“An immediate and full investigation”
James Hickman

On May 28, 2021, a female student was in her school’s bathroom in Loudoun County, Virginia, when another classmate— a boy who identified as a girl— walked in.

School policy allowed students to use whichever bathroom matched their gender identity on any given day. So the boy who identified as a girl proceeded to sexually assault the girl.

Rather than deal with the incident transparently, school officials were worried about the optics and instead swept it under the rug. They let the attacker transfer to another school—where he proceeded to assault another girl.

The victim’s father did what a lot of dads would: he went to a school board meeting and confronted the woke officials who were responsible.

The dad was outraged, and he created a scene— justifiably so. And for this, he was brutalized by police and thrown out of the meeting… then subsequently charged and convicted for disorderly conduct.

Now, yesterday was a weird day. Full-blown war in the Middle East. A Boeing 787 crash with one miraculous survivor. A court ruled that Trump couldn’t control the National Guard, which was stayed by a higher court. All this as the country prepares for “No Kings Day” protests.

But amid all that insanity, I wanted to spend a moment on something emblematic of why nothing gets done in Washington.

You probably saw the video of US Senator Alex Padilla, who removed his security credentials and crashed a Homeland Security press conference while Secretary Kristi Noem was mid-remarks.

Padilla is a very large man. And while moving towards the Secretary, he began shouting at her— all without properly identifying himself. In a city on edge with threats, this had all the makings of a major security incident.

Security personnel responded immediately; they physically escorted Padilla from the room, put him on the ground, and handcuffed him.

Padilla did everything wrong. If he really wanted to question the Homeland Security Secretary, he could have had his staff set up a meeting or send her an email directly.

At a minimum, he could have walked into the room, identified himself to security personnel, and then waited patiently (like a civilized human being) for Noem to finish her speech.

But he didn’t do any of that. And frankly, Padilla got off easy; he was treated much more softly than the father at the Loudoun County school board meeting.

What really disgusts me is the reaction: “Lawmakers from both parties rattled,” the media announced. “Shock video!” “Manhandled.”

This is where the Senators admitted the quiet part out loud: politicians think they’re untouchable… i.e. the people who shriek that “no one is above the law” think that they should have special privileges.

To the political class, it’s perfectly acceptable for a father protesting his daughter’s sexual assault to be manhandled, but it’s unthinkable for a Senator to be physically removed from a room that he disrupted.

It’s even more hilarious how they’re dealing with it.

The Congressional Hispanic Caucus demanded “a full investigation and consequences for every official involved in this assault against a sitting US senator.” Chuck Schumer (and many others) also called for a “full investigation”.

This is how politicians pretend to solve problems. They call for investigations.

Remember Ken Starr? His investigation into Clinton’s Oval Office sexcapades cost taxpayers $70 million. The Mueller probe into the Russia election interference hoax? Another $32 million bill to taxpayers. The Jan 6 committee? $9.3 million.

Now they want “a full investigation” over an incident that was already caught on video from multiple angles. How much will the ‘Padilla investigation’ cost taxpayers? More importantly, if Padilla warrants an investigation, where are the federal investigations of every angry parent who has ever been physically escorted from a local school board meeting?

But a bigger point is that this Padilla incident was clearly staged.

Padilla isn’t stupid, he knew what he was doing: elevate his profile and get the rage machine kicked into high gear right before “No Kings Day.”

And right on cue, all the usual suspects on the left cried out in their collective horror.

Governor Gavin Newsom called it “outrageous, dictatorial, and shameful.”

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said it “reeks of totalitarianism.”

Coincidentally, this entire mess stems from the very immigration crisis these same officials helped create. Schumer was Senate Majority Leader for years and never bothered to bring legislation that would overhaul America’s broken immigration system.

Gavin Newsom contributed to this crisis by declaring California a “sanctuary state”.

These people were all major contributors to the problem. But this is American politics; they don’t care about solving problems, they only care about going viral… hence a completely avoidable security incident that was manufactured specifically to milk social media outrage.

And now they want to have a “full investigation” to squander even more taxpayer resources for no discernible benefit.

This exemplifies why nothing ever gets done… and America’s problems only ever seem to grow.

Yesterday we talked about how immigration reform is the easiest layup in Washington.

Everyone agrees the system is broken. Everyone knows it needs to be fixed. Both sides want some type of reform. There’s more than enough common ground to pass a sane, workable solution that would make America safer, boost productivity, and benefit the US economy.

But nothing happens. Why?

Because this is the level of discourse. No one wants to talk, let alone create sensible solutions.

Instead of drafting legislation, they stoke divisions and stage incidents to create more outrage. Instead of solving problems, they spend your money investigating those same staged incidents.

If they can’t fix immigration—the easiest, most bipartisan issue on the table—then forget about the hard stuff. Forget Social Security. Forget the debt. Forget the US dollar’s reserve status. Forget about keeping up with adversaries.

That’s why you need a Plan B.

Simon Black, as James Hickman is more commonly known, is the Founder of Sovereign Man. 

He is an international investor, entrepreneur, and a free man. His daily e-letter, Sovereign Letters, draws on his life, business and travel experiences to help readers gain more freedom, more opportunity, and more prosperity.

Hickman is a lifelong entrepreneur and investor that’s traveled to more than 120 countries on all seven continents. In addition, he’s started, invested in, or acquired businesses all over the world. 

He is a graduate of the United States Military Academy at West Point and served in the US Army as an intelligence officer during Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom.

Hickman founded a South America-based agriculture company that has become one of the leading producers in its industry. A few years ago, he acquired a prominent retail brand in Australia, purchasing the business from the former 1980s era rock star who founded it. 

His other business ventures have included starting a boutique, private investment bank that boasts some of the highest levels of liquidity and solvency in the world, and investing in companies from Colombia to Uzbekistan. He also serves on numerous Boards of Directors, and previously served as Chairman of company listed on a major stock exchange. 

Writing under the pen name Simon Black, he has also written extensively on business incorporation and tax residency establishment in Puerto Rico, and is a proponent of investing in gold and silver as a hedge against inflation.

He is a also a prolific writer on topics ranging from second residency and citizenship, Golden Visas and portfolio diversification, to estate and retirement planning, asset protection, tax optimization and US Opportunity Zones.

 

www.schiffsovereign.com