It was neither the best of times nor was it the worst of times.

The ongoing debate over the future of America was not resolved yesterday.  But there were a few simple truths.

Racism in America

Yesterday, a significant portion of voters chose not to reject the Republicans’ closing message.  Black candidates are unqualified to run state governments.  Latinos seeking a better life for their children are criminals and a threat to America. A candidate with a foreign sounding name is scarier than a candidate indicted for using a quarter million dollars in campaign funds for personal use.

Racism in America is alive and well.  Yes, it needs to be called out.  But the best antidote may be how the African-Americans, Latinos and Muslims who won election to state and federal office yesterday represent their constituents.  What better way to say, “See, I am one of you.  The same things that are important to you are also important to me.”

Oversee the Constitution, Not Trump

Within minutes of NBC’s projection the Democrats would retake the House of Representatives, the likely chair of the House Ways and Means Committee Richard Neal said he hopes to obtain Donald Trump’s tax returns either voluntarily from Trump or, if necessary, from the IRS.  There were also reports Democrats have a list of 60 plus subpoenas ready for administration officials next January.

The new House leadership would be wise to listen to incoming chair of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Elijah Cummings.

Right now, we have a president who is accountable to no one. I don’t want people to think we are going to rush in and beat up on Trump.  But, we need to look at all the things the President has done that go against the mandates of our founding fathers in the Constitution.

The worst thing Democrats could do is duplicate the efforts of special counsel Robert Mueller.  Their primary responsibility is to ensure Mueller is allowed to complete his investigation unfettered and the American people have access to his findings.  In other words, “Let Mueller be Mueller.”

And for heaven’s sake, heed the lessons of Watergate.  Impeachment is not the way to remove a president.  Remember, when it became clear Richard Nixon had violated his oath of office, there was a bi-partisan consensus he needed to resign or (as we just learned from the release of archived documents) face criminal indictment.  Unless there is iron-clad evidence of crimes, there is no way 67 Senators will vote for conviction.  And if there is such evidence, the Republicans will be quite eager to get rid of that albatross around their neck and demand Trump’s resignation.

The committees do need to take their oversight responsibilities seriously.  There are many items on Trump’s agenda which need to be stopped dead in their tracks.  But do not use Trump’s personal flaws and possible malfeasance to make that happen.  Reject the agenda because the agenda is bad for America.  And use the oversight function to make that case to the public.

Solve Problems

Which brings me to what Democrats should be doing on day one of the new Congress.  If the term had not already been used, I would suggest they issue a “contract with America.”  Trump and the GOP have focused on repealing the Affordable Care Act and on corporate welfare and tax cuts for the wealthiest in lieu of  issues and injustices which could be quickly addressed.  So, on day one, the Democrats should introduce legislation to do the following:

• Give permanent status to the Dreamers who qualify under DACA guidelines.
• Decriminalize marijuana, reduce felonies for possession to misdemeanors and commute the sentences of those who have been incarcerated based solely on possession.
• Reinstate the Voting Rights Act and make it apply to all 50 states.
• Reverse the Federal Communications Commission repeal of net neutrality.
• Allow the Department of Health and Human Services to negotiate Medicare and Medicaid prescription drug prices with pharmaceutical companies.
• Require federal background checks on all gun purchases.
• Fund major infrastructure investments to be paid for with a dollar for dollar reduction in the 2017 tax cuts.
• Congressionally mandate participation in the Paris Climate Accords.
• Congressionally mandate participation in the Iran nuclear arms agreement.
• Make election day a federal holiday and encourage state and local governments and private employers to honor America by also declaring it a holiday.

Based on polling, there is strong public support for all of these proposals.  Be the House of Representatives.  Represent the people.

A National Disgrace

In the most technologically advanced country in the world, there is no reason why any American should have to wait in line for four hours to vote or have to worry whether their vote is correctly registered.  Instead of issuing subpoenas, on day one of the next Congress, the House Judiciary Committee should introduce legislation which would mandate all electronic voting systems have a paper backup in case the count needs to be audited and prohibit the obvious conflict of interest when individuals, such as a Secretary of State, oversee an election process in which they are a candidate for statewide office.

The House Judiciary Committee should also request the Civil Rights Division of the Department of Justice to study the distribution of polling resources within each state.  Of particular interest are discrepancies between rural and urban areas or why a university campus with over 50,000 students has a single polling place.

Conclusion

On Tuesday morning, press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders described the election as a contest between problem solvers and obstructionists.  Of course, she implied that Democrats were the ones creating all the road blocks.  (Projection has been honed to a fine art by Trump and his surrogates.) Nancy Pelosi has the opportunity to prove her wrong.  The exit polls confirm voters were more worried about things that affect their lives–health care, immigration, the economy–than the tone of the national discourse.

Trump will be emboldened by yesterday’s results.  And his advisors will continue to believe their interests are best served when they “Let Trump be Trump.”  Pelosi and the Democratic party can either fuel that fire by giving Trump and the GOP an excuse to say, “I told you so.”  Or they can do what the voters elected them to do.

For what it’s worth.
Dr. ESP

Two and a half years ago, I started this blog with hopes of occasionally having something of value to say by looking at the world through counter-intuitive eyes.  Occasionally was originally intended to be once or twice a month.  Today’s post is #288.  An average of one every three days.  Some were meant solely to be entertaining.  Some were intended to find a hidden kernel of truth in an event or issue others had missed.  And some were designed to raise the hairs on the backs of the necks of friends and foes alike.

What seems like a decade ago (actually December 9, 2016), I published an article titled, “On Becoming an UNREAL American.”  The point being that my new-found status as an outsider in Trump World resulted in a clearer understanding of the values I would continue to embrace.  Nothing Trump could do would separate me from my moral compass.  I was wrong.

Saturday night, I looked into a mirror and saw what I had become.  That mirror was Michelle Wolf’s  speech at the White House Correspondents Dinner (WHCD).  If, as some suggest, the point was to give Trump a taste of his own medicine, let me respond.  It is just as ugly coming from a comedian as from the supposed leader of the free world.  Or from any of us.

Like many, I was infuriated when RNC chairwoman Ronna McDaniel tweeted, “Democrats hate our President more than they love our country.”  NOOOOOO!  I abhor Trump and all of the hypocrites who defend him BECAUSE I love my country.  And I find it hard to believe this is really happening in America.  But venomous hatred is not going to solve anything.

I often refer to Ben Bradlee (Jason Robards) warning Woodward (Robert Redford) and Bernstein (Dustin Hoffman) any mistake in their reporting translated into public sympathy for Richard Nixon.  I had that same feeling as I watched Wolf eviscerate members of the Trump administration, especially press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders.  Was this really possible?  Had someone actually made me feel sorry for Sanders?

More importantly, was it necessary?  The anger and language was what you would expect more from Lewis Black.  Was the comparison valid.  Fortunately, we have empirical data to test the hypothesis.  Black had the same honor at the 2005 WHCD.  And nobody despised the Bush administration more than Black.  In a later performance he described being on the dais with vice-president Dick Cheney, who stood in for George W. Bush who was in Rome at Pope John Paul II’s funeral.  Black reminisced, “I’ve never felt so close to pure evil.”

In contrast to Wolf’s diatribe, here is what Black told this ensemble of the rich and powerful in his closing remarks.

I learned something from 9/11.  Patriotism is important and religion is important in this country.  And patriotism and religious without humor is where we run into trouble.  It’s why our enemy is as psychotic as they are.  They are religious and patriotic.  And they are the most humorless pricks on the planet.  These are people who wander in the desert year after year and never run into a knock knock joke, which is the price I think you pay for living in tents.  But one would have thought at least there would have been a flap flap joke.

For these people to be told that if they kill someone in the name of Allah that they will immediately go to heaven where they will be met by 72 virgins.  The fact that these people did not understand that this has to be a punchline to a joke.  I’ve been on the earth many years and never once have I met a single virgin.

The comic who was once denied an opportunity to perform at the Kennedy Center because of his language, took this opportunity to explain to his audience why humor, even when politically incorrect, is sometimes the only thing that keeps us sane.

Sunday, I decided to burst the bubble. I skipped the morning talk shows.  I did not read a single newspaper article or blog about the Trump White House. For a life-long political junkie, that was no easy task.  And then I went out and shot the best round of golf I had in years.  Maybe Yogi Berra was right.  “Ninety percent of the game is half mental.”  Sunday night, I slept better than I had in weeks.  Today was the first day without Morning Joe or Stephanie Miller in months.

How many times have we read a book or watched a movie where the moral is, “If you really love something, the best thing you can do is let it go.”  The ending of Cast Away immediately comes to mind.  In the penultimate scene,  Chuck Noland (Tom Hanks) confides in his friend Stan (Nick Searcy) it is time to move on.  The film ends on Noland’s encounter with Bettina Peterson (Lari White), the recipient of a long overdue package, and contains the following dialog.

Peterson:  You look lost.
Noland: I do?
Peterson: Where’re you headed?
Noland:  Well, I was just about to figure that out.

Letting go of something that has been a part of you for so long is never easy.  But figuring out where you’re headed is no walk in the park either.  But a good spring cleaning of the mind is an excellent place to start.

I will continue to blog when the spirit moves me.  But not to reinforce my obsession with where the country is going, but to return to my original purpose.  To challenge conventional wisdom in sports, religion, culture as well as policy.  What does this shift look like?  Let me share an example.  Instead of chastising evangelicals for giving Trump a “mulligan” on Stormy Daniels, maybe it is better to remind them others deserve a “mulligan.”  In Florida this November, there is a constitutional initiative (Proposition 4) to restore the right to vote to felons who have paid their debt to society (prison and/or fines).  Isn’t it time for these people to “tee it up again” as full-fledged citizens?  If the evangelical doctrine includes the belief “sin is redeemable,” we ask every evangelical to join us in demonstrating their compassion by voting for Prop 4.

For what it’s worth.
Dr. ESP

What do Donald Trump and I have in common?  Both of us have been relatively silent for the past few days. Trump is trying to keep inconvenient legal matters from getting worse.  In my case, it is the constant challenge of finding topics which are not already adequately covered on television, newspapers or on-line outlets.  Today’s post is dedicated to a few stories and observations which have been overlooked this past week.

Don’t Look Over Your Shoulder

Remember the Tax Cut and Jobs Act of 2017 and how it was touted as a major boon for the employment prospects of middle class Americans?  Despite all the historic economic evidence to contrary, proponents claimed the “trickle down” effects would result in more jobs and higher income for “those left behind” during the recovery from the 2008-09 recession.  In contrast, opponents predicted corporate beneficiaries would use the savings for stock buy-backs to solidify control and their share of future profits.  Turns out both are probably wrong.

Several recent reports suggest the major trend in business activity for 2018 will be mergers and acquisitions.  Business Insider reports:

Goldman (Sachs) forecasts that cash M&A spending will climb by 6% to $355 billion in 2018. That will, in turn, boost the stock prices of companies with a high chance of being bought. As a result, a basket of likely M&A targets is poised to outperform in 2018 after trailing the broader S&P 500 in 2017, according to Goldman.

Let’s parse this statement.  First, it refers to “cash M&A spending.”  Where did all that new cash come from?  That’s easy, savings from reducing the maximum corporate tax rate by 15 percentage points.  Second, this activity will “boost stock prices.”  In other words, the owners will be the primary beneficiaries of these paper transactions.  Third, and most important, when was the last time a merger resulted in job growth?  A 2016 study in the Journal of Competitive Policy International reported a job loss by 6.5 percent of the 3.7 million employees affected by mergers and acquisitions between 2013 and 20116.

Linda Brown’s New Legacy

In 1953, a nine year old African-American student wondered why she could not attend a neighborhood school with the friends she grew up with.  With the help and support of her father, Linda Brown, who died this week at the age of 76, changed history.  This week she is being honored posthumously for her central role in Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas, the Supreme Court case which stated segregation in education was a violation of the U.S. Constitution.  The world is significantly different because of this brave, young girl’s willingness to challenge “existing case law.”

For the Supreme Court to rule in Linda Brown’s favor, it had to do something it rarely does.  It invalidated a previous decision Plessy v. Ferguson (1896).  In the Plessy v Ferguson 7-1 decision, the Court rejected the plaintiff’s contention that segregated schools were de facto unequal in quality.  The lone dissenter Justice John Marshall Harlan, in closing, predicted how history would judge the Court’s action.  “In my opinion, the judgment this day rendered will, in time, prove to be quite as pernicious as the decision made by this tribunal in the Dred Scott Case.”

In 1954, by a unanimous decision, the Court voted to overturn Plessy v. Ferguson.  Speaking for the Court, Chief Justice Earl Warren did not mince words.

Segregation of white and colored children in public schools has a detrimental effect upon the colored children. The effect is greater when it has the sanction of the law, for the policy of separating the races is usually interpreted as denoting the inferiority of the negro group. A sense of inferiority affects the motivation of a child to learn. Segregation with the sanction of law, therefore, has a tendency to [retard] the educational and mental development of negro children and to deprive them of some of the benefits they would receive in a racial[ly] integrated school system

Which brings me to Citizens United v. Federal Elections Commission (2010).  In the 5-4 decision, Justice Anthony Kennedy wrote:

The First Amendment protects political speech; and disclosure permits citizens and shareholders to react to the speech of corporate entities in a proper way. This transparency enables the electorate to make informed decisions and give proper weight to different speakers and messages.

Yet in a 2015 interview with Harvard Law Dean Martha Minow, Kennedy admitted the dependence on disclosure to protect the public interest has not worked the way he envisioned.

Just as a flaw in the basic premise of Plessy v. Ferguson forced the court to reconsider its decision in Brown v. Board of Education, maybe it is time for the Court to take a second look at Citizens United.  Couldn’t hurt!

Is Michael Cohen Lazy?

I have been asking every trained attorney I know, “Is it not strange the non-disclosure agreement (NDA) between Donald Trump and Stormy Daniels contained the phrase ‘and matters related to paternity’?”  But if you believe Daniels is credible, you also must believe she is telling the truth when she says her one-night stand with Trump did not result in a pregnancy.  There was no love child or abortion to further complicate the relationship.

But last night, another possibility arose.  On CNN, Daniels’ attorney Michael Avenatti told Wolff Blitzer he had now been approached by eight additional women you claimed to have had relationships with Trump.  And in two cases, the women said they too had signed an NDA.  (NOTE: Avenatti stated his legal team has not yet verified any of these claims to date.) What if the NDA Daniels signed was “legal boilerplate?”  What if Trump’s attorney Michael Cohen was just too lazy to draft NDA’s which applied only to disclosure concerns associated with each respective paramour?  It might explain why Cohen is so anxious to enforce the Daniels NDA.

Just Glad I Didn’t Spend It Already

One of the nice features of TurboTax is the ability to estimate tax liability for the next year.  This function is particularly useful if you want to understand how the 2017 Tax Cut and Jobs Act will affect you personally when you file next year.  So I ran the numbers.  My 2018 tax savings is a whopping $310.  Thanks Donald.

Just one problem.  This week when I went to fill up the gas tank in my car, the price of a gallon of fuel had jumped from $2.17 before the tax cut to $2.59.  Working from home, I am lucky that I only use about 20 gallons per month.  Over a year that adds $100.80 to my car expenses.  An incremental increase of one percent in the cost of living over the current rate, due in part to overheating the economy with an unnecessary tax cut, will cost me approximate $400 dollars.  And if I borrow money for some long needed home improvements, the higher interest rates needed to attract lenders to cover the tax-cut related deficit puts me further in the red.

Donald, if you don’t believe me, I’m more than willing to show you my tax returns.  You claim you also will lose money because of the tax legislation.  How about proving it!!

For what it’s worth.
Dr. ESP

This morning I shared a story about my meeting with Moscow Oblast Governor Anatoly Tyazhlov who had predicted the rise of a fascist dictator in Russia.  When Vladimir Putin became acting president of Russia in 2000, he replaced Tyazhlov with Boris Gormov, who had previously run for vice-president in 1991 on an anti-Boris Yeltsin ticket.

When I looked for an image of Gromov, I was struck by his resemblance to someone else with Russian connections.

In case you can’t distinguish between the two, that is Gromov on the left and Paul Manafort on the right.

Just saying.

For what it’s worth.
Dr. ESP

If you haven’t been watching The Daily Show with Trevor Noah, there is a new recurring segment called “Don’t Have Time for That.”  The premise?  You just start digesting one news story before the next one grabs your attention.  This was one of those weeks.  So here are a few topics I considered blogging about but was quickly distracted by the latest breaking news.

Red Flags

Much has been made about the many missed warning signs which strongly suggested Nikolas Cruz, the confessed shooter at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, was a potential danger to himself and others based on past behavior and social media posts. Too bad the Republicans will not let the Center for Disease Control or any other federal  agency conduct or support research which might focus on not only HOW to spot these red flags, but propose better methods to respond to them.

But the Parkland shooting, unfortunately shared space on cable news and the front pages of national newspapers when the continuing saga of the chaotic Trump White House reemerged.  In particular, further indictments against Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort and the announcement Chief of Staff John Kelly would make the decision whether son-in-law Jared Kushner would still have access to classified information despite the FBI’s assessment he did not merit the required security clearance.

What “red flag” do these two situations have a common?  Both Manafort and Kushner offered to work for no salary.  In Manafort’s case, the question is, “If he is not taking a salary from the Trump campaign, who is paying him?”  Based on last Thursday’s indictments we are much closer to an answer.  As for Kushner, there is a second question.  “Isn’t the signature on your paycheck an indication for whom you actually work?”  By not accepting a salary for the work he performs as a public employee of the American people, does he feel he is not bound by the same rules as those who actually deposit their due compensation?

Referring to General Kelly’s disposition of Kushner’s status, Trump said, “And I have no doubt he will make the right decision.”  But, for whom?

November 9, 1994

Speaking of “red flags,” on the morning of November 9, 1994, I was in Moscow on a USAID funded project conducted by the National Governors Association (NGA) to build better relations between U.S. governors and their Russian counterparts.  My first meeting was with Anatoly Tyazhlov, the governor of the Moscow oblast (equivalent of a state) and chair of the Association of Russian Governors.  Governor Tyazhlov asked me what I thought of the American mid-term elections the day before when under the banner of “The Contract for America,” the Republicans picked up 58 seats and control of the House and eight Senate seats.  I told Tyazhlov I believed it was a reaction to what many Americans saw as an extreme shift to the left by President Clinton and the Democratic Congress.  My fear was that there would be an over-reach in the opposite direction.

To my surprise, Tyazhlov told me he had the same fear for Russia.  After years of communist rule, he expressed concern that his homeland would also swing too far to the right.  Especially if the current government (headed by Boris Yeltsin)  did not relieve the economic distress many Russians were experiencing following the dissolution of the Soviet Union and cradle to grave care.  We should have listened.  Less than six years later, Vladimir Putin was elected Russian President.

NO Surprise

Except for a few sadistic conspiracy theorists (including Donald Trump Jr.), everyone is heaping accolades on the students from Douglas High School for their efforts to shed some light on the issue of gun violence in America.  However, almost every positive review is prefaced by a statement of amazement about the bravery and commitment of these young people.  Who knew?  Well, anyone who had studied every previous cultural movement in the United States.

It was a generation of young people who rode buses to the Deep South to protest segregation and register black voters.  Some were beaten.  Others–Michael Schwerner, Andrew Goodman and James Chaney–were murdered by members of the Ku Klux Klan.

Ten years later, it was young people who challenged the government over the Vietnam war.  And it was the death of four Kent State students which signaled one more, “Enough is enough.”

Young people have been at the forefront of the LGBT movement.  And protection of the environment. And the effort to decriminalize and legalize marijuana.

So why should we be surprised when students who have been in fear for their own lives are willing to stand up and lead the debate over America’s addiction to guns?

Bill Strickland

Anyone who believes “hardened schools” will lead to anything but “hardened students” needs to visit the Manchester Craftsman’s Guild (MCG) in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.  In 1968, Bill Strickland asked a simple question, “Why should inner-school schools look like prisons?”  Instead of bars on the windows, each table in the cafeteria has linen table cloths and flower centerpieces.  Students engage in culinary, music and horticultural activities all of which have become profit centers to support MCG’s operations.  The music program has received five Grammy awards for its “Live at the Manchester Craftman’s Guild” recordings.

Despite its location in an old warehouse district which used to be a place for drug deals and gang confrontations, safety is not an issue.

In our forty-plus year history, MCG Youth & Arts has never had an incidence of violence at our facility. To quote our founder, Bill Strickland, “If you put people in a world class facility, you get world class citizens.” We have filled our building with light, art, music and a staff dedicated to realizing the genius in everyone.

So to all those who sent their “thought and prayers” to the students at Douglas High School and every other site of a campus based mass shooting and believe armed teachers are the answer, may I suggest you open your Bibles this Sunday to Galatians 6:7, “Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man sows, that shall he also reap.”

For what it’s worth.
Dr. ESP