. I would be astounded if the airlines are NOT working on that behind the scenes.

  26. The Late P Brooks

    And the doctor is being ordered to undergo a “neurocognitive assessment”

    Fine. Now do Joe Biden.

    • Rebel Scum

      C’mon man. Brandon is sharp as – uh – you know the thing.

  27. Rebel Scum

    The slow motion insurrection continues.

    “There’s no need for me to restate my longstanding support for the 60-vote threshold to pass legislation. There’s no need for me to restate its role in protecting our country from wild reversals in federal policy. … It is the view I continue to hold,” Sinema told her congressional colleagues from the Senate floor on Thursday. …

    “What is the legislative filibuster, other than a tool that requires new federal policy to be broadly supported by senators representing a broader cross-section of Americans, a guardrail inevitably viewed as an obstacle by whoever holds the Senate majority, but which in reality, ensures that millions of Americans represented by the minority party have a voice,” Sinema said. …

    “Eliminating the 60-vote threshold on a party line with the thinnest of possible majorities to pass these bills that I support will not guarantee that we prevent demagogues from winning office,” Sinema said. “Rather, eliminating the 60-vote threshold will simply guarantee that we lose a critical tool that we need to safeguard our democracy from threats in the years to come.”

    • Ownbestenemy

      Double whammy for ol Joe today.

      • The Other Kevin

        See my comment above. All he has now is that sedition charge. And as usual, he’s vastly overestimated how many people are behind him on that.

      • Rebel Scum

        Dissent against the regime is sedition. Full stop.

      • Ownbestenemy

        That is exactly what the DOJ said…fucking scary but Trump was the authoritarian.

      • Gustave Lytton

        These idiots are playing with fire.

        Better to be hanged for a flock of sheep as for a lamb.

    • R C Dean

      She’s a reliable party tool on 98% of the votes, but she’s got some of the big ones right so far. To my surprise.

      • db

        She’s a reliable party tool

        These euphemisms!

  28. The Late P Brooks

    “What is the legislative filibuster, other than a tool that requires new federal policy to be broadly supported by senators representing a broader cross-section of Americans, a guardrail inevitably viewed as an obstacle by whoever holds the Senate majority, but which in reality, ensures that millions of Americans represented by the minority party have a voice,” Sinema said. …

    I kinda like her, I think.

    • R C Dean

      Dudem she’s not gonna fuck you.

      • Name's BEAM. James BEAM.

        D00d, rethink that statement. She’s a politician.

      • R C Dean

        Fair point. She’ll fuck us all, but not in a good way.

      • Penguin

        Hey, at least if you Google her, you can find out where Spider-Man is playing near you.

    • Rebel Scum

      Sometimes, it’s ok. But Razorfist did a rant about the right needing to avoid simping for her.

  29. pistoffnick

    Who does this lady think she is? Last year she ordered a curfew because some people marched threateningly down Interstate 35 (which runs through downtown). Now she thinks she can decide what I need to wear on my face?

    https://www.wdio.com/duluth-minnesota-news/duluth-mayor-larson-covid-19-masks/6357248/?cat=10335

    “If you want to be mad, be mad at me about it. I’ll take the heat, that’s my job,” Larson said Thursday in announcing her decision.

    You’re fucking right I’m mad at you, Mayor Larson.
    a) I remain unconvinced that the masks do anything to stop the spread of Covid
    b) You are not my mother
    c) You job as mayor is to run the city. PERHAPS YOU COULD FIX THE FUCKING STREETS!

    • Ownbestenemy

      Fuck you, arrest me and charge me.

    • DEG

      The mandate will take effect at 5 p.m. Friday and continue for 30 days. Larson noted during her announcement Thursday that the city council could choose to extend the mandate beyond 30 days.

      Prediction: It will be extended.

  30. The Late P Brooks

    Sometimes, it’s ok. But Razorfist did a rant about the right needing to avoid simping for her.

    No simping involved. But I have the ability to recognize the simple fact that she’s not wrong ALL the time, unlike many of her peers.

  31. juris imprudent

    http://www.citizensvfc.com/

    That’s my volunteer fire company, and the FWD is in the center. It is a parade piece these days.

    • ron73440

      That’s a nice truck.