Putin and Trump- Connect the dots!

 Trump in league with Putin? 

 

     There may not be any tanks rolling into Georgia, Arizona, and Michigan yet, but the attempt to suppress democracy there as well as in the Ukraine is becoming abundantly clear, and we need to connect the dots. The struggle is between western liberal democracy, and authoritarian oligarchy. It used to be an ideological struggle between capitalism and communism. " From each according to his ability, To each according to his need", was the old model communist mantra. That mantra is no more. Communism lost, but Capitalism's win did not come without a price. Putin and his hand picked oligarchists have carved up the economy of the country and enriched themselves, while at the same time, limiting free speech, and the right of the citizenry to have free and fair elections to determine their leaders. The effort to quench the nascent Democrat of his fellow Slavic state of Ukraine is a potential turning point in this struggle. 

     Meanwhile, back here in the good ol' USA, the 1% has adopted a strategy of supporting the limitation of ballot access to the 99%, and particularly to the bottom 20%, so they can seal their grip on the wheels of economic production, to their own benefit. 

     Our battle for freedom has taken a new turn, and it is the unbridled application of money into the political system that is attempting to accelerate the demise of American democracy. Attempts to limit the flow of dark money into our political coffers have been beaten back by the courts, and the inability of state legislatures and the federal government to halt the march of money into politics. The more money there is in politics, the greater the tendency toward autocratic governance will continue. Oligarchs will recruit political front men to do their bidding, and keep the "hoi polloi"in check. The result has been the triumph of Trumpism in many state governments, and even in our national government for four years before being beaten back, at least for a while, by the forces of liberal democracy.  Truth is elusive in an autocracy. Repeated Lies and manipulation of public opinion is the mainstay of such regimes. 

     The mere thought that former President Trump considered utilizing the military to seize voting machines in states where his loss was marginal is a very scary indication of how close we came to a Putinesque style autocracy. The threat of this undermining of our liberal democracy is far from over. The Trumpian threat of the use of tanks to hold onto power should be a wake up call to everyone who cherishes freedom and democracy.

o        Leaders who sound like populists and offer simple solutions to complex problems need to be challenged vociferously.  " Only I can solve our problems!" is a statement that should make the hair on the back of the necks of all believers in our democratic system stand on end. 

o        Sometimes it takes the observation of extreme measures to make us connect the dots. Rising up and resisting all challenges to our ability to freely and openly choose our leaders is a must. We still have time to protect against tanks rolling into Texas and Tallahassee. But it is far past the time for all good men to come to the aid of their respective parties and governments, and join the fight to save our political system. 

o    

o    

 

More on " Don't say gay" bill

 The Florida State Legislature

is considering the " Don't say gay" bill, which would ban discussion of LGBTQ issues I.    So, now that we have opened the door to closing the door

on the discussion of controversial topics in the classroom , like being gay, and are now even discussing banning and burning certain books whose philosophical underpinnings do not match with our newfound American Puritanism, I have a great idea. Let's ban all teaching about and discussion of the Crusades. You have to agree that even 900 years later, the Crusades and the idea they stood for , among others, driving out the infidels, is still very much alive in mid twenty first century America. 

     Knights in shining armor have been replaced by such groups as " The Proud boys", and " The oath keepers".  The spear and shield have been replaced by tiki torches and flagpoles, but the idea of the use of force to trample upon the ideology of their perceived foes is every bit as intense. They learned it from the Crusades. Maybe it is best to pretend they never happened, or to ignore them in spite of their being factually something that did actually occur. They were not the fantasies of some narcissistic unbridled authoritarian style leader. They were real. All the better reason to ignore them. 

     The Crusades were sanctioned by the pope, and Crusaders who fell in battle were officially declared to be saints in heaven. All the sins of a Crusader were extinguished upon death. They lasted for almost four hundred years , from the tenth to the fourteenth century, and did result in the temporary rescue of Jerusalem from the Muslim infidels in 1099. The Muslim forces regained control by the late 13th century, and the Crusaders turned their eyes on Moorish Spain, and Eastern Europe and Jewish communities from the diaspora. There was always some group to condemn, hate, and to try to extinguish. The Crusader's cry was " God wills it!"

     Hmmmm. Sound familiar? The whole notion that God is on the side of one religious group vs. another, is a theme that has been adopted by modern day crusaders against such things as abortion and immigration. 

     It would take tons of white out to erase the Crusades from our history books, but the effort would be worth it. Imagine a world devoid of partisan religious zealotry? Who would there be to fight against? Race would remain as a dividing line. So too might political tribalism, but if we took religion off the table, there would be a major drop in radical contention. So , let's ignore the Crusades. Let's snuff them out of the classroom, and banish discussion of the conquering spirit of religious zealotry. 

    Next, we could maybe ban any discussion of Hitler, and World War II. What's to learn from studying Nazism, anyway? And then wipe out the story of our westward expansion as a nation, the Wild Wild West, and the massacres of native Americans whose hearts were buried at Wounded Knee. 

After all, we made it up to them. Casino franchises did the trick. 

     Come to think of it, maybe we would be better off by just burning all of the history books en masse. What good is an understanding of history anyway. It takes away your freedom to repeat mistakes of the past. Maybe, just maybe, ignorance would bring bliss. And then, maybe not. But attacking the most attackable, most vulnerable of our constituencies, like " the gays", is at least a starting point. So Florida Governor Ron DeSantis , there's your platform Gov. DeSantis , for advancement. Grab this new bull by the horn of attacking the weakest, and who knows, you too might find your way to 1600 Pennsylvania Ave.  We once thought that impossible for such advocates but recent history teaches us that is not the case. Oops! There we go with history again. I'd better stop while I'm behind. 

Don't approve " Don't say gay bill

 There is an elephant in the room, literally. 

    Or perhaps it would be better to say that there is an elephant in the state legislative chamber in Tallahassee,  and this elephant has his foot poised to stamp out any discussion of human sexuality in the classroom that invokes homosexuality. It is literally dragging scarlet letters out of the closet, so that those who would help educate our students about the range of human sexuality will be labeled, and barred from doing so. 

    I recently relocated to Florida from Upstate , New York, and changed from a snowbird to full time Florida resident. Since I have spent my lifetime in state and local politics, I am acquainting myself with Florida's political situation. And first, I must say, this is far, far from being NY, politically. 

When I first moved here in 2021, I actually praised Governor DeSantis for prioritizing the vaccination of those over 65 ( of which I am one) , while at the time, the Governor of New York was espousing other priorities . I even said, publicly , that DeSantis was right and Cuomo was wrong. Since I am a former Co- Chair of the NYS Democratic Party, the NY post newspaper took note of it , and ran a front page headline entitled " Take this jab and shove it!" (https://nypost.com/2021/01/17/former-nys-dem-party-head-gets-vaccinated-in-florida/) 

     Since then, however, Gov. DeSantis seems to have reversed polarity on the vaccination issue, and embraced a number of other positions which appeal to the far right of his party. The most recent example of this political metamorphosis is a new Legislative Act intended to ban  the discussion of LGBTQ issues in the classroom . It has been called " The Florida Parental Rights in Education bill, also known as the “Don’t Say Gay” bill. It's premise seems to be that if we just ignore it,  the issue of gay equal rights will somehow just disappear. Prohibiting the discussion or even mention of such matters in the classroom is seen as preserving parental rights in discussing or not discussing such matters. 

Maybe ignoring it will make it go away!

     Well, frankly, this is one of the scariest things I have ever heard a state legislative body to be considering. I can see an errant school board here and there, getting into the issue, but a statewide legislative body? Lord help us. And as the old saying goes, " The Lord helps those who help themselves", so I think it is important to take up the cause against this bill, it's genesis and sponsors. That is what I. Will endeavor to do to unmask the profound stupidity of such a proposal. This letter is the first step in that process. More, much more, to come

Control

Control

“We are out of control and spinning toward the bottom”, quipped one political observer recently. The pandemic is out of control because of our inability to require vaccinations and mask wearing when appropriate. We have adopted a mish- mash of regulations and non regulations that have only served to confuse the situation, and the non vaccinated are dying by the thousands. 

     Our extreme weather events have grown much more frequent due to global warming.  Crime and gun violence is rampant in our major cities,. Our foreign policy seems to be equally at odds with our aims . Our withdrawal from Afghanistan, while welcome, was messy and mercurial, leaving many, including our friends and supporters in the lurch. So where do we go from here? And how do we get there? 

     In unity there is strength. But we have to find that unity to enhance our strength. How do we do that? Embrace truth . Acknowledge the facts, and go from there. While that should be simple, it is unfortunately quite complicated . Upwards of a third of our citizenry have bought into the “ Big Lie”. Our former President continues to invent and foment various versions of the “ I didn’t lose the election. It was stolen from me “ theme. His Republican colleagues have been complicit in perpetuating “ The Big lie” by not calling him out on it, and they all know better. Nearly 100 different judges, many of them Republican, have ruled that there was no massive fraud in the election, as  Trump contends. And a recent memo uncovered by the NY Times shows that his own campaign staff had debunked those claims, even as Rudy Guiliani and others continued to publicly proclaim

 What Trump’s staff knew was a lie. That kind of bold mendacity should be a disqualifying factor by any standard.  There comes a time when truth matters and that time has long since passed.

     The major purveyor is disinformation on the question of the validity of the 2020 election has been Fox News, which is owned by Australian billionaire Rupert Murdoch. If Murdoch were to stand up for truth instead of profit, we could all move forward in a major way. Perhaps a boycott of all things Murdoch is in order . Hitting him in the pocketbook would probably be more effective than hitting him on the head. Advertisers could pull their ads from Fox News and the Wall St. Journal, for starters. Subscriptions to the Wall St. Journal could be cancelled, and TV’s showing Fox News in the gym and other places could be switched to another channel. 

Rupert Murdoch’s insinuation of himself into our governmental process with his kind of hand crafted news has been insidious, and needs to stop. We need to recover and uncover the truth, and then we can unify and move forward. In the end, it is the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth which shall set us free. 

Truth is Truth.

Truth is truth

Facts are facts.

Fiction is fiction, and lies are lies. 

     The challenge facing any democracy is separating truth from fiction and facts from falsity. It is not always easy to do that, but a careful analysis and comparison of facts will ultimately lead you to the right conclusion. 

     It is snowing in Upstate NY. Binghamton has over forty inches of the fluffy white stuff. You can measure it. You can see it. Those are provable truths.

     It is not snowing in St. Petersburg, Fla. there is no white stuff on the ground. You can’t see it. You can reasonably conclude that it is true that there is no snow in Florida.

    But what if I told you that it was freezing in Florida, and snow on the  ground was over two feet. Would you believe me? What if I told you to go on Facebook if you don’t believe me, and you did, and found lots of Facebook postings saying that the weathermen on TV were broadcasting fake news, and denying there was snow, when there was really over two feet of it in the ground?What  if I just kept repeating that it is snowing in Florida. It is snowing in Florida, ad nauseum. Would you then believe me? 

     Well, the comparison to our election process and fake weather forecasters is actually applicable.  The President is still claiming major election fraud. Despite all of the investigations and recounts that found none. Despite such claims being rejected by over 50 Judges of both parties that there are no facts to back up that claim, some still truly believe.  Donald Trump wants you to believe in him,  and not the facts. That is what all autocratic leaders seek, to be the fountain of all “ truth”. He apparently believes electoral fraud himself, not based on any observable fact, but based on what lots of folks on Facebook  and Twitter are saying, or re-tweeting and re-posting. 

     In those circumstances, you would think that ferreting out the truth would be a “ no brainer”, but, alas, that is not the case.

     As many as three quarters of the electorate who call themselves Republicans are believing the election fraud hoax. It is an Alice in wonderland, up is down and down is up situation. But, it is what it is. 

     How do we break free from such profound preverication?

We trust, but verify. It is what every “ Doubting Thomas” should do. We take Christ up on his post resurrection offer to see and touch his wounds, so we can verify what St. Thomas did not. 

     Just to reassure everyone, it really is snowing in Upstate NY, and it is not snowing in Florida. That is a non-equivocal, provable fact.  Trust me. If not, tune out Fox, CNN and MSNBC, and tune in the weather channel instead. They always tell it like it is. And they have actual video too.

The Senate as Jury?

Over the course of my forty plus year legal career I have questioned and empaneled several dozen juries . The process is called the 

“ Voir dire”, which is a French term that literally translates “ to speak the truth”. I have entreated many hundreds of prospective jurors to do just that, tell me the truth during the course of the interview, as that saves everybody considerable time and effort.  I would ask “If there is any reason that you as a potential juror would have a disqualifying bias that would make you unsuited to be a juror in the particular case you are “being asked to decide, just tell me, and you can be excused”.      

     I would also exhort potential jurors to leave the “baggage of their life “ at the courthouse door. By that, I would explain that we all carry with us everyday the “baggage of our lives”, which is the totality of our experiences which tilt us one way or another when dealing with any particular issue. We are not always Conscious of the bags we carry with us. It is this pre-conceived notion, or bias, that I would ask jurors to shed or check , as they embarked on their duty as fair and “ impartial” jurors.  

      Not everyone is able to render a fair and impartial verdict in every case. There are often certain life experiences which prejudice us from making a fair and dispassionate analysis of the facts of a particular case. Before embarking on their duty as a juror , a jury candidate must even take an oath to render a fair and impartial verdict. The oath of a juror is to decide the case upon the evidence produced at trial, and not on the basis of extraneous information gleaned from other sources. 

An example of a juror’s oath would be

that they will "well and truly try the matters in issue and a true verdict render according to the evidence and the law." 

That is how a jury trial is set up. The objective is to ferret out the truth, and to render justice. 

     An 

impeachment proceeding is a little different, but the objective of ferreting out the truth remains. There 

Is ultimately no Republican or Democratic version of the truth. There is only truth, and in finding the truth, facts matter. 

     The senators are required to take an oath before proceeding to try the President on any articles of I,peachment proffered them by the House of Representatives..

“The Senate shall have the sole Power to try all Impeachments. When sitting for that Purpose, they shall be on Oath or Affirmation. When the President of the United States is tried, the Chief Justice shall preside: And no Person shall be convicted without the Concurrence of two thirds of the Members present.”

ARTICLE I, SECTION 3, CLAUSE 6

     So, the Senators, under law, are required to render a fair and impartial verdict pursuant to their oath. It is not unlike the requirement of jurors in any other court case.  There are Those who say that impeachment is simply a political process 

 They are wrong. It is a quasi-judicial process, requiring Senators to vote to convict or acquit based upon the facts presented to them, and upon their oaths taken.

     In the final analysis, it matters not what the commentators on Fox News or CNN or MSNBC say. Nor what the majority or minority party partisans say. It is what the Senators say, under oath. That is their verdict. Nothing more. Nothing less. Let’s try to keep this in mind as we proceed down this road. 

Civics lessons do matter. Constitutional requirements matter as well, and justice demands that the process be strictly adhered to. 

Duck Duck Goose !

Reverse Conspiracy Theory

Our current President came to political prominence by espousing the convoluted conspiracy theory that President Barack Obama was born in Kenya, and thus was not eligible to serve as President. He went to great lengths to investigate this supposed conspiracy to cover up the President’s real birthplace, including alleging the complicity of state officials in fabricating a phony birth certificate, and in the process, was able to convince between a quarter to a third of the American population that he was onto something. When that theory no longer served his purpose, he dropped it like a hot potato, and simply went on to campaign, successfully, for the prize of the Oval Office itself.
     Fast forward three years, and we now have a kind of reverse conspiracy theory developing that this same man, Donald J. Trump, may be acting as an agent of or stalking horse for our chief geopolitical enemy, Russia, and its leader, Vladimir Putin. Is that theory in any way believable? Is there any empirical evidence that exists that would make sane people seriously entertain the notion? The answer , clearly, is yes. And you don’t have to be a crazed conspiratorialist to believe it. His answer to the charge? “I never worked for Russia. This whole Russian thing is a big fat hoax!” We might eventually expect him to add, “ I am not a crook either.”
     Meanwhile, let’s examine the facts underlying this theory. First, all of our intelligence agencies have concluded that Russia attempted to interfere in the 2016 election in furtherance of Trump’s candidacy in a myriad of ways. Trump pays lip device to the conclusion of those agencies, and chooses to defer to Putin’s denial instead. Second, in meeting between Trump and Putin, the number of participants has been limited, and even the notes of a translator were personally impounded by the President so that there is no clear record of what promises were made and what was discussed. This is a total abrogation of normal procedure. Why would anyone go to such lengths to obscure what was said between two heads of state unless they were trying to conceal something.?
      Third, why would the President defer to Russia on Syria, defend Russia’s original invasion of Afghanistan, and back off on criticism of Russia’s conduct toward the Ukraine?
     Why would he criticize everyone else, make up names to label many other world leaders , but as to Putin, only be effusive in his praise of his strong leadership?
Why would this President undermine NATO and many of our longest standing allies?
And what about that “dossier”? . Does Putin hold compromising evidence over Trump’s head? Also, why would he totally disrupt the ordinary processes of the American government , sowing further seeds of discord and discontent and undermining our democratic institutions?  Why would he persistently criticize our rule of law by  undermining the credibility of our courts, the FBI, and the Justice Department?
     This fact pattern impregnates the conspiratorial theorists , and as the old saying goes, “ If it walks like a duck, quacks like a duck, and acts like a  duck , it may well be a duck. The degree of quacking here has become so cacophonous  that only the deaf can ignore it, and only the blind can fail to see  the various connections . Perhaps when it comes to Conspiracy theories and Mr. Trump , what’s good for the goose is  good for the gander as well.

Nancy Pelosi

I like Nancy Pelosi. I really do. I think she has been a shrewd and able leader for the Democratic Party in the House. That said, there is a time for everything, as the old saying goes, and in politics, timing is critical. The Democratic Party is poised to take back control of the House of Representatives this fall. Whether it will be a blue wave, or a blue Tsunami, is the question. It is tempting for any politician to ride that wave, especially when you have worked so hard to produce it. But in politics, as in life, not everything is fair. It is time for Nancy Pelosi to retire from her leadership post, and allow a new generation of leaders to come forward. 

     Democrats owe her a great debt of gratitude, and would owe her even more if she were to put her personal predilections aside, and do what is in the best interest of her party and the country, and step aside. She has had a pretty good run, but she is now creating a vulnerability for some candidates in districts that are majority Republican, but could still be won over. As long as she remains, her leadership will be weaponized by the Republicans, and repeatedly used to “discredit” Democratic candidates as alleged “Tools” of her agenda. That is a falsehood, plain and simple, but falsehoods sell, particularly in this era when we have a demagogic Falsehood-in-Chiefer at the helm in the White House. We need to avoid that plague. And it is time to turn the page in any event. 

     I have often quoted that great “political philosopher” “ Kenny Rogers, who sang, “ You’ve got to know when to hold ‘em. Know when to fold ‘em. Know when to walk away. And know when to run”.  Now is the time for Nancy Pelosi to take a gracious bow, and exit stage left. 

Trust but Verify

“Trust, but verify”, is the old Russian proverb that Ronald Reagan was so fond of quoting. It is a principle that his fellow Republicans might consider applying to their own President, when it comes to his dealings with the Russian dictator Vladimir Putin. 

     In a break with any and all precedent, Donald Trump chose to meet with Putin, one one one, for several hours, and the American people, let alone some of Trump’s top advisers, are still in the dark about what was discussed, what promises were made, or what skullduggery was mutually considered. We got a slight hint of what that might be when Trump gleefully hailed Putin’s “generous offer” to allow our investigators to speak to his 12 indicted military intelligence officials., but only in exchange for Trump coughing up our former Ambassador to Russia , Michael McFaul for questioning in Russia. Trump disavowed this great idea a few days later, but now he is set to meet with Trump again, in 

the White House, to the surprise and chagrin of his Director of National Intelligence, Dan Coats. It is therefore reasonable to question what’s going on here. Republicans can choose to trust Trump, but the American people are entitled to verify his bona fides, and reasons for such coziness with such a formidable US antagonist. At minimum, that could be done by Trump revealing his tax returns to “ verify” his claims that he has nothing to do with Russia. And that’s an important first step toward transparency. His continued refusal to do so only suggests that he does indeed have something to hide. 

   What could that be? Could it be that much of Trump’s funding for his many projects came from Russia related sources? Could it be that he owes a great debt of gratitude and money To Russians? Could that explain his reluctance to personally criticize Putin in any way ? Could it be that Trump is putting his own personal interests in front of the interests of the American people? That is worth verifying. 

FLEAS

My father always said, “When you lay down with dogs, you get up with fleas.” There is solid truth in that old aphorism. It was visibly on display last night when Fox News Sean Hannity showed just how flea infested he has become, by orchestrating a program with other flea invested Trump cronies, to smear, denigrate, and tarnish the reputation of honorable men like Bob Mueller, Rod Rosenstein, and James Comey, and their professional associates who have stood up for the rule of law against a lecherous, lurid, and lame chief executive who will stop at nothing in his quest to pay off those who have dirt on him, silence his critics, and continue his unbridled narcissistic reign of shame.
I am sure the FBI agents who conducted the lawfully authorized raid on Mr. Trump’s lawyer/fixer/crony were not thrilled to be there to dig into the morass of misdeeds and misrepresentation that follow this President. Who wants to have to investigate the claims of salacious conduct by porn stars, playboy bunnies, and N.Y. doormen?
FBI agents are an honorable lot. They put the law and the country above themselves. They investigate crimes. They keep us safe. They are there for all of us in our time of need. They do not deserve to be trashed by tabloid tv hosts and sullied by soiled politicians like Newt Gingrich. They are men of honor who serve this country with dedication and distinction.
They are heroes who history will look kindly upon , once this band of two bit boorish bandits find their rightful place in the dustbin of history.
The “Mueller crime family” diagrams used by Mr. Hannity to tar and feather law enforcement personnel are tools being used by fools to protect against the revelation of their own perfidy. They label others for behavior that they themselves engage in. They are projecting. They are pretending to be patriots.
They are as phony as three dollar bills, and unworthy of serious consideration. They are the sideshows in a circus carnival being manipulated by an unprincipled and desperate ringmaster, whose ignominious demise awaits him. Sooner, hopefully rather than later, the truth shall set us all free.

The bottomless pit

The bottomless pit

“When you’re in a hole, stop digging!”, as the old saying goes. That sounds simple enough. It might even work, unless we are in a multiplicity of holes, and digging furtively to deepen each of those holes, to the point where the holes converge and we discover that we are not only in several holes, we are sliding down into a bottomless pit.

      That appears to be the case some 400 plus days into the ersatz Presidency of Donald J. Trump. I say ersatz Presidency because hope as we may have from January 20th 2016 going forward, that a real President and Presidency would somehow emerge, we are now beginning to realize that that is not about to happen. Not now, not ever. 

     Behaving as other Presidents have, is simply not in Mr. Trump’s DNA. He is just not wired for conventionality. He thrives on chaos and confrontation, then personally ducks it’s consequences . He resorts to his twitter account to fire people. He doesn’t deliver the news personally. If you don’t believe me, just ask HR McMaster. He was sitting only 100 feet away from Trump when he got the phone call that he was done. At least he got a phone call, which was then confirmed by a tweet. 

    The list of those hired and fired is several pages long. It has grown from platoon to company to battalion sized in little over a year. Who’s on first?. What’s on second, and I don’t know is on third. And the dervish continues to whirl, spinning nearly out of control. 

    It’s not just the” You’re fired!” reality tv show we are enveloped in. We are knee deep in sexual scandal and denial. We are mired in the muck of mediocrity and malfeasance when it comes to many of the cabinet heads. We are antagonizing our friends and mollycoddling our enemies. The overarching question is why has the President given everyone a nickname except Vladimir Putin. Why, we ask, is that? This President and his family are profiteering from the Presidency and violating the emoluments clause in aces and spades. 

Add to that, we have started a tariff war that may end up tanking the stock market and raising the falling prices at Walmart. And a constitutional crisis looms over the role of the special prosecutor who is charged with finding the bottom to this pit. 

We do indeed need to get to the bottom of all of this, but sadly, there appears to be no bottom to get to. 

    So if there is no bottom to the pit of this Presidency, where does the buck stop ? On whose desk lies the final denouement? 

     The answer seems obvious: Congress. But they too seem incapable of stopping their slide into the same bottomless pit. 

     So where does the buck finally end up? On the desks of the American people. We alone can solve this problem. And we can do it in November of this year. There is a way if we have the will. The ballot box is the key. If we can last that long. God save the people who can save the Republic. 

Okeefenokee on Steroids

So let me get something straight. Trump, during the campaign, and even now, enjoys riling up his audiences to cheer “ Lock her up!” about Hilary Clinton. Why lock her up? Because she allegedly was careless about possible security breaches in her e mails, and may have withheld certain relevant e mails from release which would constitute further evidence of the alleged cavalier manner in which she dealt with top secret information. Ok. Got that.

Fast forward to Jan 20, 2017 until now. The President’s son in law, who does not have the requisite security clearance to handle highly classified information, and never will, according to top Trump security officials, has been allowed on a daily basis to read the top secret daily briefing for his father in law, who WH aides claim, does not bother to read it for himself. Kushner, has also been caught by US Intelligence talking up his private business interests with high officials of the Chinese government, and failing to disclose those meetings. 

   He is viewed as highly susceptible to blackmail, as was the  dismissed and now criminally indicted and convicted felon, WH Security Adviser,  Gen. Mike Flynn. 

     Kushner is still there. He is still in the West Wing. Apparently he has been reduced to reading the comic sections of local newspapers, which is ok, because he doesn’t get paid a salary, and he is married to the President’s daughter, and is a “good boy”. 

Ok. Now , who should be chanting lock who up? The temerity, brazen bold faced double standard of the current occupant of the White House could not be more shamefully in display. The swamp he claimed he would drain has become the Okeefenokee on steroids. And the Republicans remain silent. 

NRA

We are not safe. We are not united. We are not indivisible, and we are not capable of forming a more perfect union.
That is the sad state of our reality in 2018. It has taken us nearly twenty years to get to this state of craven insularity. Until 2004, assault style weapons like AR 25 rifles were illegal to buy, Illegal to own, and illegal to possess. No more. The NRA and its lobbying arm has seen to it that the second amendment is unbridled, unlimited, and unchecked. We have become a nation of the people, for the munitions industry, and without defense against the crazed Gunman. It didn’t have to come to this.
Most Americans who respect the second amendment rights of their fellow citizens to keep and bear arms, do not oppose reasonable regulations, such as background checks , before obtaining a firearm. There are some people who should not be allowed within ten feet of such powerful weapons. Finding them, and restricting the otherwise unbridled right to keep and bear arms is a challenge, but it is a challenge we can meet if allowed to do so. When even the mention of restrictions on firearms raises the ire of a powerful and well financed group such as the NRA, we need to find a way to meet and overcome the opposition. The united display of pain by the victims of this latest mass casualty might be just such a key. They are not babies. They can and do speak clearly, and eloquently, and their voices are being heard. They might just make an actual difference.
We need more than voices, however. We need money. Lots of it, to mount an effective and coordinated campaign against those who would otherwise be inclined to do the bidding of the NRA. We need to make them do the bidding of the American people, and failing that, we need to roust them out of office, and replace them with fair minded and reasonable legislators who are not bought, lock , stock and literally barrel, by the sinister forces of the munitions industry and their sympathizers.
Can this be done? Yes. Will it be done? That is the question of the hour. All things are possible if we remain true to purpose. It will require lots more than thoughts and prayers. It will require focus, fortitude and funding. Now, where to send a check?

Regular order

As Sen. John McCain says, “ We need to get back to regular order.”

Indeed there is much wisdom in that admonition.

     The way government is supposed to work is when we identify a problem, we analyze the cause. And then try to fashion a reasonable remedy to address that problem. Unless , of course, that problem is massive carnage caused by our loose regulation of high powered guns and ammunition. In that case, we are told not to “politicize” the issue, and to simply pray instead. 

    I don’t disagree that prayer is powerful, and needed, but so is sensible gun registration and regulation. Our Legislative bodies are told by the NRA that any regulation is unacceptable, so Congress refuses to go there. That is far from “regular order”, and it is lamentable, because it makes us incapable of addressing a major issue, to wit: the proliferation of massive gun violence which is unique to our country. No other country is experiencing such gun related carnage. Clearly, they have problems created by terrorists with explosive devices and weaponized vehicles, but not from the guns which bedevil us. 

   Is it not time to try to draw new lines in the sand when a crazed wealthy gunman can shoot nearly 500 people like fish in a barrel out of a hotel window with legally obtained weaponry by the dozens, that may face been illegally modified? Their only sin was enjoying a country music concert, which , in America, we should be free to do without risking our lives. 

     Are we to simply observe a moment of silence, pray, and  and go about our lives as powerless eunuchs who cannot use “regular order” and common sense to do something about it? I think not. We have to take on the gun lobby to take back our country and restore sanity and “ regular order”. If we fail to do so, we have only ourselves to blame. 

I am every bit as much a yankee doodle dandyish guy as anyone, and I always love to wave the flag on the Fourth of July , and any other patriotic occasion. I get a lump in my throat when I hear the star spangled banner being sung at the beginning of sports events , and my eyes mist up when Kate Smith sings God bless America during the 7th inning stretch. 

    This year, however, I have been getting a sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach when I read tweets from the current occupant of the Oval Office which are inconsistent with our democratic values, and contemptuous of a free press and the First Amendment. His conduct is not just unseemly, it is downright un-American. I will still wave the flag on the Fourth, but my unabashed enthusiasm for the expression of my patriotism is tempered somewhat by the reality of the intemperate conduct of our current President. 

He does not make us proud to be an American . He makes us embarrassed by the reality of his juvenile tit for tat reaction, which is not only Un-Presidential, but Un-Christian as well. There is no  turning of the other cheek here. 

it's all about striking back at your enemies.

      I believe it was Richard Nixon who , at the end of his Presidency, famously said, 

" Always remember others may hate you but those who hate you don't win unless you hate them. And then you destroy yourself.".

So hate not America. Love what is best about our country. And navigate around our current President. The best thing that could happen is that we simply pay him no heed. 

    May God continue to bless America in spite of it all. 

39 states had their electoral databases hacked by Russian spies. That is a fact. The Attorney General has not been briefed on this? The President met 9 times with the head of the FBI, and never asked about the "Russian thing", and is photographed laughing and joking with Russians the day after he fires the FBI head, and only Russian photographers were let in to film that moment. Huh?
     I know. It strains credulity. But so does that Dear Leader cabinet meeting. And to think the President was thrilled by it and furious at those who mocked and criticized it. Unfortunately his world has become our world, and we are all upside down as a result. And the blind partisanship of the "see no evil Republicans" is Trumping our constitutional democracy. A sad state of affairs indeed.

Chicken Little Republicans

Chicken Little Republicans

The sky is falling! The sky is falling! So says a chorus of Republican Congressmen, convincingly. The problem is that the evidence for that claim is wholly unconvincing, and simply does not support that conclusion. Unless there is further sabotage to the health care program now known as Obamacare, the system will survive. It would even thrive with a few fixes and tweaks. Instead, the Republicans have figuratively hired dozens of crop dusting planes to seed the skies to produce as much rain as they can in the hope that the resulting torrential downpour will wash away what's left of the program. Political prognosticators always need a reliable bogeyman to rail against so as to advance their agenda. So, " Obamacare" became the bogeyman. 

     The real agenda? Cutting Medicaid by $880 billion in order to fund tax cuts for the top one  percent of our citizens. The stage has now been set for Republican tax reform plans. What? All of the rhetoric aside, the plan which takes away health care coverage for the poor, the elderly, and the disabled rewards the rich and punishes the poor. There is not enough lipstick in an Estée Lauder warehouse to cover up the fact that they are offering us an ugly pig. Repeal and replace has been a Republican hoax all along. They believe in repeal, but they have no sensible program to replace it. 

     The fact that the Republican House members were able to join ranks to finally pass something does not mean that that "something" is worth anything. The end zone victory celebration was a bit premature. They were cheering a half-time comeback, but the game is far from over, and one interception , spectacular as it may have been, does not a victory make. 

     The saddest part of this whole saga is the loss of integrity and credibility of moderate House members, many of whom reside in NY, and who have let their party loyalty trump their common sense. Seven of the nine New York Republican Congressmen voted for the bill. Dan Donovan of Staten Island and John Katko of Central New York were the only profiles in Republican courage. North Country Congresswoman Elise Stefanik offered a pitifully unconvincing rationale for her vote, and Congressman John Faso of the Hudson Valley reversed polarity on a direct promise to one of his constituents with a brain tumor after personally hugging her and telling her he would never vote to change the pre-existing condition exemption in the current law. They are two Congresspersons who should be given the bums rush for their timidity, insincerity and inability to stand up for their constituents against  their own party's leadership demands. 

     Simply put, they caved. They put Party above people, and that is not acceptable, in fact, it is contemptible. There are no winners here to be cheered. The Congressional win is only temporary. There is a Senate to contend with, and if these congresspersons attempt to further excuse their votes by saying they were relying on the Senate to fix what they had ineffectively crafted and passed, that is even worse. What happened when Mr. Smith got to Washington? Jimmy Stewart died. So did his fighting Congressional spirit. It has been replaced by political operatives who do the bidding of those special interests that fund their campaigns, and the average citizen be damned. Sad, but true. 

Abe Lincoln and the Affordable Health care Act

"When I find myself in times of trouble , Mother Mary comes to me, speaking words of wisdom, Let it be, Let it be." Those are wise lyrics penned by Paul McCartney. It never hurts to pause and pray, and with the Republican Congress passing the repeal of the Affordable care act, it is time for contemplation and prayer. Pray for the Senate to see the light. Pray for the electorate to see through the pious platitudes of those representatives who assured their constituents they would not lose under this new Health care bill, knowing full well that that was not true, and pray for our President that he will be hoisted upon the petard of his own insincerity by the constituents who voted for him but could now be the biggest losers if the bill he supported becomes law. 

   Sometimes it takes radical action to awaken the public to what could really happen, and it is my sense that this "victory" for Ryan and Trump will be the rope from which the noose is fashioned , and from which they will all eventually be hung. 

     The irony here is that Trump's voters will finally come to realize that they have been had. They have been sold a bill of goods that will not materialize. Coal is not coming back. Building huge walls while letting our bridges crumble is not the answer, and squeezing those with meager resources to enhance the fortunes of those who already live in a world of plenty is doomed to fail, eventually. Whether this is the event that will turn the light bulbs on in those living in dimly lit quarters, only time will tell. But, the photographic evidence of a group of older white mostly millionaire men cheering their victory in the rose garden may finally galvanize voters as never before. It looked like a smug frat boy reunion, or a gala grand opening for a Trump golf course. In my view, the radical right wing's attempt to 

repeal " Obamacare" will not succeed, in large part because what they are replacing it with is a much more inferior product. Ultimately,  those who have shown their true colors will be shown the door., and given an unceremonious heave ho. "Na Na Na Na, Na Na Na Na, hey hey hey...goodbye!" And don't let the door hit you in the derrière on the way out. 

     And to my fellow Democrats, a word of advice: Keep your sunny side up. It may get a little worse before it gets better, but 2018 will soon be here. Stay alert. Remain vigilant. And don't let anyone forget what just happened. And remember those immortal words of the greatest Republican President ever: “You can fool all the people some of the time, and some of the people all the time, but you cannot fool all the people all the time”. Abraham Lincoln

Re-building or Re-Making the Democratic Party

Whither thou goest Democratic Party? These are trying times for those who embrace the jackass label. The challenge is to step into the best of the traditions of the party of Jefferson and Jackson, a/k/a the party of the people , without becoming a caricature in the process. That may require some adept maneuvering which the new party leadership has not yet demonstrated. 

   The road show involving new Chair Tom Perez and almost standard bearer Bernie Sanders did not entirely inspire recently. Sanders was cheered , and Perez was booed. It was a shaky lift off at best. Many of Sen. Sanders supporters, predominately young, obviously still " Feel the Bern", but it is a tough task for him to transform that passion into one that will build the Democratic Party. Part of the problem is that Bernie himself confesses to being an independent, not a Democrat. That limits his credibility as a preacher for the party. Why join and support a party that he won't join, although he supports Its goals. There is something inherently flawed about that message. 

     And Tom Perez, for all of his Hispanic bona fides and Labor Cabinet Secretary credentials, has all of the charisma of a thin, raspy voiced, college economics professor . In short, he hasn't the looks and the charm of a Marco Rubio, or the passionate persuasiveness of a Ted Cruz type. I think the party needs a better spokesman, but even more importantly, it needs a. convincing message. Just railing against the idiocy of Donald Trump is not enough. 

     In my opinion, Mayor Pete Buttigieg of South Bend, Indiana, would have been a better choice. He is young, sincere, charismatic, a good speaker, and he has a message, both personal and political. The Democratic National Committee chose not to embrace the new, but clung instead to the old, and its slip is showing as a result. And the decision to continue Nancy Pelosi in the House as Democratic leader may have been  an appropriate recognition of her leadership skills, but it is still viewed by many as a throwback to the old guard, Hillary, etc.

   If the Democrats are serious about taking 

back the House in 2018, they have to provide some new leadership and a new message. Criticizing the "do nothing Republican Congress" will help, but something positive is needed. 

     Sending Vice-Chair Keith Ellison out on the hustings with Bernie Sandra was not much better than Perez, although at least he wasn't booed. We still need to do better. Enlisting grass roots elected officials like Mayors,  who have connectivity with their constituents is a good idea. Developing a concise pithy message is even more important. I always tried to explain the difference between the two parties this way to my college aged government students.: 

Republicans say, " I've got mine...go get your own", while Democrats say, "I've got mine, can I help you get yours?" Therein lies the difference in the approach of the two parties, in a nutshell. Back in the Clinton days, the message we were told to convey, as Surrogate Speaker's, was a three worded one: " Opportunity, Responsibility, Community." Ensure opportunity, promote responsibility and develop as a community. It worked out pretty well back then. 

   But today, we Democrats need a new slogan. Something that gets right to the heart of the matter. So , the slogan could be " Republicans have got theirs...Democrats will help you get yours...and keep it. " I think that works. What do you think? 

Acute case of Trumpitis?

Donald Trump makes me sick. Literally. I finally figured that out , but I am still looking for the cure. So far, it is elusive. I have been hospitalized twice since the Trump inauguration, first, with a very bad case of bronchitis, and then a couple of weeks later with a bad reaction to blood thinning medication which I have been taking for a newly diagnosed A Fib condition. Until now, I have had no problems with my heart. In fact,  I have been the picture of health. Granted,  I just turned seventy, and maybe some chickens have come home to roost, but I largely blame Trump for my current problems. 

   I am having a vey difficult time reconciling my long term respect for our institutions of government, and the utter joke it is now becoming under Trump. I taught high school social studies for several years, and in later years, American government courses at the college level, and always tried to instill in my students a basic respect for our values and our institutional set of checks and balances. But the current state of affairs  leaves me with a sick feeling in the pit of my stomach, and my search for a corrective bromide has been so far,  elusive. Every time I turn on the news, it only gets worse. Watching the cartoon channel can only go so far. The news has become like

 " This day in crazy...". I only wish I could summon the ostrich like properties of the Republican leadership in Congress, and stick my head in the sand with them, but there doesn't appear to be enough sand In the sandbox to cover the multitude of craziness with which we have been besieged since Donald Trump ascended what he appears to think is a throne. So Donald Trump being the cause of all my recent maladies is as plausible a theory as the one Trump ascribes to that his predecessor had his "wires tapped" and is a bad, nasty guy. 

   I was in a restaurant in Venice,  Florida the other night listening to an Irish piano bar singer who was quite entertaining. It was a welcome respite, until he ended the evening by passing out small American flags for the crowd to waive as he sang Lee Greenwood's " Proud to be an American". The lead waitress grabbed my hand and made me lead a conga line to a George M. Cohan medley of "it's a grand old flag". 

     Ordinarily, I am happy to engage in unabashed flag waving, but for some reason, I had very mixed feelings about this conga line and felt compelled to sit down after two rounds around the restaurant. I just don't feel like celebrating the current state of affairs, and the direction our new President has taken the country in. My flag is becoming unfurled, and that's not good. 

    I don't want to cheer on anti immigrant round ups and Mexican wall building, and I refuse to praise Vladimir Putin. I also think the press has a legitimate right to hold this or any administration accountable, and that our first amendment rights are sacrosanct. 

   So until sanity is somehow restored to our government, I am going to channel my inner Yankee Doodle Dandy in a different way. I am going to try to heal myself, and start by erecting a " Gardol" shield around my news consumption. Maybe I still can't flip the channel, but I can at least turn down the volume. Or even better, put on my headphones while I walk the treadmill  at the gym and listen to The Bee Gees " Stayin' alive!" Right now that appeals to me a lot more than Lee Greenwood.