As has often been said over the past two weeks or so, elections have consequences. By this time we all know - and have accepted the fact - that Donald Trump won the presidential election of 2016. Now that some time has slipped by, what does that really mean? What did the American electorate really say with their votes on election day (well... we know that the majority of voters - by more than 2.000.000 - selected Hillary, but we are beyond that now)? So, lets take a look using the 11/21/16 issue comparison that appeared in The Nation magazine's opening commentary.
1. Trump promised more tax cuts for the rich (and corporations, ed.) and deregulation. Clinton pledges tax hikes for the rich to invest in rebuilding America. Did the voters support tax cuts for the wealthy and oppose rebuilding America?
2. Trump said that he opposes raising the minimum wage; Clinton favors it. Are voters against increasing the minimum wage that would lift thousands of families out of poverty?
3. Trump thinks that global warming is a hoax invented by the Chinese; Clinton sees it as a clear and present danger. Do voters think that global warming is a hoax?
4. Trump has no clue about student debt; Clinton pledges debt-free public college. Do voters want their kids in deeper and deeper debt or priced right out of the opportunity to go to college?
5. Trump promises to build a wall and ship millions of migrants out of the country; Clinton wants comprehensive immigration reform that will bring the undocumented out of the shadows. Do voters want 11,000,000 people - men, women, and children - some here as much as 30 years, law-abiding and paying taxes - all rounded up in camps and shipped out of the country?
6. Trump wants Supreme Court judges that will protect the Second Amendment and repeal a woman's right to choose; Clinton wants justices that will overturn "Citizens United", curbing the role of secret corporate money in our elections. Do voters want "secret corporate bags of cash" influencing elections? Do voters want women to be compelled to carry a pregnancy to term that resulted from incest or rape or is a threat to the mother's health?
When we say that Trump "won" the election or carried this state or that state, are we saying that the American electorate supports guns, tax cuts for wealthy people and corporations, big debt for students, and "dark money" in politics? Do we really mean that the voters oppose increasing the minimum wage, oppose a woman's right to choose what happens to her own body, and wants 11,000,000 people shipped out of the country before the Great American Wall is built across our southern border? If so, I don't recognize those voters. I don't see them as Americans. Yet, it seems that is what they are saying with their feet and with their votes. And, what of those who did not vote - near 50% of the electorate. Does that mean that half of voting Americans really don't care about any of those issues or actions? I doubt that too.
So, what do those election results tell us? If it isn't a reflection on a choice between the issue positions taken by the candidates, then, what is it? Emails? Nationalism and isolationism? Sexism or gender discrimination? FBI announcements? Feelings of frustration and being "left behind, left out, and forgotten?" At this writing, I am not certain of the answers to these questions. What I am certain of is that, in spite of Republicans repeating the line that Trump "received a mandate" in the election, he certainly did not. He lost the popular vote by nearly three million votes, but won the electoral vote 306-232 with 270 required to win election - a mixed message and a narrow win among electors. A 37 vote turn-around would deny the presidency to the Donald - certainly not a "mandate." And, it would seem, in a similar vein,Trump's election as our next President is a mixed message sent by the voters as well. Just what they meant to say is still shrouded in mystery. I am sure it will be a topic of endless research and debate in the weeks ahead. So, join the fun and leave a comment. What do you think?
Tuesday, November 22, 2016
"THESE ARE THE TIMES THAT TRY MEN'S SOULS": VALLEY FORGE AND THE WINTER OF OUR DISCONTENT.
This famous Thomas Paine quote dating back to the American Revolution reflected the frustrations and disappointments experienced by colonial patriots when everything that they had witnessed suggested that the Revolution against King George was failing. Losses on the battlefield against the world's strongest military power in that day, feuding between the various colonies over the plans for the future, arguments between military leaders who questioned George Washington's skills as a military leader, and wintering over at Valley Forge Pennsylvania all added up to grim prospects for the future of the fight for independence. The fledgling Second Continental Congress, assembled in Philadelphia, abandoned that city as British General Howe and 15,000 troops captured the Rebel "capital" in the fall of 1777. Meeting in York, PA, Congress could not agree on how to pay for supplies, equipment, and pay for the army, barely surviving in nearby Valley Forge. This was indeed the low point of the American Revolution. The future of the United States teetered on the brink of collapse. And, to those "rebel" leaders who pledged "our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor" to the effort and had affixed their signatures to the "Declaration of Independence", it must have seemed that the hangman's noose was drawing near. Chaos. Despair.
Right now - 240 years after the Second Continental Congress was "removed" from Philadelphia and Washington's troops retreated to Valley Forge for a winter of recovery and re-grouping - progressives are at a similar crossroads. We have lost on every important battlefield in the election. We are feuding and arguing over who is at fault and what direction to take in the future. As Democrats, we question our choice of leadership - Hillary Clinton, and wonder where we lost our way. Right now are "wintering over" in this period between the election and the Inauguration of Donald Trump as the nation's 45th President, and conjuring up nightmares of the long, cold night that will begin on that day. And, while there will not be a "hangman" in our future, many will face painful changes in their lives which may include registries based on religious preference, mass deportation of immigrant families, including citizen-children born in this country, and continued disproportionate incarceration of Black and Latino citizens. Women rightly fear the loss of Roe v. Wade and control over their own bodies, diminished equality in the workplace, and a return to the days of "Mad Men." Working families, long frustrated with a lack of attention from the Beltway, are now voicing concern regarding a potential loss of health care, high cost of housing, continued low wages, and the lack of jobs. Students see no debt relief in sight and seniors are now worried about the future of Social Securing and Medicare as Republican Speaker Paul Ryan gleefully speaks about privatizing these systems and reducing benefits. And, minorities - Blacks, Latinos - and especially Muslims - have suffered a substantial increase of "hate" incidents across the country and fear that the forces of intolerance and racism have been unleashed during this campaign and have taken up residence in the White House with the appointment of Alt. Right leader Steve Bannon of Breitbart as "Chief Strategist and Senior Counselor" to the President.
As we winter over in this 2016-2017 Progressive/Liberal "Valley Forge", we can mourn. And, we can wallow in recriminations. We can argue over what might have been. We can cast blame on one another and point fingers at each other. Truth is - we should point the finger at ourselves and ask the question, what can we do to prepare to defend our democracy against the coming assault. How can we - together - resist the easy temptation to close up shop and stew in our own juices and, instead, get prepared for the fight ahead. As Hillary Clinton said in her first remarks delivered before a convention of the Children's Defense Fund the week after the election loss, she admonished her audience to continue their fight for the future saying, "because America is worth it. Our children are worth it. Believe in our country, fight for our values and never, never, ever give up...". Now is not the time to look back or to surrender to an uncertain future. Now is the time to take heart, to stand for our values, to talk truth to power, to speak out, rise up, and resist injustice wherever it may be found. Join a group. March for justice. Write a letter to your representatives - in city hall, at the state capital, in congress or to the president himself. As the winter at Valley Forge in 1777-1778 demonstrated, if we keep our resolve and commit to each other in defense of liberty, we can survive a terrible winter secure in the knowledge that we are all in this together and that the sun will rise and Spring will surely arrive. Instead of coming apart, we need to come together with a deepened resolve to freedom and equality for all.
Our democracy is resilient. But we need to be vigilant, committed to a better future, and willing to pledge our "fortunes and sacred honor" through supporting organizations that defend and advocate a progressive agenda and being personally ready to march for justice for all people. Valley Forge gave Washington's commanders the time to organize, train, and get ready for the coming battles. Let us use our "winter" to organize, train, and get ready to resist, to march, to peacefully demonstrate, and to engage in the fights ahead. In the end, we can... and we will... shape a better nation for our children and for their children.
Right now - 240 years after the Second Continental Congress was "removed" from Philadelphia and Washington's troops retreated to Valley Forge for a winter of recovery and re-grouping - progressives are at a similar crossroads. We have lost on every important battlefield in the election. We are feuding and arguing over who is at fault and what direction to take in the future. As Democrats, we question our choice of leadership - Hillary Clinton, and wonder where we lost our way. Right now are "wintering over" in this period between the election and the Inauguration of Donald Trump as the nation's 45th President, and conjuring up nightmares of the long, cold night that will begin on that day. And, while there will not be a "hangman" in our future, many will face painful changes in their lives which may include registries based on religious preference, mass deportation of immigrant families, including citizen-children born in this country, and continued disproportionate incarceration of Black and Latino citizens. Women rightly fear the loss of Roe v. Wade and control over their own bodies, diminished equality in the workplace, and a return to the days of "Mad Men." Working families, long frustrated with a lack of attention from the Beltway, are now voicing concern regarding a potential loss of health care, high cost of housing, continued low wages, and the lack of jobs. Students see no debt relief in sight and seniors are now worried about the future of Social Securing and Medicare as Republican Speaker Paul Ryan gleefully speaks about privatizing these systems and reducing benefits. And, minorities - Blacks, Latinos - and especially Muslims - have suffered a substantial increase of "hate" incidents across the country and fear that the forces of intolerance and racism have been unleashed during this campaign and have taken up residence in the White House with the appointment of Alt. Right leader Steve Bannon of Breitbart as "Chief Strategist and Senior Counselor" to the President.
As we winter over in this 2016-2017 Progressive/Liberal "Valley Forge", we can mourn. And, we can wallow in recriminations. We can argue over what might have been. We can cast blame on one another and point fingers at each other. Truth is - we should point the finger at ourselves and ask the question, what can we do to prepare to defend our democracy against the coming assault. How can we - together - resist the easy temptation to close up shop and stew in our own juices and, instead, get prepared for the fight ahead. As Hillary Clinton said in her first remarks delivered before a convention of the Children's Defense Fund the week after the election loss, she admonished her audience to continue their fight for the future saying, "because America is worth it. Our children are worth it. Believe in our country, fight for our values and never, never, ever give up...". Now is not the time to look back or to surrender to an uncertain future. Now is the time to take heart, to stand for our values, to talk truth to power, to speak out, rise up, and resist injustice wherever it may be found. Join a group. March for justice. Write a letter to your representatives - in city hall, at the state capital, in congress or to the president himself. As the winter at Valley Forge in 1777-1778 demonstrated, if we keep our resolve and commit to each other in defense of liberty, we can survive a terrible winter secure in the knowledge that we are all in this together and that the sun will rise and Spring will surely arrive. Instead of coming apart, we need to come together with a deepened resolve to freedom and equality for all.
Our democracy is resilient. But we need to be vigilant, committed to a better future, and willing to pledge our "fortunes and sacred honor" through supporting organizations that defend and advocate a progressive agenda and being personally ready to march for justice for all people. Valley Forge gave Washington's commanders the time to organize, train, and get ready for the coming battles. Let us use our "winter" to organize, train, and get ready to resist, to march, to peacefully demonstrate, and to engage in the fights ahead. In the end, we can... and we will... shape a better nation for our children and for their children.
JUST SAY "NO"!
Nancy Reagan led an anti-drug-use campaign 30 years ago with the slogan, "Just say no!" The inference was that someone tempted to use drugs (judged a bad thing), could simply avoid taking them altogether - it was easy! And, if enough young folks just said "no", then the problem of drug addiction would disappear. Today, dozens or marches opposing the Trump election have taken place across America chanting, "not my president." But, no amount of chanting, marching, sloganeering, sign-waving, and shouting will make President-Elect Trump go away. No matter how loud or frequent the chant - "not my president" - becomes, it's not like the Trumpworld show will be cancelled due to bad ratings. The time for active opposition crested on election day and the wave of opposition turned out not to be quite enough - we lost. Well... sort of. Hillary won the popular vote by more than a million votes but lost the electoral vote to Donald Trump (290 to 232) by losing virtually every "must-win" states on the board. Still, Donald Trump will take the oath of office on January 20th, 2017 at high noon as the nation's 45th President.
For those who were too busy to vote, and those who now march but didn't exercise their franchise on election day, and those who thought that Hillary would certainly win and didn't send in their absentee ballot, I feel for your loss. So, while you can feel the sting of disappointment, there is no denying that Donald Trump won the election. For better or worse, Trump is the president of ALL OF US. And, as such, he has the burden to govern. Does that mean that we have no right to stand up and be counted? That we should simply lay down and surrender? That we should abandon the battlements of policy, progressive issues, fairness, and equity for all Americans? Of course not. In fact, I have taken some steps to keep the drum beat going - and you can too. Letters to the editor in your local press and/or on social media, calling out the Trump machine on social media when they threaten the rights of yourself, your family, or others, opposing the Republicans in their mad dash to a conservative Supreme Court intent on a repeal of Roe v. Wade and protecting the role of big, dark money in campaigns. The US Constitution's First Amendment protects your right to free speech and "peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances."
The time for mourning is coming to a close. The time to organize, scrutinize, speak out, and resist has just begun...
For those who were too busy to vote, and those who now march but didn't exercise their franchise on election day, and those who thought that Hillary would certainly win and didn't send in their absentee ballot, I feel for your loss. So, while you can feel the sting of disappointment, there is no denying that Donald Trump won the election. For better or worse, Trump is the president of ALL OF US. And, as such, he has the burden to govern. Does that mean that we have no right to stand up and be counted? That we should simply lay down and surrender? That we should abandon the battlements of policy, progressive issues, fairness, and equity for all Americans? Of course not. In fact, I have taken some steps to keep the drum beat going - and you can too. Letters to the editor in your local press and/or on social media, calling out the Trump machine on social media when they threaten the rights of yourself, your family, or others, opposing the Republicans in their mad dash to a conservative Supreme Court intent on a repeal of Roe v. Wade and protecting the role of big, dark money in campaigns. The US Constitution's First Amendment protects your right to free speech and "peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances."
The time for mourning is coming to a close. The time to organize, scrutinize, speak out, and resist has just begun...
Thursday, November 10, 2016
IT'S A TRUMPWORLD AFTERALL..... AND, WHO IS THAT MAN BEHIND THE CURTIN?
Sorry for the delay in posting... I am just recovering from the shock of election night. Now, at E-Day plus 2 I am still numb.... and, having a difficult time envisioning a Trump presidency. With just 70+ days until the Donald is crowned as the leader of the free world, I think about what to do with the time left until that day arrives. Part of me wants to begin to pack up to head for somewhere else - say, Canada, or some Caribbean Island far off the beaten path.... And, the optimistic side of me sees the protest marches that took place across America last night (at E-Day plus 1), and I think that there is still hope and that I should stay around for the good fight in defense of our democracy. For me, this is still an open question.
I heard the very gracious concession speech delivered by Hillary yesterday - a true moment of calm in the face of the coming storm, and I heard the President deliver his transition cooperation statement as well. Both President Obama and Hillary Clinton were generous and uplifting. They conveyed just the right theme in a continuous thread in US history of the peaceful hand-over of power following a vigorous campaign and election process. To his credit, Donald Trump, now the President-elect, also delivered a reasonable victory speech, measured and conciliatory. This election, somewhat like the Gore/Bush election, ended in a split decision, with one candidate winning the majority of the popular vote and the other winning the presidency courtesy of the mechanics of the electoral vote. However, unlike Gore/Bush, the broader governmental picture reflects total Republican control of all of the levers of power in Washington with their control of the House, the Senate, the Presidency, and - soon to become - control of the US Supreme Court through Trump appointments to that body. What comes next will be quite the ride - or will it?
In the closing scene of the 1972 film, "The Candidate", Robert Redford's character, Bill McKay, after winning a narrow victory for a California US Senate seat, asks his campaign manager, "what do we do now?" In 2016, Trump might ask the very same question of his campaign staff. Or, the question might be, "who is that man behind the curtain?" Given that the Trump campaign had few specific policy positions or proposals and, insofar as the entire Trump ascendancy throughout the primaries and the general election was more a reflection of a populist, nationalistic, xenophobic, anti-trade- deals campaign and not a typical conservative orthodoxy of budget cuts, tax cuts (though there is that), decreasing the deficit, cutting social programs and privatizing Social Security to name a few. In fact, if the Trump "program" as alluded to during the campaign - replacing Obamacare with a better system, expanding and increasing Social Security and other social supports, a dramatic expansion of military and infrastructure spending, and building a multi-billion dollar southern border wall were to become his initial policy agenda, the traditional conservative Republicans in the Congress will have their hair on fire. And - just maybe - should that occur, a new coalition might be formed - between a mix of Republicans who recognize that the "old" Republican party policy prescriptions were eclipsed by Donald Trump and that the 2016 Trump Republican Party is a populist version of uplifting the downtrodden and abandoned working families who felt left behind by the Beltway, and a bunch of liberal Democrats who see a path for progress that had previously been blocked by the Tea Party and their allies.
Right now, Paul Ryan and his conservative allies are positioning themselves as though their slash and burn Tea Party agenda will sail through Congress and will be quickly signed by President Trump. Maybe they are right.... but, perhaps not. I guess that I will stick around to find out the answer to that question. After all, there is always Canada......
I heard the very gracious concession speech delivered by Hillary yesterday - a true moment of calm in the face of the coming storm, and I heard the President deliver his transition cooperation statement as well. Both President Obama and Hillary Clinton were generous and uplifting. They conveyed just the right theme in a continuous thread in US history of the peaceful hand-over of power following a vigorous campaign and election process. To his credit, Donald Trump, now the President-elect, also delivered a reasonable victory speech, measured and conciliatory. This election, somewhat like the Gore/Bush election, ended in a split decision, with one candidate winning the majority of the popular vote and the other winning the presidency courtesy of the mechanics of the electoral vote. However, unlike Gore/Bush, the broader governmental picture reflects total Republican control of all of the levers of power in Washington with their control of the House, the Senate, the Presidency, and - soon to become - control of the US Supreme Court through Trump appointments to that body. What comes next will be quite the ride - or will it?
In the closing scene of the 1972 film, "The Candidate", Robert Redford's character, Bill McKay, after winning a narrow victory for a California US Senate seat, asks his campaign manager, "what do we do now?" In 2016, Trump might ask the very same question of his campaign staff. Or, the question might be, "who is that man behind the curtain?" Given that the Trump campaign had few specific policy positions or proposals and, insofar as the entire Trump ascendancy throughout the primaries and the general election was more a reflection of a populist, nationalistic, xenophobic, anti-trade- deals campaign and not a typical conservative orthodoxy of budget cuts, tax cuts (though there is that), decreasing the deficit, cutting social programs and privatizing Social Security to name a few. In fact, if the Trump "program" as alluded to during the campaign - replacing Obamacare with a better system, expanding and increasing Social Security and other social supports, a dramatic expansion of military and infrastructure spending, and building a multi-billion dollar southern border wall were to become his initial policy agenda, the traditional conservative Republicans in the Congress will have their hair on fire. And - just maybe - should that occur, a new coalition might be formed - between a mix of Republicans who recognize that the "old" Republican party policy prescriptions were eclipsed by Donald Trump and that the 2016 Trump Republican Party is a populist version of uplifting the downtrodden and abandoned working families who felt left behind by the Beltway, and a bunch of liberal Democrats who see a path for progress that had previously been blocked by the Tea Party and their allies.
Right now, Paul Ryan and his conservative allies are positioning themselves as though their slash and burn Tea Party agenda will sail through Congress and will be quickly signed by President Trump. Maybe they are right.... but, perhaps not. I guess that I will stick around to find out the answer to that question. After all, there is always Canada......
Saturday, November 5, 2016
TRICK OR TWEET: THE GHOSTS, GOBLINS, AND GHOULIANIS OF ELECTION 2016
Every adult and child in the USA well knows the "creatures" of Halloween - Ghost and Goblins, witches and monsters, gargoyles and ghouls. Of course, there is always the traditional "trick or treat" door-to-door parades featuring costumed children and buckets of candy. For the most part, this annual pre-thanksgiving tradition on October 31st, launches the Month of November and announces the arrival of the winter season. 2016, with its deplorables, Russian hackers, and mean-spirits engaged in the presidential race, features our political set of "scary" folks. Perhaps the most frightening "ghouls" to be engaged this year is former NYC Mayor Rudy Giuliani (or Ghouliani). While Donald Trump has played "trick or tweet" all these many months, behind the scenes Rudy has been devolving into a paranoid psychotic spewing conspiracy theories from the alt.right and casting blame on Hillary Clinton including everything from the Big Bang forward. With an attitude, bearing, posturing, and threatening presence that was last seen in the person of Bela Lugosi in the original "Dracula", Giuliani (the Ghoul) has stalked Hillary on behalf of Donald Trump since the start of this year.
Just last week, in an appearing on FOX News, Ghouliani, responded to a question about the status of the Trump campaign, given that Hillary's polling was 7+ points ahead of the Donald. Rudy folded his arms and with a smug snarl on his face announced "don't worry, we have some surprises up our sleeve." When pressed to explain his comment, he declined saying simply, "in the next few days, wait and see." He was smiling, smug, self-satisfied, and confident that whatever was going to happen, would have a major impact on the election. Trick or Tweet?
Within a few days FBI Director Jim Comey sent a letter to several Congressional Committee Chairs containing three paragraphs informing the House Members that he had authorized a review of additional e-mails on the laptop of Anthony Weiner, estranged husband of top Clinton aide Huma Abedin. Although the letter did not allege any wrong-doing by anyone, but merely said that a review was in order, his announcement was like throwing a 5 gallon bucket of gasoline onto a dying ember. In fact, at the time of Comey's announcement, investigators had not seen one e-mail and could not say whether Hillary has sent or received any of the subject messages or if any of them were duplicates of e-mails already reviewed, or had any official business information on them at all, much less any indication that anyone had any intent to violate any law whatsoever. Nevertheless, within 48 hours Rudy Giuliani in interviews - and Donald Trump at rallies - were pounding away at Hillary and suggesting that she was within days of being INDICTED according to "FBI sources." In fact, FOX TV reported that a Hillary indictment was a fact and was imminent - a statement that they later had to retract and issue an apology. Giuliani clearly said that he had inside information from "FBI sources" that this was coming in the days before the Comey announcement and that it would have a material effect on the election. Whether he did or not, I cannot say. Giuliani has denied his original statement saying that what he really meant that he got the information from some vague "retired FBI agents" who were dissatisfied with Director Comey's July statements clearing Hillary of any wrong-doing beyond being "sloppy." Others have inferred that Comey was "forced" to make his recent statement because of rogue agents who were about to "leak" the news of the newly-discovered e-mails (again, without any knowledge of what they contained). Of course, all of this was both a tempest in a tea pot and, more significantly, a clear violation of FBI policy and practice.
Whether this announcement was pre-planned, shared with the Trump campaign by the FBI Director or by FBI agents before it was announced makes little difference in the impact of the statement. The new letter had a significant impact on the election because it came while early voting was underway, and, this information, unclear as it was, came within 10 days of the election. During this past week, polling data on the race showed that Trump closed the poll gap as Hillary lost some marginal support. But, in a close race such as this one, that could have a material impact on the outcome - no small matter. And, since the announcement, some Republicans in the House and Senate have threatened to "impeach", investigate, and otherwise harass President Clinton, tying her up in investigation after investigation to cripple her new administration, deny her appointments to the Cabinet and the Supreme Court, and, even worse, denying the millions of American citizens whose votes made her the president in the first place. Further, the impact on down-ballot Democratic candidates for US Senate and House certainly isn't helpful. The suspicion is, however, that Comey may very well have tilted the majority in the Senate toward the Republican candidates, intentionally or not.
US Department of Justice and FBI policy holds that silence is the rule during the course of investigations up to the point that an indictment is secured against someone. All of us have heard the "no comment in connection with on-going investigations" response to questions of the FBI as to the status of some case or other. In this case, at the time of the Director's announcement, the FBI had not even sought or secured a search warrant to read the e-mails on the Abedin computer, shared with her husband, Anthony Weiner. In other words, they had no idea what e-mail messages were on the laptop and whether or not they had any bearing at all on Secretary Clinton. This was clearly a case calling for "no comment." In fact, there was no "investigation" related to Hillary on these messages because they had not read a single message at that point! Nevertheless, Director Comey announced through his written communication that a review of the emails was in order, tying Hillary into the issue WITHOUT ONE SHRED OF EVIDENCE WHATSOEVER. So, maybe the "no comment" rule doesn't apply to non-investigations with no evidence of wrong-doing at all, or in reviews of someone else's e-mails? What is really behind all of this? Trick or tweet! Are these things that go "bump" in the night? Perhaps, these are just scary ghosts, goblins, and ghoulianis from the dark side? Time and election day will tell.
I have no explanation for Comey's announcement. What I do know is that, on its face, he violated FBI and Department of Justice "no comment" policy, and that his violation has had a material impact on the election. Whether that was what he intended that outcome or not, remains to be discovered. And, just as the FBI - Comey included - in July concluded that Hillary did not have the requisite intent to violate the law in her use of a personal e-mail server after a 10 month investigation, perhaps someone should investigate Director Comey, Rudy Ghouliani, and the rumored "rogue" FBI Agents who were leaking information to damage a presidential candidate. And, should "intent" to impact the election be found, then a prosecution may be in order. Perhaps the chant "lock her up" will morph into a close variation - "lock HIM up."
In my view, our democracy really cannot survive if we do not prevent the finger of political motivation to invade the institutions that we rely on to save us from ourselves - the dual agencies that we count on to make us a nation of law and not men. Justice needs to be even-handed in reality as well as in theory. And, that means no politics in the judicial system, no favoritism from judges based on your political views, and certainly no locking up people based on political party membership. These things happen in other backwater countries, in dictatorships, in autocratic governments where all of the judges are appointed by the winner and all of the law enforcement leaders are all from the same political party. Lock up opponents, prosecute the press that dares to disagree, clamp down on dissent or on voters who are of a different religion. This is not our tradition. In fact, those behaviors are what drove many refugees of the 17th and 18th century to these shores to seek a new way and to escape the oppression and prosecution that they suffered in the old world. And, the success of those early settlements and sentiments was the source of celebration at those early Thanksgivings, having left the horrors of the old world behind. Ghouliani, Trump, Breitbart, the alt. right, racists, xenophobics, anti-immigrant thinking, banning one religion or ethnic group from participation, all represent throwbacks to places that we have been in the past and beliefs that we have abandoned long ago. This election should be a celebration of democracy. Instead, it has become a battle for the survival of our civic life, our civility, and our ability to accept one another as Americans. Will we choose the dark side and return to the brutal past with torches and pitchforks or will we turn to a hopeful future and find a way to work together in the common interest and for the common good as the founders hoped? Your votes will tell the tale next Tuesday. The question is, trick or tweet?
At the close of the Constitutional Convention in 1787 in Philadelphia, Ben Franklin was asked what form of government the Convention gave the nation. Franklin responded, "a republic, if you can keep it." I am hoping that Philadelphia as well as many other places in our nation will stand with me and rescue our republic and our democracy from the greatest political threat that it has faced in a very long time, the election of a psycho, know-nothing, autocratic Donald Trump. The election of Hillary Clinton can save us from the seething anger that turns us against one another and, instead, encourages us toward a more hopeful effort of solving the problems that we face as a nation together and returns us to the art of compromise rather than dividing us based on fear and hate. The Clinton slogan reads, "Stronger Together", and, we surely are. I hope that we will once again be, in fact, stronger together come Tuesday. Good Luck and Good Night.
Just last week, in an appearing on FOX News, Ghouliani, responded to a question about the status of the Trump campaign, given that Hillary's polling was 7+ points ahead of the Donald. Rudy folded his arms and with a smug snarl on his face announced "don't worry, we have some surprises up our sleeve." When pressed to explain his comment, he declined saying simply, "in the next few days, wait and see." He was smiling, smug, self-satisfied, and confident that whatever was going to happen, would have a major impact on the election. Trick or Tweet?
Within a few days FBI Director Jim Comey sent a letter to several Congressional Committee Chairs containing three paragraphs informing the House Members that he had authorized a review of additional e-mails on the laptop of Anthony Weiner, estranged husband of top Clinton aide Huma Abedin. Although the letter did not allege any wrong-doing by anyone, but merely said that a review was in order, his announcement was like throwing a 5 gallon bucket of gasoline onto a dying ember. In fact, at the time of Comey's announcement, investigators had not seen one e-mail and could not say whether Hillary has sent or received any of the subject messages or if any of them were duplicates of e-mails already reviewed, or had any official business information on them at all, much less any indication that anyone had any intent to violate any law whatsoever. Nevertheless, within 48 hours Rudy Giuliani in interviews - and Donald Trump at rallies - were pounding away at Hillary and suggesting that she was within days of being INDICTED according to "FBI sources." In fact, FOX TV reported that a Hillary indictment was a fact and was imminent - a statement that they later had to retract and issue an apology. Giuliani clearly said that he had inside information from "FBI sources" that this was coming in the days before the Comey announcement and that it would have a material effect on the election. Whether he did or not, I cannot say. Giuliani has denied his original statement saying that what he really meant that he got the information from some vague "retired FBI agents" who were dissatisfied with Director Comey's July statements clearing Hillary of any wrong-doing beyond being "sloppy." Others have inferred that Comey was "forced" to make his recent statement because of rogue agents who were about to "leak" the news of the newly-discovered e-mails (again, without any knowledge of what they contained). Of course, all of this was both a tempest in a tea pot and, more significantly, a clear violation of FBI policy and practice.
Whether this announcement was pre-planned, shared with the Trump campaign by the FBI Director or by FBI agents before it was announced makes little difference in the impact of the statement. The new letter had a significant impact on the election because it came while early voting was underway, and, this information, unclear as it was, came within 10 days of the election. During this past week, polling data on the race showed that Trump closed the poll gap as Hillary lost some marginal support. But, in a close race such as this one, that could have a material impact on the outcome - no small matter. And, since the announcement, some Republicans in the House and Senate have threatened to "impeach", investigate, and otherwise harass President Clinton, tying her up in investigation after investigation to cripple her new administration, deny her appointments to the Cabinet and the Supreme Court, and, even worse, denying the millions of American citizens whose votes made her the president in the first place. Further, the impact on down-ballot Democratic candidates for US Senate and House certainly isn't helpful. The suspicion is, however, that Comey may very well have tilted the majority in the Senate toward the Republican candidates, intentionally or not.
US Department of Justice and FBI policy holds that silence is the rule during the course of investigations up to the point that an indictment is secured against someone. All of us have heard the "no comment in connection with on-going investigations" response to questions of the FBI as to the status of some case or other. In this case, at the time of the Director's announcement, the FBI had not even sought or secured a search warrant to read the e-mails on the Abedin computer, shared with her husband, Anthony Weiner. In other words, they had no idea what e-mail messages were on the laptop and whether or not they had any bearing at all on Secretary Clinton. This was clearly a case calling for "no comment." In fact, there was no "investigation" related to Hillary on these messages because they had not read a single message at that point! Nevertheless, Director Comey announced through his written communication that a review of the emails was in order, tying Hillary into the issue WITHOUT ONE SHRED OF EVIDENCE WHATSOEVER. So, maybe the "no comment" rule doesn't apply to non-investigations with no evidence of wrong-doing at all, or in reviews of someone else's e-mails? What is really behind all of this? Trick or tweet! Are these things that go "bump" in the night? Perhaps, these are just scary ghosts, goblins, and ghoulianis from the dark side? Time and election day will tell.
I have no explanation for Comey's announcement. What I do know is that, on its face, he violated FBI and Department of Justice "no comment" policy, and that his violation has had a material impact on the election. Whether that was what he intended that outcome or not, remains to be discovered. And, just as the FBI - Comey included - in July concluded that Hillary did not have the requisite intent to violate the law in her use of a personal e-mail server after a 10 month investigation, perhaps someone should investigate Director Comey, Rudy Ghouliani, and the rumored "rogue" FBI Agents who were leaking information to damage a presidential candidate. And, should "intent" to impact the election be found, then a prosecution may be in order. Perhaps the chant "lock her up" will morph into a close variation - "lock HIM up."
In my view, our democracy really cannot survive if we do not prevent the finger of political motivation to invade the institutions that we rely on to save us from ourselves - the dual agencies that we count on to make us a nation of law and not men. Justice needs to be even-handed in reality as well as in theory. And, that means no politics in the judicial system, no favoritism from judges based on your political views, and certainly no locking up people based on political party membership. These things happen in other backwater countries, in dictatorships, in autocratic governments where all of the judges are appointed by the winner and all of the law enforcement leaders are all from the same political party. Lock up opponents, prosecute the press that dares to disagree, clamp down on dissent or on voters who are of a different religion. This is not our tradition. In fact, those behaviors are what drove many refugees of the 17th and 18th century to these shores to seek a new way and to escape the oppression and prosecution that they suffered in the old world. And, the success of those early settlements and sentiments was the source of celebration at those early Thanksgivings, having left the horrors of the old world behind. Ghouliani, Trump, Breitbart, the alt. right, racists, xenophobics, anti-immigrant thinking, banning one religion or ethnic group from participation, all represent throwbacks to places that we have been in the past and beliefs that we have abandoned long ago. This election should be a celebration of democracy. Instead, it has become a battle for the survival of our civic life, our civility, and our ability to accept one another as Americans. Will we choose the dark side and return to the brutal past with torches and pitchforks or will we turn to a hopeful future and find a way to work together in the common interest and for the common good as the founders hoped? Your votes will tell the tale next Tuesday. The question is, trick or tweet?
At the close of the Constitutional Convention in 1787 in Philadelphia, Ben Franklin was asked what form of government the Convention gave the nation. Franklin responded, "a republic, if you can keep it." I am hoping that Philadelphia as well as many other places in our nation will stand with me and rescue our republic and our democracy from the greatest political threat that it has faced in a very long time, the election of a psycho, know-nothing, autocratic Donald Trump. The election of Hillary Clinton can save us from the seething anger that turns us against one another and, instead, encourages us toward a more hopeful effort of solving the problems that we face as a nation together and returns us to the art of compromise rather than dividing us based on fear and hate. The Clinton slogan reads, "Stronger Together", and, we surely are. I hope that we will once again be, in fact, stronger together come Tuesday. Good Luck and Good Night.
Thursday, November 3, 2016
RIG-O-NOMICS: THE DONALD AS DEMOLITION MAN
As a builder, Donald well knows that
each “build” begins with demolition. No surprise
that he does the same in the election – demolition of “the establishment” – the
press and the “corrupt media”, Democrats and Republicans, office holders like
Paul Ryan and John McCain, and anyone else who does not tow the Trump
line. Like a speeding train, he
castigates his opponents and runs over groups who do not display fealty to the
Trump brand – political, racial, gender, economic, or academic and polling
organizations. He is always right, never
wrong, and those who disagree must be demolished. This behavior is a very real
danger to our democracy.
Trump,
the master of conspiracies and always the “outsider” working to take down “the
establishment”, constantly attacks “the system” and describes the electoral
process as “rigged.” He refers to legitimate polling (even Fox and the Wall
Street Journal) as “rigged” to show him in a bad light. In Trumpworld, all of
the “corrupt media” has “ganged-up” on him to deny him the presidency. And,
since August, Trump has insisted that the entire national election has been
“rigged” as well.
Forgetting
that the majority of states in 2016 are governed by Republicans, and that the
national election is no more than a series of state-based elections with state
rules, state oversight, and state reporting, Donald somehow thinks that a
nation-wide conspiracy exists with a singular goal – to deny him the
presidency. If he wins, then the election would be “legitimate.” If Hillary wins, it’s rigged and a President
Clinton would not be “legitimate.”
Perhaps he believes that Hillary is conspiring with Ted Cruz, the Bush
family, John Kasich, Mitt Romney, supported by the “corrupt media” and others
to “rig” the election and elect Hillary.
In that case, maybe “the Second Amendment people could take care of that”,
as he has previously suggested. And, if not, then what? Think Trump would go on vacation? Or, would he continue to tear down and
de-legitimize the government that we elect this fall? Will there be a Trump “call to arms”? Would
that simply be a Hillary resistance movement?
Or, would the “arms” be actual weaponry as we have heard some of the
Trump supporters suggest? Are we really this close to a national nightmare?
“Oh”, you say, “that cannot happen here.” Those things happen in distant places
like Latin America or some backwater in the Middle East – like the Arab Spring,
or in the streets of some less stable European countries. Do you mean all of those places that do not have armed-to-the-teeth,
right-wing militias drilling in the woods? Places that do not have more guns than people in their neighborhoods? These
behaviors would be merely amusing if Trump was some third party whack-job out
in space who missed his daily dose of Thorazine. But, he is one Election Day
away from the nuclear football.
Donald
Trump has created chaos this election year.
First, in the Republican Party and, next, by unleashing electoral
violence at his rallies. Now, he is undermining
the very pillars of our 200+ years of political stability – the election
process itself – in an attempt to dismiss Clinton’s election and cripple her
presidency. Demolition Donald will be working on his biggest tower take-down
ever – the tower of hope and freedom that has been the envy of the world since
the US Constitution was adopted in 1789 – the American democratic process and
the peaceful transfer of power that occurs here every four or eight years. Should
he succeed in that effort, may God save us all, and the United States of
America.
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