Sunni or Later

Final Jeopardy Question:  So the president cannot be cornered.
Final Jeopardy Answer:  Why is the Oval Office an oval?

My observation this past week.  I hope the Ayatollah also has an oval office.  Too many times we’ve learned that a cornered animal is the most dangerous.  And history tells us, the resolution of a precarious situation is more likely when both parties come away with something.

Even when the U.S. and the Soviet Union were within a hair’s breadth of nuclear war, John Kennedy understood this.  While many believe the eventual agreement between JFK and Nikita Khrushchev was one-sided in favor of the American demands, the Soviet leader was given an opportunity to save face.  First, Kennedy assured Khrushchev the U.S. would not invade Cuba.  Second, the U.S. agreed to dismantle nuclear missiles in Turkey which were part of the NATO defense against Soviet aggression.  Some military historians suggest Kennedy would have removed these weapons without the Cuban crisis as they were obsolete and too costly to maintain.

This morning, Washington Post columnist Eugene Robinson raised what should be the critical question based on previous Trump approaches to foreign policy and his decision last night to call off a limited military strike in response to the downing of a U.S. drone.  Following the North Korea model of diplomacy:  Act I is belligerence.  Act II is an offer to meet.  What is Act III?

On their ESPN talk show Pardon the Interruption, Tony Kornheiser and Mike Wilbon have a segment called “Who would you rather be?”  In this case, I believe the Iranians have the easiest path to solving the stand-off and giving Trump an opportunity to save face.

1. Demand the U.S. rejoin the nuclear agreement and lift any sanctions imposed following withdrawal from the pact.
2. In return, Iran agrees to engage in discussion with the U.S. to extend the terms of the nuclear agreement beyond the initial 15 years and possibly include missile testing in the expanded accord.
3. U.S cancels arm sales to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
4. In return Iran agrees to join multi-national talks among Arab nations to resolve civil wars in Syria, Yemen, etc.
5. Trump proposes bilateral trade talks (“See, I’m a great deal-maker.”) with Iran pending verification of Iranian commitments to non-proliferation and stabilization of Middle East conflicts.

I know, it takes rational people to think rationally.  But sometimes you can make a offer even irrational people cannot refuse.  Equally important, we may finally learn who in the White House is making Middle East policy.

An Undying Wish

When a friend of mine passed away 18 months ago, I honored his family’s request that in lieu of flowers, people should donate to a designated charity.  Which I did, accompanied by a letter which indicated:

1. I was making this donation in memory of my late friend at his family’s request.
2. This is not a charity which I regularly give to and do not plan to make additional donations in the future.
3. Please honor my friend by using this donation for your primary mission, not to raise additional funds.

As you may have guessed, that letter was a waste of time, energy and paper.  For the past year and a half, I have received solicitations from this organization, often on a weekly basis.  And while I’ve not tracked the cost of these appeals, I am pretty sure it has come close to if not exceeded my donation.

This is a nationally known service organization and one could assume it was not one of those fly-by-night efforts where the a third-party fundraising agent makes more money than the charity ever sees.  However, I decided to check its statistics on Charity Navigator, only to find, because its primary funding comes from a single source (a family trust), it is listed as a private foundation and is unrated.

Lesson learned?  While my friend is no longer with us, fundraising based on his passing has eternal life.

Fake Math

Our local paper occasionally carries an op-ed column by a Pittsburgh writer Phil Purcell.  Today, Purcell, an admitted English major in college, decided to tutor us about the national debt.  A long time proponent of the Trump tax cuts, he ‘splained that the rising deficit was due to spending.  After all, “The economy is doing well, causing tax revenues to swell.”  Yeah, at the same rate as Trump’s inauguration crowd.

For those Republican senators and congressmen suffering from amnesia, let me remind you that you bought into the hooey that the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act would generate $1.8 trillion in new revenue, more than covering the $1.5 trillion cost.  And don’t forget the cuts you made to domestic spending to ensure the tax cuts would be within the 10-year budget resolution deficit targets. How did that actually play out?

In FY 2018, the first year in which the tax cuts would impact federal revenues, that figure rose to $3.33 trillion from (drum roll) $3.32 trillion in FY 2017.  In other words, Republicans added $180 billion to the deficit (call it their investment to grow the economy) and got $10 billion back in revenues (call that the present value).  Now just imagine, at the beginning of any year, you or I invested $1,800 in a venture, and at the end of the year, we had $100 to show for it.  The last thing we would do is brag about our financial acumen.  In fact, we would never mention it to anyone.

Perhaps that’s why Republicans did not run on the tax cuts during the 2018 mid-terms and only the delusional will run on them in 2020.  When someone suggests imaginary invasions by brown people are an easier sell than cash gifts, it’s a good sign they know the electorate is not as stupid as they might hope.  Sadly, Phil Purcell has not come to that conclusion about his readership.

For what it’s worth.
Dr. ESP

There are two “high holidays” in American history, the Fourth of July and D-Day.  One marks the emergence of the United States as a sovereign nation  The other as leader of the free world.  And sadly, the observance of these occasions fades over the years with one exception.  Just as there are milestones of age, e.g. 21st birthdays, or wedding vows, silver and gold anniversaries, we gather on the 25th, 50th or 100th anniversary of these national  wayposts in the annuls of the American narrative to give them the attention they deserve.

These moments are also times for reflection.  Consideration of those famous and those largely unknown who contributed and sacrificed in the pursuit of an ideal or preservation of a way of life.  As I watched the ceremonies yesterday from Portsmouth, England where the invasion to liberate Europe was launched and this morning’s events at the American cemetery at Colleville-sur-Mer overlooking Omaha Beach, as always, I was looking for the angle no one was covering.  What was that one counter-intuitive thing that was right under our nose but slipped our attention?

Today, I tip my hat to presidential historian Doris Kearns Goodwin who suggested it is easy to celebrate D-Day with the hindsight of the eventual outcome.  And while we have vivid images of the invasion itself from newsreels and movies such as “Saving Private Ryan,” there is no visual documentation of June 5, 1944, which may have been more fateful than the invasion itself.  That night, Franklin Roosevelt, Winston Churchill, Dwight Eisenhower and the rest of the military planners awaited the impact of their actions unsure whether they would succeed or fail.  As Goodwin recalled on MSNBC yesterday morning.

What strikes me is that we are on the eve, the day before that fascinates me.  We know now from history that D-Day worked.  But all those people, on this day, 75 years ago were living in a sense of dread.  Eleanor Roosevelt said she felt she had a sword hanging over her head.  Winston Churchill, when he was going to sleep on this night, said to his wife, tomorrow morning 20,000 of our men may be dead.  Franklin Roosevelt was so tense that he couldn’t go to sleep…History knows the end but that’s not the moment that really fascinates me.

There it was, the angle I was looking for, not just in 1944, but throughout history.  Did Franklin, Adams and Jefferson toss and turn in their beds the night of July 3, 1776.  If he had lived, would John F. Kennedy have slept the night before Apollo 11 took off from Cape Canaveral on a mission he had set in motion seven years earlier.  Should we be better students, not of history, but of the eve of history?

Which brings me back to the topic du jour, what is the most appropriate way to address Donald Trump’s alleged crimes, abuse of power and violation of his oath of office?  Is Nancy Pelosi currently presiding over the eve of history?  Does the decision to authorize impeachment proceedings keep her up at night, not knowing whether such actions will result in Trump’s removal from office or his re-election in 2020?  Are there lessons from D-Day which could make her decision easier?

Consider the following.  Just as many are anxious to rev up the engine of impeachment sooner rather than later, I am sure there were those who felt any delay in the Normandy invasion was to Hitler’s advantage.  But the political and military leader wanted to make sure they had the army they NEEDED, not as Dick Cheney suggested in the run-up to the second Iraq War, you go with the army you HAVE.  And they picked a day and hour when they believed the weather conditions, though chilly and rain, were best suited for the mission.  Perhaps Pelosi is doing the same, waiting until she has the conditions and the army she needs before launching the inquiry.  If and when she gives a green light to Judiciary Chairman Gerald Nadler and her caucus, should we, like Doris Kearns Goodwin, be more fascinated by what happened on the eve of Nadler’s gaveling the committee to order to begin impeachment hearings or the hearings themselves?

Two more thoughts related to June 6, 1944.  Imagine if cinema depictions of D-Day had ended like the “Sopranos.”  Just as Henry Grace, who played Eisenhower in the 1962 epic “The Longest Day,” announces the forces have reached the French shoreline, the screen fades to black.  The audience let’s out a collective, “NOOOOOO!”  They feel cheated.  I too felt cheated, as this week I began reading the Mueller Report.  Here are just a few examples.

The Trump Campaign showed interest in WikiLeaks’ releases of hacked materials through the summer and fall of 2016.  (four redacted paragraphs including one under the heading “b. Contacts with the Campaign about WikiLeaks”)

Michael Cohen, former executive vice president of the Trump Organization and special counsel to Donald J. Trump, told the (Special Counsel’s) Office that he recalled an incident in which he was in candidate Trump’s office in Trump Tower (redacted).  Cohen further told the Office that, after WikiLeaks’ subsequent release of stolen DNC emails in July 2016, candidate Trump said to Cohen something to the effect of, (redacted).

(In reference to the Trump Tower meeting) The Office spoke to every participant except Veselnitskaya and Trump, Jr., the later of whom declined to be voluntarily interviewed by the Office (redacted).

NOOOOOO!  Don’t leave us hanging.  How did the Campaign show interest in WikiLeaks?  What did Trump say to Cohen? What do you mean Junior declined to be interviewed? Was he subpoenaed?  Did Rod Rosenstein, Matt Whittaker or William Barr at the Department of Justice prohibit Mueller from issuing a subpoena?  Did he issue one and Junior took the Fifth (even though his father proclaimed during the 2016 campaign, “Only guilty people take the Fifth”?

And finally, a word about Trump’s attendance at the commemorative events this morning in France.  To his credit, he stayed on script and the speechwriter should be thanked for the tone and content of his remarks.  But there is a certain irony that not just Trump, but any Republican president would have this honor.  While the GOP claims to be the party of national security, it was Democrats Franklin Roosevelt and Harry Truman who oversaw the successful preparation and conduct of U.S. participation in World War II.  And to some extent, I had a similar response watching Richard Nixon welcome back the Apollo 11 astronauts instead of Kennedy or Lyndon Johnson.

Perhaps, on such occasions, history would be better served to have the principals or their decedents participate in the ceremonies.  That is why the image of Queen Elizabeth, who volunteered as a mechanic in World War II, was the most compelling figure over the last two days.  She did not need a history book or a speechwriter.  She was there.

For what it’s worth.
Dr. ESP

I Hope They Are Not Getting Paid for This

MESSAGE TO RUSSIAN TROLLS AND BOTS: If you’re going to try and hack Americans or influence voters, I strongly suggest you make an effort to translate your correspondence.  Below is one of several comments we received in response to the  December 13 post, “The Putin Principle.” Loosely translated, it is a promotion for casual apparel.

Интернет магазин уникальных футболок. Мы предлагаем Вам только качественные и уникальные товары. На Ваш выбор толстовки, футболки, головные уборы, чехлы, посуда, аксессуары и вещи для интерьера.
Вы с легкостью сможете подобрать рисунок, который Вам нравится или же сделать свой уникальный с помощью конструктора.
Приобретя товр Вы можете воспользоваться услугами доставки на очень выгодных условиях.

Заходи и заказывай:

So if you’re in the market for Russian made t-shirts and don’t mind giving them your contact and credit card information, these are the guys.

Border Security

If ADT can protect my home without surrounding my property with a 30 foot concrete wall and DogWatch, the electronic fence company, can deter my pet from leaving my property without “artistically designed steel slats,” one would think either of these companies would be more than willing to install a 2,000 mile invisible detection system at a fraction of the price of Donald Trump’s vanity wall.

Furthermore, do Trump, Steve Miller, Ann Coulter and Rush Limbaugh really believe an asylum seeker who has traveled 1,505 miles by foot from Guatemala to the Texas border would not walk another 217 from Nuevo Laredo to Matamoros where they could board a boat for a 30 minute ride to Port Isabel, Texas?  When refugees learn this is an option, they will also realize it is only 1,227 miles from Guatemala to Matamoros.  Will the Trump 2020 meme become, “We’ll have the best, most beautiful underwater mines along the Texas coast”?

Why Conservatives Should Join the Resistance

When is the media going to stop referring to the 35 percent of Americans who are giving Trump a pass on everything as “Trump’s conservative base?”  It is giving true conservatives a bad name.  Folks like Bill Kristol, Peggy Noonan and George Will should demand print journalists, talk show hosts and panelists stop using the term.  The only descriptor needed is, “Trump’s base.”

The McConnell Rule

Remember when Mitch McConnell blocked Merrick Garland’s nomination to the Supreme Court.  His justification?  With an upcoming election, the majority leader justified this violation of Article II of the Constitution by declaring, “We should let the people decide.”  Mitch, doesn’t this apply to Trump’s wall.  Trump stumped (or is it Stump trumped?) all over the country saying the 2018 mid-terms was all about border security.  And the voters decided.  By a margin of nine million votes, Americans rejected the Trump agenda.  Mitch, how could you in good conscience ask a lame duck Congress to support a policy that the electorate rejected by one of the largest margins ever in a mid-term election?

Huh?

On Friday morning, Senator Pat Roberts (R-KS) said:

There are a lot of us who want to avoid a shutdown.  I’ve been through about five of them in my career. None of them have worked in terms of their intent.

That same afternoon, Roberts voted “Yea” on a procedural measure to consider the House version of a continuing resolution which included $5 billion for Trump’s wall.  The final vote was 47-47 with Mike Pence breaking the tie.  That vote guaranteed a government shutdown.  This Congressional update comes from the “It doesn’t work, but let’s do it anyway” department.

Huh? Part II

On Saturday’s edition of Politics Nation with Al Sharpton, Republican strategist and columnist for the Washington Examiner Jennifer Kerns claimed Americans did not care  federal employees might not get paid over the holidays.

I may sound like the Grinch saying it, but look, the bureaucrats in Washington, D.C., did not suffer as the rest of America did in the last 10 years with the Obama recession.

So much for conservative intellectual integrity. Of course, the easiest target is “the Obama recession.”  Unemployment does not fall from over 10 percent to 4.3 percent during a recession.  Equally important, between 2009 and 2012, public employment declined by over 580,000 jobs.  At the same time, private sector employment, helped by the federal bailouts, increased by nearly 2 million jobs.  I don’t remember Ms. Kerns complaining about that.

And this is only one example of the wrongly labeled, “Trump conservative base.”

For what it’s worth.
Dr. ESP

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