Let's start by putting one of the latter topics of today's program up front withthe Veteran's Affairs controversy where for example veterans in Phoenix have been on waiting lists for so long that 40 have died before they could receive treatment, followed by a cover-up by the administrators.
This should have been the lead topic today as this controversy should outrage all Americans. In the discussion it seemed that everyone agreed that General Eric Shinseki is a fine man and distinguished himself in the military, but despite that is ill-equipped to fix the problem. On the surface, we like Representative Adam Kinzinger's (R-IL) idea that if there isn't a VA hospital within a designated proximity, then that veteran should be able to go to a private doctor and then bill the VA. We would go one step further and not put any proximity restrictions on that decision. Let veterans go to private doctors for check-ups and basic treatment but then also keep the VA hospitals well-funded to accommodate veterans in need of more advanced, intense care.
Washington politicians have made it a habit of going into wars then later cutting and running and that's not just cutting and running from the country where the conflict took place, but that includes the abandonment of the returned soldiers who fought in the conflict.
VA accommodations and eligibility should actually be put in place for the soldier before he or she even arrives home. The military easily determines how long they need a soldier for duty, but they can not seem to just as easily determine how long the veteran needs them. Veteran and author Wes Moore said that these problems have been going on for a decade or so, that this is nothing new. No, actually, these problems have been this bad for the past 40 years.
And the reason for this inadequate despicable treatment of veterans continues is because they have no big-money interest group lobbying politicians, just non-profit veterans organizations, which allows tax dollars to be wasted on subsidies and tax cuts instead of where it is very much needed. There is no more sense of the right priorities and perspective in Washington anymore.
And case in point, is today's first guest Chairman of the Republican National Committee Reince Preibus who helps sew the seeds of unfounded claims but then backs off when confronted with a direct question. For example, Mr. Preibus implied that former Secretary of State Hilary Clinton was responsible for over 200 girls being kidnapped in Nigeria because the group responsible, Boko Haram, wasn't placed on a terrorist watch list soon enough. And if the group had been placed on the list sooner, would that have stopped them?
We would agree, however, with Mr. Preibus that health is 'fair game,' as he put it, when considering someone for the presidency, but age shouldn't be a factor. If the candidate's health history has been strong and the person is healthy now, then age is a non-factor. But Mr. Preibus gives these kinds of interviews and always comes off as a spineless political hack because when Mr. Gregory directed asked him if Hilary Clinton had brain damage as Karl Rove said earlier in the week, his answer was, "Well, I'm not a doctor." A lame dodge.
We're not picking on Mr. Preibus because he's a Republican, but because he's part of the problem. Just as Harry Reid saying on the floor of the Senate that the Koch brothers are un-American is counterproductive. Senator Claire McCaskill (D-MO) said statements like that made her uncomfortable, another way of saying that she wouldn't have said that, but she mentioned the more relevant problem of too much secret money in our political system. You don't have to wonder why Washington's approval ratings are in the toilet when it is Washington politicians and partisan Supreme Court decisions that perpetuate secrecy. But since it benefits Republicans more, who are in control of these decisions, then it's all right. This is Mr. Preibus' reasoning.
Mr. Preibus also kept mentioning this 'terrible' month Hillary Clinton just had, and if more were to come like it, he postulated that Mrs. Clinton shouldn't even run for the office. Really, this was a bad month? We follow all this stuff and we don't even know what he talking about! All these 'troubles' that Mr. Preibus is referring to come from a warped political echo chamber that doesn't translate to the greater electorate in the slightest. As Chuck Todd mentioned during the round table discussion, the Republicans' best bet for 2016 is to somehow make the conditions [read: attacks] so bad that it persuades Mrs. Clinton not to become a candidate.
If Mr. Preibus and other Republican operatives think that attacks such as this will factor in to Mrs. Clinton's decision on whether to run for president of the United States or not, then in their damaged thinking they've really underestimated her, and by extension already have lost the race.
Round Table: NBC's Chuck Todd, New York Times' Carolyn Ryan, former Senator Blanche Lincoln (D-AR), Dr. Ben Carson
A couple of after notes:
1. If today's performance was any indicator, Dr. Ben Carson is a serious political lightweight who should definitely not be taken seriously. And by the way, the Affordable Care Act, Obamacare, is NOT the worst thing to happen to this country since slavery. To equate the two in any way is shameful.
2. How bad does the Meet The Press web site suck that you can not quickly get a simple list of who appeared on this week's program. We like to get people's names and titles correct, but in no way can we easily use the MTP site to get that information. We subscribe to the newsletter, but it doesn't go out every week. Unbelievable.
3. Lastly, Mr. Gregory said Meet The Press wouldn't be airing next week due to NBC's coverage of Formula One racing. Never mind that you just discussed veterans' issues and mentioned programming next week, but didn't bother to say anything about Memorial Day and the veterans it honors. Neglect.
Sunday, May 18, 2014
Sunday, May 11, 2014
5.11.14: Short-Sighted Separatists in a Ukraine on the Brink (& Our Own MTP Episode)
Meet The Press may be taking a break this week, but we're not. Unfortunately for Meet The Press, the only news it seems to be making lately is how poorly it's doing in the rating battles with other Sunday programs. We even read about a rumor that Meet The Press will convert from a Sunday news program to a daily political gossip program... a horrible idea. The 'program of record' would cease to be just that.
Since there is no show this week, we'll take the liberty to produce our own and address what should have been covered today, had the program aired this week.
We'd start with an on-the-ground- report from Ukraine and the latest on the referendum vote.
International consensus says that the end result of this referendum vote will see the Donetsk and Eastern region of Ukraine wanting to break away, but this vote has also been widely condemned as illegal by the world community. Even Russia's president, Vladimir Putin, has asked for a postponement. Military skirmishes have already broken out in eastern Ukraine and all this referendum will do make a civil war official.
And if full-scale civil war breaks out in Ukraine, President Putin will have no reservations about assisting the eastern separatists so the question is to what degree the west will help the Kiev government.
Meet the Press at this point could introduce in-studio guest.. say... Deputy Secretary of State William Burns, and ask what the west is prepared to do?
The west could impose even harsher sanctions on Russia but now you just have another situation like that of Iran and Syria. Sanctioning one country when all the death is occurring in another, where there is no willingness to stop it. And the only outside troops Mr. Putin wants on the scene are his own because he wants as much of Ukraine as he can get. All this rules out international peacekeeping forces instantly.
We understand Mr. Putin's motivations, those are pretty clear. We can also understood Europe's collective trepidation about retaliating against this subversive Russian behavior because of differing agendas and energy reliance. We can even understand the U.S. not wanting to get involved simply because of foreign intervention fatigue.
But here's what we don't get. A Ukrainian national (regardless of what language you speak) that had been oppressed by a dictatorial centralized government for decades then went through the Orange Revolution to gain independence, now wants to go back under the control of the former oppressor. Separatists would say that that is not what they want, but to become an independent state with the right to become part of the Russian Federation again.
The past is always comforting because we choose to remember the simpler and gentler things about it, but trying to go back to it is a fool's goal because of new reality that exists, the conditions are never the same for some wishful return to 'how it was.' If the separatists truly wanted independence that would be one thing, but to 'vote' yourself back into Russian is easy cowardly way forward.
Deputy Secretary, what is the United States prepared to do to prevent bloodshed in the Ukraine? That's the question and then we'd follow it up with two members of the roundtable with opposite perspectives to comment. We'd repeat this with a second topic - interview followed by two more of the members of the day's round table, then sitting them all down to close everything out.
And for today's second topic, that would be about domestic issues, focusing specifically on the debate of a minimum wage increase, the repeal or continuation of the Affordable Care Act, and as a transition start with the new select committee hearings on Benghazi, which is related to both foreign and domestic politics.
Invite Congressman Trey Gowdy (R-SC), head of the select House committee, on the program to ask him how this committee investigation will differ from the previous hearings. In our estimation, these new Benghazi hearings are purely political on the part of Republicans, but what is different is their target. It used to be President Obama but who they really want to damage now is former Security of State Hilary Clinton. As we always say, if we can see this from where we're sitting then its pretty obvious. You could also Mr. Gowdy why he called these new committee hearings a 'trial' earlier in the week. That doesn't sound like an investigation to find out what happened but a targeted prosecution of individuals.
After this short interview, invite two congresspeople from opposite sides to debate that and answer the questions of the minimum wage and the ACA.
[This column has spoken on both these topics and our short answers, once again, here are that the minimum wage should be increased - at the very least an immediate compromise between Republicans and Democrats as to how much, and then go from there. As for the ACA, no repeal, fix what needs fixing and let's all move on.]
Two good foils for such questions could be Representatives James Clyburn (D-SC) and House Majority Whip Kevin McCarthy (R-CA), legislators that both buck the stereotypes of their respective states' political leanings who also give serious answers.
As for the members of today's fictitious round table... since we're calling the shots... (the non-B.S. crowd): The Washington Post's Eugene Robinson, Correspondent for The Atlantic and Bloomberg View Columnist Jeffrey Goldberg, Wall Street Journal Editorial Page Editor Paul Gigot, national editor of the Cook Political Report Amy Walter
What a show today!
Happy day for all Mothers in the United States and everywhere in the world.
Since there is no show this week, we'll take the liberty to produce our own and address what should have been covered today, had the program aired this week.
We'd start with an on-the-ground- report from Ukraine and the latest on the referendum vote.
International consensus says that the end result of this referendum vote will see the Donetsk and Eastern region of Ukraine wanting to break away, but this vote has also been widely condemned as illegal by the world community. Even Russia's president, Vladimir Putin, has asked for a postponement. Military skirmishes have already broken out in eastern Ukraine and all this referendum will do make a civil war official.
And if full-scale civil war breaks out in Ukraine, President Putin will have no reservations about assisting the eastern separatists so the question is to what degree the west will help the Kiev government.
Meet the Press at this point could introduce in-studio guest.. say... Deputy Secretary of State William Burns, and ask what the west is prepared to do?
The west could impose even harsher sanctions on Russia but now you just have another situation like that of Iran and Syria. Sanctioning one country when all the death is occurring in another, where there is no willingness to stop it. And the only outside troops Mr. Putin wants on the scene are his own because he wants as much of Ukraine as he can get. All this rules out international peacekeeping forces instantly.
We understand Mr. Putin's motivations, those are pretty clear. We can also understood Europe's collective trepidation about retaliating against this subversive Russian behavior because of differing agendas and energy reliance. We can even understand the U.S. not wanting to get involved simply because of foreign intervention fatigue.
But here's what we don't get. A Ukrainian national (regardless of what language you speak) that had been oppressed by a dictatorial centralized government for decades then went through the Orange Revolution to gain independence, now wants to go back under the control of the former oppressor. Separatists would say that that is not what they want, but to become an independent state with the right to become part of the Russian Federation again.
The past is always comforting because we choose to remember the simpler and gentler things about it, but trying to go back to it is a fool's goal because of new reality that exists, the conditions are never the same for some wishful return to 'how it was.' If the separatists truly wanted independence that would be one thing, but to 'vote' yourself back into Russian is easy cowardly way forward.
Deputy Secretary, what is the United States prepared to do to prevent bloodshed in the Ukraine? That's the question and then we'd follow it up with two members of the roundtable with opposite perspectives to comment. We'd repeat this with a second topic - interview followed by two more of the members of the day's round table, then sitting them all down to close everything out.
And for today's second topic, that would be about domestic issues, focusing specifically on the debate of a minimum wage increase, the repeal or continuation of the Affordable Care Act, and as a transition start with the new select committee hearings on Benghazi, which is related to both foreign and domestic politics.
Invite Congressman Trey Gowdy (R-SC), head of the select House committee, on the program to ask him how this committee investigation will differ from the previous hearings. In our estimation, these new Benghazi hearings are purely political on the part of Republicans, but what is different is their target. It used to be President Obama but who they really want to damage now is former Security of State Hilary Clinton. As we always say, if we can see this from where we're sitting then its pretty obvious. You could also Mr. Gowdy why he called these new committee hearings a 'trial' earlier in the week. That doesn't sound like an investigation to find out what happened but a targeted prosecution of individuals.
After this short interview, invite two congresspeople from opposite sides to debate that and answer the questions of the minimum wage and the ACA.
[This column has spoken on both these topics and our short answers, once again, here are that the minimum wage should be increased - at the very least an immediate compromise between Republicans and Democrats as to how much, and then go from there. As for the ACA, no repeal, fix what needs fixing and let's all move on.]
Two good foils for such questions could be Representatives James Clyburn (D-SC) and House Majority Whip Kevin McCarthy (R-CA), legislators that both buck the stereotypes of their respective states' political leanings who also give serious answers.
As for the members of today's fictitious round table... since we're calling the shots... (the non-B.S. crowd): The Washington Post's Eugene Robinson, Correspondent for The Atlantic and Bloomberg View Columnist Jeffrey Goldberg, Wall Street Journal Editorial Page Editor Paul Gigot, national editor of the Cook Political Report Amy Walter
What a show today!
Happy day for all Mothers in the United States and everywhere in the world.
Sunday, May 04, 2014
5.4.14: Thinking on Execution & The Rick Perry Interview
We'll try to ignore the fact that with all the important issues confronting the United States at home and abroad, Meet The Press decided to not only begin the program with discussion of the White House Correspondents Dinner, but also end the program with that same topic. How out of touch do you have to be?
Before we get to the interview with Texas Governor Rick Perry (R), we'll comment again (following up last week) on the controversial owner of the Los Angeles Clippers, Donald Sterling, just to say we agree with Sacramento mayor and former NBA All-Star Kevin Johnson that it was great to see everyone in the NBA, particularly the players, come down strong with condemnation and action in sanctioning the owner for his racist comments. However, at the end of the season, the Clippers players (we'll give them a pass right now as their in the midst of doing their jobs in the playoffs) have to act by refusing to play for the team called the Clippers as long as Mr. Sterling is owner. Now having the knowledge that they do, there's no justification for playing for an owner with such views.
As round table guest, will.i.am noted, most of the inmates in our prisons are African American and Latino, which speaks to an element of institutional racism in this country, something that billionaires like Mr. Sterling do nothing to combat.
This leads us to the 'botched' execution that occurred this week in Oklahoma and Governor Perry's comments about it. Mr. Perry said that he didn't know if what happened was inhumane, but it was definitely 'botched.' And yes, it was disturbing that he also used the word 'botched' to describe his presidential run. Clayton Lockett, with an accomplice, sexually assaulted and murdered two women before burying them alive. He received a multi-chemical lethal injection this week for that heinous crime, but something went wrong. Instead of a painless death, Mr. Lockett died of a very painful heart attack.
Given his crime, some would say, "So what if it was painful," and we totally understand that view. Mr. Perry said that in Texas there was a less likely chance that something like that would happen as they only use one chemical, but he also said that in the case of such heinous crimes, the people of Texas decided that the death penalty was appropriate. The further explained the he, unlike President Obama, doesn't believe that one size fits all decision making works well in America and that states should decide for themselves what to do for it's citizens - one of those decisions being whether to administer the death penalty or not.
However, if you agree with all of that, here are a few things to think about.
We have evolved as a society in how we execute people becoming technically better at doing it - lethal injection seems more reasonable than say the guillotine, but one would wonder why we haven't evolved in our thinking on whether or not it's humane to still carry them out. It's human nature for our species to evolve in our thinking confronting issues, and to not do so on whether we should execute people or not, goes against our nature, hence inhumane.
One could say that even the Bible has evolved on this issue - Old Testament vs. New Testament; eye for an eye vs. turn the other check.
And as far as leaving most major decisions to the states, as both Republican politicians advocated on today's program, what that does is erode America's national identity, which affects the country's ability to speak to the rest of the world with one unified voice of strength. Republican politicians continually complaining that Mr. Obama is weak on foreign policy, and it's because part of the infrastructure of America's political thinking is damaged, so they can not have it both ways.
And in the case of executions, America lecturing the rest of the world about human rights doesn't wash anymore. It's the hard truth, and Mr. Perry doesn't acknowledge that truth.
He mentioned healthcare as another instance whether it should be left up to the states. Well, as it stands right now, the states that have decided not to participate in the Affordable Care Act are denying their citizens health insurance through Medicaid. Where's the humanity in that? will.i.am, who despite being invited on the program for the wrong reason (he attended the W.H.C.D.), discussed the topics in the right way. He talked about education and the overall effect that it has in terms of America's overall common welfare. In American politics, the conversation 'devolves into the parties,' as Anita Dunn said, once the topic gets to Washington.
The devolution is evidenced by the fact that 80 percent of Americans feel the minimum wage should be raised, yet many politicians voted against it. Mr. Perry said that we shouldn't be talking about a minimum wage but instead a maximum wage, explaining the we have to give people the opportunity to earn a maximum wage, but where is that opportunity in his state with Mr. Gregory pointing out that Texas' poverty rate two points higher than the national average.
His explanation was utter nonsense, and it makes us think, given what he said, why Mr. Perry would seek the office of President of the United States. It's evident that he believes more in states' individual identities than a unified national one. In terms of America, the concept and country in the ideal, Congressman Chaffetz said he believed in American exceptionalism, but how is that real if there is no sense of collective progress, or even advocacy for it?
Round Table: will.i.am; Chuck Todd, NBC News Political Director & Chief White House Correspondent; Kathleen Parker, Washington Post columnist; Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-UT); Anita Dunn, former Obama White House Communications Director
Before we get to the interview with Texas Governor Rick Perry (R), we'll comment again (following up last week) on the controversial owner of the Los Angeles Clippers, Donald Sterling, just to say we agree with Sacramento mayor and former NBA All-Star Kevin Johnson that it was great to see everyone in the NBA, particularly the players, come down strong with condemnation and action in sanctioning the owner for his racist comments. However, at the end of the season, the Clippers players (we'll give them a pass right now as their in the midst of doing their jobs in the playoffs) have to act by refusing to play for the team called the Clippers as long as Mr. Sterling is owner. Now having the knowledge that they do, there's no justification for playing for an owner with such views.
As round table guest, will.i.am noted, most of the inmates in our prisons are African American and Latino, which speaks to an element of institutional racism in this country, something that billionaires like Mr. Sterling do nothing to combat.
This leads us to the 'botched' execution that occurred this week in Oklahoma and Governor Perry's comments about it. Mr. Perry said that he didn't know if what happened was inhumane, but it was definitely 'botched.' And yes, it was disturbing that he also used the word 'botched' to describe his presidential run. Clayton Lockett, with an accomplice, sexually assaulted and murdered two women before burying them alive. He received a multi-chemical lethal injection this week for that heinous crime, but something went wrong. Instead of a painless death, Mr. Lockett died of a very painful heart attack.
Given his crime, some would say, "So what if it was painful," and we totally understand that view. Mr. Perry said that in Texas there was a less likely chance that something like that would happen as they only use one chemical, but he also said that in the case of such heinous crimes, the people of Texas decided that the death penalty was appropriate. The further explained the he, unlike President Obama, doesn't believe that one size fits all decision making works well in America and that states should decide for themselves what to do for it's citizens - one of those decisions being whether to administer the death penalty or not.
However, if you agree with all of that, here are a few things to think about.
We have evolved as a society in how we execute people becoming technically better at doing it - lethal injection seems more reasonable than say the guillotine, but one would wonder why we haven't evolved in our thinking on whether or not it's humane to still carry them out. It's human nature for our species to evolve in our thinking confronting issues, and to not do so on whether we should execute people or not, goes against our nature, hence inhumane.
One could say that even the Bible has evolved on this issue - Old Testament vs. New Testament; eye for an eye vs. turn the other check.
And as far as leaving most major decisions to the states, as both Republican politicians advocated on today's program, what that does is erode America's national identity, which affects the country's ability to speak to the rest of the world with one unified voice of strength. Republican politicians continually complaining that Mr. Obama is weak on foreign policy, and it's because part of the infrastructure of America's political thinking is damaged, so they can not have it both ways.
And in the case of executions, America lecturing the rest of the world about human rights doesn't wash anymore. It's the hard truth, and Mr. Perry doesn't acknowledge that truth.
He mentioned healthcare as another instance whether it should be left up to the states. Well, as it stands right now, the states that have decided not to participate in the Affordable Care Act are denying their citizens health insurance through Medicaid. Where's the humanity in that? will.i.am, who despite being invited on the program for the wrong reason (he attended the W.H.C.D.), discussed the topics in the right way. He talked about education and the overall effect that it has in terms of America's overall common welfare. In American politics, the conversation 'devolves into the parties,' as Anita Dunn said, once the topic gets to Washington.
The devolution is evidenced by the fact that 80 percent of Americans feel the minimum wage should be raised, yet many politicians voted against it. Mr. Perry said that we shouldn't be talking about a minimum wage but instead a maximum wage, explaining the we have to give people the opportunity to earn a maximum wage, but where is that opportunity in his state with Mr. Gregory pointing out that Texas' poverty rate two points higher than the national average.
His explanation was utter nonsense, and it makes us think, given what he said, why Mr. Perry would seek the office of President of the United States. It's evident that he believes more in states' individual identities than a unified national one. In terms of America, the concept and country in the ideal, Congressman Chaffetz said he believed in American exceptionalism, but how is that real if there is no sense of collective progress, or even advocacy for it?
Round Table: will.i.am; Chuck Todd, NBC News Political Director & Chief White House Correspondent; Kathleen Parker, Washington Post columnist; Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-UT); Anita Dunn, former Obama White House Communications Director
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