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Don't get cocky

6/24/2020

No one should take his/her eyes off the ball of defeating Donald Trump.

Yes, he’s sinking in the polls. Yes, he’s desperately increasing his racist activities. Yes, he continues his base-pleasing rhetoric. He’s ignoring commenting publicly on the pandemic, unless it’s to say it’s “dying out” even as numerous states are peaking again. And, yes, his Bill Barr-led Justice Department is ignoring all boundaries that protect the rule of law.

He’s doing all those things and more which can lead Trump opponents to think he’s getting desperate and even he think his reelection odds are decreasing.

But that is all true only if you’re among the many who never understood the Trump appeal in the first place.

There is still a not-so-Silent Minority of the country who would rather eat razor blades than vote against him. Trump is saying out loud the things they are thinking. They like that.

This morning’s New York Times reports on its latest poll which shows Joe Biden increasing his national lead to 14 percentage points. That is among, as the Times reports, “the most dismal showings of Mr. Trump’s presidency, and a sign that he is the clear underdog right now…”

Key words in that description are “right now.” Polls are only good for the days they are taken, if that.

That poll comes before what will surely come to be known as the dirtiest campaign in American history. Trump’s full-throated attacks on Biden are at best a whisper so far. And Biden, a self-admitted gaffe machine, has barely stepped out of his home basement to campaign.

If it turns out to be a Biden landslide, great. But if we ever take our eyes off the goal, who knows?

Take, for example, Tom Diamond, 31, a Republican in Fort Worth, Texas, who the Times reports said he plans to vote for Trump but with misgivings. He called the President a “poor leader.” He points to Biden as a “guy you can trust.” But Trump’s views politically are closer to his own on key issues.

“Part of you feels just icky voting for him (Trump),” Diamond said, “but definitely from a policy perspective that’s where my vote’s going to go.”

That’s part of Trump's appeal. Trump, whose policy views over the last 30 years have shifted from left to right, literally, will say anything to get Mr. Diamond’s vote. That’s what we’re up against. Everyone in this country cares about what types of Supreme Court justices are nominated, whichever side you’re on – and that is the sole issue they will vote on.

Trump lately has been tweeting numerous incidents of black men violently attacking white people and he’s accusing, again but now more often, former President Obama of “treason” for allegedly tapping Trump’s campaign phones four years ago. With no proof. But, he does have an attorney general who is obviously in perfect tune with Trump’s desires. So expect something to come out on that at some point – true or not true.

He’s repeatedly calling the deadly coronavirus the “Kung Flu,” a clear racist label. (Yes, I know the media often has called it the Wujan Flu, but that’s the city where it apparently began. Kung Flu is a clear slap at Asian Americans.)

He tweeted a manipulated version of that adorable video we all saw of a white and a black toddler running toward each other for a close hug. The manipulated version showed one toddler chasing the other as if in a racist attack. (As if toddlers know what a racist attack is.)

And that comes at a time when white Americans are saying, with honest emotion, that the problem with racism is more widespread and ingrained in our society than even aware whites understood.

Trump, who started his first presidential campaign as an effort to reignite his brand and finished it with a four-year rental in the White House, first ran to win a primary, which means he needed a plurality of votes. He accomplished that. And then went up against probably the only Democratic candidate he could beat – Hillary Clinton, who was disliked even by many who supported her.

Terry Sullivan, a Republican strategist, told the Times that Trump is “the Rod Stewart of politicians – he may keep coming up with new material but deep down he knows his fans just want to hear ‘Wake Up Maggie,’ so he keeps playing the same tune because he can’t stand the thought of them not loving his performance.”

Or, in this context, "Wake up, people, I think I got something to say to you."

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John Bolton's timing

6/18/2020

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This isn’t a perfect world.

If it was, John Bolton would have testified to the House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate would have voted to find the President guilty of high crimes and misdemeanors.

But, all together now, this is not a perfect world.

Even if Bolton had testified, the enablers in the U.S. Senate were not about to convict the President earlier this year. It was pre-coronavirus and, thus, pre-the economy collapsing. And before Black Lives Matter became a serious cry from a diverse cross-section of Americans calling for justice and an end to racism.

And if you think Bolton’s testimony would have convinced the Republican senators that Trump was guilty of putting himself ahead of his country, I have a bridge over troubled waters to sell you.

People can, and are, criticizing Bolton for supposedly putting the millions he was paid for his book ahead of his duty as a citizen and testifying. There probably is some truth in that.

Many Trump supporters are simply saying Bolton is lying. Maybe. But while he clearly was not happy serving Trump (in two different jobs) he definitely lost any satisfaction in his job when he saw Trump wouldn’t do things his way (which may have been the right way, who knows?). And when he saw Trump doing corrupt things like trying to get the Chinese to help him win re-election.

When you read that section of Bolton's book it does begin to explain why, when the virus was growing in this country, Trump was saying such positive things about Chinese President Shi.

And, Bolton may be a truth teller. Many non-Trump supporters have read the stories about Bolton’s book and asked, “what’s new?” What’s new is that a former senior advisor to the President is putting his name to the allegations. That’s a major thing.

When he said he’d respond to a subpoena, Bolton was either putting sales of his book ahead of the country’s interests or honestly wanted to wait for a court decision on a colleague questioning if he had to answer a subpoena on the topic. One could make a case he had an obligation to do that to see what the courts decided.

Bottom line – it doesn’t matter. And Bolton may have fallen into the perfect timing for the claims in his book to be accepted by some voters. The book comes after former Defense Secretary retired Gen. James Mattis made public his belief that Trump is not worthy of the office. And it comes after former Chief of Staff and retired Gen. John Kelly backed up Mattis comments. Earlier in his presidency many voters apparently discounted former Secretary of State Rex Tillerson calling Trump a “moron.” Bolton’s book seems to back up that claim.

The book comes while the coronavirus is still a significant threat even if Trump and his minions are saying it’s been defeated. It comes while the economy is still making up its mind what to do. It comes while many of us are still afraid to go to a restaurant or into retail stores.

In other words, in my mind, it comes at the perfect time to possibly finally undo the Trump presidency and lead to his losing the election in November.

Now, there is plenty of time before November for all kinds of things that could and will happen between now and then.

For example:

The coronavirus cases in the country could spike again.
The economy could stay in horrible shape.
Trump’s re-election numbers could continue to be shaky though the election.

Or,

There might actually be a legitimate vaccine to battle the virus
And, there might actually be a proven treatment to cure people with the virus
The economy may show sufficient signs that it is recovering
The millions of people thrown out of work could be rehired
And Trump will put his opposition research (the truth and the contrived) to use against Joe Biden.

No one knows what the future holds in this regard.

It may be that Bolton fell into the perfect time to tell his truths about what he witnessed while national security advisor. It doesn’t take a lot of voters to switch from their 2016 position of backing Trump and their 2020 view that he is not up to the job and Joe Biden is a nice guy.

Whichever way you fall on that question will determine if this turns out to be a perfect world.

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Today in history

6/8/2020

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On this date in history:

One hundred and 70 years ago today, President Zachary Taylor died after just 16 months in office.
86 years ago, Donald Duck made his theatrical debut with Wise Little Hen.
Seventy-five years ago today, 1.5 million people in Los Angeles watched a victory parade for George S. Paton and James Doolittle.
Seventy years ago today, B. Jay Cooper was born in Waterbury, Conn.
Fifty years ago today ...

Wait, what? Seventy years ago who was born?

Yes, today, June 9, is my 70th birthday. Birthdays with 0’s were never huge for me. If I turned one of the zeroes – 20, 30, 40, etc. – didn’t bother me much. For me it was the “5” years. Twenty-five seemed like you were accepting the label “adult” which separated you from the social activity of going to bars with your friends, or playing pool in the pool halls.

Was the same for 35, 45, different milestones but milestones just the same. Forty? No biggie. Sixty, again, no biggie.

But 70! Damn. As a former newspaper reporter, I’ve been a reader and was a writer of obits which are important to the family and not as easy to research and write as one might think. I also, of course, wanted to trace passing of folks who were friends, celebrities. At 70 you start noticing a lot of people are passing of natural causes who are younger than you. That’s unsettling.

It’s like each of the next years is not to be taken for granted any more than any of the preceding years, I guess. But then again now...now I'm 70!!

You also look back and see what trails you’ve left behind. I had an unexpected career. Always wanted to be a newspaper guy. That's all I wanted to be. Achieved that. thanks to my college's system of cooperative education, at 19 and for the next 12 or so years that’s what I did. Happy as a clam. Saw things I wouldn’t have seen without being a reporter and met people I never would have met.

Then came an opportunity to test the political waters as a staff guy on a campaign for governor of Connecticut. We lost, but it gave me a taste of another kind of challenge.

Long story short, it shortly started me into a career of politics as a staff guy for the next 15 or so years. Then, I did what all ex-political types do: I became a dreaded Washington consultant. That’s the bulk of my career in about five sentences.

More important, of course, was the personal side. A marriage that gave me three beautiful daughters who became beautiful mothers which made me … a grandfather! Times six.

Which brings me to a couple of weeks ago. My oldest grandson called to let us know that his longtime girlfriend is pregnant. I rolled into congratulating him and her, which led me to realize my oldest daughter was about to be a grandmother -- at the ripe young age of 45 (ironically, the same age I first became a grandparent). Lord, I’m going to be the father of a grandmother, I thought. Getting old.

Then my wife (who I’d met in college, didn’t see for 30 years which led to dating and marriage) looks at me and says, “You’re going to be a great-grandfather!” Feeling older.

In 1969 I won a lottery, the only one I’ve ever won. It was the lottery for the draft. Few in my generation wanted to fight in Vietnam, a controversial war. I, like most of my generation, lost friends not only who were killed but who came home damaged physically and emotionally. I pulled number 335 in the draft. Yes, I still remember the number. Maybe not all that old.

The recent protests in the United States brought back memories of protests of my younger days. I was at a protest at Yale University in 1969 during the New Haven trial of Black Panther Bobby Seale who was alleged to have killed Wayne Kimbro, a New Haven Panther. The National Guard was called in to deal with the protestors and moved us from one Yale courtyard to the next, using tear gas to push us along. Just as the authorities did at the White House the other day.

Another was the first Earth Day demonstration in Washington, D.C., in 1970. I was in college in Boston and borrowed a college floor mate’s bedroll so I could sleep on the DC mall. A group of us drove to D.C., we rolled out our bedrolls on the Mall and went to look around the thousands of protestors. Came back and someone stole my floor mate’s bedroll. Peace, love and they stole my bedroll.

And, now, transition from those 1970 demonstrations to my 70th birthday as we witness the many protests over the murder of George Floyd, which seems to be pointing to a change coming in civil rights and policing. I may be older but some things never change. Maybe this time.

Of course, we need to remember that I’ve already lived 70 years and really today notes the beginning my 71st. Not sure that makes it better or worse.

So what does one do on one’s 70th birthday in the middle of a pandemic? I was going to have a little party with what’s left of the extended family. But, the pandemic interfered and I hope to do that in the not too distant future.

I’ll probably begin my day by reading the obits like every day, check to see if my name’s listed (sick joke, I know, but also cheap).

It will be a day like any other. A little golf in the morning, hoping the golf gods look down on me and grant me a fabulous round. Uh, I’ll let you know but based on how I’ve been playing, I think the gods will skip to someone who has demonstrated a bit more talent than I for the stupidest game ever invented, and also the game that always draws you back.

The rest of the day I’ll likely sit in the den, think about being 70 and ask myself, “How did THAT happen?”

Probably Trump's fault.

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Reality

6/6/2020

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All the country’s a stage and all the men and women merely players.

The White House is the set for Donald Trump’s regular productions. Calling him the “reality show” president is wrong. He is the producer of a daily show that has nothing to do with reality. He is a child of television and how he appears on it matters more to him than most anything.

There are hundreds of examples but let’s stick to this week.

Yesterday, he held what the White House called a “press conference” but what actually was a roughly half hour platform for him to claim credit for a surprisingly good jobs number that he had nothing to do with. Jobs weren’t created, they returned after businesses closed because of the pandemic. And governors, some prematurely, began to reopen their states.

Earlier in the week Trump staged a show so he could claim to be “your law and order president.” Outside the White House he lined up National Guard and representatives from pretty much every federal agency that has something to do with law enforcement.

Then, whether under the President’s orders or not, they charged peaceful protestors to either “extend the perimeter” of protection around the White House, as the Attorney General claims, or to clear the way for the President to march across the street for a very odd photo opp in front of St. John’s Episcopal Church. Pick which version you like.

Since that day, the federal government has been further strengthening a wall around the White House, and Mexico isn’t paying for this one either.

If in Trump's mind his being escorted to the presidential bunker under the White House demonstrated weakness, what does building a black wall around the people’s house demonstrate?

Trump has invited the G-7 (plus Russia and a couple of other non-members) to attend a meeting at the White House. Within the wall? This is the way we show the world that we are the land of the free and home of the brave? By showing off a huge wall around the White House?

Also at Friday’s “press conference” touting the jobs number the President put words in the mouth of George Floyd, the man who was murdered on camera by police and that has sparked days of protests around the country and the world.. Trump said:

"Hopefully George is looking down right now and saying this is a great thing that's happening for our country. It's a great day for him. It's a great day for everybody. This is a great day for everybody. This is a great, great day in terms of equality.”

It also was the day after a memorial service for Floyd.

I can’t even.

As to the President’s claims that the country’s economy has returned to a level of “strength.” I call bull. It was a one-day number and even if it is a sign of returning to a strong economy, he did nothing to earn it.

Lastly, I do think we are at the brink of a new approach when it comes to race in this country. Floyd’s murder has hit almost everyone for the tragedy it is. The protesters that we’ve seen are a very diverse lot – blacks, whites, Asians, Latinos – the full smorgasbord that is America.

It just feels different than those hopeful times we’ve all experienced in the past when it seemed real change was coming but did not. This time, I think real change is coming.

One political sign is that Trump’s former chief of staff and his former defense secretary, men he proudly announced were “his” generals and touted as great men, publicly gave their honest views of this President who they say divides not unites the country. Trump now says they were bums. Alaska Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski said she is struggling whether or not to vote for Trump. He immediately said he would back anyone in the party against her. Most other Republicans senators held firm lavishing praise on the president, which is the only support he really likes.

There are more reasons.

One is that our country has become even more diverse. “Minorities” are growing in America. Inter-racial marriage and the resulting multi-racial offspring are growing. This is partly how attitudes change.

No one condones the looting that happened early in the protests. But a couple of days later the real protestors were stopping looters from looting in many cities. Cops joined in kneeling with the protestors. They know those in uniform who killed Floyd are a minority of cops in the nation, and they want people to know that. And, there were more examples of police brutality including pushing down a 75-year-old white protestor in Buffalo, N.Y., who lay there as blood poured from his ear.

That’s not a reality show, that’s reality.

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The President of Law and Order?

6/1/2020

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I couldn’t believe my eyes as the President of the United States ordered in the National Guard as props on to the White House grounds, to be deployed across the street to stare down hundreds of peaceful protestors.

He said he’d speak at 6:15 p.m. which was another ploy because he hadn’t yet given the order for the troops to move on the protestors with flash bangs, tear gas, rubber bullets and threats of violence to clear out Lafayette Park.

He also was hoping, I’m sure, his statement would be carried live on the network news shows. Because that’s really all he cares about. Looking strong on television.

But he hadn’t dispersed the protesters so the military police charged forward once, twice and pushed the protesters out of Lafayette Park and down the street. It all was to clear the way for him to pronounce himself the President of Law and Order. The flash bangs and all went on as the President, lacking only a white uniform with gold braids, marched to the Rose Garden podium to deliver a statement as the sounds of tear gas and flash bangs were going off across the street and peaceful protestors, citizens of the free United States of America, were gassed and pushed blocks away.

Then the President marched across the street, through where the protesters had been, because of course couldn't mix with those people, to stand in front of the historic St. John’s Episcopal Church, not to meet with the pastor after his church was set on fire over the weekend, but to stand with his loyal staff so he could hold up a Bible. Donald J. Trump, multiple divorcee, alleged (pretty good allegations in fact) sexual harasser and possible abuser, could stand in front of the church and hold up a Bible for a photo opp. When was the last time he had a Bible in his hands?

I wanted to cry that this buffoon, this charlatan, this man who fancies himself a TV producer put on a show. He put on a show as thousands of Americans were protesting the killing of yet another black man by the police.

He set it up with his phone call with governors earlier in the day when he said they were fools for not acting with more force against protesters angry over the murder of another black man on the street, in front of cameras. He'd show the governors! Boy would he!!

Oh he made an obligatory mention of George Floyd, killed by police in broad daylight with malice, so that he could claim he was on the side of the angels. But just a brief mention to try to show he actually cared about that black man in Minnesota. Using him, too, as another prop for his show.

On his walk back to the White House his son-in-law, a typical Richie Rich white kid of privilege who is a failure at business as was his father-in-law, could be seen with a broad smile on his face as he talked to Trump. A smile. What do you think that smile was about? I thought he was likely saying, “Good job, Dad. We pulled it off.” A broad smile after they pushed the little people who actually thought they truly had to the right to protest, to push them out of the master's way.

That, my friends, is the President of the United States. We now rely, again, on the governors to protect us from the President of the United States. To keep the troops out of their states. The President has no authority to send the military into states. Indeed, that was among the reasons our Constitution was written the way it was – so that no King could dictate to the people what he wants.

That’s the thing Donald J. Trump has never and will never understand – he works for us. We don’t bow to him.

This clown, who also has great powers which should scare the hell out of us, leveraged this tragedy of another black man killed by police for his own benefit. He used trained guardsmen as a prop to clear a path for his triumphant walk to…what…an empty church? For what, to hold up a Bible that he borrowed from someone who actually had read it.

When I lived in Washington and walked to work, I walked past St. John's and through Lafayette Park. I took that route to marvel at the White House, often wondering what I was doing in such a majestic city that served as the base for so many historic figures, where I had worked in the White House for two presidents. And now I was walking to my consulting job. I took that route because I could walk past the White House, a building I have great respect for. Not to pine for the old days, but to admire what it stands for.

When I saw how Trump and his minions sullied that walk for a photo opp, gassed citizens he was elected to protect to clear the way for him. I realized, again, how far down this man has taken our country.

He stood in front of the church holding that Bible up proudly, surrounded by white men and one white woman as his loyalists. Lifting that Bible in the air as if he had respect for it. To stand alongside the memory of George Floyd? No, to try to save his election.

We know he respects nothing. He wants to divert us from the horrible job he’s done with the pandemic, the embarrassing job he has done for us in the world, as he fails to try to get re-elected.

We cannot allow that to happen. We just can’t.

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Don't get cocky

John Bolton's timing

Today in history

Reality

The President of Law and Order?

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