6.24.18: Without Compassion, Immigration Reform Will Not Happen

In agreeing with the moderator, Chuck Todd, it is unusual in the era of the Trump presidency that one topic has lasted a full week in the news cycle, but make no mistake that the issue of immigration will be at the forefront of our political discourse writ large all the way through the midterm elections in the fall.

Mr. Todd asked the panel at one point if the child separations at the southern border is President Trump's 'Katrina,' to which Heather McGhee responded that the Hurricane Maria and the damage and death it caused in Puerto Rico is really his 'Katrina' moment. What both have in common is they are the product of President Trump's bigoted approach to governing the country, and what he's never understood is that when you are the president, you represent all Americans whether they disagree with you or not. Mr. Trump has only governed to with distinct minority of people in mind, and not only is it hurting the majority of Americans but it's also starting to hurt his supporters as well.

While immigration is obviously a very emotional issue, in listening to Senators James Lankford (R-OK) and Angus King (I-ME), compassion and rule of law can coexist. Immigration is an issue where the middle has to win the day. However, as Mr. King explained, the Senate had a bill where many Democrats held their collective noses and gave Mr. Trump his wall in exchange for passage of a DACA fix, but then the right-wing fringe in the House moved the goal posts and killed the bill. Not to mention that the Senate was going to allocate American taxpayer dollars for Mr. Trump's wall, which he has always said Mexico would pay for. That's such a sham, and there shouldn't be a wall if Americans pay for it, by his logic.

There aren't easy fixes and what it takes is a concentrated, coordinated, compassionate and consensus approach meaning that legislators have to legislate instead of just bomb throwing on cable television news.

Make no mistake, the Obama administration deported more people than the Bush administration by a long shot  and people were incarcerated but the difference is that the Obama administration didn't employ a 'zero-tolerance' policy mandating that children become separated from their parents. That did in fact happen as well under Mr. Obama, but it wasn't policy as Attorney General Jeff Sessions mandated under Mr. Trump. That's a major difference. Mr. Sessions, Stephen Miller, and Mr. Trump have inclination to compassion for families. Mr. Trump using terms like 'infest' to describe migrants is not only unhelpful but despicable and once again demeans the office of the presidency in a way that should draw the ire of all Americans.

In addition to the inexcusable rhetoric, the Trump administration does want to take the necessary steps to correct the problem, namely the Flores Amendment which Senator Lankford explained. Migrant families can only be held for 20 days, but it takes an average of 35 days to get a hearing so more judges are required to hear immigration cases. Yet, the Trump administration doesn't want to allocate those resources to mitigate the back log. And just so we're clear from all sides, ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) should not be abolished as some on the left have called for. The way to fix ICE is to have laws and policies in place that provide clear instructions on what the agency is mandated to do and part of those should be the humane treatment of migrants.

In the longer term, the countries of El Salvador, Honduras, and Nicaragua need assistance from the United States, another strategy that Mr. Trump has no inclination to even think about. NBC's Richard Engel reported the 10 percent of the population in El Salvador have some affiliation to gangs with approximately 100,000 armed active members. That's a gang army, from which people are justifiably fleeing, making it indeed a refugee crisis, as Mr. Todd posed during the hour. The United States needs to work with these Central American countries in an inter-country coordinated fashion to help them combat this problem and that would in the longer term ease the stress at the United State's southern border. The problem with this is that the Trump administration has yet to illustrate the capacity of any sort of long term, carefully planned strategy on anything.

It's also notable that Mr. Engel illustrated that the country of Hungary, which has some of the most strict immigration laws in the world right now doesn't even separate families. A further implicit indictment of the president's bigoted views which lack any sense of understanding of the human condition. 

As long as Republican legislators are lead blindly by the nose by this right-wing fringe bigoted president, sensible and humane immigration laws will not be passed. And let's face it, by now it should be perfectly clear that Republicans CAN NOT govern. Every opportunity the voters of this country give them to do it, they fail. Zero tolerance and zero sum is not how democracy works, and they absolutely need to shove this notion down the president's throat.


Panel: Heather McGhee, president of DEMOS; Kasie Hunt, NBC News; Stephen Hayes, Editor in Chief of the Weekly Standard, Erick Erickson, Editor of The Resurgent

One more thing...
The culture wars: Instead of focusing on Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders being asked to leave a restaurant, there's another example that wasn't mentioned that could be more instructive. First, it must be said that Ms. Sanders conduct in the White House press room has been inexcusable and she should resign due to her continuing lies, deflections and personal condescending comments toward members of the press corps.

With that said, Seth Rogen said to Stephen Colbert this week that he refused to take a photo with Speaker of the House Paul Ryan because of what the Speaker has done in his leadership role. He refused the Speaker in front of Mr. Ryan's two teenage sons. So here's how Mr. Rogen should have handled it. Rightfully he should told Mr. Ryan that he would not take a picture with him as a matter of principle but at the same time he should have offered to take a photo only with his sons who are fans and don't make policy. Right? Maybe use that as an instructive example.

6.17.18: Sowing the Seeds to Kill the Idea That Is America

It's clear that President Trump peddles propaganda of the moment as evidenced by his statements on Friday to "Fox and Friends" and then to the unusual press scrum that followed. Mr. Trump will say anything that serves his purpose at that moment and both settings were ideal for him to accomplish his goal of continually misleading the American people. "Fox and Friends" will never disagree or call out any of the president's misstatements, and the in a frenzied press scrum, no one is able to fact check him on the spot. Mr. Trump simply doesn't care if you fact check him later and prove that what he had said was false because he'll just change the story next time. For example, he tweeted that he fired Michael Flynn for lying, but on Friday said that he wasn't. Or when he was quickly called out for saying that he'd like people to stand up at attention when he speaks like North Koreans do for Kim Jong Un, to which he later said he was joking. The first example illustrates lying as a strategy and the second clearly illustrates a lack of personal discipline.

And as Republican strategist Al Cardenas explained, it's better to tell 18 lies than just one. The press doesn't know where to focus their collective attention because of so many blatant falsehoods and the public simply becomes numb, using his word, to it all. Listening to Mr. Cardenas and Congressman Mark Sanford (R-SC), who just lost in his primary race, is obvious that the Republican party does not consist of conservatives. Conservatives still in the Republican political party are retiring or being drummed out of office. The Republican party now consists of Trump sycophants and the president is building on that cult of personality on a daily basis.

But make no mistake, the president sowed some bad seeds this week in ending the idea that is America, and that's why it's significant. First, he insulted the United States' closest allies at the G7 summit while carrying the water for the authoritarian president of Russia. Then, since the summit in Singapore, Mr. Trump has continually sung the praises of the world's most repressive dictators, saying he's 'honorable' and that he 'trusts Kim.'

The president all but admitted that he lied to The New York Times about the letter that he dictated for his inept son, Donald Jr., while his campaign manager, a man he's known for over twenty years, is now in jail, while his personal lawyer/fixer is considering cooperating with Federal Prosecutors. And no, the Inspector General's report did not in the slightest exonerate the president of wrongdoing.

However...

In a rare moment this week when the actions of the president have spoken louder than words, which received condemnation from all Americans and especially (thankfully) evangelicals is the Trump Administration policy of separating children from their parents at the southern border. Cruel, non-Christian, inhumane, un-American - take your pick, but more appropriately take them all. This policy is putting a stake through the heart of what America is as an idea.

Chuck Todd prefaced a question to presidential advisor Kellyanne Conway as harsh when he asked if the administration was using these children as a bargaining chip to get Democrats and moderate Republicans (a dying breed) to the table for immigration negotiation - an unnamed White House official said so. Ms. Conway forcefully called that out saying that she dared to that unnamed official to say that to her face. Her righteous indignation, as Helene Cooper noted, was laughable because the fact is that the administration is using these kids as a bargaining chip for a stupid, unnecessary wall, basically extorting pols who aren't going along.

Donald Trump on Friday said this was a Democratic law, but like so many others, this is a false statement. It is a Trump Administration policy that could end with a single phone call, as Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) said this week.

As for the economy, the one thing that has been good, the president doused his bad seeds with fire water, solidifying trade wars with rivals and allies alike (He denies there is a trade war.), and Iowa farmers are already seeing the rotten fruit, or soybeans as it were.


Panel: Carol Lee, NBC News; Helene Cooper, The New York Times; Al Cardenas, Republican Strategist; Bret Stephens, The New York Times

6.10.18: Donald Trump, the American Gift to Mr. Putin That Keeps On Giving

(This week's "Meet The Press" is preempted by the French Open.)

As you're reading this, President Trump is on the ground in Singapore readying to meet with North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un, in which Mr. Trump said that he'd be able 'size him up' in the first five minutes about whether Mr. Kim is serious about denuclearization of the Korean peninsula.

But let's be clear, North Korea has the ability to hit the United States with a nuclear weapon so anything less than getting 97% of their nuclear capabilities out within 10 years, which include a stringent inspection regime would be a worse deal than the Iran nuclear deal.

The U.S. should make no conciliatory steps in 'good faith' with the North Korean leader such as lifting sanctions or pulling U.S. troops out of South Korea unless the aforementioned conditions are met. The reasoning behind this opinion is that North Korea has broken the conditions of every deal negotiated in the past so pardon if there is a bit of skepticism here. The only leverage that Kim Jong Un has on the world stage is the fact that he has nuclear weapons and it's difficult imagining him giving them up.

Giving the North Korean dictator such a expedited audience with the President of the United States works more to Mr. Kim's advantage than it does to America's show of strength. Optics matter and looking congenial with a regime that's killed hundreds of thousands of its own people without even bringing up human rights doesn't bode well for the world's greatest democracy.

Also, after the verbal jousting and bad photo-ops that have come out of the G7 meetings, does anyone find it disconcerting that the U.S. president walks away from democratic allies and toward the leaders of China and Russia? The world order over the past 70 years, of which the United States is the architect, is being dismantled by Donald Trump. The president's call for Russia to be readmitted to the G7 is completely unacceptable. Russia was removed from the group for its annexation of Crimea from Ukraine, which Mr. Trump blamed on President Obama. He should blame Vladimir Putin for that, but instead Mr. Trump carries Mr. Putin's water for him. Not to mention that little thing of Russia, at the direction of Mr. Putin, meddling in, nay subverting, The United States' democratic process.

Mr. Trump is the American gift to Mr. Putin that keeps on giving. The biggest beneficiary of the G7 meetings was Mr. Putin. Mr. Trump despite differences with the other six countries, should have signed the joint communique as a statement of solidarity, but instead he refused to sign it thus causing further discord between western democracies.

Donald Trump is irreparably damaging America's principles, democracy and its democratic institutions. The American people better wake up to this because the 'freedom' we so cherish is becoming less free.

6.3.18: According to Rudy Giuliani, No One's Above the Law Except Mr. Trump

Today was one of the more cognizant interviews that Mr. Guiliani has done in recent memory where he didn't say anything that was incomprehensible. That doesn't exclude having said things that are controversial such as suggesting the president is somehow above the law. Mr. Guiliani explained that the president can not obstruct justice, which the National Review's Rich Lowry agreed with, and can shut down any investigation he wants. The reason Mr. Guiliani gave for the president not doing this was for PR reasons.

So essentially, the president's lawyers are asserting that the he is above the law and that only Congress can hold him accountable, only in a political sense through impeachment. By that rationale, Mr. Trump, as president, can indeed shoot someone on Fifth Avenue and get away with it because as Mr. Guiliani said, he can pardon himself.

That's an extreme example of course, but is this column the one out there that were now considering the notion that the president is above the law? Mr. Todd also asked Mr. Guiliani if the president could open an investigation on anyone he wanted to as well, to which he demurred in his answer. With regard specifically to the Russia investigation and the special counsel, Mr. Guiliani said that the president would only sit down with the special counsel is if the DOJ hands over all the documents with regard to the FBI's informant.

Speaking of PR, but more succinctly of the public, the only way the American people are going to get the truth is if Mr. Trump is subpoenaed to testify in front of a grand jury. But come to think of it, even if he lied to the grand jury, which is a criminal offense for every American citizen, he could pardon himself for lying, according to Mr. Guiliani.

As NPR's Joshua Johnson explained that Mr. Guiliani and the president's lawyers' strategy/explanation is that the president is too busy focusing on other things to be bogged down with an investigation that they deem illegitimate. And along the way, as Katy Tur explained confuse everyone along the way with such things as first the president says he fired James Comey because of the Russia investigation and then he tweeted that that was not the reason. Also, Jay Sekulow, one of the president's attorneys, said that the president didn't craft the letter for his son on Air Force one, but then this week we learn that Mr. Trump indeed dictated the letter.

However...
What can not be ignored is if the investigation is illegitimate and the president is not guilty of anything then why isn't he cooperating with the FBI and the intelligence community to get to the bottom of Russia meddling in the U.S. election? Why is he acting like someone who has something to hide?

And yes, the president does have major issues to attend to and that his focused should be concentrated to these issues simply doesn't wash. If he's so busy then how does he have time to tweet 19 times this week about Russia and weigh in on culture controversies like Roseann Barr and Samantha Bee. It's a weak argument.

And speaking of other issues, as this column explained last week the summit with North Korea is a lose-lose for the United States. The Administration is not going to get North Korea to give up its nukes and they get photo-ops, as a seemingly equal power, with the president. The president should have never met with Kim Yong Chol this week. Go to this article at Foreign Policy and you'll understand why.

Not to mention that while Mr. Trump is making friends with a dictator who kills his own people and who fires missiles over one of our closest allies, Japan, he's putting tariffs on our unquestioned closest ally, Canada (along with Mexico and Europe).

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is right to question this action if it is as the president said, based on security concerns. If there's any other country we can trust, it would be freaking Canada! Mr. Trudeau was correct; it's completely insulting, and it's going to hurt both Canadian and American consumers. By the way, it was VP Mike Pence who informed the Canadians that the U.S. wanted a sunset clause on a new NAFTA deal, which makes no sense at all.

Congressional Republicans are grumbling over this and may take action against the president, but they don't have a good track record thus far. Never mind obstruction or collusion or money laundering or potentially opening oneself up to blackmail because of all of the above, trade is the 'criminal' act that has pushed them too over the edge.


Panel: Katy Tur, NBC News; Peggy Noonan, The Wall Street Journal; Joshua Johnson, NPR; Rich Lowry, The National Review

One more thing...
Pardons - Rich Lowry is correct in saying the Joe Arpaio pardon was "grotesque." And Peggy Noonan is absolutely correct in saying these pardons by the president are frivolous; however, if she is going to wax poetic about these pardons, could she at least get Jack Johnson' name correct (not Joe Johnston). Jeez.