Blog Posts

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

6/9/2022

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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Don't call me Shirley...or sir

2/17/2022

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One of moviedom's biggest comic contributions came from Airplane! when Ted Striker (Robert Hays) tells Dr. Rumack (Leslie Nielson) "surely, you can't be serious." Rumack replies:

"I am serious - and don't call me Shirley."

No one's calling me Shirley but they are calling me "sir."

And I’m not liking it.

When I was younger, I called most everyone over a certain age, "sir". Just seemed appropriate and respectful, especially if I couldn’t remember his name. In fact over the weekend, I saw a fellow who’s older than me who I hadn’t seen in a while and, without thinking about it, I called him “sir.”

Now, I never called women of a certain age “ma’am,” but that’s another story.

It was bad enough when some 20-somethings at the golf course said to me, “Sir, you mind if we play through?” Or, “sir, are you waiting for someone to play with or can we tee off?”

That was hard enough to get past. But not the hardest. Lately, men in their 50’s and older call me sir. That’s hard to swallow, I have to be honest.

Clearly, you call someone “sir” mostly when you don’t know them or they are, well, of a certain age.

The thing is, and I’m guessing you may be this way, too, when I look in the mirror I don’t see grey hair. Honestly. It does come out grey in photos but I figure that’s just the way these camera phones take a picture.

But, I recently saw my uncle who is about to turn 90, bless him. Now, he didn’t call me sir but I hadn’t seen him in a while and the first thing he said to me – the very first words out of his mouth – were “you’ve gotten white!” exclamation point not added, it was part of his sentence. And he wasn’t referring to my skin.

Not only do I not see grey hair in the mirror but I don’t feel 71 (soon to be 72). I still think I’m, well, young. Don't we all as we age? But I know that isn’t true. Aches and pains that never ached or pained before, they’ve become more frequent.

And, the first thing I read every day is the obits in my home town paper, hoping I don’t see another classmate or childhood friend in them. Or me for that matter.

I see classmates passing. Athletes from high school passing. Names I hadn’t thought about in years. Names of people who probably barely noticed my existence in high school but I remember them. Hell, I’m reading about rock stars of my era who are turning 80! And still touring!

I’m the grandfather of six. My oldest daughter made me a granddad at 45. Skip a head 25 years and THAT grandson and his partner had a baby a year ago making me a GREAT-grandfather.

That hit me but what hit harder was it also made me the father of a grandmother.

Yeah, just call me "sir."

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Are Trump's followers standing back and ready again?

2/3/2022

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Former President Donald Trump is beginning to hold rallies and conduct interviews with right-wing media, getting attention primarily with his base.

In those rallies and interviews, he is calling for pardons for those arrested in the Jan. 6 violence to stop the electoral vote. He is calling for protests in the streets if the various prosecutors investigating him and his businesses are found to be doing “anything illegal.”

I’m not sure what the former president is referring to when he says "illegal” in that context. I’m guessing he means whatever he deems to be illegal but there also is prosecutorial misconduct that occurs when a prosecutor intentionally breaks a law or a code of professional ethics while prosecuting a case. Trump could claim almost anything under that rubric to be “illegal.”

About the arrested rioters, he claims they have been “treated unfairly” and nothing has been done about the “other side.” For the record the more than 700 arrested have been charged with crimes ranging from possessing weapons or committing violence to seditious conspiracy and conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding.

Trump didn’t identify who the “other side” is but he could mean Antifa, he could mean the cops – who were fighting the rioters and could be the “other side”-- or he could be referring to that unidentified “they” that in the world of some in the extreme right could mean anyone who opposes his people. “They,” of course, have been the enemy all along to Trump.

Antifa is a decentralized, leaderless movement that vigorously opposes fascism. Antifa, many on the right believe, led the efforts in various street protests in the aftermath of killings of black men by police. Most protestors at those events were peaceful demonstrators. But when Antifa shows up, the demonstrations often turn violent.

If they broke laws, they should be – and many have been – arrested. They, though, were nowhere to be seen when Trump supporters broke in to Congress and threatened the lives of congressmen and senators in general, and then Vice President Mike Pence and Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi specifically.

I think what Trump is doing is laying the ground work for the possibility that any of the investigations into him wind up with him being charged with crimes and then we see serious protests and violence in major cities.

He’s proven he can incite a crowd to do his bidding and he does have a strong base of voters in the Republican Party. Remember when he told the Proud Boys to “stand back and stay ready” during a debate against Joe Biden? And those Proud Boys definitely stood back and were ready for January 6.

Trump also, of course, makes everything about himself and no one else. If he’s charged with crimes, the system must still be targeting him in "witch hunts" because they always have, he’ll say. His, followers who do take every word he speaks to heart, likely would follow his direction and take to the streets if he’s accused of a crime, real or imagined.

I hope I’m wrong.

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A 'meh' first year?

1/19/2022

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Tomorrow will mark President Biden’s first year in office. How’s it going so far?

A mixed bag of successes (infrastructure, vaccine delivery, pandemic aid, youth poverty) and bad (Afghanistan, voting rights, pandemic, perception of the economy, among others).

Call it a “meh” first year in a very challenging period of our history.

Miscalculations, there've been a few. Probably the biggest was that his well-earned reputation as a successful, competent and likeable senator (in another political era) did not result in easy (or many) legislative successes. His relationships from the days he was in the Senate are primarily gone or overtaken by sheer political greed or newcomers who think about their Twitter feed first, fund-raising second and governing maybe third, at best.

Biden, despite his years as vice president to President Obama which updated his familiarity with the Senate, never before faced such hostility from across the aisle or such push back on his proposals. Including from an invigorated Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell who has said his main goal is to block Biden’s agenda. Just as was his main goal during the Obama presidency.

Then there are senators Synema and Manchin, from his own party, who are blocking much success at all in a 50-50 Senate. The overall partisanship – both in Congress and among the populace – is at a fever pitch not seen since the Civil War.

The forces against him are strong and the mistakes of his Administration are many, including in the communications department.

Still, as his minions are saying in defense, “he was elected to four years, not one.” Problem is, unless he or his people find a winning legislative strategy in a year when Republicans are planning on taking over the Congress in the mid-term election which means little or no cooperation, the next three years aren’t likely to be much better.

Which leads us to some recent polling data.

Biden is under water, as they say, in his approval from the country. The important right track/wrong track figure: 68 percent of voters say the country is on the wrong track. Just 40 percent approve of the job Biden is doing. Republicans have become favored over Democrats to handle the economy, jobs, immigration, national security and gun policy.

Democrats barely are beating the GOP on several issues they owned just one year ago: education, the pandemic and voting rights.

Ominous too is that the public that elected him for his competence and trustworthiness now has significant doubts about his character. According to the latest POLITCO-Morning Consult poll, majorities of voters said they disagreed with the following statements:

Biden is energetic (58 percent)
Biden is a strong leader (57 percent)
Biden is a clear communicator (56 percent)
Biden keeps his promises (53 percent)
Biden is capable of leading the country (51 percent)

Asked to give Biden a grade one year into his term:

37 percent gave him an F
11 percent gave him an A
And 20 percent gave him a B

Meh.

Many folks voted for Biden because he is a nice guy, well credentialed AND he isn’t Donald Trump. Many of us viewed him as a “transitional” president to a quieter, more logical time than the Trump years. If Biden doesn’t seek a second term, which is likely, it’s not clear who is waiting in the wings on the Democratic side, except for Vice President Kamala Harris who is already looking at a political makeover after a less than successful first year. Of course, it's way too early to make any definitive guesses in presidential politics.

In the background is a reinvigorated former President Donald Trump who is endorsing candidates (trying to maintain his position as the leader of the GOP) and begun holding rallies again, still voicing his lie that the 2020 election was stolen from him, an argument his base gladly cheers on, overlooking entirely the facts, and the protest/insurrection that occurred on Jan. 6, motivated by Trump’s rhetoric.

Trump has potential opposition to get the 2024 nomination, primarily at the moment from Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, a Trump acolyte who is doing scary things in Florida on the pandemic and voting rights and incurring Trump’s wrath for being ungrateful to the help and support Trump gave him in his election. Of course his wrath or his praise last only until the next bright object comes along.

It ain’t pretty no matter which side you’re on.

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January 6 anniversary thoughts

1/5/2022

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On the eve of the January 6 insurrection/riot/coup/tourists-taking-pictures, out in the open, right in front of our collective faces, former President Donald Trump is laying the groundwork for another White House bid, and this time the lying he’s done (pretending the 2020 election was stolen from him) may wind up actually happening through seemingly legitimate avenues. But to his benefit.

He is endorsing state-level candidates for Secretary of the State, the top person overseeing elections in states, and attorneys general, those folks who are the top state law enforcement official if there is a legal question..

While he tried to get the Georgia secretary of state, a Republican, to “find” enough votes for him to win the state in 2020, the secretary held firm and did nothing to the votes, which were officially, and legally, cast by Georgia voters.

Picture what happens if the secretary of state is someone who has been furthering Trump’s big lie (that he actually won in 2020) and who the former president endorsed. And who has blind loyalty to Trump. Picture that.

Shades of Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orban, who Trump endorsed for re-election last week. Not only is Trump’s endorsement unusual – typically American politicians stay out of other countries’ politics – but he endorsed a “political strongman,” which in this case means an autocrat. An autocrat is someone who insists on complete obedience from others and is unaccountable to anyone or any law. Sound like anyone you know?

That’s the government Trump tried to create when in office and the type of “democracy” he’d run if ever re-elected. Someone (Steve Bannon?) came up with an interesting strategy for Trump: work the system, endorse candidates who will do your bidding in key spots that oversee elections. If they get elected, they can help you get elected. If Trump gets reelected, watch out Prime Minister Orban and Vladimir Putin. You ain’t seen an autocrat until you see Donald J. Trump in power with the necessary backup at all levels of government. Then again, you both would have a solid ally.

This is why I, and a gazillion others, say our democracy is at stake in the next election. If Trumpophiles get elected, he strengthens his hand not to win fairly, but to cheat. If you don’t think that’s true, just look at what Trump’s been doing since 2016. He claimed then the election would be rigged against him, setting up an excuse when he (as even he expected) lost. What happened? He won. Fair and square. It was no longer rigged.

Early in the 2020 campaign for president he said the only way he’d lose is if the election was rigged against him. What happened? He lost the popular vote by seven million votes and got swamped in the Electoral College.

And if the Democrat’s rigged that election, two questions: Why did the Republican Senate and House members win? Or, alternatively, why didn’t the Democrats rig the election so more Democrats won? Then, their margins in Congress wouldn’t be so small that they have to plead for every vote they get among Democrats? Why not give yourselves solid majorities in each chamber?

Then, and I’ll go out on a limb here, Trump led a rebellion at the Congress on January 6, 2021, when the electoral votes are counted, as required by the Constitution. He tried to get then-Vice President Pence to cheat for him by rejecting various states’ votes, enough for him to win. And Pence refused because the Constitution doesn’t give the vice president that power. The lap dog to Trump for four years, who said and did things no one ever though Pence would say or do, may actually have heard the chants on the Hill that day to “hang Mike Pence"; but he did the right thing and followed the Constitution.

What if you get someone who will follow Trump’s lead and not follow the Constitution, the document that we have lived by for more than 200 years and has served all of us well – Democrats AND Republicans?

Imagine, if you will, a Republican Congress and Trump in the White House. Already there is talk among senior Republicans (Sen. Ted Cruz and third-ranking Republican in the House, Elise Stefanik who replaced Liz Cheney when she was thrown out of leadership for opposing Trump). They are making noises that they will impeach President Joe Biden for his policies at the southern border. Huh? I dunno, but if they’re in power, they will try do it. And with Trump’s hold on the Party, no Republican will be against it.

Meantime, Republicans are pushing state-level efforts at changing voting laws not to expand voter participation but to restrict it – well, at least among those groups they see as being against them. In some states, they are putting the state legislature in position to overturn elections in their states.

To protect against that, Democrats in the Senate want to pass a federal law expanding voting rights. Who’s blocking that? Well, every Republican senator and one or two Democratic senators who agree with the legislation but disagree with doing away with the Senate filibuster to get it done. Why? According to Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia, the key Democratic blocker: he’s for the change but only if it is voted on with a bi-partisan majority. No Republican senator has supported either the voting changes the Democrats are pushing and no Republican is for changing the filibuster.

I can hear some of my Republican friends saying, “yeah, but what about those Democrats who refuse to vote for any bill sponsored by any Republican who voted against impeaching Trump? Those Democrats are being silly. They are elected to serve their constituents not their own egos. But, it doesn’t exactly rise to setting up a system to, oh, what’s the word I’m looking for? Oh, yeah, rig a presidential election.

A recent YouGov poll shows that just 38 percent of the people expect the losing side in a presidential election to concede peacefully while 62 percent said they foresee “violence over losing” an election.

That is a poll of Americans. Americans. Nearly four in 10 Americans expect the losing side in an American presidential election to concede peacefully in America. That means, if my math is correct, that six in 10 Americans don’t expect a peaceful concession.

In America.

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