All posts by Dr. ESP

The Other Split Screen

Religion

Much is being made about the difference in Easter messaging from President Joe Biden and presumptive MAGA nominee* Donald Trump.  The official statement from the White House reads as follows.

Jill and I send our warmest wishes to Christians around the world celebrating Easter Sunday. Easter reminds us of the power of hope and the promise of Christ’s Resurrection.

As we gather with loved ones, we remember Jesus’ sacrifice. We pray for one another and cherish the blessing of the dawn of new possibilities. And with wars and conflict taking a toll on innocent lives around the world, we renew our commitment to work for peace, security, and dignity for all people.

From our family to yours, happy Easter and may God bless you.

Biden added a more personal statement on Twitter.

To all those gathering in churches and homes around the world today: Happy Easter.

May God bless and keep you.

Trump chose this occasion to post 77 screeds on his grossly overvalued Truth Social.  Rather than s message of renewal it focused on retribution.  He began with Wisconsin representative Mike Gallagher, who announced his retirement last month after being hounded by colleagues for not endorsing the impeachment of Homeland Security secretary  Alejandro Mayorkas, despite the lack of evidence either a high crime or misdemeanor.  Trump wrote, “Never forget our cowards and weaklings!  Such a disgrace.”

He then went after his laundry list of “enemies” including Jack Smith, Fani Willis and Alvin Bragg.

HAPPY EASTER TO ALL, INCLUDING CROOKED AND CORRUPT PROSECUTORS AND JUDGES THAT ARE DOING EVERYTHING POSSIBLE TO INTERFERE WITH THE PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION OF 2024, AND PUT ME IN PRISON, INCLUDING THOSE MANY PEOPLE THAT I COMPLETELY & TOTALLY DESPISE BECAUSE THEY WANT TO DESTROY AMERICA, A NOW FAILING NATION.

However, as Arlo Guthrie would say, “That not what I came here to talk about.”  The split screen I referred to in the title involves the difference in Easter messages from Joe Biden’s and that of my congressman Aaron Bean, who sent the following email to ALL his constituents.

As we enter this Easter season, families across the nation will soon gather in their homes, churches, and places of worship to remember the crucifixion and celebrate the resurrection of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
 
From the very beginning, God so loved us that He planned and prepared a place for us to receive everything that we need for life now and eternally. We see God’s great love for us displayed on the Cross and His power demonstrated through an empty tomb.
 
In Isaiah 60:2, the prophet records, “For behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, And deep darkness the people; But the Lord will arise over you, And His glory will be seen upon you.” As your voice in our nation’s capital, I look to the light of God to guide my steps. I trust Him for wisdom and strength and praise Him for the gift of His only begotten Son.
 
On behalf of the Bean family, we wish you and all Floridians a happy Easter.
 
Christ is Risen! He is risen indeed!

First Joe Biden addresses his good wishes to “Christians  across the world,” those who have chosen to accept Jesus as the son of God and their savior.  But more important is the theme in the second paragraph.  Without reference to Jesus’ divinity, he instead talks of Jesus’ sacrifice for spreading a message of love and acceptance, something with which both Christians and non-Christians can identify.  Sacrifice is not the sole purview of the divine.  Ask Abraham Lincoln, Gandhi, Martin Luther King, Jr. or Nelson Mandela.

In stark contrast, Bean does not differentiate between his Christian and non-Christian constituents.  

As we enter this Easter season, families across the nation will soon gather in their homes, churches, and places of worship to remember the crucifixion and celebrate the resurrection of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
 
From the very beginning, God so loved us that He planned and prepared a place for us to receive everything that we need for life now and eternally. We see God’s great love for us displayed on the Cross and His power demonstrated through an empty tomb.
 
In Isaiah 60:2, the prophet records, “For behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, And deep darkness the people; But the Lord will arise over you, And His glory will be seen upon you.” As your voice in our nation’s capital, I look to the light of God to guide my steps. I trust Him for wisdom and strength and praise Him for the gift of His only begotten Son.
 
On behalf of the Bean family, we wish you and all Floridians a happy Easter.
 
Christ is Risen! He is risen indeed!

He wishes “all Floridians” a happy Easter.  Nor does he mention the one thing on which non-Christians, many of whom, myself included, can agree.  Acknowledgement of Jesus as a sage prophet and teacher and his message of peace, compassion and acceptance of all.  Can you imagine if Ilhan Omar told her constituents?

As your voice in our nation’s capital, I look to the light of Allah to guide my steps. I trust Him for wisdom and strength and praise Him for the gift of Islam.

Cries of “Sharia Law” would echo across the MAGA universe.

Aaron, before you try to convince me to accept Jesus as my Lord and savior, I suggest you try just a little harder to live by his words and teachings.  When you vote to repeal the Affordable Care Act, remember Jesus said, “I did not some here to heal the healthy.  I came here to heal the sick.”  When you promote Christian nationalism, remember the parable of the Good Samaritan.  When the crowd asked, “Who is your neighbor,” he chose the “other,” not one of his own followers.  And when you endorse a man who hawks Bibles during Holy Week to make a quick buck, remember that the one you claim as “your light and guide” cast out all those who bought and sold in the temple and said, “My house shall be called the house of prayer; but ye have made it a den of thieves.”

In other words Aaron, during this season of renewal, you might try being a better role model rather than a hypocrite. 

*Beginning with today’s post I will no longer refer to those on the other side of the aisle as the Republican Party.  It is an insult to the party’s founders and pre-MAGA members who understood politicians are elected to serve the voters not vice versa.

For what it’s worth.
Dr. ESP

Groundhog Daze

Culture, Politics

The title of today’s post is derived from waking up every morning to some unprecedented statement or action by Donald Trump which, in a different environment, would disqualify any other candidate for president of the United States.  I call it the “All You Need to Know” syndrome.  This morning there are more examples to add to the list.

Last night, at what the Washington Post called a “historic” event, two ex-presidents joined the incumbent at a Radio City Music Hall, star-studded gala that raised a record $26 million dollars in support of Joe Biden’s re-election and Democratic majorities in the House and Senate.  There were three takeaways from this event, two of which are being widely reported.

#1.  This morning, Jamie Harrison, chairman of the Democratic National Committee pointed out “every penny is being spent on opening field offices to register new voters and to make sure they show up on election day.” He felt no need to explicitly add, “In contrast to the Republican National Committee…”  This is one case where, by simply reporting facts about the Trump takeover of the RNC and the distribution of “campaign” donations, print and broadcast news is carrying this water for the Biden campaign.

#2. Mark Leibovich, staff writer at The Atlantic, reminded “Morning Joe” viewers that “while Biden was flanked by the two living, two-term, former Democratic presidents, Donald Trump stands alone on the stage.”  In other words, do not hold your breath waiting for a GOP fundraiser featuring Trump and George W. Bush.  Scarborough jumped in and added, neither would you see a former Republican vice-president (including Trump’s own), presidential nominee or vice-presidential nominee, with of course the exception of Sarah Palin.  Leibovich added two more categories to the list, former Speakers of the House John Boehner and Paul Ryan or soon to be former Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell.  In this game of “Can You Top This,” Scarborough completed the tabulation with Trump’s three secretaries of defense, two secretaries of state, first two chiefs of staff, etc.

The one that everyone missed, which in hindsight may prove to be the most important, was the pro-Palestinian protests outside the event and an interruption of Biden’s and Barack Obama’s comments about the Israel/Gaza conflict.  This “all you need to know” moment required an observer to read between the lines.  It seems Palestinian sympathizers have regularly appeared at almost every Democratic rally or event since the beginning of primary season.  On January 31, Ed Pilkington of The Guardian reported, “This month all of Biden’s big set-piece speeches marking the launch of his re-election campaign have been disrupted by pro-Palestinian protests.”  To be fair, the same did happen at one Nikki Haley rally.  On February 1, Filip Timotija of The Hill led his coverage of a Haley event with the following.  “A small group of protesters interrupted the former governor’s campaign event in Columbia, S.C., with chants of “Free, Free Palestine,” before some of them were escorted out of the event.” 

However, when I Goggled, “pro-Palestinian protests at Trump events,” the search produced more articles about last night’s fundraiser or other confrontations with Biden or his surrogates.  At the bottom of the web page, there was a report attributed to New Hampshire Public Radio about protesters outside a Trump appearance at the University of New Hampshire.  The demonstration was organized by UNH’s Palestinian Solidarity Group which implored both Biden and Trump to end what they believe to be “genocide” of Palestinian civilians.  When asked why she was there, protest organizer Adeena Ahsan, a UNH graduate student told NHPR reporter Sarah Gibson “they weren’t just protesting the current and former presidents’ foreign policy positions. They also wanted to push back on their school’s decision to give Trump a platform.”  She added, “We think it’s insane that we are paying for this, not the city of Durham, not Trump’s campaign up front — our tuition is going towards this.”

There may be a lot of reasons Palestinian supporters do not have the same presence at Trump or GOP rallies as similar Democratic events.  Maybe, they believe that Biden, the current president, can do more for their cause than a mere candidate.  Maybe, they think the Biden administration is more receptive to their concerns about a humanitarian crisis in Gaza.  But there is one more big difference, which is all you need to know.

When the protesters interrupted President Biden at last night’s Radio City Music Hall event, he replied, “That’s alright, let them go. … there are too many innocent victims, Israeli and Palestinian.”  Obama used the disruption as a teaching moment about the job of being president.

One of the realities of the presidency is that the world has a lot of joy and beauty, but it also has a lot of tragedy and cruelty,  I think people understandably oftentimes want to feel a certain surety in terms of how those decisions are made. But a president doesn’t have that luxury.

When he was again interrupted, Obama drew the comparison that exemplifies the choice we have this November.

No, no listen. You can’t just talk and not listen. … That’s what the other side does. And it is possible for us to understand that it is possible to have moral clarity and have deeply held beliefs, but still recognize that the world is complicated and it is hard to solve these problems.

We do not have to imagine how Trump would respond to these protesters.  We have his record.  “Can’t you just shoot them?  Just shoot them in the legs or something?” he asked former Defense Secretary Mark Esper on the occasion of Black Lives Matters protests in front of the White House.  In July 2017, in a speech to Long Island law enforcement officials, Trump said, “Please don’t be too nice,” implying he approved of roughing up suspects during arrests.  In August 2020 he considered sending the National Guard to Portland, Oregon to quell protests, stating, “We could fix Portland in, I would say, 45 minutes.”

Why do Palestinian supporters show up at Democratic and not Republican events?  They know they may be removed from the venue or lectured to by a former president.  They also know they will leave the event alive and unharmed.  Would they be as sure of that same outcome at a Trump rally when he is only a candidate?  Do they think a negative outcome will be less likely if he once again controls the departments of defense, homeland security and justice?  That is all they need to remember when they vote this fall.

For what it’s worth.
Dr. ESP

Naked Bias

Culture

A former president of the United States daily rants about being the victim of a two-tiered system of justice and selective prosecution.  There is one way to find out whether there is any truth to his claim.  Employ the “Sesame Street” learning technique, “Which one is not like the other?”  Here are the options.

  • On August 27, 2018, a jury found comedian Bill Cosby guilty of drugging and molesting Andrea Constand.  The former University of Arizona basketball star was represented by Gloria Allred, known for a series of high profile cases, many of which involved protection of women’s rights.
  • On January 26, 2024, a jury ordered Donald Trump to pay journalist and former Vanity Fair advice columnist E. Jean Carroll $88.3 million for continuing to call her a liar after another jury found Trump liable for sexual assault and defamation.  Carroll was represented by the New York firm of Kaplan Hecker & Fink.  Lead counsel Roberta Kaplan is described by the Washington Post as “a brash and original strategist, with neither a gift for patience nor silence, a crusader for underdogs who has won almost every legal accolade imaginable.”
  • On October 15, 2018, U.S. District Judge James Otero dismissed a defamation suit against Trump by adult film star Stormy Daniels.  On April 4, 2023, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ordered Daniels to reimburse Trump for $121,000 in legal fees associated with the 2018 case.  In 2018, Daniels was represented by Michael Avenatti who is currently serving a 14-year prison sentence for fraud and embezzlement involving clients including Daniels and Nike.

If you guessed the outlier was the case involving Stormy Daniels you would be correct.  Carroll and Constand had the best legal counsel money could buy.  In contrast, as Daniels testified in Avenatti’s federal fraud trial she hired him because “other lawyers were afraid. I was out of options.”  There is one other difference.  Cosby was accused of criminal behavior.  The Carroll and Daniels cases involved only liability and civil penalties.  Therefore, we need to review the basis on which these two outcomes diverged in order to understand how Daniels was also the victim of “naked bias.”

In her closing argument on behalf of Carroll, Kaplan include the following:

Donald Trump is prepared to use his wealth and power to defame people whenever he wants. He ignored the last verdict as if it had never happened.  While Donald Trump may not care about the law, while he certainly doesn’t care about the truth, he does care about money.  [A large punitive award] is the only way to give Ms. Carroll a chance at a normal life again where she is not regularly bullied and humiliated by one of the most powerful men on the planet.

In Daniels’ case, U.S. District Judge James Otero dismissed the charge that Trump defamed Daniels when he tweeted she had lied in 2011 about being threatened not to go public with the story of her sexual encounter with the future president.  In his ruling, Otero referred to the Tweet as “rhetorical hyperbole normally associated with politics and public discourse in the United States.”  He called the lawsuit “a fishing expedition” and declared that Daniels had “failed to show that Trump acted with actual malice or reckless disregard for the truth.”

Following Otero’s ruling, Avenatti tweeted, “Trump’s contrary claims are as deceptive as his claims about the inauguration attendance.”  Clever, but not the fact based-response one would imagine if Roberta Kaplan or Gloria Allred were representing his client.

Much of the discussion about a two-tiered system of justice centers on money and power.  In this case, I believe it rests largely on the profession of the plaintiff.  Carroll was a respected journalist.  Constand, at the time of her assault, was director of operations for the Temple University women’s basketball team.  Stormy Daniels was a porn star.  That should not make a difference.  Of the three plaintiffs, Daniels may have paid the highest price.  Because she feared for the safety of her young daughter, she gave full custody to her ex-husband.  That fear was based largely on the threat she reported in 2011 in which the stranger who approached her car warned her, “Oh it’s a beautiful little girl, would be a shame if something happened to her mom. Forget about this story, leave Mr. Trump alone.”  Which is more credible?  The threat never happened.  Or a mother was willing to give up rights to her only child because she was honestly afraid and did not want her daughter to be collateral damage if someone tried to permanently silence her.

My question.  Beginning April 15, Donald Trump will face a jury of his peers who will decide if, in fact, he had a sexual encounter with Daniels and paid her to keep it quiet.  If he is found guilty, will the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals apologize to Daniels and reverse the 2023 order for her to pay Trump’s legal expenses.  Contrary to Judge Otero’s finding, it would be clear Trump “…acted with malice [AND] with reckless disregard for the truth.”

For what it’s worth.
Dr. ESP

Let My People Be

Politics, Religion

Welcome to Part II of National Governors Association Week at Deprogramming101.  In Part I, I shared my respect for the GOP governors and their staffs with whom I worked during my tenure at the association.  There were, of course, exceptions.  I share the following personal experience to provide context for today’s post.

In the mid-1990s, I attended an off-camera working session on proposed national education goals chaired by then NGA chair Carroll Campbell, the Republican governor of South Carolina.  Campbell made this topic the primary focus of his year as leader of the bi-partisan organization.  During the discussion, Republican Mississippi governor Kirk Fordice said he hoped the final version would be consistent with Christian values.  Campbell asked his colleague if a more inclusive approach would be to refer to traditional Judeo-Christian values.  Fordice replied, “If that’s what I meant, that is what I would have said.”  I was reminded of this episode watching an excerpt from Donald Trump’s infomercial for “God Bless America” Bibles.  Having been excluded from this Fordice-inspired grift, I decided it was time for my tribe to get a piece of the action.

The following are excerpts from an infomercial for the “God Save Democracy (GSD)” Haggadah, available at most temple gift stores and on-line booksellers for 60 shekels ($16.32 USD).

Do you wish your Passover seder was more relevant to the issues of the day yet still contained many of the traditional symbols and familiar passages associated with the exodus from Egypt?  Now you can have both.  This year, conduct your Passover celebration using the new “God Save Democracy” Haggadah.  Draw parallels between the Israelites’ deliverance from Pharaoh and our efforts to loosen the grip of an equally enraged, cruel tyrant who opposes all who do not pledge fealty to his every whim, without jettisoning the joy of reading prayers, singing songs and retelling of the story of Moses and the flight from Egypt. 

How does the GSD Haggadah do that?  By meshing the ancient with the modern.  Here are three examples. 

First, the seder plate where each item depicts an aspect of the exodus in years past and the challenges of present day.

  • Celery/Symbolizes how Donald Trump “stalks” women.
  • HORSEradish/Trump’s recommended treatment for Covid if ivermectin is unavailable.
  • Charoset/A reminder of the mishmash that comes out of Trump’s mouth.
  • Egg/In remembrance of days not so long ago when no one called this a human being.
  • Salt Water/Crocodile tears shed by “poor, victim me.”
  • Shankbone/Commemorating Trump’s golf strokes that landed in a penalty zone and miraculously appeared in the middle of a fairway.

Then, of course, there are the Four Questions.

Why is this candidate different from all other candidates?

    • All other candidates accept the outcome of elections.  Why does this candidate accept only elections he wins?
    • All other candidates salute the American flag to demonstrate their allegiance to America?  Why does this candidate salute convicted felons who stormed the U.S. Capitol and beat up policemen?
    • All other candidates promise to protect and defend the U.S. Constitution.  Why does this candidate promise to suspend it when it serves his interests?
    • All other candidates understand global alliances are essential to national security.  Why does this candidate prefer alliances with our adversaries instead of our friends?

And finally, even in celebration of the end of the Israelites’ enslavement, we acknowledge the suffering of everyday Egyptians in imposed on them by the actions of an arrogant and stubborn Pharaoh.  So too must we acknowledge the suffering of all Americans under Trump’s policies and practices.  That is why we spill a drop of wine for each of 10 plagues every American faced during his reign.

  • Charlottesville
  • Obstruction of Justice in the Russia Investigation
  • Justices Gorsuch, Kavanaugh and Barrett
  • Emoluments Clause Violations
  • Covid Response
  • Voter Suppression
  • Eight Trillion Dollars Added to the National Debt
  • January 6 Insurrection
  • Mishandling Classified Documents
  • The Dobbs Decision

Want an updated holiday experience that brings the hardship and agony under tyrants in days of old and new into your home yet is optimistic  about an eventual victory by the resistance?  Don’t wait.  Order your “God Save Democracy” Haggadah today.

חג שמח
Happy Holiday!

Disclaimer:  All proceeds from the sale of each and every “God Save Democracy” Haggadah go to the Making Attempts at Theocracy Zero Opportunity (MATZO)   PAC.  Think of each contribution as “unleavened dough,” financing the fight to educate those who cannot read or do not understand the establishment clause of the First Amendment.

For what it’s worth.
Dr. ESP

 

Top of the Pyramid

Religion

Friends and readers of this blog often ask me, “Why, first thing every morning, do you watch Joe Scarborough?”  The answer is quite simple.  Joe reminds me of the relationship I used to have with Republican governors and their staffs during my time at the National Governors Association (NGA), some with whom I remained friends long after I left the confines of the D.C. political scene.  Those relationships evolved while working on policy issues on which we often held what sometimes appeared to be diametrically opposed positions.  The interaction, however, made me a better analyst and advocate for two reasons.  First, there was a legitimate conservative viewpoint on most topics, and since any official NGA position required the support of two-thirds of the chief executives of the nation’s states and territories, that conservative bent needed accommodation.  Second, and perhaps more importantly, any disagreement in direction forced me to develop a compelling argument that a more liberal approach did not necessarily violate core conservative principles.  And in the end, though this may sound trite, I would realize we had more in common than we had differences.

This morning I found myself metaphorically back in my NGA office in the Hall of the States when Scarborough explained the difference between his world view and that of the MAGA dominated Republican party.  He compared his personal value system to a pyramid in which his priorities began at the top.  He ticked them off.  God.  Country.  The Constitution. Politics and Party.  He then suggested the current iteration of the GOP was a totally inverted pyramid with Donald Trump at the top and God at the bottom. 

It reminded me of the 1964 song “Barry’s Boys” by the original Chad Mitchell Trio which began, “We’re the bright young men who wanna go back to 1910, we’re Barry’s boys,” referring to GOP presidential nominee Barry Goldwater.  It was the closing which captured the tenor of that era and ours today.  Chad Mitchell would mimic a Goldwater supporter, “I’m an American first and a politician second.”  Mike Kobluk’s bass voice would respond, “Spoken like a true American politician.”  But I digress.

Scarborough’s primary allegiance to a divine presence is no surprise.  He is an unapologetic evangelical Southern Baptist.  Which raised the question, “What would a devout agnostic, like me, put at the top of my pyramid?”  The second segment of “Morning Joe” provided the answer.  The topic was the terrorist attack at a Moscow concert hall in which 137 (to date) audience members were killed and more than 120 others wounded.  Marc Polymeropolous, former senior intelligence analyst at the CIA, described how the CIA had alerted Russia to that very possibility two weeks before the attack and had issued a warning to U.S. personnel stationed there.  Scarborough jumped in.  He reminded viewers the U.S. had done the same thing before an ISIS terrorist attack in Iran on January 4, 2024.

He then went into a typical Joe Scarborough rant.  These are people who shout, “Death to America” or commit war crimes against civilians in Ukraine.  Yet we still shared intelligence about an imminent terrorist attack.  Why?  Because it was the right thing to do.  It was what Americans do.  It was then I realized where Joe’s and my world view came together.  His moral compass gravitates toward God, Jesus Christ and the words of the Gospel.  I attribute mine simply to the fact that I am a member of the human race.  How we got there makes no difference.  I could now draw my pyramid.  Therefore, at the top of my pyramid is “humanity” followed by country, the Constitution and last, like Joe, party.

Listening to Joe Scarborough did not change my world view.  It did, however, help me clarify it.  And made me realize I share the road on which I travel with many kindred spirits.  The only difference being our choice of vehicles and the north star which guides our journey.

For what it’s worth.
Dr. ESP