#120 - Mr. President, Tear Down This Wall

President Trump’s anti-immigrant rhetoric has been amped up in the closing days of this election season, like the steady beat of an acid rock song, growing louder and louder, that only appeals to most die-hard fans of their whacked out idol.

To the rest of us, his words are repugnant and abhorrent. We remain in a state of shock, asking aloud, how did it all come down to this? When did our country drive off the road in to this ditch? And most notably, what will it take for us to climb out?

There are so many issues that the country faces today: the economy, taxes, the federal deficit, health care, education, income inequality, global warming, sensible gun control, the ongoing wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, challenges from North Korea, Iran, China and Russian…and, and, and ….comprehensive immigration reform.

And yet the focal point of Donald Trump and many other Republicans, in the days leading up to the mid-term elections, has been illegal immigration. Their strategy is clear. Let’s tie illegal immigration to crime, terrorism and economic competition and accuse Democrats of being responsible for it. What a concept.

But this is nothing new. Rich and powerful and selfish men have done the same throughout the course of history. They motivate and energize their supporters by vilifying another weaker group of the population, placing all the blame on them and deflecting the magnifying glass away from real issues and real problems.

It seems so long ago, but I still remember it. In the days following Trump’s implausible election victory over Hillary Clinton, I actually held out the belief that Trump would pivot, he would become Presidential, he would reach out to all Americans, and maybe with the disruption he would bring, we might experiment and learn there were better, different ways to govern.

But I was so wrong. We never saw a glimpse of any of this. There was never any genuine desire to unite the country. There was no authentic attempt to remind us that the common bonds which hold us together were stronger than the ones that divide.

Instead we saw his campaign pledge of building a physical wall along the US – Mexico border, stifled by both Republicans and Democrats in Congress, morph into an even more ominous wall, one that was intangible in construction but stronger still, one that was driven right down the middle of the country, built to split us apart and reveal to the world the worst we had to offer. Make no mistake. The foundation of this wall was in place long before Trump rode the escalator down Trump Tower into the hearts and minds of his supporters, but Trump employed his knowledge of construction and conning to make this wall even bigger and stronger, tearing us all apart, ripping the fiber of our nation and causing us to lose sight of our own ideals, and he did it with almost unbelievable speed and efficiency.

So instead of America as the shining city on hill, we are left with the vision of the sun setting over the country, with the big question of what tomorrow will bring.

Tuesday is election day, and so you can all answer that question. You can all emulate the sentiment expressed so eloquently and so simply by Ronald Reagan as he stood outside the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin in June 1987. You can let the President know that its time.

You can tell him “Mr. President, tear down this wall!”

Vote on Tuesday.

#118 - The Coward-in-Chief

In these politically divisive times, it was not the least bit surprising that we saw the possible, attempted assassinations of two former presidents, another presidential candidate, a former vice president, workers at a major news network, a billionaire, and a congresswoman, just to name a few….

I truley dont think that President Trump wants to see violence inflicted on anyone, including his political opponents. I don't. But his comments on this incident sound hollow.

He claims this is the time to come together, but when he fails to speak from the heart about the potential bomb victims, simply reads a scripted teleprompter during the day, and then jokes about it at night, his words, his actions actually shout “I don’t care”.

His child like behavior, his bullying, his propensity to lie and lie again, his hateful and divisive comments day in and day out all betray him.

So, it’s impossible to believe that he wants to be president to all Americans, that he truly cares about those who disagree with him and that he has any genuine interest in unifying the country. Impossible.

The proof point to my statements above resides not just in the President’s statements and actions over the years, but also very succinctly in his opening remarks on Wednesday regarding the suspicious packages and devices mailed to “current and former high ranking government officials,” as he described them.

Current and former high ranking government officials...

Is that best you got Mr. President?

Yes, yes it was. Trump was unable to personalize this terror attack and name the cadre of potential victims who coincidentally compose a large part of his political opposition and the foils for his boogeymen politics, so instead, he did his best to sweep it under the rug and blame his favorite foil, Fake News

President Trump had a golden opportunity to show Americans that he could be a great leader, an honest man and a caring individual, but he couldn’t do any of those things. Because he is incapable of doing so. If he really wanted to unify us, he would have called the potential victims here to reassure them he would do everything in his power to investigate the matter, but there were no such calls.

Even more astounding, he wouldn’t even utter the real names of the potential victims here. Barack Obama, Bill Clinton, Hillary Clinton, Joe Biden, CNN, Eric Holder, George Soros, Maxine Waters and others

And it happened AGAIN today when the President addressed the arrest of the alleged bomber. There was no mention of the names of the potential victims.

Trump has had no issues denigrating all of these individuals over and over again at his campaign rallies and in his Twitter feed. But now, strangely enough, he can’t remember their names. Really?

Contrast that to the day when Steve Scalise, the Republican Congressman, was shot by a deranged left leaning partisan, Trump had no problem remembering HIS name that day.

But I’m not surprised. To name the potential victims would be a perceived acknowledgment that maybe all of his hateful and vile political rhetoric over months and now years against these very individuals had possibly, just possibly been a motivating factor in the creation of these devices by this clearly deranged individual. To do so, would be to admit that he was part of the problem.

But he couldn’t do it. Our leader couldn’t do it.

To my Republican friends, I will absolutely agree that there are whack jobs on both sides of the aisle, there clearly are, and they all need to stopped. But please, don’t insult my intelligence and tell me President Trump wants to bring us together. Please. Nothing could be further from the truth.

Like the cowardly bomber who hides behind the cloak of anonymity, our cowardly president hides behind his own cloak of lies and deception.

This coward is simply incapable of admitting the truth, even to himself.

#117 - Saudis Speak, Trump Jumps

Jamal Khashoggi, a Washington Post journalist, and former Saudi royal insider who began writing articles critical of the Saudi royal family and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in particular, disappeared on October 2 after he went into the Saudi Arabian consulate in Istanbul, Turkey.

Video shows Khashoggi entering the consulate to obtain paperwork to marry his Turkish fiancé but his fiancé, who was waiting for him outside, said he never came out.

It has been widely reported that Turkish authorities believe 15 Saudi men arrived in Istanbul on private planes on October 2 and were connected to the disappearance -- and that they had high-level connections to the Saudi government. To be clear that was 15 men… and a bone saw.

Despite pressure from Turkey, the United States and the entire international community, Saudi officials have, for two weeks now, denied that Khashoggi had disappeared inside their consulate, calling accusations that he was killed there, "lies and baseless allegations."

But in recent days Turkish authorities have indicated they have audio and possibly video recordings of Khashoggi’s apparent torture. Needless to say, the disclosure of such evidence put a huge dent in the Saudi’s already weak attempts at plausible deniability, but they did hold a huge trump card (no pun intended), they happened to be closely allied with the President Trump

President Trump, who along with son in law, boy wonder, Jared Kushner have had some well publicized business dealings with Saudi Arabia and have also permitted a $110 billion arms sale to the Saudi’s which they would like to see completed. Trump claims it’s all about jobs, but greasing the skids for the Saudis certainly wouldn’t hurt any future business opportunities for Trump World.

So it was no surprise that after Trump spoke with the Saudi king on Monday, that he immediately jumped into reality TV mode and began offering up new story lines to throw some shade to the Saudis and thus protect ….all of his transactions.

"It wasn't like there was a question in his mind. The denial was very strong," Trump told reporters outside the White House, adding that the King "firmly denied any knowledge" of what happened to Khashoggi, adding “But his was a flat denial”

Of course he denied it. Why wouldn’t he?

But it gets better. Offering up an alternative to the common belief that Khashoggi was murdered by agents of the Saudi Regime, Trump said that " it sounded like it could be rogue killers,. Who knows?”

Sure, who knows?

Sure, maybe it was Rogue Killers

Or maybe it was China.

Or maybe it was some guy sitting on his bed weighing 400 pounds,

Or maybe it was just deju vu, all over again….

#116 - Ford v. Kavanaugh, Part 4, the Finale

I watched Trump’s ceremonial swearing in of Brett Kavanagh as Associate Justice of the Supreme Court on Monday night, and I thought to myself that Trump’s victory was now complete. Oh, I don't mean Kavanagh’s nomination. No, that’s small potatoes. That’s just a tiny piece of the puzzle. No the Trump victory of which I speak is much larger than that. It was Trump’s outright theft of the Republican Party, founded by Jefferson and Madison, which has played such an important role in our country over the last 225 years. The theft of this once great American institution was now complete. Donald Trump had won. And the real irony here, was that the real victims, the Trump Republicans, thought this was a good thing ….for them.

This is my fourth and, I am expecting, will be my last post on this incredibly divisive topic that has gripped the country for the better part of the last couple of months. And the only certain thing I have concluded, the only thing, is that there are no winners here. Sure, Republicans got a small chest-bump from the approval of Kavanaugh to the Court, but let’s get real. It should have been a cake walk, and it was anything but.

I have said that reasonable people on both sides of aisle will have different takes on the issues brought forth in the Ford v. Kavanagh. That’s understandable as this alleged event happened over 35 years, when both of them were young teenagers. But that hasn’t stopped Republicans and even Democrats from doing what they do best, playing politics.

Beginning with McConnell’s failure to move Merrick Garland’s nomination forward with 10 months to go in Obama’s term, we see Dianne Feinstein’s delay in surfacing the Ford story, followed by Cory Booker wanting to play Spartacus or Tony Curtis, I’m not sure which, then we have Lindsey Graham’s maniacal rant, and it was all topped off by an investigation by the now, all of a sudden…incredibly talented FBI. Apparently they are no longer the cause of THE Witch Hunt…until tomorrow or the day after anyway.

It was one shameful exhibition after another, and it all went according to the script of our reality TV president.

When Clarence Thomas’s nomination was approved back in 1991, then President George H.W. Bush’s instinct was to calm the waters, knowing that it was important to bring the country together. I know, because I listened to his 17 minute introduction of Thomas. Bush began his speech with the opening “Welcome all” and there was no reference to the contentious battle over the nomination. There was no desire to stoke the divisiveness that had ensued, and in the year that followed, while Bush was on the campaign trail for re-election, he chose to ignore the battle over Justice Thomas. Looking back on that now, we didn’t know how good we had it. We now have a deeper appreciation for Bush’s actions, which were filled with equal parts integrity, compassion and patriotism, and stemmed from his strong desire to be President to all Americans. Please, allow me to say that one more time…all Americans. I’m sorry, it just feels so good, I can’t help myself. That’s the way it used to be anyway. Yes, those were the good ol’ days.

Donald Trump and his dedicated followers of merry men have made the calculated choice that they don’t want or need to represent all Americans, they have opted for minority rule today. And they are thrilled with the results. But as these Trump Republicans will eventually learn, it’s very easy to go down this path now, but good luck trying to reverse course.

There was so much wrong with Kavanaugh’s swearing in ceremony, it can’t be captured in one post. So I will just focus on the opening line of this pseudo campaign rally where Trump introduced Kavanaugh stating that “On behalf of our nation, I want to apologize to Brett and the entire Kavanaugh family for the terrible pain and suffering you have been forced to endure”.

On the surface, independent observers might find this comment as fair and acceptable, if only there was some compassion exhibited for all the others who were hurt in this process as well, but there was none. They were not mentioned or referenced. They were simply forgotten.

There was no apology on behalf of the country for Christine Blasey Ford for her pain and suffering. Worse, in the days leading up to the final vote, Trump had gone on the offensive, mocking Ford’s inability to remember certain facts from her ordeal, and he and the mini-Don, Donald Trump Jr. went on to lament the injustices caused to their kind, the real victims in all of this, angry (and entitled) white men.

There was no apology on behalf of the country for Renate, you know Renate of the Renate Alumni, who apparently received special commendation from Kavanaugh, Squi and all the other guys with 14 references in their Georgetown Prep yearbook. Kavanaugh claimed his reference related to their attendance together at a social event, but it would have been more believable if he just claimed they were bridge partners.

Renate Schroeder Dolphin told the New York Times days earlier “I learned about these yearbook pages only a few days ago, I don’t know what ‘Renate Alumnus’ actually means. I can’t begin to comprehend what goes through the minds of 17-year-old boys who write such things, but the insinuation is horrible, hurtful and simply untrue. I pray their daughters are never treated this way. I will have no further comment.”

Can you blame her? But President Trump offered no apology on behalf of our nation for Renate.
Because there was no sympathy, no compassion, no acknowledgment for the pain and suffering by the other Americans hurt in this process, when Trump closed his introduction asking “us to renew the bonds of love, loyalty, and affection that link us all together as one great American family.. let us pray that all of America's children will grow up in a country that is fair, and just, and safe, and strong, and free.”

...the only ones who heard it, were the Trump Republicans…and they believed it all.

Thus, Trump’s victory this night was complete. His takeover of this once great institution was over. The Republican party was no longer recognizable, even to itself,

President George H.W. Bush who understood the importance of being President to all Americans was now 94, and in weak and in failing health. Sadly, the same could also be said of the few real Republicans still out there, many of whom are my friends.

I shall miss them all. I shall miss my friends.

#115 - Ford v. Kavanaugh, Part 3

For a brief moment, fresh air filled the room of the Senate Judiciary Committee and we were catapulted back in time to a place where Republicans and Democrats could sit in a room together and ….not want to rip each other’s eyes out, or so it might have seemed

The truth is one voice, just one voice, toggled from the right to the center, perhaps for only a brief moment, but it was enough to put a temporary hold on the madness that was about to be perpetuated by Republican leadership.

Senator Jeff Flake, the outgoing Republican Senator from Arizona got up from his chair a few minutes ahead of the planned vote to move the nomination of Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court out of the Committee, walked past the row of Republicans to the Democrats, and tapped Democratic Senator Chris Coombs from Delaware on the shoulder, motioning in a way to say “Let’s talk”

What followed was an agreement to put the floor vote on Kavanaugh’s vote on hold for seven more days while more inquiries could be made into Kavanaugh’s past

The delay occurred

(i) because in the ever growing shadow of the Me Too movement,  Christine Blasey Ford in describing an alleged sexual attack by Kavanaugh when Kavanaugh was 17 and Ford was 15 sounded…..believable and

(ii) because no independent third party (FBI) had done anything….ANYTHING to investigate the claim of the alleged sexual attack and

 (iii) because Kavanaugh had dodged and equivocated about his drinking in high school and made up comments about ralphing and the Renata alumni which came across as deceitful because years later he was embarrassed by the poor behavior he once exhibited…. as one of the cool guys at this prestigious private school.

Through it all, our ever mercurial President showed numerous sides of his chameleon like skin

First he said he saw Ford’s testimony and said it was compelling and she seemed like a very fine woman

Then two days ago, he began to shift the focus stating that "It is a very scary time for young men in America, when you can be guilty of something you may not be guilty of. It’s a very scary situation where you're guilty until proven innocent,"

But later that same evening at another campaign style rally, he went into full attack mode openly mocking Ford’s allegations of Kavanaugh’s sexual attack. Just about everyone on Planet Earth, including all the Republican members in Congress, was appalled that Trump would stoop so low, AGAIN, everyone except the Trump supporters in the room that night who cheered him on during his rant and raised their “Women for Trump” signs a little higher...

Reasonable people on both sides of the aisle will debate whether Kavanaugh is suited to be a Supreme Court Justice long after the final vote is taken, whichever way it goes, but one thing is certain.  Anyone who thinks the Me Too movement has gone too far, need only look at the shameful commentary of our President and the Kool-Aid drinking supporters at that rally to realize that Me Too still has a long way to go.

We should all note that this final point has only now become so crystal clear because of the good conscious of Senator Jeff Flake.  

And for that Senator, we thank you.

#114 - Trump in Love

“I was really being tough, and so was he. And we would go back and forth. And then we fell in

love, okay? No, really. He wrote me beautiful letters, and they’re great letters. We fell in love”

Those were the words of President Donald J. Trump at a Make America Great Again campaign

rally in Wheeling, West Virginia on Saturday speaking of his latest love affair.

Oh, this was no ordinary love affair. This was not a superficial fling with a former Playboy Bunny

or a one night stand with porn star. No, this new found love, as unexpected as it, was with

North Korean dictator Kim Jong-Un.

On some level, it had the potential to be the feel good story of the year, the prototypical ‘Boy

meets dictator, is awed by unrestrained power, wants to be just like him, and professes his

undying love for this moody, but clearly misunderstood, mass murderer” story.

I mean, we’ve all seen this movie before, haven’t we? I can’t think of one right now, not off the

top of my head, but surely Hollywood has written this plot line before, somewhere, sometime.

Surely…

In the Age of Trump, there are no rules, and there is no story so absurd, that it should be

considered an impossibility. But when Trump spoke these words, his MAGA supporters began

laughing at first, reassuring me, that there was still hope for these folks, that they too saw the

absurdity, that they too were all in on the joke. But only a few seconds passed and they

realized Trump was serious, and so they stopped laughing, and began to cheer their glorious

leader … crushing my foolish hopes and kicking them to the ground.

So why do I think this particular love affair is destined for the trash heap of insincere romances?

Maybe because Trump has been divorced twice already and is well on his way to his third,

maybe because he doesn’t know anything about real relationships, maybe because it’s always

about him or maybe it’s because I just don’t think you can trust murderous dictators, even the

ones who are in love.

Strange as this may seem, Fox News must have similar sentiments, marking a tuly unique alignment of the stars, because so far, 48 hours or so after Trump's statement of devotion,  their homepage featured no headlines devoted to the stunning statement. 

Still, wouldn’t it be nice if Trump and Kim were truly in love? Wouldn’t it be nice if their love

proved to be real, and we had a fairy tale ending, ….and they all lived happily ever after?

Yes, yes it would.

But pigs don’t fly… be they domestic or foreign.

#113 - Ford v. Kavanaugh - Part 2

In all likelihood, the color of my glasses which have a decidedly blue tint to block out the rays of the sun, also color my views of Ford v. Kavanaugh

Both Ford and Kavanaugh appear believable enough to make a clear cut choice between the two individuals' stories difficult for any impartial person.   But it is because time and time and time again Kavanugh dodged and equivocated when pressed to tell the Senate Committee, that he would proactively ask for an FBI to re-open their background check and speak with Mark Judge, that I believe he is trying to hide something.

What that something is, we will likely never know.

Under the cover of Lindsey Graham's righteous indignation of the pain that Kavanaugh and his family have had to suffer,  Graham lambasted Democrats and their apparent delayed disclosure of the incident in question, and stifled any further pursuit of the truth.

Graham's pointed response was reminiscent of a fire and brimstone preacher telling his flock that their sins would damn them to hell for all eternity.   He used his own anger and emotion to strangle any negative thoughts on the part of his fellow Republican Senators, and rally the troops.

"To my Republican colleagues, if you vote 'no', you're legitimizing the most despicable thing that I have seen in my time in politics." 

The most despicable thing that I have seen in my time in politics....

Perhaps, Lindsey, but perhaps not.

Unlike my own blue tinted glasses, my belief is that God sees more clearly than I ever will, and so I maintain, its not beyond the realm of comprehension that when God speaks to Lindsey on his personal day of judgment, he might remind him of this potentially persuasive and pointed statement that he made yesterday, and he might  ask Lindsey

... if the name Merrick Garland rings a bell.

#112 - Ford v. Kavanaugh, Part One

How could the greatness of America have come down to this?

Thirty five years ago a young teenage boy may or not have tried to (i) get lucky (ii) take advantage of (iii) sexually abuse (iv) rape or (v) attack with attempt to harm (insert the term of your choice) a young teenage girl, at a party, where alcohol may or may not have been involved. 

Based on the actions and comments of both Democrats and Republicans in Congress and their respective supporting team of cheerleaders in both the left leaning and right leading media, this once obscure and certainly very dated story has dominated the media and the debate in our country for the better part of 10 days, and it is surely going to continue.

You would have thought that a gigantic asteroid was on a collision course with earth which would wipe out half of the population, and each party was posturing to insure, that the other side ….would make up most of the unfortunate half.  

Really? Is this happening?  Does anyone else see the absurdity of all this? That this possible incident would be contemplated/dissected/reimagined/hypothesized with such magnitude that the world has almost stopped turning? I can’t be the only one.  I can’t be the only person in the country asking….

How the hell did we get here?

Without belittling the impact that this event would have had on that young teenage girl, if it happened, because I am sure it would have been traumatic, on a larger, macro level I can’t contain my contempt that this moment is emblematic of the larger scale failure of America.  Not the country of, but the idea of.

By all accounts the nomination of Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court by Donald Trump is a contentious one.   His election would represent a clear cut shift in the balance of the Supreme Court, where five justices would lean heavily right, and this new balance might continue for years to come.

Dianne Feinstein’s choice to sit on the news of this possible incident between two teenagers until the 11th hour of the Kavanaugh nomination was clearly a partisan effort to delay and possibly derail it.  That by itself is bad enough, but the apparent leaking of Ford’s name to the press presumably by some Democratic staffer, when Ford had first come forth under the condition of anonymity, represents just another selfish political maneuver and the sell-out of an individual’s right of privacy for purely political purposes.

Oh, we all know why this happened.  It was political payback time for Mitch McConnell’s decision to shut down the nomination of Merrick Garland for the Supreme Court with 10 months remaining in Barack Obama’s second term. To be clear, I think McConnell’s despicable decision represents one of the most disgusting political acts in the 240+ year history of our country. It was then followed up by his decision with the nomination of Neil Gorsuch to remove the filibuster rule in the Senate which would have required 60 votes to confirm.

As I wrote in my post, #102 - Mitch McConnell: The Second Most Despicable Man in American Politics (I don’t have to tell you who gets the top spot, do I?)  McConnell’s actions represented an outright suppression of the President’s constitutional power.  And they weren’t based on any legitimate rationale or any justifiable righteousness.  They were based on McConnell’s belief that the end, his end, justified any means.

It was the start of a theme perpetuated by Republicans across the country as they put aside the shameless and loathsome behaviors of Donald Trump because he gave them the greatest chance to sway the Supreme Court in their favor. They chose to lower our standards and to disregard the outright danger this man represents to our country, because they too concluded, that their own selfish ends justified any means.

Fast forward to the circus spectacle of recent days where Democrats are now doing their level best to mirror the loathsome behavior of the opposition.  Why should they try to hold the high moral ground?   Why should they exhibit integrity when Republicans can’t even spell the word?.  If the rules of the game have changed, they are just going to do their best to adapt.   

But it hasn’t ended there. It just gets worse as the crazies just try to one up each other.

Ed Whalen, the president of a conservative think tank called The Ethics and & Public Policy Center, (let’s give it a moment and let that sink in…. ) and an assertive supporter of Kavanagh suggested on Twitter that Ford, might have mistaken the identity of her alleged sexual assaulter and then, then, then, went ahead and actually provided the name and picture of a former classmate of Kavanaugh’s at Georgetown Prep.  Whoa! I bet that poor dude had no idea what hit him!

And I was never so happy…that I went to public school growing up. 

So you see, this is how we got here.  This is why an obscure event which may or may not have occurred some 35 years ago has dominated the political landscape in recent days.   This is why our political leaders are falling over themselves.  This is why nothing of any substance ever gets done.

A cynical observer might conclude that that aforementioned asteroid was coming much closer to earth now, and the light from the sun was beginning to dim on the idea of America.

I would be lying if I said, I hadn’t had similar thoughts in the last 22 months, but I still believe that over time, America will wake up and the good guys on both sides of the aisle will prevail. I won’t stop believing otherwise. I can’t. 

The threat of the asteroid is too terrible to contemplate.

[This is just part one of Ford v. Kavanaugh.  Mind you, I have no idea what part two will entail; I just know there won’t be any shortage of material]

#111 - In Support of First Responders: A Case For MORE Regulation

My wife said something to me yesterday, and my first thought was, wow, that's a really good idea.  My second thought was, hey, that's the sort of idea I would usually come up with ...which I immediately attributed to the positive influence I have had over her, after almost 40 years of marriage...

We were watching a news clip of first responders rescue a stranded family in North Carolina whose home was surrounded by water.   This was not a particularly dangerous rescue, still my wife said "They should charge those people for not evacuating when they should have, and for putting those guys at risk".

Her question is a fair one.  First responders come to our aid in the event of accidents, fires, tornadoes, hurricanes, and as recently as Friday in the nearby Lawrence, MA area, over 80 sudden gas explosions and fires shocked and stunned three different communities.   Many of those natural and man-made disasters were unforeseen, and in those instances the first responders must be at their ultimate best, relying on their training and instincts to save those in need.  But some disasters can be foreseen, as they roll out over an extended time frame including forest fires, volcanoes and hurricanes.  

Time and time and time again, we hear state and local officials ordering their residents to evacuate the homes ahead of a possible catastrophe when they declare a mandatory evacuation, but still some choose to remain behind.  This morning I heard the mayor of Fayetteville, NC, implore residents to leave as nearby rivers where not expected to crest for two or three more days.  He suggested that if you choose to stay, you should notify your next of kin.  He was doing very best to scare the crap out of any fool who was dumb enough to think that they could take on mother nature.  It was all he could do, for our system provides no other tools to do so.

 A press release from the City of Fayetteville, spoke of a potential for life-threatening flooding. "Those] who refuse or fail to comply with this mandatory evacuation order shall do so at their own risk and are put on notice that emergency and rescue personnel and first responders may not be sent into flooded areas within the area to be evacuated after the deadline for evacuation passes," the press release read.

It's a nice try, but who are they kidding?   Will first responders not go if they think their is a sliver of chance to rescue someone?  I don't think so.  Its part of their DNA and thank God it is. 

So, why can’t we give our elected officials more tools to deal with most stubborn amongst us?  For rescues during a mandatory evacuation, why not charge residents a minimum fee of $XX, subject to a surcharge for complex rescues, with a waiver of charges for extenuating circumstances such as the sick and elderly who might realistically be unable to evacuate. This would be a simple and effective deterrent for… reckless behavior.  My Republican friends often shutter at any talk of regulation or taxation, but I suspect in this instance, that many would be open to this concept.   Anything that minimizes the number of dangerous rescues for our responders and/or frees them up to aid others who may be in even greater danger, well, that gets my vote

We require automobile drivers to carry auto insurance, banks require those with shoreline property to obtain flood insurance if they want a mortgage, and Obamacare attempted to penalize individuals who chose not to obtain health insurance.  In each case, the prevailing concept is that the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the naive, shortsighted, and self-centered few.

Why can’t we apply this same concept for the benefit of our communities and for the safety of our first responders?    

I think my wife was on to something with her comment yesterday.  She usually is...just don't tell her I said so.

#108 - John McCain, We Will Miss You

We all had one, our first political crush.  Unlike the pang of a first love, which typically occurs early in our lives, and dissipates quickly, the political crush come much later, when we have become both very familiar and very disappointed with our still imperfect democracy, and a good one might linger for a lifetime.

Our political crush comes along when we are lucky enough to stumble across a politician, who is so unique that they inspire us to believe, that there is a better way.  My first political crush was with John McCain and started back in 1999, when he was a frequent guest of the Imus in the Morning radio show.  Campaigning for the Republican nomination for President as a long shot candidate, with little money, his Straight Talk Tour captured me.  He was the anti-political politician,  He would put country over party, set policies on its merits, speak honestly, admit mistakes and respect others with differing opinions.

Yes, I admit it, I fell for him, hook, line and sinker.

My early infatuation with this man only grew as I learned of his history of service as a war hero, and a POW for over five years in the Viet Nam , who was tortured but still refused early release.  As the son of a  Four Star Admiral, this would have given the enemy a meaningful propaganda victory, but he would have no part of it, no matter what it meant for him personally.

So, my disappointment was great when the South Carolina primary against George W. Bush got personal and dirty.  McCain would lose that primary and would eventually drop out of the race.  But still, he want back to the Senate to continue to serve in the only way he knew how.  Despite his differences with W., he was not done working, for there was still much work to be done.

By the time the 2008 Presidential Elections rolled around, I had begun leaning left, after a lifetime of leaning right, and while I supported Barack Obama in that election, I was buoyed by the realization that for the first time in my life, instead of being unsatisfied with both Presidential candidates, I could take comfort with either one of these men sitting in the Oval Office.

And despite my preference in that election, there were three very explicit events during the campaign that reinforced my own satisfaction in knowing, that the choice of my first political crush was a damn good one.

The first was during a Presidential debate when a clearly bigoted woman called Obama an Arab, and before she could get the next word out, McCain was already shaking his head and pulling the microphone out of her hand.

The second was at the Al Smith Dinner, the annual white tie fundraiser for  "the neediest children of the Archdiocese of New York, regardless of race, creed, or color."  Just three weeks ahead of the election, McCain was hilarious, self-deprecating and still honorable.  Recalling a time in our country when the invitation of an African-American citizen to dine at the White House was considered to be an outrage, he noted that night that we were  a "world away from the cruel and prideful bigotry of that time and good riddance."  In closing, he said that while he could not wish his opponent luck, he did wish him well.

And even in defeat, Senator McCain did not disappoint.   In his concession speech to President Elect Barack Obama, he worked to move the country forward, urging  "all Americans to join me... in offering our next president our goodwill and earnest effort to find ways to come together, to find the necessary compromises, to bridge our differences and help restore our prosperity, defend our security in a dangerous world, and leave our children and grandchildren a stronger, better country than we inherited".  

His wife Cindy would call it the best speech of his life, for it was John McCain at his purest, putting his own disappointment behind him, and moving quickly to continue his life of service.

McCain was one of those rare politicians who understand in every fiber of their being, that was not about them.  It was about everyone else.  And that the honor and privilege of successfully serving others was the ultimate reward.

Over the years I would agree with Senator McCain on some issues and I would disagree on others, but my crush never waned.

And I had to smile when I heard a couple months back that in preparing for his own funeral, in a request that was emblematic of the man, he asked his two greatest political rivals, George W. Bush and Barack Obama, to speak for him, in his absence.

 And President Trump was not invited.

c

#109 - Hell Hath No Fury LIke a Fixer Scorned: The Michael Cohen Story

The admission of guilt by President Trump’s former fixer and his implication of the President in the same criminal activity represent an astounding turnaround for the man who less than a year ago said he would take a bullet for Mr. Trump.

Cohen admitted last week in open court that he violated campaign finance laws “in coordination with and at the direction of a candidate for federal office,”

Hmmm…. who could that be?

To understand how we got here, you have to understand the role that Michael Cohen played for Mr. Trump, his personal issues, and most importantly, you have to understand what the President really thought of him. 

Cohen began his career as an attorney pursuing one of the least respected segments of the American legal world, personal injury law.  Yes, he hails from that group of low level bottom feeders who actually make other lawyers look good.  Here he honed the skills which would set him on a most unusual career trajectory.

In 2006 Cohen landed a job working for Trump back, impressing him with the fact that he had read “The Art of Deal”....twice.   Don’t laugh, he knew the best way in with Trump was to flatter him, besides, anyone who could get through that literary jewel once, deserves a medal.  Over time, Cohen convinced family and friends to buy condominiums in the Trump World Tower which helped Trump gain control of the condominium board, and he soon became Mr. Trump’s BFF, or so it seemed to Michael anyway. 

This newly minted pit bull had found his purpose in life.

Cohen told ABC News in 2011 that "If somebody does something Mr. Trump doesn't like, I do everything in my power to resolve it to Mr. Trump's benefit. If you do something wrong,  I'm going to come at you, grab you by the neck and I'm not going to let you go until I'm finished."

Grab you by the neck…..Nice.  Remember my earlier point about making other lawyers look good? I rest my case. 

Between 2011 and 2016 Cohen worked behind the scenes working to gloss over the scandal regarding the alleged rape by Trump of his first wife, and the affairs with Stormy Daniels and Karen McDougle and may or may not have met with Russian officials in Prague in 2016 with the objective of paying those who had hacked the DNC and to "cover up all traces of the hacking operation.   The Fixer was proving his value and earning his pay.

But with Trump’s surprise election victory, The Fixer was presented with a new opportunity, to be part of something bigger, to be part of that luxury cruise that was sailing south to DC and included all the beautiful people who had made it possible for Trump to get there, including: Jared, Ivanka, Hope Hicks, Kellyanne, Steve Bannon, Michael Flynn and even Trump’s old bodyguard, but a funny thing happened on the way to the big dance, the President’s fixer was left behind.  Early on his name had been in the mix for the coveted Chief of Staff position, but in the end the man who helped make it possible for Trump to succeed, was all of a sudden, the odd man out.   His fix-it skills would not be welcome in the pristine halls of the White House.

With the President now ensconced in the Oval Office and looking to distance himself from the unsavory activities of his fixer, Cohen had to morph, and he quickly seized on a bigger and better opportunity, peddling access to the big guy and providing insider knowledge to anyone with a big wallet.

In the months following Trump’s election in November 2016, Cohen negotiated payments totaling $600K from AT&T for “his opinion on the new President and his administration”, which it’s CEO would later describe as…. “a big mistake”,

Novartis, a Switzerland–based pharmaceutical giant, paid Cohen $1.2M to help the company understand the "health care policy" of the new administration. Novartis subsequently admitted to the public, and thus to its shareholders, that it did not actually receive any benefit for its investment.  The fact that Trump had no health care policy was apparently lost on the Novartis executives.

Excuse me sirs, I have some ideas on a health care, and you can have them for $10. Call me.  

But the next one is best described by the old PT Barnum ascribed statement “There’s a sucker born every minute”.  Korea Aerospace Industries paid Cohen for advice on “Cost Accounting Standards,” those highly technical bookkeeping rules that would apply to the company’s bid for U.S. defense work.  If Cohen actually spoke the words “Cost Accounting Standards” once in his lifetime, it would be a shock.

In a matter of months, Cohen had pulled in $2 million, for doing….nothing, which begs the obvious question: Why can’t I get a gig like that?

Soon, all of his clients realized that they had been sold a bill of goods, that The Fixer was just another one of Trump’s snake oil salesmen, and they weren’t going to get any bang for their buck.  And that’s because The Fixer had no real insight from the President to offer, because, because, wait for it, wait for it it….the President simply didn’t need him anymore.  His usefulness had expired. Loyalty was a one-way street for this president

And so now, the disrespect was out there, out in the open, for all to see.

But, this wasn’t really anything new, and deep down Cohen knew it.  Of all the stories printed about the President’s relationship with his former fixer, the most compelling one was the President’s reported humiliation of Cohen at his own son's bar mitzvah in 2012.  One attendee told the Wall Street Journal that Trump was so late to the event that Cohen delayed the blessings. Trump then spoke and said that he hadn't actually planned on attending but came after Cohen begged him to come by repeatedly calling him, his secretary, and his children.  On one of the most important days of Cohen’s life, the President took center stage and then used it to belittle his loyal servant.  It’s unlikely that Trump’s performance that day was a surprise to anyone who knew him, but the fact that Cohen accepted this embarrassment and didn’t immediately bail on his boss was.

Fast forward to April 2018.  Already suffering financial difficulties from the devaluation of NY City taxi medallions which he owned (thank you Uber), federal prosecutors raided Cohen’s home and office for anything they could lay their hands on.   Trump’s own instinct for self-preservation immediately kicked in, contending that federal prosecutors were looking more at Cohen's business dealings than the legal work he'd done on Trump's behalf.  "Michael is a businessman, he's got a business. He also practices law," Trump said back then "And they're looking at something having to do with his business. I have nothing to do with his business”.

So much for loyalty.  So much for honor among thieves.

And then in June, almost out the blue, with absolutely no correlation with his legal and financial troubles, Cohen signaled he was having a change of heart and blasted the president’s “zero tolerance” policy under which children have been separated from their parents after illegal border crossings.

“As the son of a Polish holocaust survivor, the images and sounds of this family separation policy is heart wrenching,” Cohen wrote, marking the first time he had publicly distanced himself from Trump.

“While I strongly support measures that will secure our porous borders, children should never be used as bargaining chips,” he added.

“He’s turned his life around from what he did for Donald Trump, much of which he now regrets,” Davis said on the Today Show. “That’s the kind of thing that caused Michael Cohen to change his mind, and decide to dedicate himself to telling the truth to the American people.”

Whoa! Where did all this come from? The Fixer has a conscious?  Who knew?  But there was still more to come

Cohen’s new attorney, Lanny Davis, recently upped the ante in this chess game, stating his client now believes Trump is “unsuitable to hold the office”, citing Trump’s refusal to accept the conclusion of US intelligence agencies that the Russians were responsible for the election disruption, while standing next to Vladimir Putin.

In the midst of all his legal troubles, pleading guilty, cooperating with the Feds WITHOUT some type of formal leniency deal, Cohen and his attorney were speaking out on the President’s abhorrent policy on the separation of children from their refugee families and on the President’s performance at the Helsinki Summit. 

Good-bye Presidential pardon.

The Wall Street Journal later reported that Cohen’s turning point may have been influenced by his elderly father, Maurice, a Holocaust survivor, who reportedly told his son that he did not survive the Nazi genocide to have his name dragged through the mud by Trump.  Maurice had no doubt seen Trump ‘perform’ at his grandson’s bar mitzvah and that was likely all he would ever need to see.  He likely filed this event away and would pull it out if the time every came when he needed it.   No doubt Trump’ pull back from his formerly loyal fixer and his disparaging comments, was that time, and Maurice likely reminded his son of that event to convince him that Trump would never have his back. Never.  

There’s no way of knowing where the Michael Cohen story will end.  Has the former fixer and would-be influence peddler had a legitimate change of heart?  How much information does he have on Trump’s shady dealings?  Will he spill it all to the Feds?  Can it be corroborated?   And will it even make a difference?    

It’s still too early to answer any of those questions, but maybe this Prodigal Son has in fact returned home to right things with his father, and just maybe The Fixer had decided that it was time to fix things, once and for all.