The Screaming Moderate

The Return of the Yos! and Oys! plus a new addition

8/10/2022

(The Screaming Moderate occasionally hands out awards for Yos! and Oys!, celebrating those individuals who do good deeds (Yo!) and bad ones (Oy!). The Committee on Yos! and Oys! meets when it feels like it.)

Today, the Return of the Oys! and Yos! with a new addition – the Mehs! Mehs! are, well, they aren’t much. It’s kind of the nothing burger category which likely will be used few and far between. But, in this world, they deserve a place because, well, so much is over-hyped when most often it’s a Meh!

This Oy! just in: Former President Donald J. Trump pleaded the Fifth this morning when sitting for a deposition in the New York investigation of his real estate business. Trump, who once said anyone pleading the Fifth was guilty, tried to get ahead of repeats of that claim, said, “If you’re innocent, why are you taking the Fifth Amendment?…Now I know the answer to that question” because of his being “targeted” by lawyers, prosecutors and the news media” left with him “no choice” but to take the Fifth. Lordy, he's good at trying to cover his tush.

The inaugural Meh! Goes to… Attorney General Merrick Garland for doing his job. There is little doubt that before a warrant was sought to search Trump’s Florida mansion (well, only 2% of it- three of 126 rooms) that Garland had to sign off before it went to a federal magistrate for decision. Because Garland is a former judge, he takes things slow and ponderously. As would a federal magistrate. So, if we all get to see the warrant that was issued, I imagine we’ll have good reason to know it had ‘probable cause.’ Though that will not penetrate the Trump supporters’ minds because, well, just because.

A second Oy! goes to Donald J. Trump for his continuing demonstration of his “projecting” personality, meaning that often when Trump takes a shot at his opponents he uses a put-down similar to what was used against him. (Think “fake news” when anyone accuses him of anything) This one is for his unsubstantiated claim that the Democrats had his home “raided” because of some nefarious desire to hurt his planned but not announced 2024 campaign to regain office. This from the same ex-president who constantly complained that his own appointees during his administration wouldn’t do things like shoot protestors in the leg or have the Department of Justice make a false statement to further his unsubstantiated claims of a rigged 2020 election. He probably just thinks Biden’s appointees are more “loyal” to him when actually, they are just following the Constitution.

Another Meh! Goes to, well, the politics of today. The search warrant for Trump's palace has the unintended consequence of fueling not just the tried and true Trumpies but the scared-and-frightened elected Republicans and candidates who feel they must support Trump in this or lose ‘the base.’ (nearly qualified as an Oy! but it’s just a reality in today’s Republican Party).

Oy! to the media and political consultants for using the word “narrative” to explain what used to be referred to as “spin” and really is, usually, bullshit to avoid talking about facts. The media has totally bought into the word because, I think, it makes them sound inside-y. Stick to the facts, my friends, just as you ask Trump to do.

A huge Yo! to Cong. Liz Cheney for all she is doing and sacrificing to be a contributing member of the Jan. 6th Select Committee. It’s almost needless to say because she made the decision to put her political future on the line to serve and do the right thing and follow the Constitution. Trump supporters can call her a RHINO (Republican in Name Only) but that’s the just the “narrative” -- she voted with Trump more often than anointed toady Mark Meadows when he was in Congress, before being snatched up by Trump as his chief of staff. (Sad, Liz actually deserves only a “meh!” for this since it’s her duty and oath to follow the Constitution but in the current politics, well, we see what’s happening to most of those Republican elected officials who voted to impeach Trump. So, in this climate she moves to a Yo!

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Why are some so afraid of women, gays, trans, etc?

7/27/2022

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Questions to the right wing of American politics and those religions that are forcing their beliefs on all of America:

What about women making decisions about their own bodies scares you?

What about transgender people scares you?

What about gay people scares you?

What about people whose religious views are not yours scares you?

“Scares” is the only word I can think of that fits these questions. For example, why are you so afraid of women that you think you know better than they about their health care? Or about who loves who they choose to love?

Religion certainly can’t be driving your views, can it? After all, in this county people are free to follow whatever religion they choose. It’s there in the very First Amendment: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof…”

It’s one of the main reasons this country was created and fought for through the years. And I know that you love this country.

How are you affecting my or others religions?

For one thing, abortion. It is allowed by some religions. But by outlawing abortion you take away rights from those religions that believe differently than you. I know, I know -- “All” the Supreme Court did was put the decision on allowing abortions into State hands. And then certain states do the dirty work for them. Boggles my mind. (Hmm, would the conservatives on the Court have sent it back to the states if Democrats controlled a majority of them?)

And what about the case of the 10- year-old who suffered major traumas in her life before she was 10 (rape, pregnancy, refusal of her state to allow abortions even in her type of case, the abortion itself.). Think about how that young girl will be affected for the rest of her life. Her views on sex, pregnancy, men, among other things, will likely be driven from this experience. She, I hope, will deal with these monster thoughts so she can have a “normal” life.

For many conservative officeholders and TV talk show hosts, they immediately said she was a fake, a made up story to sell the other side’s “narrative.” (Hmm, projecting much?). By the way, if she hasn't seen it already, she will at some point read about those attacks from conservatives and talking heads. That will affect her, too.

Trans people. I know a particular trans person pretty well. She (as she is now called and is) is a good person and, in fact, is a more alive person since her decision to transition to female. Her confidence is up. Her mood is up. She is no longer tormented by who she really is. She is proud of it. So, why does that torment you so much? She is living her best life. You’re not in her life. She isn’t affecting your life. And, she’s a happier human being. Who opposes that?

Gay men and women. A clear majority of Americans support same-sex marriage. Many of us have attended weddings of friends or family who are gay. In my experience, that particular wedding was one of the most joyous I’ve ever attended. And the two men being married couldn’t have been happier then or now.

So, how does that affect you? Again, happiness is a result. You don’t want people to be happy? A majority of Americans do, thank goodness, so let’s hope legislators will respect happiness. And freedom for people to choose to be who they are with whom they choose to be.

Religious freedom. Personally, I could care less what religion you practice, or don’t practice. I have questions about most religions, including my own. But that’s why we study. Why we discuss. To me, that’s part of religion – to discuss and learn about yourself and others. To learn about where we are right, or wrong. To grow.

I’m not naïve. I get that evangelicals live strictly by their interpretation of the Bible. Fine with me. I don't agree with many of their positions myself, but I’ll defend their right to practice that religion, as long as it doesn’t intrude on other religions or people’s beliefs.

I’m certainly no religious scholar but from what I read, the term “evangelical” comes from the Greek word euangelion, meaning “the good news” or the “gospel.’ Thus, the evangelical faith focuses on the “good news” of salvation brought to sinners by Jesus Christ. I’m sure it’s more complicated than that but that’s fine, too. Be an evangelical. It’s your right as an American.

It’s my right not to agree with you. And the right of millions of women too. And millions of gays and trans. Heck, we can disagree just to argue and learn from each other. But that's not what's driving those who oppose abortion today.

I know women who say that the Republican Party must hate them because of the policies the party has adopted. I get it. And that’s the party’s right, too. And it’s our right to vote against that party – that, too, is what America is all about. And for those votes to be counted completely and accurately.

So, I’ve vomited a lot of thoughts that roll through my mind. Though I’m not sure I made may point.

To be clear, my point is an old one:

This is a free country. This is a country whose founding belief was freedom. The very first Amendment lays out five freedoms: speech, religion, press, assembly, and the right to petition the government.

It’s what we all love about this country. It’s why so many others want to live in this country.

Yet, there are those among us who are erasing some of those rights. And if we don’t stop them, the whole American Experiment crumbles.

Last thought for today: While some, including some members of the U.S. Supreme Court, are chomping away at our rights, rights that Court had affirmed in the past, others are attacking our democracy from within.

Primaries are being won right now by men and women who want to change the way we vote and the way those votes are counted, putting more power in the hands of craven politicians than fair-minded career (non-political) officials and democracy-loving citizens

The global environment is changing right now. We thought we needed to protect that for our children and grandchildren. But now we need to protect us too.

Our democracy is being threatened. The Great American Experiment is on the block.

It is amazing to me that there are those among us who want to destroy the America we all know and love for such selfish reasons.

America was created to be the exact opposite of what some seem to be craving.

Lord.

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I believe her. Mostly.

6/29/2022

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I don’t believe Cassidy Hutchinson intentionally lied on the stand, at all. I believe she testified honestly to what she knows first-hand and to what she heard second-hand.

Why would a 26-year-old just beginning her professional life swear an oath to tell the truth, with millions of eyes and ears watching and listening, live, and then lie about the most mob-bossy president we’ve ever known?

Why would she lie when she risked any political capital she may have had? Why would she lie in the face of what I'm sure were -- and are -- death threats aimed at her?

Why would she lie even heading to other careers where future bosses might hesitate because she lied about a former president?

Answer: are you kidding me? Of course she wouldn’t lie.

Some of her testimony needs corroboration. The attack by the former president on a Secret Service agent needs corroboration. Already there are reports the agents involved are willing to testify that the former president did not go for the steering wheel or his lead agent’s throat. That's information she got in a conversation with a deputy chief of staff (who was an agent himself) and with the lead agent who was in the room. Why she’d make that up, I don’t know.

Because that was but a pebble in her earthquake testimony,

She dropped boulders, like Trump knowing “his people” were carrying weapons on Jan. 6. But they weren’t there to “hurt” him so it was okay.

He knew who they might hurt though.

Another boulder was former New York City hero Rudy Giuliani who is ending his career as nothing but a lackey for a narcissistic president. Giuliani didn’t even have enough sense to keep his mouth shut when talking to Hutchinson who was walking him to his car (not sure why he needed escorting). And if she was so low-level why would Giuliani raise the coming insurrection with her?

Donald Trump’s feeble attempts to say he hardly knew her, she has horrible handwriting, and she wanted to go to Mar-a-Lago with his team don’t cut it. We’ve heard them all before. He’s lied every time about friends or acquaintances who were loyal to him, until they weren’t.

Even his former chief of staff, Mick Mulvaney, says he believes her.

Fact is, for most of us Trump has no credibility whatsoever. If he told the truth, we’d think he’s lying.

Plus, efforts to make her sound like an unimportant go-fer staff member are weak. Anyone who has been in the West Wing knows that the space, especially on the floor with the Oval Office, is very small. Many offices are small to fit more in. It is highly sought after real estate and sends a message to others that you are, literally, steps from the Oval Office.

Unimportant people aren’t put steps from the Oval.

She was not unimportant, especially to former Chief of Staff Mark Meadows who trusted her with attending very high-level meetings with him. Again, not a job lightly assigned, especially at the level Meadows was operating. Especially with top secret matters on the agenda.

The fact that this young woman – she just turned 26-years-old – sat in that hearing room and answered questions without her hands or voice shaking, answers she knew would upset further an already upset former president to whom loyalty is everything, was not lying.

Trump may think that’s an easy thing to pull off, since he pulls it off all the time.

Most people don’t raise their hand and take an oath to tell the truth and then lie. Not with the consequences at stake.

To prove that you just had to see that video of former Trump National Security Advisor Micheal Flynn, with his attorney at his elbow, taking the Fifth even to the question of whether he thinks the violence on Jan. 6th was justified. The Fifth! If that showed anything, it showed that, at least, Flynn swearing to tell the truth was rife with consequences for him if he lied. So he avoided lying.

And as Trump said in 2015, if you take the Fifth, you’re guilty.

Which explains why he’s not testifying to straighten out the record that he claims needs straightening. But it doesn’t need straightening out.

Just ask someone you can trust.

Like Cassidy Hutchison.

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Abortion. Complicated? Or not?

6/25/2022

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The U.S. Supreme Court throwing out the precedent-setting Roe v. Wade ruling obviously draws strong feelings on both sides of the issue. Some say is a complicated issue.

Many of us grew up believing that the Court would never take away a right it had in the past “given” to the American people, or ruled constitutional. And, if abortion has a moral aspect to it, I always viewed that as a religious aspect, and the Constitution grants us freedom of religion. Or to believe in nothing if you choose.

All the talk about Roe being decided badly by prior courts is balderdash.

Subsequent courts reaffirmed the decision which was, by the way, a ruling made nearly 50 years ago by a court majority comprised of seven votes, five of whom were nominated by Republican presidents.

Ironic, in a sense, that yesterday’s decision to toss out that precedent was made by five justices nominated by Republican presidents. Interesting looking at life through America’s 2022 political lens and how different the Republican Party is from itself 50 years ago, or even 15 years ago.

The decision also demonstrates that America, which is a democracy -- majority rules -- now is governed almost completely by a minority:

The justices who voted to throw out Roe, were nominated by Republican presidents, most of whom were elected without winning the popular vote.
A strong majority of Americans (Democrats and Republicans) opposed throwing out Roe but a minority of Americans won the day.
A minority of one (Sen. Mitch McConnell) held up President Obama’s nominee, Merrick Garland, until an election could take place which chose a Republican, who McConnell knew would appoint a justice he supported, one that would vote to overthrow Roe.
Sen. Joe Manchin, a West Virginia Democrat who voted for Justice Neal Gorsuch, a key player in the Roe decision, is the single vote (for the most part) controlling legislation on the Democratic side these days.
The minority in America supported the other Supreme Court decision last week approving the carrying of concealed weapons.

Sens. Manchin and “moderate” Republican Susan Collins of Maine have said they were “misled” by nominees for the court who strongly implied, and some would say outright said, they were not the types to overthrow precedent or Roe.

But those justices were exactly that type when judgement day came.

Did they lie when they testified to Congress? Many nominees in their confirmation hearings hedge the truth, by a lot. Now, nominees’ answers are “nuanced,” to say the least.

If Collins and/or Manchin, or others, think the nominees lied in their Congressional hearings, they should file articles of impeachment against the justice(s) rather than whine they were “misled.” This is much too big a deal to whine and not investigate your options.

Justice Clarence Thomas, key to the decision we got, said that there are other rights we have under the Constitution and Court rulings that should be reviewed. Like same-sex marriage. Like access to contraceptives. Like same-sex relationships.

Republican colleagues of his went out of their way to say this decision did not presage overturning other “rights.” Um hmm.

One precedent Thomas neglected to mention is Loving v. Virginia which holds that the Court ruled laws banning interracial marriage violate the Equal Protection and Due Process clauses. Thomas is in an interracial marriage. He is married to Ginny Thomas whose role in former President Trump’s coup attempt is still being investigated. Think he’ll upend his marriage by ruling it unconstitutional?

Curious, too, that Thomas rarely spoke in Court hearings and never asked questions. Until he was in the majority. Now you can’t shut him up.

Most importantly, different religions treat abortion in different ways. The Constitution - in it's original wording (no interpretation required) gives us all freedom of religion. Some religions believe abortion is wrong and contrary to the teachings of their religion. They clearly are among the minority that wanted Roe overthrown.

Other religions, though, don’t teach that.

For example, the Jewish Talmud, the text most central to Jewish law, states that a fetus is “mere water” and not granted person-hood until birth.

That belief doesn’t hold that everyone must adhere to it. Clearly other religions beliefs must be respected. But the Jewish belief, too, must be respected as much as those religions who ban abortion in the free America we know and love(d).

If we are to have freedom of religion, then choice in abortions is the right American law:

Choose it if you want. Don’t choose if you don’t.

Overall, not really that complicated.

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As the Beatles said, I say it's my birthday

6/9/2022

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I turn 72 today.

Lordy.

Let me get two things out of the way:

Getting older is way better than the alternative.
I’m luckier than most, I know. I have a fabulous, smart, loving wife. I have three great daughters who gave me six beautiful grandchildren one of whom gave me, so far, one adorable great-granddaughter.

Ok, moving along.

I had a good career with jobs that were fun, challenging and rewarding. I retired about eight years ago and adapted to retired life quite quickly. And, I’m very good at being retired; I think I found my calling!

I live in a fabulous location. I’m having a good life. I have issues all old(er) folks have: the hearing aid arrives next week; the cataracts were done a couple years ago; I had a stroke nearly 20 years ago that, thankfully, left few long-term issues.

I have more doctors than I have shoes. And my annual visits to doctors now take about a month to fit in rather than the one-and-done annual physical of years ago.

In short, lots more people have a lot more to complain about than I do.

I do have a few complaints, but they’re really not about me:

I wish our politics weren’t so divided and painful to watch
I wish there were more of us who answer policy issues with “let’s talk about it” than those who respond with immovable “yesses” or “no’s”
I wish kids weren’t brutally killed in their classrooms or anywhere for that matter
I wish people were not brutally killed while they were praying or getting groceries or, again, anywhere for that matter
I wish an 11-year-old girl didn’t have to smear herself with her best friend’s blood to survive a mass shooting

Mostly, I wish wishes came true.

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We have to make it stop

5/25/2022

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I shot a gun. Once.

My brother was a target shooter. Many years ago, I went with him to his club and he offered me his handgun to fire. I refused. He asked again so I figured, “why not?”

I took aim at the target.

When I pulled the trigger, it was as if the bullet left the barrel in slow motion. I watched it fly in slow motion as it headed toward the target.

I felt a tremendous sense of power in the milliseconds I followed that bullet. It barely hit the target, just striking the edge. I missed like the beginner I was.

That feeling of power though was strong.

That feeling of power was so strong, so visceral, that I never again picked up a gun in my life.

Ever.

I can only imagine the feeling of power an 18-year-old must get from firing an AR15, chosen rifle of most mass shooters. If I felt that way from a low caliber handgun, what must it feel like using a rifle that can be turned into an automatic weapon by adding a bump stock?

Such power.

Life and death power.

Now, imagine that person with psychological problems. Because that’s a given for anyone heading off with a goal of killing Blacks, or Browns, or Asians or Jews, or children excited about the school year’s end and the anticipation of a season of swimming and fun.

Imagine.

But we don’t have to imagine because it’s happened too many times. A phrase we utter with each mass shooting -- "too many times."

Did you know that since Buffalo when 10 people were murdered – 11 days ago – there have been 13 mass shootings in this country?

Add in yesterday’s tragic murder of 21 mostly children, and that’s more than one a day, according to the Gun Violence Archive.

We’ve listened to presidents of both parties decry this violence, call for common sense gun control and, always, offer thoughts and prayers. We cry about the United States being the only country in the world with this problem.

And then there’s silence.

And no action.

Until the next one.

Rank-and-file Americans, most Democrats in Congress and a handful of Senate Republicans support some form of common sense gun control. But nothing ever gets passed.

About 90 percent of Americans and nearly 75 percent of National Rifle Association members support stronger controls on guns.

No one is advocating eliminating the Second Amendment. Many, mostly Republicans, scream "they want to take away your right to own guns" whenever putting a limit on assault weapons or anything that isn’t a sport gun or rifle comes up.

Trust me, as good a job as the founders were who signed the Constitution in 1787, fresh off a revolution, they never could have foreseen many of the issues that we face in 2022. How could they?

Still, no one seriously believes we can or should eliminate the Second Amendment, even if it is replaced with something more “modern” in scope, as some have discussed.

Even if someone wanted to do that, it would take years to happen.

We have until tomorrow.

We cry and scream every time someone, filled with hate for whatever idiotic reason guns down a church full of people offering him solace, or a school full of children looking forward to a life full of tomorrows, or a supermarket filled with people shopping for a birthday cake for their son.

We plead every time for congressional action. Gun owners and non-gun owners alike. People who shoot or hunt regularly support it. People who have never pulled a trigger support it.

Even those who have fired a gun. Once.

We have to make it stop.

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Democracy is threatened in many ways

5/18/2022

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As the headlines keep bouncing us from right to left and upside down, maybe confusing us in so many ways, there are some things we need to remain focused on – our Constitutional rights.

For example, the extreme right wing in this country, led by white supremacists and right-wing TV celebrities (rantings equal ratings) is saying the “Great Replacement Theory” is concocted by the “elite” who want to replace good, white Americans with black and brown immigrants for the craven goal of acquiring enough new voters to keep the Democratic Party in office for, well, forever I guess.

The fact is what these folks see as the conspiratorial Great Replacement Theory is simply the country that they say they love doing what the country was created to do: welcome immigrants with open arms just as, let’s say, those espousing the Great Replacement Theory’s ancestors were greeted.

It has happened over and over in our history and it’s happening again. People who feel oppressed or threatened or who want to taste freedom flock here for a chance at a better life. Just as our ancestors did from all over the world.

Another thing that keeps us bouncing between headlines is abortion. I’m no lawyer and I’m no religious fanatic but it appears to me that what the Supreme Court is poised to do – overturn Roe v. Wade – is interfering with my constitutional rights. More women’s than mine, of course. First, the Constitution gives us freedom of religion. We are free to worship whatever God we choose. Or not. That’s a given under the Constitution.

Yet, a minority is trying to force their religious beliefs on mine. If the Court overturns Roe it takes that right away a right from Jews, and other religious groups that do not oppose choice.

Whatever “they” want to say, this is a religious freedom issue, to me. If choice is outlawed by the Court, Jewish folks’ right to choose is gone. Our right to practice our religion is taken away. True, too, for the Episcopal, Evangelical Lutheran, United Methodists, the National Baptist Convention and Buddhism. Some of those do call for limits on when an abortion can be conducted.

That’s the religious side of the issue. On a general support/not support polling issue, about 70 percent of America’s population favor maintaining Roe.

I’m not sure what exactly we’re fighting for or against but religious rights. Under what has been a precedent for 50 years each religion had their choice whether to have or not have an abortion.

Now we have Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who every day focuses on his likely campaign for the presidency in a couple of years, who yesterday signed legislation that outlaws protests outside private residences in Florida. Once again, a minority trying to take away a Constitutional right – freedom of speech. The new law makes it a second-degree misdemeanor to picket or protest outside a person’s home to “harass or disturb” that person.

You’ll recall a couple of weeks ago in Washington, D.C., there were protests outside some Supreme Court justices’ homes when the draft opinion was leaked about the court’s current majority thinking on Row. We have a constitutional right to freedom of speech and assembly. We don’t have the right to trespass on someone’s property or do damage. But we do have a right to assemble on America’s streets to protest and exercise our freedom of speech. People in Florida now no longer do.

So, in just the few examples given here folks who reside on the far right wing of our country want to take away religious freedoms, freedoms of speech freedom to assemble.

These are just some of the freedoms that make our country the best in the world -- welcoming your ancestors and mine.

And now the fabric of America is being threatened and giving us another reason that democracy is under serious threat.

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GOP leadership isn't leading, it's following Trump

4/25/2022

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If anyone doubted that Republican House Leader Kevin McCarthy has the backbone of a jelly fish, his flat-out lie last week proves it.

And it also means his sole lifelong goal of ascending to the House Speakership is over. Not because he lied but because he was disloyal to Donald J. Trump. Yes, I’m aware that Trump has made it known that since McCarthy quickly atoned for his sin of speaking ill of Trump, he is not angry with him.

I just don’t believe him.

I think he keeps McCarthy hanging by a string through the mid-terms when Republicans probably will retake the House. Then Trump will support another “truly” loyal supplicant to insert into the Speakership. I think McCarthy’s days are numbered. Greed and power did him in as it always does.

Now, I know people think “all” politicians lie. I would argue that. They avoid, deflect, obfuscate and “spin,” and those are all acceptable because they always leave an out to prove they weren’t lying. Very few lie outright as McCarthy did when asked about the New York Times article describing a call he had with other Republicans in which he said he was going to suggest then-President Trump resign.

He was proven a liar when Jonathan Martin and Alexander Burns, authors of a new book “This Will Not Pass” about the 2020 presidential election, produced tapes (Lordy, they have tapes!) of a call McCarthy led with other Republicans, proving him a verifiable, bold-faced liar. You likely have seen for yourself because TV has run tapes of both the lie and the truth for a few days. Well, unless all you watch is Fox and the other MAGA channels who ignore this story, thus keeping their viewers in the dark about the truth.

Now, here’s where I get into the “this would be fun and honorable” but clearly not happening idea:

McCarthy could redeem himself somewhat if he accepted the fact that he will never be Speaker of the House, third in line to the presidency. Assuming I’m right, that Trump at some point will double-cross McCarthy and throw him under a double-decker bus, that would bury McCarthy in his caucus, a disgraced liar with no credibility to get things done.

Continuing my fantasy, If McCarthy would accept that fact, he might then do his public mea culpa and own up to what he said on that phone call and own up to the fact that his true view at the time (and now) was what he said one of those taped calls, “I’ve had it with this guy (Trump).” He wouldn’t turn himself into Speaker, but he would be on the road to decency.

Unfortunately, there aren’t people like that in Republican leadership anymore. Mitch McConnell, the GOP Senate leader, almost made that level when he let it be known that he hasn’t talked to Trump since December 15, 2020, and that he believed Trump was behind the January 6 insurrection that threatened the lives of the country’s elected leaders. But now McConnell says, as the good wuss leader that he is, that he’d back Trump if he is the 2024 party nominee. Literally, no profiles in courage in GOP House or Senate leadership.

Oh, and then there is Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, another “leader” of the GOP, who hasn’t met a controversial culture issue he isn’t on the wrong side of.

A talking head on TV the other day supported DeSantis in his battle against the Walt Disney company because, he claimed, the Disney CEO came out and opposed DeSantis’ “don’t say gay” law that has put the fear of God into every grammar school teacher in the state, who is threatened with jail if they mention sexual identities to their very young students. This talking head, Scott Jennings, said the CEOs who came out against the law didn’t know what was in it and went with the opposition “narrative” that the law actually said “don’t say gay.”

Two things:

1) No teacher is teaching children that they should be gay or trans or straight. They may be understandably sensitive to the fact that many of their students come from homes of two moms or two dads, and are dealing with that reality without embarrassing any student who may have same-sex mothers or dads. Why? Because there is nothing for them to be embarrassed about.

2) Mr. Jennings, rather than ranting about a CEO exercising his or her First Amendment rights, should call that CEO to set him straight on what he thinks the law says (pardon me using the sexually charged word “straight”). If you truly think the CEO accepts the opposition “narrative,” as Jennings said several times, then call the man or woman and explain it to them rather than just criticize him on TV – uh, exactly what you're charging them with, talking without listening.

None of this is to let President Biden off the hook. His administration, because of mistakes and things beyond its control (i.e., Ukraine) has not been Camelot. But let’s remember why many of us voted for Biden – he wasn’t Trump.

I, and I know many others, saw Biden as a bridge to trying to return to a more civilized politics. He has not been very successful on that front either.

But, he isn’t Trump which was a primary reason he was elected. We knew he’d be a decent, honest transition president. Is he failing at some things? Yes, and he’s succeeding at others. But, he is a decent man, like all our elected officials ought to be.

(As I finish writing this, CNN is reporting thousands of texts from members and former members of Congress and others that, among other things, has them begging Trump’s chief of staff, Mark Meadows, on Jan. 6 to get Trump to do something to calm the insurrectionists in their hallways. Today, they all are saying the election was stolen (t wasn’t) and fullyl backing Trump. Whatever leadership they were showing on Jan. 6, is gone and forgotten by them.)

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Snowbirds flying in for a visit

4/13/2022

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We recently returned from “wintering” in South Florida.

We’ve been staying for several years in Deerfield Beach right next to Boca (as we part-time Floridians call Boca Raton) and we are snowbirds crowding the roadways (as full-time Floridians call us).

In some ways, visiting that area is like going back to the 50s – loud mufflers (or no muffler, I never could tell) on cars, loud motorcycles (like the Rat Pack in my hometown used to ride – and, yes, they called themselves the Rat Pack), dogs in baby (or doggie) carriages rolling in front of their owners who were taking a walk (used to be you took your dog for a walk for exercise and/or to relieve itself. Now he/she rides in comfort while you do (most of) the work.) Oh, and nearly all dogs in Florida are tiny so they fit comfortably in the apartments/condos folks reside in.

Every morning we went for a three- or four-mile walk (and I lost five pounds to prove it!) and nearly every morning we would walk by, or behind, the doggy carriages, see younger folks walking yet looking down at their phones and texting while ignoring the beautiful Atlantic Ocean just a few yards away.

There also were men and women sitting in their cars, engines running, in the parking spaces by the Atlantic listening to the radio or reading the newspaper (and that was before AND after the gas price increases people were/are complaining about). I mean, I could never understand that but every morning there were regulars and a few some-timers sitting in their running cars reading the paper or staring out at the ocean. In. Their. Cars. With. Engines. Running. At about $4 a gallon in those days.

Even at 8 or 9 a.m. when we’d take our walks (OK, not early morning but, gimme a break, we’re retired!) cars would drive past on the narrow streets near the water with their radios blasting. These were not teenagers, or at least not chronologically.

These were, typically, grown men blasting the radios like teens did when we would hang out at the (fill in the blank) Burger Joint when we were in high school.

Most often the choice of morning music would be loud rap music. I don’t once remember hearing Mel Torme blaring from a car.

When we arrived in Florida, it was the Number One state in the country in Covid problems that, briefly, wasn’t. But was becoming so again as we departed for the colder clime of New England.

Let having the luxury of spending winter months in warm climes be the worst thing to ever happen to me. I’m not a big Florida fan, though.

It’s definitely far warmer than the home state of Massachusetts, and I am (again) NOT complaining about being able to go to Florida to escape winter.

Still, as Dorothy said so eloquently – there’s no place like home.

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An open letter to Tucker Carlson

2/28/2022

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Dear Tucker Carlson,

First, I must confess that I’ve never watched your show. Of course, I’ve also never watched Fox News. Still, I believe that makes me as qualified to comment as you feel that you’re qualified to talk about international issues.

I have seen clips of your show, and read news accounts when you make news – which I must note you do often by being outrageous.

Oh, and I also learned a lot when I read about Fox lawyers arguing in court that you were nothing but a talking head who makes things up.

Those Fox lawyers, if I recall, argued that nothing you say is to be believed and that anyone who watches you is smart enough to know you don’t deal in facts. As matter of fact, this is what Fox attorney Erin Murphy said about you in court:

“Would a reasonable viewer be coming here (to your show) and thinking, ‘This is where I’m going to be hearing the news of the day?’”

Again, Tuck (if I may call you Tuck) that was one of your employer’s lawyers making a defense of Fox against a slander suit. In which she said you, in effect, don’t know what you’re talking about.

So, to translate legal talk into plain talk: If anyone who watches your show thinks it has anything to do with fact-based news, that viewer just is not too bright, according to Fox lawyers.

But you are – congratulations by the way – Fox’s number one talk show host! And I think the leading cable news host. And, how did you get there? You lied. And your lawyers admit you lie. And, apparently your viewers don’t know that you lie. They think you speak the Gospel.

What a world. Oh yeah, it’s also kinda like when you won’t answer the question about whether or not you’re vaccinated (but you and I know the truth. Wink wink). It just wouldn’t fit your image to admit you have protection from a vaccine that guest after guest that you invite on your show says doesn’t work. By the way, they lie too.

It’s important to know, though, that that lawsuit, filed by former Playboy model Karen McDougal was thrown out by the judge. The judge ruled that McDougal’s claims that you defamed her didn’t pass the high bar of being defamatory.

The judge said the remarks: “were rhetorical hyperbole and opinion commentary to frame a political debate and, as such are not actionable as defamation.”

A key moment in the case came when the judge asked “does somebody in Mr. Carlson’s position have a duty of inquirity?” The answer was no.

Translation: you have no responsibility to check the facts before you start broadcasting. No need to check the facts when, well, you don’t use many facts. As such, the judge ruled, you didn't defame Miss McDougal because, well, again according to Fox' lawyers, you don't tell the truth nor do your employers expect you to. They just want ratings because, well, ratings sell advertising.

Such a job! And you get to soak in the admiration of millions of viewers who actually think you are telling the truth!!

You also made a positive documentary about Viktor Orban, Hungary’s prime minister. During his times in office, Mr. Orban rolled back press freedom, pulled back on judicial independence and undermined multiparty democracy.

But that was just a warmup.

You recently have been talking more positively about Vladimir Putin, a murderer, thief and thug (among other things) who today is invading an independent sovereign country -- and you side with him over not just the Ukrainian people but also over the government. Just like your role model (Donald Trump) who called Putin a genius.

But I’ve rambled on enough (you can understand how that happens, I know). Let’s just say, your own network should be putting warnings up on your show that “this show contains very few facts but many lies. And, it contains few morals.”

I don’t know if this is true or not but I read it on the internet so I assume it is true: you are worth $30 million thanks to books, an inheritance and your multi-million dollar Fox salary.

Not bad for a guy whose bosses’ lawyers admitted in court that you lie on air and no one who watches your show should expect anything more.

I guess you made the right choice though – the truth doesn’t pay as much.

It just feels a whole lot better.

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An open letter to Tucker Carlson

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