Month: May 2017

Republican President George H. W. Bush challenged us to create “a kinder, gentler nation.” That was August 18, 1988, when Mr. Bush accepted his party’s nomination as their presidential candidate. Republicanism has changed a great deal in the 28 years between George H. W. Bush’s nomination and Donald Trump’s nomination. In the summer of 2016, we heard nothing about kindness and gentleness. We heard about Muslim bans, racism, sexual assault, ridicule of a Gold Star family, ridicule of a disabled reporter, both verbal and physical assaults on members of the press, and too many other unkind and ungentle acts to list here. Trump’s attitudes haven’t changed since he became “president,” and the spillover from those attitudes continues to show up in every area of our lives. This week, the GOP elected a man to represent the state of Montana in the House of Representatives the day after he physically assaulted a reporter. Andy Borowitz, whom I like to call the Jonathan Swift of the Internet, wrote, “Republican voters are electing people like Trump and Gianforte not in spite of their violent bullying but because of it.” I agree. What is happening to us as a culture? Was our perceived conquering of racism really just a veneer of civility that never took root in our hearts? Was this ugly hatred there the whole time, just waiting for a leader to come along who’d give us permission to unleash it again and make it socially acceptable? In a democracy, we can’t compartmentalize our leaders’ attitudes and our own attitudes. If this is a government of, by, and for the people, our leaders are US. We pick them according to the values of our own hearts and consciences, and some of the leaders we’ve picked recently paint a dark portrait of the American soul.

Here’s a look back at Week 18.

1. DT has spent his 18^th week in office far from the Swamp of Washington, D.C. He’s been making his first official international tour, proving he’s just as embarrassing on the world stage as he is here at home. In a video circulating the Internet, our beloved “president” is seen pushing his way through a group of heads of state who are lining up for a photo at NATO headquarters. Just before reaching his goal of being at the head of the pack, he roughly shoves aside Montenegro’s Prime Minister Dusko Markovic, then proceeds to the front row. When he reaches his destination, he stops, adjusts his suit coat, raises his chin, and preens like a proud peacock or the kid who just bullied his way to the front of the ice cream line. Harry Potter author J. K. Rowling was moved to tweet, “You tiny, tiny, tiny little man.” We couldn’t agree more, Ms. Rowling!
2. DT’s “speech” at the NATO meeting was just as embarrassing as his manners. The New York Times account of the entire affair points out many disappointments. Although some had hoped this would be a fence-mending tour of Europe, it turned out to be anything but. The focus of DT’s speech was not, as had been hoped, an endorsement of NATO’s mutual defense pledge. Instead, he chose to “lash out at fellow members for what he called their ‘chronic underpayments’ to the alliance” (NYT). This performance led one blogger to describe DT as “a grumpy New York landlord demanding overdue rent.” And the proudest images for us back here at home are the video scans of his audience—other heads of state—snickering among themselves at the buffoon on the platform.
3. One of the sadder duties of our chief executive is speaking on behalf of the nation in times of tragedy. This week’s unspeakable tragedy in Manchester, England, that claimed 22 lives, most of them lives that were just getting started, required our “president” to issue a statement. In contrast to the eloquent, heartfelt, uplifting expressions of condolence offered by President Obama at such times, DT—speaking from Jerusalem—made this statement: “I extend my deepest condolences to those so terribly injured in this terrorist attack and to the many killed and the families, so many families, of the victims. We stand in absolute solidarity with the people of the United Kingdom. So many young beautiful innocent people living and enjoying their lives murdered by evil losers in life. I won’t call them monsters because they would like that term. They would think that’s a great name. I will call them from now on losers because that’s what they are. They’re losers, and we’ll have more of them, but they’re losers, just remember that.” “Evil losers.” Betcha never heard a head of state use that term in a solemn public address before! Welcome to the new great-again America!
4. Now that hatred and distrust of the press and tolerance for violence have been normalized, even an assault charge can’t keep a GOP candidate from being elected. On the eve of Montana’s special election to fill the state’s lone seat in the House of Representatives, GOP candidate Greg Gianforte was accused by Guardian reporter Ben Jacobs of body slamming Jacobs, breaking his glasses, and punching him, all the while shouting at Jacobs to “get the hell out of here!” While Jacobs was filing an assault charge with the police, nursing an injured elbow, and making a trip to the emergency room, Gianforte was being elected a U. S. Congressman. Congressman Gianforte was strongly endorsed by both DT Sr. and DT Jr.—no surprises there! For other news on this man, I can’t say it better than writer Morgan Guyton: “Greg Gianforte is not just an average right-wing thug. He’s a fundamentalist Christian activist who funded the creationist Dinosaur and Fossil Museum in Glendive, Montana . . . Gianforte is also on the board of the Association of Classical and Christian Schools. Greg Gianforte is what toxic Christianity looks like. It’s white nationalism wrapped in a tokenistic use of the Bible . . . This is what it’s always been about, even for the past four decades that it pretended to be about family values. Family values is about returning to the social order in the good old days when everyone knew their place.” And of course, that social hierarchy places white men at the top. Just making America great again!
5. The Congressional Budget Office, CBO, released their report on the AHCA this week. You remember, that’s the bill which the GOP was so eager to pass that they just couldn’t wait until the CBO had finished its work. Well, that work is now finished, and none of the news is good. Just for starters, under the American Health Care Act, 23 million fewer Americans would have health insurance than now have it. The bill would also reduce the deficit by $119 billion, mostly attributable to cuts in Medicaid. Medicaid, which serves the lowest-income Americans, would suffer $834 billion in cuts, while repealing many of the ACA’s taxes would benefit the highest-income Americans. The fact that this plan actually sounds fair to many members of Congress as well as to many private citizens is graphic evidence of the sickness at the root of our collective conscience today. Other moral outrages included in the Trumpdon’tcare bill include ending protections for people with pre-existing conditions, reinstituting lifetime caps, allowing higher premiums for older Americans, defunding Planned Parenthood, and cutting Special Education (for children with special needs) funds for schools, and then using the savings to reward the wealthy and corporations with $600 billion in tax breaks. It’s downright criminal.
6. Then came Thursday when we heard from the 4^th S. Circuit Court of Appeals who heard the case on the injunction against DT’s second travel ban and voted 10-3 to uphold the district court’s ruling on the grounds—as stated in that ruling—that the ban violates the First Amendment’s Establishment Clause. Chief Judge Roger Gregory wrote the majority opinion, from which this is an excerpt: The travel ban “’drips with religious intolerance, animus, and discrimination,’ thereby violating ‘one of our most cherished founding principles—that government shall not establish any religious orthodoxy, or favor or disfavor one religion over another.’ While Gregory acknowledged that ‘Congress granted the President broad power to deny entry to aliens,’ he insisted that this power ‘cannot go unchecked when, as here, the President wields it through an executive edict that stands to cause irreparable harm to individuals across this nation’” (from The Slatest). “Drips with religious intolerance, animus, and discrimination”—I certainly can’t add anything to that!
7. If anyone has done a word count of the most-used terms in this week’s news, I’m betting the top three are “Russia,” “Jared Kushner,” and “Michael Flynn.” With the Trump-Russia investigation progressing on several fronts, much attention is being paid to son-in-law Jared Kushner. It was first announced that Kushner is now a person of interest to the FBI. Although no charges have been filed or formal accusations made, it’s no surprise to anyone that the FBI is scrutinizing Kushner because of his known meetings with Russian officials and his failure to disclose those meetings voluntarily. It’s important to note that the term “person of interest” is not part of legal jargon. The term was adopted by the media to label someone who is being watched or investigated but who is not yet the subject or target of an investigation.
8. Shining even more light on Jared Kushner’s moral character, The New York Times reported this week that Kushner has not just one but two real estate empires: the high-end stuff we’ve always known about and also some “often decrepit low-income housing.” According to the Times, “His subordinates aggressively sue tenants for the smallest infractions despite ignoring maintenance needs, and they pursue judgments even when the tenant seems to have been in the right.” The article reports that since 2011, the Kushner family business has acquired “20,000 apartments in 34 complexes in Maryland, Ohio, and New Jersey.” Operating under the name JK2, Kushner’s company has filed hundreds of lawsuits against tenants and in one case garnished a home health worker’s wages and wiped out her bank account. This is the guy DT chose to place in charge of everything!
9. The jaw-dropping Kushner news of the week broke on Friday when The Washington Post reported that during DT’s transition, Kushner and Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak “discussed the possibility of setting up a secret and secure communications channel between Trump’s transition team and the Kremlin, using Russian diplomatic facilities in an apparent move to shield their pre-inauguration discussions from monitoring, according to U.S. officials briefed on intelligence reports.” Michael Flynn also attended the meeting. Although the secret connection was never established, reports of Kushner’s efforts are by far the most damning news to date concerning his contacts with Russian officials. This report raises a multitude of questions, such as why legitimate communications with a foreign power would need to be so secretive, why normal communications channels could not be used, why he specifically asked to use Russian facilities, and why Kushner seems to have more familiarity with and trust in Russian officials than in his own government, along with many others. So far, the White House response to these questions is silence. They don’t want to talk about it. What they are doing is working feverishly to set up a defense strategy and a legal team to face what will be a long, ongoing investigation. I’m sure Mr. Kushner will have a spot or two in our Swamp Report for weeks and months to come.
10. Week 18 ended with a powerful statement of the humiliation the United States now suffers in the eyes of the whole world. Writer Klaus Brinkbaumer delivers this devastating indictment in Der Spiegel: “Donald Trump is not fit to be president of the United States. He does not possess the requisite intellect and does not understand the significance of the office he holds nor the tasks associated with it. He doesn’t read. He doesn’t bother to peruse important files and intelligence reports and knows little about the issues that he has identified as his priorities. His decisions are capricious and they are delivered in the form of tyrannical decrees. He is a man free of morals. As has been demonstrated hundreds of times, he is a liar, a racist and a cheat. I feel ashamed to use these words, as sharp and loud as they are. But if they apply to anyone, they apply to Trump. And one of the media’s tasks is to continue telling things as they are: Trump has to be removed from the White House. Quickly. He is a danger to the world.” Brinkbaumer recommends that“the international community [wake] up and [find] a way to circumvent the White House and free itself of its dependence on the US.” From the guardian of the world to the country no one can trust. Just makes you want to sit down and cry.

To quote another Republican President, Abraham Lincoln, also making an acceptance speech, this time for his party’s nomination to become a senator representing the State of Illinois: “A house divided against itself cannot stand. I believe this government cannot endure, permanently, half slave and half free. I do not expect the Union to be dissolved — I do not expect the house to fall — but I do expect it will cease to be divided. It will become all one thing or all the other. Either the opponents of slavery will arrest the further spread of it, and place it where the public mind shall rest in the belief that it is in the course of ultimate extinction; or its advocates will push it forward, till it shall become lawful in all the States, old as well as new — North as well as South.”

Substitute racism, hatred of the other, violence and bullying, and treasonous relationships for Lincoln’s references to slavery, and our task becomes clear. Our nation is deeply divided, and we want it to be united again; but it must be united for equality and justice, not for acceptance of hatred and violence. It’s going to be a long, hard battle, friends!

The “I” word has been on everyone’s lips this week. I began speaking of impeachment and the need to press for impeachment on the day after the election, as I was attempting to stop the flow of tears and figure out how we were going to get out of the train wreck that had just occurred and from which most of us were still in shock. At first, however, my mention of impeachment or starting a drum beat for it was met with cautious looks. We had to give Trump a chance, right? It was going to be bad, yes, but we couldn’t be certain how bad. We still had 2018; we’d just work really hard to change the balance of power by flipping Congress. This week, however, all of that has changed. The news has tumbled out non-stop, and every headline shouts for impeachment or at least suggests its possibility or desirability. Another word we’ve heard often this week is the “W” word, as the current situation is reminding more and more people of Watergate. Most analysts are saying this scandal will, in the end, far eclipse Watergate: Watergate is what some have called a “third-rate burglary,” though that probably understates its gravity. Russiagate, on the other hand, is a major intrusion of an adversarial foreign power into our government and the possible collusion of high-ranking American officials with that foreign adversary. Talk of treason, obstruction of justice, and questions of who knew what and when have dominated the Week 17 news cycle.

Let’s review the week’s chaos point by point.

1. So, the guy who doesn’t need daily intelligence briefings because he’s “like, a smart person” has proved that razor-sharp intellect once again in his comments early this week on exercise. According to an article published last week in The New Yorker, “Other than golf, [Trump] considers exercise misguided, arguing that a person, like a battery, is born with a finite amount of energy.” This would be shocking from most other people, but since we’ve always been aware of Trump’s disdain for science, it’s not surprising. Anyone who can deny climate change can easily justify lazy exercise habits with lame “scientific” explanations. Taco bowls, double scoops of ice cream, and McDonald’s delicacies combined with little exercise—better hope that battery is the rechargeable type, Donald!
2. This week’s first bombshell was dropped on Monday—starting the week with an explosion that will occupy the news cycle at least until the next Trump-inflicted disaster. The Washington Post reported that in last week’s ill-timed and shady Oval Office meeting when Trump jovially entertained the Russian ambassador and the Russian foreign minister, Trump just happened to drop a little classified information given to our government by one of its allies; The New York Times describes the information as “highly classified intelligence.” The Post did not at first include details of the shared information, to avoid compounding the problem; but they later reported that the intelligence was received from Israel and involved an Islamic State plot to make bombs out of laptop computers, to be used on airplanes. Although it’s been emphasized that what 45 did was not illegal, legality is not the sole measure of one’s actions. Slavery, removal of native Americans, and internment of Japanese Americans were all legal; but they were not moral, humane, decent, or wise. Such careless revelations by our “president” endanger the safety of our country and compromise the trust of our allies. They also further diminish our confidence in and respect for the presidency. It’s already been reported that intelligence officials may have withheld sensitive information from the “president” because they don’t trust him to handle it appropriately. During the campaign, one of 45’s dominant themes was Hillary Clinton’s carelessness in handling classified information—emails!—yet he now seems oblivious as usual to his own hypocrisy. And just in case anyone harbors a small doubt that the Post report is accurate, wonder no more! On Tuesday morning, our brilliant leader announced that he did in fact share information with Russia and that he has an “absolute right” to do so. Well, I’m glad that’s settled.
3. David Brooks published an excellent article in Monday’s New York Times: “When the World Is Led by a Child.” Brooks begins with the statement, “There are three tasks most mature adults have sort of figured out by the time they hit 25. Trump has mastered none of them.” He goes on to list those three tasks: sitting still, possessing “some internal criteria for measuring their own merits and demerits” rather than needing “perpetual outside approval,” and the ability to “perceive how others are thinking.” Brooks offers multiple examples to back up his assessment of Trump’s immaturity. Then he says this about 45’s sharing classified information with his Russian pals: “From all we know so far, Trump didn’t [share classified information with Russian visitors] because he is a Russian agent, or for any malevolent intent. He did it because he is sloppy, because he lacks all impulse control, and above all because he is a 7-year-old boy desperate for the approval of those he admires.” Who’d have thought we’d ever look longingly back on the George W. Bush era as “the good ole days” when our president was a mature, intelligent, well-read, well-spoken adult? Strange new world we’re in!
4. As it turns out, we didn’t have to wait long for that “next Trump-inflicted disaster” I mentioned in #2. Tuesday afternoon, The New York Times reported that James Comey began shortly after 45’s inauguration to create a paper trail which would document certain events that made him uncomfortable because they smacked of interference in an active investigation, just in case such documentation were ever needed. And now it’s needed! The existence of Comey’s memos is not doubted among Justice Department personnel, who have been well aware of Comey’s habit of writing contemporaneous memos to record what he considered significant events. The memo whose contents were released on Tuesday revealed an incident which occurred the day after 45 fired Michael Flynn. According to Comey’s memo, 45 asked him to remain behind after an Oval Office meeting, while others were dismissed from the room. With only Trump and Comey left in the office, Trump told Comey, “I hope you can see your way clear to letting this go, to letting Flynn go. He is a good guy. I hope you can let this go.” Jason Chaffetz awoke suddenly from his long stupor to demand that acting FBI Director Andrew McCabe turn over “all memoranda, notes, summaries, and recordings referring or relating to any communications between Comey and the President.” He gave McCabe a one-week deadline and declared his readiness to subpoena if necessary. He says this may be the proof he needs that 45 is guilty of obstructing justice. Wow! Ya think?
5. In the most surreal, what-planet-are-we-living-on event of the week, Vladimir Putin offered on Wednesday morning to help out his pal and puppet, Donald, by providing American lawmakers “a record” of the Oval Office meeting between Trump and his other Russian pals Kislyak and Lavrov. Calling the furor over the reports that Trump gave these men classified information “political schizophrenia” and “a tempest in a teacup, whipped up for political reasons,” Putin said he’d be more than happy to put everyone’s mind at ease by turning over the “record,” which a Kremlin aide told reporters is a written account, not a recording. As you recall, we are at the mercy of Putin’s charity because our “president” did not allow American reporters to attend the meeting where they could have made their own record of the conversation. Putin finds the whole episode greatly amusing: just we stupid Americans dreaming up “nonsense and rubbish.” He may find the impeachment of his boy Donnie far less amusing.
6. On Wednesday, the news came in a virtual avalanche. In the afternoon, we heard that our national embarrassment was on stage once again, this time presenting a graduation address to the U.S. Coast Guard Academy class of 2017. I’m sure those young people will look back on that day fondly, remembering the inspiring speech in which the “president” of their country whined to them about how badly he’s been treated. Not that I’d expect 45 to know such things, but graduation addresses are supposed to be about the graduates: words of wisdom and inspiration to motivate them as they embark on the life path for which they’ve prepared. Instead, in true Trump fashion, this speaker made the occasion all about himself. He whined, “’Look at the way I’ve been treated lately, especially by the media. No politician in history, and I say this with great surety, has been treated worse or more unfairly. You can’t let them get you down.’ Responding to their cheers, he commented: ‘I guess that’s why we won.’” Not only is this inappropriate for the occasion but it’s a double underscore of his extreme immaturity and mental illness. This is not the way normal, healthy people talk. Time to take out the trash at the White House!
7. Later on Wednesday came the first good news of the week: The Department of Justice had just appointed Robert Mueller, former FBI Director, as special counsel to conduct an independent investigation on the Trump-Russia ties. YES!!! Finally, the day we’ve been waiting for has arrived! Even better news is that Mr. Mueller is well spoken of by people of all political persuasions. The New York Times, who broke the news, had only praise for Mr. Mueller: he has “an unblemished reputation”; “Democrats and Republicans on Capitol Hill . . . view him as one of the most credible law enforcement officials in the country”; “his ‘record, character, and trustworthiness have been lauded for decades by Republicans and Democrats alike” (quoting Ben Sasse); and Mr. Mueller has served under both Democratic and Republican presidents. Although the House and Senate committees will continue their investigations, Rod Rosenstein’s appointment of Robert Mueller offers the greatest hope and encouragement so far that we will eventually know the truth about Russian meddling and Trump’s cooperation with it and that justice will prevail. Interesting side note: no tweets from the tweeter-in-chief. I guess that would be because everyone remotely involved in or subject to subpoena in this case has been advised to “lawyer up,” beginning with you-know-who. Perhaps we finally have someone who can control 45’s twitter finger. Oops! I spoke too soon. The tweeter-in-chief was up and at his post early Thursday morning. In two tweets, he mentioned “illegal acts” committed by Hillary Clinton and President Obama, without offering evidence (I don’t think we even need to say this any more) which did not lead to the appointment of a special councel (his spelling). Then he added, “This is the single greatest witch hunt of a politician in American history!” Gee, Donald, could it be that it’s not a witch hunt and you’re just the single most ignorant, unfit, and corrupt politician in American history?
8. Well, all of this Wednesday business was head-spinning enough; but there were a few hours left in the day, so the news wasn’t over yet. The evening brought the revelation of an audio tape recorded in June 2016—before WikiLeaks, before FBI investigation—of some key GOP pals giggling and snorting about Trump’s relationship with Vladimir Putin. The Washington Post’s Adam Entous reports House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, Speaker Paul Ryan, and others were engaged in a private conversation when McCarthy said, “There’s … there’s two people, I think, Putin pays: Rohrabacher [Rep. Dana Rohrabacher of CA, openly pro-Russian] and Trump. Swear to God.” The whole conversation was laced with much laughter and conviviality. After this statement, however, Ryan turned somewhat more serious, cautioning his colleagues, “This is an off the record. No leaks, all right? This is how we know we’re a real family here. What’s said in the family stays in the family.” McCarthy’s spokesman Matt Sparks denied the conversation, was informed there is audio evidence, then turned to the it-was-all-a-joke defense. Indeed, those who have heard the tape agree it’s possible that the group was just joking; but as Post writer Aaron Blake points out, “Even sarcasm is almost always laced with truth.” And two truths emerge from this conversation, even if it was in fact all in jest: (1) Talk of Trump’s ties with Russia were spoken of and laughed about privately well before any evidence was made public or any investigations were launched and well before he won the GOP nomination; (2) GOP leaders were so desperate to elect a Republican president that they were willing to sell their souls to the devil in order to make that happen. Controlling the government, repealing the work of the President they despised, Barack Obama, and further enriching the 2% meant more to them than protecting our national security. Remember that the next time you’re in a voting booth.
9. On Thursday, Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein addressed the Senate in a closed-door session to brief them on the independent investigation and what they should expect. In interviews with reporters after the meeting, Senator Lindsey Graham said his takeaway from the briefing is that the investigation into Trump and his associates’ ties to Russia has evolved from a counterintelligence investigation to a criminal investigation. Trump has been advised to retain outside counsel, as have all of those who will be involved. So the good news of the week is that we now have a dedicated, professional investigator commissioned to untangle this whole mess and finally provide all—or hopefully at least most—of the facts on this troubling matter. The not-so-good news is that these things can take an enormous amount of time, and Trump will still be “president” during all of that time. Richard Nixon had the decency to resign; Donald Trump has no innate sense of decency. Tony Schwartz, The Art of the Deal ghostwriter, told CNN’s Anderson Cooper this week, Trump “lacks empathy, the ability to really connect with other people, self-awareness and above all, a conscience … there is no right and wrong – there is winning and losing.” Schwartz predicts Trump will resign, which would be a loss, but only after he has figured out a way to make that loss sound like a win, and he will declare his resignation a victory. I disagree. I believe he’ll show the same defiance he did when people called for his withdrawal from the campaign after the hot-mic tape; he vowed then that there was “zero chance” of his withdrawing. If Trump does stay in, he will increasingly assume a wounded animal stance, which will be dangerous for us all—unless someone can figure a way to change the nuclear codes.
10. Meanwhile, the Embarrasser-in-Chief, along with his wife Melania, prepares to embark Friday on an 8-day foreign tour. His itinerary will include Saudi Arabia, Israel, the Vatican, Brussels, and Sicily. Although Trump and his staff hoped this trip would provide a desperately needed “reset,” the events of this week will cast a long shadow over his appearances in other countries. Chances of his being well received by other world leaders and citizens, of his staying on script and not saying stupid, damaging things to world audiences, and of his surviving 8 days outside the comfort of his homes—when it’s well known that he doesn’t like sleeping away from his own bed—leave much room for doubt about his chances of scoring the win he so greatly needs right now.

 

In a New York Times op-ed published on Wednesday, May 17, Nicholas Kristof wrote a parenthetical comment:

“An aside: Thank God for the battle unfolding between The Washington Post and The New York Times. This is the best kind of newspaper war, keeping America straight. I’ve been very critical of media coverage of the presidential campaign, but the rigorous coverage of Trump since he took office has made me proud to be a journalist. And thanks to all those citizens who have subscribed to news outlets in recent months, recognizing that subscriptions are the price for a democracy.”

Amen, Mr. Kristof! Trump has called the press “the enemy of the people.” NO, keeping the Fourth Estate strong, honest, and courageous is our only hope. Let the legitimate press know that you recognize the difference between their work and fake news/aka propaganda by subscribing and then reading regularly. Remember, it was the work of journalists that brought down Nixon. Let’s help them do the same for Trump.

 

 

As the swamp gets murkier and the atmosphere in our nation’s capital grows more sinister by the day, I was reminded this week of some stirring words written by Thomas Paine during another American crisis:

“These are the times that try men’s souls. The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of their country; but he that stands by it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman. Tyranny, like hell, is not easily conquered; yet we have this consolation with us, that the harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph. “

Paine has been called “a corsetmaker by trade, a journalist by profession, and a propagandist by inclination.” British by birth, he is credited with inspiring rebels in both the American and the French Revolutions. His pamphlets Common Sense and The American Crisis were profoundly influential in uniting the American colonists to declare independence from Great Britain.

The above quotation, one of my long-time favorites, is excerpted from The American Crisis, written in 1776. Paine doesn’t diminish the magnitude of the enemy we fight, but he affirms the possibility of victory through the exercise of the best human qualities: dedication, perseverance, and love of freedom and justice.

Tyranny has returned to America, this time from the inside; freedom and justice are threatened on every hand. This is no time for “summer soldiers” and “sunshine patriots.” The conflict ahead will be hard, but the triumph will be glorious.

Week 16: every day a new bombshell. Let’s recap.

1. The week began on a strongly positive note when Sally Yates, new American heroine, won a standing ovation from her fellow citizens for her masterful testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee’s subcommittee on crime and terrorism. She clearly and boldly spoke about what she knew, when she knew it, and when and how she informed the White House regarding Michael Flynn’s connections to Russia. Although many anticipated a no-surprises, anti-climactic testimony, in reality her testimony was anything but predictable and boring. It was, in fact, the first bombshell of the week. She told the committee of two in-person meetings which she initiated with White House Counsel Donald McGahn. She informed Mr. McGahn, in the presence of witnesses, that Flynn was lying to Mike Pence about his Russia contacts and that those lies placed him in a compromised position in which he could possibly be blackmailed by Russian authorities. Mr. McGahn’s response? Why is it any of the Department of Justice’s beeswax if one White House official lies to another? I see he has his boss’s capacity for intelligent thought.
2. From heroism to treason, the rest of the Week 16 news cycle has been dominated by Trump’s Tuesday Massacre, his sudden firing of FBI Director James Comey, which Comey learned about the same way we did: by watching the news. Not only is 45 a soulless, unintelligent conman but he’s also a coward. Instead of doing the adult, presidential thing and facing Mr. Comey in person, Trump wrote a letter, which was hand delivered by his former personal bodyguard Keith Schiller to Comey’s office. Just one problem (one of many!): Comey wasn’t in his office. He was on the other side of the country, in Los Angeles, on FBI business. Among the many questions swirling about this bombshell is what the heck a former personal bodyguard is doing in the White House and why he is involved in official government business! CNN’s Michael D’Antonio reminds us: “Schiller’s last star turn involvedbullying newsman Jorge Ramos out of a Trump rally. Long a human security blanket for Trump, Schiller now hangs out at the White House. His appearance at FBI headquarters signaled that the buddies — Trump and Schiller — were in charge of this power play.” The strongman’s strongman. Scared yet?
3. Next came the explanations. First, Trump’s staff cited a memo from Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein in which DT claimed Rosenstein recommended Comey’s firing and DT simply accepted the recommendation. The memo did mention Comey’s handling of the investigation into Hillary Clinton’s use of a private email server during her term as Secretary of State but did not recommend firing Comey. Then reporters stated that this explanation was unraveling. Seriously? Was it ever raveled? Did anyone on the planet for a moment believe that Donald Trump—misanthropic, misogynistic, narcissistic, it’s-all-about-me Donald Trump—fired a high-level government official in defense of anyone else, let alone his political opponent? Especially when those actions are part of the reason DT is now in the White House? And especially when all of those things happened months ago? This pathetic excuse was nothing more than a thinly veiled attempt to gain Democrats’ support for the firing, assuming their anger at Comey for his role in defeating Clinton would make them glad to see him get his comeuppance. Then the clueless orange one was shocked when Democrats were mad at him for firing Comey. As writer Michael D’Antonio puts it, “Like a boy who plays with matches and sets the back yard on fire, Trump has been surprised by the effects of his actions.” Well, at least he’s consistent on one thing: he’s always clueless.
4. Wednesday’s revision stated that Trump had been considering firing Comey for months and that the DOJ recommendation was simply the incentive he needed to go ahead with it. His staff said he received the recommendation from Rosenstein because he had requested it, and Trump himself told reporters he fired Comey “because he wasn’t doing a good job.” Another day, another reason! Thursday’s version was given by Trump to NBC’s Lester Holt: “Oh, I was going to fire, regardless of recommendation. He [Rod Rosenstein] made a recommendation, he’s highly respected — very good guy, very smart guy. And the Democrats like him, Republicans like him. He made a recommendation, but regardless of recommendation, I was going to fire Comey.” The rose garden should be especially beautiful this year with all of the fertilizer being produced in the White House!
5. We should take note that between these last two revisions Rod Rosenstein reportedly pressed the White House Counsel to correct the misrepresentation of Rosenstein’s role in the firing; and according to some reports, he threatened to resign if a retraction was not made. It’s also worth noting that DT’s confession to Lester Holt was counterproductive to the efforts of DT’s staff to frame the most benign picture of the Comey firing. While they were each doing their best spins to make DT’s action look like something, anything, more than a childish fit of anger, Trump was as much as telling Holt that he did it in a childish fit of anger. As CNN’s Chris Cillizza puts it, “Trump imagines himself as the decider, the guy sitting in the boardroom and telling people ‘you’re fired!’ While the story of Rosenstein detailing the FBI’s issues with Comey in a memo to Trump and then Trump thoughtfully considering it before making a decision is clearly the best face to put on the situation, it doesn’t make the President central enough to the firing. Trump wants the credit. He wants everyone to know he had already made the decision to get rid of Comey before the Rosenstein memo. Because he’s the boss. He’s the guy who makes the calls. He doesn’t sit around and wait for memos from underlings.” Take that, Pence, Conway, Spicer, and Huckabee!
6. By Friday morning, Trump was done trying to explain and tweeted his frustration in a pair of typical Trump doozies:

“As a very active President with lots of things happening, it is not possible for my surrogates to stand at podium with perfect accuracy! . . .”

“. . . Maybe the best thing to do would be to cancel all future ‘press briefings’ and hand out written responses for the sake of accuracy???”

Translation: “I’m such a busy guy, my staff and I can’t possibly keep our lies straight and consistent. So maybe if we just write it all out ahead of time, we can compare notes and do a more effective job of lying and misleading the American public and the world.”

Anyone still supporting this menace is complicit in our democracy’s decline.

7. The words “most bizarre” have lost much of their meaning and impact in a time when every day’s headline happens to be the most bizarre thing anyone has ever heard, but this paragraph from Trump’s letter to Comey merits recognition as at least “one of the most bizarre” things we saw this week:

“While I greatly appreciate you informing me, on three separate occasions, that I am not under investigation, I nevertheless concur with the judgment of the Department of Justice that you are not able to effectively lead the Bureau.”

This paragraph would be bizarre under any circumstances; but in light of Comey’s recent public revelation that Trump IS, in fact, under investigation, we’re left to draw one of several conclusions: Trump is lying in this statement (shock!), Comey lied to the public, or Comey lied to Trump. Whichever option you choose, the statement is the biggest clue to the real reason James Comey is no longer FBI Director: Trump is angry over Comey’s investigation into Trump’s Russia ties and possible collusion with Russia. When you’re the prez and someone is getting uncomfortably close to an inconvenient truth about you, you can just fire the guy. Bingo! I think we have our explanation. That was easy.

8. Included in Trump’s Friday-morning tweet storm, along with the threat to cancel news briefings, is this little gem: “James Comey better hope that there are no ‘tapes’ of our conversations before he starts leaking to the press!” Those conversations to which he alludes appear to have taken place during a dinner reported by the New York Times shortly after 45’s inauguration. According to the reports, during that dinner, “Mr. Trump asked Mr. Comey to pledge loyalty to him, which the F.B.I. Director refused to do.” According to other reports, Trump asked Comey whether Comey was investigating him (hence, the statement in the firing letter). Trump’s admission that he questioned the head of the FBI about an active investigation could score Trump an obstruction of justice charge, which would be good news, since that’s a sure ticket to impeachment. The fact is that for a supposedly innocent man, Trump is acting incredibly guilty. Just note the frequent use of descriptors like “agitated,” “angry,” “frustrated,” “furious,” and my personal favorite “spittle-flinging rage.” These hardly appear to be the actions of an innocent person. As my mom used to tell me, “Oh, what a tangled web we weave when first we practice to deceive.”
9. The day after he sacked our FBI Director, Trump held an Oval Office meeting with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. The American press was barred from the meeting, allowing only the official White House photographer to record the event on the American side. The Russian press, on the other hand, was permitted to attend; and our first images came from TASS, the official Russian news agency. Now the White House is reportedly “furious” over the Russians’ release of the photos showing a smiling, jovial Trump looking very much at home with his Russian pals. “They tricked us. That’s the problem with Russians—they lie.” whined a White House spokesperson. Although the White House is saying the meeting had already been scheduled before Comey’s firing, it takes a special kind of brazenness or stupidity to go ahead with it one day after firing the top cop investigating Trump’s ties with Russia and to invite Sergey Kislyak, the guy who’s been at the center of multiple reports regarding Trump’s team and Russia. But when Vladimir Putin is the one “requesting” the meeting, those who are beholden to him dare not refuse, eh?
10. I’ll close with this summary statement written by Michael Gerson, an opinion writer for the Washington Post:

“Trump seems to take pleasure in throwing acid into the face of convention. In his calls to lock up his electoral opponent; in his wink and a nod toward violence at his rallies; in his groundless accusations of being spied upon by his predecessor; in his Twitter taunting of congressional leaders; in his bold and obvious lies; in his dehumanization of migrants and refugees. Grace, dignity, empathy, integrity and kindness are stripped away, leaving the emperor naked but incapable of shame. Trump is the spendthrift of our public character, squandering an inheritance he does not understand or value.”

And these are the ways in which our “president” continues to humiliate us in the eyes of the world, earning himself the titles “Man-Baby” and “Boy President.” Tweet on, Donald! Keep using infantile names like “Pocahontas,” “Lyin’ Ted,” “Crooked Hillary,” “Crying Chuck Schumer,” and all the others. Enjoy your childish games now. The walls are closing in, and you know it better than anyone else does. I still recall watching Richard Nixon wave goodbye as he boarded the helicopter which took him away from our capital. I look forward to watching you do the same!

 

Here’s another favorite quotation by Thomas Paine, also from The American Crisis:

“What we obtain too cheap, we esteem too lightly: it is dearness only that gives every thing its value. Heaven knows how to put a proper price upon its goods; and it would be strange indeed if so celestial an article as freedom should not be highly rated.”

If freedom and justice were common and cheap, we wouldn’t value and cherish them nearly so much. They’re neither common nor cheap; they’re rare and have been purchased at an immense price. The congress which issued Thomas Jefferson’s brilliant Declaration of Independence pledged their support of that declaration in the closing line: “We mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honor.” Let us not squander the celestial gift we’ve received from the thousands who have made good on that same pledge by placing their lives, their money, and their reputations in the common account to ensure the continuation of our democracy. There will be no rest until this battle is over.

 

 

 

 

 

 

A couple of weeks ago, Rachel Maddow spent a small segment of her show reviewing some early errors and misdeeds of the Trump administration, asking viewers to label each one “stupid” or “nefarious.” Although it’s impossible to overstate 45’s ignorance and incompetence, more and more, his actions must be seen as deliberately malicious; then again, almost three months into the train wreck that is this “presidency,” it ceases to matter what is clueless and what is evil, because the results are the same: the destruction of our way of life, families living in fear, and rising anger and hopelessness at every level of our society.

We live in an era of firsts, a time when “unprecedented” is a word included in every news article and broadcast. This week, we for the first time heard a “president” at an official Rose Garden ceremony utter the exclamation: “You know, coming from a different world and only being a politician for a short period of time, how am I doing? Am I doing ok? Hey, I’m the president, can you believe it?”  No, we can’t. Refusal to release his tax returns, nepotism in the White House, threatening to break up a circuit court, threatening to hold people’s health insurance hostage to pressure congress to fund his border wall, maintaining interest in his businesses while serving as “president,” violating the Constitution’s Emoluments Clause—the list is endless. These unprecedented actions signal clearly that 45 has no intention of playing by the rules; and we all stand to lose as a result, but those with the most to lose are his supporters. It’s a strange, strange world we’ve entered.

Here’s a recap of Week 15.

1. Speaking of unprecedented, Trump’s 100-day love fest Saturday night in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, was like nothing anyone has ever seen before from a president. According to news reports, he once again “savaged” the media. David Gergen, astute political analyst and former presidential adviser, responded: “This was the most divisive speech I have ever heard from a sitting American president. Others may disagree about that. He played to his base and he treated his other listeners, the rest of the people who have been disturbed about him or opposed him, he treated them basically as, ‘I don’t give a damn what you think because you’re frankly like the enemy.’ I thought it was a deeply disturbing speech.” Well, so much for that “pivot” we kept hearing about! Fifteen weeks in, 45 still hasn’t caught on that he’s supposed to be the “president” of all Americans, not just the deluded ones who voted for him.
2. Also this week, Trump made a new BFF: this time, Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte. After a “very friendly [telephone] conversation with Mr. Duterte,” Trump extended an invitation for Mr. D to visit the White House so that they can talk up close and personal about how “the Philippines is fighting very hard to rid its country of drugs.” Well, that part is true. According to an April 30 article by Mark Landler, “Mr. Duterte’s war on drugs has resulted in the deaths of several thousand people suspected of using or selling narcotics, as well as others who may have had no involvement with drugs.” Like all the others in 45’s gallery of most admired people, Duterte is a bloody strongman with no regard for morality or human rights. And 45 probably loves him even more for calling President Obama “a son of a whore.” Any enemy of Obama is a friend of Trump.
3. In perhaps the most sickening story of the week, it’s reported that Jerry Falwell Jr., president of Liberty University in Lynchburg, Virginia, told Judge Jeanine on Fox News: “I think evangelicals have found their dream president.” First off, shame on evangelicals! From now on, “evangelical Christian” is an oxymoron. But back to Trump, who is not a real Republican or conservative, we’re learning a lot about why he chose the Republican party as the vehicle for his rise to power. The marriage between the Republican Party and the evangelical community is a large part of the reason he is not held more accountable for his misdeeds. As long as he keeps disparaging Roe v. Wade and Planned Parenthood and appointing people who will work to carry out the evangelical agenda, he can grab all the crotches he likes and it won’t ruffle their saintly feathers one bit. Although 45’s approval rating continues to hover in the low 40s among the general population, he scores a whopping 78% among churchgoing white evangelicals, according to Pew Research Center.
4. Proving once again that the depth of 45’s ignorance has not yet been measured, the New York Times reported these remarks which aired on Monday: “People don’t realize, the Civil War, if you think about it, why? People don’t ask that question, but why was there the Civil War? Why could that one not have been worked out?” He went on to comment on his hero President Andrew Jackson: “He was really angry that he saw what was happening with regard to the Civil War. He said, ‘There’s no reason for this.’” Donald, I have no idea who these “people” are whom you refer to so often; but lots of people have been discussing the reasons for the Civil War for about 152 years now. And since Andrew Jackson died 16 years before the war started, he didn’t really have much of an opinion on it. And your 5^th-grade history teacher is weeping in his/her grave right now.
5. Poor Donald just can’t seem to find a secretary of the Army. On Friday, his second nominee, Mark E. Green, dropped out, saying his nomination was a distraction because of “false and misleading attacks against me.” The New York Times reports this statement from Mr. Green: “Tragically, my life of public service and my Christian beliefs have been mischaracterized and attacked by a few on the other side of the aisle for political gain.” According to the Huff Post, “He has also said he believes being transgender is a disease and said part of the reason he opposes allowing transgender people to use the restroom corresponding to their gender identity is because he has a mission to ‘crush evil.’” Yep, those “Christian” attitudes will get you in trouble every time!
6. In a seeming contradiction to his own health-care agenda, on Thursday evening, 45 said this to Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull: “I shouldn’t say this to our great gentleman and my friend from Australia, because you have better health care than we do.” Oh, so this means you’re going to advocate for a government-run, universal insurance system like the one Australia has? I guess not. In response to those who saw the irony in Trump’s statement, he tweeted, “Of course the Australians have better healthcare than we do—everybody does. But our healthcare will soon be great.” Mmmm, you may find some disagreement on that, Donald. Keep watching out your White House windows; something tells me another march is brewing.
7. FBI Director James Comey made some public statements this week. He says he’s “mildly nauseous over the suggestions that he may have influenced the 2016 election.” MAY have? He felt morally compelled to speak out about his possession of some emails from Hillary Clinton’s aide’s ex-husband but not about the fact that the Republican candidate was under investigation for collusion with a foreign power. He invited us all, “Come back with me to October 28 and tell me what you would do.” Okay, thanks for asking. I’d keep quiet about the candidate’s aide’s ex-husband’s inconsequential emails and shout from the housetops that a candidate for President of the United States had for five months been under investigation for collusion with a foreign power. On a positive note, that investigation continues and according to some sources appears to be gaining momentum, so we continue to hope that justice will eventually prevail.
8. For those who may have thought Steve Bannon had lost power and influence, I wouldn’t count him out just yet. A photo released this week shows Bannon standing in front of his much-reported but never before publicly seen whiteboards. The Guardian reports: “In a recent piece to mark Trump’s first 100 days in office,CNN described how ‘giant whiteboards’ had been arranged in Bannon’s West Wing office, ‘lined up in four columns beneath the campaign theme: Make. America. Great. Again.’ Floor-to-ceiling bookshelves and a sofa had been removed to make way for them, because who needs to sit and read and reflect when you’ve got policies such as ‘suspend Syrian refugee program’ and ‘repeal and replace Obamacare’ to be getting on with?” Among other items spotted on Bannon’s to-do list are “cancel federal funding for sanctuary cities, . . . cut corporate tax rate from 35% to 15%, and build that wall.” No wonder he hasn’t had time for public appearances.
9. The most devastating news of the week happened on Thursday afternoon, when the House of Representatives finally mustered the votes to make Paul Ryan’s fondest dreams come true and—by the very slimmest of margins—passed their bill to replace the Affordable Care Act. They needed 216 votes; they got 217, including zero votes from Democrats. This horrible bill, which most House members didn’t even bother to read, if passed, would deprive 24 million people of the health care coverage they now have, raise premiums for millions more, and decimate coverage for those with pre-existing conditions. The bill balances Medicaid cuts for the poorest Americans with a $600 billion tax cut for the wealthiest. Seems fair, right? Trump gets his win; lots of other people die. Art of the deal!
10. And then in another unprecedented move, the Republicans who voted for this atrocity zoomed right over to the White House to have a victory celebration with the prez. Never before in our history has there been such a celebration for passing a bill through one house of Congress. Such celebrations are normally reserved for the signing ceremony which takes place after the long process of passing the bill through the Senate, the committees, back to the House, etc., is complete. But Preznit Shortgloves, as one of my Facebook friends is fond of calling him, is so desperate for a win that he was ready to party hearty alongside Ryan who was sporting his best Cheshire Cat grin. Predictions are that the Senate will be able to tone down the premature enthusiasm when they begin their work on the bill. Their constituents will also help to put a damper on the partying mood now that Congress is in recess for the next 11 days. The protests and demonstrations have already begun, and the Indivisible website has posted a “die-in planning guide.” That sounds like fun!

I don’t need to tell you what’s number one on our agenda for the foreseeable future: we must do everything in our power to prevent the dismantling of our health care system. Floridians, Marco Rubio needs to hear from every single one of us. Daily. Every Republican senator needs to hear from his/her constituents early and often. Jimmy Kimmel’s heart-rending story of his infant son has touched hearts all over the world, and many of us have our own stories to tell.

My five-year-old granddaughter was diagnosed with cancer at age 2, went through treatment from age 2 to age 3, and has thankfully been in remission for three years. However, for our precious Kayla, cancer and all of the far-reaching side effects of her treatment will for her entire lifetime be pre-existing conditions. My son-in-law has excellent health insurance through his employer which has covered the enormous costs of Kayla’s treatment. If congress passes a law which reverses the mandate on pre-existing conditions, however, my son-in-law will not be able even to consider a career change for decades. And when our little girl does go out on her own, finding affordable health coverage will be next to impossible. This is our family’s story. Millions of families have stories that demand we fight this battle with everything we have.

Until next week, signing off from The Swamp.