8.20.17: Is There Any Regaining Of A Moral Center?

Today's commendable edition of "Meet The Press" offered insightful perspectives from every guest and panelist. The down side is that while generous in their means to inform, alas it all falls to the wayside and no one listens because it all comes back to the only individual that matters in this entire conversation and that is Mr. Donald Trump.

The overriding question in discussion of the president is whether or not he lost his moral authority this week, and if so, can he regain it?

To quote The Wall Street Journal's Peggy Noonan and The Washington Post's Eugene Robinson respectively, "No" and "no." Ms. Noonan explained that you can not lose something that you never had as a candidate nor as president.  Mr. Robinson does not see how he regains it due to the lack of any kind of moral center, nor does Julius Krein, editor of the American Affairs blog, on whom there are more comments to come in a moment. "Disastrously amoral," is the phrase that Mr. Robinson used. But as fmr. Rep. J.C. Watts (R-OK) explained, Mr. Trump never understood the magnitude of what it meant to be president and Mr. Trump, by his words, seems to have decided that he will only be the president of red America, as Chuck Todd noted, which in and of itself is obviously problematic for the nation.

Mr. Trump, indeed, is not the calm in the center of the storm, as Peggy Noonan opined as how the president should conduct himself amidst such tragedies as Charlottesville, and once again its all about the president. One of things that people forget is that in order to be good president, let alone a great one, is to be able to show humility in the face of humanity, like Eugene Robinson noted about President Reagan's speech (that Peggy Noonan wrote) when the Challenger exploded. Mr. Trump has not shown himself to have this quality in the slightest, at least not publicly. This is further evidence that he could never regain or achieve a moral authority. But then again, according to editor-in-chief of The Weekly Standard, Stephen Hayes, the president is happy with the position he's taken.

The president called some of the protesters who opposed the removal of the General Lee statue "very fine people," and explained that they weren't all neo-Nazis, during his press conference this week. That's what he really thinks and by that fact all his credibility as a voice of reason and morality is lost, which again keeping sight of the larger fact that it does none of us any good. Despite agreeing with fmr. congresswoman Donna Edwards (D-MD) that the country has maintained its moral center, it's difficult to succeed as a country with a president not holding it as well.

Now, it's interesting Mr. Krein who once strongly supported Donald Trump and his ideas and who now is staunchly in opposition to the president, especially on a character basis, is getting so much attention. When asked by Chuck Todd if there was any way of getting him back into the fold, a flat 'no' was Mr. Krein's response. "They torched it," (no pun intended) he said. To that, one can only ask, "Where was your head to begin with?" From the first day of Mr. Trump's campaign when he ridiculously called out Mexicans as rapists, you knew where he stood on race. So when Mr. Krein says that Charlottesville was the last straw, I would reply that he's a day late and twenty dollars short.

More directly in terms of what to do about white supremacists and neo-Nazis, Mark Bray, author of Antifa: The Anti-Fascist Handbook explained that violence is necessary to rid the country of this scourge because its so vastly different from other forms violence. Conversely, Richard Cohen of the Southern Poverty Law Center said that that was not the answer at all. He said that the most effective way to combat hate speech is with even more speech [in opposition]. It would be a mistake to see these two views on a sliding scale, the violence isn't the answer, but many times speech is not enough. So what to do?

Enter civil right leader, fmr. UN ambassador, fmr. mayor of Atlanta Andrew Young who could not bring himself to completely condemn white supremacists. (The magnanimous nature of this man is staggering, from which we could all learn.) Instead, he talked about the poverty of these people and how they should unjustly be happy with a black-lung job and not health care, for example. He explained that these people needed help as well. Wow.

Which brings us to this crazy notion... Mr. Trump has decimated his credibility as president with his own words, there is little doubt. However... There are still deeds. In the spirit of Mr. Young, the president could turn the health care debate on its head and decide on Medicare for all would be the way to go, giving millions of working poor health care. As implausible as it would be, it is only such as deed that would begin to scrub away the words.


Panel: Peggy Noonan, The Wall Street Journal; Donna Edwards, fmr. Congresswoman (D-MD); Eugene Robinson, The Washington Post; Stephen Hayes, The Weekly Standard

8.13.17: Trump's Failure To Lead Scores A Hat-Trick

The title of this week's post became a no-brainer when three-quarters of the way through the program Chuck Todd reminded viewers that the president also picked a fight with Senate Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY).

That, the icing before the cake, along with the president's profoundly unwise bellicose statements on North Korea and his fecklessness shown from his no-statement on the violence in Charlottesville, VA have sealed off any doubt that Mr. Trump has drowned under the turbulent water that is the presidency and is woefully ill-suited to lead this country.

However, it's not surprising in the least, as much as it was inevitable to see. The president not specifically condemning white supremacists for the tragic violence in Charlottesville may finally be the straws that permanently pry open the eyes of Republicans in Congress.

What Mr. Trump never came around to comprehending was that as President of The United States of America, you have to be able to speak to all Americans, even the ones who didn't vote for you. His campaign whistled to and cultivated the support of the alt-right through its extreme immigration initiatives - words and deeds from Mr. Trump himself which are now obviously a big part of his presidency.

Neo-Nazis and White Supremacists fully armed in paramilitary gear (thanks National Rifle Association for pointless open carry laws) march on a town in Virginia to rally around a statue of Robert E. Lee, a general in the Confederacy. And the president doesn't specifically condemn that? President Abraham Lincoln referred to the Confederacy as rebels... traitors to the principles of the Constitution that all men are created equal and deserve equal justice under the law, hence traitors against their country because their cause was to uphold slavery. Couldn't agree more with that view. Americans have fought and died against the forces of Nazism and Racism, but Mr. Trump has nothing to say about it with the exception of a platitude that gives white supremacists a pass.

A failure to lead the country.

The fmr. Joint Chief of Staff, Adm. Mike Mullen said that Mr. Trump's rhetoric takes away his maneuvering options, and North Korea knowing that the U.S. will not take military action without suffering the "unintentional consequences," as Adm. Mullen described them, called Mr. Trump's bluff making additional threats.

Only a political wing-nut would use words like "fire and fury" or "locked and loaded" referring to our military, not the president of the United States. Period, end of discussion. (The word "shrewd" never comes up when describing Mr. Trump.)

Mr. Trump's statements put two of our closest allies in more immediate peril, ramping up an international crisis that Adm. Mullen assessed could get out of control fast.

A failure to lead the world.

The National Review's Rich Lowry said that Mr. Trump need the Republican Congress and Mitch McConnell for "scandal control," which would be hysterical if it weren't so true. As Joy-Ann Reid reminded us, the Senate majority leader's wife is in Mr. Trump's cabinet - Secretary of Transportation Elaine Chao. But so what, Senator McConnell couldn't get the votes on health care. He couldn't get a win for Trump which makes him a loser, as how our simplified political math is trending right now. The Republican party, especially House members, is all Mr. Trump has right now. He's been losing pieces one at a time in the Senate but forfeiting the most strategically important one is politically shortsighted to say the least. And the Senate clearly supports McConnell.

Failure to lead his party; a triple fail.


Panel: Joy-Ann Reid, NBC News; Rich Lowry, The National Review; Amy Walter, the Cook Political Report; Helene Cooper, The New York Times

Other things... just to be sure...

Adm. Mullen said that Kim Jung Un is not a rational actor.

As Chuck Todd and the panel agreed, National Security Advisor H.R. McMaster and Presidential Senior Advisor Steven Bannon can NOT work together. One is going to have to go, which will be the most telling choice the Administration makes. Steve Bannon, Stephen Miller and Sebastian Gorka have no place in The White House.

Helene Cooper is sick of hearing that taking down the statues of Robert E. Lee and such people might make anger some people, to which she replied, "Make them angry." Amen to that.

8.6.17: The 'And' Versus The 'Or'

It wasn't so much of a special edition of "Meet The Press" this week as it was an enhanced or focused one, but nonetheless the discussion throughout dealt with the state of our broken politics in the United States.

Fittingly, the two guests - Senator Jeff Flake (R-AZ) and Governor Jerry Brown (D-CA) - are individuals who seek the middle ground in policy and political discourse, the middle meaning more civil in the case of the latter. The discourse is where it all starts, as president of DEMOS Heather McGhee put it. That's true, but despite the rest of the panel dismissing Andrea Mitchell's assessment that it's all about the money, she's correct.

The And vs. The Or

Chuck Todd commented that sometimes you have to compromise, but actually politics is the art of compromising all the time - where no one gets everything they want but walk away satisfied with what they did get. As said before in this column, think of the United States has a huge, fully equipped cruise ship that's always moving forward. To always be moving in a positive direct you sometimes have to tack to right and sometimes to the left. However, if you turn too hard and too fast in either direction, you tip the boat over and take all of us down. It's just the way it is and the checks and balances of the government pretty much ensure that.

That's the And.

As for the Or...

Dan Balz of The Washington Post explained that there is a full-time political industry; that fact alone - that there is an industry - was noted by the panel. However, it's designed to demonize the other side instead of presenting ideas or a vision for the future, as Governor Brown described, a vision that we now know the Republicans don't have and that Democrats still need to find. Senator Flake said it himself, that Republicans were too busy trying to make President Obama a one-term president and not enough time constructing a ideological and legislative agenda.

To prompt the 'End Game' segment, Mr. Todd teased that the panel would take the problem with real solutions, but the problem was that no one could really come up with one. Instantly, it's evident by any conservation of this type that everyone knows the problem and does have a constructive solution by the nature of the problem itself is so big with so much money involved that it seems beyond fixing.

Case in point...

Chuck Todd used the Texas second congressional district as an example of our divided politics and how it's swung in political direction from Democrat to Republican. But take a look at this district...

Every ten years, when the census is conducted, the party in control of the state has the opportunity to redraw the congressional map. Do you think this one was draw so that it only included politically like-minded constituents? Here's one of those solutions: If you want to make the discourse more civil and possible negate some of the monetary interests, make all the congressional districts as square as possible and this way politicians have to respond to a broader set of ideas from the people they represent. Never happen.

It was notable that Governor Brown said the demographics are trending in a non-Republican direction, and not saying in a Democratic one. The Democratic party casts a wider net in terms of being more inclusive of different ideas, it's fair to say. But this once great strength of the party has become its Achilles' heal. They can not seem to be able to coral it into a cohesive vision. "A Better Deal?" Please. How about starting with "We Have A Plan!" As for the Republicans, who traditionally have such discipline in message as one of their strengths of party, factions of thinking a congealing and calcifying into three camps, as the panel explained. There's the Ted Cruz wing - the hardcore right wing, the Marco Rubio more inclusive or moderate group, and then there's the cult of personality Trump Republican, who brings with it a monkey wrench.

That last part someone could say disrespects supports of the president, but the fact is that this administration outside of an appointment, executive orders, and a bill that was veto-proof hasn't gotten much done. Before going on vacation, President Trump held a campaign-style rally in West Virginia, what Andrea Mitchell called 'ground-zero' for his support and where the governor, given that political reality, notably switched from Democrat to Republican. Deference should be given to these people and it's important to understand how they feel, most certainly, but... With all due respect to West Virginia, it should not be seen as the guiding example on how to move the United States forward when California has over 39 million people and is the world's sixth largest economy.

This brings to mind that unfortunate reality of the president being unwilling to reach out to Americans who don't see eye to eye with him - to lead us all, a president's responsibility after all. The optimistic view is that this presidential leadership deficit provokes people in both parties to step up, like Senator Flake, and call for some bi-partisanship instead of zero-sum, the and vs. or.


Panel: Andrea Mitchell, NBC News; Heather McGhee, president of DEMOS; David French, The National Review; Dan Balz, The Washington Post